#lifes short might as well spend it making a Robin

[livwritesstuff]

Steve’s oldest daughter Moe is unusually quiet on the drive home from her college apartment in New York City.

She was supposed to be doing this drive with her younger sister Robbie (who had bullied Steve and Eddie into letting her bring a car with her to college), but then Robbie and her friends had actually managed to squirrel away enough money for an impromptu trip to D.C. for their spring break, and Moe had still wanted to visit home even without a ride.

Steve had made a whole show acting all put out over having to make the four hour drive between her school in NYC and their house in the Massachusetts suburbs (twice, he’ll add — he’s been on the road for six hours so far with a couple more to go) but, truthfully, there isn’t much he wouldn’t do to spend time with his kids, especially since the older two have firmly graduated to young-adult status, and he easily could have put her on a train.

“So what’s goin’ on with you, Moe?” he finally asks when the quiet stretches a little to far.

Moe shrugs, and then she says, “I was wondering something.”

“Go for it.”

“You and Dad, like…you were older when you started dating, right?”

Steve pauses for a moment, allowing himself to consider what might qualify as older to his twenty-one-year-old daughter. 

“I guess it depends on what you mean by older,” he settles on telling her.

“I mean, you weren’t in high school anymore, even though you knew each other in high school.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods, “I was halfway through grad school, so twenty-six, I think, and you know Dad’s not even a year older than me.”

Moe nods in return, and  then she asks, “And you were friends before anything else happened? Like, for a while?”

“Uh-huh,” Steve replies, “Dad, and Aunt Nancy, and Aunt Robin were my best friends. Still are, obviously, just…different over time.”

“But, like, how–” Moe stops, and Steve can tell without needing to look away from the road to check the way her eyebrows are furrowed, the way they’re crinkled in the middle just like they always are on the rare occasions Moe can’t find the words she needs. She lets out a short exhale, “How did you know that it changed?” Before Steve can answer, Moe shakes her head, “How did you know that what you were feeling wasn’t, like, friend things anymore? Or, like, that it was more than just friend things.”

“Uh,” Steve pauses, running a hand through his hair, “Honestly, Nancy kind of told me.”

Moe’s head turns in his direction.

“Aunt Nancy told you?” she asks, “Pop…that’s so lame.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what happened.”

“Why?”

Steve thinks about it for a second. It’s funny, he doesn’t actually put too much thought into that time in his life – the seven years that had lapsed between becoming friends with Eddie in the aftermath of everything with the Upside Down and when they’d finally gotten together. That was nearly thirty years ago, after all, and Steve hasn’t ever really been the type to dwell on the past. He takes a moment to dwell on it now and remembers how long it had taken him to notice the dull ache behind his ribs and the anxious somersault his stomach had done every time Eddie so much as looked his way.

“I mean – yeah, you’re right. It’s…it’s not easy when you’re close with someone for a long time and then the way you feel about them changes, because, you know, it’s not – I mean, it’s not like it changes overnight. It’s gradual, so…yeah, it’s not easy.”

“Yeah,” she quietly agrees.

“Nance, just – well, you know Nance. She just clocked it before I did, and I guess she didn’t have the patience to wait it out. Once I knew though, it was, like, super fucking obvious. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known before.”

Moe’s laugh is nervous in a way Steve isn’t sure he’s ever heard before, and if there’s a friend of Moe’s she might be feeling differently for, he thinks he might have an idea which one. Moe is a hell of a lot smarter than him though, and this conversation is telling enough that she won’t need things spelled out for her in the way he had with Eddie thirty years ago.

“It was hard,” he continues, because he has a feeling Moe might need to hear more even if she isn’t asking for anything specific, “I – I mean, I actually liked dating when I was your age, believe it or not. I thought it was fun, or whatever, and it wasn’t really a thing that made me nervous, you know? With your dad, though…shit, I was terrified, because it’s a different kind of risk than just shooting your shot with someone you run into and hit it off with.”

Moe nods.

“I think the reason it’s so freaky is because falling for someone you’re friends with is never just a crush. I knew there was something big there. I know you guys hate when Dad and I are all sappy, but he was never just some guy I was dating. He was it for me from the very beginning.”

Moe mumbles something under her breath that Steve doesn’t quite catch.

“What was that?”

“I don’t hate it,” she says, her voice still pretty low, and Steve knows that must have been difficult for her to admit so he doesn’t comment on it (though he will be telling Eddie as soon as he possibly can – obviously).

“Well, I’m just saying,” he replies, “I wasn’t feeling that way for nothing, and things turned out pretty good in the end. If someone was in a similar situation, I’d tell them…” he pauses, and then laughs as he says, “I’d tell them to not wait seven years to get a good thing started.”

“Alright,” she replies, “I’ll…yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”

[steveslevis]

‘tis the damn season

AUTUMN

chapter contents/warnings: exes to whatever the hell this is, a little bit of smut, angst, weed and alcohol use, mutual pining, steve is an idiot and is afraid of commitment </3, barely proofread (sowwy)

w/c: 5.3k

The first big frost of the season blankets the town of Hawkins when you arrive on Wednesday night, the bits of ice glittering on the orange and brown leaves making the barren streets seem less intimidating as you make your way through your hometown for the first time in months. 

There’s a sense of anticipation and dread that fills your stomach while navigating the streets you know so well, knowing you’re going to be asked the same mundane questions about college in the big city a thousand times over during the next three weeks. You know that’s not the only thing filling you with dread for the weeks to come, but keep telling yourself that’s all you have to worry about — right?

The first evening you arrive in town is jam-packed, since your friends insisted on having a so-called “Friends-giving-mas” as the night that you arrived, due to your anticipated absence on the aforementioned Christmas. You spend a few hours with your mom and dad before leaving, enlisting your mom to help you make some cookies for the party, promising you’d leave her and your dad some behind. 

The clock hits 7 p.m. and you’re finally finished getting ready, having just thrown on a red velvet, long sleeved dress that hit just above your knees and your best black boots, Robin had requested everyone to look their best so she could take photos with her new camera throughout the party. You grabbed your secret santa gift and jacket, checking yourself in the mirror one last time before leaving your room. 

“Alright, I’m leaving.” you call out as you bound down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Don’t forget your cookies, sweetheart! They’re on the table.” she replied from her place next to your dad on the couch, watching some rom-com while he was dozing beside her, “if you need us to come pick you up, we will.”

You let out a laugh at her remark, knowing that you were only walking to the next house over on the road, so picking you up would be ridiculous. 

“Oh, I think I’ll manage just fine.” you joke in return while grabbing the plate of cookies, “love you guys!”

—————————

The outside of the Harrington’s house is gleefully lit with warm string lights, wreaths already adorning the front windows and main door to the house in anticipation of Christmas in a few weeks. You always admired the way their house looked during the holidays, but knew it was only a cheery facade to hide the dysfunction that lay within the halls of the residence.

You knew the family all too well, having grown up next to Steve your entire life. You were the same age as him, grew up attending all the same parties as him, but ran in completely different circles than him — well, up until your senior year of high school at least. 

Long story short, being best friends with Robin led to you ultimately becoming so-called friends with Steve Harrington as well. The two of you had what you now called a stupid summer fling before you left for Chicago in August, but the rest was history. The two of you had agreed to stay civil and not let the remnants of any unresolved feelings come between your friendship and the rest of the friend group.

So here you were, knocking on Steve Harrington’s front door on a random Wednesday in late November, cookies in hand as you stood there, shivering. You faintly hear Robin say that she would get the door, then hear footsteps pad towards the entrance. 

You’re greeted by your best friend with the strongest hug you swear you’ve ever experienced, and you feel like you might not ever be let go if she has anything to say about it.

“Oh my god! I missed you so much.” Robin exclaims, the widest grin on her face as she grabs for your hand, “everyone’s in here, we’re just waiting on Nance and Jonathan then we’ll be ready to eat but come in! I have so much to tell you about everything you don’t even know—” 

You follow behind her wordlessly, smiling to yourself as she rambles on about college applications and band and Vickie — who just so happened to be in the kitchen helping finish making the mashed potatoes so you had to be quiet — and everything that she can think to fit in a conversation to catch her best friend up on after months without. She leads you to the dining room after dropping off the cookies, where you hear two familiar voices having a very passionate conversation. 

“I’m telling you, man, I’m cursed—“

“You’re not cursed, Harrington. I’m telling you, you’re just looking in the wrong place for love.” Eddie retorts to his frustrated friend, rolling his eyes at him.

“Oh yeah? And where should I be looking?” Steve snorts, haphazardly tossing forks, knives and spoons atop the napkin at each seat of the table.

“I’ve been saying ever since what happened this summer, you should be going after — oh shit, Y/N!” Eddie interjects, cutting himself off when you trail in behind Robin.

The metalhead pulls you in for a bear hug, whispering in your ear about how he promises not to ask you boring questions about college like everyone else. As you’re being engulfed in his embrace, you hear the sound of silverware tumbling to the ground from the other side of the table, followed by a string of mumbled curse words from the dropper.

You pull away from Eddie’s hug to look at where the noise is coming from, only to see Steve fumbling with a fork and spoon while trying to stand up from where he was just kneeling. Your gaze lingers on him for a moment too long, taking in everything about him that you told yourself you didn’t miss. Eddie gives you a knowing look and you roll your eyes, knowing that he’s trying to tell you to not make things weird, so you try your best.

“Stevie, how are you?” you call to him while walking around the table, putting on the best oblivious and excited face that you can.

“H-Hey, Y/N.” Steve says, feigning coolness as he pulls you in for a quick hug, nearly stumbling over his words when you use the nickname you always loved to tease him with, “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” 

His eyes flicker over to Robin momentarily, who shoots him a guilty grin before mouthing ‘sorry’ over your shoulder.

“Yeah, it was kinda last minute on my part, I just so happened to be coming home tonight since my finals were all at the beginning of the week. I kinda forced Rob to tell me when it would be so I could crash it,” you lie, trying to throw the blame on yourself instead of her, “sorry if I messed anything up, I-I’ll lay low and won’t eat if that messes up numbers or something—“

“No!” Steve rushes to retort, shaking his head at you adamantly, “I mean, shit—sorry. No, you’re not messing anything up at all, you know you’re always welcome here.” 

The smile on Steve’s face is genuine as he speaks, but there’s a glint of sadness in his eyes while he scans yours for any sign of hesitancy. You give him a small smile in return, quickly moving your gaze from his to push down that sinking feeling in your chest you know is coming. Your chest aches as you focus your eyes downward, realizing that this night would be a lot harder than you had convinced yourself that it would be. 

“Well!” Robin interjects, interrupting the growing awkward silence filling the air of the dining room where you stood. She reached for your hand while smiling over at you sympathetically, beginning to drag you towards the kitchen as she spoke, “gotta go say hello to everyone else before dinner!”

Your best friend whirled you around to the rest of the guests–which was just Nancy, Jonathan, and Vickie–who were all in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal. 

A slew of awkward questions about Chicago ensued in the moments leading up to and during dinner, but you took them in stride as they distracted you from the bright eyed boy across the table who kept sneaking glances in your direction any chance he got. You explained your major, what you did for work outside of class time, and talked about all the new friends you met in the short few months you’d been gone. You could’ve sworn Steve’s jaw clenched at the mention of a date you went on prior to leaving for break, but you didn’t put too much thought into it. 

Dinner goes by fairly quickly, and then it’s time for Secret Santa gifts in the living room. Robin begged everyone to participate, and even went through the effort of making sure you and Steve didn’t get each other, partly to not ruin the surprise of you being here and partly to diminish any awkwardness that might arise from it. 

You had drawn Jonathan’s name, so you gifted him a few rolls of different camera film. Each person had to guess who their Secret Santa was, but apparently your gift was pretty obvious since he hadn’t been able to find any film like it anywhere near Hawkins, so he guessed you first. 

Your turn rolled around and a small red gift bag was sat in your lap. You immediately knew who your gift was from, halfway from the grin plastered on his face and halfway from the smell lingering from inside the back in your hands. 

“Thank you, Eddie.” you giggle out while pulling out four perfectly rolled blunts from the gift bag, courtesy of the best dealer in Hawkins.

“It’s always a pleasure,” he jabs back, “we can fire one up after presents if you’d like.” 

You nod quickly at him, grinning widely before turning back to the circle where Robin was handing out gifts.

—————————

It’s not long before drinks are flowing and laughter is spilling through the Harrington residence, something that’s happened very few times within those halls. The night seems to go by too quickly, you notice how quickly when you check and it says 11 P.M. already, even though it feels like you’ve only been there a few hours. You’re sitting on the couch with Robin and Vickie, giggling their way through a story about some guy in the Hawkins band, when the sight of the back door sliding open and closed catches your eye. 

