#i don’t actually love that they pulled her out of the building this season

[tedbecca]

sunflowers was not my favourite TL episode. it had some really good moments and other moments i was like eeehhhhh about. but overall i did enjoy it and i look forward to seeing where the characters go from here

[reiderwriter]

More Than Words

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female BAU!Reader

Requested: yes

Summary: After telling a white lie to your family about your relationship status, your forced to beg your coworker Spencer to pretend to be your boyfriend for a weekend wedding.

Warnings: Light smut at the end, penetrative sex, creampie, mentions of Spencer's childhood.

A/N: Thank you for the request on this one! Ever since I rewatched Season 7 and saw Spencer dancing with everyone at JJ's wedding I've been thinking non-stop about him just holding you close like that and I'm going to shut up now because 8k words of that is more than enough lmao.

You can find my masterlist here, and I just started posting all my stuff on AO3 as well, so if you prefer to read there, check it out!

Despite knowing about your brother’s impending nuptials for the last 18 months, it was in the final two-week stretch that you actually started panicking about getting the date that you’d promised them. It was one sweet little white lie that you had made that had just spiraled out of control, but you’d yet to actually manifest the secretive boyfriend who was “very real actually, mom, he’s coming to the wedding actually.”

It was that statement that had sealed your fate, and always one to wear your emotions on your face when you weren’t on a case, it wasn’t long before someone noticed your building anxiety and guilt.

“Okay, spill Y/N. You look like you just witnessed your favorite author kick a puppy or a kitten or something,” Penelope said when you dropped some files off in her room that morning, spinning around on her chair to face you as soon as she caught your reflection in her monitor.

“It’s this wedding I have to go to,” you sighed dramatically, falling into one of the other chairs in the room kept for visitors.

“Want me to help you get out of it?” Penelope offered, patting your hand comfortingly.

“I’m not sure my brother would be too pleased about that, since it’s his wedding and all. My mother would drag me down all the way from here herself if she had to.”

“Okay, so a no-show is a no-go. Then what gives, my sweet avenging angel? There has to be something serious to get you looking all glum.”

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair before straightening up and leaning into Penelope more, creating an air of secrecy.

“Promise you won’t tell?”

“Oh sweetie, if only you knew the secrets these four walls held,” she replied dramatically, pulling a laugh from you.

“Last year, I was so, I don’t know, jealous I guess, of all the attention my brother and his fiancee were getting because of the wedding, and it just felt like every time my mom called me, she would only want to talk about them because of the wedding. I felt left out, and I already live so far away anyway, so it’s hard to have that connection with people back home, so I might have told a small, tiny, inconsequential lie that now actually has consequences?” Your face flushes at the confession, and you can see Penelope trying her best not to blurt out her thoughts, intent on letting you continue.

“I told her I was seeing this guy. He’s amazing, he works in the FBI just like me, and he’s smart, and he takes me on dates to these amazing places, like museums and interesting restaurants and to book fairs. I told her he was handsome and that he looked at me like I put the stars in the night sky, and he just doesn't exist, Penelope. And now I have to disappoint my mother again by turning up to my brother's wedding without a date.”

“Oh sweetheart,” was all she said for a minute, and the sympathetic look on her face made you want to run out of there immediately.

“I know, I know, I need to tell her the truth, but I don’t want to do it at the wedding and spoil her happiness. She loves weddings.”

“And this fake boyfriend is supposed to be your plus-one?” she asked.

“My invitation read ‘To our darling sister and her mystery man,’” you groaned, wondering how you could have been so childish in the first place. You’d acted like any child on a playground would, inventing lies to make yourself seem more important and cooler.

“I think I have the perfect solution for you, angel, but you might not like it,” Penelope grinned from her chair, leaning back and playing with the pen in her hands nefariously as if she’d been waiting for this chance her whole life. You didn’t trust that look, but you had no other option, so you took a deep breath and listened to her plan.

–X–

Three days later, and you were suddenly pacing the hallways with a coffee and a croissant, poised and ready to kidnap an FBI Agent the second he passed you.

At first, you’d laughed at the suggestion she’d made, outlandish as it was. But 72 hours of reflection, and a timely phone call from your mother, and suddenly you were on board and ready to lock on to your target. You stopped pacing when you heard the elevator ding, signaling the arrival of Spencer Reid. You were thankful that his schedule was so regular and timed down to the minute that you had just enough time to ambush him in the hallway before any other member of your team noticed.

“Spencer! Here I bought you coffee and a croissant from that cafe I mentioned a while back,” you panicked, unloading the gifts into his arms quickly, taking him off guard, before checking left and right before pushing him into the nearest empty room and shutting it behind you.

“Good morning to you, too, Y/N. Is there a reason we’re in a closet right now?” he asked, looking down at you with knitted eyebrows.

“Yes,” you gumped, afraid to say anymore.

“Are you going to tell me what the reason is?”

“I need you to be my boyfriend for a weekend,” you finally blurted out.

“You need me to… Just for a weekend?” He looked confused, and you felt your cheeks flame up, as you tried your best to explain the situation for him.

“My brother is getting married in LA this weekend, and I need a date. I told my mom last year that I was in a relationship with a really great guy who also works for the FBI.”

“Oh. So, you broke up with him and don’t want to tell your mom?”

“No, he never existed. Long story, I can explain on the plane, but I really need you to come with me! I’ll pay for everything, and I’ll even get you this coffee and any pastry of your choice every day for a month, please, please, please!” You begged him, so desperate that you were moments away from dropping to your knees and grabbing his leg, refusing to move until he acquiesced. You didn’t have to in the end.

“Oh, sure, I’ll go. When did you say it was?” Your jaw fell open in shock, and it took a few seconds to pull yourself back together as you reacted to his words.

“This weekend? The flight is tomorrow at 6 a.m.” You smiled sheepishly as his eyes bugged out of his head.

“This weekend? What were you going to do if I said no?” He laughed at you a little, taking a sip of the coffee you bought him.

“Honestly? Plan B was to cry, and plan C was to kill off my mystery man in a freak accident.”

“Wow, we just started fake dating and you’re already trying to bump me off.” His smile made you burn hotter than before, as you playfully hit his arm in response.

“Stop saying we’re dating. I pulled you in here to ask you privately because I didn’t want weird rumors circulating in the office,” you pouted.

“Then you better let me out of the closet, Y/N, before people think we’re doing something we shouldn’t be. At least three people saw you drag me in here, you know.”

With that, you rush to open the door and run out, shouting a reminder back at him.

“Just be ready, okay. I’ll see you at the airport at 6 a.m.”

–X–

The flight, despite being ridiculously long, was altogether quite pleasant, and you made it back to California in one piece, Spencer trailing behind you like a lost puppy for a while, letting you take up the role of “airport dad” as you guided him through the airport and to the hotel where the wedding was being held.

“So what’s our cover story?” He asked in the taxi on the way there, breaking the comfortable silence.

“What cover story?” you asked, looking up at him from your phone, still focused on just getting to the destination.

“Where did we meet, how long have we been dating, how much do they know about me?” He listed off the possible questions that his parents were absolutely going to interrogate him with soon. “I need to prepare so we don’t get caught out, right?”

“Oh, right. Based on what I told them, we met at work and we’ve been seeing each other casually for about a year now. I didn’t give them a name yet, which annoys my mom to no end, but I was always pretty private as a child so she didn’t find it all that suspicious. Other than that, they don’t know that much about my mystery boyfriend apart from the things we’ve done together.” He listened attentively as you spoke, taking each of your words in and committing them to memory.

“What was our first date?” He asked.

“Coffee shop. That place I got you the coffee from earlier, it’s called Flondon. I’m a regular there, so it made sense to use it in my story.”

“What else have we done together?”

“There was a book fair in New York a few months back that we, uh, spent the weekend at. You surprised me for my birthday with the tickets.”

“Wow, so I’m a really great boyfriend then.” He joked a little, and you let out another groan of annoyance at his teasing. You didn’t get the chance to finish your conversation though, as the taxi finally pulled up to the hotel.

You climbed out of the taxi after paying the driver, Spencer having already left to grab your bags, before walking into the foyer of the hotel.

“Y/N, just one last thing before we go in,” he stopped you at the door, grabbing you by the arm gently. “Are we… the, um. Hotels tend to get booked up pretty early for weddings, and I’m sure your family will be suspicious if we don’t share a room so…”

He didn’t have to finish voicing his thoughts before you were cursing, not having made the connection before.

“Shit, you’re right. My brother made the booking for me months ago. We just have to go in and get the room key but I totally forgot… It’s fine, right? We’ve roomed together on cases, haven’t we?” You asked, looking up at him.

“No, we haven’t. 67% of our motel bookings allow for single occupation rooms for Agents, I end up sharing a room with Morgan for 15% of overnight stays where double occupation is necessary, Hotch for another 17%, and the remaining 1% is made up of outliers where I had to share with Rossi or Prentiss, but we…we haven’t shared before.” He gestured between the two of you for a moment there, letting the facts sit with you.

“Spencer, it’s okay with me, is it okay with you? I understand if you’re not comfortable with it. We can just turn around now if you want.”

“No, no it’s totally fine. I just wanted to make sure you’re comfortable with it. Morgan says I snore, so I guess I’m not the best roommate in the world.” He smiled at you then, reassuringly, and moved his hand down your arm until it reached your hand.

You looked down at where his hand had entwined with yours and your heart gave a little jolt. Spencer didn’t like physical touch, and you knew that. You tried not to initiate any contact with him, despite being a touchy person, but there had been times after particularly tough cases and with close calls where you’d thrown yourself into the nearest person's arms, and he always happened to be near.

But those hugs had been thoughtless, natural reactions to stressful situations and this was intentional, and more importantly, he’d started it.

“Sorry, I just assumed we should get used to, uh, touching each other, I guess? We’re going to be doing it all weekend, you know, might as well start now.” He gave you an awkward closed-lip smile, and you giggled at his awkward explanatory tone. Squeezing his hand a bit, you grabbed your suitcase again in your free hand, and pushed open the door with your shoulder, pulling Spencer in behind you.

The lobby was filled with people arriving for the wedding, and you instantly spotted three cousins and two aunts from across the room, giving them a little smile as you made your way to the reception desk, Spencer right at your side.

“Hi, reservation for Y/N L/N, please.”

“Sister of the groom, right? Your mother asked me to give her a call when you arrived. Please wait one minute.” She handed you your key, and you felt yourself go pale, turning around to Spencer for reassurance.

“Oh god, she’s coming now, what do we do?”

“Y/N, calm down, it’s okay, we knew we were going to have to see your mom tonight at the reception anyways.”

“You’re right. Okay, right. Okay.” You breathed out, as Spencer wrapped his other arm around you, holding you in a closer embrace while keeping your hands locked together.

“One of my aunts is looking at us. She looks like she wants to say something. Oh god, she’s coming over, Spencer act natural,”

“Saying act naturally is actually counter-active-” but he didn’t have time to finish before you had turned to greet the older woman, disentangling yourself from Spencer’s arms as you hugged the woman warmly.

“It’s so good to see you, Y/N, you know how we all worry about you doing that job of yours. The other week we saw you on the news about that tragedy with the young girl…” she trailed off, giving you a worrying look before quickly shifting her gaze to her actual target, Spencer.

“I think I saw you too, young man. You must be Y/N’s boyfriend,” she smiled at him, waiting to hear a response so she could return to the other matrons with the gossip.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, I’m Spencer.” You could tell he was thankful that the woman hadn’t stuck her hand out to shake his, as he positioned himself mostly behind you, keeping his hands occupied by letting one settle on your hip and the other keeping a hold of your suitcase.

“Spencer? Spencer Reid?” You heard your mother before you saw her, turning around in your place to finally see her, as Spencer whipped his head around as well. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”

Your mother had none of the restraint of your aunt, and unfortunately, you’d inherited your clingy side from her, which is why she immediately swooped in to give Spencer a hug. To his credit, he greeted her warmly as well and didn’t avoid the touch, but he kept it short and polite nonetheless.

“Mom, how did you know…”

“You tell me about your coworkers all the time, I’m just surprised I didn’t work it out sooner. I always said that you talked about that Spencer with a fond tone, you should ask your father, he’ll tell you that I did.” You rolled your eyes at your mother’s words, doing your best to avoid Spencer’s gaze. He’d fallen back into place by your side as you greeted your mother.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, You know, Y/N has been keeping you as this big secret for the last year, and it’s so nice to see that you’re actually real. You’re here!” She sounded so excited for you that your heart almost broke under the weight of your guilt, knowing that you’d have to come clean at some point after the wedding. As it was, you were already going to have to try really hard to avoid the photographer and videographer throughout the night so you didn’t have to be constantly reminded of your idiocy whenever your mother got the photo albums out,

“Sorry, the two of you are probably exhausted after that flight, right? Go and get yourself unpacked. The rehearsal dinner is at 8 p.m. so we’ll catch up then, sweetheart.” She left in a whirlwind, having deposited you next to the elevators, and left you with no other option but to do exactly as she said, making your way to your space for the weekend.

–X–

The following few hours had been a little awkward, to say the least. You’d awkwardly pulled away from one another in the elevator up to the room, apologizing for invading each other's personal space. The room was a decent size, but still small enough that you’d be constantly tripping up over one another the entire weekend if you weren’t careful.

Reid carefully unpacked his tuxedo when you got into the room, and then quietly informed you that he’d need a shower. You’d unpacked your own things while he did, trying not to listen to the water flowing over his body in the next room. His earlier touch had ignited something in you, and your heart was beating at his every gesture now, something that you were sure it hadn’t done before.

What was it about weddings that made you so open to even the possibility of romance that even someone so off-limits could become the object of your affection?

So you tried not to listen, not to wonder why it was taking the man so long to just take a shower, not to let your mind wander to a place where it was perfectly acceptable to wonder what he looked like in that shower, and you unpacked and organized your things.

“Hey, Y/N, I’m really sorry but I forgot to bring my clothes with me,” he called awkwardly through the door a few minutes after you heard the water turn off, and you turned to the bathroom, not expecting the sight before you.

You’d assumed from the quiet volume of his voice that he was calling from within the bathroom itself, but instead, he stood awkwardly in front of you, a towel wrapped around his waist and torso, held together desperately in one hand.

“Oh shit, sorry, I’ll just turn around, I guess,” you stumbled over the words, dragging your eyes back up to his face as you did so, whipping yourself around to stare ahead of you.

“No, no, it’s my fault. I was so hasty I forgot my outfit for tonight. It’s okay.” You heard him fumble for his clothes and return to the bathroom quickly with another mumbled apology, finally allowing you to let out a deep, almost dreamy sigh, startling yourself. Mentally chastising yourself once again, you finished your organizing and let yourself fall onto the bed in the middle of the room sleepily while you waited for him to come out again.

You must have dozed off a little because you woke with a jolt when you felt a soft touch on your arm. There he was above you, a soft and concerned look on his face as he woke you up as kindly as he could.

“Y/N, it’s 7 p.m. We need to get ready for the rehearsal.” He whispered as if he weren’t too bothered if you didn’t want to go down at all, content to let you sleep. But you forced yourself upright anyways, and nodded at his words, swiftly moving yourself towards the bathroom he had since departed.

“Thanks for waking me, Spence,” You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, gathering your towels and change of clothes before turning back to him. In the four hours you’d apparently been dead to the world, he’d managed to dry his hair, change his clothes, and, from the looks of the book on the bedside table, read through an entire book twice.

He noticed you looking and cleared his throat. “Sorry, you looked so tired I didn’t want to wake you, so I just sat here and read while you got some sleep.”

“It’s okay, Spence. I guess I was pretty tired. I’m gonna go…” you gestured towards the shower and stepped towards it with an awkward smile, not letting him answer before you had closed the door between you and taken a deep breath, setting thoughts of him aside for the night before you focused on getting yourself ready to face your lies.

An hour later, you were making your way back down to the lobby, having received a text from your brother that that was where everyone was gathering before making their way to the dining room. Spencer offered you his arm in the elevator on the way down.

“Here, grab my arm.” He said softly down to you, a sweet smile playing on his lips.

“Oh yeah that makes sense,” you said distractedly, looping your own through his and leaning into him.

“It’ll also stop you from picking your nails,” he joked.

“I don’t pick my nails!”

“You so do. You do it when you’re nervous and when you lie about something. Last month on that case in Chicago when that officer asked for your number, you told him you had a boyfriend and started picking your nails,” he laughed down at you, enjoying your pouting face a bit too much as he profiled you.

“You’re one to talk. The last time a woman asked you out, you started rambling about the linguistic history of the phrase “go out,” in the romantic sense. She stood there for five minutes before she gave up.”

“Wait, when did that happen? I don’t remember any woman trying to ask me out.”

“Then you’re even denser than I realized, Doctor Reid, because they do it constantly.” Your back and forth ended there, though, as the elevator doors finally opened into the lobby. You smoothed out your dress and tried your best to act natural as the two of you made your entrance.

“Y/N! Over here,” you heard your brother and saw him wave at you from the other side of the room, his fiancee next to him receiving guests.

“It’s been so long since I saw my kid sister. Get over here,” he smiled at you, beckoning you over, and you released your hold on Reid to give your brother a warm hug.

“Now who is this kid sister you’re talking about because last I checked you’re only 18 months older than me.”

“18 months, 18 years, all that matters is that I am, in fact, the older one,” he released you from the bear hug and glanced up to Reid, standing awkwardly watching the scene waiting for an invitation to the conversation. “Holy shit, you’re real.”

“Hey! Be nice. This is Spencer, he’s my… he’s my boyfriend, we work together.” You felt your cheeks flame as you introduced the two of them, your brother looking at Spencer through knitted eyebrows, taking on a faux protective stance.

“Spencer, hey. Mom mentioned you were here earlier, but I didn’t think you’d be so gangly… It’s my wedding, and I’ve been told I have to keep all threats to a minimum, but if I see you getting all handsy with my sister, just know that I have a blackbelt in jiu-jitsu.”

“No, you don’t. You have a yellow belt in karate at most, and you got that at age 10.” You laughed at the man.

“And whose fault is that?”

“Oh my god, it’s been almost 20 years, I already apologized!”

“Apologised for what?” Spencer finally managed to butt in, watching your sibling bickering as if it were a tennis match.

“This little rodent,” your brother said, scruffing up your hair as he spoke, “broke my wrist when she was 8 and I was 10.”

“It was self-defense! You were trying to use your karate moves on me and I panicked!”

“And now, you’re a hot-shot FBI Agent and you get to break bad guys wrists all the time.” He finished for you and you laughed, suddenly glad to be back around family.

“So, Spencer, you’re an FBI Agent, too? I thought my mom mentioned something about you being a Doctor earlier.”

“I am. A Doctor. And an FBI Agent, uh, they’re PhD’s not medical degrees, though. Three of them, Math, Chemistry and Engineering. I also have Bachelor's Degrees in Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology.” He answered, and you looked up at him proudly, taking his hand as you noticed him growing slightly uncomfortable with the attention from your brother.

“Wow,” was all your brother said, until he finished the statement with “All those degrees and my sister was the best you could do, huh?” You punched him in the arm after that, and you felt Spencer physically relax a bit, twinning your fingers with his as you chastised your brother.

“Anyway, thanks for taking the time to come to our, hopefully, lovely wedding, the reception will be starting soon. The dining hall is just through there.” You hugged your brother again, and, with a breath of relief, led Spencer down the hall to the dining hall.

“That went well, I think?” you whispered to him, conspiratorially.

“Your family is nice,” he replied. “Does he always act like that, or is it the wedding spirit possessing him somehow?”

“If you’re referring to my brother, I think he’s probably partaken in a few flutes of champagne already this evening. But yes, he’s always like that. They all like to treat me like a baby when they see me.”

“I think it’s nice. They care about you a lot,” his words were warm, but his eyes were sad, and you remembered what you’d been told of Spencer’s own childhood and felt your heart ache for him. His mom loved him a lot, but Spencer had needed to grow up much too fast. You squeezed his hand, still clasped in yours and before you knew it you were pushing onto your tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, Spencer. For being here,” you said as his now flushed face met yours. You didn’t let him respond though, simply pushing forward into the dining hall, ready to live in the fantasy of your own making for the evening.

–X–

“Spencer, you were amazing!” You giggled, walking down the hall to your room, stumbling slightly in your excitement and haste.

“Those magic tricks? The little babies couldn’t get enough of you,” you spun around, wrapping your arms around the man’s neck and pulling him in close to you, letting him hold you against the door to your room. He laughed a little at your antics as he pulled out the key card.

“Y/N, are you drunk?” he asked, one hand firmly planted on your waist to steady you now.

“No! I’m just happy. And if that happiness was caused by an array of cocktails forced into my hands by distant aunts and cousins who all wanted to know about my absolute catch of a boyfriend, then that is simply secondary to the feeling itself. And furthermore-” He pushed the door behind you in on itself, and your words were cut off by your legs giving out beneath you.

You were so sure you were about to take a tumble to the floor that you shut your eyes tight and braced for an impact that didn’t come. Opening them again slowly, you saw Spencer closer than before, his face mere inches from your own as he held you in an improvised dip, having caught you just before you’d hit the ground.

“Sorry. I… Shit, maybe I am drunk,” you breathed out, not letting your eyes drift from his own, knowing that if you ever considered a glance down at his lips at that moment, you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from closing the measly distance separating you.

“You should use the bathroom first,” he told you, but without making any move of his own, stuck in that pose with you as if he was content to stay there for as long as he could hold you. “You should take your make-up off. We have a long day tomorrow, right?”

You were the first one to move, letting your feet find a more solid footing beneath you and twisting up from his grip. His hands didn’t leave your body as you became more upright though, still keeping you in that close embrace.

“Yeah, I should… I should go wash up.” You said, and he nodded, still looking at you with the same intensity as before.

“Spencer, that means you need to move,” you whispered quietly, and he jumped back as soon as the words were out of your mouth.

“Sorry. I’ll just… I’ll just be over there,” he held his hands up in surrender before moving further into the room, leaving you next to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, you emerged from the bathroom and were ready to sleep once again. Thankfully, you of earlier that day had managed to store your pajamas in the bathroom ready for their use. Upon exiting the bathroom, you saw that Spencer was getting ready to sleep too, slacks and a shirt having been replaced by a pair of flannel pants and a very old and beaten-up CalTech sweater, looking perplexedly down at the bed.

“Spence, what’s wrong?”

“We didn’t speak any further about the sleeping arrangements…” he mumbled and you looked at the bed in front of you, still confused at his meaning. “Y/N, we have to share the bed.”

“Oh.” You knew you probably sounded dumb, but after the amount of alcohol thrust upon you that night, that was all you could muster at this point.

“I can sleep on the floor if that makes you feel more comfortable. It’s probably no worse than some of the motel beds we’ve stayed on before,” he offered, but you instantly shook your head.

“No, I dragged you out here, I’m not making you sleep on the floor as well,” you sighed and made your way to the side of the bed you’d slept on earlier, beginning to pull the covers down so you could get in.

“What are you doing?” Spencer asked, perplexed by your somehow contrasting words and actions.

“I’m getting ready for bed. It’s late.” You replied, not looking up at him again, for fear that he’d spot the blush on your face. “You should too,” you continued, patting the other side of the bed, gesturing for him to get in, too.

“Oh.” It was his turn to stand there shell-shocked in the moment, and you almost let out a giggle but held back thinking that would be too much for him to take in at that moment.

“Come on, Spence, I’m tired, I’m sure you’re tired. We’re just sharing a bed, it’s not like you have to marry me after this.” You climbed fully into the bed, making sure that your nightgown covered you decently before pulling the covers up around you. Spencer mumbled something that you didn’t catch, but he acquiesced and climbed in after you. You turned your head over on the pillow to face him, turning onto your side as you watched him turn his head to you as well.

“What?” he smiled, noticing your stare.

“Nothing. Good night, Spence,” you smiled, finally letting your eyes drop closed.

“Good night, Y/N.” He whispered, and the sound of his voice carried you off to sleep.

–X–

You weren’t sure if it was the light streaming in through the window or the rise and fall of a chest that wasn’t your own was the first thing to wake you in the morning, but nonetheless, you woke from the comfortable warmth of sleep and found yourself wrapped around your fake boyfriend.

To be fair to yourself, he was also wrapped around you. Your head had gravitated from your pillow to his chest, his left arm wrapped up and around your back. Your leg had also risen in the night, pulled up over his waist, held in place by his other arm, which was, almost embarrassingly, cradling your ass, pulling you in closer to his core. Unsure about how to go about disentangling yourself, you resigned yourself to just waking the man up.

“Spencer… Spencer,” you whispered, letting the hand that had fallen onto his chest tap him slightly. He stirred a little and then cracked an eye open, looking confused with the situation.

“Y/N, is it time for the wedding?” He asked through half-lidded eyes, evidently wanting nothing more than to fall back into whatever dreams he was having. You shifted uncomfortably in his arms then, suddenly growing stiff in the position you’d probably held for hours, and found your nightgown had risen dangerously high on your body, his hand on your near bare ass.

“No, no, it’s just…” You rolled your hips against his in discomfort, and the movement had his eyes breaking open as he finally took in your positions.

“Shit, I’m….Sorry, I don’t know what happened, I must’ve grabbed you when we were sleeping,” he said, reluctantly slipping his hands away from your body, trailing his hand around your leg, and letting it fall onto his stomach. The movement sent a shiver up your spine, as you finally had enough room to lift your torso up, not quite ready to relinquish the proximity of your entire body yet.

“It’s okay, I think it was probably me who started it in the first place. Those pillows weren’t that comfortable…” you tried to explain, the hand on his chest rubbing slow circles into his skin before you could realize what you were doing.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position then as well, clumsily. With your legs still wrapped around his waist, you had no choice but to move with him, suddenly finding yourself straddling him, the bedsheets suddenly pressed away from your body. If he looked down, he’d see a lot more than you planned for him to see, your panties on clear display as your nightgown twisted itself up into the sheets.

“Shit sorry,” he moaned out again, as you steadied yourself with hands on his shoulders.

“No, it’s okay, I didn’t move quick enough.” You quickly pulled your dress down again, and extracted yourself from the bed, lifting your leg up and off of him and finally pushing off the bed, leaving him sat there.

His hands fell into his lap and you started gathering things around the room, readying yourself for the busy day ahead.

“I have to be in the bridal suite at 11, so we have about… two hours to kill before then. Do you want to grab a shower first, or should I?”

“You first,” he mumbled quickly, before clearing his throat and trying again. “You should go first. You probably have more to do today, right?” You nodded at his words and made your way to the bathroom again. Out of the corner of your eye though, as you let the door close behind you, you watched his hands come up to cradle his flushed face, as he let his head fall back again into the pillow.

–X–

The morning was so busy after that, you barely had any chance to talk to Spencer again. You spent the early afternoon in the bridal suite with the wedding party, welcoming your new sister to the family, then made your way to the aisle space set up outside, checking up on last-minute details and helping to flower girls into position. You weren’t walking down the aisle yourself, but you could see that the extra help was letting the very stressed-out Maid of Honour get some well-needed respite. And more importantly, it stopped your wandering thoughts from letting you fantasize about Spencer.

You’d woken up in bed next to people before, of course, but it had never felt so comfortable. In fact, other people you’d slept with said you were pretty distant in your sleep, choosing to move as far away from physical touch as you could get, but you knew with no doubt that you had been the one to move in first, to touch him first. That he’d pulled you even closer had your heart singing, and you wanted to be wrapped up in him all over again, suddenly desperate to seek him out. So you distracted yourself, not wanting to make any mistakes you would regret when you were no longer wrapped up in your own fantasy.

So you kept your distance as the ceremony started. Then the wedding march was playing, and you were holding back tears as his hand slipped into yours, your head falling onto his shoulder as you watched your brother marry the love of his life.

You kept your distance as you reached the reception hall, watching all the old ladies on both sides fawn over him, asking him questions, and watching from his side as he blushed at the attention. You swept the hair out of his eyes as the couple was announced, and you took your seat for the wedding meal and the speeches, his hand falling to your back to guide you to your chair, pulling it out for you like a true gentleman.

You kept your distance as your new sister tossed the bouquet, and despite your low effort and the ravenous looks of the bridesmaids, it fell neatly into your hands as if it belonged there. You ran excitedly over to him to show him and he lifted you into a hug, caught up in your own excitement.

You kept your distance until you realized you’d not kept your distance at all, physically unable to keep yourself away from the man who had somehow stolen your heart in the middle of the night.

“I know that look,” your brother said, somehow sneaking up on you later into the night as you watched Spencer perform even more of his magic tricks for the smaller guests.

“What look?” you asked, not for one second letting your eyes drift from Spencer.

“You’re in love with him,” he said, taking a swig of the drink in his hand.

“He’s my boyfriend,” you said reflexively, turning to the drinks table behind you and picking up one for yourself.

