#like i feel like the whole point of having holly looking like that was to just be

[beatrixstonehill2]

"I'm ready for my injections," Holly told her boyfriend, Ryan.

"Good, you're becoming so obedient. I told you you'd come around eventually. You almost look eager."

Holly blushed, feeling the weight of her breasts hanging off her chest, already about twenty-five pounds each. Fifty whole pounds of pure breast. It felt absurd to her, so wrong, and yet inescapable. It was her new reality. "I'm excited to see them grow for you....."

"That's a good girl," he said, inserting IV needles into her breasts at various points.

Holly winced as her boyfriend injected her breasts with over a gallon of saline each. She remembered when she first met Ryan barely a year ago. He was so charming, they met at the gym and were both very passionate about being fit and healthy. She worked as a gymnastics instructor. Now she couldn't imagine trying to work her old job. The mothers would be horrified at such a huge-breasted cow of a woman trying to teach their daughters.

Soon into their relationship, Ryan mentioned having a big tit fetish. She thought nothing of it, what guy doesn't? Before long, she noticed her breasts were getting bigger and started lactating. He fessed up that he was drugging her water bottles, and apologized, but said he wanted her EE-Cup breasts much bigger. She was angry but as her girlfriend was still excited to please him and get bigger for him, despite not wanting large breasts.

Her breasts got bigger and bigger, impeding her ability to do gymnastics. Women began recommending she get a reduction or chop them off outright. Holly had to reluctantly admit her boyfriend was making her grow them out like this. His fetish consumed her life, made her lose her job, getting so bad she found herself becoming a living embodiment of his kinks. No longer Holly at all, just an object he acted on and molded into his perfect toy.

She gasped as the gallons of saline flooded her breasts, his new favorite means of torturing her. When they were done, her breasts ballooned to double their size, red and swollen, round and very taut like fake tits. He took out the needles and placed heart-shaped bandages over them to help keep her tits from springing leaks. This new way of increasing her breast size would ensure once the saline is absorbed her breasts would stretch, getting saggier, longer, emptier. Instead of being beautiful and full from the breast growth drugs, like a woman who's pumped out a dozen or so kids, her breasts would switch between extremely saggy, floppy and empty, and enormously round and heavy, filled to the point of popping with saline, heavy as two water coolers strapped to her chest.

Holly winced as Ryan tightened her leather straps and added the rest of her corrective harness, which looked a bit like bdsm gear, to help keep her back upright, pushing out her giant saline-filled boulder tits. Ryan smiled, smacking Holly's breasts, which made her recoil in pain. "It feels incredible when I hit them, doesn't it?"

Holly nodded, barely able to catch her breath. "Y-Yes.... Smack them all you want. They're yours."

"Good girl, but they're about to be all of Lower Manhattan's. I want you bringing in lots of money tonight, OK? Smile a lot, eagerly service any man, even the homeless ones or violent looking ones. I can't have you saying no to any clients. Don't worry, I'm taking my anti-STD pills every day so I won't contract all the bugs you're collecting. Oh, and if you don't mind, I want you whoring on the corner by your old dance studio, hopefully some of the moms and other women you worked with might get to see your new occupation. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Holly was blushing beat red. "B-But....."

"None of that. You don't have 'no' in your vocabulary. Now off you go!" he said, smacking one of her breasts again.

"OK.... I won't disappoint you."

"Good, otherwise I might have to paddle all that saline out of your tits when you get home"

Holly yelped as he spanked her, sending her out wearing only her harness and nothing else, to go enjoy her new occupation as a whore with giant saline-filled breasts. Which she slowly started to feel was exactly who she was always meant to be.

[scribblesofagoonerr]

— where's my yeehaw hat? | Glastonbury Series

fourth and final part of this mini series that i forgot to post, but here it is... and hopefully this doesn't majorly flop.

pairings: leah williamson x reader!monkey

summary: the third day of the festival and monkey gets high.

chaos fc masterlist

“Rise and shine, Monkey!” You can hear the familiar voice of the blonde trying to wake you up by shaking you gently, “Wake up, sleepy head.”

Letting out a grumble in response, you refuse to even open your eyes, “No, I’m sleeping– Why’re you so loud?” You’re in no mood to want to wake up, but that might have something to do with the fact that you didn’t sleep too well the night before.

That was really your own fault though.

You had so many questions to ask and you just had to ask them then and there.

“Oh, really?” You hear the blonde laugh in amusement, “But I have so many important questions to ask you though, really important questions!”

“Wha… G’way Le, I’m tired!” You grumble, swatting her hand away from trying to continue to nudge you like she does.

“Yeah, but these questions are super important!” Leah tells you with a certain eagerness in her voice, “Didn’t you want to know whether lightning mcqueen needed car insurance or life insurance?” She wonders, teasing you.

Oh, she’s really playing you at your own game here? Damn it.

“Le, man. Leave me alone,” You grumble back with some hope of going back to sleep, “I’m trying to sleep here!” Keeping your eyes shut, you try your hardest to snooze again.

The blonde snickers to herself, “So was I when I was woken up this morning. It’s not so nice now, is it?” She jokes.

“G’way, it’s too early– I want more sleep!” Your patience is short and you can feel yourself ready to snap at any given minute.

You’re certainly not a morning person at all and you definitely do hate being woken up.

You’re a nightmare most mornings.

“You can’t sleep, there’s the whole day ahead of us. We have to get up and pack the tent away otherwise it’ll be too late to do it tonight,” Leah makes the point of telling you which leaves you confused about where you will be sleeping tonight, “Come on, sleepy head. Time to get up!”

“I’m still tired,” You murmur, prying one of your eyes open as you look at her, “Why’re we packing the tent away? Where will we stay tonight?” You ask, confused.

“At a hotel,” The blonde answers as she feigns her sympathy for your exhausted state, “Oh, really? I wonder why that is then, huh?” She wonders.

“I’m tired,” You repeat in a low voice.

Leah exhales a sigh and shakes her head, “Please don’t tell me you stayed awake all night.”

“I didn’t stay awake all night,” You mumble as you slowly sit up and let out a yawn.

“Really?” Leah questions, not believing your word.

Shrugging your shoulders, you crack your neck and yawn once again, “I fell asleep at some point, but I don’t remember when. Probably like, er 5 I guess.”

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Leah scolds as she winces faintly when she hears the noise of your neck cracking, “Fantastic, I guess I’m dealing with a grumpy Monkey today then– Come on, get up. We’re going to make the most of the day!”

“Hi girls!” Grace is the first one to spot you where it had been arranged to meet up with them.

“Morning,” Leah waves to her friend, checking behind her to make sure you are keeping up and aren’t dawdling about.

Like you really had much choice about that.

Even though you did try and fall asleep on the floor after you took the tent down, the blonde still didn’t let you unfortunately but you can’t understand why.

All you want to do now is sleep and you can’t help always being so tired though.

“Hello!” Holly smiles and greets her friends.

“Who’s ready for the last day of the festival?” Josie questions in a cheerful voice.

“Let’s do it!” Grace shouts aloud.

“Urgh. Why’re you all so loud?” You grumble in complaint and scowl at them, “Shut up!”

“Don’t be rude, Monkey!” Leah chides, giving you that all too familiar look you have seen so many times.

“But they are being loud and I’m tired,” You whine in protest, wanting nothing more than to collapse and sleep on the floor right here where you are.

It looks like a somewhat comfy spot.

“Oh I can see that somebody isn’t in a good mood today,” Holly jokes, trying to reach out and ruffle your hair.

Growling at the older blonde, you dodge her wandering hand from your hair and shuffle closer to Leah, “No shit Sherlock.”

“Monkey, stop it,” Leah warns you, continuing to give you a firm look, “Someone didn’t sleep and decided to stay up and ask me daft questions instead.” She explains to the rest of the girls.

“I’m so tired, I want more sleep!” You whine in response, you’re not a huge fan of this walking malarkey that you’re being forced to do.

The floor seems comfy right here to take a nap.

“So, I guess you had fun trying to wake her up this morning then?” Grace jokes.

“Well it wasn’t the easiest– Monkey, get up off the floor!” Leah begins to explain as she spots you lying down on the floor in the midst of walking through to the first stage where you are to watch an acoustic performance.

“I’m tired,” You murmur in disagreement.

The blonde clicks her tongue in disapproval, “Get up, you’re literally in the middle of a field.”

“I’m gonna take a nap right here,” You mumble before you begin to close your eyes.

“Monkey, no,” Leah inwardly groans as she pinches the bridge of her nose, “Get up!”

“I take a nap right here,” Repeating the words, you keep your eyes shut in the hopes that you might drift off to sleep again.

You can hear the rest of the girls laugh in amusement.

“Oh my God, I literally feel like I’m having deja vu here,” Leah speaks aloud, no doubt having that usual frown on her face, “Get up now!”

“Seems like you might have your hands full today here, Le, eh?” Holly comments, looking between you where you're lying on the floor curled up and the blonde who looks on the verge of a breakdown.

“Monkey, get up from the floor! This is ridiculous right now– You can’t sleep here!” Leah shouts in frustration, very much aware of attracting attention from people looking over at you as she kneels beside you and shakes you, “Get up, now!”

“Nooo- Leave me be, Malfoy,” Swatting her hand away from shaking you, you still keep your eyes shut with a hope that you can still sleep, “I’m tired!” You add.

“Malfoy?” Josie questions, stifling her laughter.

Grace laughs in amusement, “Is that because of the hair cut?” She asks.

“It’s the nickname that Monkey gave her,” Holly chimes in as she grins at her cousin.

“Just wonderful,” Leah huffs and shakes her head, “Monkey, get up! You can’t just lie down here on the floor because you’re tired, it serves you right that you should have gone to sleep at a decent enough time!”

“Mean Malfoy,” You murmur while keeping your eyes shut still much to the blonde’s annoyance, “I’m tired! Why couldn’t we just leave the tent up and I could sleep in there instead? Or even in the car?” You ask.

“And miss out on all the fun today?” Holly teases you.

“I’m not telling you again,” Leah is starting to lose her patience with you and your need to lie on the floor and sleep, “Get up off the floor!”

“Nuh uh, I want to sleep!” There’s so much noise around, you wish the blonde would kindly leave you alone to nap in peace because right now, you’re unbelievably tired.

“I’m not letting you– You know what, fine!” Leah throws her arm up in the air, having very much given up on the gentle approach of trying to get you up off the floor before she reaches down and lifts you off the floor to stand up, “You’re not sleeping here, I’m done arguing with you about it.”

“Why? I just want to sleep!” Whining in protest, you can’t help but throw your head back, “You’re being mean and not letting me sleep!””

Leah exhales a sigh and shakes her head, “You can sleep on the floor, but not here. First you’re going to walk over to the stage where we’re going to watch the next performance and you can lay down there,” She tells you, “I’m not leaving you here, end of story.”

So with these words in mind, you do begrudgingly walk across the rest of the field over to the stage without any further protest.

“We're here, finally! I’m taking a nap, right here!” You cheer aloud, quite happy enough to make yourself a bed comfortable with jackets and bags to plonk yourself down on the floor.

“You’re not really going to sleep there… Wait, is she asleep already?” Holly is taken by complete surprise that you have indeed managed to curl and fall asleep on the floor in the middle of the girls.

“No way,” Grace looks shocked.

Josie laughs in amusement, “Seriously?”

“Monkey can sleep anywhere as long as she’s comfy,” Leah murmurs, shaking her head fondly as she slips her own jacket off and crouching down to lay it on top of you to stop you getting too cold.

“Even in the middle of a field?” Holly questions, bewildered at your actions.

Leah hums in confirmation as she stands up, “Yeah even here apparently.” 

“I seriously cannot believe she’s managed to fall asleep in the middle of a field with this many people around,” Holly murmurs in amusement.

“I can’t believe she’s still out for the count,” Grace is left dumbfounded by the fact your still sound asleep in the middle of a packed out festival, “How on earth can she be comfortable like that?” She questions.

Leah shrugs her shoulders and takes a sip of her diet coke in her hands, “I guess she must be so tired that she will crash wherever she can.”

“Is she not sleeping well again?” Holly asks as she frowns.

“I don’t think so, but even if she’s having trouble, she won’t talk about it,” Leah admits, her concern is evident for you that you are once again not sleeping well, but despite how much she tries to get you to open up and talk to her about it like you usually would, you’re more quiet and reserved.

The blonde is glad in some ways that the festival has brought out your joy once again, even if it’s just to overshadow your low mood.

“That sounds like Monkey,” Holly murmurs, feeling sympathy for you. 

Of course she isn’t as well known about your past, but being introduced to the family, she’s gotten to know you better and can’t help but feel concerned regardless.

You start to stir and wake up now feeling hungrier, “I’m hungry. Can we get pizza?”

The nap on the floor definitely did help you out with that situation.

“That’s all you can think about now?” Leah lets out a laugh and shakes her head, “Good nap?” She teases you, lightly.

“Told you I was tired and I wanted to nap,” You stifle a yawn as you try and wake yourself up more, “I slept and now I’m hungry again, so… Can we?”

“And yet you really did fall asleep in the middle of a festival,” Holly chimes in, amusedly.

Shrugging your shoulders, you look at them, “Why’d you all seem so surprised? I’m comfy, I don’t care where I sleep!” You tell them.

“See? I told you girls,” Leah waves her hand as a gesture to prove her point.

“Yeah… I think we realise that now,” Grace murmurs, speaking on behalf of them all.

“I suppose that we can look for some food if you want too,” Leah agrees with your need to eat again, “We’ll go and have a look round now while we have time.”

Groaning in disagreement, you’re not keen to wait around for them, “Ah man come on, I don’t need any babysitters– Can’t I go look around on my own? Nothing will happen. I’ll be totally fine!” You insist.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Leah frowns and bites her bottom lip anxiously, “I’m not sure I like the idea of you wandering around here by yourself,” She admits before she pauses, “There’s a large crowd but we’ll go together instead.”

“Urgh, seriously?!” You huff in frustration and throw your head back in annoyance, “You guys take forever to walk though!”

“Is she telling us that we’re old?” Josie asks, offended.

Grace hums in agreement, “I think so.”

“Hurry up, I’m hungry!” You whine in defiance, not patient enough to wait for them as you go to walk ahead.

“We’re coming now. Will you just be patient?” Leah mutters and shakes her head, trying to keep up with your pace so you don’t get lost.

“I don’t think patience is in Monkey’s vocabulary,” Holly jokes with her cousin.

The blonde exhales a sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose, “You’re telling me… Monkey, wait a minute– Don’t run off… Okay, she’s bolted again. Fantastic,” She mutters aloud.

Holly pats her cousin on the shoulder, “Relax, Le, she’ll come back around soon. Don’t worry, your frown will stick like that if you continue,” She jokes, noting the way Leah had her usual expression on her face, “She’ll come back soon.” She repeats.

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right,” Leah nods in agreement, “She’s got no monkey, she’s bound to come back soon enough when she’s hungry.” She adds, trying to remain positive.

Of course that's where Leah was severely mistaken due to the lump sum of cash you had withdrawn from the machine.

“Pizza… Pizza, where are you? This was so much easier to find the other night!” You mumble to yourself, looking around for the place that you visited the other night on the way back to the tent.

Elsewhere in the middle of the festival, you wander through the crowd and bump into a tall man who’s dressed in colourful, tie-dyed clad clothes smoking weed.

“Whoa! You’re like, super tall and super colourful– How tall are you? Or maybe I’m just super short,” You yap on to this man like you’ve known him for a while.

The man can’t help but laugh at you, “I think you’re just short, kid.”

Shrugging your shoulders, you continue to whitter on to the man, “Huh, I guess so– I’m stupidly short for my height,” You pause, “Hi, I’m Monkey. Wanna be friends?”

“Monkey? That's some sort of nickname, huh?” The man looks at you amusedly as he continues to pop gummy bears in his mouth, “Hasn’t nobody ever told you that you shouldn’t talk to strangers?”

“Well, if we make friends, then we wouldn’t be strangers, no?” You ask, innocently as you grin at the man, “You’ve got gummy bears! They’re my favourite thing to eat, but I have to watch how much sugar I eat sometimes which sucks.”

The man chuckles at your continuous yapping on, “Oh yeah, well I’m all for sharing. Do you want some?” He offers, holding out the bag for you to try one.

With your eyes lighting up, you're eager to try one as you take a couple out of the open bag, “Thanks, I love gummy bears!” You tell him, excitedly and without any hesitation you pop them in your mouth as you think they are just regular sweets.

“Glad you like them,” The man grins, “Just take it easy, kid.” He adds, ruffling your hair.

You start to giggle uncontrollably as the effects of the edibles quickly take hold, before you plonk yourself on the ground beside the man without much care in the world.

“This is… So cool. I feel… I feel like I’m floating,” You continue to giggle.

The man grins and slumps down on the floor beside you, “Just enjoy the vibes, Monkey. Festivals like this are all about feeling free.” He tells you.

“Yeah… Free,” You murmur, staring blankly in front of you as you smile dopely, “I like that.”

You sit with the man and get lost listening to the acoustic music in front of the nearby stage that you had ended wandering towards without realisation while the full blown effects take over as the colours around you seem more vivid and the sounds become more intense.

“Are you with anyone here, kid?” The man wonders, curiously as he looks around, “I think people might be worried about where you are.” He notes.

You continue to sit there dazed, “Yeah… I’m with people, Malfoy’s no doubt looking for me,” You admit, feeling truly high as the sky, “But I’m having too much fun right now.”

“Well, just make sure you stay safe, alright?” The man asks you.

Grinning in agreement, you nod slowly before you tilt your head right and left in an even slower motion enjoying the feeling it had, “Yeah… I’m good.”

“Where could she have gone?” Leah is worried since you still haven’t returned back any time soon, “I knew she would end up getting lost in the crowd somewhere!”

“She might have got distracted,” Josie chimes in, noting the blonde’s concern.

“Or she might have just headed over to watch the performance,” Holly adds as she senses the worry in her cousins’ voice, “Don’t worry. We’ll find her!” She reassures her.

Continuing to look around with her worry becoming even more evident, Leah is literally kicking herself at the fact that she lost you.

“Wait, look over there!” Josie pauses and points with her index finger in the direction to where you’re sitting on the shoulders of the man’s that you made friends with earlier, laughing and throwing your arms up in the air without a single care in the world, “Is that… Is that Monkey?”

“Who the hells’ shoulders is she on?” Holly asks, confused as she looks over to you looking like you’re having a blast.

Leah’s eyes widen in shock horror, “Oh my God,” she speaks aloud before she’s rushing towards where you are, “Monkey! Get down from there right now!”

“Leeeeeaaaaaah!” You squeal in delight at seeing the blonde, who didn’t look all that impressed since she had her usual grumpy face that she always has when you're in trouble, “Hey! Check it out, I made a new friend!”

“Get down!” The defender repeats, firmly.

“But this is the best view ever!” You whine in protest, swinging your arms around in the air.

Leah continues to look at you furiously, “Get down, now!”

“Buzz kill,” You murmur and with the help from your newfound tall friend, he helps you off his shoulders as Leah grabs you by your arm, “Tall man, this is Malfoy! Malfoy, this is tall man… He’s super fun! You, however, are not.” You introduce the two of them.

“Er, hi… Bye,” Leah looks at the questionable man before she pulls you away, “What the hell, Monkey?” She looks at you, holding you steady as you sway side to side.

“I’m having fun!” You exclaim as you giggle uncontrollably.

“What is going on with you? You’re acting different,” Leah questions, wearily as she tries to figure out what is going on with you.

Giggling continuously, you’re hardly bothered by the blonde standing in front of you, “I’m… I’m fine, I told you I’m having fun!” You repeat.

“Leah, something isn’t right. Look at her eyes,” Holly notes, looking concerned.

Grace looks at you in concern, “Yeah, she looks really out of it.” She admits.

“Did someone give her something?” Josie questions, confused.

Leah’s eyes widen as she tries to keep a steady hold of you, “Monkey, did you eat something from that guy?” She asks, her voice changing to sound more concerned than angry.

“Tall man had sweets that he shared,” You tell her through a fit of giggles, “They were so good! Like those little gummy bears that I always eat!” You add.

“Gummy bears?” The blonde repeats with furrowed eyebrows before it dawns on her what you mean and her concern turns to anger, “Oh, God. No, those weren’t normal ones, Monkey!”

“I don’t know whatever they were, but they sure did taste delicious!” You dopily smile at the blonde, who looks at you furious, “Can I get some more of them?” You wonder, eagerly.

“Okay, alright, let’s not make a scene here,” Holly states, trying to calm Leah down, “I know you’re probably angry, Le, but we just need to get her somewhere safe and figure out what to do.” She makes the point, looking at you wearily.

“There’s a first aid tent nearby that we can her too,” Grace suggests, gesturing to the left of her.

“Nuh uh, I don’t need to go there– We’ve still gotta watch Shania Twain!” You gasp in horror as you look at them with wide eyes, “I didn’t miss it, did I?” You ask.

“Wha… No, you didn’t miss it,” Leah tells you before she snaps her head round in realisation, “We’re not going anywhere right now other than the first aid tent for you to be checked out!” She declares, sternly.

“Awh, shucks!” You huff in protest before you dragged in the direction of the tent where Leah all demands you’re checked over to make sure you’re fine, which no surprise, the medic in the tent reassures her that you will be and you just need to sip some water, ���See? Can we go and watch Shania now? Pleaseeeee!”

“Fine,” Leah is reluctant to agree but there’s not much more that can be said, “But you’re sticking with me and I don’t want you running off again!”

“Let’s go girls!” You scream loudly with the high effects of the edible gummy bears in your system making you seem far more alert than previously as you stand with the older girls ready to watch Shania Twain perform on the Pyramid Stage.

“Glad to see you still have energy to keep going kid,” Grace jokes, trying to ruffle your hair but it’s difficult with the way you're swaying left and right.

“If that’s what we’re calling it now,” Leah mutters in disagreement, shaking her head as she’s not too fond of you being high right now but there’s not much she can do about it.

“Aye, yo! Where’s my yeehaw hat?” The realisation soon dawns on you that you currently don’t have your cowboy hat on you that you most definitely remembered to wear down so you’re confused as to where it could now be, “I need it for this!”

Holly looks at you puzzled, “Your… Your what hat?”

“My yeehaw hat! You know, the one I brought the other night!” You insist, trying to figure out where it is.

“Oh, she means her cowboy hat,” Leah realises as she plonks it on top of your head.

“My yeehaw hat!” You cry in joy and clutch a hold of it excitedly, “You found it!”

Josie looks at you in concern, “Should we be worried about her, or is this just her usual free spirit?” She questions Leah.

“Well, usually she’s menace and she’s pretty high right now both of them combined is somewhat concerning,” Leah can’t help but laugh at your current state, “I guess she’s going to be like this until it wears off.” She adds.

You giggle and adjust your glow in the dark glasses, “I’m like a disco ball! So many lights, so many colours! Can you see the sparkles?” Continuing to dance around in your cowboy hat and glow in the dark glasses, you’re having the best time right now.

“Uh… Not really,” Holly tries to keep up with your antics, “It’s great that you’re having fun though!”

“Yeehaw!” You exclaim aloud as you swing your arm around, “Man, I feel like a woman!” You scream the lyrics to the familiar song you have heard one too many times.

“She’s definitely in her own world,” Grace states as she chuckles.

“Hey Lord Farquaad, can I sit on your shoulders? I wanna get the best view!” You question hopefully as you grin playfully at the blonde, who looks ready to protest, “Pretty please?”

“Wha… Alright fine,” Leah begrudgingly agrees even after you had somewhat offended her before she hoist’s you up onto her shoulders, “Up you go, but hold on tight so you don’t fall!” She warns.

“You’re all set now, kid. You look the part!” Grace states, nudging you playfully.

“Don’t diss my fit cos’ you're all jealous, gurl, innit!” You joke, putting on an accent and grinning at the older girl with a newfound confidence in you now you’re somewhat high still.

“Oh well that is different,” Holly remarks, amused with your antics now, “You’re strange at times, kid,” 

You faux a gasp and look down at her while clutching your hand on your heart dramatically, “I’m not strange, I’m unique. Right, Lord Farquaad?” Looking towards the blonde for confirmation.

“Will you stop calling me that,” The blonde grumbles in disagreement of the nickname that your best friend had so kindly given her and with your love of Shrek, of course you’re going to continue with it.

“Why not? It suits you sooo well!” You peer down and grin at the blonde dopily before you continue to swing your arms up in the air, “You’re a grumpy Lord Farquaad at the minute though! Cheer up!” Playfully continuing to pat her cheeks and smile at her, you enjoy your time on the blonde’s shoulders.

“Whoa, slow down, you,” Leah is quick to take a grip of your arm, already ahead of you running off, “First things first, let’s go and get you some water to help you, er, calm down.”

“But Le, we’re gonna miss it,” Huffing in disagreement, you begrudgingly are led over to a food truck to purchase a bottle of water.

“There’s no rush to go there, we’ve got plenty of time,” Leah remarks as she pushes the bottle of water into your hands, “Now drink up.”

Cracking open the bottle of water and taking a large gulp of it, “Okay, okay. I’ve drank now! See? Can we go and watch Avril Lavigne now, please?” You all but plead with her.

“Make sure you drink all of it,” Leah gestures to the bottle in her hand, “Then we will go and watch her. I just need you to calm down a bit first.” She tells you.

“How long will this… Energy last?” Holly looks at you wearily.

“I don’t know, but I’m hoping with a bit of water it might sober her up,” Leah winces, shaking her head as she encourages you to keep drinking, “Drink all of it, Monkey.” She reminds you.

You eagerly down the rest of the water in the bottle and toss it in a bin, “Alright! I’ve drunk it all now– Now can we go, pleeeeeeease?” You beg, bouncing on your toes.

“Fine,” Leah replies in agreement, once again making sure to take a grip out of your arm in case you do indeed try and run again, “No you don’t, I’m not letting you wander off again and make friends with a random stranger.” She states, sternly.

“But we’re gonna miss it!” You let out an exaggerated huff to show your impatience about having to wait.

“We’re not going to miss anything at all. Stop being impatient,” Leah remarks, trying to stay calm the best she can.

“Yeah we will,” You murmur, trying to tug your arm away from her and be able to dash off ahead of them, “Come on, hurry up. God, you’re all so slow!”

“We’re going as fast as we can,” Josie says, amusedly.

“Not quick enough,” You turn back round in a flash to look at the older girl and stick your tongue out at her, “Huuuuuuuuuurry up!”

“I think I preferred it when she was walking around like a zombie,” Holly chimes in.

“You and me both,” Leah murmurs in agreement with her cousin, “Monkey, calm down. There’s no rush to get there.” She adds as you try and pull her arm since she’s still got a tight hold on you to avoid running off.

“Time’s running out!” You whine impatiently, eager to run in the direction of the stage where you can’t watch Avril Lavigne perform live, “We need to hurry up. We’re going to miss the beginning of it cos’ you’re all so slow!” You grumble in annoyance.

“We’re almost there now,” Leah remarks, rolling her eyes as she walks over to the stage where your energy doesn’t let up, “See? We’re here, no need to have a meltdown over it.”

