#i had HOH and deaf friends i had to leave behind when i moved schools

[hungry-hyena]

relearning sign language to talk to my local HOH cashier better

[hargrove-mayfields]

so sorry im late asking this (i was waiting for you to get more, super surprised you didn’t get more asks tbh) but could I hear more about your wips “I have a crush on Barbara Holland” “baby fic” and “HOH Steve” also if it’s not too much “girlyfriends” and “cali house” and “medical emergency” ik ik that’s a lot but I’d honestly want hear about ALL of you wips in that list if i could. thank u in advance

It’s alright anon! I’ll accept these asks until I run out of WIPs to talk about!

I have a crush on Barbara Holland- This one is a soulmates au, where Steve has his soulmates initials, B.H., on his wrist, and he is whole heartedly convinced that that person is Barb. He’s very much in love with her, and there’s lots of talk about how pretty and nice she is (hence the title lol) but eventually she reveals that he isn’t her soulmate. Before she had hid the initials on her own wrist under a watch or a chunky bracelet, but she feels guilty, and shows Steve that her mark had long ago faded, because her soulmate passed away when they were in elementary school. Steve decides, despite how much value he used to hold in the whole soulmate thing, he doesn’t care about who some stupid mark says he should be with, so him and Barb date until her death. He’s heart broken, but the sadness very quickly turns into so much anger after Billy Hargrove, another B.H. rolls into town with a little S.H. on his wrist. He feels like the universe or whoever is even in charge of this soulmate bullshit is spiting him for thinking he could fall in love with someone he wasn’t destined to be with, so he rejects Billy for a long, long time, even after he himself figured it out that Steve is his match. When he does start to feel that way about Billy, he struggles with so much guilt and has to go through a very long grieving process to be comfortable with his feelings, because he’s not even sure if they’re his genuine feelings or the work of this soulmate bond. Very long and very angsty.

baby fic- Nancy gets pregnant that first time at the party with Tommy and Carol, and her and Steve try really really hard to make things work out for their baby, but it just isn’t meant to be. They make an arrangement that the Harringtons are very not pleased with, where Nancy has the baby at the Byers house half the time (because let’s be honest I think the Wheelers house is not really a safe place to be raising a baby) and Steve has her the rest of the time. Because it was like, a much more mature breakup without the cheating and the drunken confessions, they’re still pretty close friends. When the upside down starts making an appearance again, they have to try to figure out how to navigate it with this little four month old baby, and that means getting some help involved. Billy shows up at the Byers and instead of a fight, Steve’s all exhausted like oh good, you’re finally here, and gives him the worlds fastest run down of this monster fighting shit with a crying baby on his hip, and like, Billy just can’t say no to him asking him to go into the tunnels while he watches the baby. There is eventual Harringrove after a while, but it’s a slow burn for sure. This is also probably the least serious and least angsty thing I have ever started to write.

HOH Stevie- They’re all in the government hospital getting their post Starcourt once overs, Billy and El of course being rushed into surgery, and Steve’s about to get discharged when he gets addressed by name and just, does not respond at all. The doctor is like hmm, and checks his ears, and they find out he has almost no hearing in his left ear, and only about forty percent in the right. All that head trauma from the Russians and then all of the explosions of the fireworks, it leaves him deaf.

Everyone tries to be supportive, but his dad refuses to let him get hearing aids because he doesn’t believe he actually needs them (Steve’s a diagnosed hypochondriac) so for the next several months while his parents are still home waiting for their next trip, he’s struggling. He basically gets iced out by the party because he just can’t hear anything they’re saying, and the kids get tired of repeating themselves, and Nancy got insulted the one time he told her her voice is too quiet, and Robin wants to do things right for him, but she forgets sometimes, and will ramble on about something without looking at him and everytime he’s like great, I didn’t catch a single word of that, lovely talk though. It’s very frustrating and isolating and nobody seems to want to make accommodations for him.

The very same day that his parents leave for their latest vacation, he goes back to hospital. At first he just has to get more testing done, since it had been upwards of six months since the last time they saw him, and on his way out he notices Max in the waiting room chairs. He hadn’t seen much of her at all since Starcourt, so he checks on her, and at first she tells him to go away, because her friends have said some not so nice things about how much time she spends at the hospital, and assumes Steve is there to tell her Billy isn’t worth it too. Because that’s not the case, he ends up going in the room to visit Billy with her.

They do the small talk, the awkward, sorry about the fact that you’ve been in the hospital for six months now and nobody wants to come see you thing, and at some point Billy realizes that Steve can’t hear a damned thing he’s saying. He tests his theory by saying Steve’s name when he’s not looking and just waiting for him to answer but, surprise he doesn’t because he didn’t hear it at all, and Billy’s just like, you’re deaf aren’t you?

The progression of the fic is basically Steve coming to visit Billy everytime he has an appointment for his hearing (and more, but Bill doesn’t know that) but the day of his last appointment to make sure his hearing aids are functioning as well as they ever will for how bad off his hearing is, Billy’s acting different.

When he’d first walked into his room Billy had been surprisingly bright eyed and bushy-tailed for what he went through, but now he’s just acting all mopey. Max makes him tell Steve what’s wrong, and he confesses that he feels like he’s going to get left behind now that Steve’s all better, because then he has no real reason to visit him anymore. But Steve has one very good reason, and the rest of the story is him making sure Billy knows it.

girlyfriends- This’n’s sort of a non-canon compliant character study about aromantic! Billy, focusing on how awful and uncomfortable he felt with his past girlfriends, messing up dates and never going as far as they wanted him to, which at the time he pinned on liking boys instead, but then after he gets with Steve, he feels like this is different and he likes it, but he’s still not too big on all the lovey dovey, romance stuff. He rationalizes it as like, maybe just being a side effect of him being an asshole or something, but he‘s actually super insecure about how he is in relationships. There is a fluffy resolution though where he embraces his identity, it’s really not all doom and gloom, boo hoo I hate myself stuff.

cali house- Years after Starcourt, the boys have moved to a decent house in California using their government hush hush money, and they’re there for only about a month when Billy’s mother shows up at their door.