“No, he isn’t. Or at least he wasn’t before this weekend,” your brother said, as your eyes finally snapped up to him.

“Oh, don’t act all surprised, Miss FBI Profiler. You may be good, but I’ll always be your older brother, and contrary to popular opinion, I do in fact pay attention to things.” You sighed and leaned back against the table.

“How’d you figure it out?”

“You were picking your nails the entire way through the reception dinner when the aunties were asking you about your relationship. You did that when we were younger too, when you tried lying to Mom and Dad about how I broke my wrist. Doesn’t take two PhD’s to figure that out.”

“Three.”

“Three what?”

“Three PhDs. He has three of them.” You sighed dreamily and ran a stressed hand through your head.

“He’s just my coworker. I didn’t want to disappoint Mom by coming alone after telling her all those stories, but now…” You tried to explain yourself but words were escaping you in that moment.

“You should tell him, trust me. He definitely feels the same.”

“How are you so confident about that? How did you manage to end up with all of the confidence between the two of us, when I can barely work up the courage to tell my own mother I’m still single?”

“Y/N, look at me. You got the brains, I had to have something. And no man flies to the opposite side of the country on a few day's notice for a girl who is just a friend, okay? That’s more logic than confidence, and that’s supposed to be your strong suit.”

You considered his words for a second, turning back to look at Spencer. Evidently, he’d finished his magic show and was beginning to say goodbye to the children, but he felt your eyes on him somehow and met your gaze. He brought his hand up into a shy wave before a little girl grabbed his attention again, and he looked at her seriously, nodding along to each word she was saying.

“Fuck, what do I do, I’m not good with… any of this.” You turned back to your brother, but he’d left you there, stranded in your own thoughts as you let yourself hope, let your brain dream that one day this would be your wedding and the man by your side would be Spencer Reid.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom request the presence of all the couples on the dancefloor for this next song.” You saw your brother again, next to his wife, whispering his explanations in his ear as she turned to look at you and winked as well. God, they were going to be a force to be reckoned with together now, you thought, as people started pushing past you to make their way to the dancefloor.

You recognized the song of course, and it was almost so on the nose you almost rolled your eyes. More Than Words by Extreme. Perfect.

“Y/N, may I have this dance?” He had somehow snuck up on you from behind as you watched your brother, and held his hand out to you. You put your drink down and took it, letting him lead you to the dance floor.

“I didn’t think you danced, Dr. Reid,” you teased him as he pulled you in, letting his hands rest on your waist, as yours came up around his neck, gently letting him sway you side to side in time with the music.

“I don’t really, but it seemed wrong not to,” he smiled. “I’m at a wedding, with the most beautiful girl on my arm, and the couple made it very clear that we should be dancing, so here I am.” You blushed at his words as he spoke. He removed his hands from your waist, instead grasping one of yours in his own as he pulled you closer.

You stared up at him with a soft smile for a few more seconds before letting your head fall back to his chest.

“I know I’ve said it a lot this weekend, but thank you, Spencer.” You said into his shirt, letting him hold you close as the song went on.

“You don’t have to thank me, Y/N.” He insisted, and you looked up at him again. “Actually… I didn’t exactly agree to this with the best of intentions.”

Your heart lept to your throat as you stared up at him, hoping that he would take your silence as a means to continue.

“I’ve been… I thought that maybe…” he struggled to get the words out, his face aflame with the effort.

“You promised me those coffees right?” He finally stuttered out, and you were left confused and a little disappointed.

“Yeah, Spence, it’s okay, I’ll get you those coffees for the month, just like we promised.” You couldn’t help the sad smile that played on your lips as you answered him, so sure that he was about to say something else.

“No, I mean… Y/N I don’t want the coffee. I want this. I want us to go home, and make everything that you made up come true. I want to take you on a date to that coffee shop. I want to be a boyfriend you can call and tell your mom about because it’s serious and it’s going to work out between us. I even… God, I even spent the morning looking up book fairs in New York City so I could make that come true as well,” he rambled the words out and you could feel the tears forming in your eyes.

“Spencer,” you said softly, trying to get him to focus on you, but he’d started speaking and he wasn’t going to be stopped so easily.

“And if any of that creeps you out, just say the word and I’ll never mention it again. Because I know I’m not good with this, and when I feel something, I tend to feel it overwhelmingly, and Derek tells me I can be really oblivious sometimes, which I don’t really get, but-”

“Spencer,” you put a bit more force into your words this time, punctuating them with a hand on his face.

“Spencer, kiss me.” And he does. He takes your head in both of his hands, and he draws you up to him perfectly, letting your hands fall to the lapels of his suit jacket as he steals your breath away one more time. The kiss is lingering, but short, and he hesitantly backs away, looking around to spot witnesses. But you don’t care and you pull him back down for another, and another, until you’re just two lovers on the dance floor that cannot get enough of each other, gasping for breath between chaste kisses as you let him hold you there, gently swaying.

“Spencer,” you whisper finally, forehead resting on his, as the song finally draws to a close.

“Yes?”

“Spencer, take me to bed.” You tell him, and he nods. He leads you over to the bride and groom where you offer each of them a hug and a happy future before making your excuses and running away with Spencer back into the hotel like two love-drunk teenagers, a mess of giggles and stolen kisses as you stumble up to your room for the second time that weekend.

But this time, you don’t hesitate, don’t pull away. He backs you into the door and you let him hold you there, his mouth on yours, your tongues entwined as he fumbles for his key card. You fall together into the room, laughing and smiling the entire way, not letting him escape your touch.

“May I?” He asks, playing with the zipper of your dress as you kiss his cheek, his jaw, his neck, anywhere you can reach, nodding and moaning your consent. The moment the zip is pulled down, he lets you go for a second, and the dress falls straight to the floor. You're practically bare in front of him, chest exposed, neck littered with the beginning of love bites that he’s about to absolutely build upon.

“You’re beautiful.” He says, softly, wrapping his arms around you again, lifting you up so your legs can wrap around him as he delivers one more soul-crushing kiss to your lips. Your brain is a mess of emotions, your only solid thought is that you will never let him go again. You both eagerly worked on unbuttoning his shirt together, a desperate mess of breaths as he finally laid you on the bed. His hand fell to your core, tracing a finger over your sensitive nub as you begged him for more, needing to feel all of him, to devour his very existence.

He pulled himself out of his remaining clothes, lips still attached to yours, climbing over you and holding you tenderly, his arms wrapping around your body as his legs came to settle between your own. Dropping his forehead to yours, he finally spoke again, his hand dropping between the two of you to line himself up.

“Is this… are you sure?” You heard the restraint in his voice, the desperation, the love, the overwhelming lust as he held himself back, needing to hear your consent.

“Spencer, I love you,” you whispered, and he finally pushed himself into you, joining the two of you together in a moment of bliss. You shared another sweet kiss, letting him swallow each and every one of your moans as he began thrusting into you, your hips rising to meet him in your delirious pleasure.

He whispered sweet nothings in your ears, brushing the hair off your face every now and again to tell you how beautiful you looked, and how well you were doing.

“You’re so perfect, Y/N, you’re doing so good for me,” he pressed kisses against your neck with each word, keeping his pace steady as you chased your inevitable high, already clenching around his thick cock.

“Spencer, I love you,” you let the words drop from your tongue like a prayer, repeating them over and over with each thrust as small tears welled up out of your eyes. He kissed them away from your cheeks, listening to each confession as your stomach tightened and your climax spilled over you. He grabbed your waist then, leaving one hand cupping and stroking your cheek as his own thrusts grew sloppy, finally spending himself fully inside you.

“I love you, too,” he whispered into you then, unwilling to let you go for even one second. You spent the rest of the night whispering the words back and forth to one another, waiting with bated breath for the fantasy to break, for the magic of the wedding to wear off.

It never did.

[arachine]

. . . 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 ! ˚₊✩‧₊

— pairing: ellie williams x fem!reader

general tags: college! au, established relationship, fluff, suggestive

content warnings: period cramps, reader is a baby, ellie is patient, kissing, allusions to sex, brief mention of dealer!ellie + not proofread and also not my best work bc i was in pain !

note: this is super self-indulgent bc i am, unfortunately, on my monthly, and so, i am making it everyone’s problem >.<

ellie’s annoyed. actually, she’s concerned—maybe, slightly, kind of more than that too, but right now, she’s annoyed. this wasn’t like you—not answering messages, not answering calls.

she’d understand it if you were busy, especially since finals season was steadily approaching as the days passed, but she knew you didn’t have any plans today. that much was confirmed the last time she’d spoken to you, which was, if she could recall (she could recall it perfectly), last night at 8:00 p.m.

future wife 👰‍♀️: gn baby, see you tomorrow for breakfast! get some sleep ok? <33

ellie: alr goodnight baby. i’ll come get you at 9 ok? don’t oversleep this time, wanna get some french toast before all the athletes take it :/

future wife 👰‍♀️: never gonna let me live it down, huh?

ellie: never!

future wife 👰‍♀️: god alr, i won’t oversleep!!! promise :3 now gn fr this time!!! gts!!!

ellie: ok bossy i’m going to sleep 🫡 love you

that was the last message she’d sent to you that night. this morning, however, she made an effort to send you a slew of follow-up texts before making her way over to your dorm:

ellie: good morning sexy, you up?

ellie: it’s french toast time ☝🏻

ellie: don’t tell me you’re sleeping…

there was five minutes sent in-between each message, and yet, still no response. that’s when she got the bright idea to call.

“alright, this should wake her up,” she raised the phone to her ear, pacing around her apartment while waiting for the line to go through. to her dismay, it rung a few times before going straight to voicemail—to which she almost got excited over because you’ve got one of those annoying ass voicemails that sound like someone picked up the line.

“hey […], this is (name). sorry you can’t reach me right now, but leave a message and i’ll get back to you as soon as i c—”

“fucking hell.” ellie pinches the knot between her brows and sighs, ending the call before voicemail you can finish your sentence. again, she calls, thinking this time you’ll answer, but to no avail. it goes right to voicemail.

“the fuck…” she doesn’t even bother leaving a message. beelines right to her closet and grabs her sneaks, a hoodie, and her wallet, then heads out of her apartment building and begins the trek to your dormitory.

when she gets there, she buzzes in with her student keycard, and pads right up to the security desk. just as she’s about to open her mouth, one of the guards sitting interrupts her.

“can i see your proof of residence, please?” he says blankly, raising a fig bar up to his mouth.

“randy, really? you know me, i’m here almost every other day—just without my girlfriend—who i’m actually here to see,” she raises a finger, forearms leaning forward over the desk. randy feigns indifference, and opts to stuff the last of his bar in his mouth.

“you’re not a resident here, ellie. sorry, but you know the rules.”

“how about you shove the rules up your a—actually, that’s alright. my buddy right here will sign me in as a guest.” she grins devilishly at the dark haired man across the lobby, blinking once, twice, before flashing him a smile.

“jesse! my life saver, my best-friend, my messiah, my—“

“what do you want, ellie?” he rolls his eyes, pulling out his student keycard to flash randy. ellie purses her lips as if she’s been found out, then pulls jesse aside by the cloth of his jacket. she leans in real close so that what she says is out of earshot.

“sign me in as a guest and i’ll give you free weed during your next visit,” she bargains, wiggling her brows like she knows the offer is too good to pass up. jesse doesn’t answer her right away. instead, opts to tease her. puts his index finger on his chin, and opens his stance as if he’s really mulling it over. ellie’s not impressed.

a beat, then, he shrugs, mumbling a quick ‘better keep your word williams’.

ellie grins, something real big and cheshire-like, because she knows him. who’d be stupid enough to pass up free weed? exactly, no one. especially not a stressed college student, that’s for sure.

“thanks man, you’re really doing me a solid, you know,” she pats his back, to which he mutters a knowing ‘yeah, yeah, whatever’. she watches intently as he signs her in under his name, then makes a face at randy when she hands over her student keycard for him to keep.

“see ya later rand’!” the auburn haired girl says with the flick of a hand, turning the corner of the desk to get to the elevators.

“yeah, whatever.”

. . .

once the elevator comes to a halt on your floor, ellie gives jesse a final thank you before departing. as she walks down the winding hallway, she can’t help but to think the worst. what if you were unconscious? what if you’d been axe-murdered? what if you’d been kidnapped? all very unlikely, she knows, but not impossible.

when her mind sifts through a few more frightening scenarios, she realizes she’s already made it to your door. should she knock? she feels like she should knock, but then she figures if all her previous attempts to wake you up were unsuccessful, then who’s to say a few measly knocks would do the trick?

she decides against it. instead, she unhooks her carabiner from her jeans and fiddles around with her set of keys until she finds the spare you’d given her. until now, she’d never used it. the day you’d given it to her, you’d told her it was strictly for ‘emergencies’, and what better time to use it than now? this was surely an emergency, right?

the door unlocks and she immediately goes to twist the knob, pushes the door open and then shuts it closed behind her.

“babe, you here?” she calls out, walking through the kitchen, “you alive?” turns down the hall, “you in one piece?”

a beat. silence—save for the heavy padding of her boots as she makes her way towards your bedroom. the door is cracked open, just by a sliver, but she can see—or at least somewhat make out—the beginnings of a sleeping silhouette.

she pushes the door open and ambles to your bedside. you were fast asleep. curled up into a tight little ball with the duvet pulled up to your chin, and a mean little pout on your lips. it was adorable, and it made ellie’s heart twang with relief. at least now that she was able to verify your safety, she could forget all those terrible thoughts that she was getting herself all worked up over.

“hey, sweet girl,” she cooed, brushing the pad of her thumb over your cheek. your brows cinched in response, but you didn’t move. not even an inch. “baby,” ellie drawled in a sing-song voice.

she let her hand fall from your cheek to your back, and she rubbed it in slow, steady circles in an attempt to rouse you. after a while of this—a combination of her rubbing and cooing—you started to react.

“mmm,” you groaned, curling your knees up higher, “it hurts.”

“what hurts? what’s wrong?” opening your eyes, you were able to pair the voice of concern with a familiar face.

“ellie? what are you doing here?”

she lets a small chuckle escape her lips, then raises a hand to rest atop your head.

“what am i doing here? what are you doing here? had me worried sick about you,” she smooths a hand over your head, “missed our breakfast date.”

sighing, you slap a clammy hand over your head, then reach over ellie to grab your phone from the nightstand.

ten messages. three missed calls.

“god, i’m sorry, bellie. took some midol and melatonin last night so that i could beat these cramps, but i guess they worked a little too good, huh?”

“yeah, you nut.” she takes a glance at your nightstand and picks up the bottle of pills, shakes them around before settling them back down. “how many did you take?”

“just two…maybe three?” ellie’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“three? babe, these are 500 mg. why would you do that? the bottle says take two every six hours, and here you are taking more than the recommended amount, on top of taking melatonin,” she chides, though, it’s more out of genuine concern than it is her actually being upset.

you laugh at your own expense, but it’s short-lived because a second later, you’re clutching for your belly and writhing in pain.

ellie sighs, kicks her boots off and fully climbs up onto the bed and under the covers. once she settles into a comfortable position, she pulls you into her side.

“i know, baby, let me take care of you,” she strokes your back soothingly, “but next time, please don’t take that much. were you planning on sleeping forever?”

“maybe.” you jest, snuggling further into her warmth. admittedly, mixing both of those drugs was kind of stupid—maybe really stupid, but in your defense, you were in pain!—and really desperate. when you have cramps this bad, sometimes death sounds like mercy.

“oh, yeah?” the laugh she lets out is a deep rumble, and you can feel the vibrations of it as you lay on her chest. it’s soothing. a remedy that you should’ve utilized sooner, and you would’ve, had you been in the right headspace.

“mhm…” you purr, looking up at her, at her lips. ellie scans your face for pain, then dips down and pilfers a kiss from your lips. it’s slow, and sweet, and ends far too soon for your liking. before she can pull away, you tug her by the collar of her shirt. look up at her with pleading eyes, and fist it tighter between your knuckles.

“more,” you drawl, pulling her back down to meet your lips. she indulges you, because of course she does, and pushes you onto your back.

“thought,” a kiss, “your,” another, “cramps were bothering you?” she queries, breathless as she holds herself up above your sprawled out body. she thumbs with the hem of your shirt, waits expectantly for you to answer.

“they are,” you say, “so why don’t you make ‘em go away?”

and what kind of girlfriend would she be if did otherwise?

© arachine 2023

[love4norris]

THE SWEETEST TORTURE

episode one : | wishing

ೃ༄ pairing: lando norris x gbsf!y/n

ೃ༄ summary: where her best friend gets a girlfriend and she cant help but despise her and all of her perfectness

next part

ೃ༄ warnings: my first fic! sad ig?? yet to be proof read!

“They are so cute, aren’t they?” Your best friend shared his observation, the pair forced to witness as Lando pulled her in closer, any innocent air particles being crushed in between their bodies.

“So cute.” You response had been dunked into a tub of jealously before making it past your lips, the now usual emotion leaving a burning feeling behind in your throat.

“I need a relationship like them.” Max continued the unwanted conversation, his words plunging the knife deeper into your heart. His obliviousness was something you used to enjoy but all you wanted to do at this point was to complain to someone, for someone to validate your feelings on how this girl who was made of angel dust was making you feel. It felt as though they were out to get you with the affection they had decided to share with one another this night, their relationship no longer being one with privacy, not that they seemed as though they cared.

Your eyes stayed on them, a pool of emotion filling up to your irises, mouth slightly agape as words started to push past the barrier you had been spending months building up, every slight tinge of jealously you felt adding yet another brick.

“What do you actually think of her?” The words had ultimately made their way into the world and yet had found a polite way to phrase themselves.

“They are about to move in together.” His response brushed passed your question without a care in the world, instead opting to open up a whole different conversation.

“Really?” The regret that you had even bothered to ask began to forcefully join your bloodstream, making you feel lightheaded at the thought you could be caught out.

“Yeah, you didn’t know?” Max asked, a minuscule amount of surprise briefly painting his inquiry.

“I guess he’s been super busy.” The only reaction you could muster up the energy for was walking away, a heaviness weighing onto your hand as embarrassment gripped onto it just to make sure it could follow you around the busy room. A celebration for the finishing the F1 season on a good note having no lack of people.

Multiple shots had been picked up and thrown down your throat by the time they could walk over, her faultless, straight teeth on full show.

“Y/n! How has your night been so far, my friend?” They were the very first words the two of you had spoke since two days ago. A silence fell over you, wrapping you in a warm yet not comforting hug. His request for the idea was pushed further with an eyebrow raise.

“Great! So much fun.” You deceived the pair by simply twisting every sensation your brain had created into a more favourable one.

“Wow, I love your dress.” Lacy pointed out, her free hand flowing graciously through the air so it could land near your dress, her other arm being wrapped around Lando’s torso.

“Thank you, I could say the same about yours.” The drinks began to kick in but still had a hesitance towards the chaos they could insinuate.

“Congratulations on moving in together by the way! Really amazing and a very important part to your relationship!” Your last words fell from your lips in a soft, slurred muse, a hint of melancholy filling your tone. Lando’s eyes tore away from your figure, your deepening gaze that had been shared between him and his girlfriend getting too much for him.

“I didn’t know you knew!” Lacy remarked with a tight lipped smile, the sadness not falling lost on her ears.

“Have you guys found an apartment yet? I remember how hard it was to find the perfect place in Monaco.” Your eyes moved away from Lando’s instead finding a home in his girlfriends.

“I know right! It’s impossible but we are trying, we are thinking about me just moving in with you guys for a little bit if you don’t mind, of course?” The mirth that had joined her words was painted across her smooth skin.

It shocked you, the fact that Lando and her had even discussed this. Her moving into your apartment, her infiltrating the one place you felt safe. He knew how you felt about things like that, you had spend countless night ranting to him about it and him, you.

Words began to claw their way up your throat, the scratch marks they were leaving allowing the vodka to seep into your skin. A barrel off then pushed against your lips, your stomach turning inwards in a gagging movement.

“Excuse me, sorry.” You called behind your retreating figure, the hand that once was heavy with embarrassment now freed so it could push open the venues side door.

The snow was yet to fall over England but you could feel the cold, bitter air latch onto your skin. A light fog of winters breath coated the darkened. It’s rightful shade of blue being stripped too the point where it left a canvas of black in its place. Your chin was planted upwards staring up towards the melancholy heavens through the slits of your eyelids you had left open, the footsteps you were making leaving nothing but destruction on the brittle and cold soil.

Her eyes were as white as daisies, yours red and brushed on with a old and used up paint brush, the streak marks it had made being as bold as the veins that sat underneath your skin.

You could feel her compliments like bullets on skin, her unrivalled beauty causing so many problems in your once peaceful life. For you watch as they progress through the relationship leaving a faulty in the wake.

She had managed to get the one thing you ever wanted in life within the span of couple days and because of that, it felt as though her actions were filled with a poison. The kind of poison that was jealously.

“I thought you would be out here.” His response rolled from his lips as if it were a part of the trickling wind passing by. The air smelled of his cologne, the sharp scent being plastered into your memory.

“What was the reason?” It was startling the way the words managed to be comprehensible, the sudden breath you had let out previously obviously being their way of escape.

“Pardon?” His question wasn’t because he didn’t hear rather that he couldn’t make sense of it.

“What was the reason you couldn’t tell me about you guys moving in together. I don’t think I’ve given you any. Have I?” They dipped from your parted lips with hesitance, the response you were wishing to hear not being one you were ready for.

“You are in love with me. I couldn’t do that to you.” His hands were warming in his coat pockets, his carelessness with the sentence being shameful.

Perhaps it was the way your head instantaneously snapped in his direction or how the words you were yet to say after so long leaked into your eyes that gave him his answer. But you somehow know he had gotten answer to the appalling statement.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” You whisper with a sharp intake of breath, although the cool oxygen never came close to your lungs, your throat putting up a defence mechanism.

He paused his actions, his eyes slowly crawling back to yours before returning to cracked pavement. The winters cruel elements didn’t help with this situation and nor did your decision to not being a coat out with you.

“You don’t tell me anything, you ignore my texts for days straight, you stand me up on a weekly basis and then you have the nerve to accuse me of such a thing.” Your voice broke beneath the strength and heaviness with your words, landing in a crumpled up pile beneath your feet.

“I have a girlfriend now, I can’t answer every call and text you send me. I don’t have time for movie nights and all of those traditions we started when we were twelve. Okay? We are not kids anymore y/n and some of us have full time jobs and busy lives. And I am trying, I am trying to keep our friendship going so you can’t knock me down when I am trying my hardest.” He defended himself in a spiral of hurtful words, making a slight mockery of you inability to have a good and stable social life.

“I don’t expect you to. I expect a text to say you aren’t coming to dinner so I am not sat alone in a posh restaurant waiting and waiting. That is not trying your best Lando, that is barely the bare minimum.”

The world fell quiet again, immersing you in a void of silence that was so strong it began to shake your body. With Lando standing next you, his broad figure looking so lost amongst the mixture of trees going on behind him. The area that once seemed so large had shrunk remarkably in size, leaving no gap for you to escape from this nightmare.

“What dinner?” He questioned, the inquiry bringing him closer towards you so he could fully assess your reaction to his words.

A scoff fell past your lips, the wind quick to snatch it from in front of you and run away with it.

“Don’t do that, don’t act all innocent. I can’t do this with you tonight.” You shook your head, in denial about this whole situation. It felt as though you were stranded at sea, in a abyss of uncertainty whether you would live or do. Exhaling a deep breath that froze before you, the strength to begin once again evaporated. “I can’t do this today.”

You repeated in a hardly audible whisper, using it as an excuse to excuse yourself yet again. Lando was quick to react to your movements, his fingertips offering you the warmth you had been craving. The world stopped then and there, you awaiting a reasonable response, a reasonable argument to your previous statements but nothing appeared.

His knuckles wrapped so tightly it caused a bleed of a ghastly white to flush across them. Lando’s lip parted, preparing themselves to say something that would stop you from leaving him but the only thing that slipped past them was a loud sigh.

“I’m going to go now.” You stated, brushing your fingertips gently across his to get them to unravel from your bare arms. The escape you had been so gracefully offered was not one you would ever deny again.

[foreverisntenough]

‘OURS’

Summary: You were his and he was yours but what would it be like adding one more? Thrust into a whirlwind romance you never could’ve imagined that became your forever love. You continue building a new life across the pond with a very beautiful Scouser. A sequel to the ‘You’re Mine’ fic.

INDEX

Warnings: This series will contain fluff, suggestion, smut (unprotected sex,) pregnancy, parenting, self doubt, body image, mention of the word ‘daddy,’ kind of angsty, alcohol consumption - not sure what else really… if i miss anything please lmk!

Note: Thank you for reading! Please be sure to like, comment, or message me what you think of the series! Try not to nitpick with any real pregnant/ baby logistics it’s better if you just read along happily :)

Chapter 12 - Mwah | ‘Ours’

You were thrilled when you found out Liverpool’s preseason was going to be in the US this summer. You practically screamed when Trent told you. You were so excited to have an excuse to go back to New York. You’d get to see your family, you’d get to tote Teddy around back where you grew up. It was just a perk this trip would happen to coincide with his work. It would be amazing to have your parents around Teddy for a bit as well.

Before preseason officially kicked off leaning into the end of July, early August, you spent the weekend out at your parents house out in Montauk, New York. You and Trent were really happy you’d get one last bit of time together before the season began. Being back at your parents place made you miss it a little. Home was England now. Home was wherever life took you with Trent and Teddy but a small piece of you still missed this place. The big open beach that had a different scent than the ones in the UK, the way the sun shone a little brighter, a little warmer on the horizon. Any case, you were glad you at least got this weekend to spend with your whole family and show Teddy the place you spent too many summers.

“Mmm C’mere baby.” Trent hummed pulling you into him in the bed you were sharing. It was funny staying in your childhood bedroom with him. Okay, it wasn’t really your actual bedroom it was your bedroom at your beach house but regardless he liked being able to get to know you a little more through it. Trent liked to explore what you had kept hidden in your desk drawers, finding little niche things that made you you, made this your space. It was nice but it was also practically being rubbed in your face you were at your parents home and not your own so you felt like you had to behave. Trent’s family was definitely more relaxed. Chill, if you will. They had rules of course, no messing about, but it was still a family of boys, whereas obviously you were a house of two girls growing up in Manhattan. Dianne sometimes would tease you saying she’s glad she got you as her daughter later in life. She wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Boys were easier. Her boy currently wanted to be easy for you.

“T” you sheepishly giggled. “We can’t. My parents are literally right downstairs.” You whispered as if you were 16 and you had snuck him in without them knowing.

“They’re watching a film. You’re in bed with me so why are you worried about them? Worry about me and taking these clothes off for me.” He cooed as he dragged the strap of your silk tank top off your shoulder. You felt a shiver run down your spine in the best way.

“T! Please.” You let out a harder laugh amused by his advances. You pressed your palm against his chest pushing him away from you slightly.

"Mmnnmm.” he hummed dismissing your rejection. He was obsessed with this moment. The dark room only lit by the moon out over the ocean seeping in through the window. Your soft skin against his, the feeling of drowning himself in your scent. You were going to have to really convince him this was a bad idea to get him to stop. “Don’t be so scared, baby. Give me one kiss and then decide.” He cooed, brushing some of your hair behind your ear. His eyes fell into the pleading puppy dog look you couldn’t say no to. He kissed you and you moaned into his mouth almost immediately loving the feeling of his lips on yours and the sensations running through you from the second they connected. You pushed your hips greedily into his.

“Okay, okay. You win.” You sighed into him. You dropped your hands over his shoulders and bent your elbows back to drape your hands to come grip his hair. You pulled him into you for a deeper kiss. You gasped a little as he pulled your top further down exposing more of you.

“You’re perfect, baby.” He flicked his eyes between yours, your lips, and your tits indecisively. He couldn’t decide where to fixate first. You let out a desperate moan when he finally landed on your tits brushing his thumbs over your nipples. “Shhhh. You need to be quiet. Yeah?” Trent hushed you when he heard the creek of someone walking up the stairs. You giggled, not interested in his request, too caught up in what he had started and proceeded to pull at the waistband of his boxers.

“Y/N… are you awake?” You heard a voice from behind your closed bedroom door. Trent pulled your top back over your chest to your displeasure. He got out of the bed abruptly and pried the door open. You were surprised he went so quickly but you watched as he leaned on to the door frame. His back muscles looked stupidly sexy. Winnie was behind the door. “Not Y/N” She laughed a little seeing Trent answer opposed to you and then a little more when she assessed both of your states. You were wide eyed and Trent was impatient with her wanting to get back to you.

“No, not Y/N.” Trent confirmed he was in fact not you. They conversed longer than you thought they would Trent, biting at Winnie’s proposal if you wanted to go to the beach tomorrow so they discussed plans at length before he returned.