“I’m just excited to watch her!” You exclaim, trying to push your way forward to get a good view of the performance.

It’s not long before the music starts up and you continue to remain bouncing around energetically and singing your heart out to all of the songs in the set, “Why do you have to go and make things so complicated!” You scream out the lyrics to the song that you’ve grown up listening to, being able to watch her perform live is such a cool experience for you.

“Seems like she’s loving this even if she’s still a bit high,” Grace speaks to Leah, amusedly as she watches you enjoy yourself despite the high you’re still on.

Leah hums in agreement with her friend, “Yeah she’s having the time of her life so it seems, I’m glad about it.” Her words were nothing but the truth, knowing how tough you have been finding things recently so it’s nice to see you let your hair down even if you did end up high to no fault of anyone apart from your own.

You continue to dance around in joy, “I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else, gets me frustrated!” There’s not a single care in the world right now as you listen to the music, living the dream like you are.

“Woo, go monkey!” Holly encourages, grinning and clapping her hands.

Leah watches you dance around freely and can’t help but smile as she leans over to Holly, “At least this way she’s somewhat safe and having fun. I just need to keep a better eye on her and make sure she’s not wandering off with another random stranger again.” She tells her.

By the time that Burna Boy was set to perform, you were starting to feel the comedown from the edible gummy bears and your energetic behaviour is soon phasing out for you to become tired and grumpy once again, with having little energy to even want to walk about.

“You doing okay Monkey?” The concern in Leah’s voice is evident as she can see your dipping slowly as you're reluctant to even stand up without slouching against her.

“I’m… I’m tired,” You murmur, trying to fight and stay awake.

“Do you want to go back to the hotel instead?” Leah questions, wearily as she is more so concerned about your comedown hitting an ultimate low.

Shaking your head in disagreement, you continue to lean up against her so that you won’t fall down, “No, I still wanna watch this performance.”

“What’s going on?” Holly wonders, concerned.

“Monkey’s tired,” Leah explains briefly as she tries to keep a steady hand on you to stop you from collapsing from exhaustion.

“You do look pretty out of it,” Grace notes the tiredness on your face.

“I think she’s starting to come down from the edibles,” Leah explains, exhaling a sigh, “We’ll watch Burna Boy and then we need to think about going to the hotel. I think it’s all catching up to you now, isn’t it, eh?” She asks you, gently as she keeps a protective arm wrapped around you.

“M’ okay, I just want to sleep, Le,” You answer, trying to continue to fight the tiredness while standing up.

Leah frowns and nods in agreement, “You can soon enough, but in a proper bed. You can’t fall asleep here.”

“Why not? Floors comfy like before, innit,” You murmur without much care in the world considering you had managed to fall asleep so easily earlier on.

“You know she will again if she’s tired enough,” Holly chips in, amusedly.

Leah exhales a sigh, “I know, I just think it would be better to wait until we head back to the hotel before you fall asleep,” She admits, not to keen on the idea of you falling asleep on the floor again.

“I don’t care. I’m tired– I wanna sleep!” You slouch against the blonde weakly as your eyelids grow heavier as you listen to the music in the background. 

“Alright, alright, there’s no need to get grumpy again,” The blonde mumbles, finding small humour in the situation, “Just hang in a little longer and we’ll go back.” She promises.

As much as you try to remain awake, it is starting to become incredibly difficult as you just want to lie down and sleep, so you do so much as when you find a spot on the floor, curling up in a ball and closing your eyes, being able to drift off to sleep.

“Le, I don’t think she couldn’t wait to sleep,” Holly jokes, gesturing to your sleeping body on the floor, “The kids completely out of it.” She adds.

“Wonderful,” Leah exhales a sigh as she looks down and finds you well and truly fast asleep curled up on the floor, “I guess she really couldn’t wait after all.”

“You’re going to have to carry her back to the car,” Josie points out.

“Oh Monkey,” Leah sighs and takes pity on your sleeping form before she kneels down and lifts your unconscious body into her arms, “Looks like we’re cutting the night short. I need to get her back to the hotel to sleep.”

“We’ll lead the way,” Holly states, carefully guiding her cousin through the crowd.

“Thanks Hol,” Leah speaks gratefully as she follows her cousin through the crowd of people with you protectively in her arms,

You continue to stay asleep with your head resting against her shoulder, you’re completely none the wiser about the journey back to the car park. Nor do you even realise being sat down in the backseat of the car and buckled in with the state of sleep that has taken over you.

Luckily enough Leah has managed to book the same hotel as the rest of the girls so they all climbed into the blonde's car, Holly deciding to sit in the back with you so she could make sure you are okay in the state that you’re in.

“We’ll be at the hotel soon enough kid,” The blonde murmurs to you even though you're completely out of it to even hear you, “We’ve got you, don’t worry. Just sleep.” She adds.

The next time you wake up, you don’t have any single recognition of where you were or how you got here, last you remember you were at the festival dancing to the music.

Now you’re here in a hotel room…

“Where… Where am I?” You ask, confused as you sit up in bed and look around the room trying to figure out when and how you got here.

Leah shoots up from the other bed and rushes to your side, “Ah, you’re awake! We’re at the hotel.”

“Hotel?” You question just as confused while you rub your eyes, “What happened to the festival?” You're trying to figure out what happened for you to end up here.

“You fell asleep,” Leah stifles her laughter and shakes her head, “You don’t remember? Apparently you couldn’t wait to sleep and crashed out on the floor… Again.” She teases you lightly.

“Oh,” You frown and try to remember what happened before that, “I don’t remember falling asleep though.”

“You were out for the count completely,” Leah remarks in amusement, “I had to carry you back to the car and even then you remained asleep until now.” She explains to you.

“Oh,” You repeat quietly as the events of the day start to dawn on you, “Wait! It’s late now– I can call Kyra! She’ll be awake now!” You exclaim in realisation at the time difference meaning your best friend would be awake now finally.

Leah shakes her head in disagreement, “No, no, sleep. It’s already been a long day– You’ve fallen asleep twice at the festival. I’m sure that you can speak to her tomorrow instead.”

“Seriously? Come on, Le!” You plead with the blonde.

“Fine,” Leah gives in your pleading as she rolls her eyes, “Don’t be on the phone for too long though! You need sleep and don’t think you’re getting away with being high either.” She adds.

“What does that mean?” You question, confused.

“It means that you’re most definitely grounded for this stunt that you pulled,” Leah states, firmly.

You huff in response and slump your shoulders, “Wha… I really did think they were just normal sweets though!”

“And you still shouldn’t be accepting sweets from random strangers,” Leah tells you while pursing her lips, “Now go on and phone Kyra like you’re so eager to do, tell the pest I said hi while you’re at it.” With that being said, you eagerly pull your phone out of your pocket and begin to FaceTime your best friend on the other side of the world and ramble on the phone to your best friend, happy enough to hear her voice finally.

It won’t be too long now until you see her at least, just another month or so, maybe?

© scribblesofagoonerr

[strangersteddierthings]

Hey @rustypeopleskillz! I had a lot of fun writing a Jealous!Steve fic, especially since he didn't really understand why he was jealous. I hope you like it!

Here's a little worldbuilding. This takes place in the summer of '87. Jonathan, Nancy and Robin are all in college but have returned to Hawkins for the summer. Argyle has come to visit, too. Robin has resumed her position at Family Video as a summer job.

Written for the @steddiesummerexchange.

-

June 12, 1987

It’s already hot this early in June, and Steve is grateful for the working AC at Family Video. And speaking of Family Video, that reminds Steve.

"You coming over for movies tomorrow?" Steve asks, even though he knows the answer. It's more a formality at this point. They have movie night pretty regularly, Eddie, Robin and himself, now that Robin’s back in town from college. Occasionally they’ll be joined by others, the kids or Jonathan, Nancy, and Argyle (always together when they join) but movie night always includes himself, Robin and Eddie.

"Oh, uh, no," Eddie answers, sounding just as surprised by his answer as Steve feels.

"What? Why?" Steve's questions come out accusatory. Eddie's always free for movie night. Hellfire is on Sundays now, and Corroded Coffin meets on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Friday nights have been saved for Steve. Or, well, not Steve but for movie night!

“What are you, the police?” Eddie snorts. He doesn’t answer the questions.

Before Steve can comment on that avoidance, a quiet voice calls out an ‘excuse me’ and Steve has to turn to the register to get back to work. From the corner of his eye, he watches Eddie push off the counter and head towards the back corner of Family Video, where Robin is currently shelving the last of the returns.

The quiet voice that interrupted belongs to a kid, probably Holly’s age, wanting to rent Snow White. Easy enough to ring up, and soon enough the kid’s out the door, heading towards the car parked directly in front of the doors. Steve looks back over his shoulder in the direction Eddie’d gone. Neither he or Robin is visible, so they’re probably caught up in conversation.

Good. Gives Steve some time to think about why he was going to give Eddie the third degree about not making it to movie night. There have been a few times that Eddie didn’t come to movie night before; it’s not like this is the first time it’s happened. All those other times, though, Eddie had told him why. Eddie doesn’t owe him a why, and really Steve has no reason to demand one of him. Steve’s not his keeper.

It just… rubs Steve the wrong way. He doesn’t know why.

When Eddie and Robin rejoin him at the counter, Steve doesn’t bring up movie night again. It’ll still be fun with just Robin. It’s Robin! How can he not have fun with she’s around?

Eddie stays around another half hour before he says he has to go. Once Eddie is backing out of the parking spot, he whips to Robin to ask, “You’re still coming to movie night, right?”

“Duh,” Robin says, looking up from the stack of returns she’s been pretending to process, “unless I’ve got a hot date, and that’s not happening anytime soon, why would I miss it?”

“It could happen, if you’d shoot your shot wi-”

“No. Nope. Not today!” Robin cuts him off with a glare.

He lifts his hands to show he’s defenseless and drops that particular subject for a moment. He’ll have the whole movie night to harass her about her crushes. “Okay, alright. Touchy.”

“Oh, like you were with Eddie about movie night?”

“What, did he immediately go tattle on me!?” Steve says, scandalized. There’s no loyalty here.

“No, but I did hear your immediate grilling of Eddie. You weren’t exactly whispering, and this place is, like, the size of your living room-”

“It is not.”

“-so, no. Eddie did not tattle. He did, however, share what happened the second I asked ‘what was that all about’, so do with that what you will.”

“Oh,” Steve frowns. “Well, did Eddie tell you why he’s not coming?”

She rolls her eyes and turns back to the returns. “No. I didn’t ask because I am not particularly bothered that he can’t make it to one movie night.”

Steve frowns harder. He’s not bothered. Why would he be bothered that Eddie has something else he has to do? Steve’s not his keeper. It’s fine.

Except for how Steve can’t shake the feeling that it’s not fine. He feels some sort of way about it but can’t name it. Definitely a negative feeling of some kind. Maybe worry? Sadness? He’s not sure, but he doesn’t like it.

He doesn’t bring it up the rest of their shift, though, because he knows Robin will ask why this is bothering him so much and Steve won’t have an answer.

June 16, 1987

Steve doesn’t see Eddie again for four days, which Steve thought wasn’t unusual for them. They aren’t attached at the hip friends. That privelege is reserved for Robin. Except now that Steve is thinking about it, he realizes that the only person he sees on the regular besides Robin is Eddie.

Eddie usually comes and spends a majority of his afternoons at Family Video, or he’s hanging out with Steve and Robin at Steve’s house, or inviting them to his for hangouts. Steve and Eddie even hang out alone often enough. Steve will crash at his place after a late night smoke sesh or Eddie will stay with him when the nightmares get too much to deal with alone.

Now that he’s realized how much of his time was taken up with Eddie, he notices how absent Eddie’s been. He can’t even talk about this with Robin because he doesn’t get why he even wants to talk about it! Why it matters so much.

Even back when Steve’s best friends were Tommy and Carol, he’s never felt like this after not seeing either of them for days at a time, and they used to be as attached to each other as he is with Robin now. He doesn’t know what that says about him. Was his friendship with them really that shallow? Or is his friendship with Eddie just that deep?

That seems like the right idea. Eddie went through hell with him and the kids, died for them, and Steve brought him back. It’s not that his previous friendships were shallow, they just weren’t forged the same way.

So, it takes four days for Steve to see Eddie again, and it’s because Steve seeks him out. He couldn’t just pop in, though, because he’s overthought this too much. Even though no one but himself knows the thoughts Steve’s been having, he still feels an embarrassment for them. Which is stupid, he knows, but it doesn’t stop the feeling.

Four days he waits before deciding to check in on Max. See how she’s doing, if she needs a lift to the grocery store or something. A habit formed because her mom is trying to be better, has been since Max was hospitalized, but Susan’s still working two jobs and it doesn’t leave a lot of time to get to the store during the hours it’s open. Steve offered to take Max once, and now it’s an unspoken agreement.

Before knocking on Max’s door, though, he looks down the road to make sure Eddie’s van is parked in its usual spot and it is.

He checks on Max, knowing she doesn’t need anything because Susan did have time to get to the grocery store this week. He knows because he ran into her there yesterday, and thought up this whole convoluted excuse so he can check in on Eddie without seeming like that’s what he’s doing.

Steve is not proud about this. That embarrassed feeling ever present, even now that he’s checked on Max and been quickly shooed away because El is over and they’re having a girls day.

Maybe he should talk to Robin about this. Why is he embarrassed by missing Eddie?

The thought causes him to skip a step as he heads down the road to the Munsons’ new place, which is up the road in the opposite direction of the old Munson trailer from Max’s home.

Oh. He’s missed Eddie, and he’s embarrassed that he’s missed him. Why hadn’t he known that until now?

He really is going to need to talk to Robin after this.

The Munson’s are still in the process of building the porch for this new trailer; it’s just a frame that stretches from the stairs to the end of trailer. It looks like they’re doing everything they can to make this place look like their old one. Or, maybe, they just really like having a porch.

He should ask Wayne if he wants help finishing it next time he sees him.

Steve knocks on the door with three quick raps and doesn’t have to wait long.

The door swings open to reveal Eddie. His hair is pulled up off his neck, which is a familiar look on Eddie by now with the hot Indiana summer.

“Oh!” Eddie looks surprised. “Hey Steve. What brings you here?”

“I was just checking in on Max, and saw your van was here. Thought I’d stop in and say hi.”

Eddie cocks his head to the side and studies Steve for a moment. “Well, if you don’t have anywhere else to be, you wanna hang out for a bit?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, possibly to quickly. “I mean, I got time.”

Eddie grins and steps back, out of the doorway so he can enter. Steve toes off his shoes as Eddie breezes past him and to the couch. He must have been watching something on TV because he usually shuts himself away in his room with all his things. (Steve called him a hoarder once and Eddie’d said that just makes him a dragon. At Steve’s blank look, Eddie’d explained that dragons have hoards, typically gold, but that was ‘a bit too rich’ for his blood.)

“What’re we watching?” Steve asks, plopping himself next to Eddie, angled slightly more towards Eddie than the TV.

“I was watching Fire and Ice, but I’m like halfway through. We can find something else.”

“Have you seen it before?” Steve asks, looking at the scene paused on the TV currently. Some animated thing, which is unsurprising. Eddie made him watch an animated Lord of the Rings when Steve gave up on reading the books, and The Black Cauldron just a few weeks ago. Eddie seemed to like animation as much as horror and thriller.

“Several times,” Eddie says. “I own it.”

“Then just tell me what’s happened so far, and the names of people on screen when they appear and I’ll figure it out. Or I won’t,” he adds with a shrug, unbothered about understanding what was happening. If the movie ends up being important enough to Eddie, he’ll see if they have it at Family Video to see the whole thing. Or maybe ask Eddie to invite him over next time he watches.

Eddie laughs and reaches for the remote. He just holds onto it as he explains, “there’s two kingdoms. One of ice, and one of fire. The ice people are evil, the fire ones good. Ice people kidnapped the fire princess, and, uh, the guy in a loincloth is out to save her. Currently he’s stowed away on her brother’s ship as he’s also on the way to save her.”

Ah. Alright. A classic Eddie movie. Fantasy. Magic. A hero, and someone needing saved. Steve nods and waves his hand at the TV in a ‘let’s get on with it’ motion. He’s rewarded with a smile from Eddie before he presses play and settles into the couch.

He watches Eddie much more than he watches the movie. Steve does this most times they watch movies together. He lifts an arm to the back of the couch, bending at the elbow to make a place to place his head, and lounges there. He can see the TV and Eddie’s profile from this position but he ends up watching Eddie’s profile more than the TV.

Eddie’s expressive. Eyebrows going up, mouth opening in shock. Brows furrowing, a scowl when he thinks someone has done something stupid, or a character he hates has come on screen. Laugh lines that come into view. It’s a whole show itself, watching Eddie.

Steve’s got no clue how the movie goes but he watches the very end, if only because he knows as soon as the credits start that Eddie will turn to him for his opinion, and Steve doesn’t want to get caught watching Eddie instead of the movie.

Which is a completely normal thing to worry about.

Perfectly on queue, Eddie turns to him, “so, what did you think?”

Steve turns his own head slowly from the screen to Eddie, takes in his expression. Anticipation for the answer, but Steve thinks Eddie knows that Steve wasn’t paying attention because he looks amused, like he’s asked a trick question. “I think I need to watch it from the beginning.”

Eddie laughs at that, so Steve does, too. They fall into easy conversation after that, chatting for another hour or so until it’s dark and Steve has to leave because he opens tomorrow.

Heading to the door, Steve spots a new leather jacket handing from the little coat rack he’d helped Eddie mount on the wall when the Munsons moved into their new place. He knows the jacket is new, to Eddie anyway, because where the zipper on the sleeve is broken and held together with a chain on Eddie’s old one, this on has a button closure instead.

“Hey, new jacket!” Steve grabs the sleeve, pulling at so he can take a look at the front. Leather jackets aren’t Steve’s style, but he can tell this one looks real nice.

“Oh. No, that’s not mine,” Eddie says. “Jack forgot it in my room, and we know it’ll never see the light of day again if I’d left it there.”

Steve just blinks. “Jack? Who is Jack?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, ushering Steve out the door. “You’re not my only friend, Steve.”

“I know all your other friends,” Steve says dumbly. “Gareth, and Jeff, and Frankie.”

He sees the spark of mischief in Eddie’s eyes before the shit eating grin spreads across his face and he lifts his hands in a ‘what can I say?’ sort of shrug before he says, “Well, you don’t know Jack then.”

Steve groans and Eddie cackles.

June 25, 1987

It takes Steve a few more days and an evening shift with Robin that leads to a sleepover to realize why he can’t stop thinking about the stupid leather jacket hanging up at Eddie’s.

“Okay dingus, what is it?” Robin asks as she locks the front door behind them before toeing her shoes off. Steve is bent down, untying his shoes because he’s not a heathen, so he looks up at her, confusion on his face.

“What is what?”

Robin rolls her eyes like he’s an idiot and puts one hand on her hip to look down at him. “Whatever it is that has you sighing wistfully every five minutes.”

“I am not sighing wistfully,” Steve argues because he’s not. He would know if he was sighing and he’s not. Except as soon as he looks back down at his shoes he does let out a sigh. Shit. Robin’s right. “Okay, guess I am. I just… didn’t know that I was.”

“Well, what’s causing it?”

Steve hesitates, not because he doesn’t want to talk it out with Robin but because he doesn’t know how. “I don’t know.”

“You’ll tell me when you do know?”

“Yeah.”

Their night continues like usual. Steve turns on the radio for background noise, Robin raids his kitchen for snacks, and they lay on the floor in the living room. They complain about the rude customers they dealt with and gossip about the others. Conversation stays light and all the while, Steve is in the back of his mind thinking about that stupid jacket.

“Hey Robs,” Steve says after a quiet has fallen over them. “Did you know Eddie has a friend named Jack?”

“No,” Robin says easily. And Steve supposes it should be an easy thing, to accept that your friend has friends you don’t also have. “Why?”

“He left a jacket at Eddie’s place,” Steve says slowly, still gathering his thoughts. “It was a nice jacket.”

“Uh huh,” Robin agrees, tilting her head a bit to the side, watching him.

“I saw the jacket and thought it was Eddie’s. A new one. But he told me it was Jack’s, and I-I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Or him. Jack. Do you think Jack’s the reason Eddie ditched movie night?”

Robin has the audacity to laugh at him. Just one quick bark of a laugh before she’s covering her mouth with both hands to hold it in. Steve glares at her but she doesn’t even look remorseful for laughing at his problems. Once she’s successfully swallowed her laughter, Robin says, “So, still hung up on that?”

“Robin, I’m being serious right now!”

“About what Steve? You like a jacket that you can’t steal from Eddie because it doesn’t belong to him?”

“No! That Eddie’s got a secret friend who leaves stuff in his room and I’m-” Steve clamps his mouth shut, the unspoken words ringing in his head.

“Oh my God, you’re jealous!” Robin says with too much glee for a woman saying the unspoken bit out loud.

Steve huffs, rolling over onto his stomach to hide his face in his arms. To the carpet he says, “I don’t even know why! I’m not jealous of Eddie’s other friends. Just…”

“Just the one dude you don’t know?”

Steve wants to shrink in on himself but that’s harder to do on the floor than it is curled up on the couch. He settles to tightening his arms around his head. “This is stupid.”

“Yeah, a little,” Robin says lightly, “but Eddie’s your best guy friend and you aren’t used to sharing, spoiled little rich kid that you are.”

“I can share just fine!”

“Not your friends.”

He turns his head, popping out of where he’s hidden to glare at her. “That is not true!”

Robin’s laughing again. “It is! You can’t share friends! You’re only okay with Dustin having other friends because he already had them before being your friend. Same with Eddie and his other friends. But try and bring a new friend in? Nope. Jealousy strikes.”

“That’s- I’m not- I don’t care if other people gets friends that aren’t me.”

She laughs louder before rolling onto her side to look at Steve. “You do to! You were the same way with Tommy and Carol.”

He wants to argue, but really, he doesn’t have an argument. He can’t remember Tommy or Carol trying to bring new friends into their group in school, but also, they’d all gone to the same elementary, middle, and high school. They’d established friendships and cliques early on and at the end of the day, Tommy and Carol had other friends but Steve was their friend and everyone knew it.

Huh.

Maybe he does have a problem with sharing.

“This doesn’t feel the same. I was never- it didn’t feel like this with Tommy and Carol.”

That sobers Robin a little. The laughter drops from her voice when she asks, “well, what does it feel like?”

Steve frowns. “I don’t know. Like… like I’ll lose Eddie.”

“That’s silly,” Robin says, shifting to sit up, cross-legged. “Even if Jack is Eddie’s new best friend, he’ll never have the same bond we all have. You won’t lose Eddie.”

No. He won’t. Robin’s right. The horrors of the Upside Down will forever connect them. This thing that they all will only ever have each other to relate to. But this doesn’t feel like the fear of just losing a friend. It’s something else, but Steve can’t pin down the feeling.

“Yeah,” he agrees, because Robin isn’t wrong. “It is a bit silly.”

July 11, 1987

Steve meets Jack two weeks later. Well, everyone meets Jack two weeks later because in an effort to beat the heat, Dustin showed up in his swim trunks, interrupting Steve and Robin’s first full day off together in weeks, and an hour later Steve’s found himself hosting an impromptu swim party, complete with burgers and hot dogs that Steve ends up in charge of grilling like he’s some dad on the Fourth of July.

(Or, as Robin is apt to remind him, it’s his house and his grill and does he really want to put anyone else in charge of working something with an open flame? Which, no. No he does not.)

Dustin had called and invited the rest of the Party. Will shows up with El, Jonathan, and Argyle. Mike gets a ride from Nancy, who sees what’s happening and asks if it’s okay she crashes the party, too. (Apparently Mike had told her Party Members Only, but once it’s made clear anyone is welcome, Nancy leaves and returns with her swimsuit and several side dishes.)

Max gets a ride from Eddie.

Eddie walks her to the back, “just sayin’ hi.”

“You can stay,” Steve immediately says.

“I got the guys with me,” Eddie says, gesturing vaguely with his hand towards the front of the house.

“No problem. The more, the merrier or whatever,” Steve says, making a circle in the air with his scrubby as he speaks. “I don’t have enough swim trunks for everyone, though.”

Eddie smiles, big and bright and Steve can’t help returning it. “Alright. Awesome. I’ll go ask ‘em if they don’t mind crashing a party.”

Steve hears the answer as Eddie’s van goes quiet instead of the sound of crunching gravel as he leaves, and soon enough all of Corroded Coffin is filing into the backyard along with an unknown dude jammed in the middle of them, chatting with Jeff. Steve knows immediately that Unknown Dude is Jack because he recognizes the leather jacket he’s wearing.

Who wears their leather jacket in the middle of summer?

(Nevermind that Eddie does occasionally. Eddie’s not wearing his right now, though. No, he’s in denim shorts that Steve just knows in his heart where once full jeans and a Judas Priest tank top. The standard summer uniform for him, Steve’s come to know.)

The new group makes the rounds, introducing Jack to everyone as Steve watches from behind the grill. He’s not cooking yet; the grill needed a good cleaning first because it hasn’t been used in God only knows how long.

Jack’s got dirty blonde hair, a length to rival Eddie’s, but pin straight as Steve’s own hair. He’s not a bad looking dude by any means, which Steve feels some sort of way about. Angry, maybe? He’s wearing black jeans, some sort of graphic tee, the stupid leather jacket, and combat boots. Steve can see he wears more rings than Eddie does. It’s entirely too hot to be dressed this way but Jack looks unphased by the heat. Jack doesn’t pass for Eddie’s twin in any way, but they certainly match.

(Steve hates how easily Jack matches Eddie’s aesthetic. He takes in his own Hawaiian printed swim trunks and yellow polo, looking every bit like a Sears catalogue Summer Edition and sticking out amongst all of Eddie’s friends, and everyone else really, for it. (He’d bought both the shirt and swim trunks at Sears, actually, because Robin had pointed out how very ‘him’ them seemed and, well, she wasn’t wrong.))

The grill is now clean and he’s lighting the charcoal by the time the get to him. They’ve lost Gareth to the pool, who took of his shirt, socks, and shoes, and jumped in wearing his jeans, and Frankie to a conversation with Jonathan and Argyle, so it’s just Eddie, Jeff, and Jack who arrive at the grill.

“And this is our glorious and generous host, Steve Harrington,” Eddie says once they come to a stop next to him.

“Hey. I’m Jack Williams,” Jack grins, offering up a hand to shake. Steve takes it and gives it one shake, exactly how his dad taught him to do when meeting business partners. Firm and formal, friendly but distant.

“Nice to meet you,” Steve says because it’s expected for him to say even though he doesn’t think he finds meeting Jack all that nice.

Jack appraises him, then. Jack stands in silence for a moment and he flicks his eyes down, taking in the whole of Steve’s appearance before eyes -blue, Steve sees now that he’s close enough to make out such details- flit about his face. It makes Steve feel like Jack is sizing him up. “I thought thee Steve Harrington would be taller.”

Eddie’s hand swings out, smacking Jack hard on his arm before Steve can even so much as bristle at that. “Dude!”