She says she caught wind that her son was back in town and wanted to come see him, after all this time. Billy of course lets her back in his life immediately, his mom meant so much to his recovery process and now that she’s here, he can’t turn her away, but Steve’s a little suspicious of her intentions.

He thinks that if she wanted to see Billy, she would’ve done that years ago before he ever even left Cali in the first place, or that you know, she wouldn’t have fucking left him behind. He tries to bring it up with Billy gently, but he won’t hear it, and he feels beyond hurt by the suggestion because he thinks Steve is just jealous that he’s spending time with his mother, who he hasn’t seen for upwards of fifteen years at this point.

They fight and avoid each other for a few days until Billy’s momma admits when he brings it up, over lunch or something saying like, “Steve thought you were using me or something, isn’t that crazy?” and she’s just like “Well, actually...”and tells him that money was tight, and she needed a little extra money, so Billy and his disability checks and his rich (boy)friend seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some.

He goes back home to Steve and expects him to be mad, to rub it in that he was right, but he’s really not, he’s super supportive, and you know, Billy finally realizes he doesn’t need to have this bullshit family thing with his mother, because he already has one, Max and Steve and his friends and all the people that actually care about him.

medical emergency (tw attempted suicide)-

Billy, who’s living on his own in an apartment downtown after Starcourt, deliberately doesn’t get his prescriptions refilled because he’s so done. He’s weak and he’s hurting and he doesn’t feel like himself anymore, and he just feels like he wouldn’t care if his body gave up, if he suffocated in his sleep or had another heart attack. So he doesn’t take care of himself, and when he runs out of oxygen he just doesn’t go get anymore, but he’s halfway to choking on his own blood when he realizes he doesn’t want to die.

He calls Steve, because he’s not calling the cops and he can’t remember anyone’s numbers in his panic, but Steve’s is written on his calendar, scribbled there because they were supposed to make plans for something with the kids. Steve takes him to the hospital, having to fight him to put the CPAP on him to make sure his lungs didn’t collapse before they could get him to Hawkins General, and Billy’s just, so bone tired.

They do all their treatment stuff and get his body back under control, so Steve finally asks him what happened, if maybe he needed someone around to help him remember his meds and stuff, and Billy just, he breaks, like a dam overfilled he just pours out with all of this helplessness and sadness he’d been feeling, how he doesn’t want to live the way he does or at all anymore, and Steve’s heart just breaks for him.

He moves in with him, nobody’s willing to leave him alone after what happened, and Steve (along with Billy getting a new therapist because the old one was incompetent enough to not notice how bad off he was) helps him to realize he has something to live for.

[hilllsnholland]

Bucket List - 1

Pairing: College!Tom x Deaf Reader 

W.c: 3k 

Warnings: drinking, slurs, asshole frat boys 

Tom has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He’s stuck in the suburban town of Creekview with Harrison and two idiots friends. No passion, no drive, nothing but a beer by the poolside. Until he meets Y/N, the Deaf rebel who has a bucket list she needs to complete by the end of the summer. The two come together to make their last summer of freedom the best Creekview has ever seen. What could possibly go wrong? Or more so, what could possibly go right? 

Disclaimer: I am HoH/Deaf so this is completely written from my perspective and experiences within the Deaf community. If you have any comment or questions then you are more than welcome to message me :) 

____

College parties were suppose to be fun. There’s music, drinking, girls half naked, and endless possibilities of how the night would end. Maybe in bed with the hottie from Psychology, maybe in the back of a police car. Tom though? He saw this night going as well as the Bubonic Plague. Tom sat at the corner of the party, his eyes drawn down to the fifth beer since he arrived hours ago. His head thumped with the music, the terrible music he’d hear sitting in the back of Brant’s and Ty’s car. It was plain and he was sick of the life he had been living, which is why he was hiding from everybody.

But he assumed it was his own fault. Tom did decide to move to California with Harrison, away from his family, and to live in this shithole of Creekview. It was a small college town, mainly suburban and privileged kids from around the Bay that have pockets full of Daddy’s money. Although Tom knew that feeling, it was not his scene. He hated the fakery and plastic people he saw every day. The guys in town were douchey, unaware to anything but molly and Bay Area rap. The girls were shallow, counting down days to Coachella and photoshopping their Instagram pictures for people they haven’t seen since high school. It was a far cry from London. It was odd and he didn’t like it. But he dug his grave and he was going to sit in it.

Harrison met eyes with Tom from across the party, he had a drink in his hand and several glow stick bracelets that lined up his forearm. Tom was pretty sure that Haz gave Lauren J, the host of the party, the idea for the neon theme. Tom wore a white shirt that had neon paint splatter on it, the black lights around the party illuminated the colors which made hiding almost impossible. Harrison motioned a thumbs and Tom nodded, ducking behind the back bar again. It wasn’t Harrison so much he was hiding from, but their two knucklehead friends, Brant and Ty.

