#like if u look back at when they were younger mike is always kind of nervous about touching ashton and seems worried

[daydadahlias]

is it me or is mashton an underrated duo? like i barely see them together

well, i do think that's because mashton just aren't as close as the other guys are. like they're best friends for life, they share a bond that most people wouldn't understand having traveled the world and been in a band for so long together and experienced things that the "average" person just never will in their lifetime, but I do kind of inherently believe that mashton aren't necessarily the kind of people who would have become friends without the band, if that makes sense.

although i don't think that in any way negates the very real and profound respect and admiration we've seen them display for each other.

[crappymixtape]

endless summer

steve’s pool is always full during the indiana summers and he loves his friends, but he just wants you • *18+ only | (  2.8k, smut, fluff, friends to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader  )

E N D L E S S S U M M E R 🎶 i would die 4 u, art school girlfriend

“Hey, hey. None of that shit in my pool!” Steve was standing on the deck with a hand on his hip, arm waving about as he yelled at Dustin and Lucas who were dragging a half-empty pizza box closer to the edge of the pool.

“We’re hungry!” Dustin protested indignantly.

“Yeah, so hungry,” Lucas added, still dragging along the pizza box slowly as if Steve wouldn’t catch him.

“No, no, no. Get that outta here,” Steve was already around the other side of the pool and snatching the box away from Lucas’ grabby hands, tossing it up onto the patio table. “Children,” he shook his head at both younger boys.

Whatever, was mumbled back to Steve followed by a couple of hidden middle fingers, but the heat was enough to stall any real arguing and before long everyone slipped back into the cool water, lazily floating in the hot Indiana summer.

No one knew what day of the week it was, you only knew when you had to work next – not today – and time didn’t matter. All anyone wanted to do was spend time with each other, normal time, not running-away-from-flesh-eating-bats-time, and it felt perfect. You wished you could stay like this forever.

Stretched out on a lounger, you were the picture of summer wearing a tangerine bikini, a stolen pair of Steve’s aviators, and camped out next to a cooler full of beer and Coke. Whenever you felt your skin protesting against the sun you’d jump into the pool to cool off, but hurried right back to your chair after.

Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will had spent most of the day trying to shove Max and El in the water, but were thwarted almost every time. I mean, c’mon, it’s El. Like she could’t sense it? Robin and Eddie found their little patch of shade under the only tree in the backyard and passed a joint back and forth until their eyes were glassy and heavy, lips permanently curved into lazy smiles. And Steve? Well. What Steve wanted to be doing and what he was actually doing were two very different things.

He couldn’t help his lifeguard instincts around the pool, sniping at the kids over all kinds of shit – out of love, obviously – but every single time he turned away it was to look at you.

You. Wearing his sunglasses. Your tangerine bikini hugging your curves just right, not leaving much to the imagination. The scent of your coconut sunscreen and citrus shampoo mixed with chlorine and Cherry Coke teasing him every time he walked by, it was almost painful.

Then, finally, the others hauled themselves out of the pool, tired from the heat and shoving each around and playing chicken and summer. You grinned watching as Mike and Lucas both sleepily settled their heads into El’s and Max’s laps atop their towels. Dustin and Will were off talking about Suzie and their next D&D campaign. And Robin and Eddie…well. They were there, but not there, and Steve had picked up the pool net to scoop out the few stray bits of crap the others had dragged into the water.

God. It was like he existed for summer. Like he was made for it. His skin all golden, kissed by the sun and dotted in freckles. Hair, just a touch lighter than it was in the winter, hanging across his dewy forehead. The muscles in his arms tensing and relaxing as he pushed and pulled the pool net through the water. Turquoise swim shorts dripping water, plip plip plip on the patio, clinging to his legs. Sunglasses perched on his head so that he couldn’t hide it if he snuck glances of you over there wearing his aviators.

You could feel his gaze wander up your long legs, your thighs, the soft curve of your hips, that damn tangerine top. And when you lifted a hand to take off your glasses, the grin you gave him was almost cruel. “Looking for something, Harrington?” you called across the patio.

Despite his tanned skin, the flush that rose in his cheeks could be seen from where you were sitting. “What?” fell out of his mouth, dumb in the summer sun, and he propped himself up against the pool skimmer, clearly caught. But then he recovered, just so very Steve. “Just admiring the view,” he gave you a grin of his own and it was your turn to blush.

Biting in your lower lip you put his aviators aside and smirked. “Nice day, hm?” you snarked, swinging your legs over the side of the lounger to stand.

“Oh, definitely a heat advisory in effect,” Steve teased back, discarding the skimmer on the patio at his feet, finally unable to keep himself away from you any longer.

Walking with a purpose he closed the gap between the two of you and took your face in his hands and pressed a heady kiss to your mouth, catching your lower lip between his. You tasted like popsicles and Cherry Coke.

“What was that for?” you murmured against his lips, his hands still holding onto your cheeks as your hands wandered up to rest on his chest.

“For not eating pizza in the pool,” he grinned against you as he went in for another kiss and then leaned in close, his lips to your ear, “I forgot something inside.”

It was so hot, the sun beating down on both of you, but you shivered at his words as goosebumps trailed along your neck. Laughing you tilted your head so that you could meet his gaze and when your eyes met your grin softened and fell. Steve’s eyes. Deep pools of caramel swimming with tiny flecks of hazel and gold. Long brown lashes sweeping his cheeks. Steve. He only had eyes for you.

“I’ll come with you,” your voice was barely above a whisper as you felt a heat rising in your core that had absolutely nothing to do with the hot Indiana sun, and without hesitation his hand was tangling with yours, pulling you through the slider door and up the stairs.

Steve kicked the door shut as you both tumbled into his room and he caught your lips in another kiss before pressing more down your jaw, your neck, to the little hollow behind your ear.

It was hot, the air in his room upstairs was warm and thick and his hands were everywhere all at once. Wandering across the small of your back, trailing the length of your arms, tugging your hips into his. It all made you dizzy, but you kept up.

Wrapping your hands around the back of his neck, you spun him around and pushed him down onto his bed. His eyes went wide for a split second, surprised at the show of confidence, but he came back down from it and grinned up at you. “So damn pretty,” he murmured and you knew he meant it.

“I could say the same to you,” you purred before diving down against him, your bodies finally pressing together, skin meeting skin around your bikini and his trunks. It felt electric. You’d both wanted nothing more after watching each other in the heat, dripping with the glittering turquoise of the pool, longing to look, to touch, to feel.

A groan escaped him as you trailed kisses along his shoulder and up against his stubbled jaw before settling your mouth on his, lightly pulling on his lower lip.

“Been wanting to do this all day,” he mumbled, fingers fumbling with the tie of your top, cinched snug against your body. As it came undone it fell down onto his chest and he stopped short, hands holding onto your waist for dear life. He looked at you like you were the only thing that existed in that moment. You were the only thing that existed in that moment. “Damn,” it was almost reverent, in awe of you. Every curve, every dip, the very softness of you.

Giving him a small smile you leaned down, brushing your lips against his ear, and simply whispered his name. Pulling back the look you gave him shattered any kind of control he’d been grasping onto and he loosed a heavy breath.

In one fell swoop Steve lifted you off of him easily, tossing you down on the bed before bringing his needy mouth to your sun kissed skin again, body meeting yours. You could feel him against you, could feel much he wanted you, and the heat pooling between your legs told you you wanted him just as much.

Steve bit your shoulder gently and he smirked when you sucked in a gasp. “Shit,” you hissed, half laughing half moaning at the kisses he started trailing down your chest and along the soft curve of your breasts.

His face moved down your body, mouth touching every bit of you he could, and then he paused and flicked his eyes up to look at you. “What?” his tongue ran along his lower lip as he grinned, knowing full well what he was doing to you.

Brow furrowing you propped yourself up on your elbows and opened your mouth to reply, but it promptly clamped shut when he slipped his mouth over your nipple, eliciting another moan from your lips. Your head fell back against the sheets as your hands moved to tangle in his hair. “Want you,” was all you could manage, your lips parted as your breath hitched in your throat.

“I know,” Steve’s voice was low, rough, and the grin he’d given you was long gone, pupils blown wide – fuck, he wanted you too. He pushed himself up for only as long as it took to yank his trunks off, his fingers deftly untying your bikini bottoms before tugging them out from under your ass and throwing them unceremoniously to the floor.

Standing at the edge of the bed he stopped and took in the vision you were, all soft curves and tan lines and freckles. Coconut sunscreen and cherry red lips. He leaned forward and ran his hands up your calves, hooking his palms behind your knees, and pulled you to the edge of the bed as he knelt down. Steve couldn’t take his eyes away from yours even as his hands moved to spread your legs apart, thumbs pressing into your thighs.

His fingers swept inward, slipping against the slick between your legs and you saw his eyes flutter closed for a second as he touched you, felt you, jaw clenching as he groaned, “So wet baby, is that for me?”

“Mhmm,” your mumbled yes was tangled up with another moan as he slipped first one finger then two inside of you, his thumb taking up a slow, languid pace as it traced circles over your clit. Steve was so good to you. Took care of you. You came first, always.

He easily found a rhythm as his fingers slipped in and out, in and out, in and out. It was wrecking you and as he picked up the pace your whimpers grew to moans despite biting down on your bottom lip. “You’re so good, baby,” he pressed kisses to your inner thigh, “Want you to come for me.”

Your heart was fluttering in your chest, like a hummingbird caught in your ribcage, frantic and seeking release. One hand still tangled in his hair, the other desperately clinging onto a fistful of sheets as you felt yourself racing closer to the edge. He made you feel so good, his fingers were so good, but he was too far away. You wanted him on you, crushing into you, fucking you.

“Steve,” breathless you begged, “Need you.” And he slowed, knowing exactly what you wanted. What you needed.

“Yeah, okay baby,” he reassured you, climbing over the top of you as he fumbled in his nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom, tearing the foil between his teeth and thumb. Kneeling with a leg on either side of your hips he slid it over his length, pumping his hand up and down a few times before fitting himself between your legs. You were so wet, sweet like honey, and his heart was pounding in his chest when he looked up into your eyes.

He slowly eased himself into you, feeling how tight you were on him, and he let out a groan. “Jesus Christ,” his eyes squeezed shut as he bottomed out, you felt so fucking good, but he quickly opened them again to look down at you. “Okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you felt your body slowly relax as you adjusted to the way he filled you, letting out a sigh, the most perfect melody to his ears, “M’okay.”

ALifting a hand to gently brush your hair away from your dewy forehead he took you in. “So pretty,” he whispered, "So damn beautiful." And then started rocking into you, your hips rising to meet him with each thrust. Slow at first, his forehead falling down to meet yours, one hand holding him over you as the other tangled your fingers with his.

“Oh shit,” Steve hissed as he picked up the pace, both of you panting with the effort as you pushed each other closer and closer to your breaking point. You looked up at him as he fucked into you, his pretty lips parted as he sucked in breaths, moving faster and faster chasing his high.

Letting your hand go he moved his fingers back down to your clit and moved them in slick, heavy circles and the moan you loosed then almost shattered him. “Oh–oh god, Steve, I’m gon-gonna come,” you were gasping for air, as the movements of his fingers grew messy and faster, wanting you to find release before he did, your name leaving his lips over and over like a prayer. And then something in you snapped and your hips bucked heavy against his, your hand flying up to hold onto his bicep like a lifeline as each wave of your climax washed over you.

“Fuck, me too, so close,” Steve’s face almost looked pained as his movements grew hurried and uneven, and then finally his rhythm broke too and his lips parted as his breath hitched in his throat. He finished fast as you clenched around him, guiding him up and over the edge and slowly he rocked his hips to a stand still, both of you messy and sweaty and wrecked.

Letting his head fall forward Steve buried his face in you, pressing light kisses to your collarbone, the crook of your neck, your cheek. He smirked, exhaustion creeping over both of you, and brought his lips to yours, “It’s that damn bikini.”

Laughing you slowly moved to cup his face in your hands and shook your head. “Mental note to wear it more often,” your own little grin tugged up at the corners of you lips as you pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Steve laughed, but it was cut short as he eased out of you and collapsed onto the bed next to you, the fan on the ceiling pushing the warm, thick, summer air around his room. Resting your head on his chest as he settled, you listened to his heartbeat thud, thud, thud against your ear, your breathing slowly evening out along with his.

He ran his fingers through your hair idly, humming low and content, and kissed the top of your head. “So–” he started, voice tired and gravely, but happy, “I…I wanted to tell you that…uh, what I mean is…shit.”

“What is it?” propping yourself up against his chest you looked at him, concern knitting your brow together.

He caught the worry in your eyes and quickly shook his head, his hand finding yours and turning it over to press a kiss to your palm. “No, no nothing bad!” he reassured you quickly, his cheeks flushing pink. “I just,” he sighed, an uncharacteristically nervous laugh escaping him, “I just wanted to tell you I love yo–”

“Steve!”

“It wasn’t my fault–”

“Mike told me to–”

“I did not!”

Voices carried up through the open window cutting Steve off and he jammed his tongue into his cheek. Someone was gonna get it.

“Oh my god, are you kidding me?” irritation gave Steve a second wind and he crossed the room so fast you couldn’t help laughing as you watched his bare ass stop at the window sill. “I’m a little busy here!” he yelled down at the boys, but then you saw his expression change. “Wait, who the hell got pizza in the pool??”

Quiet. Then a barrage of voices.

“Dustin was hungry–”

“I told him it wasn’t allowed, Steve–”

“You know how he is!”

“They’re all lying, Steve!”

Putting both hands over his face he groaned, loud and exaggerated, before letting them drop to his sides. He thought for a moment, then decided he didn’t care and threw his hands up in defeat.