“I’m just joking!” Jack laugh and Steve hates it. It’s a stupid laugh. “Sorry, Steve. It’s just with all I’ve heard about you I thought I’d be meeting God himself or something.”

Oh. Well. Maybe it’s not that stupid of a laugh. “Really?”

“You have to know you’re Eddie’s favorite subje-” Jack doesn’t get to finish that sentence because Eddie attacks him and Steve has to shoo them away for fear their wrestling will knock over the grill.

Steve doesn’t even get a chance to ask how Eddie and Jack met before Robin’s appearing with the burgers and hot dogs. It’s fine. He’ll ask later. He might not even need to know. It settles something inside him to know that Jack knows about him. That Eddie talks about him to Jack enough for Jack to have constructed a version of Steve in his own head.

He think he’s finally made peace with whatever was going on in his head involving Eddie and Jack’s friendship when he catches the moment that makes his stomach drop.

It’s later in the day, moving onto evening. Everyone is out of the pool but still lounging around it. Steve finally been allowed to remove himself from behind the grill because everyone’s full and they’re out of burgers anyway. Steve is coming back outside, having gone in to grab himself, Eddie and Jack a beer each.

He doesn’t catch what Jack said. Just Eddie’s reaction to it. A reaction he’s never seen Eddie give anyone but him.

Eddie’s face pinkens and he drags a lock of hair in front of his face to hide his immediate smile, only releasing the strand once he’s got his smile under control, wrestled into a closed mouth grin that does nothing to hide his joy. And then. Then Eddie’s face does something Steve has seen a thousand times, but never at this angle. Never at this distance.

Maybe it’s because it’s from this distance and angle that Steve’s able to really see it.

Eddie looks smitten. Infatuated. Lovesick.

Steve feels his stomach drop and his first thought is ‘I’m too late’ which is instantly followed by ‘wait, what? Late for what?’

Forget stomach dropping. Steve feels like the whole floor has dropped out from beneath him and suddenly he can’t be here anymore. Can’t be surrounded by all these people who know him too well. If they look at him, if anyone see him, they’ll know. They’ll know what Steve’s just figured out from one second to the next and he can’t- he can’t deal with that.

Somehow he forces his legs to move. It’s like he’s outside his own body as he approaches Eddie and Jack. He hands over the beers he grabbed them and makes some excuse to go back inside. He’s vaguely aware that Eddie takes a single step towards Steve, as if to follow, but Jack stops him with a single brush of the back of his hand to the top of Eddie’s arm and Steve books it.

He’s such an idiot.

His feelings from earlier, from when he was talking to Robin, just click into place. Of course it didn’t feel like the fear of losing a friend.

It feels like how he felt when he realized Nancy had feelings for Jonathan instead of him anymore.

Heartbreak.

Robin finds him on the floor on his bedroom sometime he couldn’t quantify later, wedged between his bed and the wall, still clutching a now room temperature beer can.

“You okay Steve? Been in here a while,” Robin asks in a tone of voice that suggests she knows he’s very much not okay but will let him pretend to be right now if that’s what he needs.

He loves her for it.

“I hate Jack,” Steve says, quiet and flat.

Robin makes a humming noise as she settles on the floor in front of him on her knees.

“I hate Jack because Eddie likes him.”

“Well, we did already discuss your inability to share friends.”

“No. Robin,” Steve says, voice taking on a pleading tone. Begging her to understand without him having to say it. “I hate Jack because Eddie likes him. Eddie likes him, and I think he used to like me the same way, and I hate Jack.”

Robin’s brows furrow before springing up to her hairline. “Oh. Oh! Steve, oh…” and then she’s grabbing for him, tugging and pulling and adjusting until she’s got him in her arms and half in her lap. They don’t say anything else for a while. Robin runs her hands through his hair and Steve clings to her like a child.

Robin leaves briefly to let everyone know Steve’s not feeling good and to lock up behind them when they go.

July 21, 1987

All in all, Steve handles his gay crisis like a champ. Or so says Robin. It’s easier than he thought it would be. He’s had time to process that being queer isn’t wrong, what with having Robin, Eddie, and Will all out to their group and he’s always been good at adjusting to change.

What Steve is handling with considerable less grace (so says Robin) is the pining. His crisis quickly evolved from oh my God I want to kiss a boy to oh my God I’ve missed my chance to kiss Eddie and Robin keeps rolling her eyes about it. Which is rude. She’s being rude.

Even if Steve is driving Robin up a wall with his moping.

“Just tell Eddie you want to kiss him,” she hisses under her breath to his during the overlap of their shifts. She opened and he has to close, but from 4-7 they work together. The store is currently empty, with it being a Tuesday and therefore a slower day. “You’ve never had an issue asking someone out before. You did it all summer at Scoops even though all you did was get rejected! And all last years here, and you didn’t get rejected.”

“This is different!”

“Pretty sure asking out a boy isn’t all that different from asking a girl. There’s only so many ways you can say ‘wanna go to dinner and a movie with me’, y’know?”

Steve groans and drops his head onto the counter by the register. “That’s not what I meant, Robs.”

Robin lets out a world weary sigh and he hears her leaning herself against the counter on the customer side in front of him more than he sees it. “Enlighten me then. What makes this different?”

“Other than you, I’ve never asked out a friend before. And honestly, if I hadn’t still been a little under the effects of whatever we were drugged with, I wouldn’t have. There’s, like, something to actually lose if a friend says no,” Steve mumbles into the countertop.

“Well, Eddie’s not going to say no, but, like, even if he did, he’s not going to stop being your friend,” Robin says and he feels her hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

It’s Steve’s turn to heave a sigh. She’s not wrong. If Eddie’s still into Steve, and Steve’s not convinced he is, then it’ll be the easiest date Steve’s ever set. He asks, Eddie says yes, they go on to live happily ever after or something. What Steve’s more afraid of, the option he thinks it more likely, is that Eddie’s over pining after Straight Steve Harrington and has moved on to Jack of Unknown Sexual Orientation and if Steve asks Eddie out, to dinner and a movie or to the fair at the end of the week or whatever, Eddie will tell him ‘sorry but no. I used to like you but you took too long to catch on and I’m over it now. We can still be friends though’ and Steve will have to say ‘oh, yeah, no of course. Friends is great. Love being just friends’. Then they’ll both avoid each other, Steve to nurse his broken heart and Eddie because that’s just what you do when someone confesses they like you but you don’t feel the same because no matter what anyone says that’s awkward and you’re left feeling a little bit like an asshole for rejecting someone and-

“-eve! Dingus!”

Steve pops up off the counter, pulling himself from his thoughts. “What?”

The look Robin levels him with his decidedly unimpressed. “Whatever you were just imagining isn’t going to happen.”

“You don’t know what I-”

“I know we haven’t actually melded into a single person, but we are the closest thing a pair of humans can get to it. I don’t need to know exactly what you were imagining to know you’re wrong.”

Steve frowns. “What if I’m not?”

“What if you are?” Robin shoves off the counter. “We can have this conversation all day until we’re blue in the face. How about this. You don’t have to ask Eddie out, but at least come out to him. Then you can gauge his reaction. Watch as he lights up with hope or joy or whatever.”

He snorts a laugh at that. “Maybe.”

He spends the rest of his shift thinking about it. It’s a scary idea, saying it outloud to anyone besides Robin, but it’s also not scary. Because he knows it’ll be okay. Three other people in their weird little friend group are out and the world didn’t end. Though, when faced with real life monsters, near death experiences, and the world almost ending, being gay is probably the least of anyone’s concerns.

Midnight finally rolls around and Steve closes down the store. He’s going to sleep on it, but he thinks he is going to come out to Eddie. Even if nothing comes from it, even if Steve’s left pining forever, at least it might be nice to just let Eddie know. Queer Solidification, or whatever the word is that Robin uses.

July 23, 1987

Once again, Steve turns up at Eddie’s place unannounced. There’s a motorcycle parked out front of the trailer and Steve just knows it belongs to Jack.

He should have called. Made sure Eddie was here alone before coming over. He’s okay with coming out to Eddie, but not Jack, too.

Even so, he parks along the motorcycle. Turns the car off. Sits in it for another ten minutes, waffling between leaving and staying before finally unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing from the car. He’s going to do this tonight. Robin leaves back to Chicago for school mid-August and if this goes the way he thinks it will, he’s going to need all that time with her before she leaves.

Might also need the time between now and then to search for apartments to follow her there so he doesn’t have to stay here in his humiliation.

The porch is complete now. Steve never got around to telling Wayne he’d help with it. Too late now.

Steve pulls the screen door open, stepping in front of it so his body keeps it out of the way.

Knock knock knock.

Three quick hits to the door and he waits. He’s doing this.

The door opens just enough for Eddie to peak around. He looks a bit on edge at first, then his face smooths into an easy smile when he sees it’s Steve. “Oh, hey. Checking on Max again?”

“Uh, no. Here for you, actually. If that’s okay?”

“Um. One second,” Eddie says, closing the door again. Steve feels like his stomach is trying to climb up his throat. God, what if Eddie can’t talk tonight? Steve might just start looking for apartments anyway. Better safe than sorry.

An eternity (less than a minute) later, Eddie opens the door again, this time all the way. Steve steps inside before he really thinks about it. It smells like weed in here, so Steve knows what they were up to before he knocked.

He doesn’t want to have the conversation outside where anyone can overhear, but he doesn’t want to have it in front of Jack either. Jack, and the other stranger on the couch next to him.

Fuck.

“This is Steve,” Eddie introduces. “You know Jack. This is Lee.”

Lee is sat on the couch next to Jack, leaned against the armrest. He’s dressed like a toned down version of Jack. Still in dark clothes, but considerably less accessories. He’s handsome, too, with a rounder face and almond-shaped dark eyes.

“Hi,” Steve says.

“Hey,” Jack and Lee say at the same time, with Jack lifting a hand in greeting.

Eddie takes a step towards the couch, probably to plop down in the spot he was previously in, but Steve shoots a hand out to grab Eddie’s arm and halt his movement.

“Um. I actually. I just came to tell you something.”

“Well, alright. Shoot,” Eddie says.

Steve looks to the strangers on the couch before looking back to Eddie. “Privately.”

Eddie frowns, just for a moment, before his face smooths over and he shrugs. “Alright. We’ll be back out shortly,” he tells Jack and Lee before pulling his arm from Steve’s grasp to head down the hall to his bedroom.

Steve shuffles after, feeling awkward suddenly.

Eddie pushes the door open, then stands in the doorway like he’s holding it for Steve. Steve squeezes by him, his entire arm brushing against Eddie’s chest and stomach and just that little contact makes Steve’s stomach swoop.

Jesus Christ he’s got it bad, doesn’t he? How hadn’t he known that he had a crush on Eddie until recently? How had he been so blind?

The door clicks closed.

“So, what is it Steve?”

Steve stands in the middle of Eddie’s room. It’s messy, but not to dirty. There are clothes scattered about, and clutter on every surface, but Steve knows that Eddie knows where everything is. That if Steve knew what to ask for, Eddie would know where to find it in the chaos.

“I- um. Wow. This is harder than I thought it’d be,” Steve says, running a hand through his hair as he turns to look at Eddie. Which is a mistake. Looking at Eddie isn’t going to make this easier. Not now that he knows he wants to cup his face, and kiss those plush lips, and run his fingers through his hair.

Eddie’s so fucking hot and once again, Steve’s left to wonder how he missed it.

“What is? You okay, dude?” Eddie asks, taking just one step closer. Like he wants to comfort Steve even when he doesn’t know what he’d be comforting Steve for.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Um. Kinda fucking scared but not- uh, not in a bad way?”

That gets a little laugh out of Eddie, and it’s wonderful. Eddie has a wonderful laugh. Why did it take him so long to realize?

“Scared but not in the bad way, huh. Like when you watch a horror movie or go to a haunted house?”

“No. No. More… more like making a big life decision.”

“Oh,” Eddie says, blinking at him before his brows pinch together and he looks down, eyes on the floor instead of Steve’s face. It makes Steve feel like he can take a deep breath for the first time since enter Eddie’s room.

There’s a noise from beyond the door; it makes Steve jump. Eddie turns to look over his shoulder, like he’ll get x-ray vision and be able to see what made the noise through his own closed door. “I think they went to the porch for a cigarette.”

“Oh. Okay. Um. How- How did you meet Jack and Lee?” Steve asks, which isn’t what he came here to learn but the question has been plaguing him since he learned of Jack’s existence.

Eddie shifts. Uncomfortable. “At a bar in Indy. Why?”

Steve shrugs. “I was just curious. We didn’t go to school with either of them so you know…”

“No. I don’t know. Steve, what did you come here to tell me?” Eddie sighs, like he’s already had a full conversation with Steve in his head and didn’t like the outcome. Steve hates that he can’t just understand Eddie the same way he can Robin. Eddie is a mystery.

Eddie is a mystery, and Steve doesn’t want him to be. He wants Eddie to tell him everything about himself. Every little secret he keeps. And he wants to do the same. He wants Eddie to know everything there is to know about him, even if Steve isn’t sure there’s a whole lot to know about him.

God. Robin’s right, as usually. Steve’s not just going to come out to him. He’s going to tell Eddie he likes him.

“Right. Yeah. Umm, so. So it’s like this. You missed movie night at the beginning of June and-”

“What!?” Eddie sounds amused and offended, and Steve ignores him.

“-and like, ever since then we’ve been hanging out less and less. And like, that’s fine. You have your own friends, like a whole other life that doesn’t include me, and that’s fine. Great even. But, like. Okay. So, I dropped in unannounced and learned you had a new friend that I didn’t even know existed. Which is, like, normal. I’m not your keeper, I don’t need to know every little thing about you.” Steve is pacing in Eddie’s room and Eddie is looking at him like he’s gone insane, but he kind of feels insane right now so that’s fine.

“But, here’s the thing. You told me that jacket belonged to someone else and I couldn’t fucking stop thinking about it! That you had a friend who I didn’t know that was a close enough friend to leave things in your room and I just… Robin says I’m not good at sharing my friends. That it’s fine if I make friends and that friend already comes with other friends. But if that friend makes a new friend, that I’m not good at sharing. Does that make sense?”

When Steve turns to look at Eddie again, because he’s turned away in his pacing, Eddie has leans back against the door. Seems to be using it for support as he stares at Steve, eyes wide and confused. “No. Absolutely nothing you’ve said has made sense yet. Continue.”

“Oh. Um. Anyway, Robin told me I wasn’t good at sharing and she’s right. Because she’s always fucking right, and I was jealous. I knew I was, but it wasn’t, wasn’t until recently that I understood why. Because it didn’t feel the same. I didn’t feel jealous the same way I felt jealous when Robin told me about the friends she made in college, or back in high school with Tommy or Carol hung out with someone else,” Steve pauses, licking his lips nervously. “It felt like… like the night I saw Nancy and Jonathan together, back in junior year when Nancy and I were still dating. It felt like. Like that kind of jealousy.”

Eddie sucks in a breath but doesn’t speak, and Steve can’t seem to stop speaking, so he continues.

“Then I met Jack and he’s like fucking perfect. Fits right in with your friends and your look and he probably likes all the same shit you do and I don’t but I want- I don’t fit in and I can’t really stand how loud metal music is and I really don’t want to play your nerd game and I don’t match you, not like- not like Jack does but I saw you look at him, and it was the same way you used to look at me and I didn’t see if then, but I do know and I know this is kind of shitty. To not realize until you’ve already, like, moved on or something, and-”

“I haven’t,” Eddie speaks up and Steve’s attention snaps to him. Eddie’s looking at him with awe on his face and with disbelief in his voice. “Moved on. I haven’t. If you’re, holy shit, if you’re hear to say what I think -hope- you are, based on this absolute Robin Moment you’re having with your words.”

Steve doesn’t know what to say. Not now that Eddie’s interrupted. It was an absolute Robin Moment and she’s going to die laughing when he tells her about it, but he’s not thinking about Robin right now because it sounds like- it sounds like he’s not too late. “I- Eddie.”

Eddie shoves off his door and takes a step closer to Steve. “Steve. What did you come here to tell me?”

“That, that I’m like- that I like you,” Steve says, even though when he’s started that sentence he’d wanted to say he was some kind of gay. Half gay or something. “I like you, and I want to take you on a date.”

“Holy shit. Shit,” Eddie looks startled, even though Steve’s sure he already drew that conclusion in his mind. But thinking it and hearing it are very different. Eddie closes the distance between them but hesitates to actually reach out. “Shit, Steve. Like a real date?”

“Are there fake ones?” Steve asks, amused.

Eddie grins, shy, “yeah. I’ll let you take me on a date.”

He reaches out, placing a hand on Eddie’s hip and the other on his cheek. In a fit of bravery that surprises himself, he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

Eddie nods and keeps nodding his head even as the distance between them closes, like he can’t help himself or stop. Not until their lips touch.

Kissing is kissing, Steve realizes. Kissing Eddie is no different from kissing a girl except that because it’s Eddie and that makes Steve want it all the more. Eddie’s lips are chapped and kind of shredded because he chews on his bottom lip, but Steve doesn’t give a fuck. Not when Eddie melts against him, into the kiss. Not when he finally touches Steve back, arms wrapping around him to pull him as close as possible.

They don’t pull apart until they’re out of breath.

“Is this real? I’m not hallucinating, right? The weed we smoked wasn’t laced with anything, I thought, but-”

“It’s a shared hallucination if you are,” Steve laughs.

“I can’t believe you were envious of Jack.”

“Jealous.”

“Semantics.”

Eddie likes him. Eddie likes him, and kissed him, and he’s agreed to a date.

Later, they’ll slink back out to join Jack and Lee. Steve will learn to tolerate Jack (as much as he can knowing that Eddie used to or might still have a crush on the guy) and find that he does enjoy Lee’s company. (Later that night, he’ll learn he never needed to worry. Jack and Lee have been a couple since they were both fourteen.)

And later still, he’ll take Eddie on a date to the fair, disguised as a group outing.

Robin is smug the whole time, but Steve doesn’t care because Eddie kisses him behind the Funhouse while she plays lookout.

[wonderwyrm]

Terry Pratchett knows how to fill a moment with emotion.

Earnest, fervent, sincere emotion. Joy, humor, horror, sadness, all of them at once. Terrible, terrible things happen to the characters in his books, and yet they’re funny to the point that I think they’re mostly branded as comedy.

At the same time, I can easily see most of his books being recreated as horror stories. God, I would love to look more at the ways he creates terrifying situations.

And even during those horrifying moments, he still manages to work in a joke, and you want to laugh as you frantically turn the next page to see if the protagonist makes it out alive. I have no doubt that he might kill off a main character moments after poking fun at their name, and both moments would come across as entirely sincere.

Specifically I want to bring up an example I just came across. I’ve been going through his books in chronological order and I just got to Going Postal (spoilers ahead) and I can see why so many people have this book as their favorite.

Our main character, Moist, has been unwillingly appointed Postmaster, and the old Post Office is filled with decades of undelivered mail. It’s revealed to him, over the course of a few chapters, that the undelivered mail speaks to people, and the collective spirits of those hundreds of thousands of undelivered letters are restless and angry and trapped.

I’d like to make a note that I think this is the first time Pratchett has used magic in this particular way. Discworld has the Magic-Themed books, and the Not Magic books, and while there are occasional overlaps, for the most part Magic is used as a foil and satire for classic magical stories, or as a way for Wizards and Witches to tell their stories. Theclosest I can remember Magic happening to this is in Moving Pictures, where the Holly Wood spirit escapes into Discworld and infects the people there to start making movies, and this mostly subtle and seems a way for Pratchett to make a note of how insane it is for us to treat movies and actors and the whole business of making them in the way we do.

I’m actually rather pleased that he chose The Mail to be something that is just… magic. Unexplained, powerful, something that makes sense and yet doesn’t. Maybe that will change as I get further in the book.

To the moment I’m thinking of. Moist has just been declared Postmaster, and now he’s confronted, in the dark, by the spirits of the mail. They ask him if he will do his job, if he will move the mail again. He says that he isn’t worthy, and the mail says that they just need someone, anyone who will help them.

So Moist says he will. He will do it.

Then the mail, all the hundreds of thousands of unsent letters, say

Deliver Us

And this is what I’m talking about. This is a climatic moment, a moment where Moist is making big changes in his life, in what he is deciding to do. You can feel the desperation of the mail to be sent to their destinations, to be freed from this stagnant hell.

Deliver Us

It’s a pun, you see. Because you deliver mail. It gets delivered. A joke, in the middle of this important moment. It’s a pun and an order, to do his job, to let them fulfill their purpose.

And at the same time, it’s a plea. A desperate, angry plea to be set free and given life again, a plea that someone, even someone like Moist, will be their savior and deliver them from their endless purgatory.

Deliver Us

This is what I love about Terry Pratchett.

[joelswritingmistress]

Neighbors with Benefits: Part 5 (Joel Miller x f!reader)

Part of the #hotdilfsummerchallenge @hellishjoel

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Words: About 5000

"Your, uh, your parents left a few minutes ago," Joel informed you as you finished drying off and getting dressed. "Two separate cars. You should be safe to sneak back over unnoticed." A smile formed on his face.

"Thanks." You scrunched your nose, "I feel like I’m on, like, James Bond or something... sneaking around."

He snickered again and tossed on a t-shirt over a pair of jeans. "Well... thanks for keeping me fuckin' company."

"Yeah." You nodded, feeling that sinking feeling again from the uncertainty of the whole situation. It was a weight that was already beginning to weigh on you. Now that you'd spent a night sleeping next to him the feeling was magnified.

"You okay?"

You forced a smile, trying to focus on the amazing aspects of the night together rather than the depressing what-ifs that plagued your mind. "Yeah. I'm good."

Joel looked you up for a second and then waved you down the hall. You followed him into the kitchen where he began rummaging through a drawer filled with miscellaneous coupons, writing utensils, and post-it notes. He ripped a yellow post-it from the top of a short stack of them and then scribbled seven digits with a black sharpie and handed it to you.

"I know this is kind of the old- fashioned way to give someone your phone number," he went on, handing it over, "But, shit, I'm old."

You felt the butterflies again - a surge of positive vibes that overtook your worries as you accepted his number. "You're not that old."

Joel smiled. "Send me a text or something so I have your number too.”

“Okay.” You couldn’t contain a wide grin.

“Just maybe… make sure your parents don’t see that someone named Joel is sending you messages.”

You nodded. “Got it.” You pointed over your shoulder toward the back door with your thumb. "I'll, um... I'll see you later."

He nodded and followed you to the door as you began to head that way. When you turned the knob and pulled it open, Joel pressed his hand against it and closed it again.

You turned, staring up at him and Joel opened his mouth to speak, though nothing came out.

"I, uh..." He cleared his throat and paused for another several seconds. "I get out of work around three."

You wanted to smile, and inside your heart was doing backflips; but you were too overwhelmed by the look on his face and his unwillingness to let you leave to show it.

"Okay," you said simply. When he didn't speak you continued. "My parents usually aren't out of work until about five, so..." you snickered, "I could probably easily get back over here.”

"You could always sleep over at your friend's house again." Joel tipped the corner of his mouth up in a smile, making you grin wider.

"They may send a search party." You took it upon yourself to bring your lips back to his, watching for a second as Joel's eyes closed firmly before closing yours.

He pulled you tightly against him, leaving the other hand against the door and kissed you harder before reluctantly letting you go. "I gotta go to work." Joel brought his lips back to yours once more, and you found yourself craving him again. When your hands tightened around the fabric of his shirt he cursed against your mouth. "Fuck."

"Do you think..." you breathed, "Do you think Holly would care if I slept over a second night?"

Joel finally managed a full grin, continuing to alternate between playfully making out with you and having a conversation. "I don't think she'll mind."

You kissed him again, playing into the raw aggression he attempted to control. You could see it in his strained jaw and closed eyes.

"I hadn't fucked in a while before I met you the other day." He reached down, adjusting himself and moved away to regain some control. Joel kept his eyes closed again and tried to think of anything else.

You knew you had been indulging in your own pleasures far too much and decided to take a moment to be fair to him. As bad as you wanted to cross back into his personal space and take control of the situation, you refrained, noting he was trying to contain himself.

"I'll call you," you told him.

Joel opened his eyes and looked you up and down before nodding. A smile finally crossed his face again and he laughed at himself. "I should have just taken a damn sick day."

You giggled and shrugged, this time opening the back door fully. "I'll go home before you change your mind."

He let out a deep breath and watched you for a moment. "Keep that bag packed."

"I will." You smiled at him and looked around the house once more before opening the screen door. "See ya later."

Joel swallowed hard and nodded, watching as you exited his home.

The feelings and the energy that had swept over Joel made him feel like a new man each time he saw you. He wasn't used to any of it - the attraction, the sex and, perhaps most importantly, the way you looked at him like he was the only man in the world. All of that had been just a speck in his marriage, even early on. Joel recognized how intense the connection was and it had begun to leave him fantasizing about you long after you’d parted.

He crossed the kitchen and glanced out a window, watching as you pulled open the back door to your home. You gave a final look in his direction before heading inside and Joel turned away from the window, bracing himself against the kitchen table.

What the fuck is wrong with me? He couldn't deny that there was a touch of ‘wrong’ in fucking his neighbor’s twenty-three year old daughter; but also acknowledged that he hadn’t felt this alive and wanted in years - maybe all of his life. Joel closed his eyes and drew a hand across his beard. For a moment he just stood there in the empty house, letting his thoughts wander in rapid-fire fashion.

"Shit." He said the word quietly to himself and glanced at the clock. With fifteen minutes to spare he decided to try to make the feeling go away temporarily and walked down the hallway toward the bathroom.

Steam still lingered on the mirror and when he saw his lone reflection he immediately missed having you there looking back at him in the mirror.

I need a cold shower.

With that, he stripped his closed back off and turned the shower on. He shivered as he stepped in, purposely leaving the water cold and closed his eyes, teeth chattering, as he stood directly under the icy flow of water. Joel wrapped his arms around himself and was able to focus on the uncomfortable sting from the shower rather than the one that burned inside of him. He stood there enduring it until the top of his head felt nearly numb. Joel turned the handle hard, creating a loud thump as it clicked back into place and the faucet turned off.

Again, he took a deep breath and still shivered there alone for a moment before ripping back the curtain so he came face to face with himself again in the mirror. Joel took in his shivering body, his desperate eyes and chattering teeth. In that moment he felt he looked more like a scared child than the strong man he viewed himself as.

He shook his head again. What the fuck am I letting this woman do to me?

The rest of the morning was long, and Joel had a difficult time focusing at work. The clock felt like it was stuck on the same number for hours on end and multiple times his co-workers had called him out on spacing out as they worked together to re-wire the electrical system in a building that was being restored.

"Joel, what in the hell do you keep looking at that damn phone for?" Tommy, Joel’s brother, approached him, prompting Joel to immediately shove the phone back into his jeans pocket. He took off his hard hat and wiped sweat from his forehead.

Joel searched his mind for a lie but he had nothing, "I’m just waiting to hear back from someone… about something."

"You ain’t dying, brother, are you?" He laughed and Joel managed a chuckle.