You turn your gaze to see Steve stalking into the cold on his own, head turned down as he walks towards one of the ice-slicked pool chairs on the deck. A frown passes over your face as you furrow your brows, excusing yourself from the couple on the couch as you slip outside to follow him with your bottle of wine, one of your newly gifted blunts and a lighter in hand. 

It’s the last thing you should be doing tonight, really. You shouldn’t be following Steve Harrington – the man who was too afraid to say he loved you and too afraid to commit to you – onto the porch. You should’ve stayed inside and drank some more wine with the rest of them and let yourself cut loose for once, but you just couldn’t do it. You just had to talk to him – you weren’t so sure what you wanted to talk about, but you just felt the need to.

“You alright?” was all you could slip out as you closed the sliding glass door, watching the brown haired boy from afar, making sure you weren’t making the wrong decision.

“Yeah–Yeah, just needed a little bit of fresh air.” Steve stammered, eyes widening for only a moment when he notices that it’s you that followed him outside.  

You only hum in response, stepping closer to him as you sense no annoyance or anger in his voice, finding a spot on the chilled pool chair next to his. After setting down the bottle of wine you’d been nursing throughout the night, you took the blunt you’d brought as a peace offering between your fingers and waved it in front of his face.

Steve looked up for a moment, gaze shifting between the blunt between your fingers and your lips that curled up into a mischievous yet friendly smirk. His own lips perked up in a lopsided smile, raising an eyebrow at you when you brought the blunt to your lips, followed by the lighter.

“Would you like to partake?” you joke while puffing smoke through your lips, mixing with the cold puffs of breath coming from Steve’s. 

“I’ll never say no to that,” he retorts, reaching to grab the blunt from your fingers. 

There’s a breath of comfortable silence between the two of you as he inhales, then lets out a long exhale before focusing his gaze back onto the pool in front of him, onto the ice forming on the pool cover as a way to avoid your eyes. 

“So, how’s the Stevie Harrington been faring since I’ve been gone?” you joked after a moment more of the quiet, shoving any nerves down that were threatening to force you to run back inside. 

Awful, utterly dull and extremely depressing, was what Steve wanted to say. 

He wanted to tell you how he fucked up so badly, how he hasn’t been the same since the last time he saw you, how he hasn’t even been able to look at anyone without thinking of you. He wanted to grab you by the cheeks and pull you in for a kiss and never let go. He wanted to scream and tell you how much he regretted ever letting you leave without knowing how he really felt, but he couldn’t now. It was too late, so he just said; “Oh, y’know. I’ve been fine. Just the same shit, different day.”

Steve wanted to kick himself for saying something so lame, something so uninteresting when the most interesting person in the world was sitting right in front of him. 

“Does ‘same shit, different day’ just mean you’re stuck being the same old chauffeur-babysitter you’ve been for the last two years?” you tease, reaching down to grab the bottle of wine at your feet. 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Steve chuckled, giving you a warm smile as he took another puff. 

It only took a few moments to finally break the ice between the two of you, then things fell right back into place, right back into a comfortable normalcy. There was something that put you so at ease being outside with him, being able to talk to him without the looming thought of who would be the first to say “I love you” or who would be the first to leave waving over both of your heads. 

The next hour went by in a breeze, and it seemed the party inside died down by the time the two of you decided to walk back in. Steve closed the sliding glass door behind you two and you noticed only Eddie and Robin were left standing in the living room. Vickie was presumably in the guest bed, where Robin was about to head to. Jonathan and Nancy had left twenty minutes prior, only popping their heads out to say a quick goodbye before driving off.

Robin said a quick goodnight to you before heading up the stairs, along with a promise to see you tomorrow for a girl’s day. Then, it was just you, Eddie and Steve in the living room, Eddie at the couch setting up his bed for the night while the two of you stood in silence by the sliding glass door still. 

“I–I guess I should probably head home for the night,” you say, breaking the silence between the three of you as you start towards your bag and coat on the other side of the room.

“Why don’t you just stay?” Steve interjects a little too loudly, the weed and wine in his system instilling some false confidence in him. “It’s so cold out and I’m sure at this point your parents already think you’re staying anyways.”

You stop on your toes at Steve’s voice, cheeks heating at how interested he sounded in you staying there for the night. It’s not like it was a far and dangerous walk, Steve just wanted an excuse to be around you for longer. You turn around to look at him, then to Eddie, who was giving you a tired smile.

“We can have a sleepover on the couch,” Eddie chuckles, reaching for one of the pillows he was setting out for himself to move it to the other side of the couch for you. 

“I don’t have any clothes,” you suggest, looking down at your velvet dress that would be extremely uncomfortable to sleep in. 

“Oh, I’m sure Stevie has some clothes that you can sleep in!” Eddie says, shooting a smirk in his direction.

“O–Of course I do, I’m sure I still have your favorite pajama pants up there if you want them.” Steve says hurriedly, as if you would change your mind if he didn’t answer quickly enough.

You give the two of them a smile, pretending to contemplate the decision for a moment before nodding. You could’ve sworn you heard Steve let out a breath of relief at your nod, but he turned towards the stairs before you could acknowledge it. Without a word, you follow right behind him up the stairs, slowly realizing the effects of the cherry wine and weed are coming to the surface. 

Steve steps into his bedroom and you follow behind him, a situation the two of you knew all too well. 

—————————

You don’t know what led to this, but there you were, in Steve’s bedroom, him towering over your space on his bed as he pulled you in for a heated kiss. Tongue against teeth, hands against cheeks, legs tangled together, just like they were meant to be. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen, you swore to yourself you wouldn’t come crawling back every time you were in town, but here you were. 

Somehow coming upstairs for a stupid pair of pajamas led to Steve giving you that look of lust and utter desire, led to you becoming a willing participant in his games once again after swearing you would never touch him again, led to you letting him sneak his way into your heart – and pants – yet again. 

Your head is spinning as he kisses you, his lips slotted into yours like they belonged there, a perfect fit. You’re unsure if it’s the wine, the weed or the sheer yearning that’s making you feel like this, but you don’t want it to stop any time soon. 

There’s a gnawing feeling in your stomach when Steve props his knee up on the bed next to your hip, you know you should stop before he gets any further, but the ache between your thighs is outweighing any thought of what would come after he spreads you open. 

Steve groans into your mouth when you pull him closer, fingers intertwining with and tugging the hair at the nape of his neck, and you only smirked against his lips in satisfaction. You knew everything about the boy who was turning to a puddle just from the touch of your fingers. You knew exactly how to make him tick, and him the same for you.

“Fuck,” Steve breathes when he finally pulls away from you, full lips parted as he stares down at you. There’s a twinkle in his eye that you haven’t seen in so long, one you used to mistake for love but now only know to be pure lust. “I–I’m sorry I just, I need–I need you.”

You stare at the desperate, doe-eyed man in front of you for a long moment, mind wandering to a place of fear as you think about what you’re about to do. 

Instead of saying anything in reply, you close the space between the two of you once again, smashing your lips into his in a feverish and bruising kiss. Steve is on you in an instant, gently pushing you back and up on the bed, letting your head fall on his pillows. You can tell by the way he stumbles on his way up to you that he’s intoxicated — on the weed or the wine, or you, you’re not sure — but you soon realize that you are too.

A hand wanders toward the hem of Steve’s sweater, tugging at it quickly as he pulls away from the bruising kiss. He wastes no time in pulling the cable-knit up and over his head, tossing it to the side while sitting up on his knees to take you the sight of you in. Your skin was hot and your eyes were blown with lust, cheeks flushed and lips parted as you stared up at him.

You’d only been under him for a minute and had completely folded to his touch. You cursed yourself for letting your inhibitions crumble so quickly, but another part of you didn’t actually care, the same part of you that wanted to claim him as yours forever. 

Steve’s eyes trailed over you, from your cheeks to the low neckline of your dress, over the curve of your hips, ending on your thighs spread on either side of his knees. The crushed velvet of your skirt bunched where your leg met your hip, letting the fabric ride up enough for Steve to see exactly what he was searching for. 

He sucked in a breath at the sight of your white lace underwear beneath, having to hold himself back from diving in right that second.

“You’re so beautiful,” he groaned, hands tracing over your hip bones while lowering his lips to yours once again.

A moan falls from your lips as his meet yours, his knee coming up between your thighs, creating friction against your core.

“Fuck—Stevie,” you say, choking back a pitiful whine while grinding against his thigh desperately, “please, I need you.”

You swear you hear Steve nearly choke at your words, three words he’d been dying to hear from you for months. 

“I know, I know, baby.” he coos at you, trying to keep his cool as he strains against his pants, “I’ll take care of you.”

You nod feverishly as he leans down to pepper kisses along your neck, taking his sweet time while trying not to get drunk off the scent of you.

“This—This doesn’t mean anyth—this doesn’t change anything,” he stammers between kisses, peering up at you as he speaks, “we can still stay close—keep being friends after this.”

You hum in agreement, ignoring the dread building in your gut as you do. You want to be more than friends, you want to scream at him until he admits that he loves you too. But he nearly said it doesn’t mean anything, so you’re convinced he wants nothing to do with you after tonight, nothing but a friend to laugh with and a pretty face to fuck on every break from college. 

You push the thoughts from your mind, focusing on the boy in front of you as his hands begin to massage your inner thighs, inching closer and closer to your core with every circle. Steve chuckles lowly as you let out a whine of anticipation, teasing you silently as he gives in to your desires.

Steve knows your body like he knows his own, so what comes after pulling off your dress is nearly second nature to him. One large hand trails to the waistband of your underwear while the other reaches for your breast, nipple peaked from the exposure to the cold air conditioning. You moan in surprise when he wastes no time in putting his mouth to work on your other nipple, tugging your underwear down your legs simultaneously. 

His fingers immediately fall to your core once you’re free of the underwear, fingertips circling the bundle of nerves at the top as you let out another whimper. 

His moves are careful but quick, he knows you want to waste no more time, and you’ll whine about his teasing if he doesn’t act soon. 

He’s out of his boxers in an instant, one hand keeping contact with your clit as he situates himself above you.

“You look so good like this, sweetheart.” Steve says, voice low as his eyes raked over your body, “so pretty spread out for me, all fucked out for me even though I’ve barely touched you.”

“Stevie…” you whimper, reaching a hand up to him, but he pulls from your reach with a smirk across his face.

“Tell me what you want from me,” he says, leaning down to press a kiss to your cheek as he lines himself up with your slick, teasing the tip against you slowly.

“I—I need you, Steve.” you beg, cheeks flushing at the admittance, “I need you to fuck me, please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely.” he retorts with a smirk, sliding into you with ease.

You both let out a low moan as he bottoms out, filling you in a way you haven’t felt in a long time. You forgot how thick he was in the time you’d been gone, your body wasn’t used to the stretch of his cock inside you, but it still felt like he was meant to be there. Like he was the only one who could make you feel this way.

And you were right, nobody could make you feel that way. Nobody else could touch you and make you fall apart in less than five minutes like he could. Nobody else could get you so riled up over a few praises thrown in with some condescension (which you embarrassingly loved too much) like he could. Nobody could hold off from cumming long enough to give you three orgasms before getting one of their own like he could. 

Nobody did it like he could.

This doesn’t mean anything you repeat in your mind, clinging to his arm like your life depended on it after the two of you calmed your breathing and cleaned up. You weren’t sure if you were repeating those words to convince yourself or to ease your own mind about what just went down, but you knew they stung your heart more than any fighting words the two of you had ever exchanged.

“I missed this, cuddling with you, holdin’ you like this.” was all he slurred out against your hair, pressing a sleepy kiss into the crown of your head.

“Yeah, me too.” you mumble in return, accepting the warmth of his embrace as sleep finally took you in, ignoring the gnawing pain growing in your chest.

—————————

The spice of Steve’s cologne mixes with the familiar scent of his room, filling your senses when you wake, nearly sending you into a panic. You sit upright in the bed, turning to face the boy you claimed you wanted nothing to do with romantically just a few hours ago. Steve is sleeping peacefully next to you, plush lips parted and brows furrowed as he subconsciously pouts about the loss of your touch. The alarm clock behind him read 2:03 A.M., meaning you hadn’t been out for too long, but long enough to sober you up somehow. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. I gotta get out of here. Is all you can think as you stumble out from under the comforter, knowing you would never live it down if anyone found you’d slept in his bed, especially with your limbs entangled like they just were. You quickly dress in the clothes you’d originally come into the bedroom to fetch, and snuck out of the bedroom without a sound. 