“You know what? You figure it out,” he shouted back down at them and then pulled the sheer curtains shut before coming back to bed.

Laughing he tossed the sheet over both of you, pulling you in close, smiling against your skin, his hands holding you soft and gentle and then he finally whispered against your ear what it was he was trying to tell you all that time.

I love you.

crappymixtape™ • steve harrington masterlist // stranger things masterlist

[parmaviolets]

shut up im literally obsessed with ur fnaf au. can you explain everything about it?? (characters added, their roles, etc?) i love it so mych im gobbling it up nom nom nom

hii thank you. infodump time teehee

The AU is kind of set during the events of FNAF 2, but I've shuffled things around so it's a sequel and also it takes place in Massachusetts circa 2004.

more under the cut because augh. Many thoughts

Mike has recently gotten married to his coworker, Eugene, who is for all intents and purposes a regular accountant type guy except for being a weird freak (compliment) and ALSO more relevantly, been promoted to day guard. This means they're going to need a new nightguard, and that ends up being Jeremy, who recently moved back to his hometown (Fazbear Capital of the World) from where he was living in Vermont.

Jeremy has a girlfriend, which he talks about all the time but Mike does not fucking believe she's real until she threatens him with a knife for bullying Her Guy. Her name is Nadia Knox! She's a scene girl who works at a hardware store, loves blasting MCR in her car, carries a ridiculous amount of things in her bag, likes making copies of people's house keys without them knowing, tracing cell phones, shoplifting, etc. normal girl hobbies basically

She and Jeremy have kind of a beard relationship going on because like. Jeremy is very aromantic and she's bi but really looking for serious relationships right now. But they pass really easily as a couple because they genuinely do really like each other as friends and have a lot of affection for each other.

Charlotte "Chucky" Emily is another gal that works at the pizzeria, mostly in repair and maintenance of the animatronics and equipment. She grew up with Michael mostly so they've got a silly kind of sibling relationship going on, but besides that she doesn't really.. have friends. She was homeschooled by her father, Henry, and finds herself a little socially inept so she kinda keeps to herself.

Chucky was partially raised by William Afton too, but when she was younger he had a bad falling out with Henry and she didn't really see him for like. 10 years after that. but Will always somehow got little gifts to her- toolboxes, books, taxidermied mice. Normal things that the estranged business partner of your father would send you, as far as she knew. Because she doesn't go outside enough to know that's fucking Weird.

Henry is kind of silly. He gives off the vibes like he was a looney tunes character that escaped Disneyland and now he's stuck in a slasher and doesn't know it. He and William were good friends back in the day! Also had some subtextual homoeroticism. When Will left to manage Afton Robotics, Henry took over full ownership of Freddy's.

Into the plot deets, Jeremy was actually intended to be one of the victims of the original Missing Children's Incident, but he got a tummy ache and went home before he could get Murdered. Following that, his mother thought "this city sucks, I'm going to Vermont" and took him with her. Now that he's 21 and definitely needs to move out of his mother's house, he decided to go back to Brockton (mistake #1) and work at Freddy's (mistake #2) because it was the only place that was gonna hire him hashtag job market in shambles.

ogh okay I need to get ready for work now see u

[nnightskiess]

r e q u e s t : Hi ! How are you ? I’m so sad as to what happened with Naya she was a huge inspiration in my life and It hit me really bad But I want to ask for an imagine where you are Santana’s little sister and you come in to join the glee club and you’re better then Rachel and she starts saying stuff but you pop off on her and Santana backs you up?? If you can, sorry if it doesn’t make sense

                                                             ✫彡

Y/N sat cross-legged on a chair in the back row, texting one of her friends to try and pass the time. Mr. Schuester was late, as always. Her older sister, Santana, walked in with Brittany close behind her. They sat down in the chairs in front of Y/N and turned around to the younger Lopez to engage her in their conversation. 

Their conversation was cut short when a loud clap of hands and an exciting yelp, coming from no other than Rachel Berry, interrupted them. Santana immediately rolled her eyes, knowing she was about to say something stupid again. 

“You guys, I have amazing news!”

Y/N groaned loudly, knowing whatever Rachel had to say would probably only have interest to Rachel herself.

“I just made up my mind on what song I’ll be singing for regionals.” She went to stand in front of the group. If she had paid close attention, she’d seen that not all of them were pleased with her statement. 

“What you’ll be singing?” Y/N cocked an eyebrow when Rachel stared at her for a few seconds. “We can all sing, we’re not your ensamble.”

“Didn’t you see how much everyone loved my solo at sectionals?! I want... I mean, we want that same standing ovation for regionals!” 

“Oh, hell no.”

Puck cleared his throat, looking between Y/N and Rachel. “I kind of think Little-Lopez has a point.” 

“Yeah, why can’t someone else get a solo this time? Sure, you’re an amazing singer but maybe you should give someone else a... chance... for once?” Artie tried to reason with her but his voice slowly died down after seeing Rachel’s disappointed expression.

The girl looked at Y/N for a split second only to see her with her arms crossed and a sneer on her face.

“So I’m taking you guys don’t want to win regionals then? Because we won’t if we’re changing our obviously, well-oiled, brilliant plan.” She took a deep breath and scribbled the name of the song down on the whiteboard- Always Starting Over from the musical If/Then.

“Listen here, Berry.” Y/N cocked her head to one side, “That obviously, well-oiled, brilliant plan of yours makes us look like your jazz hands, dancing oompa loompa’s who are just there to try and make you look better. Well, Willy Wonka, get this- I’m done being your background furniture that you picked up along the road just because we were free to take and have piss stains all over us.”

Santana whistled proudly at the insult her younger sister had just thrown at Rachel and it earned a few hums of approval from some of the other Glee club members.

Rachel was taken back for a few seconds but regained herself and cleared her throat, “Did you forget the cheering I got after my part? Why can’t you see that that’s exactly what we need to win regionals as well?”

“Ptchh, you should get your facts checked because they weren’t cheering for you. We all know I’m the better singer out of the two of us.” 

Santana crossed her arms and gave Rachel a smirk, knowing who had won this argument. Everyone knew that the sassiness that ran in the Lopez family wasn’t only given to Santana. When it came to that, the two sisters were basically carbon copies of each other.

“That is so out of line! You talk the talk but when it comes to the performance you don’t walk the walk.” Rachel pointed a finger at the younger Lopez sibling and Y/N shot up, her fists balled up in rage. She was about to lounge at Rachel until Mr. Schue walked in.

“What is happening, guys?” 

“Y/N is throwing a spanner in the works of our way to end up on top at regionals.”

Mr. Schue put his bag down onto the piano and eyed the younger girl for a few seconds, silently asking her for an explanation.

Santana rolled her eyes, “Hardiharhar, don’t be so dramatic. Y/N just expressed her displeasure and put her in her place- the lowest of the low in the hierarchy, where she belongs.” She shrugged.

“Santana.” Was all that Mr. Schuester said before turning to Rachel, who pointed to the song written down on the whiteboard. 

“I’ve practiced this song for months and I think regionals is the right moment to finally sing it and show them what I got.” 

He nodded, “Wow, If/Then is a great musical. Are you sure you can handle this song?”

Rachel nodded enthusiastically.

“Very well then!” He turned to the group, “I think we just found our first song for regionals.” He smiled his goofy smile. Mercedes and Kurt looked at each other before rolling their eyes while Quinn sighed and sank into her chair.

Santana furrowed her eyebrows again and shook her head in disbelief, hoping she didn’t just hear him say that.

“Um...hello?” She waved her arms around until Mr. Schue looked at her. “Okay, good! You do see us! For a second I thought you completely forgot about the rest of us existing.”

Mr. Schue sighed and looked down before eyeing his students, “Listen, I know everyone here works very hard, and each of you has an amazing and unique voice, but for now I think that we should just let Rachel sing the solo at regionals. However, that doesn’t mean that I render any of you unworthy of taking the lead another time. You will all get to sing a part in the second song, I promise.”

“How’s that fair? We didn’t even get a chance to tell you what we would like to sing or show you what we got.” Mercedes spoke up.

“Rachel practices every day. She deserves to sing.” Finn shrugged.

“No one asked you, Finn.” Y/N shot at the boy, who widened his eyes in response. “You don’t have a leg to stand on in this discussion, we all know you will probably get the male lead.”

Y/N then turned back to Mr. Schue. “Everyone knows Rachel is your favourite and I’m sick of it. You treat her like she’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

“That’s not true. I don’t do favourites.”

“Yes, you do. You clearly favourite that vest because it’s all you’ve been wearing for the past two weeks.” Santana shrugged.

Mr. Schuester rubbed his temple. Having to deal with not only one, but two Lopez girls was making him age faster. Especially at times when they let their minds run rampant. 

Y/N crossed her arms. “I signed up for Glee club, not for ‘Sing-And-Smile-In-The-Background-Of-The-Rachel-Berry-Show’ club. Half the time, we’re not even on stage during her songs.”

“Wait, does that club exist?” Brittany mumbled under her breath. 

“Guys, when have I ever steered you wrong? Please, trust me on this.” Mr. Schuester placed his hand on his heart. 

“I think you’re just jealous.” Rachel’s tone was challenging as she sat down next to Finn. 

Y/N shot up again.

“Yes, you might know how to sing, but you’ll never be able to leave the audience as impressed as I ever will.” 

Santana now shot up as well.

“Qué acabas de decirme?” (What did you just say to me?)

Both girls made a move to lounge at Rachel but Quinn, Mike and Sam held them back. They struggled to do so while Y/N threw all the Spanish insults she knew at the girl in front of her.

“Enough!” Mr. Schuester tried but his voice didn’t stand out in the chaotic yelling. He sighed before clearing his throat.

“I want you both out.” He directed to the two sisters.

“Now!” 

Everyone fell silent and it seemed to do the trick. Y/N slowly turned to him. Mr. Schue had a stern look on his face while he glared at the siblings. He kept pointing at the door. 

“Fine.” Y/N grabbed her backpack, waited for Santana to dust herself off and grab her belongings too.

“You know what? I could use a break.” Santana huffed as both of them walked out of the room. Their heads held high, no dignity lost over what just happened.

They walked to the football bleachers where Santana immediately lit up a sigaret. 

“Do you think he kicked us out... permanently?” 

It was times like these, when it was only the two of them, where Y/N still depended on her older sister. 

“Maybe.” Santana shrugged her shoulders, “If he can’t appreciate having you in the club then that’s his loss.”

Santana gave Y/N  a playful nudge with her shoulder when the younger Lopez still seemed deep in thought. Y/N looked up to see Santana’s soft smile and she immediately sent her a goofy smile back. 

“They can’t go to regionals without us. And if they do find a way, we’ll just have to start our own Glee club, huh?” She smirked. “I’m sure it won’t take long before Mercedes is sick of it as well.” She comforted her little sister.

“Yeah, but what will we do in the meantime?”

Santana furrowed her eyebrows, wanting Y/N to elaborate.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this- but I actually really like Glee club and I was pretty excited for regionals.”

Santana nodded, “I know you do. I can see it in your eyes when you sing.” She took another drag of her sigaret. “Between you and me, I enjoy singing in Glee club as well.” 

Y/N nodded softly and brought her legs close to her body so she could let her chin rest on her knees. 

“San?” 

Her sister hummed in return.

“Was Rachel right?” She looked up at Santana, “Am I really not giving that good of a performance?” 

“Baby, no.” Santana gave her a stern look, telling her not to go there. “You might’ve only done one couplet by yourself so far... but even in the songs where you sing background vocals, you manage to outshine the rest.”

“But there must be a reason why I haven’t got the chance to lead a song yet.”

“Yup. And that reason is Rachel, dwarf, Berry.” Santana shrugged. “You know I’d tell you if you sucked.”

Y/N laughed at that, Santana so would.

“If Mr. Schue isn’t letting us show him what we got, then we have to come up with another way to get through that head of his how capable you are of leading a song.” 

Santana suddenly stood up, put out her sigaret with her shoe and motioned for Y/N to take her hand.

It was a few days later and neither Santana or Y/N had attended Glee club after what happened on Monday. Rachel had made herself very clear to Y/N that she was very disappointed in her since Y/N’s jealousy caused the club to not be able to partake in regionals. Brittany had tried convince the two girls to join Glee club again with a clumsily, selfmade powerpoint and even Finn had kindly asked them to reconsider going back. But they simply couldn’t, at least not just yet.

But now that it was Friday, everything was ready to go. 

The two Lopez girls decided to wait a few minutes until everyone was present before they walked into the room. Mr. Schue stopped talking and turned around, a disappointed look on his face.

“We’re not here for a pity-party and we’re definitely not walking in with our tails tucked between our legs,” Santana started as a few band members shyly shuffled their way into the room, instruments in hand. 

“We just want to show you that we are fully capable of leading a song.” Y/N spoke as she shoo’d everyone to the side. 

“Hit it.”

[glee performance of tina turner’s ‘river deep, mountain high’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82lYMlXB-fI ]

Rachel seemed unsettled during the performance, clearly noticing how everyone else was enjoying the two sisters sing. Mr. Schue, who had seem hesitant at first, was now visibly entertained and impressed and had already long forgotten what happened a few days earlier. Rachel sunk further into her seat when she noticed that. 

Everyone knew the Lopez girls both had beautiful voices, but that they would sound so well together was news to them all. Mr. Schue now realised what a shame it was that he had never explored letting different kids sing together, and that all his attention had always been on the same people.

What topped the performance off, was the excitement in the sisters’ eyes. They were clearly having fun with the song and their minds seemed to have no memory of why they originally decided to perform. It was just them and the music they danced and sang along to.

But when the band played the last melodies, they suddenly seemed to remember and turned back around to the group with proud smirks on their faces.

On the last note, Santana held her hand up for her sister to high five.