“Let me take this beautiful baby girl. Should we make you a big breakfast?” Your mum was quick to pluck Teddy out of your arms. You had woken up early in the morning and carried her downstairs. You loved that she connected so well with her but it also confused you in a way. Watching her be so maternal, so nurturing and careful, none of the things she was with you. As your mum watched Teddy, you hopped upstairs and dragged Trent out of bed. It was obscenely early but you were running on borrowed time. His season began in a matter of days and you wanted to spend time with him. You put on a jumper of his and a tiny pair of shorts and insisted he went for a walk on the beach with you. Your house was on the coast next to a resort you remember not remembering so many nights spent there growing up, sneaking drinks with your friends. It was funny you and Trent had sort of the opposite trajectories. You were carefree and relaxed when you were young and now grew to be more rigid and organized. Trent was the reverse, now calm and easy going but grew up diligent and committed.

“I had my first kiss there.” You laughed strolling on the shoreline, recalling a boy you think was shorter than you force his tongue down your throat behind a cabana. You filled Trent in on that tidbit of your life pointing in the general direction of the scene of the crime.

“Don’t tell me that!” Trent scolded you looking at you like you were crazy. He could believe you just told him that. You’ve had this conversation once before and only once. He wanted to know everything but just once.

“Trust me I’ll remember what you tell me.” he confided in you that there wasn’t a shot in hell he’d forget the names of the people you were about to rattle off who had touched you, gotten to be with you.

“This is dumb! You have to tell me then as well.” You asked not wanting to expose only yourself. Telling a partner about previous relationships was always a tricky situation. You had to know. It wasn’t like you had met as virgins but you were adults. You had to be honest, you wanted to be honest with each other it just was scary.

“You really want to know?” He asked interested in your answer but slightly falling into a feeling of anxiety about having to tell you. Trent was… well he was a young footballer on a big stage to say women flocked to him was understatement. It was something you were definitely aware of and made you nervous but at the same time the thoughts of telling him about the unmentionables you’d done with stupid mistakes like Chase was not exciting.

“No, not at all. I guess I should though.” You looked him dead in the eyes and he regretted starting the conversation. He didn’t feel as strong as he usually did around you. He felt weak like you had the power all of a sudden.

“I was 15, relax!” You laughed pinching at his side. He gripped your wrist fast. He was so agile it caught you off guard.

“Don’t tell me that either! You have never kissed anyone but me.” He teased and pulled your body into his. His eyes narrowed looking at you seriously. You ran your palms over his chest draping them behind his neck scratching his scalp gently. You could feel him relax under your touch yet simultaneously go stiff trying not to get too turned on in public.

“Whatever you say” you pressed your lips to his. He hummed at the taste of your kiss. Trent secretly, or not so secretly because he’d told you before but, really liked knowing you had some sort of wild side, maybe daring. You’d commit to things. Him being one of those things. You spent 5 days straight with him right after you met. It was all very instinctual. You just grew up completely differently and yet you fit perfectly together and he loved that about you. He remembered on your first date being slightly bothered that he couldn't open wikipedia and read more about you. He wanted to know you intimately. He wanted you to read him a biography about your life, the sound of your accent hitting against his ears all night.

“Ran from the police once here too.” You giggled and his face contorted, shocked at your admission. There were still bits and bobs of information you didn’t know about each other, of course. You could never truly know everything but you had gotten close to that. Trent definitely didn’t know this piece of information though. You broke out of his gentle hold. “Didn’t catch me though.” You yelled, beginning to run away from him down the empty beach. He chased after you as you ran

“Come back here. Think you were really gonna be faster than me?” He caught you quickly grabbing onto your arm. You stumbled a little not able to catch your balance on the shifting sand and his hold dragging you backwards.

“I am faster than you!” You giggled out of breath falling into the sand pulling him down with you.

“You’re not but I love you despite your flaws” he teased, pinning your arms down to your side. Your heart faltered a little at his aggression. There were moments with Trent when he was unintentionally very sexy. He’d forget how strong he was, how weak you were in comparison.

“My flaws! What happened to ‘you’re perfect baby?” You asked breathing heavily beneath him, widening your eyes mocking his accented words. He hovered over you. He looked perfect as the morning sun rose up over the horizon reflecting onto the water and splashing onto his golden skin.

“You are perfect.” He kissed you. “You’re beautiful.” He kissed you again “You’re not very fast” he kissed you with a slight laugh and your lips curled into a smile as you shook your head at him. “And you’re all mine.” You let him rest his body weight on you, pressing you into the sand. You squirmed a little beneath him as he persistently smothered you with kisses all over your face

“I love you so much, T.” You cooed sincerely. Meaning each word that fell out of your mouth.

“I love you. You've changed my whole life.” He whispered, moving his lips only millimeters away from yours.

“You are my whole life, baby.” You took a deep breath feeling his big hands on your hips push up the bottom of your his jumper. He dragged it up over you until he could see the bottom of your lacey bra peeking out. He kissed up your stomach, slow, dedicated, but also almost harsh. What he left behind were the signs of him, shiny spots caused by his warm spit. It was weird as you felt a memory of your first night together come rushing back. Like you were transported onto the hotel bed of the room you were in at The Plaza. You remember the feeling of his foreign lips on you, the ones you knew so well now like it was yesterday.

“God, please” he moaned. This wasn’t even directed at you, he just wanted some higher power to let him have you. You didn’t smile at him. Tears fell over your waterline. Your heart broke at the rant. He looked panicked. He looked distraught over how he felt. You wiped at your face before he took over slowly catching any tears.

“I didn’t really anticipate making you cry in bed. Not this way at least” you slapped at him gently, a smile starting to form. “Please” he softly begged you. You nodded wholeheartedly.

You should’ve known you’d fall for him then and there. You cried on your first date. Normally, you would’ve been mortified if that had happened and yet with a new stranger you felt completely safe. You wouldn't even call it a first date. It was like 7 in a row; dinner, the bar, the cab ride, the bedroom, the club, then the bedroom again. You laughed thinking how insane it was that he really did mean what he said, that he knew what he wanted, how certain he had been. You laughed recalling it all in grave detail.

“What are you giggling about, huh?" He interrupted your reverie. You looked up at the cheeky smirk appearing on his face as he watched you try to compose yourself under him. You pushed him away playfully trying to get out of the emotions that were crashing over you right now. It was too early to be that sentimental.

“I think we should get married here. What do you think?” He asked laying down next to you in the sand. He rested his head on your chest and slid his hand down to hold yours.

“Yeah… I think I’d fancy that. When?.” You asked him with a smile, liking the idea a lot. It hadn't really registered or settled in yet that you actually were going to get married, you’d have a wedding, so the exact location or date of it definitely hadn’t been thought about too much.

“Whenever you want. I’ll be there waiting.” You pouted at him. How did this stuff come out of his mouth? It was like he had it all rehearsed, like you were in a simulation being played and you loved every second of it. You laid there for a little longer before he pulled you up. “I am marrying a felon. Who knew?” he laughed.

“No. I told you, they didn’t catch me, remember?” You giggled in response but you fell into a comfortable silence after.

“What for…?” Trent asked and stopped walking, needing to know more. Needing to read the passage of your Wikipedia that broke down a run in with the law.

“It was stupid. Someone had thrown a party, there was underage drinking and a lady called the cops. I didn’t want my parents to know I was out so I took off.” you shrugged. His brow furrowed confused. “It’s really not a big deal here, honest. It's common, I think?” You tried to rationalize with him. He was quiet for way too long racking his brain. It’s not like he didn’t have fun growing up or have a drink before he was 18 but the police felt… intense. “You’re making me feel bad now!” you quipped.

“Well, you ran from the police!” he laughed, letting go of your hand and draping his arm around you.

“Oh well, not all of us are beloved local lads the police would let go are we?” You teased him. He knew what you were referring to. Trent would be lying if who he was hadn’t gotten him out of trouble. He told you about a few times where he had been pulled over driving by the police but they let him go after he simply took a selfie with them. His jaw slacked offended you’d bring that up. You nuzzled your face into his arm starting to feel almost dizzy by the whole conversation. “Do you still love me?” you sheepishly whimpered.

“What?” he shook his head at you confused laughing. “Obviously. What are you on about? I just asked a question. Of course, I love you.” he quipped before he abruptly grabbed your face with one hand. He pushed your cheeks together, pursing your lips for you. He smashed a wet kiss against them. You pulled away with a shy smile. His stare blank. “Got it?” he asked seriously.

“Got it. Jeez!” you laughed, wiping your mouth of some of the wetness that remained. He just rolled his eyes as you walked back inside the house.

You got ready to go to the beach later on in the early afternoon actually in bathing suits this time with Teddy and Winnie. Your sister sat on a towel and complained to you about how stupid some boy was dming her that Lauren was trying to set her up with. You lazily lounged on Trent while Teddy sat on his chest. He haphazardly held her. She occasionally would just topple over onto him still working on her balance but eventually she was definitely doing it on purpose, loving squishing her face against Trent’s warm skin, hearing his laugh, his chest vibrate and heart beat as his big hands kept her secure on top of him.

“You can never DM anyone, alright?” Trent cooed at Teddy, resituating her up right as she giggled, before falling again wanting to continue her game with him.

“DM all you want, Ted!” Winnie rebutted Trent’s rules. She gave him a smug smile he was annoyed at.

“Go on Ted!” You just spurred her on. Teddy squealed, hearing her name getting exciting. Her little hands grabbing eagerly at Trent’s face for a kiss. She had recently learned how to purse her lips, coming to understand that it would result in a kiss for her. She loved it. She loved the attention, she loved the sound, a giggle following every single one. Trent kissed her identical pout.

“Can mummy have one, please?” You asked her for a kiss, envious of the one she gave him. You squeezed her arm gently to grab her attention. You pushed your lips out towards her. “Mwah!” You made the sound she couldn’t get enough of. She laughed and wiggled trying to get to you. You dragged her off Trent’s chest into your own. She nuzzled her face into you comforted by every little thing. The way you smelt, the way your skin felt, your familiar heart beat. She calmed as you kissed her head. “My Teddy bear.” You squeezed her a little tighter to you. Trent pinched your arm to remind you of this moment that you definitely did know how to make her very happy.

“She’s happy right?” Speaking of a daughter's happiness, your mum asked your dad back at the house looking on, able to see your little family from afar as they sat by the pool.

“She’s never been better. He takes care of her.” Your dad reassured her watching you kiss Teddy laying on Trent.

“I’m surprised you took such a liking to him. If he wasn’t on the team you support would you’ve?” Your mum teasingly asked your dad. It was a joke but she was also a little curious as well for his answer.

“Don’t be silly, I genuinely think he’s a good kid. Good head on his shoulders, good family, good values.” You dad reaffirmed his stance that Trent was good for you. “Could be different though if he played in Manchester but...” Your mum ignored his dig at other teams, keeping her focus on you.

“They’re good with her.” Your mum admired you and Trent playing with Teddy. “I just want her to be happy. It felt like she never was when she was here.” She remembered life before you moved, before you met Trent.

“She was… she just needed to find her place. Her person. We all eventually find our way to them.” Your dad cooed, squeezing your mum’s hand from his lounge chair.

You came back to the house as the evening sun sank down. Winnie running with Teddy back to the house in a fit of giggles in her arms. You trailed slowly with Trent holding his hand inspecting his newly tanned golden skin. You shuffled up the steps and turned on a spout to wash the sand off your feet. Trent turned on the water inside of the outdoor shower next to it.

“C’mere” he dragged you in after him. “You look so good today.” He purred beneath your ear. His plump plush lips ghosting over the sensitive skin of your neck.

“Yeah? I thought I caught you staring” you turned away from him pushing your ass against him. His hands drifting around you slowly one gradually come to paw at your boobs. You shut your eyes in pleasure. You rolled your head back onto his shoulder.

"Nah, me staring at you. Never." His dark, brown eyes bore up into your closed ones and you breathed in heavily feeling his hands glide over your skin. His free hand ran down your side sliding under the tie of your bikini on your hip. It was subtle yet it had your heart racing. Watching his fingers run over your body as the water cascaded down with them felt pornographic. He moved his hand from your tits up to cupped your jaw. He tilted your head awkwardly and harshly to look at him. It made you gasp a little as he pushed his hips into you further. You could feel his hardening cock. You flashed your eyes at him and it only got harder. Your lust filled gaze sent sinful thoughts barrelling through his mind.

“Y/N L/N! That boy is not your husband yet. I better not be seeing two sets of feet in that shower.” Your mum yelled out clocking that you two had come back to the house, were nowhere to be seen, and the shower was on with two familiar pairs of feet in it. All thoughts were halted the moment you both heard her voice.

“Sorry” you sheepishly apologized strangely embarrassed by her call out. You kissed his lips, peeling your body off his. Your mum was ‘old school’ in an ironic way. Like she picked and chose when she wanted to implement those values.

“Nah, I have you for the rest of my life. Not worried.” He whispered before one final kiss.

“Mum, they have a baby…” Winnie laughed carrying a pitcher of margaritas out onto the deck with one hand, Teddy in the other before passing her off to your dad.

“They can have 10 babies, Win. We still don’t want to know it’s happening” your dad chimed in situating Teddy on his knee as she smiled oblivious to the nature of the conversation about her parents. You timidly got out of the shower pulling Trent behind you. He held your hands behind your back and rested his head in between your shoulder blades childishly hiding from your parents. “Trent, my boy, I love you but keep your hands to yourself.” Your dad quipped and you wanted to die. Trent held his hands up in innocence taking a step away from you. It wasn’t the first time Trent had encountered a protective dad but it was different with you. He had good banter with your dad but really respected him and listened to what he was asking because he respected you. “I want that signed license before I’m holding another one of these.” He voiced in a serious manner asking for the marriage certificate before you had a second baby. You couldn’t quite tell if it was laced with any humor as you watched him kiss Teddy referring to her as ‘one of these’ loving every second of her. You grabbed Trents lips and pulled him into a kiss. Your hands cupped his cheeks. His lips were warm and soft. A shock of electricity ran through you being so bold to kiss Trent in front of your family. Your parents groaned. Trent held his hands up again not touching you reinforcing this wasn’t his move.

“Oh Y/N, really?” your mum quipped. Winnie booed. You giggled and shrugged then went to pick up your baby girl.

“You introduced me to him. Your own fault. ‘Oh you’d like him.” You mocked the words your dad once told you whilst watching a Liverpool match pointing out Trent to you on the TV.

“And I appreciate it.” Trent said, running a towel over his tanned skin. He dried himself off before he wrapped the semi damp towel around you and Teddy. Winnie took a photo of your bundled family engulfed in his arms and terry cloth on her film camera.

“Win, I want that one. Send me it when you develop them.” Trent asked after hearing the shutter go off. The sun went down, drinks were poured, and the fairy lights illuminated your dinner table. “They taste different here, swear.” Trent explained to Winnie that he genuinely believed burgers taste different in New York. She wasn’t sold on his rationale so they rambled on back and forth debating the unimportance. You caught Trent smiling at you though mid sentence as he watched you scarf down your food relieved you were eating. He winked at you and you had to put your head down you felt so flustered.

“Any plans about the wedding yet?” You mum asked eagerly. It was driving her nuts you hadn’t begun making any concrete plans.

“Think this morning we decided we should maybe do it here” you cooed to no one in particular at the table but then looked at Trent to confirm the decision. You mum sat up a bit straighter and began to rant to you about contacting all these events planners and contacts she had in the area.

You and Winnie exchanged your typical look, the one exchanged your whole life. The ‘mum is fucking nuts.’ one, you knew well. You wrapped up dinner and you put Teddy down for sleep. You were sitting on the couch watching a film with Winnie. You were cuddled up into Trent when you got distracted watching the veins of his hands move as he rubbed over your skin. Your heart started beating faster as you tried to reclaim your focus but you couldn't. He was the only thing on your mind now. He caught your quick side eyed glance towards him before you attempted to follow the movie again. With the hand he was stroking you with he squeezed you. It took you by surprise because he did nothing else, didn’t even acknowledge you or look but it set something off. You wanted him to pay attention to you. Sometimes with him you’d get a feeling like you were just meeting again. Like you wanted to impress him, get him to like you all over again, make him want you.

“Do you really have to leave tomorrow?”. You whispered in his ear before you dropped your head into the nape of his neck, your lips gliding down his neck.

“Mmmhmm” he hummed as he rolled his head to the side to give you more space to run your soft lips over. He closed his eyes, lost in the moment, losing all hope at following the plot of the movie anymore.

“Are you sure?” You gently pushed his t-shirt up with your palm and slid your hand across his abs. The feeling of your lips on his neck and your nails dragging across his skin dangerously close to the band of his shorts had his heart rate speeding up.

“I’m not so sure right now.” He quietly told you. He took control of the situation quickly just the way you wanted him to. He turned his whole body towards you completely ignoring the movie and the fact that your sister was about a yard away. “I’m not sure I can leave this mug of yours.” His eyes narrowed and scanned over your features. He flashed a devastating smile watching you trying to suppress the smirk blossoming on your face.

“Can you guys not… I get it, you're engaged. I am single.” Winnie stood up annoyed. You giggled hiding in Trent’s neck, embarrassed almost forgetting she was in the room.

“Oh, Win! I’m sorry! Finish the film with us” you called out to her as she stormed off in a huff before stopping in her tracks.

“No, no, I’ll leave you to it! Also,” she flashed her glare from you to Trent. His eyes widened, surprised she was mad at him and he was being included in the sisterly spat. “You give Lauren fucking Jude Bellingham… and me, nothing. Jude Bellingham.” she threw her hands at him.

“I don’t think I exactly gave Jude to her, did I?” he quipped back and she feigned a face as if she was less than impressed. She started to laugh though unable to hide a silly smile on her face trying to commit to her theatrics. This was quintessential Winnie. She thought this was very funny. Trent knew her well but not the way you did, of course. Not the years of her creating these situations out of thin air. For Winnie, taking a bit or a tease too far was a thrill. She loved to overreact just to grab people's attention only to drop it with a giggle. It was a bizarre yet endearing power trip.

“Winnie!” You yelped her name before falling into giggles yourself at how ridiculous her claim was, very aware this was one of her ‘performances.’

“There’s 26 players on a team and you’re on two! Club and Country” she gestured to two different spaces in front of her with her hands spelling it out for Trent. “I’m only asking for one man.” She rolled her eyes at the stunned look on his face. She walked out of the room.

“I can’t tell if she was serious or not… Am I meant to set her up?” He said to you louder than he thought he did. Winnie’s voice echoing a ‘yes’ that made its way back to the living room where you were as she made her way down the halls away from you.

“You asked if I had to leave…you gonna miss me, baby?” Trent asked, a few minutes later, gently grabbing your jaw. The way his eyes looked into yours made you feel special. Made you feel love and then lust.

“Yeah, T. WIll miss you and this cock” you boldly stated. Your words drenched in neediness as you leaned forward to slide your hand over the bulge that had been tenting in his shorts.

“Mmm yeah? Show me then” He instructed you and your eyes lit up with greed. This was a terrible idea. Your dad would murder both of you, your mum would have a heart attack, Winnie might vomit but he looked so good and you were going to miss him… and his cock… for the 5 days you were about to be apart.

“Can you be quiet for me, baby?” you asked with feigned innocence in your eyes as you lowered yourself toward his length.

“I’ll be good.” He stroked over your cheek as he watched you lick the tip of his cock. He let out a moan, feeling your tongue graze over the slit leaking pre cum. Your eyes widened looking up at him annoyed because he literally just said he’d be quiet.

“Sorry, sorry. Start again. I’ll be good. I promise.” He tried to convince you. You ran your hands up his strong thighs as you licked his length from base to tip, not totally convinced by his promise but you didn’t care now that you had a taste. Desperate for more of him. Desperate to make him feel good. “Such a pretty girl, yeah?" He praised you in a whisper as you flashed your glossy eyes up to him. All you wanted was for him to tell you how good you were for him. He breathed deeply watching you trying not to make a sound. He didn’t do a great job but at least his words of encouragement were whispered. “That’s so good, baby, fuck. Keep going.” he quietly groaned. He tucked wisps of your hair behind your ear stopping your constant need to move your hair away from your sticky lips. He threw his head back against the couch cushion in pleasure at your movements. He ran his hand over his hair. The air had gone thick in the room. It was hard to breathe all of a sudden for both of you for different reasons. “Baby” he grunted at a normal volume warning you he was going to cum. He unraveled quickly to your delight. You clasped your hands around the backs of his knees, slacking your jaw just that much more for him to take all of him sucking in your cheeks as he released.

“Good?” you giggled after you swallowed, pulling yourself up using his thighs. He nodded out of breath. Eyes closed and head resting back onto the couch coming back to reality slowly. You climbed up on him and straddled over him. You slid off your shorts and to Trent’s surprise you weren’t even in panties. He just blew air out of his mouth amazed by your figure over him. Your tiny white baby tee clearly worn without a bra, nipples very out, and your pussy on full display for him to admire.

"You wet for me?" He asked and you nodded. You got wet just sucking him off and he knew that. He ran his fingers through your slick folds.

“Tell me what you want me to do, T” you whined, getting desperate for more. He was teasing you, giving you enough to lose your composure but not getting close to your entrance or clit.

“You’re gonna take my cock.” He demanded and you smirked and he began peppering kisses over your jawline. “and you’re gonna take my cum.” You aligned yourself with his already rehardened length. You sank down slowly not having his usual help preparing you for his size. You let out a whimper feeling the leaking tip of his cock burying himself inside your pussy. He began languid but purposeful thrusts up into you. He immediately felt you clench tigh around him as your jaw slacked and your brows pinched adjusting to his length. “So good f’me always.” he stoked your cheek with his thumb while his other hand held your helping you move on top of him.

“Please, T, I want to make you feel good. I want to be good for you.” Your words went straight to his cock. He smiled. Even in bed you were always well mannered. He loved when you begged for what you wanted. You liked T being in charge in the bedroom. You were politely submissive. You both were mindful you had to be quiet though so your words were hushed but they were potent. You both wanted to be good for the other. It was apparent with every deep upwards thrust of his and every merciless roll of your hips. It was all so needy and desperate.

“Oh fuck, baby. You make me feel so good. I want you to cum on my cock. I need to feel you.” He tried to whisper but his pleads were hard to keep in check with his shuddering breath as you were working on top of him. You both were climbing to your highs. “No one else will ever be able to fuck you ever again. No one else could ever fuck you the way I do.” He muttered into your neck trying to muffle his voice as he huffed.

“Nuh uh.” You moaned. You placed you mouth against him to quiet the volume of the sounds you wanted to make “Oh god, only you T. You forever. Only want you always.” Despite your dickmatized haze you genuinely meant that. You only wanted him to fuck you forever. Your thighs began to quiver.

“That’s right. Good girl. My girl.” He bit onto the most sensitive part of your neck he knew drove you crazy. “Absolutely no one else.” You picked up your pace even though your legs were aching, you wanted more of him. His breaths were hot against your skin, audible. You rode him for ages on the couch in pure euphoria. It must have been almost over any hour. You were surprised no one had come down stairs but were more relieved than anything else.

“I love you” you let out the most sinfully innocent moan in his ear. A sound he wanted to keep forever. His soul was completely in your grasp. The way you sounded and felt right now was his heaven. You pulled away and looked at him with twinkling eyes and he pushed up into hitting a spot so deep you had no other option to then fall into an earth shattering orgasm. Your face fell onto his shoulder biting him to not make a noise. He kissed your cheek repeatedly as he continuously thrusted into you as you attempted to move. White hot pleasure spread rapidly through your core. Seeing you cum always tipped Trent over the edge.

“I love you, baby. Gonna fucking cum inside my pussy, yeah? This pussy’s just f’me.” He confirmed his possessiveness over you and you loved it nodding eagerly. His drew his face into your neck and let out a strained moan as he thrusted up a few more times before he filled you up. Your eyes rolled back and closed. His cum leaking out of you more as you bounced on him a few more times helping him ride out his high, fucking his cum deep inside of you untill he was empty. You fell onto his chest heavily breathing tucking into his neck hugging him desperately.

“Let’s go to bed, hmm?” He asked quietly after you both had begun to calm. You pulled your head off him and looked at him so exhausted but with a glow he loved. You were the pretty girl who took everything he gave her just now but also the pretty girl he was unequivocally in love with

“I can’t feel my legs” you whined with a pout. You felt like you’d be given a lethal dose of euphoric pleasure.

“Oh, my poor baby.” he teasingly cooed, pressing his lips to yours gently. He picked you up sweetly and he wrapped your legs around his waist for you carefully as he carried you back to your bedroom.

Trent had to be at Liverpool’s team hotel tomorrow so he was out the door early. They had a game at MetLife stadium which is in New Jersey but it's for New York sports for context. It was kind of cool. Weird to be in an NFL stadium for football. It just gave off a different vibe. It didn’t feel right but it was more like exhibition games, upcoming season preparation.

“For youuu.” You cooed handing your dad the new LFC kit for the season as you got into his car. You were going to the game with your dad and Teddy. You had driven to the stadium with him from your beach house. Lauren and Winnie were also coming but they weren’t as fussed about the actual match. A lot of people you knew in Manhattan or just in the general TriState area were going to this match because it was an opportunity to see Premier League teams play and party. What was a little funny about it being in America though was that there were tailgates for the game, like it was a US college football game. Lauren and Winnie were within that group. People from college and friends you had from growing up all going together to get drunk. The football match was a second priority.

“You’ve got to come to more matches with me, dad.” You told him as you got to your seats just as the warm-ups for the game were beginning. You watched intently and more closely than most people do enjoying the sleeveless warm up gear Liverpool had on due to the summer heat. Trent looked particularly good, freshly tanned and toned.

“Gotta invite me.” Your dad cooed. “Isn’t that right Teddy girl? Don’t you want mummy to invite Pop Pop over to come see you?” He picked her up. She looked adorable in your opinion. She had on this season’s newest jersey freshly pressed with ‘daddy’ on the back. Bittersweetly for you, you had to get a bigger size now that she was getting older and growing. She had on white ruffled shorts and white adidas samba trainers that had red stripes. You sat through the match constantly having to point daddy out to Teddy. She was way more in tune with what was going on now. She could stand on her own for a few seconds before you’d have to help her. She could point and clap a little bit so games were all that much cuter now. As the end of the 90 minutes approached you got a notification your flight had been moved and you began to panic. You hated when plans shifted. Minor inconveniences really rattled you. The final whistle blew you were able to meet Trent but you were stressed and worried about finding a fix to your flight dilemma.

“My baby bear!!!! Did you have a fun time? Did you clap for dada with mama?” Trent asked, scooping Teddy out of your arms. You just smiled at them scrolling through your phone incessantly. “Hey… you alright, baby?” He looked at you and grabbed your chin with his free hand and lifted it up to make you look at him. He knew the face you gave him well. You were stressed. He knew your brain ran a million miles and hour. Very very different to his but he liked to help you, to help you settle it. “Baby.. take a deep breath for me. What’s going on?”

“Our flight got canceled or moved or I don't know and I have bad service and I need to make sure we get back because Teddy has her check up scheduled at the pediatrician and I already moved it once, and…” you babbled insistently.

“Baby….” Trent cut you off in a soothing voice. It felt like you were the only people in the room for a moment. His calming persona just wafted over you. You dropped your shoulders and took a deep breath in and exhaled it out your nose. Teddy tried to imitate the noises and breaths you took quite funnily. So both you and Trent laughed. “Good girl” Trent cooed to Teddy first. “Thank you.” He kissed your forehead and his hands that were resting on your hips crept up your torso raising the hem of your shirt slightly. “I will fix the flight for you. I’ll handle it, okay? You’ll make the appointment. It’s gonna be fine. Promise.” He kissed your lips this time. You you closed your eyes as your mind settled until you heard an ‘mawf” type noise from the cute little girl in Trent’s arm who was pursing her lips towards him waiting for her kiss from daddy.

You sat in a lounge type area after the game because Trent had a bit of free time and was allowed to come and hang out for a bit. So with him, your dad, Teddy, and a drunk Lauren and Winnie you all caught up.

“How’s Marce?” Lauren leaned forward inquiring about Trent’s brother. Winnie eyes widening with a smile knowing all the dirty details. You were close in age so you did a lot together but after you moved Winnie and Lauren met up more often just the two of them. You were happy they got closer but every Instagram story on a night out you couldn’t be at always made you a tinge jealous. If you and Lauren were trouble, her and Winnie were like hell on wheels. They were playing with fire anywhere they went.

“No, we’re not doing this again.” Trent responded, moving his gaze off of you and Teddy momentarily to look at her. Trent loved Lauren and just was joking but definitely didn’t want things to go any further than they had in the Marcel, Jude, Lauren triangle from Greece.