Before making it to the living room, you turned toward the dimly lit kitchen for a glass of water. What you weren’t expecting to be faced with in the kitchen was Eddie, but there he was, leaning against the counter with disheveled hair that probably mirrored your own. 

“What a night so far, huh?” he jokes as you shoot him a knowing glare while trudging across the tiled floor. 

“Don’t even start with me, Munson.” you warn, absentmindedly reaching your hand up to the cabinet for a glass while shaking your head.

“Woah, don’t get that attitude with me! I didn’t say anything,” he laughs, setting his own glass into the sink, “but that also doesn’t mean I didn’t hear anything.”

“You did not,” you snap back, eyes wide and cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he gives you a shit-eating grin, “there’s no way you heard anything because nothing happened.”

“You’ve always been such a bad liar, Y/N.” Eddie laughs, stepping out of the kitchen to walk towards the living room where the two of you would be sleeping. 

A sigh escapes your lips when Eddie leaves, letting you be alone with your thoughts finally. There was an ache in your chest that wasn’t going away any time soon, and it was in that moment that you wondered if you would ever be able to get over Steve Harrington, or if you would be in a continuous cycle of hurt and comfort for the rest of your damned life.

You collected your thoughts as you downed a glass of water, throwing back two ibuprofens with the last chug for good measure, before finding your way back to the living room. Eddie was on his side on the long side of the L-shaped couch, leaving the shorter side for you to sleep on. His eyes were closed as you laid down with your feet next to his own, but you knew he wasn’t asleep yet. 

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” you heard through the darkness after turning off the table lamp once you were settled.

“I know.” you sigh in return, staring up at the ceiling that was only lit by the streetlights flowing in from outside. “I just don’t want to live like this forever, I–I can’t keep being the secret that Steve is too embarrassed to talk about.”

“He’s not embarrassed of you,” Eddie said, voice barely above a whisper, just loud enough for you to hear, “he’s just afraid of fucking everything up even more than he already has.”

If only he could say that to my face, then maybe I’d believe it, you thought to yourself, chest tightening at just the thought of the brown-eyed boy who was fast asleep upstairs. 

You don’t reply to Eddie, unsure of what to say back, unsure of what you could squeak out without breaking down. 

“Goodnight, Eds,” is all you say in return, though you know you won’t be getting any sleep. 

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

—————————

After falling asleep for all of fifty minutes around 5 in the morning, you decided you had to leave. 

The entirety of the almost four hours you laid on Steve’s couch consisted of staring at the ceiling and fighting off tears while thinking about how you regretted everything you said and did over the last twelve hours. 

Coming to the Harrington house was a mistake, even stepping foot back in Hawkins was feeling like a mistake at this point. 

The only words repeating in your mind were This doesn’t mean anything. This doesn’t mean anything. This doesn’t mean anything.

You eventually had enough of the self-loathing and inability to sleep, so it was time to go. It was time to hastily change out of the pajamas that smelled too much like the boy you loved too hard, and time to go collapse in your own bed. There was no telling if you’d actually fall asleep once you made it there, but that was beside the point.

It was when you finally made it back to your parent’s house, to your childhood bedroom, that you swore that you wouldn’t see Steve Harrington again for the rest of Thanksgiving break, and hopefully would avoid seeing him again for a long while, for the sake of saving yourself from another heartbreak.

---------

tags: @carinacassiopeiae

[shares-a-vest]

@steddielovemonth Day 28: Love is… When you look at his lips for half the conversation because you can’t stop thinking about kissing him (Prompt by @starryeyedjanai)

wc: 733 | Rated: T for suggestive language | cw: None

Tags: Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Family Video, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Jeff (not present but mentioned a lot), Cliffhanger Ending (might write a cheeky sequel tomorrow)

'Lips'

Eddie should have known it was a mistake to visit Family Video on his lunch break. His excuse to Jeff was that the store had better air conditioning than the mechanic shop. Aka, an air conditioner.

Besides, he promised his friend that he wouldn’t be all that long.

Unlike yesterday.

… Or the day before.

And that no, Jefferson, best friend dearest compatriot, it has nothing to do with Steve Harrington’s summer attire – a good ol’-fashioned too-tight polo and a pair of jean shorts that have not been rotating around in his pea-brain for the better part of a month and a half now that they are in the throws of an Indiana summer.

Nope. None of that.

Nor does his desperation to skip down three blocks and waste his entire lunch break have anything to do with the chapstick Steve has taken to wearing (though Robin’s recent snickering suggests the reddish-pink pouty blessing is a Harrington Summer Standard).

But Eddie just can’t stop staring as his completely kissable crush bemoans working a double shift.

... Or something.

He isn’t really sure because Steve just bit his lip in annoyance – Keith! He definitely just mentioned that loser! – and, well, now there’s an indent on his bottom lip that is making Eddie think about how red they could get if they were all kiss-bitten and...

Eddie forces himself to look up from the plush pout Steve has permanently plastered to his face when he is bitching.

He is met with a faint crinkle in Steve’s brow and yeah, it is probably quite obvious he is not paying attention. His eye wanders above Steve’s frown to the beads of sweat pearling at his hairline.

He gulps.

No, no, no!

This can’t be happening! Steve cannot start sweating too.

It’s bad enough that Eddie has seen him all hot and bothered, his delicious chest hair all matted and grimy as they ran for their lives in an undead hellscape. And their late afternoon sojourns to the Quarry are downright cruel as Steve strips off his sweat-stained shirt to reveal equally sweaty hair that trails down, down, all the way down beyond his waistband to what is surely a sizeable –

“– Eddie!”

He grips the counter between them with grease-stained fingers and holds on for dear life.

“Huh?” he grunts, his eyes landing back on those lips like it’s now the worst possible habit he could ever have the misfortune of developing.

Because Steve is, well, Steve Harrington. Ladies Man. Casanova. Dorky wooer and hot former-jock turned actual good dude.

Stevie H. who’s all plush and pouty and... Moisturised.

Those lips look soft, don’t they?

And maybe the reddish hue is a sign of a flavour? Perhaps cherry? Maybe even strawberry?

Eddie licks his own bone-dry lips as he thinks about tasting it.

Tasting Steve...

How those beautiful smackers would look all swollen from spending time wrapped around his –

“Are you even listening?” Steve whines, lightly smacking the counter with his gigantic, manly hand.

“Yeah – oh… um, yeah sure, man,” he splutters.

Steve’s sceptical frown faulters, softening as he looks Eddie over. He purses those lips.

Fuck.

It’s painfully obvious, isn’t it?

Eddie closes his eyes and sucks in a breath.

Jeff was right. Today, a mere ten minutes ago... Yesterday... The day before...

He should just let go of the counter, turn heel and run back to work to sweat his balls off. At least there he wouldn't be confronted with he tantalising mouth of one Steve Harrington and all the filthy thoughts that come with staring at them.

His wristwatch beeps in agreement – a warning alarm Jeff set by yanking at his arm before he stepped out of the shop on his merry way.

“Hey,” he begins, clearing his throat as he dares open his eyes again.

And he finds Steve staring back, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his sinful mouth. He licks his lips and those hazel, now greedy-looking eyes flit down and linger there.

As if they are examining...

“I gotta go!” Eddie screeches.

His shout sends Steve shooting upright from where he had drifted into leaning across the counter.

Eddie launches himself backwards, stumbling towards the door as he incoherently splutters about Jeff and gaskets and the miserable PB&J sandwich he has waiting for him in his beat-up lunch tin.

“Eddie, wait!”

[oletus-writer]

Can you make a 'Jealous of their mini version' with Jack, h!Melly and fools gold? (if they had one) will be so glad to read them :)

Of course!! I’ve been busy being consumed by Baldur’s Gate III so this is late by a long shot.

Jack, Hunter Melly, Hunter Norton being jealous of their mini pet version

Warnings: slight jealousy

Jack

He’s amused, to say the least. You can’t get enough of him, so much so that you’ve decided to purchase a little version of him to follow you around when he’s not there. Unlike others, he won’t be too jealous, and is willing to pamper it alongside you, treating it like a child.

‘Oh my sweet robin, it looks like you’ve been missing me. Well, don’t you worry; there’s enough of me to go around. This little darling can’t be much of a replacement, hm?’

Of course, if he finds you spending more time with little Jack than with him, jealousy settles in. He’ll court you, all gentlemanly and saccharine. Expect flowers, poems, being treated better in matches, and maybe even a painting. Holding the door open for you, kissing your hand… you get the picture.

‘You did so well in that match… Sure, I wasn’t there, but I’m certain you did well, dove. Would you like to enjoy this wine with me as celebration? If not, may I interest you in some of my cooking?’ (You’ll have to supervise his cooking, though)

There isn’t much pettiness, as he understands why you’d buy a mini Jack, and that it’s more available to you than him, being a hunter and all. He does have a photo of you that he carries with him at all times, after all, but he might get jealous over the fact you actively spend time with mini Jack than him. Sure, it’s a pet you need to take care of, but he’d prefer it if you invite him over a bit more frequently.

Hunter Melly

She’s a bit more possessive of you than her survivor counterpart, and is a bit ruthless. She doesn’t mind locking away little Melly so she could have the entire day alone with you, nor does she mind resorting to threatening the little pet. However, she’s not a total savage, and is willing to raise it like a child.

‘Honey, as much as I enjoy your company evermore when we’re alone, perhaps this little pet you have isn’t so bad. We should give it a proper name, not just Little Melly.’

Bitter jealousy still settles in her ribcage like acid reflux, though, and she’ll find any excuse to get you to have greenhouse dates, as the mini pet would get lost, it’s little legs and short perspective unable to find its parents in the maze. She’ll pick flowers and tell you their meanings all the while ignoring that nagging sense of guilt.

However, she finds that little Melly has its uses, such as observing small details on her insects, and finding new species within the greenhouse. She’ll treat the pet a bit better, and there are some times when you find her giving all her attention to it.

‘This little sweetheart has done wonders to my research. It was a good choice to purchase it. You have my gratitude.’

Hunter Norton

He understands that you’re not all his, and that he should be nice and respectful of his lover, but he just has the instinct to hold things dear to him so tightly that his ribcage wraps around them. There’s an ill feeling in his throat and he can’t swallow and his rock fingers twist knobs into the table.

‘What’s going on, darling? Oh… that little thing. I see. Suppose I should leave you to it, then, since it’s obviously better company that me.’

Unlike the other two, he’s never going to accept the mini him into his life. He hates children, and having another mouth to feed is quite the annoyance.

‘When are you gonna throw that thing aside? It’s just a toy, right? Come to your rightful place in my arms.’

He simply doesn’t understand why you’d rather the substitute than the real thing. After all, as much as he doesn’t want to admit, you could always seek out survivor Norton.

[steves-strapcollection]

47. “When I picture myself happy… It’s with you.” 💕💕

YES! I'm still working on asks from THIS ask game, and I absolutely will be happy to receive more (since I'm using these prompts as exercises to write short shit without context to overcome my pathological need to write So Much Context)

[ NOW ON AO3 ]

There was something distinctly heartbreaking about playing wingman for the guy who made you believe in the entire concept of soulmates, Eddie thinks as he leans against the trunk of Steve Harrington's Beemer. It's not even that he thinks they're soulmates, but what the dude has with Robin is really convincing. And maybe Eddie is pretty sure Steve is his soulmate, even platonically, even if that thought makes his pining ass want to vomit.

He refuses to pine after a straight man for eternity, and yet...

What's stupid is that Eddie is a shit wingman, so it doesn't even make sense that Steve keeps taking him out with him to bars and shit. Half the women that wanted to even approach Steve were afraid of Eddie, and the other half were fucking mean to him which lost Steve's favour immediately which... hey, Eddie couldn't complain too much about that.

But still, that meant that Steve was striking out every single time and Eddie was feeling bad about it because he was happy about it. He got to spend a whole evening with Steve and sometimes they would spend the night together because Eddie's place was closer and Steve was too tired to drive all the way home. Eddie could pretend this was a real date, that Steve Harrington was dating him.

Jesus H. Christ, he was pathetic.

Steve sighs next to him. "Why is this so hard?" he asks, and at Eddie's questioning look, Steve elaborates, "Dating, getting laid, whatever you wanna call it?"

Eddie huffs a laugh, and shrugs. "Well, I mean, I think I've got it worse in that department, Stevie," he mutters, taking a drag of his cigarette. Steve's known about him being gay for months now, which makes it even more wild that the man still shared a bed with him and took him out to bars almost every Friday night. Tossing his cigarette onto the asphalt and stubbing it out with his boot, Eddie asks, "What are you even looking for?"