Everyone started clapping and Mr. Schuester stood up, walking up to them.  

“Ladies! That was fantastic!” He gave Y/N a pat on her shoulder. “Now that is how you sing a song! Well done!”

Rachel silently clapped along. She would never say out loud how much she had enjoyed their performance.

“I’m sorry, Rachel, but now that I’ve seen this-” Mr. Schue rubbed his chin, “I want to try a different approach at regionals. This is what will get the crowd’s attention!” 

He turned to Rachel, an apologetic look on his face, “Do you mind giving your solo to Santana and Y/N?” 

Rachel shrugged absentmindedly, trying to make it seem like she didn’t care, “It’s healthy to have some competition. It will push me to become a better performer.” 

Mr. Schue nodded and turned back to the Lopez girls. 

“Congratulations, you two. It’s yours!”

Everyone clapped again until Santana spoke up.

“No, no, no. I’m backing out.” 

“W-why?” Confusion was written all over Mr. Schue’s face. “I thought it’s what you two wanted?"

“What I wanted was for you to realise that there are other people capable of leading a performance.” She turned to her sister, who had been confused at Santana’s decision up until now. “People like Y/N, for example. You take it. I know you can do it without me.”

Y/N tried to convince her otherwise, “But you’ve never had a solo either! We should-”

“Uh, uh.” Santana waved her finger, “I want you to take it.” 

The two had a little face off for a few seconds, it was their way of talking to each other without words. Santana cocked her head to the side, knowing Y/N was about to give in.

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Fine.” 

Santana smiled widely, grabbed her sister and planted a kiss on her head.

“I’ll always back you up.” 

She winked at Y/N before the two of them went to sit down, ready for today’s Glee club.

[skullrock]

noel nancy

12 days of Christmas fics, day 4 - noel nancy

pairing: Stancy

summary: Steve and Nancy spend their first Christmas together after the events of S1.

word count: 1.5k

warnings: none <3

a/n: this isn’t really like a STANCY stancy fic it’s more of a character study into Steve and his relationship w Christmas, w Nancy, and with Barb after S1. so even if u hate this ship u can still read <3 xox hope u enjoy!

Steve wasn’t used to second chances. His parents gave up on him the first time he snuck out to try cigarettes with Tommy; his teachers gave up on him at the first signs of difficulty; his other girlfriends gave up on him the first time he let down his cool exterior. Because, really, Steve was a kid. As much as he felt like a grown up, he wasn’t. He was a kid who handled his life poorly, and if it wasn’t for Nancy Wheeler, he never would have handled it well.

So when Nancy gave him a second chance, a month after… Everything, he was quick to jump on it and be on his very best behavior. Jonathan Byers’ fist knocked some sense into him, too, and that’s precisely why Steve went to the store and bought the best camera that the salesman had. He owed them both his life - like, literally, and they probably owed him theirs, but he wouldn’t take it. He just wanted them happy and safe and peaceful for Christmas.

“Steve.” Nancy looked bewildered when Steve showed her the camera, unwrapped, as he didn’t really know how to wrap anything. “He’ll love it.” Her hand touched his and it was warm, and Steve swore he felt the heat creep up his entire arm. He never wanted her to let go. Not again.

“‘s whatever,” he said, a bit bashfully, but his smile was growing. “I owe him at least this much.”

“You’re sweet,” Nancy said, leaning forward and kissing his cheek softly, and Steve melted into her eagerly. He didn’t think he really deserved to be called sweet, not yet, but he still takes her hand and squeezes it.

“Help me wrap it?” he asked.

“You don’t know how?”

“I can’t be good at everything,” he teased, and she hit his chest gently with her free hand before standing.

“I’ll be right back.” Nancy knew she had to promise this. She could see that fear and apprehension and remorse in his eyes every time she went to step away, like she wouldn’t be back.

And she almost wasn’t.

Steve pressed a kiss to her palm before letting her run downstairs to grab the paper. When her frame left the doorway, he let his eyes roam around her room, something he’d done before, but not since Everything. He sees pictures of Nance when she was younger, in a ballerina costume. On a school field trip to the zoo. Pictures of Ted holding her when she was just as big as Holly was then. Her and Mike dressed up like - well, Steve doesn’t know what they’re dressed up as, but they’re having fun.

And then he sees the pictures of Barb and Nance. How happy they were. Their faces smushed together in a photobooth, at each other’s birthday parties - the room was littered with Barb and little reminders of her. Steve checked on Nancy every chance he had, even in that month where they’d only stolen looks at each other. He said he was sorry probably a dozen times, each more tearful than the last, because what Nancy didn’t understand was that Steve couldn’t even look at his pool without feeling like he was going to vomit. He couldn’t lay in his bed at night and sleep. He thought about Barb, about how she cut her hand when they tried to make her do something stupid, about how scared and alone and sad she must have been. How he stole Nancy from her.

Barb Holland probably hated him more in death than she did in life.

It wasn’t supposed to be a competition, Steve promised her. He had a lot of talks with her at night. I just didn’t want to share the glory that is Nancy Wheeler. I’m sure you understand.

“Found some.” Nancy’s voice broke Steve from his melancholy staring, and he quickly blinked some tears out of his eyes. She sat at her desk with the camera and Steve watched her wrap the box, watched her little fingers fold and tape the paper. “He’ll be here to pick up Will later.”

Steve cleared his throat. “Will you give it to him?”

Nancy looked at him with furrowed brows. “Me?”

“I just….” Steve paused. “I don’t want him to think he… like, owes me something. Or that I’m trying to buy his forgiveness.”

“He won’t,” Nancy promised, but Steve shook his head.

“Please? Just say it’s from you.”

Nancy frowned and stood, walking to Steve at the end of her bed. She cupped his face and kissed his lips, softly, before pulling back. Steve smirked, gently grabbing her wrists in his hands. “Guess I should be selfless more often, huh?”

“You are selfless,” Nancy said, staring into his eyes. Steve loved it when Nancy looked at him like that. “And you’re brave.”

But Steve didn’t feel like it.

===

To be honest, Steve never had a great Christmas. Sometimes his cousins and extended family would stop by for Christmas, and that could be fun. But his aunts and uncles didn’t like their kids hanging out with Steve, because he was a “bad influence,” which just meant sometimes Steve would get too carried away during snowball fights and, yeah, he hit Brent in the face with one but it’s not like he lost an eye or anything. Christmas with his mom and dad was impersonal. He would get new things that he didn’t really like - as in, ten new polos and five new khakis, all from expensive retailers - and he would thank them before going up to his room until dinner. Christmas dinner was the worst - it was silent save for forks scraping and mouths chewing, and Steve was pretty sure that when he goes to hell he will be perpetually sitting at the dinner table on December 25th.

But Christmas with Nancy was different.

It wasn’t that Steve didn’t like talking to Ted about sports, or telling Karen about his mom’s new business ventures, or acting like an asshole to Mike just to get a ruse from him, or playing with Holly. He loved it. But that wasn’t the bestpart. The best part was that Nancy, in her pretty yellow sweater, was glued to his side, and was smiling, and was squeezing his hand, and was rolling her eyes and laughing at him. It wasn’t even that much, but it was the closest to an actual Christmas that Steve had ever had. Closest to Christmas that Steve had ever felt. He could even stand Ted’s after-dinner snoring as he held Nancy on the couch, absent-mindedly watching a movie. He was more concerned with her warm body pressed against his.

A month was a long time without Nancy Wheeler.

The front door opened. Karen cried out, “Jonathan!”, and Steve looked to Nancy anxiously. As Jonathan slipped downstairs, Nancy snuck up to her room, leaving Steve alone with a snoring Ted.

Steve was used to being alone, now. Or, well, he should have been. A month without talking to Carol and Tommy was like a well-needed detox without the withdrawals. Still, he missed them - but only sometimes. The thoughts were usually quickly stifled when Steve remembers how Tommy made him pay for a can of coke and some Advil after getting his shit rocked. Some friends. And while Nancy was (thankfully) back in his life, he still felt alone sometimes. Which scared him. He hadn’t felt this alone in a long time, always forcing himself to socialize to avoid being in an empty and cold house. Nancy meant more to him then he knew - not only was he thankful to have her back and be given another chance, but she also got him out of that house.

Nancy, Jonathan, and Will met at the bottom of the steps. Steve couldn’t really see, but he could kind of hear the exchange. His heart hammered in his chest - what if he didn’t like it? What if it was a shitty camera? What if Jonathan finds out he was the one that got it for him? But Nancy came back with an absent-minded grin and Steve smiled wide, relief flowing through him just at the sight of her. She sat beside him and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in close. He looked down at her in pure adoration - Nancy Wheeler was the most beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, and badass person he’d ever met, and she was, somehow, his.

“Did you give it to him?”

Nancy looked up at him and nodded, still smiling a bit. “Yeah.”

Steve rubbed her arm and looked up at the television, suddenly overwhelmed with something. Something good and all consuming and wholesome. He hadn’t felt this good… ever. It was like something was set free in his chest, something that had never quite yet been released before. He looked back down at Nancy, her eyes focused on the television, her body pressed up against his.

He wants to say it. I love you. It’s on the tip of his tongue.

Instead, he presses a kiss to her hair. “Merry Christmas.”

Nancy looked up at him and smiled softly. “Merry Christmas.”

Beside them, Ted snored.

===

tags: @pterawaters​ @mpmarypoppins​

[clumsyclifford]

hello!!! so i would be very interested in a fic based on all i want to hear you say by sea girls??? i know i’m promo ing them a lot but i think it could be a good fic concept??

you know what’s wild meg is i have had this prompt in my inbox for fully almost seven months and i was just reaching a point where i figured i would never write it. and then i did. so there’s your lesson in never deleting a prompt am i right

thank you @allsassnoclass for your invaluable feedback i love you

read it here on ao3

-

Calum only sees it because he has Luke’s Twitter notifications turned on, although if Michael asks, Calum doesn’t even know Luke’s on Twitter.

@LukeHemmings Tweeted:

missed u manchester!!

At which point he does the only logical thing: he excuses himself to the bathroom in the back and hyperventilates for about five minutes. And then he does a second, decidedly more idiotic thing.

“...Hello? Calum?”

“Hi, uh,” Calum clears his throat. “Hi. Luke.”

It is Luke on the other end. Somehow he hasn’t changed his number. Not that people typically change their numbers after only a year, but Luke is different. Luke is famous now. Not like Calum, whose band has been playing this bar since he was old enough to drink here. Since they were old enough. 

Calum wonders what would have happened if Luke had never left. Maybe the band would have gone somewhere. Now he’ll never know.

“Calum,” Luke says. It might be wishful thinking, but Calum is pretty sure he sounds happy. “What’s up? Haven’t heard from you in a while.”

Yeah. Since Luke moved to London. Well. Since Luke got cast in a play in the West End and relocated in less than a week. Calum knows exactly when they last spoke was, and not only because there’s a time stamp on the text messages. Luke’s play — okay, the play Luke is starring in — had been a smashing success, and after he’d left Calum on read three times in a row, Calum had gotten the unsent message loud and clear. 

He’d thought they were the kind of friends distance could never conquer, but apparently he’d been mistaken.

Now he’s not sure what to say.

“Yeah, sorry,” he manages, awkwardly chewing the inside of his cheek. “It’s, life got busy, you know, uh, you know how it is.” Duh. Of course he knows how it is. He’s fucking Luke Hemmings. If anyone’s going to understand life getting busy, it’s Luke. “I just, I saw you were in town.”

“Oh, yeah,” Luke says, laughing a bit. “I am, yeah. I should’ve called, my bad.”

“No, no,” Calum says quickly. “It’s — no worries.” Lucky I’ve got you on Twitter notifs, isn’t it, he doesn’t add. “How long are you here?”

“Just the weekend,” Luke says. “I go back on Monday.”

It’s out before Calum can stop himself: “D’you want to have lunch or dinner or something?” He swallows. “While you’re here?”

Someone knocks on the bathroom door. “Calum?” Michael. Fantastic. The last person Calum needs to hear from right now.

“Give me a minute!” Calum says, kicking the door. He winces. “Sorry. Mi— I’m, uh, possibly hiding in the bathroom. During my shift.”

Luke huffs a laugh. “I’d love to get lunch or dinner or whatever,” he says. It doesn’t even sound like he’s lying. Then again, this man is nominated for an Olivier. He could convince Calum he was interested in diving into an active volcano.

(He certainly managed to convince Calum that he was interested in him, so Calum should probably know better by now.)

“You could come to our show,” Calum says, because he’s petty. Or a fucking masochist. It’s possible to be both. “The band, I mean. We have a gig on Saturday night?”

“Oh!” Luke sounds surprised. Probably because he hadn’t anticipated the band staying together after he’d left. This isn’t fucking Take That, Calum thinks bitterly. Maybe being famous has gone to Luke’s head more than Calum had originally thought.

Except then Luke says, “Shit, I’d love to come to a gig. I’ve missed you lads. You want to get dinner before? After? What time is the gig?”

And Calum’s right back where he started: hopelessly infatuated.

“Gig’s at six, so yeah, dinner afterwards,” Calum says. He shifts nervously on his feet. “Don’t get excited. Our venue hasn’t changed.”

“Still the pub?” Luke sounds fond. “Aw, I miss that place, though. I’m looking forward to coming back.”

You don’t need an invite, Calum thinks. You can just show up.

That might not be true anymore, though.

“Sure you can handle it?” he says drily. “I mean, you’re not worried about crazed fans?”

Luke laughs awkwardly. “In a cheap bar in Western Manchester? Think I’ll be okay.” Calum’s trying to work out whether that’s a subtle dig when Luke adds, “Look, I’ve gotta run, actually, some — press things, but, uh, I’ll be there at six.”