Brant was going to school on a football scholarship and he fit the mold pretty well. Big and stupid. He was one dimensional and was too focused on hooking up with everyone in Lauren J’s sorority to even notice that Tom had left the group. Ty, however, was tolerable in some doses. He was a pothead who kept his vape on his lips on all time. He was another idiot, but at least Tom could take his presence longer than fifteen minutes.

“Enjoying yourself, my beautiful Brit.” Lauren J mused from behind him.

Tom jumped slightly, knocking the beer to the floor while LJ laughed. She was a pretty girl, head of the Kappa Kappa Sigma sorority, with long brown hair and makeup that was too perfect to falter. She was wearing a neon pink bralette with a pair of black shorts, her hair had neon ribbon entwined with it. LJ turned to Tom with her glowing teeth and began talking like they’ve been friends for years. Tom had met Lauren J in English the semester before and she had made it her mission to become his friend. At first, Tom thought she was trying to hook up, but it became clear that LJ was just the kind of girl who wanted more friends to count.

“Sure. just keep Brant away and I’ll be fine.” Tom groaned as he picked up the empty bottle from the floor.

“Won’t be a problem. He’s trying to hook up with Lauren H right now. He also convinced Ty to say the ‘N Word’ so now Ty is beaten up behind the dumpsters.” LJ shook her head and finished off her red solo cup.

“Perfect, just what I wanted to be associated with,”

Tom pulled the collar of his shirt into his mouth and gnawed on the cotton fabric. He was drunk and angry, those two don’t mix well. The last thing he needed was a bunch of frat boys coming after him because of something his ‘friends’ did. Brant and Ty would never figure it out. Life is not a playground. Tom knew that which is why he didn’t fuck around like they did. LJ placed a small hand on his back and made a pop with her lips.

“Did you decide on your major?” She asked which made Tom shutter.

“No, I have until August 2nd.”

“It’s June. You need to figure it out before classes fill up.”

Tom brushed her off like he did with his parents, brother’s, and Harrison. He had been undecided since he started two years ago and time had come to finally make a decision. Creekview State didn’t allow students to continue past two years unless they had their major set up. His parents had been badgering him for a year to make a choice, Harrison had told him to pick the easiest one, while his brother’s told him to drop out. Easy for them though, Harry had a paid internship with a nature magazine for photography while Sam was going to trade school for carpeting. They had their lives figured out. Tom though, he was lost.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll probably do Psychology, maybe accounting. If all else fails I’ll become a male stripper.”

“I’d pay for that,”

Tom and LJ look at each other and laugh. She brightened a room with her cheeky humor, it reminded Tom of home. LJ winks at Tom before escaping back into the dancefloor of hundreds of drunk college students covered in neon paint. Tom narrowed through the crowd to see any signs of Brant. He spotted Lauren H, only decorated in a neon green bikini, sitting on Brant’s lap, making out like their life depended on it. Tom rolled his eyes and decided another beer would make the sight leave his brain. He had a whole summer ahead of him, better start drinking now.

Tom weaved through the crowd to the functional bar that Harrison was standing at. The two stood next to each other, stealing knowing glances about how the party was going. Tom looked to his best friend, seeing the bright pink lipstick print that covered his neck. Strangely sharing the same shade LJ was wearing. Tom didn’t comment on it though, he knew Harrison and Lauren had a thing. What thing though? He’d never know. It wasn’t his business even if he thought the two were a match made in heaven.

“Did you see Ty get his ass handed to him?” Harrison said lowly against the brim of his beer.

“No, LJ told me about it though. Who beat him up?”

“Kevin McNamara-”

“President of the Black Student Union? I love karma.” Tom smiled for once, enjoying the rightful punishment to an idiot like Ty.

That was the epitome of Brant and Ty. Brant knew he could convince Ty to do whatever he wanted. He probably sent Ty straight to Kevin just to see a good ass-kicking. Tom shrugged away guilt though, he was not a part of it and he wouldn’t mention it to them either. If Brant scored anything with Lauren H, he’d probably forget about the whole incident anyways. Tom looked out into the crowd of dancing drunks and leaned against the bar.

“I’m a better dancer right?” Tom asks which gains a chuckle from Haz.

“Definitely hotshot. Why aren’t you out there?” Harrison places his cup on the counter and turns his full attention to his friend. “When have you been the hiding type?”

“You’re right, I’m not. I’m just not in the mood to dance.”

Harrison exhales through his nostrils and shrugs. He knows Tom would never give up the opportunity to show off his moves. Why else would he have taken dance classes for half his life? Why else would he practice in his room late at night? Tom never missed an opportunity and Harrison could read him. Tom was stressed and the only way to get him out of his slump would be to challenge him.

“Not in the mood? Not even for $100?”

Tom slams the bottle on the bar and gives his best mate a sly smirk.

“What’s the wager div?”

Harrison knows him too well. Put money on the table and Tom will take it in an instant. It’s for pride and to have extra money to spend on ramen and boba. The blond boy looks into the crowd and shrugs at the first idea that pops into his head.

“Get a random girl to dance with you. No cheating either, we know all the same ones so you can’t fuck around.”

Tom snorts at the lazy attempt at a challenge. Although he knows this is Haz’s attempt to get him to lighten up, he’ll go along with it. He needs the extra cash. Tom runs his hands through his hair to get the sexy unkempt look going and prowls around the dancefloor. He looks around for an easy target, a girl he’s seen around but never talked too. Still sober-ish and with a few friends so he doesn’t come off predatory. Tom searches until he finds one girl in a group, he makes his way through the crowd until something bumps into him. He stumbles, grabbing the shoulders of the person he hit and stops them from falling.

“Oops!” The girl exclaims loudly so Tom can hear over the music.