Steve pauses, staring at the ground. "Someone who makes me happy, who gets me, who wants to be with me, the real me, y'know?" he asks without even looking at Eddie, which is good because Eddie's sure the way his heart was breaking would be visible from fucking outer space.

Me, that's me, Stevie. Choose me. That's what Eddie wants to say, to shout and scream and even stomp his feet a bit because it's not fucking fair. He's all those things and more and he wanted to be that for Steve.

"Think you might be putting too high of standards too early on these poor girls, Stevie," Eddie laughs instead, grinning crookedly over at Steve and stopping short at the intense gaze being leveled back at him.

"See, that's the thing, Eds. I'm starting to think I've been looking for that in all the wrong places," Steve says seriously, shifting so he's standing in front of Eddie.

And Eddie is sure he's dreaming. He's actually fast asleep and he's going to wake up literally any second and this was all just some terrible dream thought up by his awful, gay, pining, stupid brain. Because it actually sounds like Steve, the love of Eddie's life, is about to confess something huge to him.

"What makes you say that?" Eddie croaks out before clearing his throat, glancing at Steve's lips before meeting his eyes.

"I've always had these big dreams about my life, what it'd look like if I wanted to be happy, and before I always thought of these grand things that involve a wife and a whole pack of kids," Steve says and Eddie feels his already shattered heart break even more.

Eddie manages to laugh, though, even if what he really wants is to crawl into bed and cry. "Okay, so now you're raising the bar even higher on these poor girls?" Eddie asks, shoving Steve's shoulder with his fist.

Steve isn't swayed. "You don't get it, Eds, that's not what I want anymore," he says, running his hands back through his hair. "That isn't what I imagine when I think about being happy."

"Then what do you imagine?" Eddie asks because, apparently, he's a huge fucking masochist.

"Eds... you're really going to make me say it out loud?" Steve asks, almost teasingly, and then he steps just a little bit closer.

Eddie's heart stops, once again struck by how not real this has to be. "Yeah, I'm gonna need you to say it with your outside voice, Stevie," Eddie says. "I'm not a mind reader."

Steve sighs heavily and puts his hands on his hips as he visibly considers his next words carefully. Something comes over his expression that takes Eddie's breath away, something fierce and brave and beautiful, and now the full force of it was turning on him when Steve's eyes meet his.

"When I picture myself happy," Steve starts, stepping close enough that the heat radiating off of him begins to warm Eddie's chilled skin. Steve lifts a hand to cup Eddie's jaw as he says, "It's with you, Eds."

Eddie blinks owlishly at Steve. "What?"

"I think I'm--I've been into you for months, and when you came out to me I got so hopeful, like I actually maybe stood a chance, which is obviously stupid. Just because you're gay doesn't mean you're into me but still," Steve rambles a bit as Eddie tries to form a coherent thought. Steve chews on his bottom lip and asks, "Eds? What do you--is this, like, okay?"

Eddie slaps himself in the face, just hard enough to sting, and Steve jumps.

"Eddie, what the hell?" Steve asks, bewildered.

"Sorry, just checking that I'm not dreaming. Pinching wouldn't've been enough to wake me up from a dream this good," Eddie breathes, twisting his hand in the front of Steve's polo and pulling him close. "You mean that, Stevie? You want me?"

"More than I've wanted anything in my life," Steve confesses easily, and he stumbles when Eddie gently shoves him back.

"Then take me home and we can make out about it in private, yeah?" Eddie suggests, grinning as he scrambles to get into the passenger seat of the Beemer.

When Steve gets into the car, he's grinning, and Eddie leans across the center console. "One kiss for the road?" he asks, batting his lashes up at Steve.

"Absolutely," Steve agrees, and then their mouths slotted together perfectly, like they were made to be kissing each other all along.

And yeah, Eddie was really starting to believe in soulmates actually...

Thank you again for sending me this ask!!! Send me more of these fun prompts? Also, if you like my writing, please consider checking out writing blog -> @gerrystamour

[astermath]

memory lane ु ₓ｡

summary: you and robin recall your first kiss together, and you want a rematch.

word count: 1.1K

tags: established relationship, like a tiny bit suggestive, normal font below!

notes: hey why is literally NO ONE writing for robin?? she’s so cute and so lovely and so ahdkdkd i’m in love w her

The sound of Blondie’s latest album fills the room, accompanied by the scent of incense and opened nail polish. The beige carpet and dark blue walls of your room had long become familiar to Robin, who’d honestly been spending more time at your house than hers recently.

The window was open to make the summer heat somewhat bearable. You both sat on the floor, your back to her chest as you painted her nails for her. Her chin was placed onto the crown of your head, fully relaxed into you as if she was your blanket. It could have been 50 degrees hotter outside, and your girlfriend would still find a way to cuddle up to you. She was always kind of clingy like that, not that you’d ever complain about it.

You hummed along with “Heart of Glass”, stroking the brush over her short nails to paint them a pretty red. “To match your cute uniform,” you’d told her, and it made her feel a little better about how silly the sailor outfit looked.

You always had a way of making things sound a lot better or approachable, which was helpful with a major over thinker like herself. Even before she’d start nervously rambling about whatever she was worried about, you’d sense it, and say something to calm her down. Which usually worked. Not always. Sometimes you’d just have to let her ramble.

“All done,” you gently took her hand in yours, careful not to smudge your hard work, and held it up for her to see.

“Wow, that’s way better than how I usually do them.” she chuckled, leaning in to kiss your cheek. “Thanks baby.”

You giggled at her affection, her loose strands of blonde hair tickling your face. You’d made a habit out of doing Robin’s nails, her hair, her makeup… You were really good at anything beauty related, something she’d always admired about you.

“Remember when I did your nails the first time?” You turned your head so you could look at her, only to see the memory had brought a giddy smile to her face.

“How could I possibly forget? Was the best day of my life.” She chuckled. “Do you?”

You remembered it perfectly. Well, it was only four months ago, it would be pretty embarrassing if you didn’t. Still, the even the tiniest details were still so crisp in your mind.

The smell of her perfume when she hugged you goodbye at your doorstep.

The feeling of her hand in yours when you held it, keeping her from walking back out. Soft, but clammy.

The crooked, awkward smile she gave you, before she nodded, agreeing to stay a little longer in your room.

The nerves you both felt when you’d realized you’d never outwardly said this was a date, not the movie you both went to see, and not the time you spent in your bedroom. The fear of thinking the other might just see you as a friend, and that this would all be one big gay misunderstanding.

You specifically remember trying to gauge the situation when you were painting her nails for her, and tried to ask her about her type.

You recall how long it took for you to realize she’d been describing you.

You remember her hopeful smile. She remembers your surprised face, and the anticipation for rejection.

Only for you to grab her face and kiss her right then and there, almost knocking her over onto the scruffy carpet.

“I kinda wish I didn’t do it like that.” you confessed, cheeks warm from having just described your first ever kiss with Robin. Or with any girl, for that matter.

“Whaaaat?” Robin sat across you now, elbow leaned on her knees as she sat with her legs crossed. She’d been looking at you with a dreamy smile this entire time, wondering how she got so lucky. “For the record, I thought it was perfect.” She put her hands behind her on the carpet and leaned back, tilting her head slightly. “What would you have done different?”

“Well,” you sat on your knees, hands placed on your lap, “for starters, I would have been way smoother, like—“ You reach for her hand, pretending you’re doing her nails again. You trail your fingers up her arm, moving closer, until your hands settle on her shoulders. You’re looming over her, and she’s holding back from holding your hips for the sake of the scenario.

You flash a teasing smile, and Robin recognises that mischievous glint in your eyes, the one that makes her thighs rub together and her body tingle.

You reach out a hand, gently touching her cheek with the back of your fingers. “I’d ask you if you were into the type of girls that take care of you. That hold you, brush your hair… Do your nails…” You lean in, and whisper breathily over her lips, her eyes watching yours in anticipation. “The ones that…Take charge.” You straddle her hips and seal your lips together, her hands settling onto your hips and squeezing your soft skin there. She lets out what you can only make out to be a whimper into the kiss, her abdomen working hard to sit upright in this position.

That’s why you gently nudge her down onto the floor, hand holding the back of her head so it doesn’t come down with too much of an impact. You pull away from her, and she almost whines at the sudden loss of your lips on hers. You grin, reaching out to gently brush a lock from her face. “That’s how I’d do it.”

She just stares at you for a moment, so completely lovestruck and captivated by your beauty. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was, finding the loveliest, prettiest girl ever in Hawkins of all places. She figured she was going to be alone forever, or at least until she moved to a bigger city. Now she dreams of sharing that future with you instead.

“You okay baby?” You chuckle, a little proud that you’d managed to reduce her to a puddle so easily. You were both each other’s first girlfriends, so every kiss, every hug and every ‘I love you’ felt just a little different. A little better.

“Yeah, just uhm…” She breathed out a laugh, closing her eyes for a moment. “Wow.” She grinned. Sometimes it took a moment to truly take in that it was all real, that it wasn’t like those nights she’d laid awake dreaming of a life like this, no— you were there.

“Yeah,” you smile, full of adoration for the blonde girl beneath you. “Wow indeed.”

[luveline]

Baby blurb with Robin ‘I wish we realized we liked each other sooner’<3<3<3

tysm for ur request! ♡ fem!reader | 0.7k words

Robin has a really old rug in her room. It's rough under your cheek and smells of baking soda from vacuuming. It's far from dirty – she takes meticulous care of everything fabric, it's just old.

Despite a clumsy and frenetic outlook on life, she can be quite rigid when it comes to these things. Clean rug, clean bed, fluffed pillows. 

She lays with her head under one such pillow, her hair a soft halo of delicate browns. You look up at her from the pages of your book as she turns a page of her own. 

You love her. You love spending time with her. Talking to her is everything you could ever want, but the weekends are long and eventually you run out of things to talk about and kisses to give her, at least for a little while. And so you read your books and listen to Blondie and let waves of content wash over you one after another. There's nowhere else you'd rather be. 

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" she asks. 

She has this way of speaking that's just fucking beautiful. Her lilting cadence, the soft melodical quality to her light teasing, it burns you up like a match to rice paper. 

"You," you answer honestly. 

"Wanna come think about me… up here?" She raises her eyebrows and smiles pertly. 

You leave your book behind; her tone of voice makes you think you won't be doing much reading. Her hands only solidify that, her long fingers quick to wrap around your wrists and cradle. She touches you like you're made of hollowed glass. 

You climb onto her made bed and station yourself on top of one of her thighs, kneeling, interlocked. You grasp her wrists like she has yours and smile at her, devoting the slope of her eyebrows and the straight edging of her dark lashes to memory. Her freckles sit like blown dandelion seeds over her pale cheeks. You lean forward to kiss them and she lets you, but she laughs the whole while. 

"You like me," she teases. 

"A little," you concede, setting back. 

She runs her hands up the lengths of your arms, her short fingernails scratching the crook of your elbow and then up until they're sliding under your short sleeves. She shakes her hair out of her face and looks up at you like she's seeing you for the first time. 

"A lot," you say. 

"Do you remember," she starts, eyes on your collar and then sliding up, almost shyly, "when I came by your job and they had that tower of Christmas candles, and I smelled them all-" 

"For two hours?" 

She blushes fast. It's the prettiest thing you've ever seen. "Not two hours! An hour, at most." 

"Oh, right, you spent the next hour looking at hand creams." 

"And aren't my hands just so soft," she drawls, rubbing the lengths of your arms until you're putty in her hold. 

You huff a laugh and nod. Something sharp hits you, that awful feeling when you love someone, where all you can think about is how one day you might mess it up. Or worse, one day you won't get to do this, won't get to sit in her lap and kiss her and love her, because something bad might happen. 

"I wish we realised we liked each other sooner," Robin says. 

You laugh wetly. "I was just thinking the same thing." 

You blink back tears, startled at the depth of your own emotion, and wrap your arms around her neck. She has no choice but to accommodate you and she does it fervently, smelling of dewberry and clean laundry and the cherry smackers on her lips. 

"How many times did I rent Personal Best?" you ask.

"I thought you liked track!" 

"Well I don't," you smush into her neck. "I liked you."

Even though she knows it, it's fun to say. It's more than fun – it's bright. It's a lightness. 

She slouches down into the pillows and takes you with her, shuddering as she vies for the skin of your back under your shirt. "All that time…" We wasted.

"I don't know," you murmur. "It was fun, wasn't it? And- and to know I could have you after everything-" You tilt your head back to kiss her cheek. "That was the second best feeling in the world." 

"Second?" 

You smile into her skin. This is the first. 