“Laurennnn” You palmed your forehead. “Laur is silly, huh?” you cooed in a baby voice to Teddy. It was a habit. It just happened, it was your life 24/7. You were a mum. Trent hummed concurring with you wiping his thumb over Teddy’s lips.

“No. Laur is not silly, Teddy girl.” She addressed Teddy but threw a glare at you then flicked her eyes back at Trent. “I asked how your brother is… is that suddenly a big deal?” She quipped back knowing very well her sentiment in asking was laced with a million different innuendos.

“It is when you kiss and tell, Lauren.” Your dad chimed in from his seat further down the table you were sitting at. You laughed hiding in Trent’s neck not knowing he had been listening to the whole conversation. Laurent rolled her eyes at your dad playfully.

“Lauren, you can’t just get with all of the men we have on deck.” Winnie looked at her with glossed eyes, still fairly drunk. “I mean, it’s not like T is helping me with who he has on any roster but…” she quipped with a laugh.

“Men on deck? Roster? Win… They are people and my friends. I'd like to keep my relationships with them and with you two if you don’t mind. Lauren already made her bed.” He rambled back at her with a smile teasing them both but also attempting to justify why he hadn’t set her up.

“They were good in bed though” Lauren chimed in. Trent made a face like he was gonna be sick.

“Ignoring that.” he looked at Lauren then back to Winnie. “Besides, I’m not just going to parade around every dressing room I’m in ‘Lads, anyone want my fiance's sister?’ Am I?”

“Well, you should. What picture do you show when people ask what I look like?” Winnie leaned forward asking both you and Trent.

“Teddy, please ignore everything that is coming out of the left side of the table’s mouth please.” Your dad piped up again. The chaotic conversation continued and definitely didn't get any better when Dom came over to grab Trent to leave. Winnie practically drooling. You said goodbye to Trent with a crying Teddy and it broke your heart. It was always the worst. She’d be okay but she also didn’t understand why daddy had to leave. Trent was knee deep in the few more days of preseason but did fix your flight issues the night after that match. You had to get back to your house, your dogs, your life, and your appointment for Teddy. You flew home with her and way too many bags you assured Trent you could handle but regretted it now. Thankfully you had some help from airport staff but it was still exhausting. You needed to sleep on the flight but had to wait till Teddy was out and even then you could only lightly sleep in case she needed something. You held her against your chest and she was good. You felt like she was getting alot more attached to you. Like something clicked, she felt like you were her home and being attached to you was the safest and comfiest place she could be. Even though she weighed a little more now and it was hard having someone glued to you all the time, it was a nice rewarding feeling.

You stood waiting for your Uber outside of arrivals at the Manchester airport with Teddy and the too many bags you promised you could carry. One of your suitcases tipped over as you attempted to wrangle them all.

“Uh Oh!” you cooed to Teddy making a surprised ‘o’ shape with your mouth and she lit up. She attempted to imitate you. It wasn’t great but it was cute nevertheless. “Yeah, Uh Oh! Teddy” You said once more but in your head you were actually saying ‘shit, shit, shit.’ You leaned over with teddy in your arms and saw a masculine hand grabbing the handle of the luggage before you could. He picked it up and you stood up straight again and looked at him.

“Oh wow… Thank you” You said inspecting a oddly familiar looking face. He was an older man but well kempt, dressed really nicely too.

“Not a problem. Visiting for long?” He asked politely clocking your American accent and what felt like 100 pieces of luggage around you.

“I guess you could say that, I visited a couple years ago… never left though” you candidly explained with a smile. You readjusted your hold of Teddy. You were focused on her but you could feel his eyes examining you.

“Have we met before?” He cooed, taking a closer look at Teddy and then you. Recognizing both faces in different ways almost perplexing him more.

“Hmmm” You thought for a moment. “You know what? Yeah, I think we have. I met you at the end of Liverpool’s last season a few months ago. My fiance introduced us. I believe you know him.” You responded recognizing that you had met this man at the party the club had thrown directly after the final match.

“I knew that face looked familiar. An Alexander-Arnold a mile away.” He cooed. He was talking about Teddy, of course. You hummed politely. “I’d love to talk to you sometime…” He continued talking. You paused a little confused what he was asking so you waited for him to say more. “ I am a lifelong fan of the club but I really work for Condé Nast and I’ve been wanting to do something to better understand the inside. What makes them tick?” He explained but it didn’t really give you any clearer idea of what he meant.

“Makes them tick?” you asked him, still trying to wrap your head around what was happening, while watching your baby, whilst looking for your Uber. You were slightly overstimulated but you were listening best you could.

“Your fiance. How do you make it work? It’s a weird dynamic I imagine. You make their world go round but you have your own life, your own interests. You're not out on pitch on match day. They come home to you, a valuable human, so who are you? I want to know about you." It was strange to hear someone speak about a relationship he didn't know anything about so honestly and almost insightfully like he already knew.

“You said Condé?” You asked just trying to organize this whole thing. You had worked with some of their publications before you moved and dabbled a little here and there after you did but not much anymore. You knew enough about the company though.

“Mostly GQ and Vanity Fair. In fact, that's where I met Trent first. I heard he was coming in for a shoot when a kind editor tipped me off that a footballer from my beloved club was coming in.” He spoke like such an old man, he had grandfather vibes in the best way. It felt like you were talking to stylish Santa in a hilariously endearing way.

“Oh, amazing. Well, I don’t know. I’ve never done any sort of official interview or thing in the public” you babbled starting to feel awkward. This was really uncharted territory. He gave you his card. You inspected it closely. God, this could all be some sort of ruse but it seemed legit as you read it time and time over again. ‘Bentley Brown’

“If you’d ever want to, I’d love to meet you again sometime for a tea or a pint and tell you more about what I think we could do.” You just nodded. “Lovely to meet you both. Best of luck with the season.” You stared at the business card for days after on your dresser in your bedroom. You’d never thought about people wanting to interview you. You’d had a career before and you had an instagram following now but that wasn’t anything official or noteworthy worth being published in print.

•

Thank you for reading! Please like, comment, or message what you think of the chapter … 🤍

Next part - Chapter 13 xx

[showtoonzfan]

Hey it’s been a bit! The Mammon episode finally came out, so here’s my review!

Pros:

- The sign language scene was cute. Kinda weird that a kid was seeing a show that was clearly for adults but I love me some representation so it gets a pass.

- Despite Blitz not really needing to be in this episode, I thank god he had little screen time and more time was dedicated to Fizz.

- The fish ladies (despite having wonky color palettes that made them EXTREMELY hard to look at) were cute.

Cons:

- Mammon is so flat and uninteresting but I don’t know what I expected from a creator who always hypes her characters up that always end up being one of the three go-to personalities she picks for her male characters. In Mammon’s case he’s just a loud mouth cursing bum so way to ruin another Deadly Sin and make them boring af, moving on.

- I don’t like how Mammon and Fizz’s relationship are similar of Val and Angel’s, Viv keeps recycling stories, characters and plot lines ect, it makes Angel’s story for Hazbin really predictable/underwhelming and not exciting to look forward too especially since we already have the “mafia bad daddy” aspect to him too that they pulled for Moxxie. I guess the idea of Mammon being a controlling ruler is fine on paper but not much is done with it, Fizz just quits in the end like it was easy with zero consequences so what was all that build up for.

- Fizz himself once again feels REALLY out of character, he’s just too soft compared to how he was introduced in season 1. He’s constantly nervous in this episode and insecure, as well as walking on eggshells, and even in Oops he wasn’t THIS sensitive. I’m all for characters struggling and being kicked down but it has to make sense and not feel forced, and once again it feels like Viv is trying way to hard to make the characters she once introduced as snarky assholes to uwu innocent babies. I refuse to believe Fizz was actually INTIMIDATED by this random geeky imp who insulted him, as well as the fish ladies whom he was weirdly nice and welcoming to. It’s also weird seeing how uncomfortable/nervous he was around his fans when I thought the whole point was that he LOVED praise and loved being famous, at least that was season 1 Fizz. Now he feels retconned. Seeing him say “I just need this gig” is weird too, the explanation to why he went through all of this makes no sense, Fizz still has Ozzie and is famous in the Lust ring, and I understand Mammon is his idle but to go through all that abuse for so long for something that could have been so easily avoided feels forced to fit the plot, but it also makes Fizz look dumb.

- There’s confusing lore stuff regarding Mammon and Ozzie, and it makes me realize that Viv should have picked ONE storyline aka ONE Seven Deadly sin to go with Fizz’s story because this is getting mixed up. Fizz acts like if he looses this completion, he looses everything, which confused the heck out of me because no he wouldn’t have? First of all, Ozzie is a fucking powerful sin, how would you loose him? Second, from what we know from season 1, Fizz is a jester who performs at Ozzie’s club. It was Ozzie who built the sex robots across the rings of hell, NOT Mammon, and in season 2 we see that Fizz is under Ozzie’s care and lives in his house. Yet for some weird reason Mammon also represents Fizz and uses him for profit, but it’s not really explained in a way that makes sense, like Love’s art had said in her Fizz redesign video, Fizz’s job is really confusing on what exactly he does. Having both Ozzie and Mammon represent him overcomplicates things and the show did a poor job at explaining how this goes.

- Once again Viv dumps trauma and struggle onto her characters without building it up first. When did Fizz ever give off the impression that he was being controlled or abused, or even that he was so insecure and constantly walked on eggshells to be perfect. In Oops he was happy to be in the spotlight and happy to get the attention, he bragged to Blitz about how successful he was. He seemed happy to perform for Mammon and talked of him highly, and now you’re pulling an Angel Dust situation where he’s expected to be perfect 24/7 and it gets to him emotionally, while also being someone who’s physically and mentally abused. Yet another season 2 episode that wasn’t planned, same as how Millie wanting to feel important wasn’t planned, same as how Stolas seeing Blitz as genuine love wasn’t planned. Different episode, same issues.

- I’m so done with the Hell lore bro, this place officially has no rules and demons can just do anything without consequences. There’s no class system, there’s no rankings, there’s no power dynamics, screw anything that Viv says. There was no fucking reason why Ozzie and Fizz’s relationship needed to be a secret. There was no reason showing Ozzie threatening his workers to not tell anyone about his love life if he was just going to admit it to EVERYONE THE NEXT EPISODE IN FRONT OF ANOTHER SIN ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME— what was the POINT. What is the point of Stolas and Blitz’s conflict. What is the point of Stella being classist. What is the point of these class systems and rules if you can just announce that you technically broke a hell rule and no one gives a fuck and you get off scott free. Mammon telling Ozzie “you’ll regret that” like a cartoon villain doesn’t do anything either. What is he ganna do? Tell Lucifer, the character that canonically won’t appear in HB because the sins won’t appear in HH? If Lucifer rules over the sinners, who the fuck is in charge for the rest of Hell. Where’s the authority? And Mammon is just ganna come back for another episode to give the gang trouble cause lord knows we don’t have enough fucking villains already.

- It feels weird that Ozzie would just sit back while someone whom he knows is a piece of shit is treating his loved one badly. I get he was concerned but you’d think one of the seven deadly sins would have more power and authority.

- I was expecting some big gross bug-like thing to appear when Mammon was transforming into his final form, only for it to the exact same design but with small extra eyes and a spider lower half that isn’t even visible in most shots….GOD VIV.

Watching this episode also made me remind myself that this is supposed to be Hell. Seeing Fizz feel better and stand up for himself was sweet but these soft lessons and morals don’t belong in a show like this, and it’s extra aggravating regarding Viv’s double standard, how she can just pick and choose which characters she wants to be evil and which characters are saints. Overall not anywhere near the worst episode of season 2, but I am officially done with Helluva Boss so-

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 9 thoughts:

thought i might miss rhaenyra & daemon & co in this episode, but there was enough tension and drama that i honestly didn’t and i think it was a good choice to have the whole episode be centered around the greens.

i do have to admit i’m a little amused that the way they stretched out the green council plot was by having people run around king’s landing looking for aegon. an egg hunt, one might say…

olivia cooke was absolutely FANTASTIC in this episode she did such a good job of showing how alicent was pulled between her love for rhaenyra and what she thought was her duty.

rip lyman beesbury you spent most of your screen time talking about boring finance stuff but you were a real one when it counted.

let out an actual flinch when they mentioned storm’s end and lord baratheon’s unmarried daughters. if you know you know.

helaena with her bug embroidery was so cute.

i don’t know who in this fandom coined the phrase “mommy’s favorite war criminal” in relation to aemond and alicent but i am literally incapable of not thinking it when they have a scene together now, so that’s your influence.

rhaenys was such a badass in this episode, i love her very much. her scene where she told alicent that she wasn’t seeking freedom but rather to make a window in her prison wall … oh hell yeah it was everything i wanted someone to say to alicent.

the whole otto vs alicent plot was SO good i am ready for their relationship to fall apart. alicent calling him out for manipulating her whole life was incredibly satisfying, i’ve literally been waiting all season for it.

criston cole saying all women are made in the image of the mother and they should be treated with reverence … i believe that’s what we call irony.

i enjoyed aemond complaining about aegon and how he should be king instead, it was a great insight into his character. also, aemond targaryen canonical nerd.

i do have to respect mysaria for just being totally on her own side with her own agenda and willing to support whoever will further it.

her stuffing aegon underneath the sept to keep him safe was honestly kind of hilarious.

aegon running away from his coronation was a bit funny but mostly just very sad. he doesn’t want it! he doesn’t want to be king! this whole tragedy could have been averted if not for the forces pushing him around!

the fight between aegon and aemond WAS extremely funny though. the hair pulling, the spitting, the rolling around on the ground shouting … peak sibling behavior.

as a twin i greatly enjoyed the building tension between erryk and arryk and their conflict about serving aegon, it’s going to lead to so much drama.

i could have lived a long and happy life without seeing that scene between alicent and larys. but unfortunately i have seen it. and now i must life with the trauma.

big fan of how completely dead-eyed and miserable aegon looked during the coronation scene, props to tom glynn-carney for his acting.

the scene with rhaenys and meleys bursting through the bottom of the dragonpit was extremely cool and i was rooting VERY hard for her to murder aegon even though i know it wasn’t going to happen. your dragon stepped on a bunch of people what’s torching one guy after that!

category 5 event imminent i spy aemond taking off his eyepatch and vhagar up to no good in the trailer for episode 10. 

literally since the moment this show was announced i have been steeling myself to see That Event at storm’s end adapted and now that we’re almost there i would like to publicly announce that i am still! not! ready!!

[im-sleepdeprived]

Seasonal • Pt. 2

pairing: peter parker x reader

summary: inspired by the taylor swift song ‘peter’ where you and peter discover just how hard it is to hold on to something from your past, no mater how much you love each other

a/n: things are progressing :)) right now im picturing this series as 5 parts, also i’ve been getting tons of requests and TRUSTTTT that as soon as this series is over I’ll be working on those🫡

warnings: none really, some (lots) angst, some pining, there are some time skips both forward and backwards and I don’t have them marked (sorry !) but theyre pretty easy to spot imo, healthy family relationships :(

masterlist, read part 1 here

You blew out a breath as you set down the last box. “Ok, I think we’re done sweetie,” said your dad from his spot across the room. 

You collapsed on the bed, exhausted from hauling boxes into your new dorm. The place you’ll be living for the next school year. “Your mom’s already in the car, said she couldn’t handle this part.”

You sat up and smiled. “Yeah, I don’t know if I can either.”

Your dad chuckled. “Come here kiddo.” You stood up and walked over, your dad pulling you into a warm embrace. “If you need anything, just let us know, we’ll be here faster than you can blink.”

“I’ll be okay,” you whispered. 

“And…try to make friends honey. It’s a new place, new people. Get out there, okay? Promise me you won’t just lock yourself in here all the time.” 

“I promise,” you pulled away. “I actually have an orientation to get to in about an hour, I’m sure I’ll meet tons of people there.” 

“I love you,” he squeezed your shoulders for emphasis. “I know this was hard for you, breakups-”

“Dad I promise I’m fine.” You didn’t want to talk about this at all, let alone with your father. 

He stared at you for a while before seemingly giving up. Your dad let out a sigh, “Fine. But if you decide this isn’t for you, if you think college completely sucks I’ll come pick you up in a heartbeat.”

You smiled and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, Dad. Tell Mom I love her.”

“Will do kid,” he ruffled your hair. “Now let me get outta here before I start sobbing.”

You laughed and gave him one last hug before waving him off. You fell onto your bed again and let out a sigh. Across the room stood another bed, empty. For now. You hadn’t met your roommate, and you didn’t really want to. You weren’t in the mood for introductions and small talk. You weren’t even sure if you were up for going to that orientation you’d told your dad about, it was recommended, not mandatory.

There was only one person you wanted to talk to, whose voice you craved to hear. The problem was, it was the one person you couldn’t call. 

Columbia definitely wasn’t going how you thought it would.

Your first week flew by, you’d met all of your professors and for the most part, they were all pretty nice. You’d even made some friends; a girl named Marissa and another one named Lola. You’d met them both at the freshman orientation andthey were really sweet. You ended up going after your dad had sent you a little reminder (you wondered if he had known you were lying) and you figured it couldn’t hurt. They were nice enough people and it was good to get to know your peers. Your roommate, Lindsay, had come in on your second day, but apparently, she was dating some dude who owned an apartment right off campus and she spent most of her time there.

Clubs and all different frats and sororities were camping out in little booths all around campus trying to get new members. Seeing the photography club’s booth sent a sharp jab of pain through your heart every time. It was even worse when you realized one of the biggest photography classes was in the building right next to the English building, which is where most of your classes would be taking place. For your whole time there. 

It was one day a couple of weeks into your classes, you were exiting a class where you been debating whether it was better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. Some students were talking privately, but the teacher had overheard them and made it a class discussion, exclaiming that she thought it was 'a trendy enough subject to raise engagement and break the ice’.

Then as you stepped out of the doors to your class, a flyer flew in from beside you and landed right at your feet. When you picked it up you realized it was a flyer for the annual photography competition. It was actually a pretty big thing around here and you’d heard a few students talking about it. 

You didn’t usually believe in signs but these seemed pretty clear. 

Without overthinking it, you pulled out your phone. 

hey

saw something abt photography and thought of you lol. how are you hows school so far ?

You bit your lip in anticipation. You weren’t expecting him to reply right away but…you were nervous he might not have even replied at all.

He was the one who’d said maybe no contact for a while might help, but he’d also said you could call him whenever, and he’d be there for you, no matter what.

i was just thinking about you

The words made your heart skip a beat as you saw them sprawled across your screen. 

school’s great, still trying to get the hang of things but it’s gotten easier

my roommate’s kinda boring, but maybe that’s for the best. he could be a crazy person

You laughed until another message showed up on your screen. 

how’s columbia? is it everything you dreamed it would be?

no of course not. we were supposed to go here together, we were supposed to BE together. i can’t go anywhere without thinking of you and all i want to do is call you and hear your voice and for things to be okay between us again. 

But you couldn’t send that. 

yeah ! it’s great but like you said, lots of adjusting haha

are you happy?

And you weren’t sure what it was exactly, but something about that text made you tear up. Were you happy? The answer should’ve been an automatic yes, you’d gotten into your dream school after stressing all year about it, you had got the classes you wanted, and everything was seemingly fine. Great even. But you couldn’t shake the hollow emptiness you’d been carrying since graduation. 

You’d gotten what you’d wanted, yes. It just wasn’t how you’d imagined it. 

yeah i am :)

glad to hear it ace

look ive got to go i have a class starting. talk to you soon

bye pete

bye

It wasn’t normal. At least, it wasn’t your normal and you hated it. But maybe now, it was.

Your heart raced when you saw the notification. You were so close to tapping it, reading the whole thing but you held back. Columbia’s acceptance emails went out today and you and Peter were supposed to open yours together. 

You were waiting for him on the fire escape bouncing your leg up and down anxiously. Checking your phone for the time again, you decided you’d just call him. 

“Hey Ace,” you heard his voice through the speaker, along with an array of other noises. 

“You’re out. Are you out? It’s okay, we can talk later.” You replied quickly. 

Peter chuckled on the other end. “No, it’s fine. I’m just swinging.”

You frowned. “I thought we agreed, no swinging and talking. You get too distracted Petey.”

“No you agreed Ace, I just politely listened.” You could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Peter,” you said in a warning tone. 

“Sorry, sorry.” He laughed. “I’m on my way.”

“Oh?”

“Duh. I know what today is, I got my notification. I’m almost there.”

“Have you checked?”

“‘Course not Ace,” he chuckled. “Have you?”

“No, no way, of course not.”

“Great, I’ll be there in five.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” you pulled the phone away to hang up and you could hear his protesting. Quickly, you yelled into the speaker, “Watch where you’re swinging babe!” And you hit the red button. 

He always said he preferred swinging on call with you, but there’d been too many close calls of him almost swinging into a building or in front of a car for you to be okay with it. 

Sure enough, in almost exactly five minutes Peter landed on your fire escape, feet on the ground, perfectly contact. 

“Good, you're here.” You rushed over and pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek as he swiped his mask off. 

He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, “Thank you for waiting Ace, I’m sure it must’ve driven you crazy.”

“No, I’m good.” You said too quickly to sound true. 

He laughed. “Okay,” he pulled away and gripped your shoulders. He shook you slightly and grinned. “Let’s do this!”

You sit down on the floor cross-legged and unlock your phone. Peter followed suit as you stared at him. You both pulled up your applications, ready to see the change in your status. 

Accepted or denied. 

A new door to your future, either opened or slammed in your face.

“Ready?” He asked you gently. 

“Yeah, are you?”

He nodded. “Okay on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

You clicked. You almost didn’t want to read and you were sure if Peter weren’t there you would’ve stalled a little more, but the words were in front of you now. 

Dear Y/N Y/L/N,

Congratulations! It is a pleasure for me to inform you that you have been accepted for admission to Columbia College.The faculty and staff would like to commend you on your past accomplishments, which formed the basis of our admission decision in a highly competitive pool of applicants. We look forward to working with you in your future academic endeavors. Please visit the Welcome to Columbia website at:

You stopped reading. Your mouth hung open and you couldn’t believe it. You kept rereading that first sentence over and over as if it would morph before your eyes and call you out for believing it in the first place. 

You looked up. Peter had a similarly awestruck expression on his face as he met your eyes.

“What does yours say?”

“What does yours say?”

He laughed. “Nuh-uh. I asked first Ace.”

Silently, you hand him your phone, letting him see for himself because you can't even form the words. You got in. 

It didn’t take him long, probably only reading the first few words before he put the phone down and pulled you into a tight hug. 

“I’m so proud of you Ace,” he whispered. “See? I told you you’d get in.”

You squeezed him. “I love you so much Petey, but come on you need to show me yours, s’only fair.”

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled into your hair. 

Your brows furrowed. Why wouldn’t he want to show you? It would only make you happier to read his acceptance letter as well. You pulled away and reached for his phone on the floor. Peter didn’t stop you. 

Dear Peter Parker,

The Committee on Admissions has carefully reviewed your application to Columbia University, and we are sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you a place in—

You couldn’t believe it. You read it over and over and over again. Never once in a million years did you think Peter wouldn’t get in. The boy was a fucking genius and you couldn’t believe they would reject him. 

“Ace it’s not that big of a deal, honestly-”

“What? Of course it is,” you looked up at him, anger coursing through your veins. “They’re fucking idiots. They’re pieces of shit and this,” you held up his phone, “this is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever seen.”

He cracked a small smile. “Actually, that’s my phone. With you on the lock screen mind you.”

You weren’t feeling it. “Peter, they suck.”

“Obviously not if they accepted you.”

“Nuh-uh,” you shook your head quickly. “I don’t wanna go.”

“What?”

“No,” you shook your head some more. “I don’t trust people with such terrible judgment to lead me into my ‘future academic endeavors’. I don’t trust those little shits at all.”

“Ace come on, you don’t mean that.” He gave you a look. 

“No, I totally do. Actually, I might just-”

He cut you off, leaning in and pressing a kiss to your mouth. But just as soon as it’d begun, it was over. Peter leaned back, “That always works whenever you’re too worked up.”

“Peter,” you said, and your voice sounded defeated. 

“Ace listen to me,” he cupped your face and stared straight into your eyes. “You are going to go to that school, and you’re gonna love it. There is absolutely no way I’m running this for you.”

“You’ll ruin it by not being there,” you mumbled.

“No, I won’t. Because you’re going to be too busy blowing everyone's mind and being the absolute best version of yourself that you can be.”

You laughed softly but it held no humor in it. “But we were supposed to go together.”

“But that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it without me. So what if I didn’t get in? I applied to other schools, greatschools. And if I really feel like it, I can always transfer, it’s easier that way isn’t it?”

“And what about us?” You bit the inside of your cheek anxiously. 

“Nothing’s gonna happen to us Ace,” he smooshed your face making you laugh. “Just because we aren’t going to the same school doesn’t mean we have to break up.”

It felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. You weren’t aware of just how terrified you’d been for the future of your relationship until he’d said that. You know people had little to no faith in high school relationships but…something was different about you and Peter. You were sure of it. You’d get through this. 

You made your way through the halls. You were in an old building, one of the campus’ firsts, and you were on your way to the newsroom. Today was your first official day and to say you were nervous was an understatement. You knew how serious this was, they were the second-oldest college daily paper in the country, and they didn’t just let anyone onto their team. You were ready to prove yourself and prove that you’d be a great addition to the news staff. 

Also, you needed something that would get you to stop thinking about Peter. You’d talked a few more times after that first week, and it was always you who initiated your chats. They never went past simple hey’s and how are you’s and then one of you (usually Peter) had to run off. It was so strange for you to think that once you two could’ve talked about nothing and everything for hours and now you could barely get past simple greetings. 

You stopped in front of a door, checked the number beside it to make sure you had the right one and took a deep breath before turning the handle. 

You heard all the commotion before you saw it, confirming your suspicions that this was the newsroom. Before you, the room was filled with desks, each one supporting its own computer and keyboard, most of them filled. Some desks were neat and tidy, their chairs empty, looking as if they hadn’t been touched. Others were the complete opposite, you couldn’t see the surface of them, they were covered in stacks and stacks of papers, loose pencil shavings, and various other items. 

There was a whiteboard on the same side of the wall as the door and it was almost completely covered in lists, locations, and time stops for certain activities. There were copies of different editions of the paper framed and hanging on the wall. You smiled, this was perfect. 

Suddenly, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned around and came face to face with a guy who looked to be a couple of years older than you. He had cropped black hair and stubble covering the entire bottom half of his face.

“First day, right?” He asked you. 

You nodded quickly and offered him your hand. “Y/N Y/L/N.”

He accepted it and nodded. “Yeah, I remember you Y/L/N, your try-out piece was good. Really good.”

Pride bloomed in your chest and you gave him a smile. “Thanks. Where do you want me?” You gestured at the room. 

He narrowed his eyes slightly before giving you the smallest of smiles, a little quirk on the sides of his lips. “Straight to business, I like that. Think we’re gonna get along pretty well Y/L/N, come on.” He started walking you through the room and introducing everyone and their roles. “I’m Brandon, the editor, over there we’ve got our photographers, that girl,” he pointed to a redhead working at her desk, “Alyssa, she’s editor-in-chief. Helps with things I can’t get around to and when there’s an overload of articles, like now.

“It’s not usually this crowded in here, usually the only people always in here are the writers but, you know, start of the school year,” he gestured vaguely, “lots of new editions, things to be sorted.” He stopped in front of one of the desks that looked like it hadn’t been touched. “This is your place. Actually, we already have something for you to work on.”

You sat in your chair and got adjusted. “Great! Anything.”

He smirked. “We need someone to cover the new bathrooms opening near Kent Hall. Good luck,” he tapped your desk before heading off to deal with other things.

You stared for a bit, when you’d said anything that wasn’t really what you meant, but you figured you had to start somewhere. 

“Don’t worry,” a voice spoke from beside you and you turned towards him. “They do that to all the newbies, it’s like a right of passage or something. Write the shitty articles for the first few months, prove your worth, or some bullshit like that.” He rolled his eyes and gave you a small. Holding out his hand he said, “James Blake, nice to meet you.”

You returned his smile and shook his hand, “Y/N Y/L/N, nice to meet you too James.”

He grinned. James was blonde, he had a dazzling smile, and striking green eyes. Honestly, he looked more fit for a magazine cover, not a newsroom. “Well Y/N, I was in your shoes last year. It gets better,” he sent you a wink. 

You laughed, “Actually, I don’t mind. I’m just happy to be here.”

“That’s the kinda attitude that’ll make you editor in a few years if you want it,” he clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair. 

You tried not to blush, his gaze was intense and you had a feeling he was trying to gauge what kind of reaction you’d have, though you weren’t sure why. “Right now the only thing I’m worried about are those new bathrooms near Kent.”

James laughed. “Fair enough. If you need anything, I’ll be right here. Don’t be shy to ask for help.” He winked at you again and you thanked him before turning on your computer and getting to work. 