Tom goes to say ‘no problem’ but he looks at the girl and his brain shuts off. The girl has bright pink hair and an alluring stare. She looks at Tom, smiles and rushes back to her friend that she was dancing with. Tom has completely forgotten about the wager, his mission is to dance with whoever that was. Tom blinks to get back to reality before spinning around to find the girl. She’s not too hard to find, she had neon paint all over her and the pink really draws him to her. The girl is focused on dancing, her movements erratic as she moves to the EDM song. Her friend is doing the same, moving her hands wildly to the pink girl.

Tom approaches them and opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. His throat is dry and his brain seised to work because all he can think of is her. The girl looks at him, smirks, then holds out a hand for him to grab. Tom can’t believe it, she’s asking him to dance with her? Tom grabs her hand and follows her lead through the rhythm. They’re standing extremely close to the speaker so the music is thumping through his body with ever bass hit. Tom reaches the last brain cell he has to pull out the moves he’s practiced millions of times before. The girls seem impressed by his moves, laughing while they look to each other while dancing. The pink girl grabs Tom’s shoulders, moving against his body, dipping down and up to meet his stare. Tom in entranced by her and the glossy look of her lips.

“I’m Tom, by the way.” He says to her but she looks at him in confusion.

He repeats himself louder but the girl shakes her head at him. Tom has already won the money from Harrison and now his objective is the girl. He wants to know her name, he wants to talk to her. Hear her voice. The way she dances is magical, she must have more to enchant him with. Tom moves his hands to her waist and motions over to the quiet corner he was in before. The girl looks to her friend who’s motioning wildly at her. The pink girl looks back at Tom and nods in approval. He takes her over to the quiet corner with a new sense of jitters in his body. He didn’t feel this way on the dancefloor, no. This was something he now has because they’re alone. Music farther away so now he can talk but there’s a ball in his throat. The girl looks to him, licking her lips seductively. Tom can’t keep his eyes off of her.

“I’m-I’m Tom.” He runs his hands through his hair nervously.

“Y/N.” She replies. “I’m Y/N.”

Tom laughs for some reason that he’s not even sure of. Y/N, he could say that name a thousand times and he wouldn’t get tired of it. He’s never felt such a burning need before in his life. He doesn’t know if its the messily dyed pink hair, or the way she looks at him with those beautiful eyes. Y/N smiles, crinkling the neon blue paint she has on her face as it flakes off.

“This may sound crazy but like you’re...amazing? Yeah that’s crazy we just met, only danced, and this is the only conversation we’ve ever had. I’m sorry, I’m going off but-”

Y/N grabs the sides of his face to make him look at her. While Tom was rambling he was moving every which way to not make eye contact but now he had to. He had to look into those dreamy eyes and watch her part her enticing lips. Y/N kept her hands on each side of his face while staring at him. Tom thought he saw her begging for something, needing something. He moves his lips to say more but all he wants is to feel her lips on his. So he did just that.

Tom closed that gap without thinking of any consequences. All he needed to know was how she tasted like, which was vanilla, and the feeling of her lips, which was silk. Y/N froze at first but then melted into his touch. Her arms were thrown around his neck lazily while she leaned in to deepen the kiss. Tom felt on top of the world. He felt undeniably powerful. The world had evaporated away and the only thing on his mind was how easily she fit in his arms like a puzzle piece. Tom pulls away slowly, enjoying the last bit of heaven he could get out of her lips. The two look at each other, awestricken by their decisions.

“That was-”

“I’m Deaf.”

“What?”

“I’m Deaf. D-E-A-F.”

Tom blinked at her, totally lost in what the hell just happened. Y/N looks at him with red peering through the neon paint that splattered on her face. Tom furrows his brows and then becomes petrified. He took a leap of faith and realized that he fell right into a ditch. The alcohol was hitting him hard because now he was dizzy. He felt like throwing up and wanted to run into the nearest bush and barf.

“You didn’t want me to kiss you...you were just trying to read my lips.”

“No! Yes! Well….” Y/N stutters while moving her hands. “T-O-M.” She spells while saying his name.

“Yes,” He looks at her while his cheeks burn red.

“I...uh well I-”

Suddenly a hand grabs Y/N’s shoulder, whipping her around to look at who was grabbing her attention. It was her friend from before, an Indian girl with neon paint scattered around her body. Tom teeters on his heels while the two sign to each other angrily. Y/N slams her hands at her side and turns back to Tom with annoyance radiating off of her.

“Tom, I’ll see you again. Promise.”

Y/N holds his hand out flat while she kisses her thumb and places it into his palm. Tom can’t tell if he’s too drunk to understand or if this is a sign he obviously doesn’t know but it makes him feel warm inside. Before Tom can come up with a coherent reply she’s gone. Her pink hair disappears into the crowd while her friend drags her away. Tom staggers over to an open couch, throwing himself onto it and groaning as loud as possible. What he did was stupid, right? Kissing her was dumb? But it felt so good. It felt like a fucking Disney movie and he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“Well you really put on a show,” Harrison’s voice snaps him from his thoughts while a hundred dollar bill lands on Tom’s lap

“Shut. Up.”

Tom rolls his head onto the back of the couch while he rubs his temple to ease the forming migraine. Was it his six beers or the fact he let Y/N walk out without knowing her phone number? Did she even have a phone? Do Deaf people have phones? Tom had a million questions running through his mind and none of them had answers. The only person who could help him was Y/N, and she was gone.

“You look like trash. What did she say to you?”

“She told me she was Deaf,” Harrison’s face contorts into confusion. “I kissed her Harrison.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”

“No, I kissed her and I want her to come back. What the fuck is wrong with me?”