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Adding to the pile of role reversal/weird AU stuff:

Season 3 setting. Dustin and Eddie are friends (Jonathan knows Eddie and recommends the party to the Hellfire leader in their last year of middle school). Eddie works at Scoops Ahoy, the only shop that was willing to hire him to supplement his income after Rick ended up - once again - in jail. It's not that bad, he has Chrissy to keep him company and they develop a surprisingly snarky banter together.

Dustin comes around and does the usual "Steve Harrington is so cool" spiel and Eddie has just had enough of that, the asshole can't be good looking, cool, popular and nice, not happening in the Munson world. He ends up asking Dustin why he isn't hanging out with Steve then and Dustin admits Steve has been kind of distant lately, he has a new job and he doesn't talk about it, like at all.

So of course, uncovering Harrington's secret becomes Eddie's sole mission in life. He's bored anyway and Chrissy spends way more time at Scoops than necessary to avoid her ex-boyfriend Jason. So Eddie disguises himself (ties his hair back, that's it, the uniform stays), grabs Dustin's binoculars and they decide to follow Steve. How the former king doesn't notice them is a mystery - Eddie's van is not inconspicuous at all and the combination of the Scoops uniform and Dustin's bright green t-shirt has many heads turning. Not Steve's though, he's lost in thought, too covered for the hot weather and heading...right into the mall?!

Eddie and Steve sneak behind him, following from a barely reasonable distance and they see Steve enter...the local fitness club.

Okay. So it might make sense. Perfect sense. Steve has his way with ladies and as he sheds the loose sweatpants and hoodie, he presents his long legs in...very short shorts. Also damn, Eddie has never seen Steve in a sleeveless top before and he doesn't know how to handle this knowledge. He feels a bit annoyed that yep, Steve putting on his Harrington charm and circling his hips as the first stretching exercise to ABBA is definitely not cool, but it doesn't matter because those stupid legs-!

"Would you like to make an appointment with the dingus, Eddie?"

The lazy drawl from the reception snaps him out of the Harrington-induced hypnosis and he turns to Robin Buckley, a girl from his class, giving him a knowing look. Too knowing. "I'm. Uh. Looking for..." he stammers out, much to Robin's amusement and Dustin's confusion.

"For?" she grins and leans on the counter. "I'd swear you were just looking. Not for."

Eddie wants to evaporate. He wants to escape into the vents and live there as a hermit, avoiding all of this - Dustin's innocent eyes, Robin's growing smirk, the exercising ladies starting to turn and...

Steve. Steve fucking Harrington who freezes, mid-hip thrust, and stares at Eddie, Eddie with his hair tied into an unruly bun, the stupid hat still on, some of his tattoos peeking from the equally stupid uniform...and Steve doesn't laugh, he just swallows, very visibly, and then he fixes his hair. HE FIXES HIS HAIR. That's like a wink or a blown kiss in the Harrington world. Eddie knows this, he's seen it happen way too many times with about half of the female student population.

Steve clears his throat and instructs the ladies to return their attention back to him, thank you very much. His eyes stay focused on them, but he gestures towards Robin.

She snorts in laughter and takes out the book of appointments, scribbles Eddie's name in. "Well then, Mr. Munson, you are signed up for an individual lesson with our best trainer at 8 today, that's the earliest he can squeeze you in. Don't be late and please, do wear the uniform," she winks at him and her cackling accompanies Eddie all the way back to Scoops Ahoy.

When he collapses against the counter and whispers to Chrissy to please interrogate him only after Dustin's gone, he turns to his younger friend and begs: "If I offer you free ice cream for life, will you promise to never mention this again?"

Dustin graciously accepts, but Eddie still spots a poorly hidden curly head in the mall decorative bushes once his shift ends and he is heading towards the fitness center to meet his fate.

[spideystevie]

uhm did you want us to send recs for the prompts you reblogged?? because they are soooo sweet it hurts. if you want suggestions i think “reading with them” and/or playing with their fingers sounds so cute :-)))

yes!! thank u for requesting <3 (0.7k)

“reading with them” [request a little things prompt]

Steve never cared much for reading. His attention was hard to hold and the last thing he wanted to do was spend his free time with a book. 

But then he met you.

You and your love-worn novels full of underlined sentences and cornered pages. You were a storybook come to life, a real life fairytale, though Steve would never admit it out loud to anyone. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen you without a book within reach. 

Steve never cared much for reading until a rainy weekend spent in his house alone with you. 

That Sunday was slow, blurred around the edges. You’d both woken up late curled around each other, tracing each other’s features and listening to the rain patter against the windows.

You migrated to his couch after breakfast and Steve wasn’t surprised when a book appeared in your hands. You opened it to the first page and Steve leaned into your space to peek. He presses a kiss to your shoulder, lips brushing against your shirt when he speaks. 

“Will you read to me?” he asked. You raised your eyebrows as your lips twitched at the corners. 

“Really?” voice a little surprised but Steve only smiled and nodded. He hummed, his smile a little blurry around the edges from leftover fatigue. 

You shifted deeper into the corner of the couch, motioning for Steve to get comfy. He sprawled out on the couch, feet hanging off the arm while he laid his head in your lap. He smiled up at you, nodding once when he was ready for you to start. 

Since then, Steve thinks reading might be his favorite thing to do with you. Your fingers always find their way to his hair, weaving around the strands and scratching lightly at his scalp. His eyes flutter shut, body relaxing at the sound of your voice. 

He smiles when you do different voices for different characters, the story materializing behind his shut eyelids. 

You love the quiet simplicity of it. Being able to share something you love with the person you love the most, well you wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Steve starts to visit you at your job at the local bookstore more and more, browsing shelves on his days off. He’ll pull books and bring them to you at the counter, going on and on about the summary printed on the back of the book. 

The boyish enthusiasm warms you from the inside out, hearts pooling in your eyes and a sweet smile making your cheeks ache.

Today, he slides a romance book across the counter. You stifle a giggle when you glance down at the cover. 

“Seriously?” you raise your eyebrows. Steve nods, leaning against the counter. He’s a sight in his green work vest and polo shirt, the sleeves squeezing the flexing muscles of his biceps. 

“Of course I am,” he scoffs, flipping the book over and tapping the back cover. “The summary has me on the edge of my seat!”

You let yourself laugh then, the sound making a grin slide onto Steve’s face. The book is light in your hands, relatively short in comparison to the last book you read together. 

“So…?” he asks. You roll your eyes playfully, setting the book behind the register. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work, Casanova?” you muse, tilting your head. Steve’s grin is more smirk than smile, all butterfly inducing charm. He glances at his watch. 

“Robin’s covering for me.”

“Steve!”

He laughs, pushing himself off the counter and to his full height. You shake your head at him, glancing towards the door when the bell rings and an older lady comes in. She smiles at the two of you and disappears behind the shelves. 

“Get outta here before Keith fires you,” you say, not surprised when Steve doesn’t make an effort to move. 

“Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?” he pushes his bottom lip out into a pout. You press your lips together to hide a smile, cheeks burning as you lean across the counter. 

He meets you halfway, his hand coming to rest against your cheek and hold your face to his. His lips are soft and pliant against yours and he steals one more before he lets you pull away. Even still, your faces stay close together, the tips of your noses brushing. 

“Better see that book in your hands tonight,” he mutters before he’s stealing another kiss, whispering an I love you against you. You watch him go with burning cheeks and when the older lady brings that same romance book up to buy, you try not to smile too hard.

[lonesome-witching]

Lazy Sunday

Thank you @onedirectionislying for the prompt. The prompt being "Just a lazy Sunday for the two of them, neither of them are working or have plans and do whatever they want all day." I hope I fulfilled your wish with this very short but sweet story. I don't often write fluff so I really just tried my best with this. It might not be exactly what you had in mind, in that case feel free to send me a message and I will try again.

You can still send me prompts here.

Nancy groaned as the sunlight hit her face. Whatever time it was, it was too early. The past week had been hellish. The workload was too much to carry and she had barely been able to see her girlfriend. But today was Sunday. Today she was going to sleep in and cuddle with the love of her life. Talking about that. Nancy turned over in bed. She tried to put her arm over Robin but her limb just fell to the mattress. She wiggled closer to the edge of the bed and tried again. 

“Robin?” She mumbled. “Babe?” 

She sat up when she couldn’t find the girl. The light that seeped through the curtain illuminated the emptiness of the room. Something that echoed in Nancy’s heart. It had been years since the Upside Down. Years since Vecna infiltrated their minds and used their worst fears against them. Years since Nancy lost Eddie, Chrissy and the worst of all Barb. But she still felt the fear grip her heart when she woke up to an empty bed or when Steve didn’t answer before the third ring or when Mike was ten minutes late to their monthly lunches. 

With a heavy heart she pulled herself from the comfortable confines of her bed and dragged herself downstairs. The kitchen brought with it a heavenly smell of freshly baked pancakes yet there was no Robin in sight. 

“Robbie?” Nancy's voice portrayed her own fears. 

Two arms snakes around her waist, lifting her up in the air. “You’re awake.” Robin whispered in her ear. 

“Oh my God.” Nancy gasped. She turned in her girlfriend’s arms when she was once again placed safely on the ground. “You scared me.” She halfheartedly slapped the girl’s chest.

“I’m sorry.” The other girl poured sweetly. “I made pancakes.” 

“Well, that does slightly make up for it.” She quickly pressed a soft kiss against the pout that hadn’t vanished from Robin’s face yet. 

Instantly, it turned into a bright smile. “I have our whole Sunday planned out. It’s the only day we get to spend together so I want to make the most of it.” 

Nancy sat down in front of the plate filled with pancakes and smiled sadly. “I was kind of hoping we could do nothing today.” The guilt dripped from her lips making the pancake taste slightly sour. She hated disappointing Robin. 

Robin feigned mock offense by slapping a hand over her gasping mouth. “You are saying you don’t want to cuddle on the couch while rewatching Grease with me?” 

“You’re an idiot, Robin Buckley.” Nancy giggled with her mouth full of pancake. Her heartbeat picked up pace as it still sometimes did when Robin said the exact thing Nancy wanted to hear. A testament that Nancy had made the right choice. 

“Correction, I am your idiot, Nancy Wheeler.”

[brighteyedbushybrowed]

𝐎𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 (Eddie x Male!Reader) You didn’t expect when your childhood best friend Robin invited you on a camping trip to find yourself so attracted to and interested in her friend Eddie. Safe to say, the confined space of a tent escalates things. 

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 Smut (18+ only, MINORS DNI istg man I will actually scream if you violate my boundary like that, don’t be that twat who disregards boundaries), mlm sex, riding, oral (m receiving), reader is a top and Eddie is a bottom, reader is a gay man in this fic, shameless flirting, dirty talk, some fluff at the end. Barely proof-read.

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 Been meaning to write some Eddie x Male!Reader for a while now and now it’s finally here! I think this might actually be one of my favourites that I’ve written so far. Man, I wanna write more of this kind of stuff, this is great. 

One thing people had to understand about you was that you weren’t a big fan of camping. Once a year, every year until you turned fifteen, your family would pack up the tents and sleeping bags and various other camping equipment and then drive down to a nearby campsite where you’d all spend the next seven days ‘bonding with nature’. Being rained down in a thin, shitty tent with little warmth wasn’t your idea of a fun holiday. Your mom had given you food poisoning one year because she didn’t cook the chicken through properly. From that moment onwards, your dad had been in charge of preparing food and making dinner. The only redeeming feature of these camping holidays was the friend you’d made on your camping trip when you were seven years old: Robin Buckley.

It was because of Robin that you were standing out on the pavement with a duffel bag slung over your battle vest clad shoulder, a battered old baseball cap keeping the sun out of your eyes and your cargo shorts sticking to your thighs. When she’d originally proposed the idea of you going camping with her and some friends, you had said no outright. It had taken a lot of grovelling and a simple promise to convince you to tag along.

Eddie Munson would be there.

You and Eddie had never met, but you’d heard a lot about him from Robin and her friend Steve Harrington when they explained to you why the hell Hawkins had been split into four sections by an ‘earthquake’, the teenage girl with super mind powers being the evidence they gave that everything they’d told you was true. Eddie had apparently played a big role in helping them defeat Vecna, but his life had almost been the price to pay for victory. They’d found him just in time and helped get him to hospital where he was given blood transfusions and monitored until he was well enough to be discharged and move into a new trailer with his uncle, Wayne. All of the super weird supernatural shit as well as the government’s intervention meant that Eddie’s innocence was proven and now he worked as a local handyman and mechanic, though you’d never had the pleasure of actually meeting him. It was that, as well as how similar he apparently was to you, that had encouraged you to give in and agree to go camping with Robin and her other friends.