"Nah. It’s nothing." Joel's smile faded a bit and he placed the hand on his pocket where the phone sat.

"Seems like something to me," Tommy went on, "I've never seen you so glued to that thing."

Before he could answer, the boss on their job site called out to everyone from a megaphone. “Today’s meeting is mandatory. We’re going over the blueprints for a big job that’s starting August 1st. Unless I watch you throw up, you’ll be there.”

“He’s a ray of fuckin’ sunshine,” Tommy remarked.

"Meeting." Joel nodded to himself and removed his own hard hat, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “Shit.”

"Yeah," Tommy said matter-of-factly, "You know, the shit the boss has been talking about for two weeks.”

"Yeah." He nodded, “I forgot about it.”

"Everything alright?" Tommy asked again, "Are you fuckin' hungover or something? You haven’t been overdoing it with the drinking since you and your wife split up, have you?”

"I'm fucking fine Tommy." Joel stopped abruptly and stared at his brother sternly. He thought he felt his phone go off and so he reached into the pocket of his pants again. When he found the screen viewing nothing but the time he almost cursed aloud and jammed the phone back into his pocket. When he glanced back up Tommy was staring at him. "Yeah, I know. I checked my fucking phone."

A few of the other guys glanced over and Tommy grabbed Joel by the arm, towing him to the side.

"I got you this job," Tommy scolded him, "It makes me look bad if you fuck up.”

"Stop giving me shit." He began to walk away but Tommy put a hand on his chest and Joel glared at him.

“Look, Joel. You’ve taken care of me my whole life and this is the one thing I helped you out with.”

“I’m having an off day,” Joel began but Tommy cut him off again.

“No, you haven’t been yourself in months since your lady left you.”

“You really want to go there right now?”

“I’m sorry.” He backed off. “I shouldn’t have said that, but… for me. Please. I like working with you and-”

“Fine.” Joel grumbled.

"Okay.” Tommy nodded and sensed Joel was itching to check his phone again. “But brother to brother, whatever the hell this is." He pointed toward his pocket and then directly at Joel, "Fix it.”

...

You finally decided you would text Joel when eleven o'clock rolled around. You didn't want to seem overly desperate by texting him too soon, nor did you want to interfere with the beginning of his day. Lunch time, you suspected, would be a good time to contact him.

You read the message in your mind as you typed, plopping down in the center of your bed as you did. Hey, it's me... I hope your day isn't going as hard as your morning. You squinted your eyes, not knowing if the message was too corny or forward. You hesitated a moment before finally hitting the send button. Talking dirty and using innuendos wasn't exactly your strong suit.

A loud sigh left your mouth and you rolled onto your back. Having the house to yourself and no work to do was something that very rarely happened - and something you would have typically welcomed. Now, it provided you with far too much time to daydream about Joel and all of the possibilities that went along with his abrupt, dramatic entrance into your life.

You glanced down at your phone, noting the minute hadn't rolled over yet. Still, you already felt self-conscious in the fact that he didn't immediately text your back.

It's been twenty seconds, you reminded herself.

The television played mindlessly across the room and You attempted to put your focus into a rerun of Law & Order with little success. Your eyes dropped to the phone again, this time at the exact second that the time switched from 11:00 to 11:01. It was almost like the device was taunting you; sticking out its tongue and willing you to believe that he, for some reason, ignored the message.

That was when the downward spiral of thoughts occurred in a perfect, timely fashion: Maybe he's annoyed at me for waiting so long. Maybe he's playing hard to get. Maybe he's in the middle of something important. Maybe a co-worker saw the message and now he has to explain it. Maybe he's losing interest. Maybe-

The phone sounded off providing the instant remedy to every worrisome question, and you snatched the phone up into your hands. A smile decorated your face as you read his reply. Warm relief spread into your body from his prompt response.

Jesus honey... I was starting to think my phone was broken.

Your thumbs pounded furiously at the screen as you typed out another message, smirking to yourself as you did. Didn't mean to keep you waiting!

You were completely smitten with the brewing affair and glanced out the window toward his house. You found herself counting down the minutes until three o'clock, or a little after, when you would see his truck roll back into the driveway. Your phone chimed again almost immediately this time and you glanced down to read it.

I forgot I had mandatory meeting until about 5:30 tonight... so I may be the one to keep you waiting... you have my mind clouded. I almost forgot about it.

You felt the simultaneous pull of emotions now that Joel wouldn't be home until later. Still, you felt satisfaction in the idea that you could distract him. It made the butterflies return to your stomach.

Sorry! :) Hope the meeting goes well... I have to find a way to sneak over now that my parents will be home... hmm...

The predicament was real. You weren’t sure how you would manage getting over to Joel's house without them realizing where you were going. You couldn't drive your car - they would see it in his driveway. You couldn't claim that someone was picking you up - they would see that no one was there to get you. Including Holly in the plan would let one more person in on the little secret you and Joel shared - even though you were absolutely dying to.

"Shit..." You thought about it, distracted momentarily by nothing but bad ideas that you knew wouldn't work. A part of you wished you had a key to his house so you could get over there early and greet him in your best bra and panties at the door.

Yeah, right. You knew you didn’t have the balls to do that, anyway.

When the phone sounded off again you felt instantly intrigued. I'll take care of it... don't even fuckin' sweat it.

You closed your eyes and envisioned Joel in his entirety - the feel of his trim beard against your face as you kissed; his breaths as they landed against your neck; the sounds he made at the height of his arousal in the midst of your embrace.

The collection of thoughts made you feel hot and cold; anxious and excited; and nervous but ready all at once. Joel had completely clouded your mind to the extent that you had no room for anything else.

I wonder what he has in mind.

After a long day and some on-and-off texting, Joel’s messages went cold around three o'clock, and you knew it was because of his meeting. However, when eight o'clock you felt anxiety creeping in. As crazy as it felt, you knew you couldn't be stuck in your bedroom staring at Joel's house all night.You had to see him.

The last message on your phone had come nearly a half an hour before. He informed you he was about to shower and of course that felt like a tease. It was enough for you to feel just a bit secure, though with each passing minute you wondered when he would jumpstart the evening.

Your attention was drawn for a moment to the television when a reporter came on about an incident somewhere across the country. A short video clip showed some type of creature in pursuit of two police officers defending civilians. When they all disappeared out of the range of the camera, the sound of gunshots sounded off before the news cut back to the reporter.

"We were informed earlier that the attacker was said to be high on the drug PCP, which would explain the loss of motor skills and aggressive behavior."

Your interest piqued for a moment and you tried to rewind the television to see what the thing looked like. It was dark and brief but you still couldn’t tell what exactly was happening. When your phone chimed your eyes urgently left the television and you smiled to see Joel's name on your phone screen. All he typed was: Ready?

You giggled and nodded as you typed, saying the word out loud, "Always."

A sigh left your mouth and you glanced in the mirror, fluffing out your hair a bit. You looked down at your attire - a pair of girlie boxer shorts from Victoria's Secret and sports bra.

Time to change, you thought with a grin.

The phone went off again and this time when you glanced down you continued to smile but now your curiosity piqued even more. you imagined Joel saying the words aloud that he typed: Go down into the living room. Make sure your parents are there. Text me when you get there.

All of it was so cryptic, and made the uncertainties all the more fun. It was like a big game of cat and mouse. You felt like a kid ready to go to your favorite amusement park, though you didn't know how you would get there - or which ride would be first.

Without another thought you flung open your door and rushed down the stairs, immediately catching the attention of your mom who was already there with the television on. Your father was fully reclined in what he referred to as his 'comfy chair' and was snoring away.

"Hey honey." Your mother greeted you with a smile.

"Hi." You smiled and fiddled with your phone nonchalantly, responding to Joel with a simple, I'm down here. What now?

"Holly?"

Your head snapped up and your face grew a shade darker. "Yeah," you lied.

"Your dad kind of conked out on me," your mother motioned to him in the chair, "We're supposed to be watching Survivor."

"That's still on?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course. It's one of the best shows on television."

"If you say so." You chuckled and looked down when your phone went off again.

Stay there.

"You kids and your phones."

"Hey, you're getting hooked now that you have a smartphone, too." You eyed your mother, who managed a chuckle and yawned. When a commercial came on she rose to her feet, prompting you to head in her direction. "Where are you going?"

"To the kitchen,” she said, staring at you as if you were crazy.

You glanced at your phone again and you bit down on your bottom lip. You weren't sure what Joel was up to but you wanted to obey his requests to stay put in the living room. "Well... why?"

Your mother laughed this time, "To get a bottle of water. Is that okay with you?"

"I'll get it," you offered.

"Are you hiding booze in there or something?"

You laughed, "Hiding? Mom, I'll be twenty-four in a few months. I'm going to be a big-time detective soon." You raised your eyebrows, "I don't need permission to have a drink anymore."

"You do in this house." Your father joked, seemingly springing to life. He grinned well before he opened his eyes as he teamed up with your mother in an effort to tease you.

“I'm not hiding “booze”. I was just coming down to say goodnight.” You crossed the room and kissed your mother on the cheek and then did the same to your father, who already looked like he was about to fall back asleep.

Your mother shrugged, "Well, alright." she glanced at her husband, "You must take after your father because I could stay up until midnight sometimes."

She laughed and you exchanged a hug, pleased that your phone had gone off again as you did. "Good night Mom."

"Good night." You exchanged a smile before glancing back at your phone for what felt like the fiftieth time.

All set honey. You can go back upstairs.

You didn't understand but you were already on your way to the second floor.

So... what's the plan? How will this work tonight?

You sighed, hurrying back to your room with all the intentions of changing into something you felt was more appropriate and much sexier than your typical bedtime attire. When you pushed the door open you screamed and immediately put your hand over your mouth, muffling a laugh just after.

Joel stood in between your open window and your bed. His face twisted into a smirk though he raised his eyebrows when he heard your mother shout up the stairs.

"What happened?" The television muted, "(Y/N)!”

Your mouth hung open and you quickly exited your room when you heard your mother's footsteps approaching the stairs. "I'm fine!" you shouted.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Why did you scream?" Your mother's footsteps were thudding up the stairs now and panic set in in your chest.

"Mom, I'm fine," you insisted, meeting her a step out of the partially open bedroom door. Your heart was thudding in your chest as your mother looked at you skeptically, waiting for your question to be answered. "I... there was a spider. It was... on my door handle and I touched it when I opened my door."

"Yikes. Where did it go?"

"I don't know."

You prayed your mother wouldn't try to enter your bedroom as your eyes began to scan the hardwood floors of the hallway.

"Mom, it's fine," you insisted, "I think I squished it when I opened the door.

"I hate knowing there's a spider in here."

"It was tiny," you insisted, strategically placing your body in between your mother and your room. The only way you could have kept your mother out would have been to push her away, and you didn't have the heart to do something like that. With a deep breath the two of you entered the room.

Joel was nowhere to be seen and your eyes frantically scanned the area while your mother's scanned the floor.

"Mom, I'm fine... really." You were panicking now as you had no idea where Joel had gone. "Please. It's dead. It was smaller than a dime." You took a deep breath, "They're going to vote someone off the island and you're going to miss it."

Finally, your mom let up a bit in her pursuit and stood with her hands on her hips as if she'd just completed some grand mission. "Well... kill it if you see it. You know I hate those things."

"I will." You were practically stiff-arming her out of the room, though you softened up your tone. "I love you, Mom. Thanks for spider hunting for me."

She smiled, "Good night honey."

You watched for a moment, making sure your mother had retreated back to the first floor before closing the door to your bedroom and locking it. For several seconds you stood in silence, glancing around and only able to hear the sound of your thudding heart. When Joel slowly crept up from the floor in between the bed and the wall where the window was, you put your hand on your chest and let out a deep breath.

"Well, I didn’t expect you to scream like that." Joel grinned wide, speaking quietly.

"How did you get in here?" You laughed, whispering the question to him. You were so infatuated by every little thing he did.

Joel nodded toward the window before kicking off his shoes and making himself at home in the center of your bed. "It's been awhile since I've scaled a house to sneak into a girl's bedroom."

"Is that a habit of yours?"

He chuckled, "Sounded a little fuckin' creepy now that I think of it. But, no... not since I was in high school."

You bit down on your bottom lip and crossed the room, leaning a knee on the bed next to him. "You scaled the house?"

Joel smiled wider, "Being a little bad feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

You responded by swinging one leg across his body and straddling him on the bed before bringing your lips down to meet his.

He kissed you for a few seconds before latching his fingers beneath the band of your shorts. "Do you sleep in these?"

A day ago you would have felt self-conscious, though now you could tell he was being flirtatious. "Sometimes..." you kissed him a little harder, "And sometimes nothing at all."

"Mmm..." Joel smiled as you kissed again.

"So... are we going to your place?"

He smiled, "How the hell are we going to do that, honey?"

You shrugged your shoulders.

Joel drew a hand up to your face and twirled a strand of hair in his fingers, unable to keep himself from grinning. "We're staying right here." He laughed, "What’d you think when your mom burst in here?”

"I felt like I was going to be sick."

"How do you feel now?" He reached for your hand and held it in his own, smirking when he saw you were shaking from all the nerves. "You're used to doing the right thing all the time, aren't you?"

"No, I-"

"I like that." Joel smiled wider and kissed you again. "But you are certainly pushing your limits with me." His hand snaked up your back and he began to urge you out of the sports bra you had on until you laid topless on top of him.

"It feels good to push the limits," you told him, closing your eyes as he began kissing your neck and cupping your breast with one of his hands.

"Only one way we're going to get caught messing around in here tonight," he whispered against your neck.

"What's that?" You arched your head back and moaned lightly.

Joel laughed and laid his head back down flat on the pillow. "If you can't be quiet."

"No promises," you teased, purposely pushing back so he could view your upper body in its entirety.

"Mmm..." he hummed. "Well, if I'm too much for you," Joel reached for a second pillow next to where he laid, "Just moan into this."

CLICK HERE FOR PART 6

@pedropascal111 @axshadows @mybritishstyle @untamedheart81 @amyispxnk @goodvibesonly421

[madockisser]

“jude and cardan and bully x victim!”

WRONG! let me tell u why! since this cmmt makes my blood BOIL. obviously spoilers for whole trilogy!

first of all, and most importantly, you cannot call them bully x victim bc jude and cardan were not romantically involved til the last book(or the end of the 2nd if u include their marriage), and were only sexually involved in the second.

by the time they were romantically involved, meaning, a consensually formed romantic relationship, was by the end of book 2, which by then, cardan had not in fact been bullying jude.

he had not “bullied” jude at ALL during the second book. i could argue that CARDAN is the victim of jude’s bullying in the second book because she quite literally enslaved that man!(consensually ofc!)

i agree that cardan treated jude poorly in the first book, but he consistently went out of his way to ensure her safety all the while his “friends” actively humiliated and attacked her.

ex: he freed her from her faerie fruit glamour so locke wouldn’t go anywhere with her while she was under the influence, he kicked valerian off of jude while he was trying to kill her, he sent her a coronation dress so that taryn and locke wouldn’t further humiliate her when they announced their engagement, he also sent that dress to protect her from faeries that may be unaware of her social status and try to hurt her, he warned locke against persusing her, he ensured she didn’t drown when his dumb friends tried to drown her. and that’s just the first book.

yes, i agree, cardan put her in shitty spots, but holly black herself said that cardan was “all talk” and he only acts this way so she can finally leave his mind and he can stop having feelings for her. i don’t recall the exact quote but it was in htkoelths, “every night jude haunted him, an absent bite of her lip…”

when they kiss in the first book, that is jude, HUMILIATING him back. “u rly do want me and u hate it” no, they are not madly in love w each other at this point. no, all is not forgiven on cardans part since they’ve kissed.

she weaponizes his feelings for her so she can use him in a plot to protect her brother.

“jude falling for cardan didn’t make sense!”

idk if anyone who has said this just didn’t pay attention or what bc the ENTIREE book jude’s just thinking of cardan LOL.

“wonder what cardan would think of this”

“cardans the hottest faerie ever he’s way better looking than the rest but i hate him sm i can’t breathe” like babe u want him cmon now. oh and not to mention her literally sucking face w locke just bc she wants to get back at cardan since she knows he doesn’t like her w him. plus her kissing locke while her and cardan are having staring contests like ok delusional

“jude didn’t even get revenge!” yes. i HAVE heard this 😭.

jude killed his friend, her father killed nearly his entire family, then jude was like “oh! missed one, dad! haha!” then kills cardans brother, his abuser, but also the one he cared for the most. then again w her placing him on the throne which he desperately didn’t want, and also yknow, their year and a day vow in which she commands him to do her bidding. like ???!

“but cardan exiled jude!”

yeah! he sure did! to PROTECT her! from orlagh! u really think the queen of the undersea would let her ambassador being killed and her only chance at ruling both the sea and the land slide like that, ESPECIALLY after cardan completely put her in her place in front of all of elfhame?? like cmon people!

but he also does this to trick her. “i thought you’d admire me a bit for it.” bc jude tricks ppl. jude tricked him into sitting on the throne. so he tried to impress her by tricking her back in a way that could ensure their futures. and he’d thought she’d understand but babe was blindsided by her feelings of rejection since she likes him sm and is pissed that she for once let her emotions get the better of her. and when she didn’t come back cardan was devastated.

but, all the while knowing exactly where she is but not wanting to invade her private life and wanting her to come back willingly, he grovels like crazy!

“come home and shout at me, come home and scream at me, just come home”

jude and cardan both, against all odds, hated and desired and loved each other, lost each other, and when they were reunited again, they cleared the air and forgave each other. anyway, i could go on, but i’m still finishing my reread so!

but bully x victim my ass.

(these are holly blacks annotations(canon))

[stevesbipanic]

@steddiemas Day 23: "You were how old when you stopped believing in Santa?"

Steve didn't know how but he'd been volunteered as the one to take Holly to see the mall Santa this year. From what he'd been told Holly had practically begged Karen to let Steve take her. She was always his favourite to babysit so he really didn't mind, but he did get Eddie to accompany him. Thankfully, his boyfriend didn't mind and actually thought Holly was pretty fun since she liked to pretend to be dragons with him.

Holly had taken both of their hands once they arrived at the mall, insisting that they swing her as they walked towards the line for Santa.

"I'm going to ask him for a dolly that looks like you, Stevie!"

"Aw thanks Holly, but you can ask for any doll you want ya know."

"I know but I want a pretty doll like you!"

"Yeah she wants a pretty doll like you, sweetheart."

Steve smiled fondly at the pair of them and was hit with the desire that one day he and Eddie could take their own daughter to see Santa. They patiently waited in line until it was Holly's turn. Steve could confidently say she was one of the more polite kids he'd seen go up to Santa that afternoon. He watched as she smiled brightly at Santa, telling him what she wanted for Christmas and blushed softly when she pointed at him as she asked for toys. After the picture they went for ice cream and she was asleep by the time they dropped her home.

It was a good day, and the boys talked about how cute Holly had been when they got back to their apartment that night.

"She's a good kid, much better than I was at that age, I complained the whole way when Wayne took me, I had stopped believing in Santa by the time I got to him. Mom was good with getting me Santa gifts but after she died it wasn't hard to connect the dots," Eddie explained cuddling into Steve on the couch.

"You got further than me, I never even got a Santa photo, the Nanny did Santa for me for a couple years but when you're three and you wake up to your parents packing for a vacation without you and not a single gift under the tree it's not hard to work out that Santa was fake," Steve replied, and he could feel Eddie stiffen beside him.

"You were how old when you stopped believing in Santa?"

"Three, although I don't think I really believed much anyway, no one told me many Christmas stories."

"Steve," Eddie said in that tone that Steve had come to know as the one people used when he shared something that was sadder than he realised it was.

"What?"

"Just adding things to my list of reasons I'm killing your parents."

Steve laughed softly, "Good luck I think they've decided I was dead to them once they heard I moved into the town's local drug dealer."

Eddie had that look in his eye that he was planning something but kissed Steve before he had much chance to ask. He learned what it was soon enough when the next day Eddie drove them back to the mall.

"What're we doing here, Eds? We already did our Christmas shopping."

"You'll see, sweetheart."

They exited the car and Steve wished they lived somewhere that let them hold hands. But Eddie still found moments to brush against his side until they reached their destination.

"Why are we at Santa again?"

"You said you never got a Santa photo, well we're going to get one, together."

Steve turned to his boyfriend and smiled brightly, no one had cared about him in the way Eddie did, he felt loved wholly.

"Robbie is going to be jealous."

"She'll forgive me, we'll do one of the three of us next year, maybe she'll have asked out Vickie by then."

Their Santa photo took a proud centre space on their refrigerator and it became one of Steve's favourite.

Ao3

[gffa]

One of the biggest hurdles with the Lockwood and Co. books is that they're set entirely from Lucy Carlyle's point of view and there is a whole lot of body shaming that really set my teeth on edge when I first read it. Some of it is still just awful, but I've come around on that I can read a lot of it as Lucy's unexamined issues from childhood rearing their heads in some nasty ways.

Her relationships with all the characters around her are contentious and full of conflict even just in her thoughts, she's so nasty to George, to Holly, to the Skull, to Kipps, to Barnes, etc. It most especially comes out with Holly (and Kat Godwin before her, then Flo Bones as well) and it's very easy to read Lucy as reacting badly to her own attraction to women, her envy of them and her inability to let herself be attracted to them, because she's closed off so tightly.

But it's also her relationship with the Skull, who she constantly argues with and says she hates, she has nothing but poison for it in her thoughts, but as soon as it goes missing, she's desperate to get it back.

It's also in her relationship with George, who she constantly nettles and thinks mean thoughts about, but it's obvious that she cares about him deeply and has grown to love him as a friend, even if she can't necessarily admit that to herself.

Her entire dynamic with Holly is centered around how feminine Holly is, how pretty she is, how Lucy just cannot stop thinking about how Holly dresses, how she does her hair, how soft her skin looks, how her little hand motions are so delicate and proper. And, yeah, some of it is envy and feeling insecure, that other people will like Holly more than her, but it's also just so much attention on all the little details that it comes off as unrealized physical attraction.

And then suddenly, I'm looking at all of the relationships Lucy has with people, where almost all the people she likes and respects are ones she's nasty to. Which clicked into place for me when she went back to visit her home town and was miserable there, the poor relationship she had with her family suddenly making so much sense in the way she rejects people before they can reject her, that she's so terrified of being vulnerable that she schools her thoughts and actions and words into prickly meanness so that she doesn't get hurt when they don't want her.

Lockwood is the exception to this, because he's the one who took all her nastiness and kept being mostly kind to her, he allowed a certain amount of vulnerability to himself and Lucy slowly started to come around on him and thought nicer of him. Sure, part of it is that she has feelings for him and so her thoughts are kinder, but I think it goes hand in hand with the way Lockwood is the one that never really sniped back at her or egged her on in any way, he started to feel safe to her, he started to feel secure to her.

And then she breaks his trust! She sneaks into the locked room to find out about his history, in a moment of anger and frustration, she breaks the thing that he asked them not to poke into, and she knows he would have every right to be angry enough at her to kick her out! But he's nice to her about it! He says, no, it was time to tell you guys about it anyway. He's open and vulnerable about something that she desperately feared rejection over!

Which is of course why her feelings reach a certain point and she has to acknowledge them, she can't deny them anymore, so the slightest push (the ghost wearing Lockwood's face, saying that she would do this to him, get him killed) has her running off from the agency and going independent, because she's terrified that she'll get Lockwood killed/terrified of actually stepping across that line into having feelings that could really hurt her if she's not accepted.

She's complicated and messy and I love her, she's a great character with a great, dynamic arc--but it does require reading into some of the more problematic elements of the character and taking a more generous view of them, even when I know much of the real answer is that the author probably didn't see the problem with the way he would have her describe characters (especially anyone that was overweight) and you have to find the mental line you're willing to walk with that. But if you're okay with wincing through some of the earliest stuff, I think there's a really cool Hot Mess Lady character waiting on the other side.

[prettyarson]

You Wouldn’t

featuring: fae!scaramouche x human!reader

cw/tw: bully!scara, hair pulling, crying, faeries pull tricks

synopsis: the faerie world is no place for a human to be

notes: honestly, i’ve been reading the folk of the air series by holly black and just couldn’t get it out of my mind bye

—

You mentally cursed yourself. You always found yourself in this situation.

Bound on the dirt ground, snickers and laughter echoed through the forest dome. The berries around your neck did little protecting to the faeries’s tricks and jokes. And you always found yourself as the punchline.

Being a human in the fae world was full of beautiful, lavishing danger. You knew this world was no good for you; the glamour, the beauty, and the intoxicating pull that keeps you close. You were vulnerable to all of it. And yet, you couldn’t stay away. It was so intoxicating, addicting.

“The dirt fits you.” A dashingly, devious voice spoke, laughter bubbling in his throat, “After all, it’s where your kind are born to end.”

Looking up through your lashes, you drowned in indigo hues. Scaramouche was the most gorgeous faerie that you ever laid your mortal eyes upon. Pearly, iridescent fangs taunted into a smirk that paired perfectly with the rioting look in his eyes.

Ever since you stumbled upon the faerie world —who would have guessed that stump would move?— his undying attention was sewn into messing with you. Most of his tricks were harmless, but he always had a sharp tongue. His words, edged like knives, were his worst weapons against you.

But you never faltered. Your eyes only turned into a glare as you stared up at him. You slowly lifted yourself until you were sitting comfortably. Then you dusted yourself off, purposely tossing the grains towards his shoes.

“Actually, all of my family is cremated.” You tsked, keeping your deep gaze to the fae before you.

His smirk fell, tying and twisting into a scowl. You always seemed to get on his nerves. You always seemed to slither below his skin. And he let you.

“Would you like me to reunite you?” He scoffed, taking a few small steps towards you.

You used to flinch. You used to cower away. You used to stumble over your feet at you ran away.

But not anymore. You stood your ground.

Pushing yourself up from the dirt, fist clenched, you remained eye contact.

“You wouldn’t dare.” You sneered, taking a few steps to match his. “You don’t have it in you to kill me.” You hoped you were right.

There was a flash in his eyes before he closed the distance, chests pressed together. Scaramouche’s hand flew towards your hair and grabbed a handful, tugging harshly. A hiss of pain pried your lips open.

“Just look at you.” He cooed, “I could crush your mortal head with just one squeeze.”

Tears pooled at the corners of your eyes, the pain growing with each tug of a strand connected to your scalp. You hoped he couldn’t feel your body trembling against his.

But he could.

The fear your face morphed into had his movements vaulting. There was a hitch of his breath as a race of tears battled down your cheeks. Within a breath, his grip on your hair vanished.

You felt your head lull forward as the locks fell back into place. Shock consumed you, swallowing you whole. You dared not to look back at the fae, but temptation was a dastardly thing.

Peeking through your thoughts, you scanned the devious fae. His eyes were wide, filled with confusion and shock, but only for a brief moment.

“W-What are you crying for, ya baby?” He choked out, quickly taking a few steps back and crossing his arms. He wouldn’t look at you.

You were quick to defend yourself as you jumped up, “I’m not crying!”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he reached inside of his pocket and withdrew a lilac handkerchief. Scaramouche outstretched it towards you, a creeping blush rampaging his pointed ears and graceful cheeks.