For a brief second the noise of the party is just humming in the back of Tom’s head. His lips are pursed together and his mind can only think of her. Thinking of the neon paint that decorated her skin, the way her eyes watched him speak, and especially how her lips felt like that. He didn’t know what that was, but it was comparable to every Christmas morning. It made Tom come alive for the first time since he arrived in Creekview.

“Maybe, just maybe, this is the only thing right with you,” Harrison states as his beer cup hits the couch.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Harrison replies with a dry laugh. “Sit on it tonight.”

Tom tilts his head so he can watch his best friend disappear into the crowd. Harrison’s blonde hair and neon body melts into the crowd of shifting bodies and the void is now clear. Tom tries to sit up but the alcohol is filling the back of his throat. He knows if he gets up his guts will be spilled onto the grass. Through that drunken haze though he is able to hang on to the thought of Y/N. He brings his hands to his face and tries to replicate what she did earlier. T-O-M. His name. Simple, but on her fingers, it looked like a masterpiece. His could never compare to that. Nothing in his life leading up to that moment with Y/N could ever compare to that.

///

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Taglist: 

@screeching-student-unknown / @nyctophilicstyles /  @captainbuckyy / @vintage-moonlight / @breadbudzo / @h-natale / @originalpinkpowerranger / @happywolves81 / @drunkgreek / @iamnida95 / @sydthekidsloth / @starksparker / @spiderboytotherescue / @laureharrier

[vanllacreme1]

it’s mac again ! i’m bringing over an old-ish oc that i hardly got to play but really loved ( which means that this intro is long bc i have a lot of thoughts about my son ) !! pls welcome my babiest baby boi, TEDDY LEUNG . 

☕ . ˚ ◝ ( lucas wong. cismale. he/him. ) theodore “teddy” leung is a twenty year old aries. the freelancer’s go-to order is vanilla creme frappe with two pumps of raspberry syrup and extra whip cream. they like to listen to ring ding dong by shinee while they wait for their order. the employees of the deja brew think they are meek but swear they’re totally optimistic as well. maybe that’s why a spray paint can, a velcro chain wallet, and earbuds remind me of them.  

PINTEREST

mentions of ptsd. injury. 9/11. deafness. 

i. born and fostered out of love, teddy leung is the son of a first generation chinese american military officer and a thai lounge singer. having met while his father was stationed overseas, his parents fell in love but just before they could get their relationship could fully bloom, teddy’s father was sent back to america. regretfully, teddy’s parents parted ways but even with an ocean between them, the culmination of their short-lived romance grew into a new life.

ii. teddy was a surprise, to everyone involved, and in fear for his love and his child’s life in the hands of her traditionalist parents ( afterall she was young, unwed and pregnant ), teddy’s father sent for her, causing her to have to leave everything she knew behind for a man she knew for only eight months. but they were in love and they both felt as if their situation was the fates telling them to be together.

iii. teddy came into the world kicking and screaming, his little lungs gasping for air as his limbs stretched out of their confines for the first time. an explosive ball of energy that his mother ate up and his father smiled down on protectively. he was their special boy, golden and proof that all their hardships -- the arguments, the alienation of her family, the stress -- was all worth it in the end.

iv. and for the first few years, it was harmonious. all focus was on raising teddy and providing for him, his father training the battalion on fort irwin and his mother working as a music teacher for the kids in the area. then, in the aftermath of 9/11, teddy’s father was deployed for five years on active duty in afghanistan where he served until a hostile bombing left him injured.

v. returning home after all that time away was an adjustment for teddy’s father, having to cope with not only the strain of physical therapy and ptsd, but also with his 7-year-old son whom he hadn’t spent any real time with since the boy was three. but, teddy, with his big, wondering eyes and even bigger, tender heart, tried to connect with his father the way he was close with his mother.

vi. but even then, there was only so much that teddy and his father could see eye to eye on. art and music became a big part of teddy’s life, while sport and the sciences were his father’s interests. it alienated them both from each other, for the short while before teddy’s father accepted a recruitment job in san diego and became busy again.

vii. in san diego, teddy found a little more independence, enrolling in the local public school instead of the school on the army base. and things were fine, again, until they weren’t. by the time teddy was 11, he developed ménière’s in his left ear, causing him to become hard of hearing on top of bouts of vertigo and tinnitus. he fought a lot with his parents then, his angsty teenage bullshit hitting an absolute peak early on when his parents wanted him to get fitted for an aid and he wanted to just let nature take its course ( he still has his one good ear, he’d argue ).

viii. eventually, they came to an agreement, that teddy would go to counselling and learn asl in lieu of getting an aid, and that teddy wouldn’t complain when his family relocated again in the beginning of his freshman year of high school. moving, this time to colorado, drove a deeper wedge between teddy and his father. and as much as he loves the man, they just didn’t seem to click anymore.

ix. so teddy tried to be a good son for him, focused on school and behaved the best he could. it was only after teddy started applying for university, that he felt the spark of excitement again. the possibility of going back to the place he was the longest, to southern california, was all that he cared about. his college years were going to be the time he became more independent from his parents, finally gaining some semblance of his own person beyond what his parents tried to mold him into.