Your first day in the newsroom was mostly getting used to everything. The people were cool, you had a great time getting to know them all, and you could definitely see yourself working here for the rest of the year, even longer than you hoped. You’d written down the keynotes for your article and had planned to start working on it later that week after you walked over to Kent Hall and got a look for yourself. It was a lousy topic, sure, but that would stop you from trying your best and proving yourself. 

It was true what they said, your first semester does fly by. Or at least that’s what you’d heard and now you understood. It was December now, almost winter break, and you almost couldn’t believe it. 

Your first article on the Daily Spectator had gone over pretty well. It was small, practically pointless as it was shoved somewhere in the back where almost no one looks, but Brandon liked that you didn’t just half-ass it and he’d started to (gradually) give you better topics to work on. You were hoping that by the end of the year, you might get your hand on one of the campus hot topics. 

You’d gone out a few times, Marissa and Lola from your first week were always inviting you out to different places andyou envied their easygoingness. You’d accepted a few times but you always went home earlier than them, you never seemed to really fit in those places.

Tonight, you were going out with a few of your friends from the newspaper. Over the past couple of months, you quickly became close with some of them, especially Alyssa. Even James, who was an okay guy, if a little cocky, but overall they were all good people.

One of your favorite things about Columbia was its campus and the fact that it was in the city. Walking around now, the snow glittered under all the lights, reminding you of the stars you and Peter used to watch together. You looked up at the empty sky and wondered if he could see any stars where he was now, if they reminded him of you. 

You walked into the restaurant and took off your coat. You were wearing a simple sweater dress with a high neck and a pair of ankle boots. You spotted Alyssa sitting at a table waving you over and you smiled as you walked towards her. 

“Hey everyone,” you took a seat beside Alyssa. Directly across from you, James shot you a grin.

“Hey Y/N, we’re still waiting on Nikki and Gavin,” Alyssa said. Her phone dinged and she checked it before saying, “That was her, they’ll be here in 5.”

Conversations flowed around the table and soon, Nikki and Gavin arrived. Everyone was laughing and having a great time and when the waiter arrived to take your orders, it took you a second to notice.

“Let me guess your order,” James leaned over the table with a small smile as the waitress started going around the table. 

You grinned. “Go ahead.”

“Hmm…” he opened up the menu in front of him and pointed to a listing of words. “Shrimp?”

Laughing, you shook your head. “No.”

“Okay, okay. Are you vegan? Any food allergies I should know about?” He wondered. 

“I’m getting the Fettucini Alfredo, what about you?” The way he gasped you thought you’d asked him to take his pants off right then and there. 

He shook his head, “I can’t believe you ruined the game. I was supposed to guess Y/N.”

You winced. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, have you ever tried their steak?” He gave you one of his infamous smiles, “It’s great.”

“No actually, I haven’t been here before.”

“Really? Alright wait,” he held up a hand and turned his head. You hadn’t even realized the waitress had gotten to you. “I’ll have the ribeye, medium rare. And same for her,” he pointed towards you. 

You stared as the waitress turned toward you. “Any sides?”

“Um, the seasoned fries with a cherry coke please.” You weren’t really sure what to order anymore, James had just completely thrown you off. 

When the waitress finished up and walked away to hand your orders in, James turned toward you again. “You’re gonna love it, you’ll see.”

Jokes were shared around the whole table throughout the whole dinner and you were glad you got to have a night like this before finals week. James kept asking what you thought about the steak and while you didn’t hate it, you didn’t love it either. It wasn’t what you had wanted. But you didn’t want to hurt his feelings so you smiled and told him it was great. 

By the end of the night, you were stuffed and ready to go home. “You sure you don’t wanna join? Nikki said she hooked up with one of the security guards once and she thinks she could get us into the VIP section.” You had just finished paying for your food and Alyssa was currently trying to convince you to head over to some club with them. And you might’ve been tempted if your phone hadn’t just buzzed in your hands. When you looked down you saw that it was a message. From Peter. 

Your heart fluttered in your chest. He texted you. 

“Sorry Lyss, I’m not up for it,” you made a face, “I’m pretty sure I’m about to start my period and I’m feeling a little off.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the complete truth. 

She nodded in understanding. She pulled you in for a hug, “Alright, well if you need anything, let me know. And if you change your mind, the address was sent in the group chat.”

You smiled at her when you pulled away. Alyssa had the sweetest soul of anyone you’d met and you were glad to call her a friend. “I will thank you, and that goes for you too. If you need a ride or anything, let me know and I’ll come pick you up. And turn on your location.”

“Already done,” she grinned. You returned the grin and said your last goodbyes to everyone before making your way to the door, you were itching to step outside and open your phone. But instead, a hand gripped your shoulder. You turned around to see James smirking as he looked at you.

“Leaving so soon?” He asked. 

You nodded, “Not really up for clubbing tonight, but you guys have fun!” You made to pull away but he held you back.

“You sure,” he furrowed his brows, “it’s not that late. If you come, you don’t even have to stay long.”

Smiling, you nodded again. “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks for asking though.”

“Anytime,” he shot you another grin but…it wasn’t quite right. He still looked handsome as ever, sure, but if you didn’t know any better you’d think he looked a little disappointed. “Well, have a good night Y/N.”

“You too James, bye.” You waved at him and walked out the door without looking back. As soon as you were out the door, your phone was opened and in your messages app, opening you and Peter’s chat. 

hey ace, how’ve you been?

hey pete <3 i’ve been good, just finished dinner with some friends. what about you ?

that’s nice I hope you had a good time.

i’m good thanks. 

actually i wanted to ask what your plans for winter break are

nothing actually, you ?

i’m coming back home and i was wondering if i could see you

Your heart almost stopped. He wanted to see you.

You tried not to get your hopes up, it probably meant nothing. Obviously, you were still friends, or friendly, and maybe he just wanted to catch up. You could only share so much over text. Or maybe….maybe he’s been missing you just as much as you’ve been missing him and he’s realized all this was a big dumb mistake. 

Maybe you were getting your hopes up. 

i’d love that

when do you get here ?

You two stayed texting back and forth your whole walk home. He sent you a picture of his ticket and told you he and May would love to have you over the next day. You couldn’t fight the giddy smile that took over your face. You were ecstatic he reached out to you and you realized your texts together had probably been off because he was nervous. You knew how anxious he could get sometimes, and you hoped you could resolve that when you saw each other. 

You settled in your dorm that night with your heart full and your face lit up. You hadn’t felt this overjoyed in a long time. You wondered what made him bite the bullet and ask, but you could ask him that when you see him. God, you were gonnasee him. This was all you’d been wanting since the summer and now the opportunity just fell into your lap.

You sat on your bed and fell asleep staring out the window with a smile on your face. 

Graduation was right around the corner. The last week of school was a blur. Everyone was throwing parties, teachers were cutting you extra slack, and people who’d never hung out once in the four years they went to school together were all over each other now. It was sweet in a way. As much as you’d all complained and whined about everything, there was a sense of familiarity here, with each other, a community that was coming to an end and it was nice seeing people try to savor it while they could.

Peter had gotten into Duke. You were beyond excited and proud of him and you knew he was excited as well. But you couldn’t help the tiniest part of your brain that selfishly wondered what that meant for you. And honestly, you were scared to ask. 

Peter hadn’t brought up anything about your relationship changing or anything else of the sort, so you thought he’d come to the same conclusion you had; you were going to try to do long distance. 

Sure, it might be hard but honestly, it was better for you than the alternative, which was ending things. You would definitely choose long-distance over that. So you tried not to worry too much, he was probably thinking exactly like you. 

You were sat in a booth at an ice cream parlor with MJ and Ned sitting across from you, and Peter beside you, arm slung over your shoulder. He’d been acting a little weird lately and you hoped this would help cheer him up, it was probably all those end-of-the-year jitters. You were all laughing together, going over all your (least) favorite memories from school.

“Who remembers when Flash brought all those stink sprays to school?” Peter said. 

“Oh my god,” Ned started in his seat. “Some kid tripped over his backpack in fifth period and set them all off! The whole class smelled so bad they made us evacuate!”

Everyone cracked up but Ned wasn’t having it. He shook his head quickly, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you laughing? It’s not funny! I smelled so bad my mom wouldn’t let me in the house, she made me rinse with the hose in our front yard!”

That just made you all laugh even harder. “Oh my god,” you wheezed out. “I can’t breathe.”

MJ reached across the table and grabbed your hand. Looking you dead in the face with a serious expression she said, “Breathe girl.”

The whole table roared with laughter again. “Why did he have all those bottles of stink spray anyway?” wondered MJ.

“Knowing Flash he probably thought it was cologne,” grumbled Peter, making you laugh again.

 Once you’d quieted down Ned leaned back in his spot and sighed. “I’m really gonna miss this.”

You looked around, trying to fully take in this moment. You had no doubt you would all manage to stay in touch but when was the next time you would all be hanging out like this? MJ was headed to Sarah Lawrence, Ned was going to MIT, you (of course) were going to Columbia, and Peter was going to Duke. Five hundred miles away from where you were going to be. 8 hours 27 minutes and 36 seconds.

Sure in the grand scheme of things, you were all still relatively close to each other but…you’d have separate lives. For so long your lives were so intertwined with each other’s and now, you’d have to fight to keep that connection otherwiseyou’d lose it. You reached under the table and grabbed Peter’s free hand, intertwining his fingers with yours. You would fight.

Peter squeezed your hand and you leaned in closer to him. “I’m gonna miss it too,” he said in a soft voice. 

“Not me, I can’t fucking wait to get out of there. You guys keep talking though.” MJ said straight-faced making you giggle. You were thankful for her brutal honesty cause you were pretty sure if the conversation kept going in the other direction, it would end with you crying, and you didn’t want that. 

The group of you finished your ice cream while talking, got even more ice cream, talked some more, and suddenly you could see the sun setting outside.

“Holy fuck,” you muttered, shoveling a spoon of double chocolate chip into your mouth. “I really thought we’ve only been here for five minutes.”

“Well, now we know what you need to work on before college, Y/N. Your time awareness, we’ve been here for hours.” MJ smirked. 

You all laughed except Peter, who squeezed your shoulder and frowned. “She doesn’t need to work on anything, she’sperfect.”

You smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek, “Thank you, Petey.”

He grinned cheekily at you, “Anytime, Ace.”

Mj rolled her eyes and cut you off with a loud groan. “Oh. My. God. We get it, you are disgustingly in love.” But you didn’t miss the small smile gracing her face. 

“You’ll live,” you deadpanned.

She grumbled something you couldn’t make out but before you could ask her what it was, Ned’s phone started ringing. He picked it up and answered.

“Hey mom…already? But…” his voice quieted down. “Ok, ok I’m sorry. Yes, ma’am. Bye.”

He hung up and you were all quiet for a moment before he said, “I changed my mind, I’m so ready for college.”

He dropped his head into his hands, grumbling about something like it’s not funny! while you all laughed. Finally, he stood up. “I actually really do have to go though.”

You all stood up as well, saying your goodbyes. “Yeah I think we should get going too, what do you think?” Peter asked you.

You nodded as you pulled away from your hug with Ned. “I still need to pick up my cap and gown from the dry cleaners.”

Ned nodded, “I got mine earlier today.” You high-fived him and he walked over to Peter and you watched as they did their complicated handshake. They’d claimed otherwise when you’d said exactly that, stating it was just advanced, which you’d said was just geek for complicated. 

You snorted as they did their little finger guns. “Dorks,” you muttered. But you loved it. 

“You can say that again,” MJ agreed, and you knew she loved it too. Staring at her for a few seconds, you launched at her with your arms open and pulled her into a tight hug. She tensed up right away. “I know of your aversion to physical touch, but right now I don’t care,” you murmured, “you’re my best friend and I love you.”

To your surprise, she relaxed into your hold and even hugged you back. “I know I give you a lot of shit,” she whispered back, “but I love you too. All of you. And I’m gonna miss you like crazy.”

“We’re definitely gonna hang out, like all the time, don’t even worry about it.” You reassured her. It was already a pain that Peter would be so far away, you weren’t going to take your closer friends for granted.

She hugged you tighter, “I’m gonna hold you to that Y/L/N.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Jones,” you pulled away and gave her a wicked grin which she returned. Peter approached the two of you, placing a hand on your shoulder he said, “Ned just left.”

“Bye Parker,” she held out a closed fist for him to bump with his, “you’re pretty decent. She bumps you up to Okay.” She nodded towards you which made you blow her a kiss. 

Peter chuckled as he fist-bumped her. “Thanks, MJ, I actually think you’re pretty great.”

She nodded, “Yeah, whatever. Still pretty decent.” She moved past you guys and waved as she exited through the door. 

Peter sighed and leaned his head over to press a kiss to your hairline. “Hey,” you started, “at least you're ‘pretty decent’ Ifeel like it could’ve been worse.”

“That’s actually exactly what I was thinking,” he said as the two of you walked out of the ice cream shop. You laughed and leaned in closer to him. “I’m not ‘pretty decent’ to you am I?”

You looked up at him seriously, “Do you think I’d be here right now if you were?”

Peter laughed and you could see those crinkles around his eyes that you loved so much. You always measured how good your jokes were by how deep they were and right now, they were pretty deep.

He squeezed your shoulder, “Whatcha staring at Ace?”

You shook your head, “Nothing, you’re just really pretty Peter Parker.”

You could see him blush out of the corner of your eye and it made you smirk. He smiled again, deep and beautiful as ever, and the crinkles were back. “I think you’re prettier Ace.”

Shaking your head, you smiled, “Not a chance pretty boy, you’ve got me beat.”

Peter’s face turned beet red at the nickname and you knew you won. “Hey,” he said in a voice that let you know he was trying to change the subject, “you what you said to MJ back there? Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“Well, you told her she’s your best friend.”

“Okay…” you trailed off as you weren’t quite sure what he was trying to get at.

“Well, I thought I was your best friend.” That made you smile, but when you looked up at him again he was doing the opposite and you just wanted to kiss it away. 

“Petey,” you said softly. You would’ve laughed if he hadn’t genuinely looked so dejected. “You are my best friend and so is she. It’s like how Ned is your best friend, but that doesn’t mean I’m not your best friend too. I think a person can have more than one best friend.”

He frowned and it was obvious your answer didn’t appease him. “Ned is not my best friend.”

Your mouth fell open. “What?! Of course, he is Peter, what are you talking about?”

He shook his head, “But he doesn’t outrank you. He’s my friend but you’re more.”

Now it was your turn to frown, “Outrank? This isn’t a competition sweetie. Where’s this coming from?”

He sighed and paused his walking. You leaned in and pressed a palm to the side of his face. “Peter,” you pressed in a gentle voice. 

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to your palm before sighing again. “I’m sorry, that was stupid, it didn’t even make sense. It’s just…everything is changing, y’know? And I’m scared. ”

Your heart twisted. “I know Pete, it is scary. But we still have each other, this doesn’t have to change anything. I’ll always be here for you no matter what, no matter how far away you are. Plus, we still have all summer before we have to worry about that.” You gave him a small smile. Peter stared at you for a moment and the silence made you anxious. His eyes looked sad like he was already saying goodbye. Finally, he leaned in and kissed your forehead.

"Promise me no matter what, you'll remember I'll always be your friend."

Your brows furrowed but you agreed. "Of course, I promise."

He blew out a long breath and pulled you into a hug, “I love you, Ace. Always.”

“I love you too Peter.”

Today was the day.

Today was the day that the past twelve years of your life had led to. All those sleepless nights, insanely late nights, hours upon hours spent hunched over books and worksheets and essays. This is what they were for. 

You had woken up early to get ready, but also because you couldn’t sleep you were too excited. You had already done your hair and makeup and were scrolling on your phone until it was time to get dressed when a message from Peter popped up on your screen. 

morning ace ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

MORNING !!!!!!!

excited huh?

SUPER !!!!!

i love you

cant wait to see you

The plan was for Peter and May to come over and take photos before you all left for the actual ceremony. 

I LOVE YOU MORE XOXO

literally, what are you waiting for come over right now 

way ahead of you

Right after you read the text there was a tap on your window, making you jump in surprise. You rushed over and pushed it open, letting him in. 

“Hey Ace,” he said, pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

“That was quick,” you replied. 

He sat on your bed and patted the spot next to him signaling for you to sit as well. Taking up the spot beside him, you grinned at him and leaned in to pinch his cheeks. “What’s wrong Petey? Aren’t you happy you’re graduating?”

He smiled but his eyes didn’t crinkle like they normally do. “Hey,” you pressed with a gentler voice, “sweetie is something wrong? You can tell me.”

He blew out a breath and fell back onto your sheets. “I don’t know how.”

You played on your stomach and propped yourself up on your elbows, “That’s okay, we can figure that out together,” you ran a hand through his hair, admiring the softness of his curls. You always liked it like this, and when he got it cut, he’d started to keep it a little longer than he used to because he knew you liked it. 

He looked up at you and you realized how tired his eyes looked, he must’ve been spending more time on patrol lately. You made a mental note to make sure he spent the rest of the summer sleeping well.

“How did I get so lucky to have you?” He murmured and you felt your face heat up at his words. 

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “wished upon a star maybe?”

He grinned. “Maybe, because there's no way you’re not magical.”

You matched his expression as you leaned down and pecked his lips softly. When you moved to pull away his lips chased yours, refusing to let you go that simply. 

Somehow, you don’t even remember how, you’d moved and suddenly you were straddling his hips and his hands cupped your ass. You moved one of your hands up to his hair, letting your fingers slightly tug at his curls, making him groan into your mouth. 

You could feel his hands gently pulling you down and you obliged, grinding on him as your lips attacked each other. All of a sudden, those same hands on you were being used to flip you over and the next thing you knew, Peter was towering over you, panting, lips plump and red, face flushed, and eyes hazy.

You pulled him back down but there was a knock at your door, making you both jump. Quickly, you held up a finger to Peter’s lips, making sure he didn’t make a sound.

“Y/N honey, are you up?”

“Yes Mom!”

“Alright, well get dressed and come out for some breakfast, we’re gonna need to leave soon.”

“Okay I’ll be right out.” You waited until you heard her footsteps retreating before you moved your finger. “Sorry about that.” You whispered. 

“It’s fine Ace,” he smiled and leaned down to press kisses all over your face and neck. You giggled but then remembered he came over for a reason. 

Pulling him back by the hair, “Wait, Pete, what was it you wanted to tell me?”

He stared at you in shock, as if he couldn’t believe you remembered. “No um, actually, it can wait. Go eat breakfast,” he kissed right beneath your ear, “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

You grabbed him and pulled him in for one more long kiss. “I love you,” you smiled sweetly at him, “and I’m so proud of you.”

He stared at you for a moment before he grabbed both your hands in his, “I love you so much Ace, and I need you to know that please.” His expression was almost pained, as if the thought of you doubting him for even a second caused physical hurt. 

“Of course I know that Pete,” you frowned slightly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He smiled. Or tried to smile, because once again those crinkles beside his eyes that you loved so much weren’t there, and you had a feeling there was something he wasn’t telling you. But you trusted him, if there wassomething that needed to be said, he would’ve said it.

“Okay,” you leaned in and kissed him, “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Ace,” he said and walked to the window before crawling on the wall. The first time you’d seen him pull out that trick you’d told him he looked like a lizard. 

Finishing getting dressed, you stepped out to have a quick breakfast so you could see Peter faster. Soon, Peter and May were in your apartment and she and your parents were all fawning over the two of you. Peter had given her his camera and she was on picture duty for the day since he would be occupied. 

“Okay enough,” you said, taking off your cap and situating your hair. “It’s graduation you guys, not prom. Enough with the poses.”

“Oh, we all remember that,” Peter rolled his eyes making you smirk. The three of them had driven you guys insane with all the poses, the fussing, your dad’s jokes. And you and Peter had surely antagonized them to no end, rolling your eyes and grumbling. It was almost like being split into teams, sometimes, and you found it disgustingly cute how May got along so well with your parents and you and Peter always had each other’s backs. 

“We should probably get going, we don’t want to be late,” your mom spoke up and you shot her a grateful look. 

Peter looked at you. “You’re riding with me?”

Grinning, you answered, “Duh. I’ve got the playlist completely ready.”

He beamed at you and held out a hand, “Let’s go graduate Ace.” You took his hand and shot a smile over your shoulder towards the rest of your group. “See you!” 

“Be safe!” You heard your Mom yell at the same time May said, “Drive carefully Pete!” But you and Peter were bounding down the stairs, your faces lit up like the 4th of July.

“Do you have the keys?” You asked him once you stepped out the door of the building. He smirked at you, “I thought we get there another way,” he flexed his wrists. 

“Absolutely not, Peter.” You backed away from him, “Possibly the worst time to swing anywhere.”

He laughed and grabbed your hand, pulling you into his hold, “Relax Ace, I was only joking.” He fished out the keys to May’s car from his pocket and waved them in front of you. “I can’t wait to hear your playlist.” He dropped to give you a kiss before leading you to the passenger’s side door and opening it for you. 

“Good,” you smiled as you pulled your seatbelt on and reached for the aux cord. “‘Cause I’ve been working on this for weeks.”

Peter just smiled from beside you and started up the car as you pulled up your playlist. “Okay, I know this probably fits more for after graduation, but I’ve been dying to play it so we’re listening to it now and on the ride home,” you informed him before pressing play on ‘The Spins’ by Mac Miller.

“Whatever you want Ace,” he said as he placed his hand on the head of your seat, turned his head, and turned the wheel as he backed out. Blood rushed to your face as he pulled the car out of its designated parking spot. “But I wanna hear that One Republic song.”

You knew which one he meant. “Already in the playlist and cued up to play next pretty boy.”

He smiled softly and shot you a look from the corner of his eye, “You’re absolutely perfect, y’know that Ace?” Reaching over the center console, he grabbed your hand and intertwined your fingers. 

You lifted your enjoined hands and pressed a kiss to his. “I know, and you’re not too bad yourself Peter Parker.”

He squeezed your hand and held it tight for the rest of the ride as you sang your heart out as if he was scared that when he let go, he wouldn’t have the privilege anymore.

When you arrived at the school, Peter rushed out to open your door and the two of walked hand in hand to the auditorium where all the students were to be gathered until they walked out to the football field where the ceremony was being held.

Entering the auditorium, the place was flooding with students and as soon as you saw MJ you were flying out of Peter’s grip and pulling her into another big hug. 

“There’s gonna be a lot of these,” you warned her. 

“You wouldn’t be you if there weren’t,” she remarked but held you just as tight. 

The two of you took a seat over by the chairs while Ned and Peter hung out closer to the doors. As you were talking with MJ you noticed that it looked like they were in a deep, heated conversation and…were you crazy or did Ned keep glancing at you?

“Any idea what they’re up to?” You nudged MJ and jutted your chin in their direction. 

“Probably talking about how their bromance will make it through thick and thin,” she rolled her eyes but when she noticed you still staring confusedly in their direction she placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, “Relax Y/N, really, I’m sure it’s fine.”

You could’ve mentioned how Peter had been acting weird for weeks now, that he always seemed to be in a different placelike something constantly plagued his mind. You were sure if anyone had noticed it would’ve been MJ since there was no one you knew who was quite as observant as her. You could’ve mentioned these things and tried to gauge her opinion on it, but just as you were contemplating whether or not you should, your principal walked in and started guiding you all to the doors. It was time. 

As students began filing out into the hallways, it was hard to keep track of anyone in the wide array of blue caps and gowns. You had a funny thought of how it kind of looked like a tsunami. 

You needed to find Peter and wish him luck one last time, the poor boy had been basically losing his mind for the past few weeks leading up to today and you wanted to make sure he was alright. Standing on your tiptoes looking around while everyone moved ahead, you finally spotted him.

Shoving your way through the bodies you made your way right beside him. “Hey!”

He jumped a little, looking paler than he did before and your heart deflated seeing how affected he was by today. “God, Ace. Scared me.”

“All those super senses and for what? Anyway, listen,” you placed your hand on your shoulder and pushed him so the two of you were to the side of the hallway and the rest of the line moved freely. 

“Peter, are you okay?” You asked in a more serious voice, hoping he would just come out and tell you what had been bothering him.

You had no idea why but his face got even whiter. “What do you mean? I’m fine.” He chuckled nervously. 

You sighed and gave him a big hug. “It’s gonna be fine Pete, pretty soon we’re gonna be high school graduates driving home.” You grinned up at him. 

He tried to reciprocate, he really did, but you could see the strain on his face while he did, which only tugged on your heart more.

“I know Ace,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead, “come on, we have to take our seats soon, I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

You wanted to make a joke about how you weren’t sure you could even get in trouble anymore, but it felt like the wrong time. As the two of you walked onto the field, you kept looking up at him but he wouldn’t meet your eyes. You couldn’t wait for this to just be over so you could get your Peter back. 

There was a stage set up at the head of the field, with chairs flanking each end and a podium in the middle. The stage faced all the chairs for the graduating students, which is where you would be in a minute, and the bleachers, which werebehind them, were where all the friends and family were sitting. 

Peter walked you to your assigned seat and you pulled him into one last hug, “I’m proud of you Petey.”

He squeezed you so tight you wondered if he knew you’d be seeing each other right after this ceremony. “I’m prouder than you’ll ever know Ace.”

You waved him off with a smile on your face as he made his way through the crowd. You took a deep breath as you sat down, in a few minutes, your principal was up there giving some speech that you zoned out of in favor of finding your friends in the mass of blue all around you. 

You found MJ with no problem and she flipped you off as soon as she caught your eyes, and you gave her heart hands and a cheesy grin in return. Ned wasn’t far from her and you gave a little wave which he returned with a sad half-smile. Weird…but it was Ned so you didn’t take it to heart. 

When you saw Peter he was already gazing at you with an unreadable expression. Hoping to ease him up a little, you sent a storm of air kisses and you watched as he laughed and pretended to catch them all. 

Pretty soon they were calling the names. You clapped for everyone, cheering a little for kids you were closer with, but going all out for your closest friends. 

When MJ was called up you were hollering like a maniac, smashing your hands together as hard as you could. When it was Ned’s turn you whistled as loud as you could and when Peter was called up, you jumped up, lifted your hands over your head, and screamed. 

You watched his knowing smile as he made his way across the stage, he’d heard you, and after he’d trapped his diplomahe caught you staring and mouthed an ‘I love you’. You smiled happily as you blew him more air kisses. 

You didn’t have it in you to be embarrassed at all. Everyone was going the extra mile to cheer on their friends and whileyou might’ve tried to be less obnoxious on any other occasion, it was your graduation and Peter deserved some obnoxious cheering for how much he’d been stressing lately.

When it was your turn the cheering was returned tenfold. Peter, Ned, MJ, and all your other friends were clapping and yelling for you. You spotted your parents sitting with May in the back and you waved to the three of them excitedly. You heard Peter give an extremely loud whistle as you grabbed your diploma and shook hands with your teacher, which made you grin absurdly. By the time you made it back to your seat your face hurt from smiling so much.

You were buzzing with excitement as you waited for it all to be over so you could go and celebrate with everyone. It seemed like a lifetime till you heard the huge “Congratulations!’ on the speakers and everyone was standing up and throwing their caps into the air. 

The atmosphere was amazing, everyone was buzzing with an energy different than you’d ever felt before and you knew right then, you’d always look back fondly at this moment right now. 

MJ was beside you in an instant and you almost burst into tears at the fact that she was the one to hug you this time. “You were taking too long,” she mumbled and you felt a few tears slip out. 

Soon Ned and Peter were on the two of you and you shoved into a big group hug, which had MJ rolling her eyes. “I only wanted her,” she stated, but you knew that wasn’t true. 

You slipped out when you noticed Ned and MJ congratulating each other and took that as your chance to tackle Peter in a huge bear hug. 

“You finally did it!” You laughed, arms hooked around his neck as he lifted you slightly. 

“We did it, Ace,” he said and you almost melted into a puddle right then when you pulled away and noticed he was smiling. The crinkles were back. 

But they didn’t last long. 

The two of you made your way over to where your parents and May were awaiting you and they all pulled you into a fierce hug. Your mom was a mess and you tried to calm her down telling her if she didn’t stop, you’d be crying right beside her. Your dad was a little more composed but you could still see the emotion on his face. “I’m really proud of you kiddo.” He mumbled as he held you tight. 

“Thank you, Dad,” you sniffled a little. You were barely out of that when May was crushing you with her arms, making you laugh. She was always good at that, cheering you up. 

“I can’t believe you just graduated high school!” She said in disbelief. “I know,” you replied equally as confused. 

Laughing, she pulled you in tighter and pulled Peter in as well. When you looked up at him he looked a little green in the face, making worry flood through you completely. What could it possibly be now? You had yourself convinced, and he did too, that it was just nerves about graduation, that the celebration was reminding him of the reality of growing up and your lives truly starting was hitting him a little harder. You thought that once it happened he’d relax a little and give himself a little time to breathe. Apparently not.