“Great,” Calum says. “Fantastic. See you then.”

“See you then,” says Luke. He hangs up. Calum puts his phone in his pocket and stares judgmentally at himself in the mirror.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he mutters, rolling his eyes and turning away to return to his job. 

— 

The fucking A string is fucked up. Calum has been trying to tune his bass to no avail — no matter how much he turns the tuning peg, the tuner won’t declare it a clear A. “Michael,” he says sharply, “my bass won’t tune.”

Michael materialises, his guitar slung over his shoulder. “Because you’re turning the wrong fucking knob,” he says. Calum looks over at his fingers. 

Oh.

“Oh,” Calum says embarrassedly. He moves his fingers and tunes the A string, then moves to the D string, which has gone completely flat thanks to Calum’s mistaken fiddling.

“You’re all nervous because Luke’s coming,” Michael says, shaking his head to let Calum know exactly how he feels about that. “Stop worrying about it. He didn’t give a shit about the band when he was in it, he definitely won’t give a shit now that he’s out, alright?”

“Not helping,” Calum says, glaring. “And that’s not fair to Luke and you know it. He cared about the band. What was he supposed to do, not accept a life-changing opportunity?”

Michael just rolls his eyes. They usually avoid discussing Luke. It always ends with Michael disparaging his name and Calum jumping to his defence, with Ashton stuck uncomfortably in the middle. Ashton had only been in the band about two weeks before Luke left — he’d never gotten the chance to know Luke. Calum also suspects Ashton just doesn’t want to get involved, because it had been clear to anyone in the room during rehearsals that Luke loved it. Calum doesn’t blame him for leaving. 

Just because he misses Luke like a lost limb, doesn’t mean Calum holds it against him.

“Whatever,” Michael says. “Long as he doesn’t try to rejoin.”

They could use Luke in the band again, but Luke’s more likely to dive into that active volcano than ask to rejoin the band, especially if Michael’s got that look on his face. “Yeah, Mike, I promise I won’t let the Olivier-nominated Luke Hemmings rejoin our band if he asks,” Calum says flatly.

Michael makes a face. Calum makes one back. 

“Boys,” Ashton interjects, sensing the tension lifting. “Less flirting, more setting up, please?”

Calum immediately throws an arm around Michael’s shoulders and grabs Michael’s head. Michael doesn’t protest when Calum smacks an exaggerated kiss to his cheek, because he’s amazing and the best friend ever. “But father, I love him.”

Michael clutches Calum melodramatically in return. “You can’t keep us apart, Ashton! You’ve been against intra-band love since the very first, but Calum’s the only man for me!”

And then he dissolves into giggles, taking Calum down with him.

“I can’t fucking stand the pair of you,” Ashton says, grinning wryly down at them.

“Someone’s jealous,” Calum snickers. “Mikey, I think Ashton wants in.”

“Hey, Luke’s here,” Ashton says. Both of them jerk upright like soldiers called to attention. “Sure, Luke can get you to behave and he’s not even in the band anymore, but when I ask it’s like talking to a wall? I see how it is.”

Michael kicks at his cajón. “Fuck off.”

Calum tries to turn subtly without looking like he’s turning. Sure enough, Luke is standing at the bar, chatting with Alex who’s behind it and preparing a drink. Probably a tequila soda. That had always been Luke’s order. He glances over at the stage and catches Calum’s eye.

Calum might as well be a year younger for how it still feels to meet Luke’s gaze.

This isn’t the Luke that left a year ago. Calum hadn’t expected that Luke. The news feeds have provided him with both mental and literal images of this new Luke, Luke Hemmings of the stage. Swanky clothes. Longer hair. Gone are the lip piercing, the ratty snapback that used to hide what Luke deemed “bad hair days” as if his hair ever looked different, the beaten trainers. If Luke looked worse, Calum would feel better.

But Luke doesn’t look worse. He just looks good in a different way. In fact, he looks better. More importantly, he looks far too expensive to be hanging around this sketty pub. Despite seeing photographs of him online nearly every day since his departure, Calum is taken aback by how much has changed in a year.

He’s not equipped. That much is clear. This had been a mistake. Calum’s going to open his mouth and instead of saying hello he’ll say I can’t believe you became more gorgeous and  you’re back just to mock us and laugh at the band you used to front and make me feel like even more of an idiot for thinking you liked me.

“It’s six,” Michael informs Calum, tapping his shoulder. Calum whips around, startled. The neck of his bass almost knocks over the mic stand. Michael raises an eyebrow. “We can start playing, yeah?”

“I’m ready,” Calum says. Michael gives him a Look. “I am,” Calum repeats. “Are you?”

“Yes,” Michael says huffily. He steps up to the microphone and turns it on. Calum takes his spot at his mic and waits for Michael to introduce them — “We’re 5 Seconds of Summer, and we hope you like our set!” — before going straight into ‘Unpredictable.’

He tries not to watch Luke for the whole set, but he can’t really help it. Not only is Luke the most magnetic person in the bar no matter how much it fills up, he’s also sitting directly in Calum’s line of sight. Intentionally? By coincidence? Calum decides he doesn’t want to know. Because it’s probably the latter. 

He does see someone approach Luke for an autograph and a photo at one point, though. Which is so weird that Calum forgets his next lyric and Michael shoots him another Look. 

The audience grows slowly throughout their set; Calum recognises a lot of the regulars, smiles and waves to the ones who smile and wave first. Behind the bar, Alex air-guitars along to their cover of ‘What’s My Age Again,’ as usual. Before Calum knows it, they’re playing their last song.

There’s no pretending they wouldn’t be better with two guitarists instead of just one, but Calum has to admit: as three-piece bands go, they’re pretty fucking incredible. Even if they never make it big, Calum can rest easy knowing it’s because of bad luck, not lack of talent. 

“Thank you so much,” Michael says into the microphone. “We’ve been 5 Seconds of Summer, check out our Facebook page for information on future gigs.”

“Thank you, everyone,” Calum contributes, then steps away to let the scattered applause wash over him. 

Luke is clapping loudest of all. He would do that, as an alumnus of the band. If bands can have alumni.

When the attention of the room at large moves away from them, they set to taking apart and packing up their equipment. Calum is coiling up the cord for his bass when someone taps him on the shoulder.

“That was wicked,” says Luke. Like they’re not the first words he’s said to Calum’s face in a year. Calum stares at him. His face is glittering. Oh. That’s makeup. It’s shimmering on his eyelids when he blinks. Gold, sparkly. Pretty. Does Luke wear makeup now? Or is he only wearing it tonight because it’s a special occasion? Even though it’s really not a special occasion? It must be the former. Luke wears makeup now. He doesn’t post a lot on Instagram — yes, Calum has notifications on for him there, too — and when he does it’s usually show-related stuff, in show makeup. Point being Calum’s earlier theory is once again proving itself true: he is not equipped.

“Thanks,” he says after he’s made is sufficiently awkward with his fucking staring game. He smiles. “Could’ve probably used another guitarist, but we do alright, yeah?”

Luke ducks his head. Great, really well fucking done, Calum. Way to guilt him. “I’m teasing,” he hurriedly assures Luke. “Thanks for coming.”

“Do you need a hand?” Luke gestures at the mess of cords around Calum’s feet.

Calum opens his mouth, but Michael, unfortunately, beats him to it. “We’re okay,” he says, stepping forward. “Hi, Luke. Nice of you to make an appearance.”

“Michael,” Calum hisses.

Luke bites his lip. “Hey, Michael. It’s, uh. You guys sounded sick, I was telling Calum.”

Even Calum can hear the no thanks to you on the tip of Michael’s tongue. “Which I agreed with,” he says, looking at Michael like be fucking civil. “Because we did.”

“Yeah,” Michael scoffs. “Well, Cal, if you want to go on your date, Ash and I can handle the rest of the cleanup.”

Calum frowns and blushes at the same time, which feels funny. “I’m — I can —”

“Honestly, go,” Michael says, sighing. “If it’ll get Luke out of here, then go.”

“Jesus Christ, Michael,” Calum snaps. “Get your head out of your arse, would you? If you’re offended that Luke took an opportunity for success, then one of you is a dickhead and it’s not him.”

Michael’s face hardens. He snatches the half-coiled cord out of Calum’s hands. “Go,” he repeats. It’s not a request this time.

Calum grinds his teeth and turns to Luke, who’s frozen in place with a pained expression. 

“Ignore him,” he says tightly. “He’s been a dick about the whole thing. Let’s just go.”

Luke hesitantly follows after Calum. “I didn’t realise —” 

“Great set!” Alex calls, wiping down the bar. Calum manages a smile just for him. 

“Thanks,” he says, then glances over at Luke. “Yeah. I reckon I should have warned you.”

“I meant it that I’ve missed you lot,” Luke says mournfully. “I mean, I knew he wasn’t pleased, but…I sort of hoped he’d have gotten over it? Not that— I know I left, so I did ask for it —”

“Luke, come on. Don’t be thick.” Calum scoffs as they leave the bar. “It’s a Michael problem. He just thinks it’s an Olympic sport to hold the longest grudge or something. I love him, but he’s a fucking arsehole when he wants to be.”

“I — I know, but…” Luke sighs. “Yeah. I guess.”

The evening air is cool. Around them, shops and street lamps flood the road with illumination. The gold on Luke’s face catches the light like it’s being paid to do it. Calum only glances briefly at him before looking back at the pavement ahead and asking, “So…what do you fancy for dinner?”

“I seem to recall a Maccies this way,” Luke says. “I know it’s not the most elegant of places, but…”

“Say no more,” Calum says. “You never need to convince me to get Maccies.”

— 

They sit across from each other, quiet for a few minutes as they both devour their burgers. Luke’s nails are painted with clear gloss. Calum isn’t sure if it’s the theatre effect or just the London effect that’s given him this extra glamour. Or the fame thing. Which is still decidedly strange. And also reminds Calum:

“Congrats, by the way.”

Luke looks up, confused. “Huh?”

“On the Olivier nomination,” Calum says. Luke smiles. “That’s a big deal.”

“It’s, uh, yeah. A bit.” He laughs. “Okay, a lot. It’s mad. Thank you.”

“You deserve it,” Calum says. “The play’s —” No. Nope. That’s not something he wants to admit to. “I’ve heard it’s good,” he amends quickly, but it’s too late. Luke, who is the definition of selectively perceptive, squints.

“Have you seen it?”

Calum presses his lips together. His silence could probably speak for itself, but whatever. “I saw it last month,” he confesses. “My mum got us tickets, me and her and Mali.”

Luke stares. “And you didn’t think to tell this to me? Or ring me while you were in London?”

“You didn’t ring me when you came here,” Calum retorts. 

Luke bites his lip. “Touché. But why didn’t you say hello?”

Calum huffs a laugh. “You ignored my last three texts, Luke. I know how to take a hint.”

At this, Luke smacks his palm to his forehead. “Fuck. Shit. Fuck. I never replied to you. I’m so sorry. I kept reading them at the worst times and then forgetting to respond. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m really sorry,” Luke repeats. “I didn’t mean to fall out of touch, honest. I just…”

“Got busy,” Calum finishes. “I know. You don’t have to tell me. And look, not for nothing, the play’s bloody brilliant. So your hard work hasn’t been in vain.”

“God, I’m a fucking idiot,” Luke says, like he hasn’t heard Calum speak. “Just the other day I was thinking of you. Wondering why you never reached out. I figured you were upset at me for leaving. Like Michael.”

“What? And you didn’t think to shoot me a text, maybe?”

“I thought you were cross! I didn’t think you would want to hear from me!”

“Luke —” Calum breaks off and shakes his head. “Can’t believe I thought you were any different when you’re actually the same fucking moron who left here.”

“Hey,” Luke halfheartedly protests. “Fucking moron who’s nominated for an Olivier.”

“Oh, excuse me,” Calum says, rolling his eyes and grinning. Luke laughs almost to himself. “Look, it’s okay. We’re good now, yeah?”

Luke nods. “Promise to text you back from now on. And if I don’t, it’s not because I don’t want to hear from you. Just keep texting me. I’ll — I’m —”

“Don’t tell me you’re busy,” Calum says. “I know you are. I read the articles. How you find the time to do interviews and also a show eight times a week is beyond me.”

Luke quirks his lips. “You read those?”

“Of course I do,” Calum says. At first it was just to see if you’d say anything about me, he does not say. “Number one Hemmo fan.”

Luke laughs. “You didn’t even wait at the stage door to say hello. You’re nowhere near the number one fan.”

Calum scoffs in mock offence. “Yeah? Do your other fans know your drink order? Do they know who your first concert was? Do they have your phone number?”

“That’s not being a fan, you idiot, that’s being my friend,” Luke says, laughing.

Calum waves him off. “Same thing.”

“So what have you been doing?” Luke prompts once he’s polished off his burger. The napkin crinkles in his hands when he wipes his fingers, an action which becomes entirely pointless as he munches on the oily chips that had come with his meal.

“I still work at the bar,” Calum says. “Mike and I both. My, uh, my life is basically the same, honestly. Except we get paid slightly more to play now.”

“You should be playing the O2,” Luke says. “You’re really good.”

“Yeah, well.” Calum shrugs. “Can’t all have our dreams come true.” 

Remorse crawls over Luke’s face. Shit. Calum isn’t doing it on purpose. It’s just that sitting here, eating greasy fast food, it’s so easy to forget that they live in different worlds now. Passerbys peering through a window at them could surely tell, though. Calum’s Rolling Stones shirt and black snapback are no match for Luke’s carefully styled curls and leather jacket. It’s not a ratty leather jacket, either, but one of the really nice ones. Probably Gucci or something equally outrageous.