He cleared his throat and spared you a quick glance.

“Clean yourself up.”

Once you didn’t reach to take the soft fabric, he lightly placed it atop your head. Heat engulfed your cheekbones into flames and you couldn’t help the way your eyes followed his movements in wonder.

Your fingers grasped the handkerchief tightly and hugged it to your chest. He watched you expectantly, waiting. Then slowly, you lifted it towards your face and lightly brushed the dried up tears.

Satisfied, he turned and began to descent further into the forest. Footsteps echoed through your ears as he crunches through leafs and branches. And you just watched him leave, holding tightly onto the handkerchief.

[m1sa-w1sa]

Hii! May I please get a yandere Xiao(scenario, hc, anything-its up to u) with a darling on her period?(I swear to god he will probabily be like:"how did th u cut ur vagina??!!")

(NO YOU XANT!!!! jk ofc u can! This is pretty funny so im happy to do it!

(Sorry again if the yandere doesnt rlly pop but im trying to show it as much as i can!)

•He would be so worried, hes already protective that would go up 10x

•He hardly lets you go somewhere without him, but when you TELL him about your period hes confused, like why are you bleeding from your vagina… but is also a little conflicted if he should go or not, what if you try to leave without him?

•You would have to PLEAD with him to get you some pads but ultimately will probably ask the traveler to do it so he wouldnt have to leave

•When you have cramps, holly shit, hes PANICKING like hopping all over the walls, just seeing you on the bed in pain, clutching your side makes him panic, he would quickly heat up something for you after informing him that you need something warm, not leaving your side AT ALL his hand is on top of yours keeping the heated pad on their like its his life on the line (he feels like it is becuase how your in pain)

You started your period, quickly trying to find a pad in cabinets, drawers, under the sinks but finally you found one, only one but you knew that wasnt going to last the whole day so you had to ask your captor. As much as you didnt want to you rather deal with him than have some period blood all over the bed. ‘ Xiao..? ‘ Quietly calling out seeing him on the balcony as he didnt even take a second to look at you ‘ I told you not to come out.. ‘ His voice sounded raspy as he turned his head a bit to see you walking towards him. ‘ Can you get me some pads? Please..? ‘ You asked, he looked at you with a strange look on his face ‘ Pads..? Whats that? Why do you need them? ‘ You sighed as you would look down thinking how you should word this ‘ Im on my period, and I need some pads, its when a women bleeds put of.. you know down there.. ‘ You say pointing at your private area as his face had a worried look all over it ‘ How— How to you cut it down there?! Are you hurt? Do i need to take you to— ‘ Put your finger in front of his mouth as you shook your head ‘ No! Its natural can you just go get some for me? Please? ‘ Xiao was conflicted if he should go or not, or he can ask someone else to do it, but either way he hated seeing you in distress so he reluctantly nodded but making you stay in the room for the time being, at least you dont have to deal with blood stained sheets..

[bella-rose29]

You Shall Go to the Ball!

Anthony Lockwood x f!Karim!reader

Requested by anon: Hey, I don't know if you accept requests, but I have one. Reader(she is George's sister) accompanies Lockwood&co to the ball at Fittes and she is jealous when she sees Lockwood talking to the girl (maybe reader enemy or something)most of the time. She decides to interrupt the conversation and introduces herself as his wife, while showing the ring Lucy gave her, explaining what to do. A long chapter please😊

I am so sorry that this took so long anon 😭 (I'm also not sure about the title tbh but oh well)

a long chapter this will be! I made the reader George's adopted sister (I hope that's ok!). I also made this super long because I got so carried away and if it deviates from what you wanted then I'm so sorry my lovely

I made it just... a generic ball? I don't know if you had one specifically in mind but I thought it would fit better to have an occasion where they aren't fighting for their lives lol

sorry if your name is Maya bc that is the name of Lucy's crush in this and also sorry if your name is Steph bc she's the enemy of the reader (I had to put names in I'm sorry 🥲)

Word count: 9.8k (I'm doing my bit you guys)

Warnings: swearing, a sexual innuendo or two, bullying (mostly focused on the fact the reader is adopted), lockwood and reader love each other but they haven't done anything about it, tumblr lagged while I wrote most of this so there are probably mistakes, lockwood has some mildly self-deprecating thoughts, mentions of lockwood's suicidal tendencies, there's probably more but idk what

Tag list: @anathemaloren, @augustisintheair, @avdiobliss, @dangelnleif, @el-de-phi, @ell0ra-br3kk3r, @informedimagining, @karensirkobabes, @mischivana, @mitskiswift99, @mrsklockwood, @mrsyixingunicorn10, @novelizt, @ran23sblog, @superpositvecloudshipper, @t2sh0, @taygrls, @tournesol77, @wandamaximoffbae, @whenselenefallsinlove, @wordsarelife

As always, let me know here if you would like to be added to/removed from the tag list for my lockwood and co works (or drop me a message!) <3

Y/n was not happy.

She ought to have been, given the occasion, but she was very much unhappy instead.

Lucy was trying not to laugh too loudly, but was failing at her attempts to stifle just how funny she found the whole situation. "You know," she said between breathy laughs, "all of this would be a whole lot easier if you just told him how you feel."

"Nope. Not happening. Every time I try I freeze up and blabber some unintelligible words that make no sense, and I look like an idiot. So no."

The 'him' in question was Anthony Lockwood, the head of Lockwood and Co and resident of 35 Portland Row. Lucy Carlyle, George Karim and Holly Munro lived here too, and as George's sister Y/n had been invited to Lucy's 18th birthday party. It was a small party, only the five of them (six if you included the Skull, but only Lucy could hear it so Y/n didn't), but the atmosphere was lively and music was playing over the speakers George had set up. Banners and balloons stating 'Happy Birthday!' were strewn all over the living room (Y/n could already see Holly's eye twitching at the amount of confetti on the floor), and the boys were busy refilling glasses (another reason not to count the Skull - it had nothing to hold a drink with).

"You have to do it at some point though," she whispered into Y/n's ear. "But right now, you need to move." Lucy pointed in the direction Y/n was supposed to go, and she tilted her head back as she groaned.

"Remind me why you ever made me play this game?"

"Because it's my birthday, and you love me. Go on, unless you wanna forfeit."

"You're evil," Y/n hissed as she pushed herself off of the floor and made her way over to Lockwood. "I'm sorry, again."

"I'm not sure what for, to be honest. You're just playing the game." He smiled up at her from his place by the fire, and Y/n tried to ignore George's glare. "George, please stop looking at me like that. Lucy was the one who dared Y/n to sit on me." Y/n felt her face warm at his words, knowing that this night could only end in disaster for her, and decided to bite the bullet. Huffing, she turned and sat down, her back facing Lockwood as her legs went either side of his, and she let out a small yelp of surprise when his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her against him. Lucy only laughed, loud and obnoxious, and Y/n couldn't find it in her to shoot a look, still too taken aback by the feel of being hugged by Lockwood in this way. "You alright?" he asked, voice quiet and gentle in her ear, and she felt his breath on the side of her face.

"Y-yeah. I'm alright. How are you?" She cringed at herself, but his light chuckle reverberated through her and calmed her immediately.

"I'm alright. Quite comfy, actually. You're very warm." As if to back up his point he snuggled in to her shoulder, nose rubbing against the side of her neck, and Y/n almost choked. Instead she made a sort of strangled noise, and he stopped and looked up at her as though he was about to say something. Lockwood opened his mouth, but was cut off by George.

"Okay, she's sat on him, can she go back now? I don't wanna look at this anymore."

"George, Lucy dared her to do it for the rest of the game," Holly piped up, clearly enjoying this as much as Lucy. She also knew about Y/n's feelings for Lockwood, the three of them having had multiple nights where they talked for hours about the other two members of Lockwood and Co, and hadn't wasted any time at all in joining Lucy in her teasing about Y/n's crush. "Rules are rules, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, and it's my birthday, so don't even start to think about asking to stop the game. Besides, they look quite comfortable now, wouldn't wanna make 'em move again, would we?"

"I'm very comfortable, thanks Luce," Lockwood said, his hold tightening on Y/n.

"Y-yep. Perfectly good." Lucy and Holly shared a look, stifling their laughter. George sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, huffing at the scene in front of him. Y/n's brother also knew about her feelings for his boss, and he while he wasn't exactly mad about it, he also wasn't thrilled. She knew that he meant well, and was only looking out for her (especially since Lockwood tended to throw himself directly into danger most of the time), but a little support would be appreciated.

The rest of the game went without much incident, although George did have to stick his hand in the toilet (a dare from Holly that nobody expected, although since her arrival in the house the toilets were spotless so it wasn't much of a trial), and by the time Y/n realised that she should be getting home it was well past midnight.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Okay, um- Lockwood! Hi!" He had just entered the living room where Y/n was stood clearing up (the others had gone up to their respective bedrooms), and she apprehended him in the doorway. "Can you help me call a taxi? I need to go home now and it's really late and-"

"Woah, slow down!" He placed his hands on her shoulders, a smile on his face. "Why don't you just stay over, yeah? It's what, two in the morning? You might as well sleep here and leave after breakfast. Your parents probably expected you to stay here anyway, right?" She nodded. It was a common occurrence for her to stay the night at Portland Row when visiting, since she didn't see them all that much. "So it's not a problem, really. You can take my bed if you like, save waking the others up."

"Lockwood, you really don't have to do that," Y/n started, but he cut her off.

"Nonsense. Holly's stayed too, so I'd feel bad if I turfed you out at this time of night."

"No, I mean giving me your bed. You don't have to do that." He shrugged, then moved to grab a blanket from one of the cupboards.

"I'll be alright, I'll sleep on the sofa. Seriously, Y/n/n, it's fine." He flashed her one of his smiles, and instantly she melted and gave in.

"Ugh, fine. But don't complain tomorrow morning when your back hurts," she wagged a finger at him, exhaustion winning out over guilt about taking his bed as she moved towards the door.

"Alright," he laughed, and Y/n didn't think she'd heard a better sound.

She traipsed upstairs and got ready for bed, and when she fell asleep moments after settling in she dreamed of the brown haired boy downstairs.

~~~

Y/n was sat at home in her room a day or so later when George burst in, arms filled with papers and glasses skewed on his nose.

"I've been thinking," he started, dumping the papers on the end of her bed and flopping next to her.

"Hi, Georgie, I'm doing great, thanks. What am I doing? Oh, not much, just sat here reading a book and listening to music." She sent him a pointed look to which he huffed and lightly slapped her arm.

"Shut up. Hi, how are you? Great, nice, okay. Can you listen to me now?"

"What?"

"So I've been thinking about you and Lockwood, and I've decided I don't mind too much. I mean, it's irritating, really, but technically I don't need to do a boyfriend check because I live with him so I know all his nasty habits and that, and I know that he's loyal to a fault, which is something I should probably raise with him, actually," George paused, frowning as he lost his train of thought.

"Um- okay... Where has this come from? I thought you wanted me to stop liking him?"

"Yeah, but then I had to listen to him pining after you for the last two hours at the Archives and I realised that maybe it would be better if you just got together already." Y/n stared at him in shock, processing the information her brother had just spewed.

"Wait, wait. Lockwood likes me? Are you sure?"

"Completely. This isn't some hypothesis or theory, it's fact. My sanity can prove it because it's nearly all gone."

"Okay, but... you're sure? Like this isn't a joke, right?"

"No! It's not a joke! God, you really are perfect for each other; he said the same thing you know. Didn't believe that I was telling the truth about you reciprocating his feelings. Seriously, you're both idiots for not seeing it, I mean, he let you sit on him a couple of days ago!"

"That was part of a game!" Y/n spluttered, face heating at the memory of his hands around her and his head in the crook of her neck.

"Well he wouldn't have cosied up to me, would he!" Y/n fell backwards against the headboard, hands pressed to her face as she groaned in frustration."You're still not gonna do anything about it, are you?" George was quieter now, and Y/n moved her hands slightly to peer at him through her fingers.

"Correct. I want cold hard proof before I make a proper fool of myself and have to never go to Portland Row again for fear of dying from embarrassment." Now it was George's turn to groan in frustration.

"Well somebody's just going to have to engineer a situation where you confess then, aren't they?!"

"Please, no. I will murder you while you sleep if you try anything." George was impassive when Y/n glared at him, used to her threats of death.

"Fine! I won't do anything, alright! Happy?"

"Sort of." They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, Y/n trying to read her book again but eventually getting too distracted by the mountain of paperwork that her brother hadn't touched since arriving. "What is all that, anyway?" she pointed to the end of the bed.

"Oh, my research for a case we have in a couple of days. I couldn't sit with Lockwood anymore, he was driving me insane."

Y/n rolled her eyes at her brother's dramatics. "Do you want help looking through it all?"

"Please. I have no doubts that Lockwood will be doing anything but research right now, and there's a lot to get through. At least I know that you'll stay focused."

"Come on then. Oh, are you staying for dinner? Mum's cooking tonight so you know it'll be good."

"I might do. I get caught up in this stuff anyway so we'll see what time it is. Thanks for the help, Y/n/n."

"No problem, Georgie." She ruffled his hair, laughing when he practically threw himself off of the bed to escape. He landed on the floor with a thud, only making Y/n laugh harder.

"I hate you," he said, sitting up and glaring at her through wonky glasses. "You're the devil, I swear."

~~~

Lockwood and George were cleaning the equipment after yet another successful case when George dropped the chains he was oiling and looked up at his boss.

"I don't get it," he started, making Lockwood glance up with a frown.

"Get what?"

"You barely know Y/n, and you only ever interact when she's here with us, so how are you so hopeless when it comes to my sister?"

Lockwood blushed as he remembered all the times he'd lied to his friends, telling them that he was going on a supply run or heading to the shops when in reality he was making his way to the cafe that Y/n worked at. He spent a good hour or so in there multiple times a week, and sometimes he'd offer to walk her home at the end of her shift, desperate for another few minutes in her presence. Since first meeting her not long after George joined his agency (she'd brought cake, homemade, saying that she wanted to give George a 'congrats on the new job!' present) Lockwood had wanted to be around her all the time; she was like the sun, and everything was gloomy without her. The first time he'd showed up at her place of work, he'd pretended it was a coincidence, acting surprised when he saw her behind the counter. Truthfully, he'd taken a gamble on whether or not she'd be working that day, but the blinding smile that was present on her face as she served customers (although Lockwood could tell it was a fake one) immediately told him that his gamble had paid off.

"Lockwood? Hi! How are you? How's Georgie doing, is he alright? Oh, did you want anything?"

"Just a tea, thanks love," he'd replied, not meaning for the term of endearment to slip out, but her resultant blush was enough to make him decide on repeating it. She started making a cup (he'd asked for it to take away), asking questions every now and then to get his order right, and he answered those as well as her previous questions about George. Eventually, he'd had to leave, paying for the tea he now held and exiting the shop with a promise to come back soon when she'd waved goodbye. It had become a sort of ritual for the two of them, Lockwood appearing a couple of times a week, sometimes to sit at a table with some case files, others he would just get his order to go, but he'd find a way to talk to her every time. On the days when he'd promised to walk her home she would have a cup of tea already prepared for him, sat on his usual table in the corner next to a plate of whatever pastry or cake she thought that he would enjoy. At some point over the years, Lockwood had started feeling his cheeks heat up whenever Y/n smiled at him, or butterflies start up in his stomach when their hands brushed, and eventually he'd had to accept the fact that he was falling in love with her.

"Lockwood? Lockwood! Back to the present, please!" George demanded, snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face. He was sure it had only been a few seconds, but George was annoyed all the same at Lockwood's daydreaming. He huffed in frustration, picking up the chains again."You two are insufferable, do you know that? Seriously, just ask her out already. She feels the same and you know it."

"I thought you didn't want me dating your sister?" Lockwood frowned, feeling hope start to bloom in his chest.

"Yeah, well, then I had to sit and listen to you talk about her for two hours the other day and I lost my mind."

"Oh. Well. I wasn't that annoying, was I?" George only stared at him, expression saying 'Are you serious?' and Lockwood had his answer.

"Just, I don't know. You both like each other, so why not? It'll save me from the pining at least."

Lockwood was quiet for a while, mulling over George's words. "I just know that she can do better than me," he eventually said, not looking up from the boots he was polishing. "I don't want her to... regret being with me, or something."

"Lockwood, having spent the last four years listening to her talk about you I can say with confidence that she won't regret being with you. All I ask is that you dial down the suicidal tendencies on cases, yeah? I really don't want to deal with her heartbroken." George's voice was the softest Lockwood had ever heard it, and Lockwood nodded his assent.

"Alright. I'm not making any promises though Sometimes my suicidal tendencies help us stop dying instead."

"I'm not doing much better than that, am I?"

"Nope. I will be slightly less chaotic on cases and that's as much as I can do for you."

"Fine. Keep polishing those boots, you've missed a spot."

~~~

It was a few weeks later when Lucy called Y/n up in a panic, yelling random words down the phone and ranting about something that sounded important.

"Lucy, Lucy! Stop talking for a moment!" The other girl did so, promptly falling silent, and Y/n took a breath. "What's happened?"

"There's this party- ball- thing that Fittes are throwing in like, two weeks, and we have to go because we've been invited but I have nothing to wear. At all. And you always know what to do in these situations so I figured you could help me?"

She was quiet for a moment, and then said "But it's... in two weeks?"

"Yeah."

"So why are you worrying about it right now?"

"Because loads of people have been invited, Y/n! What if the perfect outfit sells out? What if I end up in something I hate because there was nothing else?"

"Wait, wait wait." Y/n sat forward on her bed, pulling the phone off of the nightstand when the cord no longer reached. "Are you trying to impress somebody?" Now it was Lucy's turn to be quiet, and Y/n scoffed in disbelief. "Oh my god, Lucy Carlyle, do you have a crush?!"

"No, I don't! Shut up! Ugh! You are so annoying, for fuck's sake!"

"You totally do! You so have a crush! Who is it? Tell me!"

"I am telling you nothing, you nosey little bastard!"

"Okay, okay! Fine! I will get this information out of you, I hope you know. When do you wanna go shopping then?"

"Today?"

"Jesus, thanks for the notice!"

"A different day then! But we are not leaving it to the last minute like you always do!"

"No, no, it's fine, Luce. Mum's gone full clean mode anyway so it gives me an excuse to get out the house. Make my siblings do the work."

"Aren't you worried about your own room coming under fire?"

"Nope. We did mine yesterday, so I know I'm safe. I'll meet you at yours in twenty minutes?"

"Yeah, alright." They hung up and Y/n rushed downstairs, grabbing her bag and coat and pulling her shoes on, and within a few minutes she was yelling to her parents that she'd be back later and laughing at her siblings when they complained about her leaving them to their mother's cleaning fury.

~~~

"So," Y/n started, her tone supposedly disinterested as she, Lucy and Holly browsed the department store racks for something for the two agents to wear. "Who is it? The person you're dressing up for?"

"Oi, quit it." Lucy sent a glare her way, but it was too late. Holly had overheard and was joining in, and for once Y/n was glad that it wasn't her being questioned about a crush.

"Are we talking about Maya?"

"No," Lucy shot back, far too quickly for it to be the truth, and her rapidly reddening cheeks weren't helping either.

"Is that her name? Oh my god, okay! Wait, what do you know about her, Holly?"

"She hasn't told you anything? Okay, okay, so she's called Maya, works at Fittes which isn't brilliant, but she's sweet enough. Lucy totally wrecked her first impression though, which was hilarious."

"It was not! I looked like an idiot!" Lucy now had her face in her hands, and Holly had moved to link arms with Y/n. It turned out that Lucy had quite literally fallen for this girl after tripping on a kerb when staring at her, and Holly had laughed so hard she had to dash to a nearby toilet.

"Yeah, no, that is hilarious, Luce," Y/n cackled, gaining some glares from other shoppers.

"You can't talk, little miss 'I sat on Lockwood's lap and fucking yelped'!" Y/n opened her mouth in protest, looking to Holly for support, but the girl only shook her head and sided with Lucy again.

"I didn't think anybody heard that," she mumbled, mortified that apparently they had heard, and worse, hadn't forgotten.

"Oh we all heard, trust me."

"Ugh, I thought I was free because Lucy has a crush now!"

"Nope. Neither of you are off the hook," Holly declared as she laughed, and Y/n and Lucy shared a look. "Why did you yelp, anyway?"

"I was surprised, okay?"

"Did he have a flare in his pocket?" Lucy snickered with an exaggerated wink, and Y/n whacked her arm.

"No, he did not! You are ridiculous! He just... pulled me backwards into a hug, and it surprised me," she explained, voice higher than usual.

"Right... okay," Holly said, playfully narrowing her eyes. "Whatever you say!"

"I'm telling the truth!" Y/n called after them as they moved on, and she rushed to catch up.

~~~

"Oh, this store is so much better than that last one, look at the range!"

"Holly, have you ever considered working in retail if you stop being an agent?"

"God no, have you heard the horror stories? No thank you."

They were wandering around the third department store of the day when Lucy gasped loudly and practically ran to a rack of clothes.

"This one. This is the one. Oh, look at it! No, no way! It has pockets?! I am in love, and I can die happy!"

"Lucy, what are you actually talking about? Because we can't see it from here," Y/n said, and Lucy turned around with a wide smile on her face as she held up the dress. It was similar to the one she'd worn a while ago, back before Holly had joined and Lockwood and Co were into theft (they needed a book from the Black Library), but Lucy had wanted a new one given the other was slightly worse for wear.

"Oh, Lucy, it's gorgeous," Holly complimented, and Y/n agreed.

"Yeah, seriously Luce. Go and try it on!"

They ushered her into the changing rooms, and while they were waiting Holly and Y/n had a seat on the chairs nearby.

"What are you going to wear?" Holly asked, and Y/n frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"To the ball? What are you going to wear? You are coming with us, aren't you?"

"Uh, I guess I can. I hadn't thought about it, to be honest. I don't think I have anything suitable to wear though."

"Well we've still got time, we can look around for something! Maybe something that will help you confess?" Holly nudged, and Y/n was just about to stop spluttering in protest and defend herself when Lucy walked out.

"Holy shit, Lucy."

"Yeah, holy shit."

"'Holy shit' in a good way or 'holy shit' in a bad way?" she asked, chewing on her lip and smoothing out the fabric.

"Good way," Y/n and Holly replied instantly.

"You look amazing, Luce, honestly," Y/n smiled, and Lucy returned it.

"Definitely that one," Holly agreed.

~~~

Holly had insisted that they keep looking around the store for something for Y/n (Lucy had agreed with Holly that Y/n 'shall go to the ball!' - she'd even declared it like the fairy godmother), and so they spent the next few hours carrying out the same painful process that they had just done with Lucy.

"Y/n? Is that you? It is!"

Y/n froze at the voice, squeezing her eyes shut in the hopes that if she just kept walking then she would be left alone.

"Y/n!"

No chance of that, then, given she'd been taken by the arm and wrapped in a hug that was entirely too fake and smelt incredibly strongly of perfume.

"Steph, hi," Y/n hoped she didn't sound too displeased to see the girl, but then again they'd never been friends, and Steph had always been a bitch to her.

"What are you doing here? I didn't think shopping was your..." she waved her hands at Y/n, "thing." She glanced up and down Y/n's body, raising her eyebrows slightly and smiling too widely.

"Not really, but I prefer it when I'm with my friends and they wanted to go out," she said, trying to figure out an escape route.

"Oh, so you're not getting anything?" Before Y/n could respond, Steph had already started talking again. "Of course you aren't, you couldn't afford it, what with your family having so many people in it."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Lucy, please don't," Y/n hissed, trying to deter her friend from beating the shit out of her enemy.

"You have no right to talk to her like that, okay? And for your information, she is getting something, and it's going to be a dress that makes her look like the goddess she is, alright? So take your fake brands and irrelevant opinions and shove 'em up your arse!" Lucy ranted, shoving her finger in Steph's direction to emphasise her points. The girl was taken aback for a moment, blinking in shock, then scoffed.

"Whatever. Enjoy your lame dress, Karim. Or whatever your last name is, since we all know that you're adopted." Steph left, her two companions following with a click of their stupidly high heels, and Y/n felt tears start to prick at the corners of her eyes. Lucy was practically growling after them, and Holly had brought Y/n into a proper hug, tight and comforting.

"Well she's a bitch. How d'you know her?"

"School," Y/n sniffed, trying to prevent the tears from falling. "She never liked me for some reason, or maybe I was just easy to pick on because I don't know who my real parents are, but she always made it a point to single me out."

"Right, if she ever comes back I'm punching her."

"Lucy," Y/n berated, although she was laughing a little as she did so.

"I mean it! She's awful! Now, have we looked everywhere in this store?"

"I think so, let's try the next one," Holly said.

"Guys, it's not a big deal, really. Don't let me take up more of your time."

"Y/n, stop being ridiculous. We are finding you a dress and that's that."

"Lucy," Y/n whined as the girl grabbed hold of her arm, Holly taking the other, and led her off out of the store.

~~~

"This one?"

"Hm? No, I don't think so."

"What about this one?"

"God no, I'd look like shit."

"How about-"

"Ew, nope."

Many of their discussions had continued in this manner since leaving the store where Steph had appeared, and Y/n was still trying to find a dress that she loved. There had been many that had looked great, but when she'd tried them on there was something just not quite right, and she'd taken it off with a sigh. Curfew was starting to creep up on the three of them, and Y/n was worried that she'd never find an outfit and have to either go in a potato sack or just not go at all.

"You'll find something, Y/n," Holly said, nudging her shoulder against Y/n's.

"It's not looking very likely though, is it?" Holly didn't say anything, offering a sympathetic smile instead.

"Oh. My. God. Y/n/n, what about this one?" Lucy shouted from across the store (the last one that they hadn't previously looked around). Y/n and Holly giggled at their friend's antics, walking over to see what she wanted them to see. She was holding up a deep red dress, gaping at it with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open like she was a fish. "Ok. No thinking, no questioning, find the dressing room and put this on." Lucy bundled the dress into Y/n's arms and then shoved her in the direction of the changing rooms.

"You sure about this one, Lucy?"

"I'm positive, Holly."

~~~

The two agents were waiting outside for Y/n to appear when George turned up.

"What are you two doing here? Lucy, haven't you already got a dress?"

"Oh, hi George. Yeah, I got one earlier since my other nice dress is kind of old now, but Y/n's trying one on. Why are you here?"

"Apparently my other suit isn't nice enough, so I had to get a new one. Lucky that we've been getting some high paying customers recently that I could afford it."

"When you say your 'other suit', do you mean the one that has plasm stains and holes in it from moths?"

"...Yes."

"She's been in there a while, do you think she needs help?" Holly said after a lull in Lucy and George's conversation.

"I'm fine! Gimme two seconds!" Y/n shouted, and Lucy snickered.

"Wait, why's she trying on a dress?" George frowned, finally registering the fact that his sister was in the changing room.

"Because she's coming with us to the Fittes Ball in a couple of weeks and this girl was being a bitch-"

"Stephanie?"

"Uh- yeah. How'd you know?"