You pulled him away once you weren’t out of May’s grasp and she was talking with your parents. “Peter,” you whispered, your voice filled with worry for him, “you have to tell me what’s going on.”

“Yeah,” he croaked, eyes turning slightly red which didn’t help your anxiety at all. You watched as he stared past you andwhen you followed his trail of sight, you saw May staring at the two of you with a solemn expression. 

Oh no.

You knew in your heart what was about to happen, and yet you wished with everything in you that it wouldn’t. 

“Come on,” he mumbled, grabbing your hand and leading you back towards the school. You followed him wordlessly as he opened the door and pulled back into the halls, the same halls you had comforted him just a bit ago, before the two of you had officially graduated you realized. 

“Peter,” you repeated, a little breathless this time because no, there was no way. He couldn’t be doing this right now, not…not after everything. 

“Ace,” he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. 

“Peter,” you repeated but your voice was harder this time, letting him know that you were done with him beating around the bush. If he was going to do this, he could come right out and say it. 

“I leave in 2 days,” he said quickly. It felt like a slap to the face.

“What do you mean?” Your brain couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. 

He continued as if he hadn’t heard your question, avoiding your eyes as he did so. “Well technically I leave tomorrow, but I arrive the day after so…? I’m not really sure what—”

“Peter!”

He sighed and grabbed your hands, looking you in the face. “Ace, I am so sorry, like so, so, sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner I really did, and I tried! But every time it felt like it would just ruin everything and I couldn’t, I couldn’t ruin it, so I waited and—”

“Peter I swear to god if you don’t tell me exactly what the fuck you're talking about I will leave your fucking imprint on one of these lockers.”

You watched him gulp and you felt a strange sort of satisfaction seeing how you scared him. “I’m leaving,” he said in a quieter tone. “I got accepted into one of Duke's scientific summer programs and I leave tomorrow.”

It felt like a fucking punch to the gut.

“What program,” you said in disbelief, your mind reeling with all this information. “You never said anything about a program.” You looked up at him with a hurt expression. 

“Ace, you’ve got to believe me when I tell you I thought I had no fucking shot getting in, I mean,” he squeezed your hands as he spoke, “really. You should see how exclusive these things are. I wasn’t even going to apply but the dude who gave me my tour around campus convinced me, and then I forgot about it until I got the email, and—”

You shook your head quickly, trying to comprehend everything. “Wait but your tour was months ago.” You looked up at him. “When did you find out you got in?”

His eyes widened and your heart fell at the realization that he’d been keeping this from you for so long. When he didn’t answer you pushed “When Peter?”

“Not that long, I promise, probably a few weeks but I just—it’s been driving me crazy how to bring this up. There was no right time, I mean, I didn’t want to do it before graduation—”

“Well how thoughtful of you to wait till right after,” you snapped back. “No, really, didn’t even give me a chance to get out of the cap and gown!” You pulled away from him and scoffed, not wanting to be anywhere near him.

“Come on Ace, please,” he pleaded, and you dropped your head into your hands. You didn’t want to cry, today was supposed to be a happy day, and it had been! Before all this. 

“When do you leave?” You whispered. You were sure he’d mentioned it but you were also sure your head wasn’t working right. 

“Tomorrow. At night,” he spoke in an equally quiet voice, as if the softer the sound waves, the softer the blow they would deliver. That wasn’t true. 

You held back a sob.

“When do you get back?” An equally important question.

“I…I don’t. The program ends as soon as school starts…May’s shipping my things there.”

It felt as if he was physically tearing your heart out of your chest and stomping on it.

One day. All this time you’d been shoving away dealing with the reality of the situation because you wanted to be able to enjoy your summer, because you believed you still had summer left together and now he was taking that from you. It didn’t even feel like he had pulled the rug out from under your feet it felt as if he had shattered the whole ground. 

“Congratulations Peter,” you said sincerely. This was breaking your heart but deny that this was an amazing opportunity. If anyone in the world deserved it, it would be him. 

“Ace wait,” he moved in front of you, grabbing your chin and lifting it so you had to see his sad face. You wished he hadn’t, you didn’t want to watch him cry. “Please don’t be upset, I won't be able to go if you're mad at me.”

“Well I am upset Peter! Not that you got in, I’m so excited for you, but you didn’t tell me, and you leave tomorrow!” Your voice broke and you could stop the tears as they flooded your eyes and streamed down your face. How could this be happening? Everything was perfect and now this?

Peter pulled you into his arms, “Please don’t cry Ace,” he begged, which in turn only made you sob harder. “I’m so sorry, so sorry,” he murmured as he kissed the side of your head.

“But this isn’t forever. I’m going to come back and I’m going to find you,” he pulled away and held you by the shoulders, making sure you were looking at him, “You’re the only person I want Ace, you’re the love of my life. And I don’t want to hold you back from the amazing life you're going to start at Columbia, I can’t have you going to your dream school with one foot out the door,

“We’re going to grow and learn, and I might not be there for all of it, but we’re going to be together eventually because I want you. This is just goodbye for now.”

You closed your eyes and savored his words. You wanted nothing more than to believe every syllable. 

“Promise?”

“Of course Ace.”

And maybe if you hadn’t been such a fool in love, maybe if you hadn’t been so desperate to hang on to anything that promised the two of you would find each other again, you would’ve known promises like that were rarely lived up to.

hey, sorry but i can’t make it back for winter break. weather issues :(

Your heart fell. 

You were so looking forward to this, seeing him again, spending time with him and May, for things to feel like they were, even if it were for a brief moment. 

You took a deep breath and stared at the two presents on your nightstand. No point in them now. You had gotten the message earlier this morning, around when he was supposed to board, but your phone had been dead.

that really sucks pete, im so sorry

maybe next time <3

He didn’t respond, the only indication you had that he’d even seen it was the little read receipt at the bottom of your text, glaring at you mockingly. You remembered sometime last year when he’d confessed you were the only person he turned them on for.

“Wait why me?”

“You can’t seriously be asking that Ace.”

“Well…I am asking.”

“Because I love you, duh.”

He hadn’t turned them off. You wondered what that meant. 

You knew you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up, knew you shouldn’t have gotten so damn excited, but…god, you really thought things were going to change.

But he had still wanted to see you, he’d still asked you to come over, and it wasn’t his fault his flight got delayed. Talking yourself up a little, you put on your shoes and coat. Grabbing your phone and the presents, you left your dorm. You were going back home, you could drop off the presents at May’s, stop by and see your parents, maybe call Peter if he was feeling up to it, let him know you really had wanted to see him and you were sorry you couldn’t.

It was cold outside and you could see your breath fogging up before you as you walked, but not of it even so much as fazed you. Hope was a beautiful thing, it could change lives, and it was so, so important. Hope was going to be what got you through this time without Peter, and it was going to be the thing that brought you back together. 

Because you believed. You believed him back on graduation. You believed that that hadn’t been the end of your story, itcouldn’t have been. You believed when he said he’d come back for you, that you were the only person he wanted, because you felt the same. And…maybe right now he physically couldn’t but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to. You believed andyou hoped. With your whole heart you—

You stopped in your tracks. It felt like your breath was snatched from your lungs and was being held just above your head, so you couldn’t reach it no matter how hard you jumped. You couldn’t believe your eyes. 

Because when you turned the corner, you saw Peter walking down the street beside his Aunt, laughing like he hadn’t justcompletely shattered your heart. 

What?

You scurried backward, still unable to catch your breath but thankfully aware enough to make sure you got out of the way before either of them could spot you. 

Leaning against the wall of the building behind you, you finally let out a breath, watching silently as it floated and then dissipated before you. He was here…

And he didn’t want to see you. 

You tried to rationalize it as you looked around, it was clearly snowing, and it was getting thicker by the hour. So it wasn’t far-fetched that his flight really was canceled, plus he had sent you that message earlier this morning, so it was equally possible that he might’ve boarded after all, or found another flight altogether. 

And maybe through all that commotion, he had forgotten to update you. Highly unlikely since you’d never known Peter to forget anything, especially when it came to you. But…you’d also never known Peter to lie, not without good reason at least, like about being Spider-Man, or that time Ned got him a birthday gift he didn’t really like, but said he loved it anyway, or any other time he’d lied for the sake of either keeping someone safe, either emotionally, physically, or both. 

He didn’t tell you, and it hurt. But something deep inside you trusted him. Maybe it was naive, maybe it was wishful thinking and nothing more but you knew Peter. You’d know him his whole life and never once would you think he purposefully did something to hurt you, hurt your feelings, or anyone’s actually. 

Looking down at the wrapped-up present you held, your heart tugged a little. You’d gotten him a Lego set, it was a Map of the Constellations Lego set and it was customizable, so you’d made sure it had all of the ones he’s taught you about. The ones you’d stayed staring at for hours on that hill, talking about everything. It even came with customizable Lego people, which you’d made look like you and Peter (or as much like you as you could with Lego bits), and a little telescope.

You felt like a total idiot.

You could’ve gone anyway, could’ve walked right up those stairs, could’ve said you were there to visit your parents andPeter wasn’t the only thing waiting for you here. But while you may have been feeling idiotic, you weren’t a completeidiot. You knew when you were unwanted. Even if he had just forgotten, if he really wanted you there, he would’ve remembered. And he didn’t.

You were tired when you got back to your dorm. Dropping off the presents, (Peter’s going under the bed, you didn’t want to see it at all, and May’s going on your desk. You’d take it with you when you went to exchange gifts with your parents). It was empty and you were thankful that Lindsay wasn’t there. She was a sweet girl, very bubbly, and you could definitelysee the two of you being friends if you ever got to spend more time with her, but for tonight, you just wanted to be alone. 

The end of your bed was against a window and you were grateful for it. Ever since things went south with Peter, you ended most nights sitting at the window. You didn’t know what it was, but you always found yourself looking up at the sky. Maybe it was the fact that anytime you needed him, he would be out your window in minutes, if not seconds. It could be that the sky always reminded you of him. But you figured the simplest answer was probably the right one. You missed him.

 It didn’t matter which window, it didn’t matter where you were, sometimes in certain buildings you could barely see the sky. Most times, you couldn’t see any stars at all. Almost every time. But it didn’t matter. Without fail, every night youwould look out the window.

Maybe you’d see him swinging around, maybe you’d catch a glimpse of those stars you both had loved so much. You weren’t really sure what you were waiting to catch. You silently hoped the silence on both ends meant nothing and he still felt the same. You hoped he meant what he’d said to you all those months ago, that he really would come back and find you. Even more, you hoped that what had happened that night was a dumb mistake, or at the very least had a solid excuse to back it up. You knew teenage romances were almost always doomed, but isn’t that why you’d broken things off? So you both could grow, and earn perspective, learn more about yourselves, and when you met again, you’d share everything you’d learned. Every new experience that had ultimately led to the reunion of the two of you. You could handle this for now, the not being together, if it meant you could have him later. That all this waiting and hoping wasn’t for nothing. You had to hope that even though you were leading different lives, in different galaxies, you both clung to the same dreams, otherwise you’d already lost him. 

You supposed that’s what you sought comfort in every night. You’d look up at the sky and know it was the same one that blanketed him, wherever he was. You shared the moon, the stars, and your hearts. 

You were always a dreamer, a hoper. So without fail, every night, you’d turn on your lamp and sit by the window. 

‘seasonal' taglist: @keira-kaz2y5 @imafangirlofeverything

[neonghostlights]

A/N: Eddie and R meet right after the events of season one. Keep in mind that R was involved in the upside down stuff so some of her strange behavior in this is because of that. R keeps it a secret from Eddie.

Summary: You haven’t been the same since you woke up in the hospital with memory loss after the earthquake hit Hawkins. When strange things start happening and you feel like you’ve started losing your mind, a group of strangers offer to help. Even though you’ve never met them before, they seem to know you better than you think. 

Warnings: Fluff, Angst, Reader's mom is verbally and mentally abusive, I didn't show it a whole lot but keep that in mind while reading this, Cussing, Blood, Injury, Death of a parent and grandparent, Fire, Bullying, 18+ Minors, DNI

Word count: 8k (You might say, "Bee, why the hell does it take you so long to type 8k words?" And all I have to say is I don't know, and I don't want to talk about it.

Series Masterlist

Part Thirteen

December 13th, 1983

Eddie shoved the strap to his backpack over his shoulder. He was late, so late that he was the only one left in the car filled parking lot. 

He rubbed his hands together for some warmth as he made his way to the door. He knew that the second he walked into Ms. O'Donnell's he would be sent right to the principal's office to get lectured on his tardiness. Again. 

You’d think that they would give up by now. 

What the principal and Ms. O’Donnell didn’t know was that he actually tried to get here on time, but the van took forever to start because of how cold it was that morning. 

Looking back now, Eddie was glad he was late that day. 

Crossing the parking lot, avoiding the icy patches, he pulled open the double doors and sauntered into the building. He relished in the warmth that slowly seeped through his jacket and to his skin. He didn’t bother to stop by his locker. There were no books worth grabbing. 

He kept his pace slow as he rounded the corner, not in a rush. He was already late, what was the point of trying to hurry now? 

His speed didn’t help cushion the sudden impact to his chest and it definitely didn’t keep you from hitting the floor with a thump when you bounced off of him. It had happened so quickly that Eddie didn’t even process who he had run into, or instead who had run into him. 

“Shit,” you whined, holding onto your head as you propped yourself up into a sitting position on the floor. “Why are you so hard?” 

Eddie’s brain short circuited as he tried to process what you had just asked him. 

“Uh, what?” He sputtered out, his face burning from your question. 

“Feels like I hit a brick wall,” you clarified. 

“Right, sorry. Uh, let me help you.” He stuck a ring clad hand out to pull you up off the floor.

Once you were upright again, Eddie knelt down to gather your papers and books that had scattered across the dirty floor. He handed them to you, the papers crinkling against his hand. 

“Thanks,” you muttered as you took your stuff from him. 

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just might have a concussion now,” you said with a shrug. “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone that Eddie Munson’s the one that injured me.” You laughed. 

“You know who I am?” He asked, surprised that someone like you knew who he was. Eddie, of course, knew who you were. You hung around Steve Harrington and his group of douchebags but he had never seen you be cruel like they could be. He always wondered why you were a part of that clique when you seemed so different from them. 

Eddie had never seen you spare him a glance. 

You tilted your head, confused at his perplexed expression. “You don’t really blend in with the crowd,” you said it like it was obvious, which it was. What you weren’t mentioning was that of course you knew who Eddie was because some of your ‘friends’ loved to target him on a daily basis. 

“Right,” Eddie mumbled, remembering who he was talking to.  

There was an awkward pause like neither of you were sure what to say next. 

You shuffled past Eddie, heading for the locker right beside him. You opened it, ignoring the fact that he was still standing beside you. You grabbed your backpack, shoving your belongings into it. 

“Did I hurt you so bad that you have to go home? Should I take you to the nurse?” Eddie asked, concerned. He was so thrown off by the impact that he hadn’t even noticed your watery eyes. 

“Oh, no. My mom called the office and apparently my grandma’s in the hospital so I’m going to go see her. But, if you happen to have any pain killers I’ll gladly take those.”

Eddie regarded you for a moment. It was no secret how he made his money around school. Although you were never a customer, a lot of your friends were. Steve Harrington basically had a standing appointment with him every Thursday so he could stock up for his Friday night parties that Eddie never got invited to. 

“Well, I have nothing legal,” he whispered behind his hand, although the hallways was completely empty besides the two of you standing at your open locker. 

“Oh,” you sighed. “Never mind then. Guess I’ll have to just live with the concussion then. At least I’ll already be at the hospital in case things go south.”

You said it so dryly that it took a moment for Eddie to realize that you were kidding with him. It was strange that you weren’t hurling cruel words at him or brushing him off like anyone else in the school would have. He would have thought it was a trick if you hadn’t seemed so genuine. 

Eddie’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at you. You closed your locker and started to back away slowly, not in fear, but like you didn’t want to go quite yet. 

“Well, I should go now,” you said as you pointed a finger behind you. “Next time wear a bell or something so people know you’re coming.”

Eddie chuckled and shook his head. “I think that might just ruin my reputation. Sneaking up on girls in the hallway is kind of my thing.”

Eddie regretted it as soon as he said it. A joke to him could turn into a massive rumor tomorrow. Your reaction calmed his nerves though. 

You smiled at that. “Oh, so you run into girls often, Munson?”

“Only the pretty ones.”

You both knew it was a lie. Eddie couldn’t remember the last time he had actually talked to a girl before this. Especially a pretty one like you. 

You rolled your eyes and shook your head before you turned away fully and rounded the corner out of sight. 

Eddie did in fact get immediately sent into the principals when he got to O’Donnells classroom, and then sentenced to detention for that evening. He replayed your interaction from that morning over and over in his head as he twirled a pencil in his hand in the cold, silent classroom. A grin still on  his face.  

Eddie was supposed to be doing homework but found himself ripping out a piece of notebook paper and jotting down a note. 

Hope your grandma’s okay. 

Sorry for the concussion. 

-E. 

Eddie had found himself waiting by your locker in the days following but you never showed back up to school. 

January 8th, 1984

Winter break came and went but he still thought about you, even in the middle of his holiday celebrations. He worried about you even though he didn’t even know you. You were basically the enemy. He wished he had time to break into your locker and take the note out before you had the chance to see it but breaking and entering on school property wasn’t a charge he was willing to catch. 

The first Monday after break he spotted you in front of your locker. A friend of yours stood beside you, chatting your ear off. He watched as you stared down at the open letter before gently folding it and putting it into the pocket of your backpack. There was a small smile across your face as you blatantly ignored the person talking to you. 

Your gaze shot up and caught Eddie staring. He gave you a small wave before shooting you a concerned look. You looked tired and worn down. His feet moved towards you before he even had the chance to tell them to stop. 

Your friends talking trailed off as he approached you. You looked up at him from behind your locker door with surprised eyes. It seemed everyone in the hallway had slowed their movements, trying to catch a glimpse at what Eddie Munson was doing by approaching you. 

“Can I help you?” Your friend asked obnoxiously as she chewed a thick wad of gum with an open mouth. Eddie was pretty sure her name was Tammy or something. 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked you, ignoring her and the wet smacking of her mouth completely. 

You nodded, just a quick jerk of your chin. 

Eddie didn’t believe you. He stepped closer. “Are you sure?” 

Another nod, this time your eyes peered around him nervously. Eddie stepped back. What had he been thinking? One conversation in an empty hallway hadn’t made you friends and it definitely didn’t mean he could just approach you whenever he wanted to. Something about you had made him forget where he stood on the high school social hierarchy. 

“Is this freak bothering you?” Steve Harrington asked as he approached. The crowd in the hallway made a wide circle, prepared for the show. 

Eddie tensed, well aware of what followed after the use of his lovely nickname. 

“Don’t call him that,” you snapped at Steve, slamming your locker shut. The murmur of voices in the hallway hushed completely. 

Steve raised a confused brow at you, taken back by your outburst. 

“I was just asking a question,” Steve mumbled. 

“No. You were being an asshole. Again.” You reprimanded him in the way that only happens after years of friendship. Steve backed down at your tone, shooting a nervous look at Eddie. 

You turned to the crowd in the hallway, all of the people still thinking they were going to see a fight. 

“What the hell are you all looking at?” You snapped at them. The crowd started moving again, realizing that if they stayed they would have to deal with you. 

Eddie was entranced. He had never seen you like this before. 

“I’m fine,” you gritted out to Steve, Eddie and Tammy before you marched away from them and to your class, leaving them all standing there in your dust. 

Eddie was skipping his third period gym class when he heard the sniffles. Usually, Eddie would ignore something like that but these ones made his heart clench. 

He found you behind the gym, sitting on the cold hard ground. Your knees were pulled up to your chest and your head was in your hands. Your shoulders were shaking up and down with your sobs. 

Eddie approached slowly, not wanting to startle you. 

The sound of his sneakers crunching against a piece of gravel had your head popping up and looking at him. You immediately wiped at the tears on your face, trying to hide the fact that you had been crying. 

Eddie didn’t point out that wiping the tears away was useless as he sat down beside you. Damn, the ground was really cold. He could feel it all the way through his pants. Small goosebumps broke across his skin and he shivered. He wondered how long you had been sitting out here like this. You must be freezing. 

You turned your head away from Eddie, hiding your face. You probably wished he would just go away and leave you alone. He also wished that he could do that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to.  

After a moment or two, Eddie spoke, “Yeah, I hate school too.”

You let out a small, pitiful laugh that you tried to cover up with a cough. Eddie heard it though, and it made him happy. 

You didn’t say anything for a moment until you finally turned to him. “Don’t you have gym this period?”

Eddie felt his face break out into a wide gin. “You been keeping track of me or something?”

“No. I just know because one time I was walking by the gym and saw you get hit in the face with a basketball. You don’t have very good hand eye coordination, you know?”

Eddie was speechless. He remembered the day you were talking about. The one time he had actually tried to participate in gym and he got clocked in the face while he wasn’t paying attention to a particularly boring game of basketball. The guy who did it honestly didn’t mean to, he had genuinely thought Eddie would be able to catch it. 

His head touched the brick wall behind him as he let out a loud laugh, not at the fact that he had gotten hit in the face, but because you had seen him and remembered it enough to make a joke out of it. It wasn’t even a cruel joke at his expense, but you had said it to make him laugh when he should be trying to make you laugh instead. 

You chuckled along, wiping the stray tears that spilled. 

Eddie stopped laughing when he noticed your eyes were still watery. 

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

You shrugged. Eddie thought at first you weren’t going to tell him. 

“My grandma died.”

“Oh shit.” Eddie let out a puff of air. “I’m sorry. That’s why you haven’t been at school?”

“Oh, so now you’re the one keeping track of me?” You nudged his shoulder playfully. 

Yes, he had been, and he wasn’t about to tell you that. 

Eddie pushed off the ground and stood over you. You looked up at him confused until he stuck his hand out to pull you up. The way your hand fit into his felt right. 

“Hey, uh, do you wanna get out of here?” Eddie tugged at a strand of his hair and pulled it in front of his face shyly. His defensiveness was still expecting you to call him a freak and run away but another part of him told him that you were different from everyone else. 

You thought for a moment before you agreed and Eddie led you to his van. 

February 14th, 1984

Eddie had decided that today was the day. 

After a month of shoving notes back and forth into each other's lockers and hanging out at his trailer when your mom thought you were at some other friend's house, he was finally going to ask you on a date. 

The flirtation was obviously there between the two of you. At least Eddie thought it was. Neither of you had pushed the boundaries of your new friendship though. The days spent together were full of laughing and talking while still not crossing the line between friendship and something more. 

Eddie wanted to change that. He didn’t think he could go another second without letting you know how you made him feel. So that’s why he was back to creeping around your locker, hoping that you wouldn’t laugh at the note that he had placed in there for you. 

Valentine's day had never really been a success for Eddie. He had a good feeling about this one though. 

He watched as you approached your locker, alone this time thankfully. A red rose was held delicately between your fingers. Jealousy reared its ugly head at the thought of whatever asshole had cornered you in the hallway to give it to you. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that you had tons of other guys pining after you. He just hoped you didn’t think he was another one of those hopeless losers. 

It took you forever to spin the dial and open it up. Finally, you pulled out the red card Eddie had bought at the grocery store. Wayne had spotted him with it and although he didn’t say anything Eddie could tell he wanted to poke fun at him for buying a valentine. 

He watched as your grin grew as you read it. 

Will you please go out on a date with me?

-E. 

Okay, so the smile was a good sign. Or maybe you were laughing at him. Maybe whoever gave you that stupid flower already beat him to it and swept you off of your feet. Maybe he never stood a chance in the first place. 

During his distracting mental gymnastics over what your smile meant, he hadn’t even noticed you approaching him. 

“A date, huh?” You asked cheekily. You were still smiling at him. 

“I mean, uh, yeah?” Eddie didn’t know what he was saying. He wanted to find some place to run and hide. Hopefully if he disappeared long enough you would forget about this by the time he reappeared. 

“Okay.”

“Wait, okay? You’re saying yes?” Eddie wasn’t sure he had heard you correctly. There was no way you were actually agreeing. 

“Yes,” you laughed that laugh that Eddie had come to love. The flower twirled between your fingers. 

Love. The word sent a shiver down his spine. 

That couldn’t be the right word for this. 

“Oh, and this is for you,” you announced as you held the flower out to him. 

Eddie took it from you gently. He couldn’t believe he had ever thought the flower was stupid. It was obviously the most beautiful and precious thing in the world since it came from you. 

“You- For me? You got this for me?” He sputtered out, still mesmerized by it. 

Now, you were the one looking unsure. “Sorry, if it’s weird. I just saw it and thought you might like it.”

“I love it,” Eddie immediately replied. 

There was that word again. 

“So, a date?...”

“Right,” Eddie straightened. He had prepared for this. “Today? After school?” 

Eddie will be the first to admit that he fucked up. 

When he planned this date, he didn’t take into account the weather forecast. He was so excited over the prospect of you saying yes that everything else kind of faded into the background. 

He realized that he made a mistake, as he watched you try to pretend you weren’t cold as you sat on the blanket across from him at the park. 

Eddie had packed sandwiches and chips the night before in a makeshift picnic. If he had been smart, he would have sat and watched the nightly news for the weather with Wayne.

February was a hit or miss for warmth. Although it had been warmer during the day, the slight shiver you were sporting proved the temperature had dropped. 

Eddie found himself stripping off his jacket and draping it over your shoulders. 

“But you’re going to get cold?” Your concern made his heart flutter. 

Eddie shook his head. “No, I’m actually pretty warm. I don’t really ever get cold.” That was a lie but he couldn’t sit here and watch you freeze any longer. 

You hummed, eyeing him suspiciously. You saw through his bullshit already.  

Eddie liked that about you.

Eddie liked a lot about you actually. He liked you so much that he was planning on asking you an important question if this date went well. If he still had the nerve by the time this was over. So far, it wasn’t looking good. 

You took a small bite of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, eyes focused on the ducks that lazily lapped the pond. 

Eddie’s grand idea was that you two could have a romantic picnic in the park and then watch the sunset over the pond. He saw it in one of those romantic movies that he was forced to watch when he was too lazy to grab the remote. 

“Hey, what's wrong?” You sounded concerned as you looked over at Eddie with a frown. 

“Nothing,” he quickly denied. 

“Eddie,” you tried again. Your hand placed gently on the knees of his scratchy jeans. “Are you nervous?”

“Me? No, no. I’m not nervous at all,” he dismissed your claim passionately, head shaking and hair swaying side to side with his movement. 

You smiled at him, because despite his antics, you knew he was nervous. Was it the slight tremble of his hand or the way he had barely eaten since you’d been there? 

“You’re not?”

“Do you want me to be?”

This made you lean your head back and laugh loudly. Eddie relaxed slightly, your hand still on his knee. 

He noticed some of the ducks wandering at the edge of the pond. He knew he wouldn’t be able to finish eating this sandwich, especially not with how close you had gotten to him. He pulled off a piece of crust, tossing it on the grass for them to eat. 

Eddie didn’t expect a swarm of them to start waddling up to the blanket you sat on. You looked at Eddie wide eyed when one came up onto the blanket and pecked at the bag of chips by your leg. 

Another one tried to get 5he rest of Eddie's sandwich out of his hand. He thought they were going for his finger so he jerked away. 

The ducks didn’t like that. 

Before he knew it he was cornered and they were coming at him from all directions. Eddie jumped up, snatching your hand to drag you to safety away from their beaks. You had enough thought to grab Eddie’s blanket as he pulled you quickly to the parking lot. 

Eddie chanced a glance behind his shoulder to see a trail of ducks beelining it towards the both of you. He picked up the pace with you matching his speed and keeping up as he held your hand tightly in his. His leather jacket still wrapped around you. 

Eddie didn’t think until you were both by the van to throw the sandwich that he was still holding onto at them. 

“Here! Take it!” He yelled, tossing the sandwich onto the ground in front of them. They took the bait, focusing on the sandwich instead of attacking you and Eddie. 

Eddie turned to you to find you panting from the unexpected run. The sparkling white shoes you had been wearing were now covered in a thick layer of mud. 

“I’m so sorry. This is probably the worst date you’ve ever been on and I understand if-”

Eddie’s words were lost as you fisted the front of his t-shirt and dragged his mouth down to yours. 

 He didn’t move at first, worried that he was reading this wrong. That was, until he realized that you were currently kissing him and there was literally no other way to read this. So he kissed you back. 

When you both pulled away from each other you were still out of breath from your run. 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Eddie blurted out, not waiting another second or he would lose his nerve. 

He couldn’t find himself to be mad at the ducks anymore when you said yes. 