It doesn’t mean Calum’s any less smitten. Just that the crater between them might be too vast to cross, and Calum keeps forgetting there’s a crater at all until he nearly trips over the edge. Moments like now, where the look on Luke’s face is that of a kicked puppy. 

“Calum,” he starts, but Calum shakes his head.

“Never mind, sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You did a bit, though,” Luke says. “Right? You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it a bit.”

“I’m not guilting you for doing what you love, Luke,” Calum says firmly. “I’m not. Anyway, I’m doing fine. Better, even. Don’t get a guilt complex, please. I’m happy for you, I’m happy myself, everything is fine.”

Luke grimaces and stuffs several chips in his mouth. Calum chomps down on one of his own. It’s a bit soggy but at least sufficiently salted. Not the best chips he’s had, though far from the worst.

“We left things a bit weird, though, didn’t we,” Luke says, staring determinedly at the table.

Calum nearly chokes on his chips.

A bit weird is probably the right way to put it. Calum’s been rejected in some pretty harsh ways, but having the boy in question pack up and move to a whole new city had been a first for him. If it had been a clear-cut rejection then maybe Calum could have handled it. It was the uncertainty that had done him in. Maybe that’s why he never made a real effort to stay in touch.

It’s one thing when your friend won’t answer your texts. It’s another when you really thought that friend had been into you, only for him to turn around and announce that instead of going out with you he’d be moving to London.

“I don’t mind if we just move past that,” Calum says now, hoping in vain that his voice won’t betray how much he has not moved past it. He’s an adult. He can be friends with someone he also fancies an embarrassing amount. He hadn’t intended to mention the whole will-we-won’t-we thing they’d done just before Luke had left. There’s not a lot to say about it.

“Do you mind if we don’t move past it? Yet?” Luke says nervously. “Can I say something and then we can move past it if you still want to?”

Calum swallows. What the fuck could Luke possibly have to say about it, other than to maybe apologise for leading Calum on the way he did? “Uh, I suppose?”

Luke clears his throat. “Okay. Well, um, I just wanted to say that…I think when I left, that you maybe got the impression I was turning you down. And. I wasn’t. At all. I didn’t want to leave you, it was just what made the most sense, being in the play and everything. Um, and I didn’t really say anything because it wouldn’t have been fair of me to tell you I liked you when I was also moving four hours away — like, I didn’t want to do that to you.” He laces his fingers together on the table. “But you, um, seemed. Hurt. And I didn’t know how to tell you before, so I’m telling you now, it wasn’t because I didn’t like you. I did. I do.”

Calum must forget to breathe, because it’s dead silent around them. Luke finally looks up and winces. “Also, this isn’t a guilt trip, so like— if you have a boyfriend now, that’s— sorry, I guess I should have checked?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Calum says. “The bloke I was hoping would be my boyfriend decided to move to London and become a star, and I haven’t exactly gotten over him yet.”

A small, tentative smile pulls at Luke’s lips. “Really?”

“You sure took your time clearing that up,” Calum says. His heart is beating unreasonably fast, but he thinks it’s probably excused on the basis that the boy he’s fancied for two years and who would’ve broken Calum’s heart had Calum gotten the chance to share it with him is now returning his feelings. Exhilaration flutters around his chest, and he smiles. “But yeah, really.”

Luke’s face breaks into a genuine smile. He pushes a strand of hair behind his ear. “Oh, thank God. I thought after this long—”

“Underestimating just how much I like you, obviously,” Calum says. Luke brightens like a fucking spotlight. “Though it’s been the same amount of time for you, so if I have problems, then so have you.”

“Who’s got problems?” Luke says. “This is the opposite of a problem. I’m thrilled.”

“You do still live in London,” Calum points out, because again: masochist.

A shadow crosses Luke’s face, but it quickly disappears. “That’s— it’s only four hours.”

“Only.”

“Okay, it’s—” Luke squeezes his eyes shut. “I don’t— shit. Look. I know it’s not practical, okay? But can we just pretend it is? So this isn’t a complete loss? I’m here until Monday morning.”

“One whole day,” Calum says. “Lucky us.”

“Yes,” Luke says decisively. “Be my boyfriend for a day, Cal. We’ll figure it out from there.”  

Every objection Calum has flies from his mind at Luke saying be my boyfriend. Struggling to maintain his composure, he hedges, “Really? You want to have a boyfriend who lives in Manchester and works in a bar and doesn’t even know how to identify what makeup you’re wearing? Which looks fantastic, by the way? And did I mention the whole living-in-Manchester thing? You know, four hours from London?”

Luke fixes him with a look. “Yeah, I want you to be my boyfriend, Calum. And all of the things that includes. It’s worth it to me.”

And. Well. Shit. “It’s worth it to me, too,” Calum admits. 

Maybe if he’d said that a year ago, Luke would have listened. Maybe they’d have gotten here much sooner. But at least they’re here at all.

Luke reaches across the table and his lips quirk up. “That’s all I want to hear you say.”

For a moment, Calum imagines that life is easy. Luke could always leave the show. Move back to Manchester. Spend late nights and early mornings in Calum’s flat (having made up with Michael, who splits Calum’s rent and living space). Do his makeup in their bathroom mirror and explain it all to Calum as he goes. Rejoin the band despite Michael’s initial stubborn grudge, and finally reclaim his role as lead singer, finally doing justice to melodies Calum and Michael could never quite sing the same way. If Luke had never been cast, Calum wonders if that’s how their lives would be. 

But it’s not how their lives are, and Calum doesn’t want that anyway. Luke is doing what he’s born to do, and Calum would never forgive himself to pull him away from that. He doesn’t want it to be easy. The fact that Luke knows it won’t be easy and is willing to take it on anyway means far more, to Calum.

They can figure it out.

He laces his fingers with Luke’s and squeezes once, smiling when Luke smiles. So much is different, but fuck if that’s not the same beaming, blushing smile that’s always been just a little too big for Luke’s face. There’s hope for them yet. Calum can feel it.

[bowieandqueen11]

Benverly!Daughter Graduation Headcanons

Request: hi!! i wanted to request benverly with daughter headcannons for the readers graduation?? i’m in my feels that i couldn’t have a graduation myself, and it would be really nice :) i love everything u write btw ❤️❤️ 

Thank you so much, that’s so kind of you! I;m so sorry you didn’t get your graduation, but if you ever want to celebrate I am 100% down ;)

Genuinely I am here for you and I love you all and I’m SO PROUD OF Y’ALL <3

Comments are always appreciated! Also warning, a little strong language/ very slight suggestive themes! <3

Okay, when I tell you Ben is so SO excited for your graduation - you have no idea. Beverly, of course, is really excited - especially since her own parents weren’t at her own graduation, so it wasn’t such a big deal for her, but she can’t even get her husband to calm down the night before.

Ben, similarly, didn’t have his parents at graduation either, and although he only remembers his own as being the point at witch the Losers’ Club officially split off on their own paths, he’s so excited that they’re all going to be there again for you on your big day.

Your parents are so, so proud of you, it’s insane.

The morning of your graduation day, Ben is rushing around insisting that everyone has to leave right now to get the best seats.

He keeps on tearing Beverly away from you to check that his tie is on straight and that his suit looks okay and doesn’t look creased.

Our Ben wants to look his best when he’s up cheering as soon as your name gets called.

They somehow manage to hustle people out of the way (Beverly using some sneakily placed elbows without Ben knowing) to get really good seats.

Beverly has to place a hand on Ben’s arm once the ceremony actually starts. He’s holding the camera up to his face the whole time, and taking so many pictures of the stage, and the seats, and the crowd, and of his wife, and of you in the line up that one of the parents in the row in front actually turns around and tells him to be quiet.

Beverly finds it hilarious, but decides to take charge of the photo taking anyway, despite the sad puppy dog look on Ben’s face.

As soon as the camera is gone, Ben’s hands straight away begin nervously bouncing in his lap.

A few minutes later, before you’re about to go up, the two of them hear a ‘psh’ from behind them and a slight elbow in the back, followed by the unmistakable voice of Stanley Uris shout-whispering, ‘hey Trashmouth, you’re elbowing me as well!’

‘There they are!’, Mike claps, grasping onto Bill’s shoulder as Ben and Beverly turn around with bright smiles.

‘Nice of the lot of you to show up on time.’

‘Blame these idiots over here’, Stan says, rolling his eyes. ‘It took Richie over ten minutes to try and ‘fix’ Eddie’s tie in the car, but we all know what they were doing.’

‘Hey!’, Richie starts as Eddie’s eyes widen from beside him, ‘we needed to look perfect for Marsh-Hanscom up there. It’s not everyday you graduate. Did you even graduate, Stanley?’

‘You were there, asshole.’

‘Look, it’s her turn!’

Beverly swears Ben squeaks, but he’s soon blocked up by Richie standing up behind him on one end, and Bill standing up four seats over from him, holding up a giant banner that reads ‘Congratulations Y/N! From the Loser-’

‘Yeah, we may have run out of space’, Richie whispers to Beverly, ignoring Eddie’s complaints as he tries to see over the top of the banner.

When your name is called, and it’s your turn on stage, the Losers Club all cheer like crazy, all standing up and cheering and whooping. Ben and Bev have their arms around each other’s waist, and Richie stands behind them with one hand on the banner and the other waving so wildly in the air it keeps on hitting Eddie in the forehead. 

Beverly, although she wipes them away quickly, is crying, for the first time in a while, happy tears. When she was younger, she honestly never thought she’d have children, didn’t think that she’d be good with them after her father’s influence. But seeing you up there, seeing all you had achieved and all the incredible things you would go on to do, her heart felt so content she couldn’t help herself.

After you get off the stage, one of your friends bumps you on the shoulder, asking who the stampede at the front were.

Smiling, you say the first truth that comes to mind.

‘The one’s holding the Losers sign? They’re just... some of my extended family. Yeah...they’re my family.’

[soulwillower]

how to remember • ben hanscom

(ben hanscom x plus size!reader)

requested: Hi! Can I request a Ben Hanscom x plus size reader, if you're ok with that? The reader is the youngest member of the losers club who had a crush on Ben. When the losers reunite she realises that she still like him but believes that he would never go with her. Angst with a fluffy ending, thanks!

i love ben! i hope u enjoy!!

warning: swearing, a little angst, fluff :) also unedited

[everyone’s aged up! this takes place during chapter 2]

2.1k words

♡

you walk into the back room of the jade of the orient apprehensively, totally unsure of that's going to happen or, frankly, who's even waiting for you on the other side of the wall. you walk into the room to find three men who turn and look at you. you blink at their familiar and yet strange faces - you feel completely removed from them and yet somehow completely connected. you recognize mike hanlon, who had called you last night to summon you. there was a pit in your stomach. "y/n." mike says, and you pull him into a hug, smiling into his shoulder.

"m-mike." you stutter, memories of a smiling, laughing boy driving you around in his pickup truck and stargazing with you on your roof coming back to you slowly. "y/n?" you hear and you stare at the two, your face melting into a grin as you recognize them, "eddie? bill?" you ask and they laugh in disbelief. you pull them in for hugs, remembering all those late nights on bill's roof, building forts and playing chicken with eddie and so many childhood memories previously abandoned.

a gong makes you all jump and turn towards the entrance of the room. your jaw drops as eddie calls out something stupid. you're distracted though, because your world has just stopped.

first, it's just a name. ben hanscom.

next, you lock eyes with a man and his eyes make flashes of blushing grins, old books, walk-mans, and laughter fill your memory. you can't breathe.

and then, memories hit you like a ton of fucking bricks. you blanch, feeling your chest fill with ice. ben's lost a lot of weight and has definitely gained some back in muscle. he looks relatively the same, though. the same kind eyes, the same smile, the same soft voice that you fell in love with-

holy shit.

you had loved him. it all comes back to you and as he pulls you into a tight hug, his hand rubbing your back the way it always used to, you almost want to cry.

you remember when you met him, that summer in '98 when you'd made the blood oath. you can't remember why you were all there in the sewers of derry, or why all you can recall are feelings complete terror and fear; but you can remember ben's jokes, the way he used to walk you home, and the years that you and him spent together with the others in the clubhouse at the middle school, and then the high school.

you remember how shy you used to feel whenever richie would tease the two of you. you remember in high school how ben would drive you to and from school since you didn't get your license until a year after them, or the hours you spent hanging around the library with ben during his shifts, messing around with eddie or reading patiently for ben to clock out.

you remember the hours that you spent in anxiety and self disappointment over an unrequited love. ben was ben, and you were just you.

and you remember how lost you were when they all left. you were a year younger, so when they graduated and left to meet all of their separate futures, you were stuck in the awful town by yourself, not sure if you'd ever see them again. you barely remember saying goodbye to him, wanting to tell him you loved him but knowing he could never love you back. but you vaguely remember that you'd given him the photo that'd been taken of you guys in the photo booth at the arcade as a parting gift, your cheeks wet as he promised he'd come back and visit.

he never did, though.

but now, ben pulls away from your hug and effectively breaks the trance you'd been lulled into. "it's been so long," he says warmly. "you look just how i remember you." he says softly and certainly not unkindly. but your stomach still twists at his words, that familiar insecurity creeping up on you. "oh, yeah." you say with a fake laugh, trying not to look hurt by his words as you tuck your hair behind your ear. "you- um, you look great." you say with a smile. he returns it, "so do you, y/n/n."

you still get butterflies when he uses your childhood nickname.