"Y/n complains about her a lot. I think they're arch enemies or something."

"Oh."

"What's she got to do with finding a dress though? Attending the ball makes sense, but where does Steph come into this?"

"Lucy might have shouted that Y/n was going to get a dress that made her look like a goddess," Holly chimed in.

"Ah, I see. So now my sister is... what, trying one on?"

"Yep. You sure you're okay?" Lucy shouted the last part in the direction of a stall, just as Y/n swept back the curtain and stepped out.

"Woah," Lucy and Holly said. George was silent, staring at his sister.

"Good woah or bad woah?" Y/n asked, smiling a little as she remembered Lucy asking a similar thing earlier that day.

"Good woah, for sure," Holly said, Lucy nodding next to her.

"Oh, Georgie. I didn't know you were here," Y/n looked more nervous now, clearly wanting her brother to say something positive.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Yeah. I do. I really do."

"You look beautiful, Y/n/n."

"Thank you, Georgie."

"Definitely look like a goddess," Lucy added.

~~~

"Lockwood, hi!" Y/n hadn't expected to see him today, but he had just entered the small cafe that she worked in.

"Hi, Y/n/n, how're you?" He looked antsy, like he wanted to know something, and was shifting on his feet.

"I'm alright... you okay? You look like you have a rash," she said, starting to make him a tea the way she knew he liked it.

"Uh- what? No, I don't... I don't have a rash, I just, well, I heard that you're coming to the ball with us next week?"

"Oh, yeah. The girls convinced me to go. We went dress shopping for Lucy last week and Holly told me I should go with you all. You don't mind, do you?"

"No! No, of course I don't mind!"

"Good, 'cause I already got a dress when Lucy got hers, and it was expensive and I need a justification for getting it or Mum'll be mad." She poured the hot water in, careful not to spill any over her hands (it had happened more times today than she'd like to admit), turning and finishing the tea off, placing a lid on the top of the take away cup. She pushed it across the counter, shaking her head when Lockwood pulled out his wallet to pay. "On the house, you look like you need it." He smiled at her, making her heart flutter, and pushed a fiver into the tip jar next to her as he ignored her protests.

"Thank you. Are you going to get changed with the rest of us? Or do you want us to pick you up from yours?"

"Oh, I was gonna get changed with Holly and Lucy. I'll probably come over quite early if that's alright with you?"

"Of course, you know I don't mind having you over, love. Thanks for the tea!" he called out as he left, unaware of Y/n's blush.

~~~

"Why do girls take so long getting ready for things?"

Lockwood looked up at George's words as he entered the kitchen, folding his paper and throwing it on the table. "Not sure. I'm relatively sure they plan world domination while they do it."

"Makes sense," George shrugged, flopping into a chair and pulling at his bow tie. "They have been in Lucy's room for hours now though. Do you think we need to be worried?"

"I hear them laughing every now and then, so they're still alive at least," Lockwood replied. George hummed, pushing his glasses back up his nose. All of a sudden the two boys heard footsteps thundering on the stairs, and a moment later Lucy's head poked through the kitchen door.

"Please make your way into the hall!" she half shouted, not caring that she was only a few metres away from them and disappearing again. Lockwood and George shared a look, then slowly pushed themselves out of their chairs and moved into the hallway to stand in front of the stairs. A few minutes passed, with hushed conversation barely audible from the top of the stairs, and eventually Holly said "Oh, I'll go!" and came downstairs. She looked lovely in her dress, gold fabric shimmering as she took the steps and ended up at the bottom, Lucy following closely behind in her deep blue (a staple colour for the girl), also looking gorgeous. Lockwood frowned slightly when he realised that Y/n wasn't with them, and when her head poked over the bannister with a worried expression he started feeling nervous.

"Guys, are you sure?" she asked, biting her lip. Lucy and Holly nodded, and George gave her a thumbs up.

"Wait," Lockwood started. "Has everybody seen her dress but me?"

"Yep," George said, the girls nodding behind him.

"So why are you so nervous, Y/n/n?" he called up, frowning.

"I don't know!"

"Just come downstairs!" A loud honk sounded from outside then, and the four agents turned to look in the direction of the sound.

"That'll be the cab," Lucy piped up, heading over to the door. "We'll wait for you two," she winked, and Lockwood felt his face heat up. How did she know about his feelings for Y/n?

"Please don't break her heart, Lockwood. Or I'll deliberately throw badly the next time we're on a case."

"George, no offence, but you can't aim anyway. Maybe if you deliberately aimed badly you'd throw it the right way."

"I mean it. Remember what we talked about the other week, and don't screw it up, yeah?" George patted Lockwood's shoulder, grabbing his jacket and heading outside after the girls.

"Lockwood?"

"Yeah?"

"They've all left, haven't they?"

"Yeah." Y/n didn't answer, instead letting out a groan that made Lockwood chuckle.

"Just come downstairs, Y/n/n. We're going to be late."

"Promise you'll be nice?"

"Why would I not be nice?"

"I don't know! Just promise?"

"Okay! I promise!" He was trying to stifle his laughter in the hopes that she wouldn't take it the wrong way when Y/n appeared at the top of the landing and took his breath away. She was stunning, the dress fitting perfectly and making her look ethereal.

"Lockwood? I look terrible, don't I? I'll stay here, you guys go without me-"

"No! No, don't... you look... you look- pretty," he settled on, wincing at his awkwardness. "You look really pretty, Y/n." He didn't miss the way her smile grew, or the way his face warmed, and when she muttered a small 'Thanks' under her breath his heart stuttered. "We should, uh," he cleared his throat. "We should probably... go..." he trailed off, still blushing. She had come closer and now he could smell her perfume, and when she brushed past him to open the door he thought he might faint from the brief physical contact. What was wrong with him? He was Anthony bloody Lockwood, so why was he acting so foolishly around this girl?

"Are you coming, then? Or are you gonna keep standing there like a lemon?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm- yep."

They packed themselves into the taxi, Lockwood stubbornly ignoring Lucy's smirk as the last two available seats for him and Y/n were right next to each other (which he was entirely certain had been planned), thighs pressed together, and a few moments later they were on the road, heading for the Fittes building.

~~~

"Holy shit, this is insane, Lucy," Y/n gasped, staring around the room in wonder. "Lucy?" She looked for her friend, wondering why she hadn't said anything in response, when she saw Lucy talking to a girl.

"That's Maya," Holly whispered, taking Y/n's arm and looping it through her own.

"God, she's gorgeous. I can see why Lucy likes her." Holly hummed her agreement, taking the two of them on a lap of the room.

"Did something happen between you and Lockwood before you got in the taxi?" she asked after a pause.

"What? No, why?" Y/n's eyes were wide, heat creeping up her neck at the memory of him calling her pretty.

"He can't stop staring at you. He looks like an idiot, to be completely honest." Now her eyes were wide for a different reason, turning to find Lockwood's body in the crowd. Sure enough, he was already looking their way, and after a few moments he seemed to realise that he'd been caught, blushing and rejoining the conversation he was having with George and some agent from Rotwell.

"You sure nothing happened?" Holly asked again, eyebrow raised.

"...Yep." The other girl just laughed, clearly not believing her, and dragged her further around the room.

~~~

"You alright, Luce?"

"Not really," she said, slumping into the chair next to Y/n. "Maya's talking to some other girl and I couldn't relate to anything they were saying, so I left."

"Aw, Lucy. You have been talking to her for what, an hour already? You're not going to have everything in common," Y/n reassured her friend, offering a soft smile.

"I s'pose you're right," she started. "That's what makes a good relationship, right?" Lucy was perking up with every word, sitting up in her chair and leaning forward.

"Yeah, like Y/n and Lockwood," Holly chimed in.

"Yeah, Holly's right. Wait, like- what?! What do you mean?! We're not- he's not-" Y/n spluttered, trying desperately to gain control of the situation after the slip-up and failing miserably. Lucy and Holly were doubled over laughing, clearly finding the situation hilarious, when all of a sudden Y/n shot her arms out to either side, grabbing hold of her friends. "No, seriously, stop it now. Look," she pointed towards Lockwood, hoping the girls would pick up on what was wrong.

"Is that-?"

"I'm gonna kick her arse into next fucking we-"

"Fucking Stephanie," Y/n spat, not missing the way that she was flirting with Lockwood. She hadn't realised the bitch was here, but now that she had it was incredibly difficult to take her eyes off of the scene. Now it was her turn to be gloomy, and every attempt to talk to Lockwood ended with Steph's friends (minions) pushing her back and acting like incredibly non-threatening bodyguards, but Y/n didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of a party that she wasn't technically invited to by shoving back.

Roughly an hour and a half after first spotting Stephanie with Lockwood, Y/n was stood with her back to a wall as she miserably looked on at the two of them somehow still engaged in conversation. The worst part was, Steph didn't look like she would be ending their chat anytime soon, and didn't appear to want to leave. Whether the girl knew about his affiliation with Y/n or not, she wasn't sure, but it was making Y/n increasingly more irritated as the night went on.

"Here," Lucy said, appearing at Y/n's side. "Take this." She held her hand out, one of her rings that she always wore sat in the centre of her palm, the sapphire shining up at her from its place in the centre of the band of silver.

"Uh, why?" A frown settled on Y/n's face, unsure where Lucy's mind was going.

"Because you're gonna go up to Lockwood, big smile on your face, and ask Steph why she's fondling your husband." Y/n could only stare at her friend, wondering what the actual hell had come over her.

"But... he's not my husband?"

"She doesn't need to know that, does she? You two are practically an old married couple anyway, so what does it matter? Besides, if nothing else it's an opportunity to cuddle up to him," she said the last part with a wink, making Y/n flush as she remembered the last time she had 'cuddled up' to Lockwood.

"Well, George is over there, he's not going to play along, is he?" she attempted to find a way out of this situation that Lucy had put her in, but the agent had a solution to everything, it seemed.

"Oh, I told him about this. He's promised to go with it. There was absolutely no way I was gonna let your brother be oblivious, he's a terrible liar sometimes." Lucy was still standing with her hand out, ring gleaming up at Y/n, and she had half a mind to say no and continue suffering until she heard a loud laugh come from the other side of the room. Both girls looked for the source, and Y/n bristled when she realised that it was Steph laughing, hand placed firmly on Lockwood's arm as she leaned into him. Not thinking twice, Y/n grabbed the ring, shoved it on her finger, and marched over to where her new fake husband stood. She squeezed between Steph and Lockwood (difficult, since the other girl had practically glued herself to him) and wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to steady her heart as she felt his warmth engulf her.

"Hi, love," she smiled up at him, willing him to stop staring at her with his eyes so wide open in shock and hug her back. He stuttered for a moment, going red, and vaguely Y/n registered Steph's outraged expression in the corner of her eye and George's stifled laughter.

"Uh- hi- hello."

"Y/n? I didn't realise you were going to be here," Steph asked through gritted teeth, obviously annoyed at the interruption.

"Oh, Steph! I didn't see you there! Of course I'm here, why wouldn't I be? My husband got invited and so naturally I was his plus one!" It was petty, she knew, but totally worth it for the look on Steph's face when Y/n emphasised the word 'husband' while smiling lovingly up at Lockwood.

"...Husband?" she asked, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. Lockwood was still rigid as a pole, although he had brought his arms around Y/n's waist after she pinched him in the side. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I second that. Husband?"

"Oh, did I not tell you?" Lockwood hadn't moved his head away from her ear, instead nuzzling further into her neck, and it was becoming difficult to think straight. "We got married!" She flashed the ring at Steph, delighting in both the pure, unfiltered shock on her face and also the way in which Lockwood had moved his hands to hold her body closer to his.

"Well- I- okay then. But one question, for Lockwood?" He pulled his head up, dopey smile on his face as he nodded for Steph to continue.

"Why would you ever marry someone like her? I mean, you know that she's adopted, right?"

Y/n could practically feel George bristle behind her and get ready to punch Steph's lights out, but Lockwood remained calm, his expression sharpening and spine straightening as he took Steph in.

"I don't see how her not being biologically related to her parents affects how much I love her, do you?"

"It's just that-"

"I married Y/n because of who she is, not because of her family, although having George around is wonderful," Lockwood cast a smile at Y/n's brother before continuing. "She's the most incredible person I have ever met, and she far outshines you in every way and I think you know that, and you're jealous of it. I know that I'm jealous of how incredible you are, darling," he turned to Y/n, using the hand that wasn't around her waist to push back a lock of hair, his fingers lingering for a few moments more than was necessary as he smiled softly at her. "And quite honestly, Steph, if you can't agree with me on that then I don't think we have anything else to talk about, do we?" It was a rhetorical question, Lockwood already turning away and linking his hand with Y/n's as he dragged her to the side of the room, but they could hear Steph spluttering being them as they went.

"So," he started once they were far enough away. "What was that all about?" He hadn't let go of her hand, and his thumb had started softly tracing patterns over their intertwined fingers.

"What?"

"I don't remember marrying you, Y/n, unless it happened when I was really drunk or sleep deprived," he joked, although something in his eyes was searching for any hint of truth to the words in her face.

"I just- she's- I-" Y/n took a breath, trying to figure out how to explain the whole thing to him without him getting mad or laughing at her. "Steph's always hated me, and Lucy knows that-"

"What's Lucy got to do with this?" She huffed at him, small frown appearing on her face.

"If you let me finish then you'd know!"

"Alright! Alright!"

"Yeah, so Lucy knows that Steph hates me, and I hate her, and you two were talking for so long and she was all over you and I couldn't keep watching, so Lucy gave me this ring that I think is actually one of mine that she stole," she frowned down at her hand, going off on a tangent, "and she told me I should go over and say we were married to get rid of Steph."

Lockwood didn't say anything, instead just staring at her with a blank expression, and Y/n looked down at their still linked hands.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a while.

"Don't be," he whispered back, using his free hand to lift her chin up. "I'm just a little annoyed, to be honest."

"Oh, god, I really am sorry, Lockwood! I didn't mean to make you upset or anything, I just got pissed off with her and-"

"No! No no no, stop right there. I'm not annoyed at you, darling, never you. I'm annoyed at myself for not coming up with that plan earlier. She was really starting to piss me off too, and I kept hoping that George would intervene or something and he never did- I'm going to have to talk to him about that," Lockwood frowned, looking in her brother's direction. "I'm also... I'm annoyed that this is how I tell you that-"

"Here you are! I was wondering where you two had run off to!" George appeared, bright smile on his face, and Y/n couldn't stop the glare that came onto her face. Tell me what? If only George had turned up a few moments later, then she would know what Lockwood wanted to say. "We should probably find the others, party's wrapping up now and I'm craving my bed." Lockwood heaved a sigh, then nodded in agreement, following after George as her brother tried to find Lucy and Holly, casting a slightly pained glance over his shoulder at Y/n.

Tell me what?!

~~~

The journey back to Portland Row was uneventful since everybody was exhausted, although Lucy was practically buzzing in her seat because Maya had passed on her number, telling Lucy to call her.

"This means something, right?" she exclaimed as they piled through the front door. "I have a real chance with her, don't I?"

"Yes, Lucy. Yes you do," Y/n yawned, leaning slightly on Lockwood to take her heels off. Why she'd ever let Holly convince her that heels were needed when she could have worn her trainers instead she wasn't sure, but she breathed a sigh of relief when the first one was finally off. She wobbled for a moment trying to undo the strap on the other one when Lockwood steadied her, crouched down, and took her leg into his hands as his fingers worked the clasp. A few moments later he was done, gently pulling the shoe off of her foot, and although he had only had his hands on her for what couldn't have been more than ten seconds Y/n could feel her cheeks heating up and her heart beating faster.

"Lockwood, what the fuck are you doing?"

"George, they're having a moment, alright? Leave 'em alone," Lucy hissed, taking him by the arm and dragging him upstairs, hushed apologies whispered as he tripped and face planted due to her harsh tugging.

"Good night you two, I'll see you in the morning," Holly said, following after her coworkers and leaving Y/n and Lockwood in the entrance hall alone for the second time in the last twenty-four hours.

"You're not going to bed, are you?" Y/n asked, a knowing smile on her face as she looked at Lockwood. He shrugged, heading towards the library instead of up the stairs.

"I'm not feeling too tired, to be honest," he replied.

"You never feel tired, I swear. Do you ever sleep?" She mock gasped. "Are you a vampire? Is that why you're so pale and are always awake at night?" She broke off into a fit of giggles, exhaustion making her mildly hyper.

"No, I am not a vampire," Lockwood laughed, shaking his head at her antics. "Go on, you should head up. Unlike me you can't run on tea and tea alone."

Y/n nodded, heading for the stairs, but stopped a little way up as she remembered something. "Lockwood?"

He paused in the doorway of the library, turning to face her with one hand still on the handle. "Yeah?"

"What were you gonna tell me before George came over? At the ball? You said you were annoyed that it took you so long to tell me something." A frown had worked its way onto her face, but Lockwood's was filled with a smile.

"Go to bed, darling. I'll see you in the morning." He disappeared into the library, leaving Y/n standing on the staircase staring at the place he had just been.

~~~

The next morning Y/n woke to an empty room, Lucy and Holly nowhere to be seen in the attic. She laid in bed for a little while, soaking in not having to get up and go to work, but eventually the need for food grew too strong and she was forced to start her day.

The kitchen was empty of George, too, and a short investigation led to finding a scribbled note on the thinking cloth that Holly, Lucy and George had gone for a grocery run at the supermarket. That left Lockwood, who was either hiding away in the house or had gone off on his own somewhere. Y/n's question was answered a few minutes later as she was pouring hot water into a mug for tea, and she nearly spilled the liquid all over her hands when Lockwood appeared and asked her to pour a cup for him.

"Shitting hell, Lockwood! Where did you come from?"

"Oh, I was downstairs. Doing a spot of rapier practice. Thanks," he gratefully accepted the mug that Y/n handed him, smiling brightly at her over the edge. She tried desperately to ignore the flush to his skin (and the mental images of Lockwood training), and turned back to her own mug of tea, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment in the hopes that she could go back to thinking normal thoughts. "You alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yes! Yeah, yep. I'm fine," she exclaimed, wincing at how the words came out. Lockwood stifled a snort (unsuccessfully) and took a sip of tea, yelping a moment later.

"Shit, that's hot!"

"Why wouldn't it be? You idiot!" Y/n was laughing fully, not bothering to hide how amusing she found the whole situation, and Lockwood was glaring at her from where he stood fanning his mouth. "You literally watched me pour boiling water into that like, a minute ago!"

"I know! I know! Stop laughing, will you? I feel bullied. I'm being bullied."

He took a glass out of the cupboard, filling it up with cold water from the tap and taking a long drink. They stood in silence for a while after that, Lockwood taking tentative sips of his tea while Y/n took large gulps, trying not to laugh at him when the memory of his reaction came back. They were very rarely alone in the house, with at least one other person somewhere and about to walk in, and Y/n decided that Lockwood had nowhere to go so she might as well corner him.

"Why didn't you answer me last night? When I asked what you wanted to tell me?"

He froze momentarily, the tips of his ears going pink as he hid behind his mug and scratched at the back of his head. "It doesn't matter, Y/n/n. Really."

"Well it matters to me, Lockwood. If nothing else the not knowing is killing me. Also I had just dragged you into a marriage with me, and while I do feel bad about that I also feel that you owe me this as well."

"You didn't drag me into a marriage, you surprised me with one," he joked, clearly stalling.

"Okay, fine, but seriously what were you going to say before my idiot brother came over?"

"I was just... going to say that..." he mumbled the last part, all the words smushed together and said quietly so that Y/n had trouble picking them out.

"Sorry, I genuinely could not hear you for the life of me Lockwood," her expression was apologetic, and he sighed through his nose as he looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes before making a decision.

"I was going to say that I was annoyed that it took me so long to tell you that I love you."

"I love you too, Lockwood," Y/n frowned, wondering why he looked so beaten up about it. The five of them often told each other that they loved them, the words thrown around casually all the time.

"No, I mean- I love you, Y/n. To the point that George punches me in the arm sometimes because I won't shut up about how amazing or funny or kind or smart you are."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He hesitated for a few seconds, then spoke up again. "If you don't... I don't want this to ruin our friendship if you don't feel the same way though."

"Why wouldn't I feel the same?"

"You haven't said anything and it's- it's freaking me out!"

"Well I do feel the same! I'm just also freaking out because you love me too!"

"We're a mess, aren't we?" Lockwood laughed.

"Absolutely."

"So- So if I asked you on a date... would you-"

"Yes. Sorry, I- you can finish."