***DISCLAIMER: teddy is written by a hearing person and his condition may be written inaccurately. please know that i am not at all trying to offend anyone who is HoH and that i will do my best to research and be mindful of the portrayal of his hearing loss. that being said, if you are offended by the way i portray his hearing loss in any capacity, please message me privately so we can have a conversation and i can learn from my mistake.

quick fax  

- is an army brat so he moved around a lot growing up ; spent high school years elsewhere, but moved back to cali for university  - is studying accounting bc ,,, idk its stable and he’s never really had stability in his life until now - such a glass half full person but is that one ‘ everything is fine ’ meme  - will try anything once ; whether or not it sticks depends on how much he ends up enjoying it - would also stand up 2 someone but immediately regret it after - is hard of hearing in his left ear ( ménière’s disease ) so he will lean toward the noise to hear better aka im so sorry if he’s in ur bubble, he just cant hear what uR’E SAYING  - he’s ,,, ,v loud w/o realizing it  - bc of his meniere’s he can’t have caffeine ( lol ) but he likes the cafe culture and likes to go to deja brew to sketch - also has earbuds in like 24/7 ; gets nagged by his mom that he SHOULDN’T but like ,,,, he’s accepted that his hearing is gonna get worse anyway so LMAO - doesn’t wear an aid and hasn’t used sign language in a very long time but still remembers a lot of it - teddy vc: what ?  - does the graffiti on the weekends , pls dont tell his mom ; art is his “hobby” as his dad would say , v artistic and likes to go to moca on their free nights  - loves all kinds of music, esp mongolian throat singing ; impressionism is his favorite art movement ; thinks rupi kaur is a charlatan but she’s making money off white people so : / - has a tattoo on his right buttcheek bc why not , someone probably dared him to - naturally wakes up at 6 am, no matter how late he was up the night before ; goes on morning runs  - incidentally, he also takes a lot of naps during the day - is technically (f)unemployed ; answers craigslist ads for cash, nothing shady, just like cleans old ladies homes and helps people move furniture - owns a second hand bicycle with a woven basket in the front uwu ; may or may not have found it at a junk yard - will stop to pet a dog on the side of the street ; will also point out animals when he passes them   - think andy dwyer, john mulaney, jake peralta, miles morales, jason mendoza and others i cant care to look up rn but u get the idea i hope 

possible connections

roommates / housemates, classmates / schoolmates, friends, enemies ( tho he’d probably cry if u told him u didnt like him ), lovers / ex lovers, etc. whatever come yell at me if u want something. find me here or on discord ( 𝖎𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙, 𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖈#3596 ) 

[hilllsnholland]

Bucket List - (2)

Pairing: College!Tom x Deaf!Reader

W.c: 2.9k 

Warnings: swears, alcohol, slurs 

Summary: Ice cream really cures the soul 

Disclaimer: This is all written from my perspective as a Deaf/HoH person. If you have comments, questions, or concerns then you are welcome to message me :) 

The only thing Creekview had to offer was the sun. In London, the sun was a distant cousin that came around only when it benefited themselves. As much as Tom loathed the small college town, he loved the weather. He loved the sun beating down his neck while he sat outside Milky, serving ice cream to the somewhat pleasant residents of Creekview.

Milky was what Creekview was known for. It was a small drive-thru or walk up shop that served ice cream and other snacks. On the side of the building, there’s a beautiful mural of cows eating ice cream, looking out to the observer with blank expressions. Every day Tom patted each painted cow on the head on his way to his shift. A good luck sort of thing. It was needed though as the lines and customers got crazy as the temperature rose.

“Fuck this,” Brant spat as he wiped his forehead again. “They can’t even buy us an outdoor fan? Cheap ass white people.”

Tom tries to ignore him and enjoy the feeling of heat on his skin. The Brit tilts his sunglasses up on his face so that Brant can’t tell he’s in another headspace. The party still absorbed his mind. It had been three days since that night but he hadn’t stopped thinking of Y/N. When he got bored he fingerspelled his name like Y/N did. As soon as he got home that night he went online and practiced basic signs. Things like ‘hello’ ‘how are you’ ‘bathroom’ were now part of his vocabulary. It wasn’t much but it would be a gesture of willingness. All Tom wanted was to see her hands move again.  

“I heard you hooked up with that pink haired chick.” Brant smugly says as he leans against the walk-up counter.

“No-”

“I saw her too. Looked like a wild one huh? I bet she’s hella freaky with that pink hair and shit.”

“Nothing happened. We kissed. She left. End of story.”

“Left you blue balling and shit? Sorry man,” Brant slaps Tom on the shoulder and smacks his lips. “I thought your British accent would help you pull but you keep striking out.”

Tom doesn’t respond. He spells his name again and goes through the alphabet to keep his mind at peace. The only good quality thing about Brant was that he was a talker. He could keep a conversation going for hours, but he mostly talked to hear his own voice. Tom could never say a word and Brant wouldn’t even notice.

“Ty got fucked up though. Kevin laid him out flat.” Brant snickers and eyes a few girls walking across the street.

“You told him to say that though, right? You set him up for it.” Tom narrows his eyes on the ground while Brant shifts his weight towards him.

“Hell yeah I did. You got a problem with that?”

Brant adjusts himself to stand straight. He was trying to be an alpha male alright, he was half a foot taller than Tom. Brant puffs out his chest but Tom does not give him the time of day. He knew his dirty work. He knew that Brant was a manipulative asshole, and sadly he was drawn into that culture. Times like this he really misses London. The guys there were assholes too, but this was a new breed of fuckery.

It seems like the div had found something else to be interested in because Brant was now flirting with a girl standing at the counter to order something. Tom went back to his original position of leaning on the wall behind him, his sunglasses tilting off the top of his nose. His mind went back to its usual job of putting Y/N in the center stage of his thoughts. God, if he’s on autopilot then he’s probably thinking about her. It was one meeting and he was hooked on it. He even approached LJ to ask her more that night.