After another five minutes of waiting, sweat dripping down your brow, you released a sigh of relief as Steve’s car pulled up in front of you. You were quick to dump your duffel in the trunk then jumped into the backseat behind Robin, the two of you high fiving before you buckled your seatbelt into place.

Steve glanced at you through the rear-view mirror. “Hey man, nice to see you again. We’ve just got one last stop to make before we hit the road again. You good back there? Need any snacks?”

You waved your hand dismissively as you relaxed into the seat. “Nah, I’m all good. I’d kill for some gum, though.”

A packet of spearmint flavoured chewing gum was tossed back to you by Robin as Steve slowly pulled away from the sidewalk outside your house. You eagerly placed a piece in your mouth and chewed it as Girls On Film softly played in the tape deck. You smiled to yourself as your friends in the front seats sang along. Duran Duran wasn’t really your kind of music, but you could appreciate that Robin and Steve seemed to like them enough to belt their hearts out to the song. Their off-key, almost shouting singing was entertaining enough that you didn’t register where you were until the car stopped outside one of the homes at the trailer park.

Before you could question why Steve had stopped there, the door to the trailer slammed open as a flurry of brown curls practically sprinted down the steps and round to the rear of the car. The trunk opened and shut swiftly before you were joined by the guy from the trailer. The door slammed shut as he rushed to put on his seatbelt, only noticing you were there once it had clicked into place.

“Eddie! This is Y/N. He’s the guy I told you about, remember?” Robin said, her body twisted so she could face you both.

The guy – Eddie – offered you his hand to shake with a face-splitting grin. “Well, hey there. Buckley never mentioned we’d be camping with the hottest guy in Hawkins. You smoke?”

Choking on your gum, you took a swig from the bottle of water you’d brought with you. “Mom’s trying to get me to quit but yeah. Can I bum some cigs off you at the campsite?”

“I can do you one better, big boy.” He pulled out a box of cigarettes and a ready-rolled joint of weed.

“Damn,” you replied, “you’re really spoiling me. How ever will I choose?”

He smirked as he put both items back into the pocket of his own battle vest. “What can I say? I’m a giver.”

Steve made an exaggerated gagging noise from the driver’s seat as he began to pull out of the trailer park. “I’ll have no flirting and sexual innuendo in the back of this car, thank you. I will turn this thing around and make you stay home.”

Eddie nudged you with his elbow and leaned in to speak into your ear. “If he kicks us out, we can just take my van.”

You giggled while Steve groaned. It was going to be a long trip.

 ***

 After what had felt like a lifetime for Steve but only a few minutes to you and Eddie, the car finally pulled up at the campsite. Jonathan and Nancy were already waiting for you, the former counting the tents and other camping equipment they’d brought along while the latter ticked them off on her checklist. You made your way round to the trunk to take out the rest of the items, listening with a smile as Robin began rambling to Nancy about something – probably band. You felt a presence and expected it to be Steve coming to assist you in unloading the car, but you were pleasantly surprised to find Eddie beside you instead.

“Need a hand? Harrington and Buckley are gonna set up the tents while Byers and Wheeler set up the coolers and shit,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of the rest of the group.

“I’d appreciate that actually, yeah,” you replied and passed him his bag. “Can you take everyone’s bags over to where the tents are?”

He nodded his head and took two more bags off you before he headed over to the rest of the group. You lifted your own out of the trunk and then started unloading the bags of food and drinks, both alcoholic and normal, while your thoughts lingered on the other metalhead.

Throughout the whole car journey, Eddie had been cracking jokes and talking about music with you. His favourite bands, new releases he was looking forward to, bands he wanted to see most live, and of course his own band Corroded Coffin. You hadn’t been to any of their concerts, but you’d heard about them from Robin a few times in the past. After hearing him talk so passionately about them and each member during the drive to the camp site, you’d silently promised yourself that you were going to attend their next concert and support Eddie. It definitely wasn’t so that you could see his fingers in action after he’d joked about how good he was with them due to being the lead guitarist. No, it definitely wasn’t that.

Eddie’s swift return to take the last bag and the food brought you back to the then and there, picking up the drinks and carrying them over to the coolers with him right next to you.

“So,” Eddie started, “how do you know everyone else? I know you and Robin became friends through camping trips as a kid, but how’d you meet the others?”

You gave him a causal shrug. “Steve I met through Robin because of them both working together at Scoops Ahoy and now Family Video. I had a few classes with Jonathan during senior year and had to work on a group science project with him. And then I met Nancy through him. Of course, I then met you through Robin convincing me to tag along on this little trip of hers. You met everyone because of that shit with Vecna, right?”

He laughed. “Oh yeah. Nothing brings people together like one person being accused of murder and the others coming to your rescue, all of you getting traumatised physically and mentally in the process. I didn’t meet Jonathan until after the ‘earthquake’ though. But yeah, it turns out me almost dying did wonders to strengthen my relationships with everyone.”

“Well, I guess I’ve got you to thank for everyone here being alive right now.”

“Huh? What makes you say that?” Eddie was frowning at you, the two of you putting everything down at your feet once you reached the group. Everyone was still talking amongst themselves, giving you the opportunity to respond.

“Rob told me about how you drew those demobat things away from the Creel house for them to be able to get in and burn his body to a crisp. And about you going back to buy them all more time, even if it nearly got you killed in the process. You could’ve come back to our world with Dustin, but instead you went back because you didn’t want anyone else to die. It was reckless, and stupid, but it also probably did buy them more time and saved them getting killed. You’re a hero.”

Eddie was speechless as he stared at you. You weren’t sure what the expression on his face was, but his lack of verbal response made you panic.

“Shit, sorry dude, I didn’t mean to upset you or anything. I should’ve thought before saying it, especially when it’s not even really been that long since it happened and –”

His voice cut you off as he waved his hands. “Oh, no, it’s okay. I’m not really used to anyone saying that kind of stuff to me apart from m uncle and Dustin. Everyone else in Hawkins still thinks I’m a satanic cult leader and that it’s my fault everything happened, even after I was proven innocent. It’s nice knowing that there are people who don’t see me as a piece of shit, so I appreciate it.”

Before you could say anything more or acknowledge the fluttering in your stomach at the way he was now smiling at you, Nancy approached you both.

“Eddie, you’re on firewood duty so I need you to go into the woods just behind the campsite and gather some stuff to burn. Y/N, you’re going with him because I don’t trust him to not get lost or bring back some wild animal with him,” she said, completely oblivious to the conversation you’d been having.

You nodded in agreement as you started putting the food and drinks into the coolers. “How many tents do we have with us? If there’s more people than tents, then we might need to discuss who’s sharing and who’s getting a tent to themselves.”

She pointed over to Robin and Steve with her pen. “We’ve got three tents, so that makes it two people per tent. I’m staying in a tent with Robin and Jonathan’s staying with Steve, so you and Eddie will have to share.”

You felt your face heat up at the prospect of being in such a small, enclosed space with him. The expression on your face must have changed because she smiled at you sympathetically.

“If you’d rather share with someone you’re more familiar with I’m sure Steve or Jonathan wouldn’t mind swapping with you.”

You quickly shook your head and held up your hands. “Nope! I’m okay with Eddie, thanks. No offence, but Steve snores like a bear and I’d rather not submit myself or Eddie to that torture.”

The two of you laughed when Steve let out an indignant ‘hey!’ before Nancy moved over to the others to assign them roles. You glanced over at Eddie and shrugged at him. He smiled as he bit his lip, rubbing the back of his head. It took everything in you to force yourself to look away and not picture other times he could be making that face. You didn’t usually think of guys in that way so soon after meeting them and you weren’t sure why Eddie was the exception. Maybe it was the excitement of meeting someone so similar to you and getting to spend a few days in close proximity with him unsupervised. That, and his comment in the car about you being the ‘hottest guy in Hawkins’ was branded into your brain permanently.

Once the three tents were set up and all the food and drinks were neatly put away in the coolers, you and Eddie made your way into the woods to start collecting firewood. You were more than happy to get away from the group after having to hear Robin and Steve arguing about what pole went where combined with Eddie saying rather loudly ‘I’m an expert and handling poles, I can handle yours if you like, big boy’. That last part had led to an entertaining five minutes of Steve chasing him around the camp, wielding one of the tent poles like a deadly weapon with Eddie laughing maniacally the entire time.

There was a comfortable silence that had settled between you and the other metalhead, both of you inspecting logs and twigs on the ground and picking up the ones you deemed to be good enough kindling and fuel for the campfire. Every so often, you would glance over at him and take in his appearance, his tank top revealing his biceps and his denim shorts exposing his hair legs to you. His battle vest had been left back at the camp with his bag. He said it was because he didn’t want to get it all sweaty and keeping it off for the time being didn’t make him feel like he was about to overheat. Unfortunately, this just meant your attention was drawn to his body, particularly his arms and legs and his skinny waist and you wondered what it would be like to hold onto those hips and what his skin felt like and –

“You doing alright there, Y/N? While I do appreciate being admired, it does feel a little weird being stared at after a while.”

Spluttering, you frantically looked away from him. “Staring? I’m not staring at anyone. You’re imagining things.”

Yeah, that was the least convincing lie you’d ever told.

Eddie seemed to think so too. “Do you wanna try that again and attempt to make it sound like it’s not an outright lie?”

You sighed. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel uncomfortable or anything. You’re just… pretty and nice to look at.”

“Oh, so I’m pretty now, am I?” He wiggled his brows at you, drawing a laugh from you.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know it. I’d pick you over Steve Harrington any day of the week.”

You stooped down to pick up a log, inspecting it to make sure it would work as firewood. Once you were satisfied, you added it to the small pile you’d gathered under your arm. The hand that appeared on your lower back startled you and you turned to find yourself nose to nose with Eddie. His round, deep brown eyes stared back into yours as he smirked.

“Is that the real reason you chose to stay in a tent with me?”

A shaky breath hissed past your lips. “Maybe that’s part of it, although Steve really does snore really loudly. I’d rather neither of us had to put up with that up close.”

He chuckled and ran his thumb over your bottom lip. “Then I suppose I’m happy to be sharing my tent with such a gentleman.”

“And if I don’t want to be a gentleman?”

A gasp caught itself in your throat as he leaned in to murmur into your ear. “I’ll be counting on it, big boy.”

The metalhead moved away from you and resumed the search for firewood, leaving you standing there in shock and trying not to freak out over the fact he’d flirted with you again. Despite knowing him less than twelve hours, he already had you hooked on him. There was something in the way he spoke to you and seemed so unaffected by being in such close proximity with each other that left you wanting more.

However, despite his blatant interest in you, you couldn’t help worrying that maybe he wasn’t attracted to men and was just doing it to get a reaction out of you. Gay and bisexual men were few and far between in a place like Hawkins, especially when everyone in the town were incredibly religious and allowed hate to cloud their minds and judge when it wasn’t their place to do so. What if Eddie was just another overly friendly man who was just joking around and trying to have some fun?

At the sound of him calling your name, you pushed your concerns to the back of your mind and joined him in collecting wood for the campfire.

 ***

 Getting settled in your tent that night had been awkward to say the least. You and Eddie hadn’t mentioned your earlier conversation in the woods and instead changed into your pyjamas in silence. Now, you were both laying in your sleeping bags with your backs facing each other. The darkness of the tent made the space feel even more enclosed than it already was, and you heaved out a sigh, trying to not be as acutely aware of how little space there was between the two of you as you already were.

“Alright.” You heard Eddie roll over to face you. “Clearly there’s an elephant in the room here we need to address.”

Reluctantly, you turned over as well. You could vaguely make out his facial features as he looked at you.

“Did I make you uncomfortable before? I know not every guy likes to be flirted with, especially by another man, so if you need me to back off just tell me.”

You shook your head. “I promise you didn’t make me uncomfortable. I’m not really used to flirting with other guys, or them flirting back. Funnily enough, being gay in a town like Hawkins means you don’t actually get to meet other gay guys because those so few of us and the town is so religious that they have permanent residence up God’s sodding ass cheeks.”

He laughed as he flicked the lamp on, bathing the inside of your shared tent in light so you could see him better. “Thank fuck for that. You have no idea how worried I was that I’d messed everything up and chased you away.”

“Honestly, I was kind of worried about the same thing. I thought you were maybe one of those guys that’s just overly friendly and likes to flirt with everyone but is very much straight.”

Eddie wiggled in his sleeping bag so that you were both closing together. “Well, I’m not straight that’s for sure. I don’t really have a name for what I am. Labels are just another form of forced conformity, right? As long as I’m happy and not hurting anyone, why do I have to give a name to what I am and the people I fall in love with? I just like what I like and love who I love.”