"I mean I think I got my answer, to be honest." He smiled softly at Y/n, placing his mug down and slowly coming over to where she leaned against the countertop. She reached her arms up and draped them around his neck, bringing him into a hug, and his own hands found their way to her waist. His eyes flicked between hers and her lips, and then he was whispering "Can I kiss you?" and leaning in when she nodded, pressing his lips to hers gently. They didn't rush, taking their time as they kissed softly, Lockwood's fingers brushing the skin just under her jumper and Y/n's fingers tangling in his hair, and when they pulled away for air they stayed close, foreheads bumping against each other.

~~~

When Holly, Lucy and George got home just over an hour later, arms laden with shopping bags, the silence was deafening.

"I really hope they haven't killed each other," Holly frowned, peering up the stairs as if doing so would help her find their missing friends.

"Maybe they've finally got together and are on a date," Lucy exclaimed, poking George in the side when he wouldn't move out of the way of the cupboard that she needed to open.

"Ow! I'm torn about that. On the one hand if they do get together I'll be glad they've stopped pining, on the other they'll be insufferable. You know what Lockwood's like, all lovey-dovey and attention giving, and Y/n will soak it up like a dry sponge."

"Oh, I found them!" Holly poked her head through the kitchen door, neither Lucy or George having noticed her leave. She lead them to the library, motioning for quiet as she pushed the door open. "They must have been reading and got tired. They totally confessed, just look at them!"

Lockwood and Y/n were curled up (somehow) on the larger of the two armchairs in the library, limbs entangled and hanging off of the arms and a book dangled in Lockwood's free hand, the other wrapped around Y/n keeping her safely tucked into his chest as the two of them slept. George looked like he was trying to be upset, but Lucy could see the smile he was holding off at the sight in front of them.

"We should leave them to it, I s'pose," Lucy murmured, pulling the door shut softly with a small click. "You alright, George?"

"Just thinking about how horrible things will be with them finally together," he replied, rolling his eyes and heading back into the kitchen to start dinner.

"He's not really upset, is he," Holly said, more stating it as a fact than posing a question.

"Nope. He's gonna be singing while he cooks, I can guarantee it."

Sure enough, barely five seconds after Lucy said the words, singing could be heard from behind the closed kitchen door alongside the clash of pots and pans.

[yuttikkele]

I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE TO YOU…. MY SPIDER-MAN REDESIGNS!

starring the lovely... the iconic... COFFEE BEAN GANG!!!

These are my go-to designs for the Spider-Man characters, but I also have my own AU just for them!

When I was redesigning the Coffee Bean Gang (again), I ended up conjuring a whole new plot. So, I present to you: the Spider-Delinquents AU! I have also dubbed this universe Earth-3974.

Synopsis: The government is overly corrupt and controlling. Peter finds himself wrapped up in legal troubles and gets sent to New York’s Holly Springs Institution of Correction, or just Holly Springs Reform School, after an accident involving Oscorp, Harry Osborn, and a fist fight. There, he sees how unjust the system is, and he and his newfound friends (Harry, Gwen, MJ, and Flash) work to put a stop to it.

Under the cut I have a little backstory for each of the characters leading up to how they got sent to Holly Springs Reform School!

Peter: After a trip to Oscorp, Peter starts to feel woozy. As he’s stumbling around trying to get home, he runs into Harry Osborn, literally. Harry pushes back, and the two get into a brawl that completely destroys the location they’re at. Unable to pay his debts and marked as a troublemaker by the government, Peter is sent to Holly Springs Reform School.

Peter starts out at Midtown High, where he is, of course, bullied by Flash Thompson. He doesn't have any friends while at Midtown, not because he's a nerd, but because he has a superiority complex and thinks he's too good for the kids who have the same interests as him, and nobody likes him because of it. Actually the closest thing he has to a friend at Midtown IS Flash, yeesh. Once he gets humbled, schooled by Uncle Ben, and surrounded by the people he thought he was above, Peter learns to be a better person and actually make friends. He will now die for those friends. Also Peter has heterochromia for no reason other than it looks cool. He says he's a skater boy but homeboy has no clue how to skate.

MJ: MJ grew up with an abusive dad and an unstable mother. By the age of 5, both of her parents lost custody of her. Instead of an orphanage, the government enrolled MJ in a reform school to “prevent her from turning out like her parents.” She is the kid who has been there the longest despite doing nothing to get sent there. Since she grew up there, Holly Springs is the only place MJ knows as home.

I always see complaints about MJ adaptations and how they're so distant from how she is in the comics. WELL, sorry to all the MJ purgers, but in my AU, MJ acts the most unlike her comic book counterpart. Instead of an extroverted, smooth, cool gal who slays the day away and can get any man she wants, this MJ is a shy, clumsy weirdo with little to no social skills. Since she wasn't around her parents for too long, MJ does not fear romantic relationships; however, being raised in a reform school, MJ has problems connecting with anyone in general. She can be described as the neighbor's kid who no one wants to play with because she's weird, but she's actually really nice. She has an undying optimism and hope that even the worst people can become good. Her personality is similar to Marina lida from Splatoon if that helps get the point across. While MJ and Peter become good friends, they do not ever feel romantic attraction towards each other in this AU. MJ is, however, a chronic piner and has a huge crush, you'll never guess who.

Harry: Harry was minding his own business (actually, tending to his FATHER’S business that he was assigned to do) when all of a sudden, he’s shoved to the ground. Looking around, he finds the culprit. Surely, this guy does not know that Harry is an Osborn, and Osborns do NOT get pushed around. Harry lunges back at him, and a fight ensues. After destroying the entire location, Harry is sentenced to reform school, and while his dad could easily pay off the judge, Norman thinks this experience will make Harry into a man.

Harry is an entitled rich kid who doesn't really know how to make friends. He hasn't really had to try since he's been able to entertain himself just fine with the money he has. Harry loves his dad and tries to do everything he says, but he usually falls short of Norman Osborn's extremely high expectations. Plus, he's starting to question if everything his dad says really has any merit. Regardless, he doesn't want to let his dad down and tarnish their family name, so he'll keep trying to become the man his father always wanted him to be.

Gwen: After not getting enough attention from her dad, Gwen starts to feel a defiance toward law authorities. This defiance only grows upon learning what work keeps her dad from coming home at night. Using her intellect, Gwen commits petty crimes in abstruse ways just to mess with the cops. She becomes particularly skilled with mechanics, metalwork, and chemicals. But, even the most careful artists make mistakes, and Gwen gets caught. Her dad, who surprisingly looks sad, has no choice but to turn her in.

Gwen and Harry do NOT get along. At all. It's probably because Gwen is a goth and Harry is the textbook definition of a prep. They're forced to get along but ooooh they do not like each other. They still become great friends, but the goth vs prep hostility is always there. Gwen dates Peter in this universe, but she breaks up with him before she can die. People know not to mess with her because she is very capable (another reason why she does not die), and she WILL haunt your nightmares. Everyone finds her creepy and scary besides MJ.

Flash: Actually, Flash doesn’t attend Holly Springs Reform School. Flash goes to Midtown High, Peter’s previous school. Though Flash bullies Peter, he doesn’t actually mean him any harm. So, when Flash hears Peter is being sent to H. Springs, he’s worried he tipped Pete over the edge. This scares Flash, worried he’s become like his father, and leads to him bettering himself. Little does Flash know he’s not done with Peter just yet.

Flash won't tell anyone this, lest it tarnish his bad boy persona, but he worked hard and bought his car with his own money. Since his no-good father is out of his life, Flash realizes there is no reason for him to be like his dad and pick on others to make himself seem better, so he starts his journey of improvement. Basically, Flash is in his healing arc while everyone else is in their "going thru it" arc. Flash's healing arc is interrupted by being dragged into whatever mess the rest of the gang's got themselves into.

[artemis-fowl-incident-report]

Fowl Futures

(btw, I'm sending in query letters to literary agents atm. Wish me luck)

Artemis: I imagine Artemis relaxes a lot in the future. He's already proved himself, he's been chaotic, he's literally died to save the world. He's earned some rest. Not all of it, though. He's never been one to rest on his laurels. He pours a lot of his time and attention into Fowl Industries R&D department, creating things to help better humanity (and making the lives of Politicians who stand in the way of that a whole lot more difficult). I could see him settling down eventually, maybe having kids (something he would be terrified of, since he doesn't want to make them feel the way his father made him feel) but most of all, it is is good life, a life he deserves.

Beckett: Because of his connection with animals, I believe Beckett would have a hand in farming. More accurately, he would be ethically negotiating with animals for their by-products (eggs, wool, milk etc. He draws the line at meat) He runs it more like a union than anything. It started with him keeping bees, since they largely consent to their domestication by humans. He also writes children's books

Myles: Surprising no one, Myles goes on to completely dominate all fields scientific study, and probably invents several new ones. Because of his focus on his nutrition from a young age, he grows to be the tallest out of the Fowl siblings. He is also a massive foodie, and runs the kitchen like a military commander whenever they have events.

Angeline & Tim: I feel like they spend the rest of their lives absolutely devoted to one another, with Angeline going on to spear head many charitable causes, and Tim there simply to be her cheerleader.

Butler: Lets be honest now, Butler is never going to completely retire, but he does slow down a bit. He takes up running the estate and helping Artemis raise his family, becoming the unofficial extra grandpa of his principles children. He also takes up writing as a hobby, and you best believe his window boxes are always weed free.

Juliet: Of course Juliet has a very successful wrestler and goes onto international acclaim, after which she becomes a trainer for those trying to break into the industry. For some reason I think she would really do well as a foster parent, specialising in kids that need physical protection from those they have been removed from.

Holly: Holly would go onto greater and greater heights, punching and kicking the whole way. She would redefine ever aspect of the LEP through either major or minor elements. She would also absolutely terrify the council the whole time.

Foaly: Inventing, loving his wife, loving his kids (which he may or may not have. It certainly sounded like it in the Atlantis complex, but Eoin seems to have forgotten them past that point)

Mulch: Continues to dabble both in crime and solving crime for a good long while, and eventually publishes a very successful autobiography (the factuality of which is still debated long into the future).

No1: Not only is No1 a once in a generation warlock, but a once in a generation teacher, once in a generation councilman, once in a generation bad ass with way too many hobbies and a penchant for adopting any stray cats who look his way.

[absolutebl]

Hi P'ABL. Not sure if you have answered something like this before, I couldn't find it with search, but what are your favorite "Oh" scenes? Either "Oh I'm (or he's) gay" or "Oh I'm in love with this person". Asking this question after rewatching Ep 4 of Bad Buddy and watching Qian's reaction to seeing BL novels in Zhi Yuan's room.

Light Bulb Moments in BL!

Ooooh, good question. And no I haven't answered it before. You mean specifically the viewer coming to this realization?

My Favorite: Oh HE V GAY!

Takara just looking at Amagi.

A reading K's mind in the elevator in either Cherry Magic.

The New Employee at the dinner party across the table from the boss with the two queers being like: "Us? Dating? Are you cray, we hella rainbow."

This moment in Jun & Jun:

And then the "not instantly moving away" utterly flirtatious response.

City boy finding the hot farmer's little box of Pride on the shelf in Some More

To My Star - surprise robe flashing moment (I also love Addicted's execution of this one but it doesn't count as an ah-ha moment, just a big fat tease - pun intended)

This character's admission in Nobleman Ryu's Wedding:

MinSung on that train with the earbuds in Wish You.

Solo walking into that cafe in Oxygen.

Fighter meeting Tutor in Why R U?

Step by Step at the gay club, I mean FINALLY.

I'll just call him my wife in SOTUS.

This scene in I Feel You Linger in the Air:

My Favorite: Oh I'm in love with him

Eternal Yesterday, that damn look in the rain, holly hell (the cool thing about this one is ... it's mutual)

Aoki climbing into the plastic bag in My Love Mix-Up - I mean, COME ON, how gay is that? "oh no! I'm into love with him, I am trash, must be ultra dramatic about it"

Unintentional Love Story the agony of realizing he's in love with someone he has to deceive and betray - those EYES

Mark running after the Taxi in Love is Science?

Ai's "what is going on" in Love By Chance

Pete's AH HA moment in Kiss Me Again

Pretty much most of Love Sick. It's kinda the point of the show. But you can never get away from this one:

Possibly one of the most iconic moments in all BL.

Anytime the character starts swearing and is mad at himself when he realizes he is in love: Semantic Error, The Eclipse.

Pretty much all 3 leads swapping both of these "ah ha" moments back and forth in Light On Me

Honorable mention: Someone ELSE in the story's "oh HE'S in love with him?!"

PitchBank, need I say more? (Golden Blood)

Takara's bestie just focused in on Takara's actions around Amagi for the whole day at school and then being like, "Oh I was teasing them but my friend is IN LOVE. Activate WINGMAN mode."

Are we surprised Suzuki Jin appears twice on this list?

Also no shocker this list is full of JBL, they very good at this kind of thing since a lot of it is eye work and thirst.

(source)

[hearts-hunger]

i'll be your medicine || sam kiszka x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

Summary: They say laughter is the best medicine, but you're pretty sure that's only because they haven't met Sam. | Standalone in the Sunshine Daydream universe

Pairings: Sam x Reader | Genre: fluff, sickfic (migraine), hurt/comfort | Word Count: 3k | Warnings: none! | Title song: “Deep End” by Holly Humberstone

A/N: My very first standalone fic for Sam and Birdie! This fic is a special gift to all the Sunshine Daydream besties. I hope you like it! ♡

“Yeah, man, I don’t know. I think if we add any more freakin’ reverb we might as well trash it.”

You winced a little as you listened to Sam talking on the phone, feeling from the tone of his voice that he must not be in a great mood. You couldn’t exactly tell — he’d been talking to Jake as he came in the door, and they had been talking steadily as Sam started up the handful of household chores he liked to knock out before he settled in for the evening. He was unloading the dishwasher right now, and he seemed to be very impassioned about whatever song they were talking about.

“That’s not going to fix the problem, though,” he said firmly. “The whole tone of the song is riding on that.”

You still couldn’t tell if he was arguing with Jake or just having an overzealous discussion. You didn’t like not knowing; it had always made you uneasy to not be able to read someone’s mood, and that was especially true with Sam. He knew that about you and was usually very good about being straightforward if he was upset, but he’d barely said a word to you since coming home half an hour ago.

As worrying as that was, though, you had more pressing things to worry about. The familiar ache of a budding migraine was becoming less and less easy to ignore, and you felt yourself flinch when the plates Sam put away clattered against each other.

You curled in on yourself on the couch, praying the medicine would kick in before it got too bad. The last thing you wanted was a full-blown migraine with a grouchy boyfriend, if that’s indeed what he was, and you’d rather just take care of it by yourself if you could. Unfortunately, you were beginning to think you’d taken the medicine too late to head it off at the pass. Rosie was curled up next to you, and you tried to relax against her solid warmth and manifest a beautiful migraine-free evening with the power of positive thinking.

It took about five minutes before you gave up that dream. You could feel the pain starting to spread, settling in deep where it usually hit behind your eyes and over the crown of your head. You wanted to ask Sam to get you an ice pack, but you didn’t want make him more annoyed than he already was, and you didn’t feel like you could raise your voice enough to interrupt his phone call anyway.

“Rosie, come get your dinner.”

His voice carried from the kitchen, and you guessed you’d missed him getting off the phone with Jake. You weren’t surprised; it was getting to the point where a bomb could go off and you’d be too distracted with pain to worry about it.

Still, you tried to stay tuned in to Sam; you’d missed him, and you were looking forward to spending time with him now that he was home and off the phone. He called for Rose again, but she didn’t move from her spot beside you. With effort, you sat up and tried to nudge her to go into the kitchen. 

She looked up at you and cocked her head, and you knew she wouldn’t get up unless you did. She always knew when you weren’t feeling well, and she liked to stay close and keep an eye on you when you were sick or unhappy.

You sighed. You didn’t want her to feel torn between you and Sam, but you also didn’t have the energy to try and redirect your sweet, protective, somewhat stubborn dog. 

“Come on, Rosie,” you said quietly. “Daddy’s calling you.”

You only managed to get her to hop off the couch, and she looked up at you as she sat at your feet. You thought you heard Sam again, but all of a sudden, you couldn’t think about anything but the pain you were in; you sat on the edge of the couch and rested your head against Rose, burying your face in her soft fur, trying to ride the wave of dizziness and pain without bursting into tears.

You felt Rosie’s tail thump against your foot, and you guessed that was in response to Sam coming in from the kitchen.

“Rose,” he said, a touch of exasperation in his voice. “Come on, now. I know you want to be with mama, but it’s time to eat.”

She still didn’t move. You felt the tension in her even as she kept perfectly still for you, and Sam came over to see what the holdup was.

“What’s going on with my girls?” he said, hunkering down be the couch so he was at Rosie’s level. “You two just can’t be separated for even a minute, huh?”

Sam put his hand on your knee, and Rose gave a tentative kiss to the back of his hand.

“Come on, birdie,” he said to you. “You know she won’t go anywhere if she thinks you want her to stay.”

You nodded. You did want her to stay, but you didn’t want to annoy Sam.

“Sorry,” you said, lifting your head. You stroked Rose’s ear. “Go on with daddy.”

She gave the quietest bark you’d ever heard in protest.

“Rosebud, you are being downright contrary,” Sam said, giving her a playfully vigorous few pets. “You just don’t listen to anybody now, is that it?”

He looked up at you with a smile that was reassuring to see. “Has she been like this all day?”

Before you could answer, his expression clouded with alarm. 

“Are you crying?” he asked.

You touched a hand to your cheek and felt a few tears. You hadn’t even noticed them.

“Oh, uh... I guess,” you said weakly. “Sorry.”

“What do you mean, sorry?” he said, his voice tight with dismay. “Birdie, honey, what’s wong?”

“Um...” The brave face you’d tried to put on had started to crumble, and even if he was in a bad mood, you needed his help. 

“Migraine,” you said in a small voice. “It’s really bad.”

He took a sharp breath. “Okay, baby.” He kept his voice calm for you. “Have you taken any medicine?”

You nodded. “It’s not — ” Your voice caught. “Not really helping.”

“It will in a little bit,” he assured you. “We just have to give it some time to work. Let me go get you an ice pack, okay?”

He left Rosie with you and went back to the kitchen, and you heard him rummaging around for a few moments before he returned.

“Drink some water,” he said, handing you his water bottle. He turned the lights off in the living room, leaving only the light from the kitchen, and knelt in front of you again to hold the ice pack to your temple. “Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere,” you said miserably. Your head was wreathed in pain, but the ice was helping a little.

He studied your face with worry and gentleness. “I’m sorry, birdie. Did it come on all of a sudden?”

Your throat felt tight as you looked at him. “No,” you said quietly.

“No?” he repeated. His brow knit. “You didn’t say anything, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t know if you were angry.” Your voice was wobbly. “I thought if I took some medicine, I wouldn’t have to bother you.”

Even in the dim light, you could plainly read the surprise on his face. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Why would I be angry?”

“I thought you were arguing with Jake,” you admitted. “That maybe you had a bad day at work, and you were still in the middle of it when you got home. And since you didn’t say anything to me when you got here, I thought...” You bit the inside of your cheek. “I didn’t want to make it worse.”

“Oh, honey.” He touched your cheek. “I wasn’t angry. I just got caught up talking to him, but I shouldn’t have been on the phone when I came home. I’m sorry. Thank you for being so patient with me when I’m being stupid.”

That coaxed out a watery laugh, and he gave you a gentle smile.

“I’m really sorry, birdie,” he said sincerely. “You know you can interrupt anything if you need to ask me for help, right? Especially if you’re hurting.”

Your eyes welled with tears, but you didn’t know if it was from the pain or the relief of having Sam with you after missing him all day.

“Thank you,” you said softly.

“No need to thank me, birdie,” he said gently. “I love you, and I want to take care of you.” He switched the ice pack to rest against the opposite temple and brushed the tears from your face. 

“Sweetheart,” he said, his voice soft and worried. “Does it hurt that bad?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted.

He hummed. “Yeah. Just everything all together, huh?”

You nodded. “I missed you.”

“Aw, birdie.” He kissed your face when you hugged him, holding you close for a moment. “I missed you too. I’m sorry you don’t feel good.”

He ran a hand over Rosie’s head, and she wagged her tail at finally being included after sitting patiently at your side. 

“And you were just looking after mama, weren’t you, sweet girl?” he said. He gently scuffed his hand up and down her side. “You’re a good girl, Rosie.”

She rested her chin on your knee again, and Sam smiled.

“Yeah, you love your mama. I know.” He patted the couch cushion. “Come up here and lay with her.”

She did obey him that time, and you curled up with her as Sam spread a soft blanket over you.

“What can I do, birdie?” he asked, brushing your hair back from your face. 

You tried to think of what had helped last time you got a migraine this bad. You knew there wasn’t much for it but to wait until the medicine kicked in, but surely there was something you could do.

“I don’t know,” you said pitifully, knowing it wasn’t helpful.

“What about some coke?” he offered. “I think the caffeine helps, right?”

You nodded. “I don’t think we have any here, though.”

Sam had already pulled out his phone. “Good thing we live in the modern age. Do you want anything to eat?”

“I don’t think so. Well, maybe. I don’t know.” You groaned. “I hate this. I can’t even think straight.”

“So you’re thinking about Anne Hathaway? Sounds like a pretty good migraine to me.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re so dumb.”

He smiled. “Yeah, but I made you laugh, and you know what they say about laughter being the best medicine.”

You tipped your face up towards him, and he leaned down to give you a gentle kiss. You felt an incredible relief to be with Sam, to have him making dumb jokes for you, to know that you could depend on him and rest completely in his care for you. The tension you’d carried since he’d come home gave way to the familiar comfort of simply being with him, and it made all the difference.

“So, a large coke... extra ice, yeah?” he asked.

“Yes please.” You hid your face behind the blanket and pressing the ice pack to your forehead. “I wish this medicine would be the best medicine. That would be great.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, a little distracted as he placed your order. “Listen, I’m just going to get you something to eat, and you can decide later if you want it. Okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

He gave a sympathetic chuckle. “My poor birdie.” He pocketed his phone. “Do you want to watch a movie to take your mind off it? Or will the sound and the light make it worse?”

“I think I just want to lay here in the dark for a while, if that’s okay.”

“That’s perfectly fine, sweetheart.”

“Can you sit with me?”

“Of course.”

With a little maneuvering, all three of you found room on the couch; you lay with your head in Sam’s lap, and Rosie was curled up at your feet.

“Can I put the ice pack on the other side?” you asked, feeling a little sheepish.

“Oh, sure,” he said easily, doing it for you and putting the ice pack between your head and his lap. “You know, I was just thinking I wanted a nice ice pack to the crotch. It’s refreshing, really.”

You laughed. “Thanks. Let me know if you get a little too frosty.”

He leaned his head back and absently played with your hair, breathing a tired sigh. “This is nice, actually. We should lay in the dark more often.”

“Yeah, it is nice.” You wished you weren’t in pain, but other than that, it was nice. “So what were you not-arguing with Jake about?”

He hummed. “Well, that’s kind of a long, involved story.”

You closed your eyes and relaxed against him. “I like long, involved stories. Tell me.”

He did, and it was soothing to listen to him as he wove you a tale of brotherly bickering and artistic decision-making. By the time your food arrived, you’d managed to follow only half of the narrative twists and turns, but the sound of his voice had worked its magic.

“There’s your coke, birdie,” he said quietly, easing you up so he could get off the couch. “Be right back.”

He came back in with bags of takeout, and you found you were feeling well enough to sit up and take your drink when he offered it to you.

“Feeling better, baby?” he asked.

“A little,” you said. You took a long drink. “Thanks for getting this.”

“Sure. I hope it helps.” He set the bags on the coffee table. “Are you hungry?”

You thought about it. You still felt achy and woozy, but your appetite had returned somewhat.

“Did you get any fries?” you asked.

The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Yep.”

The three of you got settled again, and Rosie took a few minutes from her vigil to have her dinner; you and Sam started a documentary about the making of Friday the 13th.

“I still don’t know why you like to watch this documentary when you won’t watch the movie,” Sam said. “Makes no sense, birdie.”

You laughed. “The movie’s scary!” you said. “And lakehouses are supposed to be about romance, not murder.”

He gave you a cocky smirk. “You’d know all about lakehouse romance, wouldn’t you?”

You blushed. The two of you had just celebrated your anniversary a few weeks ago; you’d gone up to stay at the same cabin where you’d fallen in love, and Sam had certainly pulled out all the stops to make it romantic in every sense of the word.

He picked up your ice pack and touched it to your cheek. “Here, birdie. Your cheeks are all red.”

You laughed and pushed it back towards him. “You’re awful.”

He kissed your cheek to soothe the icy sting. “You’re beautiful.”

You finally felt the medicine start to work as you had dinner, and Rosie came back with her chewy bone to keep her occupied as she sat next to you. Sam cleaned up when you were done, and when he came back to the couch, he asked if you wanted him to braid your hair.

“I just thought it might help,” he said. “But you look like you’re feeling better, actually.”

“I am,” you said. Between the medicine and Sam’s ministrations, you had started to feel much better. “But I would love it if you braided my hair.”

He smiled. “Say no more, my love.”

You sat on the floor between his legs, and from the first moment his fingers started to gently untangle your hair, you were in heaven. He took his time, lightly scratching your scalp, rubbing circles along your temples and behind your ears, gathering your hair just to brush his fingers through it in a soothing, repetitive motion.

“This is some braid,” you mumbled, content and starting to feel sleepy now that the pain had subsided.

He chuckled. “Does it feel good, birdie?”

You hummed in agreement. “Thank you.”

He kissed the crown of your head. “You’re welcome.”

He finally did put your hair in a simple braid, and you rested your head against his knee when he was done.

“I decided something,” you said.

“Oh yeah?” He traced his fingers over your jaw. “What’s that?”

You wrapped your arms around his leg. “I think you’re the best medicine.”

“Sweet birdie,” he said gently, and you could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m glad I could help, honey. And I’m really glad you’re feeling better.”

He tugged lightly on your braid. “But I can tell you’re sleepy, and I don’t think you want to sleep on the floor.”

Reluctantly, you got up from your spot and joined him again on the couch. You snuggled up to him as he leaned against the arm of the couch, and he tried to pull the blanket over the two of you.

“Rosie,” he said. “You’re on mama’s blanket.”

He pulled it again, gently, just enough to tell her to move. She hopped down from the couch and then hopped right back up, tucking herself by your feet once you and Sam were settled.

“There we go,” Sam said, putting his arm around you. “Sammy and birdie and Rosie, all snuggled up.”

You toyed with his necklace as he put on another movie, knowing you’d be asleep before it was five minutes in.

“Just push me off when you want to get up,” you said. You knew he wasn’t ready for bed yet and didn’t want him to feel like he had to stay for your sake after you’d fallen asleep.

He laughed, and you loved the sound of it all rumbly and warm in his chest.

“I don’t think I’ll just push you off, birdie,” he said. “But thanks. I’ll keep that option in mind.”

You cuddled close. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re very welcome,” he said gently. He ran his hand up and down your back, easing the last of your pain until it faded completely. “I love you, birdie.”

You gave a sleepy, contented sigh as you fell asleep. “I love you too.”

sam taglist: @lil-twilight-glow @ageoffleeet

gvf taglist:@malany-gvf@spark-my-nature@eearevee@madneedshelp@demonrat444@josh-iamyour-mama @honeyandsweettae @mydarlingdanny@gretavandann@sacredjake@myleftsock@joshskittytickler21@hellowgoodbye@watchingovergvf2@fearfulspirit@mywaysoon@carbondancingthroughtime@caprisunsister @eraofstardustchords @sacredthefran@shesawomaninadream @serendipiti @demonrat444@wildflowerxx-x@tearsofdanny @iluvjoshkiszka @jordie-gvf-admin@demolitionndann @hi-hi-hello11 @wildbluesorbit @nessie-glorpa @laneygvf

@gvfrry@ohhey1293@the-chaotic-cow@mountain-in-springtime@xserenax-13@stardustjtk @brooke-gvf@weightofdreams-gvf@jakeydoesit@gretasmokerising@hayley1623@doodle417@finestoflines@brokenbellz@bowievanfleet@s0livagant@strugglingtodoshit@s-u-t@kay-jordan@gretavanfleas@jakeyboiiiiiii@gretavansteph@gretavanbitches@myownparadise96@luverleaver@weightofdreamz@greatervanfleet@maedesculpaeusoubi@jakekiszkasbestie@pineapple-photographer@baguettejuliette@alexxavicry@levi-wants-ur-bones@carlybubs@cowboysamkiszka@dannyandthekiszkas@jordierama@slutforsteve@starshine-wagner@quartzzzzzzz@edgeofdreams@writingcold @lostoverseer @catharu77 @mackalah@jaketlove @haileygvf @blacksoul-27 @ur-m0ms-blog

sorry if tumblr didn’t tag you — it’s stupid sometimes. but i’m real thankful for you, sweet peaches! and if you’re a new bestie and would like to be added to my taglist, check out the form right here! ♡

[mamaestapa]

The Gender Reveal

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•series summary: Y/n Hubbard, the younger sister of Cincinnati Bengals Defensive End Sam Hubbard, finds herself in a difficult situation after a steamy hookup with her brothers best friend, who just so happens to be the quarterback for the Bengals. In just nine months their lives will be changed forever. How will Y/n and Joe manage to to go through parenthood together? more so, how will Sam take the news he is going to be the uncle of his best friends baby?

•chapter summary: You and Joe find out the gender of your baby! It's a day full of happiness, emotions, and drama...

•word count: ALMOST 8k

•warnings: pregnancy, crying, drama, sam is kind of a dick, still lots of fluff, uhh this chapter is kind of all over the place

series masterlist

——————————————————

March 10, 2023

4 months pregnant

"They're here!" Joe yelled from the kitchen. You smiled from Joe's living room as you put your heels on. After sliding on your white heels, you jogged over to the front door and opened it, revealing Morgan and Logan Wilson, Holly and Joe Bachie, and Evan and Gracie McPherson.

"Hi!" you beamed, pulling Morgan into a hug first.

"Hey girl!" she squealed, tightly hugging you back. Well, hugging as much as much as your baby bump would let you. You've really popped the last couple of weeks. You and Morgan rocked back and forth for a couple seconds before pulling away. Her eyes lit up, "Oh my gosh, look at you!"

You blushed as you put your hands on your belly, cupping your bump and showing it off.

"Girl, you are glowing!" Holly grinned as she came up to wrap her arms around you. She squeezed you gently before both of you pulled away. You smiled, "Thank you. I do have that pregnancy glow now that the morning sickness has passed."

Morning sickness was no joke during this pregnancy. It left you feeling crappy and constantly exhausted. Thankfully, your morning sickness disappeared a couple weeks ago when you entered your second trimester. Entering your second trimester means you're already almost halfway through this pregnancy. It feels like just yesterday you found out you were pregnant.