"y/n." you hear in a whisper, and you turn to see beverly marsh - how could you have ever forgotten her? she pulls you into a tight hug, just like she used to when you were younger. your heart hurt.

the dinner was going smoothly, all of you downing drinks and rowdily spewing out your childhood memories right when they came to you. "didn't... y/n, didn't you work at that one diner? and haystack used to always play new kids on the block on the jukebox!" richie says, pointing to you. you raise your eyebrows as you remember, "wow, yeah... i got fired because i wouldn't wear the uniform." you say, remembering with a sheepish expression.

you'd stopped trying to fit into the ugly uniforms that your shitty manager made everyone wear, because he refused to buy them in the size that fit you. he'd said that you needed to 'solve the problem himself,' and you'd felt like shit for his words. it was terrible, but nobody else who worked there stood up for you. to them you were a loser, of course.

but you also remember when you'd told the losers and stan had gotten so mad that he'd started tearing up, richie and eddie went to egg the diner, bev and mike dumped shakes on the floor in front of the manager, and mike and bill had sent countless letters filled with very... untasteful doodles of the manager on them. he'd also reported him, though, and the losers actually got him fired. it was good to know that they were always there for you, even though you felt awful after what had happened - but they helped you learn to love yourself.

you remember that ben had found you the night you'd been fired, sitting at the quarry with tears leaking out of your eyes. he hadn't done anything except put his arm around you, letting you cry as he rubbed your back. he'd brought cookies and so you shared them under the moonlight and you remember thinking that you were invincible, the eight of you. forever.

now, as richie brings up ben's weight loss, you play with your fork on your plate, feeling hollow. you were so happy and very glad (although nervous) to be back with them. you watch as bev and ben catch eyes and you suddenly realize that even if you still love him, it doesn't matter.

for the same reason it never would have mattered if you'd said those words all those years ago. you couldn't be enough for him.

ben was just as perfect now as he was then - passionate, dedicated, teasing but in a gentle way, and above all caring. as you and the others reminisce in your memories, you accept that you'll never get to be with ben, and you feel like you're living through this heartbreak all over again.

as you pace in the lobby of the inn, you run your hands through your hair and try to calm your breathing. stan was gone. he was gone, you'd been attacked by fucking demon fortune cookies, and you just remembered your entire childhood. including the terrorizing demon clown who ate children and tried to kill you when you were thirteen. how did you guys get through that? you can't believe anything that's happening. "y/n." ben's voice makes you snap your head up, your breathing ragged. "y-yeah?" you ask, your voice cracking. you clear your throat though, nodding to yourself. this is okay, you've gotten through so much shit in your life, you can get through this too.

"so...you were a year younger right?" ben asks, making you look up. you nod, resisting the urge to point out that you still are. he takes a breath, "what- uh, what happened when i left? i can't remember why we didn't keep in touch."

you feel sick to your stomach and you shrug dejectedly, "i don't really remember. i didn't really talk to anybody my senior year because.... well... you guys were all gone and never called. i didn't understand what had happened, but everyone else in town..." you trail off. ben knows just as well as you that the people in derry did not take kindly to the losers club, especially back in those times when people's bodies could make them an easy target. it was fucked up. "yeah, i don't really remember much." you finish. it's quiet for a moment.

"i don't understand how i could have forgotten you." he says quietly, sounding bewildered. you blush but you shake your head. "it's not your fault. something weird happens when you leave this town." you say, eyes trained on your legs. you wanted to cry. "what, and that makes it okay?” ben says softly, sitting next to you on the staircase. your stomach hollows when his hand falls on your back, just like old times, and you shake your head. "well, i guess." you mutter, shrugging. you never really looked at it from that perspective.

"i'm so, so sorry." he says and you shake you're head. this was all too much. the boy that you loved - the man that you still love - is sitting next to you, right there for you to hold. you've lost him once before and you never want that to happen again, but you know he's not yours to hold.

you pull your face into your hands, shaking your head. "y/n, what's wrong? i mean- today has been crazy, i get it. how can i help?" he asks and you want to chuckle and scream and cry all at once. he's still the same kind and caring person, even after all this time. "it's okay, ben. i'm sorry, this is just... a lot." your voice is watery and weak.

"i keep trying to remember all this stuff from back then... but all i can remember is being around you. you were the most amazing kid, y/n. i looked up to you so much, you were so full of life and you were so funny, i just feel like... i just-" he cuts himself off, rubbing his face with his hand. your

"hey, it's okay, ben. it's me, i'm no stranger." you say lightly, making you both chuckle at the irony of your statement. but your smiles melts and you realize you're becoming too hopeful, knowing you're about to have your heart broken as he opens his mouth.

“y/n...i feel like i've missed out on a whole lifetime with you.” he says quietly. your stomach flips as you look at him, his hand coming up to your cheek. your eyes meet and his honey ones are searching yours for something, desperation and adoration swimming through them. "ben, what are you saying?" you whisper, watching as his eyes flicker to your lips and your stomach flutters like you were about to have your first kiss all over again.

"i'm saying i think i've loved you since we were thirteen." he says with a swallow and you beam. he's still staring at you and you bite your lip. "ben, i love you too." you whisper. he smiles, his hand rubbing your cheek with a fond smile.

he leans in slowly, allowing time for you to lean back, but as soon as your lips are touching he's surging forward, pressing his body to yours. his lips are warm and soft on yours and you almost want to cry. you feel like even though everything is crazy, ben is the one constant - he's the one that got away. but he's here now, he loves you, he always has, despite everything. or because of everything. he kisses you like he loves you. you know he does.

"oh, hey! this is new." a voice breaks the peace as eddie's feet land in front of you. as you and ben pull away from each other, you're both grinning sheepishly but you're slightly annoyed that eddie interrupted you. eddie plows through in his classic panicked fashion. "hate to bother you, but can you guys come in here for a sec? we've got a little problem." he says breathlessly. you roll your eyes but ben stands, watching as eddie walks back into the other room.

he pulls you up and towards his chest and you blush darkly at your proximity. he leans towards you again though, catching your lips with his in a deep, passionate kiss. his hands fall to your hips, pulling you even closer and you try not to gasp at the feeling of his lips on yours. your hands wrap around his neck and you pull away, biting your lip as you look at him. he smiles at you, whispering softly, "let's go," before slipping his hand into yours and following eddie.

you waited more than thirty years for this, and you think it was worth every fucking second.  

[rozemieke]

Short soft post I wrote instead if sleeping, so if it has any mistakes don't judge me. Also it's not the best thing I've written but I needed some softness in my life so here u go:

"Mike, do you think that someone will ever love me?"

Stanley asked out of the blue. They were trying to go to sleep. Stanley was staying over at Mikes house because Stans parents were out of town.

"What kind of dumb question is that? Of course! I love you, and the others love you to."

Stanley sighed softly. "Yeah but I mean love-love. Not platonic love. I mean real love. Do you think we'll ever be normal again?"

Mike moved around so he could face Stanley. They were sharing a bed, both boys didn't mind, they had done it so many times and were kind of used to it by now.

"Love is a weird word Stan. With a weird meaning. And no, I don't think we'll ever be normal again, but I do know that we have each other, right?" Mike said, a little smile on his lips.

If Stan only knew. If he only knew what Mike felt for him. If only Mike could tell him. Of course someone would love him romantically.

It was him. Mike loved Stanley. He'd always love him, no matter what. He knew that. Just because they had all been trough really rough things when they were younger, didn't mean Mike couldn't love him.

Mike loved Stan more then he wanted to.

"Yeah, as long as we have each other." Stan mumbled.

"I think love is weird." Mike suddenly said. "Have you ever been in love?" He asked Stanley.

Stan shrugged. "I don't know Mike. Maybe."

"Who did you think you were in love with?"

Mike knew that his heart would maybe break a little if Stanley answered that question. He knew he wasn't ready for Stan to say a name of a girl he didn't know. He didn't wanted to hear it.

But he also did.

He wanted to know what Stanley found attractive in people. He wanted to hear him tell everything he wanted to. He wanted to know why and what love was to him.

But he was also terrified.

"You're going to think I'm weird. And I don't want to tell you. I mean maybe I do. I don't know. Don't judge me. And please don't get mad. I'm just not sure if-"

"I won't get mad. I promise." Mike interrupted him.

Stanley sighed. "Well I don't know the meaning of love. I don't know anything about it. I just think that maybe I was in love with you. Am in love with you. Still. I don't know. I just sometimes think that maybe I'd love to just touch you and. Oh god this is so weird I'm so sorry I shouldn't have told you what am I saying-"

Mike couldn't believe what Stan was saying. This boy he loved so much had a crush on him? For how long? Did he love him? Still? Did he really like Mike back? How was that even possible? He thought all this time that he was the weird one, and now Stanley was confessing and almost crying because he told him.

"Wow Stanley wait."

Stan looked up. "I'm sorry. You have all the rights to be mad. I'm a creep."

"No. You're not. You're sweet and I like you. Like-like you. Love you. If you want me to call it that. I just thought that I'd never had a chance to do this and tell you and this is all so out of the blue and I wasn't prepared for that. You don't have to be sorry. Stanley, I like you back, you don't have to be alone or scared. I will love you."

Stan was crying now. He was sobbing and tears were running down his cheeks.

"Hey it's okay. I'm here." Mike whispered, pulling Stan in a hug.

Stan didn't exactly know why he was crying. Maybe it was the relief. Maybe it was something else. Maybe it was the fact that Mike just told him that he loved him.

Loves.

Mike loves him.

Stanley was still sobbing, but a small smile broke through the moment he though about it.

He was still hugging Mike, but he loosened his grip on him so he could look up in Mikes beautiful eyes.

He looked worried.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry if it was my fault. I didn't wanted to make you uncomfortable." Mike said, his voice soft and caring.

Stan let out a small sigh.

"No, it's okay. I don't know what happened. I'm just, just, confused? Happy? You love me?" Stan asked.

Mike smiled and combed his fingers to Stans curls.

"Yeah, silly. You're cute."

Stanley looked down. "I'm not. I'm not cute."

Mike shrugged. "To me you are pretty high on the cutie scale."

Stanley let out a laugh. "What even is that?"

"It's how cute people are. And you're on top of it. No one is cuter then you."

Stanley couldn't help but smile widely.

"Shut up Mike."

Mike laughed and hugged Stan closer.

"I love you Stanley."

Stan smiled. Love. Love. Love. Maybe he did know what it was and wat it meant.

"I love you to."

*****

That's it idk what it is but if you like it, enjoy!

[kohanayaki]

Caught in the Middle (Steve Harrington x Reader x Billy Hargrove) Ch 4

Links: Ch 1   Ch 2   Ch 3  Ch 4  Ch 5  Ch 6  Ch 7

_____________________________________________________

Ch 4 .:A Date?:.

Sunlight streamed in through your window, ribbons of light cascading across your bed sheets. You could hear the faint sound of birds chirping as the morning greeted you.

And you felt like complete and utter shit. 

You groaned, your head pounding, as you tried to block out some of the light with your pillow. You'd gotten home last night at 2:00 on the dot, feeling fine. In fact, you even caught up on some homework before you went to sleep. Now you just felt like you'd been hit by a truck.

You looked over at the time, reluctantly getting out of bed when you saw how late in the morning it was. The kids were biking over in half an hour to go to the mall and you looked like hell.

You padded down the hallway, mustering up a weak laugh when you saw your brother passed out in his room, knowing he'd probably wake up to the same fate as you. 

As you made your way downstairs the smell of breakfast food made your stomach rumble on instinct. You were 'hydrated' plenty last night, but there wasn't much actual food. Your eyes lit up as you rounded the corner and saw your dad plating up some eggs, bacon, and pancakes. He grinned as he saw you, setting the plate down on the table in front of you. 

“And how is my daughter doing this fine morning?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Swell,” you said sarcastically.

He laughed, walking over to the cabinet to get you some Tylenol and a glass of water. 

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” he said, “I can't really say anything on this one, I'd be lying if I said I haven't done worse when I was your age. That hangover is punishment enough. Just drink water throughout the day, and go on and eat something greasy while you're at the mall too. But get your blood sugar up right now, I don't want you back in that car until your head's clear, you understand?”

“Will do,” you said, already stuffing your face, “Thanks, dad.”

“You're welcome,” he smiled, “Love you, drive safe.”

“Love you too,” you said through a mouthful of bacon. 

As he retreated back into his office you savored the taste of the feast he made for you. You smiled fondly as you did. Your dad didn't really cook until he became a single parent. When he took on the full responsibility of raising you and your brother, he tried his best to fill your mom's role, following the old recipe books she'd left behind. His first attempts were a general health hazard, but as time went on he actually turned out to be a great cook.

The sudden ringing of bicycle bells outside your house made you scarf down the rest of your plate, snatching your car keys off the table. 

You opened the front door to see the whole gang waiting for you.

“I swear, the only time you guys are on time for anything is when you're leeching off of me,” you said, unlocking the car and leaving them to figure out the seating.

“You know us so well,” Dustin said, hopping into the shotgun seat before anyone else could take it. 

“I forgot to ask earlier, but how was that summer camp you went to, Dustin?” you asked, turning on the engine.

“It was so cool,” he beamed, “Our counselor taught us how to make all kinds of inventions. I made a self-nailing hammer, a wind powered clock, and a radio tower so I can talk to my girlfriend whenever I want since her parents monitor her phone calls.”

“Girlfriend?” you turned to look at him. He smiled back at you, bright as anything.

“Yeah, we were surprised too,” Max said from the back.

“Although we're not sure she actually exists,” Mike chimed in, “Apparently she's as hot as Phoebe Cates.”

“Hotter than Phoebe Cates,” Dustin corrected, “And she's a genius too.”

“Riiight,” Lucas said. 

“Well I think she sounds great, Dusty,” you said, “It's pretty romantic you built that radio tower just to talk to her.”

“It's the strongest communications network in Hawkins across 150 channels,” he said proudly.

“Well, that's certainly impressive,” you grinned, ruffling his hair. 

Soon you pulled up to one of the many entrances to the mall, stopping at the curb. 

“Well, this is your stop, guys,” you said, “What are you gonna see?”