Maybe Valentine's Day wasn’t so bad after all. 

May 25th, 1984

Eddie laid face down on your bed with his face shoved into your pillow. He deeply inhaled the smell of your shampoo on your pillow case. 

He could feel the eyes of the duck figurine on your dresser staring at him. He remembered the day he brought it to you, about a month after you made it official. He found it in one of his neighbors' yards by the trash can. He took it for himself, cleaning it up and supergluing a pair of googly eyes to its face. You had cried laughing at the reminder of your first date and displayed it proudly in your room. Making you laugh had been worth the effort. 

This is where he had been lying since he got here. You left him alone, letting him mope in peace while you sat across the room at your desk, nose buried in a romance book that he would try to understand when you enthusiastically explained the plot to him later. He could usually never keep up but hearing you explain something you loved made him happy. 

Eddie sighed, sitting up and ready to talk about it now. It had been something that you two had been dancing around since it became clear months ago. 

Tomorrow was graduation, and Eddie wouldn’t be attending. 

You had tried to see the bright side to the situation. Constantly reminding Eddie that you were going into your senior year, so you could have classes together and you’d be able to help him more. 

Eddie didn’t mind spending more time with you but he didn’t like feeling like a failure. 

It reminded him too much of his father. 

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” you said as you put your book down. 

“Easy for you to say. You’re not a failure,” he muttered. 

You shook your head at him, crossing the room to sit beside him on the bed. 

“You’re not a failure,” you reminded him. “Look at all you’ve done.”

Eddie scoffed, grabbing your pillow and holding it to his chest. “Like what? What have I done that makes me not a failure?”

“Needing a little bit more time does not make you a failure. So what if Mrs. O’Donnell or Principal Higgins doesn’t see how creative and amazing you are? I see it. And I thought you knew better than to judge your self worth based on academics anyways.”

Your hand met Eddies, fitting into his perfectly. 

Eddie rolled his head back against the headboard and couldn’t help the words that came out next. 

“I love you,” he blurted out, shocking himself with the ease they slid out. 

You blinked a few times in surprise before you smiled and said, “I love you too, Eddie. So much.”

A car door slamming from the driveway had you pulling away from Eddie in a hurry. You scrambled to the window that overlooked the front of the house. 

“Shit! My mom’s home early,” you gasped.

Eddie felt his gut sink. He hadn’t met your mom yet but by hearing the way you talked about her he could only assume how this meeting was about to go. 

Eddie felt like he understood your parental issues slightly. He knew your dad had passed a little bit back and that put a strain on your and your mothers relationship. You had once described it to him as a mental break that you had tried to be patient with but it was only growing worse. At least you had your grandmother before she passed, who you had spent most your time with instead of being at home. 

Without your grandmother you were just stuck with your mom with no one to stand up for you. 

Well, except for Eddie. 

“Should I run?” Eddie asked, half joking and half serious. He’d jump out the window if he had to. 

“It’s too late. She’ll know,” you mumbled. 

Eddie hated seeing the look on your face when you heard the downstairs door slam and your name called sharply. 

You rushed downstairs, not wanting to keep her waiting. 

“Hey, mom. You’re home early,” you said with a false cheerfulness that Eddie could see right through. 

“Easy day,” your mom said as she set down her purse and keys. “Whose ugly van is that outside?”

“Mom,” you started with a pleading tone. “This is my boyfriend, Eddie Munson. Remember I told you about him?”

Your mom finally noticed Eddie standing awkwardly behind you with his hands clasped behind his back. He felt the burning scrutiny of her stare as she looked him up and down, taking in all of his flaws. Eddie fought the urge to grab you and run from this mean woman and her stare. 

“I thought you said he was just a friend,” Your mom finally said, mouth twisted like she had eaten something sour. “I figured you were doing charity or tutoring underprivileged students.” 

Eddie was used to being talked down to by adults. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t hurt by her words. As awful as she is, he wanted her approval. For once he wanted to be able to say he was good enough for you, and for someone to agree with him. 

It was easy to ignore the looks you got in the hallways at school. It wasn’t easy when the looks came from your family. 

Both your fists clenched at your sides and your shoulders tensed. Eddie grew more nervous, worried about how you were going to react to her words. You had made sure that people at school had learned to keep their mouths shut about your relationship quickly. 

“He is not a charity. He is my boyfriend,” You grit out. Eddie could hear how hard it was for you to push those words out of your mouth calmly. 

He wanted to comfort you, tell you it was okay. But he knew the second he showed you and affection your mom would use that as ammunition. He kept his distance.

“Eddie, do not park your van in front of my house anymore. I don’t want the neighbors getting the wrong idea,” your mom snapped at him. 

Eddie nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

With one last scrutinizing look, your mom looked away from you and Eddie. 

“Your friend needs to go home. I invited the Harringtons over for dinner tonight,” your mom announced as she walked into the kitchen. 

You sighed, shaking your head. When you turned to look at Eddie he could see the unshed tears glistening in your eyes. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered so your mom wouldn’t hear. “I’m gonna go. Call me later, okay?” 

You nodded, eyes on him as he came up beside you and squeezed your shoulder gently. 

Eddie hated leaving you in that house with her. He hated hearing your cracking voice over the phone at night after you and her had gotten into yet another argument. He wanted to rescue you and steal you away from her so she could never hurt you again. 

That’s why failing senior year hit so hard. He wished he had met you sooner so that he could’ve tried to get his shit together quicker. At least you were going to be seniors together this time. 

One day, Eddie was going to be your knight in shining armor. 

November 7th, 1984

You had been acting weird since Halloween. 

Eddie didn’t want to mention it at first, thinking that maybe it was because your mom got mad that you were out late Halloween night with him. But over the week, you grew more and more distracted. 

You would zone out in class and then after school you would always be too busy to talk because you had to go babysit some kids. 

Today was the first time he had talked you into spending some time with him all week. One look at you and he knew something was really wrong. 

You dropped your backpack on the floor and climbed into Eddie’s bed as soon as you got inside his room. 

Eddie sat beside you, ignoring the pile of homework he needed to work on. 

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked softly. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” you sighed, turning away from him so he couldn’t see your face. 

“Yes there is. You’ve been acting weird all week.” He didn’t want to sound accusing. He trusted you. But if your mom had done something or said something that crossed the line he wanted to know so he could help you. 

“I said I’m fine, Eddie,” you said harshly. 

Eddie sighed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment to think about what to do next. 

“You’re not fine. You’ve been a ghost all week. You barely talk at school and you just zone out. I said your name six times today before you even knew I was standing there. And you’ve been so busy after school that we have barely talked. I’m really worried about you. If you need space from me just tell me but if your mom did something then…” The words died in Eddie’s throat when he noticed your shoulder shaking and your face buried into his pillow. 

“Shit, baby. Come here,” Eddie said as he climbed behind you and wrapped his arms around you. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t,” you sobbed. 

“Yes you can. Did someone say something to you? Did someone hurt you?” Eddie was frantic now. If someone had hurt you he didn’t know the type of person he would become. He just knew that he would make sure whoever hurt you would never be able to hurt you again. 

“No. I just-” You turned to your side to face Eddie head on. “I promise I’m safe. No one hurt me. Everything is safe for now.” 

“I don’t understand,” Eddie admitted, brushing a piece of hair out of your face tenderly. 

“I need you to promise me that you’ll drop it. I promise I’m okay. I just had a lot going on but now everything is going back to normal. I didn’t mean to make you worried.”

Eddie didn’t want to drop it though. Something had happened after Halloween and he wanted to know what it was. But you were adamant not to tell him. He had no choice but to let it go. 

“Okay, baby,” he said, pulling you in. “I’ll drop it. But if something is bothering you I want you to come to me, okay?”

Eddie felt you sniffle and nod against him as you relaxed. Eddie trusted you but you were hiding something. 

Something big. 

May 24th, 1985

Your name was called followed by applause as you walked across the stage to get your diploma. 

Eddie stood up and cheered, gaining a nasty look from your mother who sat a few spaces down. Eddie didn’t care. He was so happy for you. 

Eddie didn’t graduate again this year. School is hard. You tried to help the best you could, always so patient with him when you have to explain things repeatedly. He thought you two having the same classes would surely help him. 

He it was his own fault with not paying attention in class but he couldn’t help his mind from wandering. Sitting still for so long was hard. 

It also didn’t help that Ms. O’Donnell had it out for him. 

He couldn’t believe that you were going to go to school to become a teacher. Not that you wouldn’t be great. You were so patient and smart. He knew you would be better than any teacher he had ever had. You would never fail students just because you didn’t like them unlike the fine teachers of Hawkins High that Eddie had the honor of being taught by. 

With your diploma in your hand, you turned and gave Eddie a bright smile. A silent, “I did it. I love you.”

Eddie gave you two thumbs up, not wanting to yell because the next student was crossing the stage. A silent, “I”m proud of you. I love you.”

He pushed through the crowd after the final remarks were made. It was hard to find you in the sea of green caps and gowns. Eddie was pretty sure he might have elbowed a kid in the face. 

He saw you, looking for him too as you tried to make your way through the crowd, having less luck than him. He grabbed you around the waist when he got close enough. You squealed, turning to smack a big kiss on his cheek. 

“Hi,” you whispered with a wide smile on your face, ignoring the people bumping into you. 

“Hi,” Eddie whispered back, any hard feelings about not graduating disappearing. Today was about you. 

You tugged Eddie’s arm, silently leading him out to the parking lot where Wayne and your mother waited. Neither of them looked at each other. Your mom had a sour look on her face like she had been sucking on a lemon. Eddie wondered what Wayne might have said to her to make her get that look. Wayne had never been quiet about his dislike for the way she treated you. The thing was you never had to even tell him that she wasn’t nice to you, Wayne just knew. Same way he knew when Eddie was young too. 

Eddie was surprised to hear that his uncle wanted to attend your graduation too. When Eddie voiced as much, all Wayne replied with was, “Why the hell wouldn’t I go?”

And that was the end of that. 

“Let me get some pictures of you,” Wayne said as he pulled out the polaroid camera he had for special occasions. It wasn’t often that it left the back of the closet. Film was expensive. 

Eddie pulled you in front of the van. “Got to get my other girl in it too,” he teased. 

You rolled your eyes and laughed at him. The camera went off for the first photo. 

“Alright. Both of you look here and smile for this one,” Wayne called. 

As soon as the second picture was taken your mom spoke up, “Alright. We have lunch we have to get to.”

“I was gonna go have lunch with Eddie and Wayne. Remember?” You asked. That had been the plan since the beginning. Wayne was gonna make you and Eddie lunch back at the trailer. Nothing fancy but Eddie knew you had been looking forward to it. 

“No. The Holloways and Harringtons invited us out to have lunch with them. Come on,” she said, waving her hand for you to follow her like a child. 

“Okay. Then you have lunch with them. I’ll be home later,” you said, standing closer to Eddie and grabbing his hand. 

When you and Eddie had first gotten together you would make excuses for your mom. You used to say that she was just protective since your dad had died. Now, you had come to the light on your own about how your mom actually was. 

Eddie had a feeling she would do anything to keep you and Eddie apart. Especially now that you were fighting back. 

You didn’t wait for her to argue back with you as you climbed up into the van. Eddie followed your lead, scurrying over to the drivers side. 

All he remembers seeing as you both drove away was the angry face of your mother in the rearview mirror. 

That night, you and Eddie made a plan to move in together when Eddie graduated high school. 

July 4th 1985

The tires to the van squealed as he pulled into the mall parking lot. Yellow caution tape was put up, blocking anyone from coming or going. 

Eddie jumped out of the van, cursing when he saw just how massive the fire was. The fire was so bright that he could feel the heat hitting his face even from a distance. 

No one noticed him as he climbed under the caution tape. Everyone was already too preoccupied with the disaster in front of them. 

Starcourt mall was burning down. And you might be in it. 

You were supposed to be here helping Nancy Wheeler find some top at one of the stores in the mall. At least that’s what you said when you called Eddie earlier and hurriedly told him you’d be over later to set off fireworks together. 

When you didn’t show he became worried, even calling your mom to see if you were home. When he heard that the mall was on fire he became desperate to make sure you were okay. He didn’t even know if his heart was beating in his chest anymore from the fear. 

He doesn’t even remember the drive over here. It was all a blur as he broke every traffic law in the state of Indiana. 

The top of the mall was collapsing into itself from the heat. Firefighters lined the sidewalk, blasting water on it but it made no difference. The building was destroyed and so was anyone that was in it. 

Eddie pushed through bodies of cops and officials to get closer. If you were in there, he was going in too. Even if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make sure you were safe.

A hand grabbed his arm and spun him around. Eddie came face to face with a tired looking police officer. 

“You cannot be here!” The officer yelled over the sound of the sirens and fire. 

Who knew fire was so loud?

Eddie tried to yank his arm away but the officer held on tight. 

“Let me go!” Eddie grit out. 

The officer tugged on him, pulling him away from where he needed to be. Eddie started swinging his arms, hoping it would break the grip enough for him to run back towards the mall. 

“Keep resisting and I’m going to arrest you,” the officer warned. 

Eddie had an argument formed, but it died when he heard his name called from behind him. 

Eddie whirled around, searching for the sound. 

He found you sitting in the back of an ambulance covered by an emergency blanket. You pushed it off, struggling to get yourself off the stretcher.. A paramedic put his hand on you to keep you in place. 

Eddie broke away from the officer, sprinting towards you at full speed. 

“Fuck,” he yelled once he got into the stretcher and grabbed you, pulling you close to your chest. 

Eddie didn’t realize he was crying until he felt you wiping his tears away. 

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” you kept repeating softly. 

Your hair smelled like fireworks. If he still wasn’t so afraid he would laugh. 

“Oh, shit. Your leg,” Eddie gasped when he saw the wound that the paramedic had been trying to tend to before he made his entrance. 

“It’s okay. It’s just a scratch. Won’t even leave a scar.”

Eddie kissed you, not caring about the paramedic being able to see. His lips pressed hard into yours. For a moment when he had arrived, he had feared that he would never be able to kiss you again. 

You were trying to be brave. Eddie could see the exhaustion in your face. Blood covered your shirt, more than what came from the cut on your leg. Soot and ash were smeared across your cheeks, clothes, and hands. He could tell by the look in your eyes that you had seen something bad that night, and he had the unshakeable feeling that it was going to change you. 

“Baby,” Eddie muttered, as he moved far enough away for the paramedic to do his job, but while still being able to keep his hands on you, afraid that you would disappear into the air like the smoke outside. His heart still pounded in his ears and he knew the adrenaline would crash eventually, but for now he had to remain standing and strong for you. He was sure your crash was going to be significantly worse than his. 

He couldn’t wait to get you home, back to the trailer, away from all of these people so he could hold you. He wouldn’t believe you were okay until he saw it for himself. 

Steve Harrington approached your ambulance with a blanket wrapped around him and his blue sailor suit. Eddie would normally laugh at the sight, as he had many times before, but Steve’s condition was frightening. Bruises framed his bloodshot eyes and blood dripping down his shirt. Steve looked like he had gotten into a battle and lost instead of escaping a fire. 

“Did you try to fight the fire? You know firefighters don’t actually use their fists,” Eddie asked, half joking and half serious. 

Eddie noticed how Steve and you stared at each other for a moment before you decided to speak. 

“He fell while trying to get out.”

For some reason, Eddie couldn’t believe that but he decided to let it go. He didn’t think a fall would leave those kinds of marks but who was he to say. 

“Men in suits are here,” Steve warned you in a low voice. Eddie had the feeling that Steve was trying not to let him hear. 

You laid your head back against the stretcher with a groan. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to deal with them tonight.”

“Deal with who?” Eddie asked, feeling like he was missing something. 

“Just the mall's insurance company. Probably want to make sure we can’t sue,” Steve said quickly. 

You lifted your head up and gave Eddie a nervous smile. 

Eddie didn’t know how to explain it but something didn’t feel right. He didn’t want to think about it though. He was just happy that you were okay. 

He didn’t know what he would do if he ever lost you. 

March 21, 1986

Eddie hadn’t felt right since his weird interaction in the woods earlier that day. The whole time he set up for Hellfire he felt distracted, like something was wrong. 

He was so grateful when you finally arrived to bring him the supplies he had forgotten for Hellfire. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked after pressing a kiss to his cheek. He hadn’t realized he was wearing his worry on his face. 

Eddie peeked around you, making sure no one had snuck in through the door behind you. 

“Chrissy Cunningham came to my spot at lunch. She wanted me to sell to her.” Eddie whispered. 

You gave him a confused look, probably wondering what was wrong with that. Money was money no matter who it came from. Eddie knew you didn’t particularly care for the way he made money, but you never told him to stop. 

“Okay? Did something happen?”

“She was acting weird. She bumped into me and I thought she was going to run away screaming. I offered her some weed but she wanted something stronger,” Eddie admitted. 

“Something stronger? As in?” 

“I have some stuff back at the trailer. She wants to come over and get it after the game. Please tell me you’re still coming over,” Eddie begged you. 

“Yes. I’ll be there. But maybe she was just scared of you and that’s why she was acting weird,” you shrugged, sending him a sly smile. 

“Oh, yeah? Am I scary?” He asked as he pulled you in. 

“Terrifying,” you muttered before you leaned forward and kissed him deeply, your back hitting the edge of the table. The pieces that Eddie had already set up knocked over but neither of you cared. 

The door opened and closed followed by loud, obnoxious gagging. 

“Get a room,” Dustin screamed as he entered. 

“This is a room,” Eddie said as he pulled away, pinning them with a harsh stare. He was already going into dungeon master mode. 

You laughed, patting Eddie’s cheek. You thought it was cute when he went into his dungeon master mode. Eddie would sometimes play it up a little bit to make you laugh. 

“Alright, I’m gonna go watch Lucas win,” you announced as you grabbed your bag and gave Eddie one last peck on the cheek. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot after. I love you. Everyone behave.”

“I love you too,” Eddie whispered, not wanting any of the guys to hear because they would give him shit the whole game.

He clapped his hands in front of him loudly. “Alright, let’s get started.”

October 16th, 1986-Present Day

You slowly closed the notebook and just stared at the cover. Eddie was nervous. He had tried not to hover the whole time you read but he liked watching your facial expressions whenever you read something that made you happy or sad. 

Could you imagine it the way he did when he read it back? There were some things he didn’t include in the notebook, particularly the time he bought your engagement ring. He wanted that to be a surprise. 

If he ever got the chance to surprise you again.  

Eddie shuffled on his feet, not sure if he should say anything to you yet. 

You looked up at him with tired, bloodshot eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked. 

You nodded quickly, wiping at your face. “This was a lot…I think I’m just going to go to bed now.”

Eddie understood. It was a lot of information to inhale. He hoped it wasn’t a mistake showing it to you. 

You got up and walked to the spare bedroom, your room for the night since your mattress had been ruined by the leaking roof. 

Eddie tried not to feel hurt by your distance as he laid on the couch and stared at the ceiling. He thought of the times when you were inseparable. If he knew then what he knew now, he would have cherished those moments more than he already did. 

You just needed time and Eddie would give you as much as you needed. 

[augustvandyne]

Lucy Chen x reader

Reader is somehow involved in 5 calls Lucy gets and finally they’re actually in danger at the last call and Lucy decides to ask them out at the end

yesss i love all the lucy asks! she’s adorable, especially in this season. her smileeeee

god is not on my side

1.

God was just not on your side today, or this whole week, if you were being honest.

You were a nurse at a local hospital here in Los Angeles, and of course you were late getting out today - again.

Yesterday you’d gotten out thirty minutes late. Which wasn’t so bad, because you lived 15 away from the hospital, and 15 away from the school. So you had enough time to run home, pick your sister up and run her to the game. She got there just in time for warmups.

But today.. you hadn’t gotten out for an hour. You were an hour late. You were all but running out of the hospital when you were finally able to go.

You rushed as quickly as you could to the house, and you were scolded by your sister, Avery, when she hopped into the car.

“Just freaking drive!” She said as she hung halfway out the door.

“I don’t want to get pulled over,” You try to remain calm, but on the inside you’re freaking out just as hard. You know how important soccer was to Avery. Especially because she’s in her senior year, which means she’s being watched every second of her playing time.

“I don’t even care. I will pay if you get a ticket. Just get me to the field!” She all but yelled at you.

You glance over at your sister. Her hair was already up and she had your guys’ moms favorite color pre-wrap around her head - it was her signature trade mark - along with her shin guards and her dirty cleats that are messing up your clean car.

You press on the gas slightly and you see red and blue flashing lights.

“Shit!” You curse, pulling over to the side of the road.

“Seriously..” Avery sits back in her seat.

“You take point Chen,” You hear out your window as a beautiful woman approaches the side of your car.

“Are you aware that you were speeding?” The officer - Chen - holds her hands in front of her confidently.

“Yes. I’m so, so, so sorry. I normally wouldn’t speed but my sister here is very late to her soccer game because I didn’t get out of work at the time I should have— which is all my fault by the way,” You spare a glance at your sister who is fuming by now. “You see, she’s a senior now and there are scouts all over the place and this is not a good look for her if she’s going to be even more late so if you could please just do whatever you’re going to do, and let me go, I will pay or do whatever you want. Just please let me get her to the high school.”

Lucy’s eyes are a bit wider than they were two minutes ago.

“Oh— well— um, I’ll let you off on a warning this time,” Lucy nods and you let out a relieved breath.

“Thank you. You are a goddess. I could kiss you.”

“Oh—“

“But I won’t,” You chuckle.

“I hope I do not see you again,” Lucy points. “Wait, that sounded rude. Just— I just hope I don’t see you again because I don’t want you to be a criminal—“

“No, I understand,” You smiled widely at the adorable woman.

“Chen,” Tim says sternly.

“Y/n!” Avery says at the same time.

“Right, we’re going. I hope not to see you again, either.”

With that, you’re off.

2.

You guess someone on the side of the road called the cops, you weren’t really sure.

All you knew was you were walking towards the store to get a few groceries for you and your sister before your night shift, when you got punched in the face.

You were slouched down against the side of a brick building when you see two sets of feet appear in front of you.

“Chen-“

“Hey,” Lucy places a gentle hand on your shoulder, ignoring Tim’s protests. She knows all you need right now is a comforting shoulder to lean on. She would know. “What happened?”

“I—“

“It’s okay. Does your throat hurt?” Lucy rubs your shoulder soothingly with her thumb, her hand still resting there.

You nod.

“I see you have a bad bruise there on your eye, did the attacker hit you anywhere else?”

Tim is impressed by Lucy’s ease and strength throughout this process. He makes a mental note to praise her later for being so supportive to you.

“My—“ Your voice is raspy. “Ribs. There’s probably one or two broken.”

Lucy looks down at your shirt, “Do you mind if I take a look?”

You nod again, letting her know it’s okay that she looks.

She’s not surprised to see the bruising on your abdomen, and is glad to see it was only one or two like you said.

“You should go to the hospital to get checked out,” Lucy looks down at you with concerned eyes. “Did he steal anything from you?”

“My— my wallet,” You swallow, and your throat contracts painfully.

“We’ll locate that for you,” Tim promises, his eyes almost matching Lucy’s.

“Thank you,” You sniff.

“Now let’s get you to the hospital.. Y/N, right?”

You didn’t even have to tell her your name.

3.

You were nearing the end of your shift, and to be honest, you couldn’t be any happier if you tried. Partly because you were already as excited as you could get due to you finally getting to leave after an overly long day. But you were also too tired to get even more excited.

But as of late God hasn’t been in your favor. Which really explains why the second you’re about to pack up to change, the hospital is hit with a bunch of traumas - all hands on deck.

You guessed it might have been some kind of mass casualty. Maybe a multiple car pile up or a shooting. 

Your suspicions only grew when one of the officers you’ve come to be familiar with - Officer Bradford - and another officer came strolling in. They had concerned looks on their faces. 

You couldn’t help but notice Officer Chen (still no first name) wasn’t with him.

Officer Bradford spots you and almost immediately is by your side, hounding you for information.

“Do you know where she is?” You can see the fear in his eyes. He’s terrified for whoever he may be looking for. “She was hit- and- and- Jackson too. I- I should’ve seen it coming.”

“It’s okay Tim,” The woman that stands beside Tim shares a similar expression to him. You were guessing this woman was Jackson’s partner. The officer says in a much calmer voice, “Have you seen any officers be brought in?”

“No,” You swallow thickly and watch as their faces fall. “But I’ll find out right now.” 

You see relief flash through Tim’s eyes as you back up and speed through the doors that lead into the emergency room.

Lucy locks her eyes on you, and you are at her side in a second. Another nurse is helping her but you tell her, “I got this one. Help the other officer over there.”

“Tim sent you,” Lucy says through her teeth, in an obvious amount of pain. She was tough and when in pain she didn’t show it. You admired that.

“He did,” You admit, lifting the gauze to see the wound on her cheek. “What happened?”

“We were hit by another car. We were chasing- I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” Lucy looks down.

“It’s okay,” You smile down at her. “You were caught in a traumatic situation, it causes a little shock- which is what you are experiencing.”

She hisses in pain when you tap at her wound with a disinfectant.

“Thank you,” Lucy locks her gorgeous brown eyes on yours.

“Of course.”

4.

You loved Avery, you really, really did, but you hated soccer games.

Not because of the game itself, because you loved to see Avery play. There was nothing you loved more than seeing Avery happy. But you hated the parents.

They are downright rude. They call out at the other kids who are doing just fine, and then praise their own.

“Come on Avery! That was a clear shot!” One of the girls’ fathers stands to shout from the sideline.

You are fuming by now, because that was at least the tenth time this man has shouted at Avery.

“There were three girls in her way,” You point your hand in the direction of the goal.

“She could have shot over them,” The man shrugs. “She’s done it before.”

“Yeah maybe when it wasn’t twenty degrees outside,” You roll your eyes.

“Oh, so now you’re blaming the weather on her poor shooting skills?” The man is still standing as he crossing his arms.

“Well I’m just saying it is pretty windy as well,” You stand too. “You weren’t opposed to blaming weather twenty minutes ago when your daughter missed her shot.”

“That’s—“

“Oh, yeah?” You raise your brows.

“You—“ The man begins to get in your face.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Tim shouts from the side, coming into your view. “Get away from the woman.”

“Or what?”

“I think you know,” Lucy stands confidently, and you have to admit that you’re attracted to her confidence in that moment.

A look flashes over the man’s face but he does back off from your face.

You let out a relieved breath, shooting a thankful smile in Lucy’s direction, Lucy smiling back. And oh my, was it breathtaking.

Lucy nods at you in understanding and as a goodbye.

“I hope I won’t be seeing you again,” Lucy tells the man, trying her best to not pose it as a threat.

5.

As if you didn’t have enough on your plate already, someone was now stealing your mail and packages.

You’d ordered new chargers for your car and for the house at least three times now, and they have all been stolen.

“Again?” Avery asked with a concerned face as you searched the porch for something - anything.

“Yes!” You threw your arms up. “This is the third time. I don’t have the money to just keep spending.”

“I know,” Avery’s face holds a frown. “Maybe you should call that hot cop so she can help you figure it out.”

Your face turns a faint shade of pink at her comment.

Avery smirks, “That’s my dose of humor for the day. I’m off to school. I won’t be home until later, one of the girls with drop me off here. But seriously, get this figured out. Maybe actually go to the police about it.”

“I’ll try.”

And you did.

You really weren’t trying to run into Lucy, or make up reasons to talk to her, but you could see that’s not what it looked like here.

As you think this, it feels as if someone is listening to you. Or it’s just Avery.

Because when you enter the station, there is the cute cop you haven’t been able to get enough of.

You watch Lucy for a second.

She was standing up, but leaning on the counter, her head resting on her folded arms. Her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping, but when you stepped closer she says, “Nolan, if you have a can of silly string, I will kick you in the—“

“I don’t know who Nolan is, but he seems like a piece of work,” You joke, and Lucy is snapped up-right.

“Y/n,” Lucy smiles, grabbing at her coffee tumbler to fidget with. “What are you doing here? I thought I said I didn’t want to see you again? Although, I’m not going to complain. Anyway, uh, what can I do for you?”

You smile nervously, in a good way, and say, “I think someone is stealing my packages.. I’ve ordered phone chargers at least three different times, and they’ve all been stolen.”

Lucy nods attentively, watching you closely, her hands still wrapped around the cup.

“Okay. Let’s just fill out a form, and I will make sure our best detective, Angela Lopez, you’ve actually met her— anyway,” Lucy closes her eyes, pushing a hand into her forehead. “I’ll make sure she gets on it right away.”

“Thank you,” You smile, the two of you locking eyes. “You like coffee?”

“What?”

“The tumbler,” You point. “You like coffee? I’m more of a tea girl myself.”

“Oh— yeah, I like coffee.”

“Good to know,” You tilt your head and turn to walk out.