*

LJ was in the midst of refilling the keg, her eyes locked on Harrison as he talks to a group of girls in his Sociology class. Tom had come up behind her hoping for answers. It was her party after all. She seemed to know everyone in this godforsaken town. LJ jumps when she sees Tom but settles with a laugh, hitting him on the shoulder.

“Scared me lovey.” She sloppily says.

“Do you know a Y/N?” Tom is quick with words while Lauren takes a second to think.

“Maybe?”

“She’s Deaf.”

“Oh, Y/N. Yes, I do.” LJ laughs and turns the nozzle of the keg back on. “I met her a while back at another party. She used to go to that Deaf school a few hours away.”

LJ shrugs and gulps down another solo cup full of beer. Tom wondered if he should ask more about her, but would that come off creepy? They didn’t seem like friends, but LJ is the type to gossip a bit. Lauren turns to Tom and looks as if she had come to an epiphany. Her hand caresses Tom’s cheek softly and she flattens her lips.

“That look on your face,” She purrs and drags her nail across his mouth.

“LJ, you’re drunk.” Tom tries to break the tension but she keeps staring on.

“So are you, but you’re...you got that happy look Tommy,” She’s not very coherent as she sways back and forth. “That same look I get when I see Haz…”

Her face becomes more flushed than usual as she breaks out into a fit of giggles. Her hand leaves his face as she turns back around to refill her cup. LJ wipes her face lazily and clears her throat.

“Tommy, be careful baby,” Her voice is shallow in her throat. “Y/N, she’s a different kind of girl. The kind to break your heart.”

LJ spins the contents of her drink around in the cup as she sways. Tom watches her face drop, the look of knowing more but not saying it. Although he wanted to push, there was something eating at him to not do it. Maybe it was self-destruction, but her warning didn’t persuade him any different. He still wanted to talk to Y/N. Learn her story, more than the gossip LJ would have.

“How would you know?” Tom defensively says and grabs the cup from LJ’s hand. “Did you hear that from your dumb rumormongers?”

She doesn’t react right away. LJ hums as her hand squeezes the air the cup had once occupied. Her eyes are sad as she looks back at Tom, almost pitying him. Was this a sick joke?

“Behind every rumor is a little bit of truth. Even if it’s twisted, Tom,”

*

There’s a loud ringing and Tom snaps from his thoughts. It was the customer bell from the counter. Brant was nowhere to be seen, possibly in the back trying to get away from the heat. Tom shakes his head and walks up to the counter with his fake smile ready to greet whatever Creekview trash would walk up.

“Welcome to Milky-” Tom stops and gapes at the two girls standing in front of him.

It was Y/N, staring with huge eyes, and her friend from before who was blinking rapidly. The friend laughs awkwardly, elbowing Y/N, and signs something Tom has not yet learned. Y/N scatters to reply but keeps an eye on Tom while she’s responding. Tom raises his hand and tries to sign, ‘nice to meet you’ while mouthing his words. The friend cackles through her accent, signing something back.

“Sorry, I’m trying to learn,” Tom says while trying to sign.

“You’re alright. We’re just...surprised to see you.” Y/N says while simultaneously signing. “Tom right?”

His name on her hands looks just as beautiful as before. Tom nods and fingerspells Y/N’s name slowly. She smiles, nodding her head and motioning the sign, ‘right’. The friend coughs, pointing to the orange ice cream picture on the counter.

“Oh right sorry,” Tom shakes his head and nods. “Can I get you guys anything?”

“My friend here,” Y/N elbows her friend and fingerspells her name. “Tejas, she wants an orange swirl. I’ll take a Coke Diablo.”

Tom’s mouth feels dry and he can’t form a sign that would be correct in the situation. In his awkward mess of nerves, he stumbles away and into Milky to grab their order. He mumbled to himself as he makes their ice cream, his mind and mouth moving in two different speeds. What could he say to her? Maybe he needs to learn more sign before talking to her? It was a mess, all the little Toms in his head were setting things on fire. Next thing he knew he felt the cold, sticky mess of ICEE on his hand. He grabbed a towel and cleaned up the mess, setting himself straight before going back out there.

With an adjustment to his sunglasses and a mental pep talk, Tom walked back out to the girls. He handed them both their treats, earning a ‘thank you’ from Y/N and a condescending smile from Tejas. She was analyzing him, signing about him when he was right there. Although Tom wasn’t fluent, he could tell she was being snarky.

“$8.64,” Tom says and then watches Tejas sign something. “What is she saying?”

Y/N hands him a ten while signing back to her friend, contorting her face into a scrunched up expression.

“She keeps calling you ‘Hearing Boy’,” Y/N explains then fingerspells his name again. “She’s not very open to hearing people,”

“Why not?”

Y/N interprets the conversation which makes Tejas make a noise that was similar to honking. Her head shakes from side to side as her hands move rapidly, the ice cream swaying side to side and dripping down the cone.

“She says all you hearing people do is make fun of her.” Y/N slyly points behind Tom to where Brant has reappeared. “Your friend there has called her retarded since she moved here,”

Yet again Tom’s biggest weakness was who he allowed to be associated with. It wasn’t a surprise, Brant was a lowlife who would stoop to slurs like that. Tom felt a fire bubbling under his skin, god he wanted to knock him out but Brant was double his size and weight. He shakes his head and exhales.

“Brant is an idiot. A fucking div,” Tom hands Y/N back her money. “But we’re not all like that. Some of us want to understand Deaf people,”

Y/N watches his mouth move and smiles. Tejas looks lost and huffs against her ice cream. She could see what was forming and she was not happy about it. Tom met Y/N’s gaze and raised his hand to try to sign to her.