“The Stuff,” Mike said excitedly. 

“Isn't that rated R?” you questioned, a brow raised. 

All of them looked at each other, slightly panicked.

“Well, we'll see you later, (Y/n)!” Lucas said, flinging open the back door and getting out as fast as he could. Everyone else quickly fled after him, running towards the theater. You shook your head. They got themselves into a lot of shenanigans, but admittedly you were the one instigating it most of the time when you were younger, even if you were the babysitter. 

However, as soon as the kids left for the movie you were painfully reminded of the throbbing headache you had. You groaned as one of the strobe lights around the movie theater glared in your face, not helping matters in the slightest. 

You knew eating a bunch of greasy food technically didn't do anything for a hangover, but it sure made you feel a hell of a lot better emotionally. With that in mind you decided to walk over to the Burger Chef located inside the mall for a little pick me up. 

Luckily for you there wasn't much of a line. Only a few people were scattered around the seating area at the food court. You were looking over the menu hanging on the wall when a familiar voice broke your train of thought.

“(Y/n)?”

You looked around at the sound of your name to see Steve looking back at you, just as surprised. 

“Hey,” you said. You took a moment to look over him. He looked just as awful as you did, if you were honest. The deep-set bags under his tired eyes aged him an eternity, and he looked a bit green as well. 

“You too, huh?” You bit back a grin as you gave him a short laugh through your nose.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “In hind sight I probably shouldn't have mixed liquors, but hey, there's nothing I can do about it now. Figured some fries might help.”

“They always do,” you said, “What are you doing here, anyways? Aren't you on your shift at Scoops?” You noticed he was still in his work uniform.

“Lunch break,” he explained, “I don't really have long, but we can grab a table if you want.”

“I'd like that,” you smiled.

Steve was a little surprised at his own forwardness. Apparently he was hungover enough to not overthink everything that came out of his mouth. However he was even even more surprised at you agreeing to sit down with him. He didn't know why his brain was making such a big deal out of this; you ate lunch with him every day and hung out together all the time, but then again that was also including a group of other people. You and Steve had never really spent time together when it was just the two of you, except for when you iced his busted face after the basketball stunt, which hardly counted as a first date. 

He felt uncharacteristically nervous as he slid into the booth next to you. A year ago he would have been pulling out all the stops to make you his, but now he just wasn't so sure anymore. He was never afraid of rejection before, but when he thought of you as the one rejecting him he figured it would be better to not say anything at all. 

'Get yourself together,' Steve thought to himself, 'It's just lunch with a friend. Friends do that!'

“Penny for your thoughts, Popeye?” you said, flicking the fabric of his sailor hat. 

“Huh?” Steve said, snapping out of it, “Oh, nothing, just, uh. . .” he quickly picked up a menu, hoping to cover the majority of his reddening face with it, “Looking at the XXL Supreme. 2Lb beef patty with bbq sauce, ranch, fried pickles, beer cheese and. . . yeah, that sounds pretty gross.”

“I'll probably stick to a regular burger,” you laughed, glancing at the menu over his shoulder. 

You were so close he could feel the heat coming off your body and smell the sweet scent of your perfume. He scolded himself for being so weak, forcing himself to concentrate only on the food. 

Right at that moment a waiter strolled up to you, writing pad in hand. 

“Hi. Welcome to Burger Chef,” he said, sounding just as dead inside as he looked, “How may I serve you today?”

“A double patty melt with cheddar,” Steve said, “And a coke, please.”

“I'm trying to decide between-” you stopped yourself as you looked up, staring at the waiter. You thought he looked familiar and it was then that you realized he was one of the guys that bullied your brother in middle school. Your eyes narrowed as you recalled how he and his friends cut the strings on Kyle's guitar when he brought it to school one day. 

You saw a flash of recognition in his eyes and your lips curved upwards.

“The classic burger, simple,” you said, the fakest smile you could muster on your face, “But on a sesame bun instead of the brioche, no mayo, extra mustard, add caramelized onions and extra cheese, and don't forget the pickles. If you could add shredded lettuce instead of the whole leaf that'd be great. Oh, and a Neapolitan shake with chocolate syrup and no whipped cream.”

“We don't have a Neapolitan shake,” he said irritably and slightly panicked, trying to write everything down. 

“Well I heard in your commercial if you just ask, an employee would be happy to mix any of the milkshake flavors together,” you said, your smirk widening. What could you say? Being a bitch was fun sometimes- especially when the person on the receiving end was a total dickhead. 

“Coming right up,” the waiter said through his teeth.

Steve looked between the two of you before the waiter stormed off to the kitchen window, slamming his hand down on the bell with more force than necessary.

“So, what'd he do?” Steve chuckled.

“Bullied my brother really bad in school,” you said, “What goes around comes around, though. In a few years Kyle will be off to LA to start touring with his band and this guy will still be here covered in fry grease wearing a burger shaped hat.”

“Well I hope that's not my fate,” Steve said, only half joking as he took his uniform hat off, twirling it in his hands. 

You could tell even though he tried to hide behind the humor it was something he really was concerned about. 

“Hey, don't worry about it,” you said, nudging his shoulder lightly, “You're not an asshole. . . anymore.”

You managed to get a laugh out of him at the end and you smiled, glad you were at least able to cheer him up some.

“Seriously, though, it's fine to not know what you want to do with your life yet,” you said, “Hell, I know grown ass men who still don't know what they're doing. You don't have to go to some fancy college to do something great.”

Steve looked at you, thinking over your words. He thought it was crazy how you were his age but you were so much more mature and optimistic than he was. The way you thought was unlike anyone he's met before in Hawkins, and it only further intensified his wanting to get to know you.

“Thanks, (Y/n),” he smiled.

Meanwhile, your little crew of gremlins had finished their film, now making their way to the food court for lunch.

“What do you think The Stuff tastes like?” Lucas asked to no one in particular.

“I bet it's like Betty Crocker frosting,” Dustin said dreamily.   

“Um can we not talk about how sentient parasitic goo tastes? Because we're literally about to go eat,” Max said.

Suddenly Dustin stopped in his tracks, making Will run into his back. 

“Dustin, what the hell?” Mike said, screeching to a halt before he could collide with Will. 

“No way,” Dustin said, staring far off some place the others couldn't see.

“What's wrong?” El asked, confused. 

Dustin pulled his friends behind the shrubbery next to the fountain, ducking in the cover as he peeked his head out slightly. 

“They're on a date!” Dustin said, a little too loudly. He ignored the stares he got from passersby as he continued to watch you and Steve laugh over your burgers in your shared booth.

“(Y/n) and Steve?” Mike said, “I thought he was still hung up over Nancy breaking up with him.”

“Well clearly the man's moved on,” Lucas said.

Max rolled her eyes, hitting him on the arm.

“Ow!” Lucas exclaimed, turning to her, “What was that for?”

“Just because a guy and a girl are hanging out doesn't mean it's a 'date',” she pointed out, “Maybe they're just good friends. I've seen them around each other a lot at school.”

“I think he finally worked up the courage to ask her out for real,” Dustin started theorizing, ignoring Max completely. 

“What do you mean for real?” Will asked.

“It's so obvious he's into her but he's scared of striking out,” Dustin said, “That whole Nancy situation really struck a blow to his self confidence.”

Mike tried to get a better look at what you two were doing, leaning over El's shoulder and squinting at the burger place. Suddenly his footing slipped from under him as he accidentally took a step on the wet tile near the fountain and fell on his ass into a bush. 

“Shit!”

You and Steve stopped eating your burgers and turned around at the sudden noise, but saw nothing but a ruffle in the plants nearby. 

“That was weird,” you said, looking around. 

“Yeah,” Steve said, “Well, it's bear season, you never know when they'll sneak up on you.”

You laughed at that, the sound making Steve's heart flutter. He loved your laugh, even more so when he knew he was the cause of it. 

Suddenly Steve remembered his shift was probably starting, his lunch break was less than an hour long.

“Shit, I should've been back ten minutes ago,” Steve said, looking down at his watch, “My shift already started.”

“Oh, sorry,” you said, “I didn't mean for this to go on for so long.”

Steve looked surprised, shaking his head vigorously. 

“No, no, I liked it,” he said, not fully registering how the sentence sounded out loud until your cheeks flushed.

“I-I mean-”

“I get it,” you laughed softly, “I liked it too.”

Steve felt like his heart was just shot through with cupid's arrow as you smiled up at him and offered to walk him back to Scoops. He hadn't felt this way since Nancy. After she broke his heart he was convinced he would never get over her, but now you were here, occupying all the free space in his mind despite only knowing you for a short while. What the hell was going on with him?

His mental debate came to an unceremonious stop when he realized you were already in front of the ice cream shop.

Steve turned to you and did his best to sound indifferent. He had a really good time, but he didn't know if you felt the same way.

“Well, I better get back to it,” he said, clearing his throat awkwardly, “You know, suit up, sling ice cream, appease the masses-”

“We should do this again sometime,” you said, effectively flipping the 'off' switch on his rambling. 

Steve seemed to freeze in this plane of existence, staring at you with wide eyes.

“Yeah! I mean, that's what I was gonna ask you, but I didn't know if you wanted to, and. . .” he trailed off, kicking himself again.   

'When you talk you just make it worse,' he mentally scolded himself.

You laughed a bit at his flushed face.

'Adorable,' you thought. For being the former king of Hawkins High, he was still a giant dork.

“Well I'll definitely see you around this time, then,” you smiled, reminded of your first day back. Things were different between you two now, but that wasn't a bad thing at all.

You walked out of Scoops Ahoy feeling lighter, a smile on your face and your headache long forgotten. With your disastrous dating history, maybe Steve Harrington was the kind of guy who could be good for you right now.

The very thought made you feel giddy inside, but as you said yourself before, life had a funny way of changing your plans completely.

Read Chapter 5 here!

Taglist: @in-my-dreams-2000 @ggclarissa @iris1697 @5sosxgrethan @ohnoniella @sarcasticalphaofthelooserspack @aspiring-fangirls-world @wow-im-so-tired @hopesxxhigh @justanothercrazyassfangirl @too-many-lanes @whimsylavender @bish-ima-clown @amarachoren @mosiacbrokenheartstf @mcuvlxgs @xapham @metuel18 @immirandaq @nellaphine @multi-madison @gingertalksshit @jojo-buttercup @kyberhearts @mvdelaine @minnie-marvel @caitlin-rose28 @zandaleekrz @r3inventedd @void-fire-rose @macymafia @wanna-be-idle @newtsshelbys @kimmydespell @weyheyokay @r4ttusr4ttus @cynthianokamaria

[babyfreaksharkcloud-blog]

Here is my first story ever made:

I hope u like it :)

;

Is it possible to be in love with someone at 1 moment and then before you know it, you like someone else like its love at first sight? I don’t know and if i knew the answer to that it would probably be a lot easier for me to know who i like. I have known mike since i was 10, ( i am 14 now) and i have liked him since i was 12. I always thought we were soulmates but on the other hand i was 12 so i guess you could say i was still into kids stuff, i have known nick for like almost 2 weeks i think. Just so you know a little about how they look like: mike is blonde with brown eyes tall and skinny but not too skinny of course, nick has brown hair with brown eyes and good style plus he likes the same kind of music as me, he is tall but not as tall as mike is. Every time nick texts me i get a smile on my face. Mike never texts me. I think i need to give you a little background story about them: mike and i went to the same elementary school just like my stepbrother over the years mike and my stepbrother became best friends so i saw him now and then at our house when we were all ready to go to our secondary schools we found out we weren’t all going to the same school. Mike and me were going to the same school what the honk. And what are the odds we got the same classes i was always a little obvious but i didn’t think anything of it at the time and he never flirted back at me so who cares right?

In 9th grade i made a best friend someone i knew i would be long lasting friends with she did a year over so she was older she was 3 years older than me but we were still friends she introduced me to her friends that were in the 10th grade. I liked then all I thought they were nice and they are, it was at this point all great until she introduced me to him, Nick, i mean he was cute. Later at the day we hung out at the busstation near school. Just the four of us, it was the first time flirting and them flirting back. Nick gave me attention and i liked that i think that was why i started liking him a little more that mike. We decided it would be fun to hang out again so we made plans and we hung out again we were standing 3 hours at the place we were hanging out before going to Tim’s house we hung out and then Nick sat beside me and put his arm around me it felt nice, a little after that we started cuddling not in like a weird way just nice simple hugging while laying, i liked the way he was nice to me and wanted to cuddle with me. I know that this is gonna sounds cringe but i felt safe when he held me in his arms. My best friend even told me that he would break my heart because he was “nice” to everyone but i couldn’t care at the moment because i liked hanging out with him and i liked him being present there, so i kept flirting back until i saw he was also laughing with other girls, i was kinda heartbroken because i thought we had something, but i guess not. And she even predicted it. When i was younger i never thought i would have to make this choice because i was the ugly nonconfident girl, i am also the most innocent girl that has never kissed anybody but the fact that i want to kiss Nick so much makes me wonder why i think about stuff like that when i still havent even gotten my first kiss yet. My mom always told me that love isn’t just something its that you would be willing to cross oceans and go trough fire for only that one person. I on the other hand have never felt that. I would’ve liked to but im still 14 and i don’t really believe in love so young i guess.

Based on real events

[painandpleasure86]

I Cannot Believe It’s True

A/N: Hi there ppl! I never participated in a ship week like this time… Thank u Mel aka @roger-taylors-car for hosting this special week ❤️

This little DeazelloNeighbors'AU haves the previous chapters:

Ch #1 “My new neighbor it’s my crush”: https://painandpleasure86.tumblr.com/post/190777536948/my-new-neighbor-its-my-crush-deazzello-week

Ch #2 “Gimme your comfort, I suffer of love”: https://painandpleasure86.tumblr.com/post/190796228203/gimme-your-comfort-i-suffer-of-love-deazello

Ch #3 “Life-changing decisions (and a lot of suspects)”: https://painandpleasure86.tumblr.com/post/190811616233/life-changing-decisions-a-lot-of-suspects

Oh! This time, I took the prompts Valentine’s Day and Cheating.