+1

You just wanted to go to the bank. You really did. Everything you do lately seems to be done with a run in with police and with God on your bad side.

You freeze when you hear the shooting start. Someone has to pull you down to be stopped from getting shot.

Time flies by as he begins making threats and as the cops show up - them trying to compromise with the man.

“No! No!” The man shouted at himself. He had obvious injuries from days leading up to this. You could see infection blooming.

He stares right at you, catching your eye. He grabs your arm and lifts you with a grunt.

You choke back a sob as he says into the phone, “I have someone— her name is—“

“Y/n— Y/n,” You stutter into the phone.

“I’ll shoot her. I will.”

And then he hangs up.

“You’re too close to this Chen,” Tim shakes his head, watching her as she stirs up ideas.

“Lucy?” Nyla and Angela ask at the same time.

“That might be useful,” John says, receiving a few questioning looks. “Well, I’m just saying. She might be able to trip him up.”

“That’s a good idea,” Wade points. “Lucy, how well do you know with woman?”

Lucy doesn’t know how to answer that. She just picks the phone back up and begins to get the man on the line.

“You need to let her go,” Lucy says in a stern voice, stunning everyone. Even you.

“What for?”

“Because I like her. She’s so sweet and so kind. The kindest I’ve ever meet. I don’t know her well, but I hope to over dinner because I would love to get to know her on a personal level, rather than a police and civilian level. She has a sister to take care of, and you can’t take a life of another one of her loved ones. She’s a nurse at the hospital— one of the best. You can’t take her life away just because you’re too insecure to do anything about yourself.”

The man stays quiet, and for a second you really think he’s going to kill you.

“I’ll let her go,” The man begins, and you can hear Lucy let out a shaky but relieved breath. “On one condition.”

“And what might that be?” Lucy’s confident voice was back, and if she was being serious about the date, you already knew what your answer was going to be.

“I walk out of here free. With 250K.”

“Fine,” Lucy agrees.

“That’s a quarter of a million dollars—“ You hear Tim shriek before Lucy hangs the phone up.

You’re pushed to the ground back where you were before when the LAPD comes rushing into the bank.

Lucy was at your side in an instant, ushering you to your feet, trying to take you towards the ambulance so you could get checked.

“I’m okay,” You promise Lucy.

“I can’t be so sure,” Lucy chuckles.

You nod awkwardly.

“Okay, well,” Lucy turns to go, but you stop her.

“Did you.. mean what you said?”

Lucy turns back to you and looks at the ground for a second.

“If you didn’t, it’s okay. I mean, I would love to go out if you—“

Next thing you know, Lucy’s lips are on yours. Her lips are soft and kissable and everything you’ve imagined, but better.

“I meant everything I said,” She holds your face in her hands. “And, would you like to?”

“Like I was saying,” You touch your nose to hers. “I would love to.”

[scratchtovoid]

Ok let me talk about this section of the Variety interview for a minute because this sounds like the direction I suspected they were going and I want to talk about why I like it.

[BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD]

So Daemon and Rhaenyra’s story ends in tragedy. It’s entirely build on this idea of distrust that festers under the surface and what distrust can mean to a person.

There’s always so much discussion on what family means to Daemon and it usually revolves around love and the idea of him loving or not loving his family. But what that discussion tends to miss is how Daemon sees himself within his family.

He’s not the outsider he paints himself as. He desperately wants to be accepted and valued by his family. It was the push/pull he had with Viserys and he’s continuing that dynamic with Rhaenyra.

And that takes on different forms, withdrawing when he feels rebuffed, lashing out when he feels misunderstood or underestimated, and pretending he doesn’t even care.

Except he does care. He cares a lot.

And then he loses his brother and immediately after that he fails to protect the boy he raised. A boy he clearly sees as a son.

“Oh but he wanted the ~Strong~ boys dead!!”

No. That’s your headcanon.

Look at the text! He said “A son for a son”

And I was hoping the show would start there because to Daemon he has just failed. All that bravado, preparation, violence, none of it actually protected his family. Luke was still murdered.

And Daemon is who he is. That feeling of loss and failure is going to come out as violence.

(I’m not justifying. This is character analysis. We’re her to examine not judge.)

So what happened when Rhaenyra’s distrust of him is added to that emotional fire?

The show needed to plant the seeds of distrust in Rhaenyra so that the eventual ending of this relationship made sense. Having her be paranoid out of nowhere would just give us that sharp turn into the lazy “Targaryen madness” narrative.

Rhaenyra is a mother who has just lost a baby and a son and is facing a husband who is likely not communicating with her, undermining her, lashing out at her for his own feelings.

And she’s a woman raised in a society where men are under no obligation to listen to their wives.

Of course she doubts.

But I don’t think this only results in anger and paranoia. I think the show is pivoting to something more introspective. To both clarify how these characters really feel about their relationship and their own ambitions and to set them up to be truly broken by one another.

Because the end of this is that Rhaenyra’s distrust of Daemon brings him to the point of giving up. To the point of sacrificing his own life to try and prove himself to his family and his queen.

The story needs to keep moving in that direction and these are the first signs of it.

[timetoletmyimaginationfly]

It’s That Rare Type Of Love

Nanami Kento x Reader

(Song Inspiration: P.S. I LOVE YOU by Paul Partohap)

Nanami Kento. A man that no one really knows about. One that is mysterious because they only know him as the CEO.

“He’s probably single,” Gojo said while typing up his report.

“Oooh, and pours himself a glass of whiskey after a long day of work. He seems like the whiskey type,” Geto added.

“That actually sounds really nice to have,” Gojo added. Geto nodded. “Let’s go out for a drink tonight.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan.” Arms were wrapped around their shoulders. They looked up to see Shoko behind them and Haibara behind her. “Yo! Bar tonight?”

“Sure,” Shoko replied, always down to whatever plan they have. She turned to Haibara. “Honey?”

“Yeah, we can go out,” he said with a bright smile. “Should we invite Nanami-san?”

“Nah,” Gojo and Geto said.

“That’s our boss,” Gojo said. “Who hangs out with the boss?” The three of them shrugged.

Haibara looked at the closed door, where Nanami remains engrossed with his work.

“It be a nice gesture,” Haibara said.

“I’m going outside to smoke. Wanna come guys?” The three of nodded and stood up to walk out the building.

It was a beautiful, fall day. It wasn’t too cold nor too hot. The breeze felt nice from the warmth of the sun. Leaves around them were changing colors. It was beautiful outside.

“I need to find a girl,” Gojo said as he saw couples walk past them. A particular woman caught his eye. “Like her!” You wore a rusty, orange dress with brown heels. You held a lunchbox and looked around.

“Invite her out tonight,” Geto said. They watched you pull your phone out. “After her phone call.” Gojo nodded.

“Maybe she has a friend,” Gojo added. Geto nodded.

“We’ll be ready for cuff season,” Geto said. “Maybe we can bring boss man with us. We can find a woman for him.”

They all nodded, agreeing to finally invite Nanami and planning to ask him out once they return back inside.

“Kento-kun!” The four of them turned around. Their eyes widened to see Nanami walk outside with a bright smile on his face. They watched you skip to him and the two of you hugged.

“Well, Boss man has you beat,” Geto said.

“You think she has friends?” Gojo asked.

“That’s sweet, she brought him lunch,” Shoko said.

They slightly jumped back when they saw Nanami look at them. Nanami whispered in your ear and you nodded. He held your hand and lead you to them.

“Smoke break?” Nanami asked curiously. Shoko nodded, finishing her cigarette. She looked at you and waved.

“Girlfriend?” Nanami shook his head and held your hand up, revealing the large engagement ring and matching wedding band.

“Married?!” the boys exclaimed. You giggled. Nanami nodded and introduced them to you.

“How come we never noticed?!” Gojo exclaimed, slightly sad that he knows that he’ll never have a chance with you.

“I don’t talk about my personal life,” Nanami said then looked at Gojo and Geto. “I may not arrive home alone since I’m not single but my wife and I like to drink some sort of alcohol beverage together.”

“Oh, you heard us.” Nanami nodded.

“If the stand still offers, I would like to join you guys tonight,” he said. “May my wife come?”

“I-I don’t want to intrude,” you said. Shoko smiled and held your hand.

“Please come!” she pleaded excitedly. You smiled.

“Okay! Kento-kun, should I meet you guys?”

“I’ll pick you up, sweetheart.” Seeing Nanami smile warmly at you was such a sight for them.

“Great! Nanami-san! You should spend more time with us! Better yet, I’ll make sure to invite you and your wife,” Haibara said. Nanami blush, another surprising action for the guys to see.

“Kento-kun would love that!” you said excitedly. “I’ve been bugging this grumpy butt to make friends, but I can understand why it would be difficult. Well I shouldn’t hold you all up. It was nice meeting you guys.”

“Likewise!” said the boys. You hugged Shoko and then turned to Nanami.

“Have a good rest of the day,” you said happily. Nanami smiled and leaned down to kiss your lips softly.

“Thank you for bringing my lunch,” he said softly. “You’re going to go shopping?”

“I might as well,” you said. “Utahime’s wedding is coming up.” Nanami pulled his wallet out and gave you his card. You blushed and shyly thanked him. You still prefer him to not do that, but you knew he would make sure you had his card on you at all times if you wanted to shop.

“Get anything you want, sweetheart,” he said and kissed you again. With one last kiss, you waved at the group as you left. Once you were out of sight, Gojo looked at their CEO.

“How’d you win her over?” he asked, curious as ever. Someone so bubbly with someone they find to be too serious.

“High school sweetheart,” Nanami answered proudly.

[elvensorceress]

So there is a "leaked" script that claims Eddie asked Marisol to move in, and is it just me, or is that completely out of character for Eddie? He dated Ana for longer, and they weren't living together. we are really supposed to believe that he would ask Marisol to move in after a few months of dating? Unless Eddie is unable to process anything after learning his Buck. Is dating a man that is not him, and instead of breaking up with her like he planned, he pulls a Buck and asks her to move in with him.

Eddie does not deserve to be stuck with someone like Marisol.

According to 7x04, he apparently needs a live-in babysitter so he can go out with his shiny new boyfriend. So… 🤣  And it took a whole relationship and a blackout before Ana was his babysitter! Just from that much I’m still going, yikes. Like, girl, do you not have friends? Do you not have someone who will tell you this relationship is red flags all over the place? Can we not call up your Folger brother and have him talk some sense into you? 

You’re very right though. Eddie deserves so much better. 

I have heard about the supposed leaked scripts and I’ll talk some about that under a cut below in case anyone wants to read my thoughts on it. 

But what I’ll say in general is that in some of the interviews we’ve been seeing recently especially with canon bi!Buck, Mr. Showrunner had scathing things to say about love interests who are just there to be love interests. He didn’t like that they couldn’t interact with any of the other characters and that they weren’t part of the overall story. 

Given we’ve had what, two? offhand comments and maybe five whole seconds of screen time this season with her, if they wanted to actually develop that relationship for the audience, they could have done that. And should have done that a long, long time ago. (For example, see Eddie and Tommy’s relationship. In one whole episode they did more to build that up than they have done for Eddie/allegedgirlfriendconfirmedterf in all of season 6 or 7.)

Instead, they showcased the bond between Buck and the Diazes and the trauma that Eddie and Chris still have over Shannon leaving and them losing her. And also Eddie’s new friendship with Tommy that sounded like they were both spending every day, every moment together. 

So far for Miss Homophobe, we have—

hey mari it me eddie from the hardware store

the phone call where they set up a date

it's not MY date it's CHRIS' date (r u sure, dude? why is she there then 🤣)

her chaperoning Chris’ date with Eddie

her babysitting twice off screen

Obviously, she’s in the next episode and they have a pizza date while Eddie has to stare at his bestest friends while they’re on a date. But at this point, if you want the audience to root for the relationship or enjoy it at the very least, it’s a little late in the game for that? We have nothing to go on and it doesn’t make sense if we’re taking it at face value. 

All this to say, if he does ask her to move in with him, there is no way for the audience to buy that it’s genuine, reasonable, or a smart move. It reads like Buck asking Taylor to move in with him because he cheated and he’s desperate and clinging. Even if Eddie and the terf show up and are all happy and handsy and lovey, it’s not convincing. There’s been no development. It would come across like Buck and Ali apartment hunting and being touchy and giggly, and then her dumping him at the end of the episode. It sets up a contrast between what we think is happening and what is really happening. Perceived happiness vs the reality of not knowing each other and their relationship crumbling.

I don’t remember who said it or when it was said, maybe it was Kristen? But I know someone talked about how Eddie rushed things with Ana and they were wanting to do the opposite when continuing his story. Dating someone for (how long has it even been? 2-3 months? Idek? Does Eddie even know?) Mere months and asking them to move in reeks of, “something is going wrong and I have to fix it by doing something rash and ill-advised to keep us together.” 

Remind me to do a post about Eddie also being someone who clings and stays because it’s convenient and he doesn’t want to be alone. 

It would be completely out of character if it is a sincere, legit thing. However, as a panic response? I buy it. But that also doesn’t bode well for their future. Darn. Hold on, I’ll get the champagne. That relationship is just waiting to be bones. And in an episode called, “You Don’t Know Me,” is where they’re putting their relationship under a microscope? Hildy, cue up the ominous music. 

I doubt the glorious day we are free of her will be this week. I think they are just starting whatever they have planned. Unfortunately. I would hope they kept her around and brought her back for a reason like what they did with Eddie/Ana. I want there to be something satisfying about the end and the fact that we have to suffer through this. It just needs to happen quickly because I am so over homophobic terfs who know what fucking show they’re on and what the story is and still persist in their assholish bigotry.  

Now? My thoughts on the leaks?

IF we are to believe they are legit, and who knows if they are. But if we are saying they are legit, then Buck comes out to Eddie at the very end and Eddie is surprised. So, Eddie likely wouldn’t be jealous or weird about Buck and Tommy dating if he didn’t even know they are dating. Plus, they just had a whole episode dedicated to jealous!Buck and it would be redundant to immediately take that into, now EDDIE is the JEALOUS ONE. I think they’d have to take the story further for Eddie to really consider how he feels about Buck and Tommy dating. 

Maybe it will come down to him being displeased by it (for some unknown reason he just can't put his finger on) and grappling with how he genuinely likes Tommy a lot and that’s a new thing for him and one of Buck’s love interests? But it wouldn’t happen this week. In theory, this week is about Buck feeling like he’s hiding because he just realized he’s bi and hasn’t told anyone yet. Hence, more of the “you don’t know me.” 

Obviously, I am rooting for Buddie. All the way. All the time. I like Buck/Tommy just fine but they’re not BuckandEddie. But I think it will take a while before we see anything that might really develop the Buck & Eddie storyline. They’re working on Buck’s bisexual awakening and his first time dating a man. WHERE OH WHERE ARE MY EDDIE STORYLINES.  I just want them to do some justice for my boy. Give him something interesting! And for the terf to gtf away from him. :D

And apologies, I rambled a lot at you. Love and hugs!

[nijigasakilove]

The way these girls save me every week.. jaw on the floor, best episode of the season, from any anime. I’m so moved. Wrap it up, this is AOTS. So much to go over in this one

Ok for starters, them uploading the wrong video and still going viral is hilarious 😭 luckily it gave them a lot of attention and still helped build up their brand.

But what made this episode so special for me was Yoru dealing with her insecurities about her art. As a content creator I really empathise with her getting upset about other people drawing her art and going viral.

Even though it should’ve been something that was flattering, it just makes you feel like “what am I doing wrong, why am I not getting that attention”. Combine that with the rude comments some people put on her posts and her general insecurities with her friends’ accomplishments and it’s no wonder she went into a depressive state.

Even with Kano telling her she loved her art, it wasn’t enough because she was constantly comparing it to everyone else’s.. The scene of Kano pulling Yoru’s face into her stomach, they were teasing us hard😩

The biggest thing is how she didn’t just give up, but used that as fuel and actually improved her art significantly by the end. You can either quit or just work on improving yourself, ultimately the only validation that’ll work is from within.

After all their hard work, a shrine visit to ring in the new year and pray for success in the upcoming year... but WHAT THE FUCK, a KISS??!? “Yuri bait” copers are seething rn. They laid crumbs throughout the episode like Yoru and Kano in Yoru’s room, the train, “I like your singing and you” but I didn’t expect a proper kiss out of nowhere like that. Please don’t walk this back next episode because I need this 😭

[aphroditeslover11]

Secret Santa

Thanks to @nimnim-girl for her help with the ideas, couldn't have done it without you lovely 💕

Warnings: Alcohol and allusions to adultery, author didn't proofread!

It December at Los Alamos and the ground was dusted with snow. It was freezing all the time now and the mesa was turning into some sort of desert winter wonderland. The scientists were all huddled in winter coats as they moved between buildings and the army men were doing their best to look unphased by the biting wind. You were here working as an assistant to Hans Bethe who was heading the Theoretical Division. You weren’t a scientist yourself, actually studying philosophy, but Dr Oppenheimer had picked you up during his travels, intending that you would work under him before he handed the role over to his friend.

There were ten days remaining until Christmas and you were determined to try and spread a little more festive spirit around the place. Yes, some lights had been put up and you had badgered Oppie to have some carols playing over the radio of the base, but everyone still seemed miserable. You were close to the director, regardless of how much his wife hated it, and you were hoping that you might have his ear on this. At the end of another day you made your way to his office, feeling lucky that there were no other secretaries around and knocking on the door.

“Come in, if you must,” you heard, pushing open the door. Robert looked up from his desk and his face brightened a little when he saw you. Everyone knew how much pressure he was under, so it was a rare sight now.

“Please, y/n, I apologise for my greeting. I thought you might have been Groves. How are you? Do take a seat.”

“Groves giving you a headache again Oppie?”

“When is he not?” He laughed, but you could hear the weariness behind it.

“I have an idea, I want to help the others.” Robert leant forward on his desk.

“My dear, we have been through this. You don’t understand the ridiculous things that the men here are trying to do, hell, I don’t half the time. I know you’re trying to help, but there is nothing…”

“Oh lord no, you can keep your physics to yourself. I mean that you need to make more of an effort on morale.” He looked puzzled.

“What do you mean?” He took his pipe from his desk, lighting it and starting to smoke, as he always did when a matter perplexed him.

“This place is suffocating in depression, almost as much as I am right now in your pipe-smoke.”

“I can open a window…”

“I’d rather be warm. Anyway, it’s nearly Christmas, I don’t care what Oppie but please, I’m dying here, you have to do something for the season.”

~

The conversation had gone on for a while longer, the culmination being that he agreed to hold a Christmas party for all of the scientists to attend. There was already a plan, from Feynman predictably, to have a piss-up in the bachelors dorms, but you were hoping that this might prove to be a little more of a unifying force. On top of this, you had also suggested a secret Santa exchange, which he agreed to. Typically when you pulled the names out of the hat you ended up with Oppie - what on earth do you get for the  man who owns Picassos and Van Gogh paintings? 

When the day of the party finally came Robert turned up to the main hall of Los Alamos on his own, wearing a suit and tie with his usual pork pie hat. He had just had a row with Kitty who had decided to stay at home. His mood was clearly compromised, but he managed to pull a smile onto his face. He immediately made his way over to where the alcohol was being kept, fixing himself a whiskey before going to find Ravi, needing someone to take his mind off things. By the time you arrived, late after one of the typewriters had jammed itself and you were left to fix it, he was a fair few drinks down.

There was a big crowd around the director, who was telling a ridiculous story of how he had returned from a trip collecting minerals with trench dysentery as a youth. This story coming out was the hallmark of a fairly intoxicated Oppie, and Isidor gave you a knowing look as you made your way over. As soon as Robert saw you he raised his arms in a slightly exaggerated welcome, before wrapping one around you and planting a sloppy kiss on your cheek. Great - he decided that you were going to be his distraction for the night.

“My dear, how wonderful of you to finally join us. I was just telling the story of when…”

“I know Opp, you’ve told me it before remember.” You cut him off, feeling an acute sense of second hand embarrassment. 

The evening wore on and it was mostly a case of forcing water down your boss’s throat until he was sufficiently sober to go back into polite conversation. He spent most of the party trailing after you with an arm around your waist. You’d tried to shake him off but we’re getting nowhere, you just hoped that his wife didn’t suddenly show up out of the blue. It was clear now that he was ashamed of his actions, but he was slowly getting back to his usual self. After a heavy day you decided to call it quits early when you heard a shout from behind you. 

“Y/n, hang on, I need your for one more thing.” He pulled a neatly wrapped present from a nearby surface. That was when you remembered the gift you had in your bag for him. What were the chances of getting each other?

“Well this is a coincidence, I seem to have got you as well.” 

You made your way to a corner before exchanging gifts. His was slightly messily wrapped, you could picture him getting frustrated as the tape stuck to itself and the colourful language coming out of his mouth just looking at it. Yours was much more neat, complete with a bow and all. After exchanging a few words about the coincidence of getting each other in the draw you swapped, unwrapping the gifts opposite one another. Your mouths dropped open when you saw what you were holding - an anthology of the poetry of Byron, different editions, but the same work. Robert was the first to break the silence.

“Well, it would seem that we both thought alike my dear…” he was chuckling as he said it. 

“Oppie, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t had any idea…” You were stuttering, trying to make some sense of the situation.

“Y/n, stop worrying, I love Byron or I wouldn’t have bought it for you and I’m guessing you would say the same thing to me, yes?” You nod in response.

“Clearly we have bought the perfect thing for one another then. Let’s just say it’s a sign of how well we understand one another.” He lifted an arm to your shoulder, giving you a gentle squeeze.

“Now go home and have a good night of sleep, I think we both have a little reading to do, and I have some other things to sort out.” He placed a kiss on your cheek, though a lot more dignified than earlier, before leaving you to go on your way.

The next morning you opened the door of your room to find a singular red rose with a ribbon wrapped around the stem, there was clearly going to be more to come.

[cosmal]

okayy since my profile’s all fucked again im gonna keep annoying in ur ask box…

rugby!james learning to make time for reader after they start datingg

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 — 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

summary you don’t think you have anymore time to see james. he promises to make an effort. so do you.

also this is unedited sorry

warnings/tags fem!reader, she/her pronouns rugby!james, angst, fluff at the end

word count 1.4k

“What about Thursday?” you call through the door, rinsing your hands through warm water, washing the suds from your wrists as a distraction.

“Training. You know that. Every Thursday.” He doesn’t say it cruelly, more of a soft reminder to move past it.

“No, James. You told me it was cancelled this week.” 

Through the door, James can still hear your upset building. It has his chest tightening with worry because he really didn’t want this to happen this season. Juggling his training and games, and your job and meetings has become more of a problem the further into the rugby season he gets. His team keeps winning games and your work just keeps piling up.

He waits for you to open the door but it doesn’t happen. He hears the tap squeak off and then your pacing.

“I did?” he asks because he really doesn’t remember.

“Yes,’’ your voice trails off.

He doesn’t argue. It’s likely. “Hey, open up and we can figure something out, yeah?”

There’s some rustling, lids getting clicked closed and then the metal crash of your pedal bin slamming shut before you open up. You’re all done up and pretty, eyes sparkling with a sheen of glitter and a lip gloss James loves. A black dress he also loves. To death. If you didn’t look so worried he’d make a cheesy, lovely comment.

He’d also soothe the pinched crease between your eyebrows if he knew it wouldn’t ruin the 45 minute job you’d done with your makeup. 

“What’s there to figure out?” you ask, voice a little pitched up, “You have rugby, I’ll have a meeting. It’s the same as always.”

You walk past him to your dresser, clicking on the yellow light bulbs to search for a pair of earrings. James follows.

“What do you mean the same?’’ he asks, catching a view of you in the mirror, standing behind you with his arms folded over his chest.

You lean forward to pierce a gold hoop through your ear and catch his eyes, sighing you say, “Please, James. I don’t want to argue, I have to leave in ten minutes and I don’t want to be in a bad mood for the whole night.”

“When did we start arguing?” he asks, closing the gap between the both of you. You stand up straight, turning to press your back into the lip of your dresser. The gap grows again and James hates it.

“James,” you sigh, twisting a little too roughly at the gold in your ears so the clip is at the back.

“What did you mean by the same as always?” he asks. 

If he didn’t look so sad you’d say something like you know what I mean, James. You decide against it when he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth. A habit of his you hate. You’d reach forward and tug it from his mouth if you thought just his touch right now wouldn’t have you unravelling. It always does. You’ll appologise for getting angry and he’ll applogise for arguing or whatever and the subject will be forgotten until next week. 

You have the urge to forget about it. The stronger urge to actually talk to him. 

“You’ve just been so busy lately,” you tell him, “So have I. I just, what…what if nothing ever changes?”

“Hey, the season’s almost over. Then I’m all yours.” he tells you, more hopeful than you are. Than you’ve been for the past few weeks.

You sigh. Because it’s tiring and because it’s nothing new. “And then in another eight weeks you’ll have the pre-season. You spend more time on that oval than you do in your own apartment.”

James deflates, full body, letting his shoulders slump forward. The charismatic, strong front he tries to put on falters only for a moment. It’s different. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, honey.”

Your hands squeak around the wood of your dresser where you lean backwards, “That’s exactly my point, James.” you exasperate, working yourself up more than you wanted to be. You don’t want to be this way with him, it’s not how you’d of like to have handled this situation. Your guilt eats at your tongue but you don’t stop, “You can’t skip training or games, I’d never ask you of that. It’s a problem with no solution.”

James eyes flicker behind the glasses falling down the bridge of his nose. Sniffling before he says, “What are you saying?”

You become a little too defensive, “I don’t know!”

“You want to break up?” he asks, quieter than he’s ever been around you. He hates it, you hate it even more.

You shake your head, leaning up off your furniture and step closer to him, exasperated you say, “God, no, James. That’t the last thing I want.”

He nods, a little more hopeful, “Right.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Jesus Christ, no.” He doesn’t even think before he answers you. He’d never have to.

“Okay,” you say before closing the space berween you entirely. Wanting his comfort more than anything. 

He gives it to you willingly, snaking his arms around your back, his fingers warm against the bare skin under your straps, “Hey, okay,’ he says, curls touching his eyelashes, ‘’What if I promise to make more of an effort?”

“You make a lot of effort,”

He shakes his head and you brush his curls back. Something simple, but also something you both need, Simple touches. “More though.”

You tilt your head back, “More?”

“I promise to make dinners and I’ll- I’ll come visit you on your lunch breaks,”

“James…”

He grins boyishly and you’ve missed the ten minutes you had without it. His smile is a treasure. “I mean it!” he laughs, though still entirely serious, “I’ll make sure I don’t go overtime at trainings and when I do get home I promise to give you more back massages than you need.”

“James,” you repeat, smile almost as bright as his, “I can’t ask you to do all those things, you’ll get tired and I don’t want that.”

His smile tampers down, “No I won’t.”

“No?”

“No. And if I do, I don’t care. I want to make this work.”

You peck his top lip, too quick for James’ liking, “I do too.” Another kiss, “I do.” you murmur against the light stubble of his jaw.

“Good,” he says, pecking you back. Too quick for your own liking. You’re both holding back the strong urge to appologise like idiots.

“I promise to make time for you too,” you tell him seriously.

“You’ll give me massages?” he asks hopefully, squeezing you closer to prove his point. His hands are a heat you need, feeling yourself lean futher into him until he sits down on the frame of your bed.

“Sure,” you say, completely truthfully. You will. You might love it more than him.

There’s a small beat where James is staring at you too intently. You can feel your cheeks under his loving gaze. “We can get through this,”

You blink, “You think?”

His smile is once again too soft and you can feel yourself melting, “I know.”

You push his glasses back up his nose and his face screws up all dazed, “How?”

“Because, I love you and I’d do anything for you.” he murmurs, leaning up to kiss you. Warm and tender against your skin that sticks to him. He huffs into your mouth until you’re both smiling which makes kissing almost impossible. Still, you kiss like it’s your first.  

You pull away all flushed and glassy eyed, “You’re awful,” you pant.

“Awful? I’d say more like charming,” he says indiginantly. His boyish charm washing back over him like he’d never lost it. 

“Don’t say things like that when I’ve spent so much time on my makeup,” you laugh wetly, pushing your fingertips into your hot cheeks. Careful not to smudge anything.

James pouts lovingly, pulling you back into his firm chest, “Oh, don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s okay,” he coos, fighting the urge to hold you so tight it messes you hair and makeup entirely. “We’re okay,” he repeats, quieter than last.

“Yeah,” you whisper.

“Yeah,” he echoes. “Now turn around so I can zip your dress.”

You frown over his shoulder, “It already is zipped up,”

“No, I want to unzip it. Wanna see what’s underneath before you go out.”

You pull back and lightly slap him over his chest, “James!”

How could you ever think you’d never fix anything with a boyfriend so charming. It’d be impossible.