“Your hair...beautiful,” He signs slowly.

Y/N runs a hand through the dyed hair and giggles nervously.

“It’s fake...all for that party.” She responds. “Do you have time to talk right now?”

Tom immediately signs yes, not caring about if Brant would need his help or not with the impending rush. Y/N signs something to Tejas, who rolls her eyes and then watches her friend walk around the corner with car keys in hand. Tom leads Y/N to the other side of the building where the murals were.

“So, how Deaf are you?” Tom says while dragging his hand across one of the painted cows. “You seem to carry a conversation pretty well,”

Y/N feigns a smile, inhaling harshly as she leans against the wall and slides down. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she looks up to Tom.

“I was born hearing. I was in a car accident when I was a kid, lost the majority of my hearing.” She points to her ears and shrugs. “I can follow along because I know what sounds are. I can read lips alright.”

Her body tenses as she looks towards the beating sun. It was high in the sky, perks of the long summer days. She squinted and held a hand up to block the sun. Without a second thought, Tom hands her his sunglasses and steps into the sunlight. She motions a thank you and puts them on. Tom couldn’t help but smile, she looked better in his glasses than he did.

“So, what happened at the party, that kiss?” Her words are shaky which she masks with awkward laughing. “It was great. I just don’t think you know what you’re getting into-”

“Are you talking about the rumors?”

“Which ones?” Y/N pushes back the fading pink strands and sighs. “There’s so many now. I don’t even care anymore,”

“Someone said you’ll break my heart,” Tom watches her face fall slightly. “But I’m looking for someone to ruin my life anyways.”

Y/N laughs, but this time it's a real laugh though. It came from the bottom of her stomach as if this was the first funny thing she heard in years. Maybe not heard, but you know the specifics are hard. Tom laughs, switching her weight so he’s leaning towards her.

“I think you’re cool Tom, especially with that accent I can’t hear.” Y/N tries to wink behind the glasses but it doesn’t really work. “I just don’t want you to expect much because we don’t know each other,”

“Can I get to know you?”

Y/N looks to him in surprise. There’s a long pause though, she doesn’t speak but she reaches inside of her backpack to find something. Tom isn’t sure if she’s handing him her number or a restraining order but she pulls out a piece of torn out paper. It’s folded perfectly, doodles on the corners of little turtles with sunglasses. He opens it and at the top of the page it says in big letters, ‘Summer Bucket List’.

“What’s this?”

“You want to get to know me right?” She stands and pushes the sunglasses down the bridge of her nose so her eyes are seductively pooling into his. “Read this, then next time we meet I’ll tell you the plan.”

Y/N places the sunglasses on Tom’s head, her other hand rests on the middle of his chest. She can feel the rhythm, fast and all for her. There’s a moment where everything is still, their lips so close from touching but uncertainty clouds the moment. It wasn’t right, Tom was sure of that. If he wanted to kiss her it had to be lead by her. Y/N puts her backpack back on and steps away.

“I’ll see you around,” She says then signs something new. “This is your name sign for now okay?”

She shows him, it’s the sign for ‘hearing’ but with a T hand shape. He smiles and repeats it. A name sign, something only given by Deaf people to their friends and family. Tom took this as a way of her promising to see him again. The list felt heavy in his hands as he watched her walk towards a beat up Cadillac on the corner driven by Tejas.

“How will I find you once I’m done reading this?” Tom yells down the street which causes a few Creekview residents to stop and stare.

“You can try to find me on social media or,” Tom can see her smirking playfully. “Or let fate decide. Your choice.”

Y/N enters the car and that’s the end of their meeting. Tejas whips the car from the space and drives away. The whole interaction felt like a dream. It did not feel real in a conceivable way. Tom looked to the list and back to the corner she was standing at before to make sure this was not a figment of his imagination. He unravels the list completely and was surprised to see only five.

Swim in Creek Lake

Easy enough. That was one of the most popular destinations during the summer. Creekview had a lake that was swarmed by people who were either swimming, tanning, or canoeing. Tom had yet to go into the water though, he usually did a hike around the hills behind the lake with Harrison.

    2. Watch a Drive-In movie

That was something he did not expect. Do Drive-Ins have captioned movies? Tom didn’t even know where they still had Drive-Ins. It had to be something he’d look up later.

   3. Go to DeckFest

Deckfest? The Deckfest? Also known as the Coachella for people who can not afford Coachella. A music festival between California and Nevada, held in a desert, with lesser-known names. It was a mix of Rolling Loud and Warp Tour.

   4. Win a fistfight

Y/N obviously had more layers that he was expecting. The fourth one made him laugh, folding the paper while smiling a little too much. Watching her fight? He’d pay money for that. Tom looks to the last one and drops a bit.

   5. Find my purpose

Tom’s heart panged as he read it over and over. He related to the last item, something he needed to figure out by August also. In the time where he needs to figure out his major, his future, he was more interested in reading this Bucket List and talking to Y/N. Maybe it was master procrastination, or maybe it would lead him to his final destination. Either way, Tom had his roadmap for the summer, all starting with Creek Lake.

///

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Taglist: 

@screeching-student-unknown / @nyctophilicstyles /  @captainbuckyy / @vintage-moonlight / @breadbudzo / @h-natale / @originalpinkpowerranger/ @happywolves81 / @drunkgreek / @iamnida95 / @sydthekidsloth / @spiderboytotherescue / @laureharrier / @starksparker / @madon566 / @nophunleague / @itsbrittneynicole / @hereiamhereigo