You allowed his words to sink in, thinking over them for a moment. You’d never given much thought to the people out there that just didn’t need or want a label and he was right: he didn’t need to name and identify himself in that way. There was some freedom in that, you thought. In that sense, he was more of a free spirit than anyone else you’d ever met.

Feeling bold, you lifted a hand to cup his face. “So, the flirting… you’re definitely interested in me? You’re not just joking around?”

The soft laugh that left his lips vibrated against your hand as he turned his head to kiss the palm. “I’m incredibly interested in you. Like I said when I got in Harrington’s car, hottest guy in Hawkins. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t at least try and woo you. There aren’t many guys in Hawkins that are interested in other men and also metalheads like me. Out of anyone Buckley could’ve invited along on this trip, I’m glad it was you and not another Steve Harrington.”

“Good. Because…” You leaned in so that your lips hovered millimetres away from his. “…I’m incredibly interested in you too. Would be a waste if I didn’t take the chance to kiss you while I can.”

“Then what are you waiting for, pretty boy? Kiss me already.”

You didn’t need anymore prompting from him, pressing your lips against his and groaning when he almost immediately pushed his tongue into your mouth. You kicked your sleeping bag off and moved so that you were on top of him, your legs on either side of his thighs caging him in beneath you. Your fingers crept into his curls and tugged lightly, a smirk pulling at your lips when he whimpered. He still tasted of the smores you’d shared around the campfire, beer, and the cigarettes you’d smoked together just half an hour before everyone had retreated to their tents for the night. The warmth of the summer night brought a light sheen of sweat to his skin and yours, a droplet trickling down the side of your face that you quickly swiped away.

Eddie pushed you away for a moment to remove himself from the confines of his own sleeping bag, revealing him in just a t-shirt and his boxers. He was already half-hard, just as you were, and he made you sit up before climbing into your lap. Both of his hands grabbed your face and dragged you back into another searing kiss, soft moans filling the tent as he rocked his hips down against yours and his tongue flicked against yours. One of your arms wound around his lower back to push his body up against yours as much as possible while your other gripped onto the back of his shoulder. You both tilted your heads in opposite directions, desperate to deepen the kiss, and you hummed into his mouth contently. Despite wanting to feel more of him, wanting to touch more of his body, you were also perfectly happy with just kissing if that was what he preferred.

You jumped slightly when the fingers of one hand dipped under your shirt to play with one of your hardened nipples. He rolled it between his thumb and pointer and pinched, eliciting a moan from you that tumbled out of your lips when you broke the kiss.

“Someone’s getting a little excited,” you said, teasing him at the sight of his dazed expression and kiss-swollen lips, his cheeks flushed and his bangs sticking to his forehead.

“You’re one to talk,” he retorted, grinding against you to prove his point.

You playfully swatted his ass. “Naughty boy. Did I say you could do that? Bad boys don’t get rewarded if they misbehave, do they?”

Something behind his eyes changed at your words and he shook his head. “Sorry. I’ll be a good boy, I swear. I wanna be a good boy.”

Smirking, you grazed your teeth along his jaw. “Let’s see how much of a good boy you can be for me then.” You tapped his thigh and gently removed him from your lap. “Take off your clothes and kneel for me. Let me see how hard you are for me.”

Almost instantly, he yanked his shirt off his torso and threw it behind him. His boxers joined it soon after and then he was kneeling obediently for you, his fully hard cock slapping against his stomach and the tip red and leaking already. His eyes remained trained on your face as you drank in the way he knelt before you, eager to please and be rewarded.

“That’s better. You like being told what to do, hm? You like being a good, obedient boy?”

Eddie nodded, licking his lips. “Just for you, Y/N. I wanna be your good boy.”

You chuckled as you removed your own pyjamas, doing it slowly to torture him instead of touching him like you knew he wanted you to so badly. He bit his lip and watched you stroke yourself once, twice, as you stood over him.  

“Let me see how much of a good boy you are then. Suck my cock like a good little slut and maybe I’ll let you bounce on it for a bit. How does that sound?”

Your words encouraged a groan out of him, his hand wrapping around your length and pumping it a few times before he took the tip into his mouth. He gradually sank his head down your hardness as he bobbed his head, taking a little more each time as he sucked. You sighed as his tongue swirled around your dick, his deep brown eyes blinking up at you. What he couldn’t reach with his mouth, he wrapped his hand around and stroked in time with his movements. Your hand found itself burying into his hair to guide him, making him pick up his pace a little. When he hollowed out his cheeks, you choked out a moan and felt him hum against you.

“Jesus, Eddie, that’s it. You’re doing so well,” you told him, praising him and brushing his bangs out of his face so you could see more of him.

He removed his mouth from your cock, a string of saliva connecting the two. “Can I make you cum in my mouth?”

Were it any other time you gladly would have said yes. However, you had something else in mind for the two of you.

“Maybe another time, sweet thing. For now, I want to give you your reward for behaving for me. Would you like that?” you replied, chuckling when he nodded enthusiastically and let go of your dick.

You knelt down in front of him and spat onto your fingers, motioning for him to come closer. He hovered over your thighs, and you brushed your lips against his chest as you reached around to press a finger against his pucker gently.

Your eyes searched his face. “Is this okay, Eddie?”

The metalhead nodded. “Please put it in me. I’ve been a good boy.”

“Mm, you have indeed.”

You slowly thrusted your middle finger in and out of him, gauging his reaction by watching his face. The way he clenched around you, playing with his own nipples as he tossed his head back, was an experience you were unlikely to ever forget. You teasingly brushed your teeth over the skin of his torso, making him arch into you as you prepped him for you at a leisurely pace. He let out a sinful sound when you added a second finger, his moan coming out as a pleasured sob. He began to fuck himself on your two digits, rocking back against them to try and push them deeper. Your free hand reached between the two of you and pumped his cock with a featherlight touch.

“Oh please, please, please…” he chanted, not caring about how loud he was being or who would be able to hear him.

“Please, please, please,” you repeated in a mocking tone. “Please what, sweet thing? What do you want me to do, hm?”

Your fingers brushed against something inside him, making him fuck himself on your fingers harder.

“Please let me bounce on your pretty cock. Wanna cum with you inside me, filling me up, making me your cum dumpster. I need it so bad,” he pleaded, his voice high and needy.

Unable to hold back any longer, you pulled your fingers out of his behind and spat on your hand again, spreading it up and down your cock. Had you even thought you’d be fucking Eddie on this trip you would’ve bought lube with you. Unfortunately, the possibility hadn’t even crossed your mind so you’d have to make do until you could go down to the nearest pharmacy and buy some.

At Eddie’s signal, you gently lowered him down onto you, pausing for a moment once the tip was in so he could get used to the feeling. His face scrunched up in discomfort and you stroked his face.

“I’m sorry if it hurts. I didn’t think I’d need any lube on this trip,” you apologised, relief flooding through you when he laughed.

“Maybe we’ll need to sneak away from camp tomorrow to buy some. Not complaining though; it’s not every day that I get to ride a hot metalhead’s big cock.”

You mewled. “Shit, Eds, you can’t say stuff like that to me. I’ll end up cumming way too soon.”

When he looked straight into your eyes, lowering himself a little more on your dick, you could’ve burst there and then.

“That’s the great thing about sex,” he said. “The goal is to cum, and you can go as many rounds as you want.”

Eddie took the rest of your cock in, fully sheathing you within his tight heat, and your eyes rolled into the back of your head. While you hadn’t had lots of sexual partners, you could say without a doubt that Eddie would probably be the best you’d ever had. He gyrated his hips as he remained fully impaled on you, one of his hands cupping the back of your head. He waited a moment before he lifted his hips then slammed himself back down again. The impact and the feeling of him moving up and down on your dick as he started to bounce had you gripping his hips with both hands, fingers digging in harshly.

“You fill me up so good, big boy,” Eddie huffed out as he rode you at a steady pace. Each time all of you was inside him, he rotated his hips and tried to push you in as deep as you could go.

You started to jerk him off in time with his movements, your thumb running over his dripping tip and giving his cock a gentle squeeze. A familiar heat began to build up down below and you quickened your hand, trying to get him to cum at the same time as you. He seemingly noticed this and started to fuck himself on you faster. Filthy moans left his mouth as he leaned back slightly, changing the angle of you inside him.

“Fuckfuckfuck, I’m gonna cum so fucking hard for you, baby. Your cock feels so good. Can’t get enough.”

A whine left your lips and you felt yourself getting closer and closer to your climax. “Look at me when you cum. Wanna see how much you love having my dick inside you”

His eyes landed on yours and his mouth fell open, a string of expletives and your name chanted in a litany as he came, his spend spilling over your hand and some of it landing on your stomach. A few more bounces on your cock and you held him down, your seed painting his inner walls as you groaned out his name.

It took a minute or two for both of you to calm down. Eddie gently pulled himself off you and dropped onto his discarded sleeping bag on his stomach with a fucked out smile on his face, your cum leaking out of him. You smirked and pushed some of it back inside him with your thumb, laughing when he grumbled and smacked your hand away.

“Meanie. Got me all full of cum and won’t even let me rest.” The pout he shot you over his shoulder was far too adorable and cute for what had just occurred between you.

After wiping him down with your discarded shirt, you put the sleeping bags back into their normal, organised positions and lay inside yours with him cuddled up to you. It was a tight squeeze zipping it up with the two of you inside but having him close to you with his arm over your stomach and his head next to yours was worth it.

As you turned the lamp off and felt yourself begin to succumb to sleep, you were jolted fully awake by Eddie nipping at your neck.

“What was that for? I was about to have a very nice dream about the amazing sex we just had,” you joked, giving him a gentle squeeze.

“I just wanted to make sure before we go to sleep that… that you’re still into me. And that this wasn’t just a one time thing for you. If that’s all this was then that’s okay. I just wanna hear you say it so I don’t get my hopes up.”

Your fingers delicately trailed up and down the arm he had draped over you. “I’m not a fuck and go kind of guy, Eddie. Of course I’m still into you. I wouldn’t mind exploring what we have going on here and seeing where it leads if that’s what you want too.”

You felt him smile against your skin. “Me too. I’m not usually this attracted to someone after one day, so I wanna see where things take us. I’m not letting go of you just yet.”

Sleep finally beginning to take over you, you pulled him as closely to you as you could. “I’m not letting go of you either.”

[europodfriends]

Europodfriends 2023!

Before we get to the meat of the matter, just a quick note to let you know that Dell has stepped back as a mod for this year due to health concerns, leaving y’all with two mods running the show, Sylvie (@thriceandonce) and Robin (@robinfai).

Next: the plan for this year is to have an in-person meet in Berlin on the weekend of October 13th - 15th, 2023! For those who have been there before, hopefully we’ll be able to rent the same place we usually do, but we shall see!

As in previous years, the meetup won’t have a flat attendance fee. We calculate the contributions based on your means, so don’t worry about not being able to afford it! And if you need extra funds to be able to attend (for travel expenses, for instance), don’t hesitate to let us know - we budget in such a way that it’s possible for europodfriends to fund your journey as well. It’s important to us to facilitate everyone’s attendance to the best of our ability.

Regarding food & drink, in 2019 we provided that for everyone out of the epf budget. We would like to be able to do that again, but that depends on how much people are able to contribute - we know the pandemic has hit a lot of us hard!

And before I forget - here’s the survey you need to fill out if you want to join us! The survey will close in one week, on February 18th, 2023.

---------------

For those who’ve never been to an in-person EPF meetup, or who would like a little refresher, here’s roughly what we did the last times and what we’ll likely be doing this year as well:

Friday is mostly for everyone arriving, greeting each other, hanging out, and making name badges. Very ambitious people might already be podficcing that evening, but since not everyone will have arrived yet, we don’t schedule anything specific for that day.

Saturday morning there’s a meeting where everyone introduces themselves “formally” with names and pronouns. This is also when we do pitch ‘n’ pod - in short, everyone who wants to gets a few minutes to talk about a fandom and a fic in that fandom that they want to podfic at the meetup, and afterwards everyone can sign up to the podfics they want to be a part of. Saturday evening might be another scheduled event organised by attendees - in past years we’ve had a video call with Podfication, or a game of “Guess That Voice”, or watch parties, for example - but that part is up to y’all: if you want to organise something, get in touch so we can figure out the scheduling and planning!

Sunday morning we’ve done a big, fun multivoice with everyone participating the last two times, and that would certainly be fun to do again - 2018 we did Earth Is Space Australia (and Chuck Norris Isn’t A Man With A Beard. He’s A Beard With A Man) and 2019 we did I Has a Sweet Potato. After that, people start leaving as their travel plans call for.