You stepped aside in the entryway so that the group could enter the house. Logan came up to you, side hugging you as he said hello. "Hey stranger."

You smiled, hugging him back, "Hi Logan." Logan smirked, “So, where's the daddy?" You pointed into the kitchen, "He’s in there."

Logan, Joey, and Evan made their way into kitchen, with Evan and Joey each giving you a hug as they walked by. With the guys gone, it left you, Morgan, Holly, and Gracie in the entry way of Joe’s home. You hadn’t really talked to the girls since the season ended a couple months ago. You’ve avoided hanging out with them in order to conceal your pregnancy from the public. It’s not that you didn’t want anyone to know you were pregnant, you just didn’t want the news to come out that you were carrying the baby of Cincinnati’s beloved quarterback. Not yet at least. You and Joe would break the news to the public when you were ready.

Hell, you just told your families last week about the baby. Joe’s family reacted much better than yours, however, both your parents and Joe’s expressed their love and support for the both of you. You were a bit shocked at how well they took the news, considering you and Joe aren’t even together. Your parents were much more hesitant about the situation than Joes were. Robin was excited and gushed the whole night about how excited she was for another grandchild, while your parents grilled Joe with questions and what ifs the whole night.

Since you haven’t talked to the girls much since the season, you figured it would be good to catch up with them for a bit before all of the guests got to Joe’s. Today you were going to be finding out if the baby is a a boy or a girl. You didn’t want to do anything too big and over the top, but Holly and Morgan insisted that you at least have a party with teammates, friends and family that you wanted to invite. So that’s what you and Joe are doing. Your guests would be arriving very soon, which means your so close to finding out the gender of your baby.

“So girls,” you smiled, “if you want, we can get some drinks, food, and go catch up in the backyard." Gracie smiled in response, "I’d love that." The other girls nodded as happy smiles pulled at their lips. You led them into the kitchen where all of the boys were talking. As you all walked into the room, Logan and Evan wolf whistled as their wives walked into the room.

"Damn,” Logan smirked, “who's that beautiful lady in the blue dress?" Morgan shook her head, smiling bashfully as she blushed. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing him gently as she looked out at the group from behind her husbands frame.

You smiled at the couple as you walked over to Joe. “Everything set up?” You asked as you leaned against the counter, a hand coming up to rest on your bump. Joe nodded as he looked down at you, “Yeah, girls got everything set up in here, and out there." he said, gesturing outside. Emma, Gracie, and Joes sister-in-law came over earlier in the day to set up the party for you.

You smiled, "Perfect. Thanks.” Joe hummed and smiled slightly as he looked at you. His eyes traveled from your eyes, down to your bump. I’m just a couple hours you’d know if you were having a son or a daughter.

“Well,” Holly spoke, “I cant wait to see outside.” Morgan nodded in agreement as you pushed yourself off of the counter and patted Joe on the chest. "Well, you boys have fun in here doing whatever the hell you're doing...the girls and I are going to go outside and catch up before everyone else gets here."

Joey saluted, "Will do Y/n. Don’t have too much fun without us." Holly giggled as she rubbed Joey’s back, “Oh god. Joey, you are going to be the death of me, I swear." She laughed, making Joey kiss her forehead, "Mmm, but you love me." Holly blushed, "That I do."

You smiled from afar as you grabbed some sparkling rosé (non-alcoholic, of course) and a pink cake pop from the table full of an assortment of appetizer foods and pink and blue cake pops. You began walking towards the backyard, the girls following behind you with their own glasses of rosé, plus a pink or blue cake pop or two.

As you went to open the sliding glass door, you heard Joe softly call out your name. You turned around and looked at him, slightly cocking your head to the side, "Yeah?" A smile pulled at his lips as he looked at you. "You look really pretty." he said, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he spoke.

You were wearing a white, cami dress with a slit. The dress had pink flowers all over, and it hugged your baby bump and pregnancy curves perfectly. Your hair was loosely curled with the sides being pinned up with pink butterfly clips. You were convinced this baby was a girl, so of course you had to dress in pink.

You smiled sheepishly at Joe's compliment, "Thank you, Joe." He nodded, still smiling softly at you. His eyes locked on your belly for a moment before they snapped back up to meet yours. He hesitanlty turned back to the guys, who were talking about sports, like always. Joe didn't want to take his gaze off of you. He would look at you forever if he could. You walked out onto the patio, closing the door behind you once you were outside. The girls each gave you knowing smiles as they looked at you. They heard the entire exchange between you and Joe just now.

You and the girls made your way over to the lawn chairs that were on the patio, the four of you sitting down and getting comfortable. You sat your champagne flute on the table and leaned back in your chair, folding your hands in your lap and cupping your belly.

"So," Morgan smiled, "catch us up on everything since the last time we talked." She leaned forward in her chair, Holly and Gracie doing the same. The three of them eagerly waiting to hear what you had to say.

You let out a breath you didn't even realize you had been holding. There was a lot that you had to catch them up on...

"Well," you started pursing your lips, "we told Sam about the baby." you gestured to Morgan, "which, you were there for." She smiled sadly at you before asking, "Did he handle it any better after you left the bar?"

You wished you could say yes.

You shook your head. "No. He almost reacted worse." Holly frowned as she listened intently to what you had to say. "What did he say?" You wet your lips as you let a soft sigh escape your lips. Just thinking about the night you told Sam about the baby makes your blood pressure raise. "He was pissed. At me, at Joe, at the situation. He was just pissed at everything. He said that Joe wasn't going to stick around because there's nothing tying him down to me. Which, he's not wrong." You said with a shrug. It was true, there is nothing tying Joe down to you. He has the opportunity to leave you and this baby whenever he wants. You just hope he never does. But since your days at OSU, you don't have a ton of hope that Joe will stick around forever. He's left you once before. What's stopping him from doing it again?

You continued to tell Morgan, Holly, and Gracie about the screaming match that took place between Joe and Sam. You told them all about Joe revealing he broke your heart in college because Sam told him to, and how Joe said he would never leave your the baby because he loves you.

Which, is still something the two of you have yet to discuss. Too many secrets came out that night, and you didn't have the emotional capacity to discuss your feelings for Joe that night either. It's a conversation you know you need to have with Joe, by you've just decided that putting it off is the best thing to do for now. You could talk to Joe about the confession after you find out what his baby is.

Holly's mouth gaped open in shock as you finished telling them everything that's happened. "Wow." was all she said. Your lips formed a straight line as you just nodded.

"You poor thing," Gracie frowned, "that's a lot to handle. Especially for a pregnant woman." You let out a laugh, "Ha, tell me about it."

It was a lot to handle. Your emotions have been running wild these last couple of weeks. Half of it is from your hormones, but the other half definitely comes from all of the drama that's happening in your life right now. You just hope these issues get resolved quickly, you don't need anymore problems than you already have. Morgan stood up from her chair and walked over to yours. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around you. She squeezed you gently as she let her chin rest on your head.

"I know it's a lot, but," she pulled away and grabbed your hand, squeezing it gently as she looked between the three of you, "we all love you, we're here for you."

"And the baby," Holly chimed in with a sweet smile. Morgan chuckled, "Yes, and the baby." You smiled at your friend, standing up from your chair so you could give each of the girls a hug. You were so glad you had friends like them to be there for you during this pregnancy. You puled away from your hug with Gracie. She looked at you with a serious expression, "I promise we won't bring him up any more, but," she hesitated, "Is Sam coming today?"

You truly didn't know if your brother was going to be there or not. you know how angry he is with you and Joe right now, but It would break your heart if Sam didn't show up.

"I don't know." you answered truthfully, "we invited him, but we'll see if he shows or not." Morgan frowned, "It would be pretty shitty if he didn't show up. Even if he's upset with you and Joe right now, he should at least come to see if he's having a niece or nephew." Holly nodded in agreement, "Yeah. And who knows, maybe once he finds out if the baby is a boy or girl, he'll start to come around."

Holly was right. Maybe Sam will come around once he finds out if he's having a niece or nephew.

Morgan decided it was best to move the conversation away from Sam and your pregnancy. So instead, the four of you were laughing away at a story Morgan was telling you about how her and Logan got into a paint fight while they were painting their new house. As you were having fun catching up with your friends and laughing at Morgan's story, Joe came out to the backyard.

"Hey ladies,” he said as he walked up behind you, “sorry to disturb the fun, but there's more people here, Y/n."

You craned your neck up at him and smiled, "Okay. Tell 'em I’ll be there in a second." Joe nodded and walked back to head inside. "Well girls,” you said as you stood from your chair, “it was great catching up with you. I’ll see you in a little bit."

They nodded as they stood from their chairs with you, “Okay, it was so good catching up with you!" Morgan beamed as she hugged you. Holly smiled, and walked over to you. She hugged you once again. "I’m gonna go find Joey, see you in a bit.”

As you all made your way back into the house, the girls went back to their men and got some more snacks. While you and Joe greeted friends and family as they arrived at the house. Eventually, everyone had found their way outside. You and Joe had made sure to talk to all the groups of people that came to the gender reveal, before meeting up with your parents, together. You didn’t need your dad grilling Joe with tough questions anymore without you being present. You and Joe had invited a lot of his teammates, knowing it was best to invite them—even if half of them didn’t show. You knew Tee, Ja’Marr, Logan, and Evan would show, but you didn't expect to see Tyler Boyd, Trey Hendrickson, Jessie Bates, and even Zac Taylor. You were so happy to see that they showed up to share this special day with you and Joe.

As you were walking around the backyard and thanking everyone for coming, you saw Zac looking at one of the tables Gracie had set out in the backyard, with blue and pink balloons and all sorts of baby things scattered all over it. You walked over to him, smiling softly as you got closer to the head coach. "Hey Zac.”

He turned around, his eyes lit up when he saw you. "Hey, Y/n! How you been?"He pulled you into a hug. "Decent,” you said, with a slight shrug, “how about you?" He pulled away from you, nodding as he said, “Can’t complain, can't complain.“ Zac gestured to the little signs by the table, “These are adorable by the way.”

You smiled, "Thanks. Gracie thought it would be cute to incorporate football because, you know..." You trailed off, your eyes glancing over at Joe who was talking to his high school friends just a few feet away from you and Zac.

"So you and Joe huh?" he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over at his quarterback. You blushed as you looked at Joe. The shade of red gracing your cheeks darkened as Joe made eye contact with you. You smiled slightly as him before looking back at Zac. “Heh”, you laughed lightly, “yeah..."

You were unsure how to respond to Zac’s teasing question. The topic of you and Joe being together was still something you had yet to discuss with anyone, even Joe. Zac put a hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze as he spoke reassuringly, “Hey, I support it one hundred percent. Joe is a great guy. You two are perfect for each other, and I know you'll be amazing parents."

You smiled sincerely at the head coach, "Thank you coach, that really means a lot." Zac smiled and grabbed a glass of champagne from the table, "Of course, I mean it. Take care sweetheart, alright?“ He said softly, kissing your cheek. You nodded, “I will. Zac smiled, "Good. Congratulations to you and Joe." You thanked Zac as he walked away from you, leaving you alone at the table. You stood there for a moment thinking about what Zac said to you: You two are perfect for eachother. There was a time years ago where you truly believed that. You don’t want to admit it, but deep down you still believe that statement.

After talking to Zac, you decided to join Joe so you could talk to each others parents. After Joe was done catching up with some of his high school buddies, he moved on to talk to his mom. Once you got close enough, you reached out and touched Joe’s shoulder. You could feel him tense up ag the contact. He turned around and immediately relaxed as he noticed it was you. He smiled softly at you as you stood next to him.

Robin gasped as she looked at you, “Honey you look beautiful!” You smiled and pulled her into a hug, “Thank you. It’s so good to see you.” She rubbed your back and squeezed you gently, “It’s good to see you too. How are you feeling?” You pulled away and put your hands on your belly as you spoke, “Much better. Little one isn’t making me so sick anymore.” She smiled, “That’s good,” she pointed at Joe, “this one gave me awful morning sickness.” Joe chuckled as he moved a hand to place on the middle of your bump, “Like father like son.” He smirked as he looked down at you. You just shook your head as you kept eye contact with Robin. Joe has been connived this whole pregnancy that you’re having a boy. Joe took his hand off your abdomen and chuckled as his mom gave him a knowing smile. She lifted her hand from her hip and let it hover over your belly, “May I?” she asked. You nodded, giving Joe’s mom a sweet smile. She smiled and placed her hand gently on your belly. She gushed as her thumb stroked over one of the flower patterns. “This is so exciting.” Joe’s mom was so excited about this baby, and you thought it was the sweetest thing. She pulled her hand away as her eyes welled with tears, “I am just so happy for you both. I can't wait to meet Baby Burrow." You and Joe glanced at eachother as his mouth gaped open, "Oh-“ he hesitated, “mom, no. We uh, we haven't decided on a last name for the baby."

That was another topic to add the list of things you had to talk to Joe about…

Joe’s dad furrowed his brows in confusion, "Well why not? The baby is a Burrow afterall." Joe shrugged at his dads words, “Yeah, but it's also a Hubbard too." Just hearing your last name being mentioned made you tense. All you could think about was how your brother reacted to the news.

So…”Jimmy trailed off. "are you going to hyphenate the name? Personally, I think you should just use Joe’s last name." You hesitated, “Yeah, I-.” Joe cut you off with a firm tone in his voice, “Dad, I appreciate the help. I do, but Y/n and I will decide later, when the due date is closer.”

You let out a sigh of relief. Silently thanking Joe in your head for handling the situation.

Jimmy sighed, giving his son a tight lipped smile, “Well Joe, just know whatever you two decide on, your mom and I support you." Joe smiled and nodded, "Thanks, dad." Robin grimaced slightly and broke the tension by hugging you again, "Well, we’ll let you two go and talk to some other guests. I know there’s lots of people waiting to talk to you two.” she pulled away and smiled, “Y/n, it was wonderful to see you again, sweetie."

You smiled, "It was so good to see you Robin.Jimmy have you a side hug as Robin hugged Joe, whispering something in his ear that made him smile widely. He pulled away from his mom and looked at you as he said, “I know, I really do.”

You couldn’t help but wonder what she said to Joe that made him so happy. After you finished talking to Joe’s parents, you decided to talk to your own. The conversation with them was similar to the one you had with Joe’s parents.Both of them were still a little weary about the whole situation, but they were so excited to find out what their grandchild was going to be. You hugged both of your parents before you and Joe started to make your way over to another table that Gracie had set up in the backyard. As you were walking with Joe, you looked around the backyard and made note of everyone that was a present. A frown made its way onto your face as you realized Sam wasn’t there. You hoped he’d get over himself and suck it up for just a couple hours, but your hopes were crushed. Your brother wasn’t going to come. Joe glanced down at you, noticing the frown that was on your face as you looked around the backyard of his home. He stopped walking, and reached out to place a hand on your shoulder, “You alright?”You tore your eyes away from the guests and looked into Joe’s blues. You nodded, smiling sadly, “Yeah. It’s just, Sam’s not here…”

Joes expression matched yours. Just like you, he too hoped that Sam would look past his anger with you guys, and show up to support you and find out the gender of your baby. "I know." Joe said, his voice just above a whisper. "It's my fault." Your face dropped as you looked at Joe, a hurt expression on your face. "Don't say that, it's not your fault. My brother's just a dick when it comes to you and I being together. He needs to get over himself." Joe chuckled softly, "That he is. I'm sorry." Joe said, genuinely. You furrowed your eyebrows, "What for?" Joe sighed, gulping as he said, "Everything. Leaving you behind in Ohio, making your brother miss this, it's all my fault." His tone somber as he finished. You shook your head and grabbed Joe's hand. "Look at me." Joe let his blue eyes stare into yours, "None of this is your fault. If anyone's fault, it's my brothers." Joe nodded, "I guess. I do need to talk to you though," he sighed, "it's important."

You knew there were two things on Joe's mind right now that he needed to discuss with you. You nodded, smiling softly at him, "Yeah, we'll talk. But not here." A small smile pulled at your lips, "Lets focus on finding out what this baby is first so we can stop calling them an 'it'." Joe chuckled in amusement, nodding in agreement. With that, the two of you exchanged one last smile as you walked over to the table where all of the confetti poppers were placed. Gracie and joe's sister-in-law created a "playbook" for a fun little activity before the baby's gender was revealed to everybody in attended. Joe grabbed the "playbook" that had a blue and pink helmet on each side. With th playbook in hand, the two of you began to walk around again to take guesses from the groups of people. Finding out, were they team pink or team blue?

~time skip~

"Ja’Marr, my guy." Joe said walking up to where Ja’Marr was standing. You and Joe were asking everyone attending the gender reveal, to predict what they think the baby’s gender is. So far, you’ve gotten five votes for a girl(coming from you, your mom, Jimmy, Tee, and Tyler), and three votes for a boy (coming from Joe, your dad, and Robin).

"What do you think, are you team pink or team blue?" You asked, holding up the “playbook” and shaking it. Ja’Marr smiled, "Team pink for sure. I get girl dad vibes from Joe.” You smiled as you looked up at Joe, “I think so too.”

Joe wrote down Ja’Marrs guess as he hugged each of you and gave his congratulations. As Ja’Marr was walking away, you saw Holly, Joey, Morgan, and Logan laughing together. You smiled and quickly made your way over to them, with Joe following behind you.

Holly beamed as she saw you and Joe, “Hey guys!" Joey smirked beside her, “Placing bets now are we?" You smiled, chuckling softly, “Yup. So, are we team pink or blue?" You asked, twirling the pen in your hand.

You couldn’t wait to hear your friends guesses.

Morgan smiled warmly, "Blue. I have a feeling it's a boy."

"Me too." Joe mouthed as he tallied another vote for 'team blue'. You turned to Logan, “What about you?”

He hummed, thinking about what his prediction was. “I think I’m going to have to go with pink because the Hubbard family has too many boys."

"Same!“ Holly, nodded, “mark me down for pink too."

You marked down two talley marks for 'team pink', turning to Joey and waiting for his answer.

"This is a tough decision,” he chuckled, crossing his arms. “I look at Joe and I get girl dad vibes, but Y/n, you give off major boy mom vibes. But i’m so torn because there is no way Burrow is having a boy. I just can't see it."

Joe frowned and you laughed, "why not?"

Joey shrugged, "I just don't get that vibe, but I’m going with my gut…I think it’s a boy.” Joe high-fived the linebacker as you put a tally down on the clipboard.

"Gotta carry on that JB9 legacy." Loagn said, elbowing Joe. You shook your head, laughing. "No, no. You’ll see, this baby is definitely a girl.”

You’d find out in just a few moments if you were right or not. You and Joe had just a few more people to ask for their guesses on what the baby growing in your belly is. After you finished asking your friends, you moved on to Coach Taylor, which he voted that the baby was a girl. After talking to Zac for a bit, you moved on to your last group. Their votes were split half and half. As you asked the guests for their predictions, you couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Sam never showed up. He’s such an asshole. Cant even get over his problems with Joe for just a couple hours to come support his little sister. What a prick. You thought to yourself as you huffed out a sigh. You would have no problem confronting him about this later…

"Hey everyone!" Gracie yelled from the patio of Joe's backyard. her voice ringing out in the backyard caused you to direct your attention to her as she spoke, "If I could get everyone's attention, it's time for the big reveal! So, if you all could, let's give a round of applause for the parents, Joe and Y/n!"

You knew Joe hated being in the spotlight like this, but the two of you wore large grins as you walked up to the patio where the Gracie held the confetti poppers. Applause and whistles broke out in the lawn as the two of you made your way over to Gracie. Once you and Joe got to where you were supposed to stand, Gracie handed each of you a confetti popper. You looked up at Joe, a smile pulling at your lips as you noticed his hands shaking slightly in anticipation as he held the popper in his hand. He brought a hand up to adjust his Cartiers, flashing you a nervous smile before he looked out at the guests standing around in the backyard.

"So, before we get to the moment we have all been waiting for," Gracie said with a sweet smile, "let's get some final results from the parents on what you all think the baby's gender is!"

You looked up at Joe, smiling before turning to the crowd, "So for team pink, we had a total of sixteen votes." Joe cleared his throat, "And for team blue, we have a total of ten." You laughed lightly, "Well, the obvious winner here is team pink."

A few shouts and cheers were heard from the crowd of yours and Joe's family and friends. Even though you and a majority of your guests thought this baby was a girl, you and Joe didn't care what you were having. As long as the baby is healthy, you'll both be happy.

"Alright guys, you ready?" Gracie asked you and Joe. Joe shrugged, a smirk on his face as he said, "I don't think I have much of a choice." You let out a laugh in agreement.

You felt yourself growing nervous, yet so excited at the same time as the ancipatoon grew. The moment you've been waiting for since you found out you were pregnant was just moments away from happening. In just moments, you'll find out if you'll be having a son or daughter.

Gracie, with the help of Joe's sister-in-law, began passing a few more confetti poppers out amongst the crowd of your family and friends. Once the majority of people had poppers in their hands, you were finally ready to reveal the gender of your baby. You and Joe stood next to each other, your hands shaking, but wide grins were etched on your faces. You glanced up at him, "You ready?" He nodded, "Hell yeah." The two of you took your eyes off of each other and turned back to the crowd in the backyard.

"On the count of three!" you shouted, fixing your grip on the popper. your heart was racing as the countdown began. Joe's feeling the same way.

"One!"..."Two!"..."Three!"

You and Joe twisted the poppers in your hands. You were suddenly surround by blue confetti. You and Joe are having a baby boy.

"YESSSS!!!!" Joe cheered, throwing his hands up in the air in triumph. His fatherly instincts were indeed correct all along. He was having a son. Your hands flew to your mouth in shock. You were so convince you were having a girl, but you are so excited to have a baby boy. You started laughing from excitement and shock. Joe brought his hands down, dropping the confetti popper. He turned to you and wrapped you up in a tight embrace, rocking back and forth with you. "We're having a baby boy." he said, his voice shaky and soft as he spoke into your hair. You let out the breath you had been holding, "I know, I'm so happy." You said, your tone genuine and filled with emotion.

You and Joe pulled away from each other and turned to everyone, bright smiles on both of your faces. All of your family and friends were cheering, whistling, smiling, and some were even crying. Every body there was just so happy for you and Joe. You heard sniffling beside you, causing you to glance up at Joe. You noticed him take his Cartiers off and wipe his eyes. You pushed your bottom lip out and laughed lightly, the sound of your laughter making Joe look down at you. Tears began spilling out of your own eyes, too, as he looked at you with his piercing blue eyes, He laughed, tearily. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy right now. I-we, are going to have a son, Y/n." You wiped a tear off your cheek as you sniffled. "Yeah," you said, a wide grin growing on your face, "we are."

You were feeling a mixture of emotions right now, but you were so overwhelmed with joy and happiness. Finding out that you and Joe were going to have a baby boy in just five short months made this pregnancy feel even more real. You were so excited to meet your sweet, baby boy.

As you and Joe shared an emotional moment, you felt a pair of arms wrap around you. You looked over and saw Holly, who was grinning excitedly. You hugged her back, both of you jumping up and down.

"Ahhh, I'm getting a nephew!" she cheered, making you laugh happily. You felt two more bodies join the hug. You smiled even wider, knowing it was Morgan and Gracie. "Y/n, I'm so happy I could cry!" Morgan shrieked. Gracie laughed and nodded in agreement, "Me too!"

"Be careful ladies," Joe chuckled beside you, "you don't want to suffocate the little guy." The girls pulled away from you and rolled their eyes at Joe. Holly shook her head, and gave you one last squeeze before she and the others gave you some space to talk to your families.

"I'm getting a grandson!" you heard Robin cheer as she got closer to you and Joe. Once she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around both you and Joe, pulling you in to a comforting embrace. "You excited mom?" Joe asked, chuckling in amusement at his mothers reaction. Jimmy chuckled from beside Robin. "I think excited is an understatement." Robin pulled away from you and Joe, tears pooling in her eyes as she just looked at the two of you with a genuine smile. Every one in attendance came up to you and Joe, congratulating the two of you on the pregnancy and your little boy. They took pictures with you, told stories, and gave you parenting advice. While it was a bit overwhelming and a tad emotional, you were so thankful for everyone that came today. Those that attended had nothing but love and support for you and Joe through this whole thing.

As you and Joe stood around, still beaming over the reveal of your baby’s gender, Zac came up to where the two of you were standing. He shook Joe’s hand, and clapped his back, pulling his quarterback in for a hug. Joe doing the same.

"Guess my call was wrong huh?" Zac chuckled, referring to his guess that the baby was a girl. You laughed lightly, nodding, "Yes, yes it was."

Zac smiled warmly at you and Joe. He seemed genuinely happy. It wasn't a rare occurrence for him to smile, not at all, but it was a very comforting gesture to see the usual hard gaze of Zacs, break out into a wide grin when he wasn't stressed over coaching.

"Congratulations again you two.” he nodded, “You are going to be the most amazing parents to this little boy." You smiled and moved forward to hug Zac. You wrapped your arms around him tightly. "Thank you, Zac. For everything...I, we, appreciate it." you squeezed Zac slightly, him doing the same to you.

He pulled away from you and rested his hand on your shoulder. "Of course. If you," he looked between you and Joe, “if either of you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or Sarah. We will gladly help in any way we can."

Joe grinned at his coach, the two of you were so thankful for him and all that he’s done. “Thanks coach, that really means a lot." He nodded, “Of course. I’m going to head out, it was a fun day. Congrats again.” You and Joe both smiled and waved goodbye the the head coach. It was good to have people like Zac Taylor around.

As the rest of the afternoon went on into the evening, you cherished every moment you could with all of yours and Joe's family and friends. Today was special in so many different ways. From seeing your families, to catching up with your best friends and eating delicious food while having so many laughs. But, the best moment of all from today was finding out that your baby is a boy. Today was a day you truly never want to forget--even if your dick older brother Sam refused to show up.

After all of your friends and family left Joe's house, the two of you sat in his backyard, watching the Cincinnati sunset from Joe's patio. Music was playing softly in the background as you sat in silence with each other, watching the beautiful sunset. As the sun began to set, Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band began playing. Joe glanced at you before standing up from his chair. He fiddled with his fingers as he stood in front of you. He looked like a nervous high school boy trying to ask his crush to dance with him.

"You wanna dance?" he asked softly, his eyes looking extremely blue from the golden light shining into them from the sunset. You looked up at Joe through your lashes, a blush making its way onto your cheeks as you nodded. Joe couldn't help but smile as he reached out for your hand. He grabbed your smaller hand, gently pulling you up from your chair. Joe turned the music up just a little bit before he places his hands on your waist. You smiled softly, bringing your arms up to his neck and letting them drop over his shoulders. You looked up at Joe, smiling lovingly at him. Joe did the same, a slight twinkle in his eye as he did so. The two of you began swaying to the music.

Lost for you I'm so lost for you

You come crash into me

And I come into you

You aren't sure what came over you, but as you swayed along to the music and looked intensely into Joe's beautiful baby blues, you laid your head on his chest. You felt Joe's body tense up momentarily, but it soon relaxed and his grip on your waist tightened. So many unspoken feelings were being shared between the two of you just through this moment.

Touch your lips just so I know

In your eyes, love, it glows so

I'm bare boned and crazy for you

"Y/n..." Joe trailed off softly. You hummed against his chest, not wanting to lift your head from his sternum, "I didn’t want to leave you all those years ago,” he said softly as he sucked in a breath, “I meant what I said a few weeks ago. I really do love you."

When I'm holding you so girl

Close to me

Oh and you come crash into me, baby

Your heart swelled at his confession. You've been waiting to hear those words since knowing Joe as Ohio State. Tears welled up in your eyes at his confession. You had been avoiding this conversation ever since you told Sam about the baby a few weeks ago. You avoided it because you were still unsure about your feelings for Joe. You wanted to love him, well you do love him, but you can't help but feel weary. Joe's left you behind before. You know you still need to have a proper conversation about the situation with Joe leaving you at OSU. But, the heart wants what it wants...

As you slowly lifted your head from his chest, Joe leaned down and captured your lips in a sweet kiss. You kissed back, grabbing both sides of his cheeks. The butterflies swarmed in your tummy as you kissed Joe. Being with Joe like you are right now felt so right. It brought you back to your days at OSU before he left for LSU. Just the two of you together, in love, without a care in the world. It felt refreshing to feel that feeling again.

Joe smiled as he pulled away from you. You blushed and wrapped your arms around him once more. You looked up into those blue eyes you found yourself getting lost in every time you looked into them. Even though you were still a little hesitant, you knew this was the right thing. For you, for Joe, and for your son.

Your was voice quiet, yet sincere as you said those three words Joe has waited forever to hear, "I love you, Joe."

hey loves!

sorry this was all over the place lol. i promise the next chapters will be better

so, Y/n and Joe are having a boy!!🩵 did you guess right!? AND Y/n and Joe confessed their love, so sweet ;)

what are your thoughts on sam not being there? he's definitely not being a great brother or friend right now, that's for sure.

the drama will only get more crazy from here, so get ready. this chapter is just the calm before the storm...I promise eventually this series will be all fluff, but that won't be for a while. there's some crazy stuff and some angst happening soon👀

i hope you loves are enjoying this series! i really appreciate all the love and feedback i've been getting on it. it makes me so happy to see all of you share how much you love the series and how excited you are for more updates! all of your comments, reblogs, asks, and likes mean so much to me🤍🤍

tags: @dandelionwrites8 @joeburreauxsworld @theflawedwriter @mrsshiesty @ann288 @ijustcrypretty @theoneandonlyfanz @wickedfun9 @venus-b @hummusxx @stainednailpolishremover @a-moment-captured @alternativemadchen @erinmartin1987 @sirlewisworld @kkrenae @unhingedfangirl @sublimemusic-rebel @meameagirl @ilovejoeburroww @hallecarey1 @j-worlds-blog @blinkloverx3 @jordyn14 @kristencochefski1125 @ryiamarie @unsaidjaelinrose @emherb10