Throughout the three days, there’s a lot of podficcing happening at all hours of day and night - the EPF collections on AO3 should give you some idea!

---------------

We know that by virtue of going back to an in-person meetup, some of you who joined us in 2020 and 2022 will not be able to come hang out with us again, which really sucks! Unfortunately we don’t have the capacity to organise a virtual meetup in addition to the in-person one, and past years show that none of us really spend a lot of time online during the weekend, so having that run parallel wouldn’t work either. However, if anyone wants to start their own virtual podfic meetup, get in touch with us! We’re happy to share our experiences with running EPF 2020 & 2022 as well as do lots of promo.

Like in the past few years, we will mostly be updating you via email, but we’ll also try to crosspost to Dreamwidth, Twitter, and tumblr, life and time permitting. If you want to make sure to stay up to date, contact us via DMs on any of the usual social medias, Discord, or email us at europodfriends at gmail to be added to the mailing list!

[arch-whatscanon]

@snaptwice asked for a shuffle ai dj starter based on a lyric or theme! →  beginning middle end, leah nobel

he had been planning this for years. not like . . . actively planning it, but he had known years ago that he wanted to marry nancy wheeler. back when they were both too young to do anything about. back when he was too stupid to realize what had slipped through his fingers. it had taken losing nancy to realize he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and somehow down the line, he had earned a second chance he was cherishing every day since.

he had talked to her parents about the proposal at their last family dinner when nancy excused herself to the bathroom, and they responded with glowing approval. ted had assured him he was already part of the family, and karen was in near tears with excitement. but they played along the rest of the evening as if the conversation hadn't happened in order to leave nancy nonethewiser.

he, of course, knew he would overthink buying the ring, so he had invited robin, eddie, and chrissy along to shop for it while nancy was at work. he didn't really need their suggestions at the end of it more than their affirmation that the one he had picked out - a classic solitaire diamond on a yellow gold band. he knew she would want something simple and timeless rather than encrusted in little diamonds that might fall out of their setting or get dirty easily. this ring she could accessorize with anything, chrissy had pointed out before robin agreed that she could add a flashier wedding band if she wished.

the when was the next thing that was making him a nervous wreck. he didn't think she'd want a spectacle, but she deserved something special. something memorable. mike was visiting them in los angeles for a week out of the summer, so he planned for something along those lines. eddie and chrissy had just bought a house together in malibu with both of their earnings, so the setting was in place at a summertime barbecue with their closest friends. robin, clarissa, jerry, annie, and mike were all in tow as well. they swam, steve and jerry manned the grill, and chrissy made cute little fruity cocktails for everyone. it was turning out to be a great night.

as the sun set and everyone was settling for dinner, steve's nerves were brewing, but he knew this was the perfect time. the sun was setting and the solar fairy lights were illuminating the backyard pool area. so, he gently led nancy outside and took a deep breath, one hand holding hers and stroking the back with his thumb while the other fidgeted with the ring box in the pocket of his shorts.

"we have been through . . . so much together, nancy, but i've known one thing for sure for a really long time," he began, "when i met you, i was worn out and jaded from trying on people to love . . . but you fit so well . . . and it took a thump on the end to realize what i had right in front of me . . . and that i wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. that i didn't just want a beginning with you, so . . . "

he took a deep breath and lowered himself to a knee, his hand ( which he hoped wasn't as visibly shaking as it felt ) presenting the ring box and letting go of hers to open it. "will you be my beginning, middle, and end?" he asked, a hopeful grin tugging at his lips. "will you marry me, nance?"

[filminah]

coming of age movies (because i'm 17)

Saturday 29th April 2023 - 12:17pm we're back at it again with another movie list! given the title of this post i should've posted it about two weeks ago but lifes gone down so i just haven't had the time. so without further ado... the way way back (comedy-drama, 2013) directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash - Duncan, with his mother, her boyfriend, and his daughter take a vacation at his potential step-dads beachhouse. Annoyed, he wanders off and meets Owen who offers him a job at Water Wizz and opens up his world. one of my favourite movies of all time, it's so so so underrated, it's one of those movies where it feels like a sneak peak into someone's life, it doesn't have that distinct movie separated-from-reality feeling to it. this movie introduced me to the phenomenal Sam Rockwell (who, by the way, is also my favourite actor ever!) and urged me to watch many movies he has appeared in. this film is close to my heart and out of all the ones on this list, i sincerely encourage you to watch The Way Way Back the most.

me, earl and the dying girl (comedy-drama, 2015) directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon - in which Greg Gaines, a socially awkward teenage boy, along with his "co-worker" Earl (who he makes short, parody films with) become friends with Rachel, a dying girl with cancer. Greg spends more and more time with Rachel and neglects school, all the while making a film just for her. despite being a little bit cliche, the film holds up rather well. although i wasn't the biggest fan of the original book (written by Jesse Andrews and of the same name). Greg is so relatable as a person, though his internal monologue isn't as true to the source material it still translates quite well from written word to film portrayal. *minor spoilers* if i had to pick a part, i love the ending of the movie where it shows Greg and Earls film, i love the scene as Rachel tells a silent story set in the walls of her room and her wishes for Greg. i think i could recite every word and direction of the script for that scene word for word the black phone (supernatural-horror, 2021) directed by Scott Derrickson - Set in the 1970s, 13 year old Finney Blake, a shy but clever boy is kidnapped by "The Grabber" a serial child abductor who keeps him held in the basement of his home, an almost completely empty room with the exception of an old black phone on the wall with it's wires cut. when Finney begins to lose hope of escape, the phone rings. when the first teaser came out for this movie back in 2020 i was so so so stoked for its release. this movie isn't gory or anything, but there is a fair bit of blood and violence involving children. it's not coming-of-age as you'd typically see it which i quite like. it gave me slight IT vibes and nostalgia from the IT era of 2017. I love how Finney develops through the story, that it's not completely ***MAJOR SPOILERS*** up to the ghosts to help him and that he does have to figure things out on his own, i like how he gives up and Robin is the last one there, i wish some more depth was added as to the background of The Grabber and the story of the phone. **END** however if you're going to watch The Black Phone, i heavily recommend NOT watching the main trailers as they essentially give the entire plot away.

i hope you liked this post! i might make this into a series as coming-of-age movies are my favourite genre that's all for now!

Amina

[volucerrubidus]

Character Study: File: Red Robin a.k.a. Tim Drake

—    basics.

▸     is your muse tall/short/average? Tim is just under average at 5’6”

▸     are they okay with their height? For the most part, yes, but depending on who he’s comparing his height to, he might be more jokingly annoyed than usual

▸     what’s their hair like? Dark, messy, straight, on the long side for men

▸     do they spend a lot of time on their hair/grooming? No; he keeps himself neat and clean, but he doesn’t see the point in doing any more self-grooming than necessary

▸     does your muse care about their appearance/what others think? A little! Appearances can be key in secret identity upkeep, so he has to do what he can; he doesn’t care much for vanity reasons, though.

—    preferences.

▸    indoors or outdoors?  > indoors ▸    rain or sunshine?  > rain ▸    forest or beach?  > forest ▸    precious metals or gems?  > metals ▸    flowers or perfumes?  > perfumes ▸    personality or appearance?  > personality ▸    being alone or being in a crowd?  > being alone ▸    order or anarchy?  > order ▸    painful truths or white lies?  > white lies ▸    science or magic?  > science ▸    peace or conflict? > peace ▸    night or day?  > night ▸    dusk or dawn?  > dusk ▸    warmth or cold?  > cold ▸    many acquaintances or a few close friends?  > a few close friends ▸    reading or playing a game?  > playing a game

—    questionnaire.

▸     what are some of your muse’s bad habits? Tim has a habit of being deceptive or untrusting, even in fairly mundane situations. It tends to cause him to keep people at arm’s length, even if he does care about them.

▸     has your muse lost anyone close to them?  how has it affected them? SO many people, some who came back, some who didn’t. It’s made him hypersensitive to grief/death or near-death situations, and it’s given him more than a little bit of trauma.

▸     what are some fond memories your muse has? Both conversely and similarly to the last one: SO MANY. He has plenty of happy memories with his parents, his family, his friends, and his partners. He is a very sad person, but he also extremely happy, as well. It really depends on the circumstances.

▸     is it easy for your muse to kill? No. In fact, contrary to any AUs I might have, I firmly believe that my canonverse Tim can’t bring himself to kill, ever.

▸     what’s it like when your muse breaks down? It’s a slow burn, and then it’s explosive. It takes a long, long time to build up, but when it finally does, he screams, cries, and breaks shit. He tries not to get that far, though. The last time he did was when he trashed his room in the manor after being fired from Robin in Red Robin.

▸     is your muse capable of trusting someone with their life? Yes! He actually, while being a generally distrusting person, has a lot of folks he trusts to keep him safe: the entirety of his core and extended family, and all of his teammates from YJ and the Titans.

▸     what’s your muse like when they’re in love? A hopeless romantic, a bit of a tease, even mean sometimes because he just tends to be on occasion, or on accident, but on the whole, he is extremely loyal and devoted, and he likes to do anything he can to make the other person happy or comfortable. He does have a tendency to need to feel wanted, though, so sometimes, he does need reassurance that his partner really does want him specifically. He likes to spend as much time as he can, within his social battery limits, with them, and he buys them gifts often. He will also raze Gotham if something genuinely hurts or tries to hurt them. He loves to watch them when they don’t notice him doing it, too. He feels like that’s when they’re most themselves—when they don’t know anyone is around to see them, so they don’t perform, or anything. He loves those little moments. He takes candids of his partners a lot.

Also I know this said “in love,” but I think this applies to all of Tim’s types of loves—romantic, platonic, familial, ect.

Tagged by: stole it from ​@supraxstcllas Tagging: you! <3

[kissmejusttokissme]

Bly Manor AU WIP

Her mother makes a fuss about her leaving.

It feels like a ploy to make her change her mind because her mother has only ever made a fuss before when she wants Robin to feel guilty. But the tickets have been paid for and Robin has already packed her bags so there isn’t much she can do other than listen and try to pretend that she’s not counting down the days.

It’s not that Robin doesn’t love her mother. She loves her just as much now as she had done as a child when she hadn’t known any better. The problem is that Robin doesn’t particularly like her mother. There’s a lot behind that, more than she’s ever had the time to fully explain, but the crux of the matter is that Robin’s mother is not a good person.

She’s kind when she wants to be and she has spent the past twenty years raising Robin and that is what a parent is made for. But there has to be more than that. A more acceptable standard than feeding a child and making sure there are clothes on its back. Robin’s mother likes to tell Robin all of the things that are wrong with her. It’s one of her few hobbies. And, she treats it like that, a hobby. Something to be done when she’s bored and built upon in her spare time. She tells Robin all the reasons why she has yet to find a man and all the ways in which she has fallen short as a daughter. It’s for the best, she likes to remind her, because how is Robin going to improve if she doesn’t know?

And Robin doesn’t have many friends so she spends a lot of time with her mother. They eat all of their meals together and watch TV in the evenings. So many hours of her day are ripe and open for these constructive criticisms. It’s inescapable and Robin can’t even tell her mother to stop because then she’s completely alone.

But she knows that her life would be better if her mother wasn’t around her.

A horrible thought but a true one.

It’s why Robin applies to so many jobs out of state despite hating flying and never having left her hometown. The ends of escaping her mother justified the means of hating every minute of the future she’s locking herself into. She accepts the job as an au pair and ignores her mother’s voice telling her that she’s not caring enough to look after children.

“What will I do without you?” Robin’s mother asks.

They’re eating dinner the night before Robin’s flight. Chicken and gravy, a staple of their diets, and her mother has lined up all of Robin’s favourite VHS by the side of the TV. They’re not watching any of them. Her mother insists on finishing her shows first. But they are there, their worn spines staring at her across the room.

“You can still call,” Robin says. “I’m not leaving the country.”

“You might as well be,” her mother says. “What if something happens to me?”

Robin’s fork scrapes against the ceramic and it sends a shiver down her spine. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

They’re no strangers to death, Robin and her mother. It’s a recurring character in their lives. Taking Robin’s dad when she was a kid and then all four of her grandparents in her teenage years. Their family has been dwindling since the day Robin was born. She knows that one day her mother will die too. It’s natural. But she doesn’t want to think about it before it happens.

“I’m just being realistic, Robin.”

“Well, lets not be, just for tonight.”

It sets her mother off on a tangent about how Robin is always off in the clouds but at least they’re not taking about anyone’s untimely deaths. A success, in a way, and Robin manages to tune most of it out as she finishes her dinner.