I deleted previous post because I posted it so late and with some imperfections... Also, yesterday was an occupied day (plus Valentine’s Day date with my bf). Sorry :(

I hope to post for Day 6.

Summary: a disaster was about to start…

Warning: Angst, Fluff and a pinch of humor.

Word count: 2300

Permanent taglist: @warriorteam1924 @toomuchlove-willkillyou @deakysgurl (if you want to be in this list, send me a msg or ask)

If you liked it, please reblog! That will help me to reach to more ppl :3

***********************************

Were long days without him. He wasn’t that happy. But, taking what he learned in acting school, he always was smiling, being kind, working hard in the dance studio.

A nice way to cheer him up was, ironically, help to Ronnie. Joe really liked that woman. She always was so kind, smiley and also even after 6 kids she still was beautiful. He couldn’t deny that, even being gay. “John straight taste was nice”.

How he helped to the mistress? Taking care of the children meanwhile she was to buy some groceries, gone to the hairdresser for her dye or meanwhile she was taking a bath or cooking.

Robert and Michael were old enough to take care (Robert was almost 19 and Michael almost 17) even Laura with almost 15 years; so he took care of the three youngest. To him, was so great. He loved baby Cam, and Luke that he was starting to walk… Joshua had 10 years old, but he also kept an eye over him.

Once he trapped Josh looking for porn mags at his dad’s office.

“How you know that? Isn’t something of your age”. asked Joe to the boy.

“I trapped to my dad once with his hands under the table and I asked what he was doing”, replied Josh without shame. He continued talking. “The strange thing is, that in that pics I didn’t saw women… but I didn’t found it repulsive at all. They’re getting sex between them because they’re alone and… they also have needs”.

That words couldn’t came from his own.

“You really thinks like that?”

“Were words of my Dad and looks credible to me”.

Joe couldn’t found words then to explain that Josh dad was gay.

“Please don’t tell to my dad that I found his mags with that naked men… and never to my mom!” begged Joshua.

“Promise” and Joe extended his right pinky finger.

The guy understood the signal and extended the pinky finger from his left hand and intertwined it with Joe’s pinky finger, smiling.

“Redhead power!” said Joe, raising his left arm.

Josh laughed.

“We’re the best!” exclaimed Josh.

That happy smile made Joe being sad internally. Josh was like a little redhead John.

Laura always was watching at Joe with love eyes. And was paradise to her when she hurted a bit one of his feet and Joe hugged her to comfort her. When Joe listened “y-your pa-parfum it’s so nice” he could knew that Laura was better. “Yeah sweetie, your dad also loved it…” thought Joe.

Ronnie didn’t left to Joe to grab Cameron often, but when that happened… he felt like he was with some of his younger cousins or better, with a step brother. That baby was his weakness. “You’re a cute boy!” he often said to the baby, giving a  smooch in the little forehead. Cameron always gave in response a cute giggle. But this time, that happy face didn’t made him remember to John. Cam haves Ronnie’s face.

———-

February 11th Ronnie received a call when Joe was around there.

“Take care of Cam and Luke please” said her, running to the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi Ronnie!”

“John!!! How are you? we’re missing you here!”

The man smiled.

“I’m tired Ronnie. I just want to stay at home…”

“When you will come back?” asked the mistress.

“I’ll be there before Valentine’s Day. Tomorrow.”

Ronnie told to her offsprings “Dad will comeback tomorrow!” They smiled... And Luke said “Dad?” His first word.

Ronnie started to cry. She grabbed Luke in her arms.

“Ron.. Ron?”

“Oh sorry John! Luke told his first word, finally!! Come on son!”

The toddler didn’t wanted to say anything.

“Put him in the phone”

The baby started to listen his dad’s voice.

“How are you, little bud? I miss you so much!”

The baby didn’t said anything, just giggled.

Joe, having Cameron in his arms, watched at Luke’s eyes and cheer him up to speak. “Come on Luke, you can do it little champ!”

And Luke said “J-joe!”, pointing at the redhead.

John couldn’t react.

--

(In Montreux)

Roger saw John paralyzed with the phone in his hand and against his left ear.

“Deaky… are you okay mate?”

Trying to speak, he responded “Luke said his first word… and wasn’t mom or dad. Was the name of my new neighbor”

“Oh I see that Ronnie it’s having fun without you, then” joked Roger.

Deaky watched at Roger pretty annoyed. With that face. He preferred to not answer and continue talking with his family.

Roger approached to Brian then.

“John it’s acting rare..”

“Well, Roger, he’s so sensitive. Perhaps he isn’t in the mood to joke as he used to be.”

“No, not only for that. When he mentioned a couple of times to his neighbor, his cheeks flushed and his eyes brightened a bit.”

“You’re right Roger. I see that he loves to his neighbor” joked Bri.

“I think that’s serious. That he’s a kind of platonic love of John. But deaky didn’t wanted to accept. You know how’s deaky with things about his private life. If he didn’t want to tell to us, better not ask”

“I know it Roger. I know at the same person. I just hope that, at least he can have a nice Valentine’s Day.”

-------

Ronnie was asking “John? Are you there? John?”

“Sorry Ron. Roger made me a bad joke.”

“Haha! Do you wanna talk with the kids?”

“Sure”.

Joshua and Laura approached to the phone and talked a bit with their dad.

Meanwhile, Ronnie told to Joe “thank you for your help, really! The kids loved you!”

Joe smiled and his cheeks turned red.

“Now you’re the one with their cheeks flushed” joked Ronnie.

Both laughed.

“Was an honor Ronnie. Your kids are so great. And this little bud” pointing to Cameron with his chin “the cutest baby ever… well also Luke, haha! Don’t be jealous, man!” he added, caressing a bit Luke’s head.

Joshua screamed “mum, dad want that Cam listen his voice”.

Joe, watching at the woman, said “take to this bud.”

“No Joe. Gave to John a surprise and speak with him!” exclaimed the woman.

Joey, holding Cameron with his left arm and hand, took the phone and he said “Hi sir”

Another moment of silence for the bassist.

“John? Are you listening me?” asked worried Joe.

---

Meanwhile, John’s bandmates watched to him staring in silence.

“Joey” he finally replied in a sigh and smiling.

“See… he’s in love with that man” pointed Roger watching the scene.

“Let John alone Roger! If he’s happy…” said Brian. “Let’s coming back to our business” concluded.

----

“I- erm we miss you John… also this little guy that I have in arms! I must to confess that I love to be with your family”

“Even Ronnie?” John joked.

“Of course! I was helping her these last days.”

“It’s ironic… but well! Put me to my son to the phone please… we will talk tomorrow Joey.”

“Okay."

Joe approximate the phone to Cam’s left ear.

"Hi my little piece of heaven! How are you?” he said with the softest voice ever.

The baby giggled intensely.

“Dad loves you so much!”

The baby babbled.

All there were smiling for that cute scene.

Joe took the phone again and said “to Ronnie again?”

“No Joey. That’s all. See ya soon. Lov- take care of yourself”.

“Bye John”.

Both hung up.

Joe said “I think that I should to go to home…” and gave Cameron to Ronnie.

“Stay for the dinner, I even made a lactose free dessert for you”, she said, receiving to her youngest one.

Kissing to Ronnie in one cheek, he replied “I’d love that. But I want to sleep. I need that.”

“It’s okay Joe. Come tomorrow to have dinner with John please. He would be so happy to see you when he come back”.

“Tomorrow I’ll be here.” And watching to Cameron, he said “bye bud!”. Luke said “Joei” and extended his arms. Joe hugged to the little boy that was sat in the floor. “Bye champ!”

Josh and Joe made their “redhead power” salute.

“MICHAEL, COME HERE TO OPEN THE DOOR TO JOE” screamed Ronnie

He was until the stairs and said “No. Look how I’m dressed, plus outside it’s cold.”

“Excuses Mike, when Samantha came here you were dressed with that pajamas and you didn’t cared at all to go outside and close the main door” replied Laura, kinda upset.

Michael couldn’t respond better thing that “It’s better that you go to open the door to him, I listened how you says sometimes I love you joeeeeey ” meanwhile you’re sleeping.”

Laura’s cheeks were extra red. Mike made his bad action for that day.

Joshua started to mock Laura, but Ronnie stopped him.

Joe, in response of Mike’s confession, hugged Laura.

“You’re so cute, I like your style, and I know what you mean when you give me a flash of that smile but girl, you’re only a child ” Joe sung.

Laura laughed for the reference.

“I love that song, have my age! That’s so cool”.

“Great, but also there it says why I don’t reply to your flirth”

“I know... but anyways you’re so beautiful”.

Leaving the embrace, both walked to the main door. Laura still having that blush...

————--------------------------------------------------

John came back. Finally. And was huge his surprise when he saw Joe in the familiar table.

“Joe? Here? I-”

He stared at the scene and his offsprings came to greet him.

“You will say Dad again?” the man asked to his son Luke.

“Joei… Dad” pointing to Joe.

John laughed and hugged to the toddler.

“Luke really likes you Joe. Thank you for help to Ronnie” said with Luke in his arms.

“And you don’t greet me?” asked Ronnie giving a kiss in John’s lips.

Joe was a bit jealous.

Josh made a disgust expression.

“Hi Ron, this meal smell so delicious! Sorry, i’m hungry…” And watching at his youngest in Ronnie’s arms, he said “Hi my little piece of heaven!”

Leaving to Luke in his special chair, he said to Ronnie “I need to talk something with Joe…We will comeback soon.” In a whisper, he added “I’ll pay something for came to help you”. The men disappeared.

Both men were to the studio of John,there they hugged so tight for five minutes. Just hugged. In silence.

“I missed you so much Joe.” said finally the bassist.

“Me too… being here cheered me up, until I recognized that almost all your kids have the same smile that you have.” admitted Joe.

“Was masochist then” said the elder, leaving the embrace and caressing the right cheek of Joe.

“No… Well a bit. But was fun. I love to your children John.” replied the redhead. “And I love you. I do since a lot of time.” That last words were the speech that once his father caught saying to the mirror. Grabbing John’s face with both hands, he added  “Before knowing you in person I loved you. Now, even more. You’re the one…” and gave to him a sweet kiss in his lips. “Let me be your Valentine… the only one.”

John down his sight.

“I want that… but I can’t. My kids. My family…”

Walking to the door, Joe started to cry and say “You should think a bit more in you!” and watched at that greenish eyes again.

“Have the balls to do it, please. You’re happy with me, no? You told me how nice was to be alone and hug me… Don’t refuse to be happy” and he covered his face with his hands. Were a lot of tears.

After a couple of minutes, he said “I’ll go to the bathroom to wash my face. I don’t want that everyone watch at my eyes and ask me what happened”

When he opened the door, Joshua and Laura were there. They listened enough.

“Are you the boyfriend of my dad?” asked Laura, surprised.

“I’ll better call to mum” said Joshua serious.

“NO JOSH, COME HERE” screamed John and running behind him.

But John couldn’t catch to his son.

Meanwhile, Joe asked to Laura “Why you’re listening private conversations?”

“Mum wanted to call you and Dad because the chicken was ready, and well, instead of knock, we stared listening to dad and you talking… You’re the boyfriend, no?”

A question that Joe was about to reply, but Ronnie and the rest of her children were there.

“Kids, to your rooms… This is an adult conversation. Mike, take care of Luke and Cam meanwhile, please”.

Michael, with his brother Cameron in arms, said to Laura “I told you that those screamings were moans! And you didn’t wanted to believe me!”

Laura entered to her room, crying.

——–

Ronnie closed the door of the studio. Joe and John were there.

“I cannot believe it’s true… You, again... cheated on me… WITH A MAN! IN OUR HOUSE! BECAUSE NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY JOE SCREAMED. HE MOANED!!” Watching to Joe, she continued speaking… “YOU, PLAYED WITH ME AND MY KIDS, ACTING LIKE A KIND MAN. WHY YOU DID THIS TO MY FAMILY?”

“Ronnie, y-”

“DON’T CALL ME OF THAT WAY AGAIN JOSEPH.”

Watching to John, she added “AND YOU… GO AWAY OF THIS HOUSE. GRAB YOUR THINGS NOW”

“Veronica, I wanted to tell this soon…”

“HAHA… You know something John? I don’t believe you”.

The woman left the room, crying.

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

Both men left the house.  

“I’ll take a taxi and I’ll pass the night in an hotel. Again.” John told to Joe.

“Well John, in some moment that should happen…”

Both hugged tightly again.

“Love you John”.

“Love you Joe”.

And Joe started to go to his house.

Now there, his parents asked to Joe “What happened there? We listened some argues”

“Ronnie discovered that John cheated on her…” and, watching to his father, added “With me” replied Joe.

****************************

Again, if you liked it, please reblog! That will help me to reach to more ppl :3

Cheers, Lily

[deeply-infernum]

"Just a Little Bit of Your Heart." - Khaýd Gharibacci.

This is my first Harringrove shot, so I hope you like it and I'll read all your comments about.

The night was slightly bright, the stars did their thing and the chestnut was in his car heading home, he did not know much what was out of it, however he needed some peace after many events happened in these few days : the days were now pure fights against beings from another dimension.

"What the fuck."

He snorted, he only dedicated himself to examining every corner of what seemed to be a forest around the road, suddenly the memory of golden curls appeared in his mind which he wanted to evade but he knew perfectly well that he could not do it, he felt lost in he, his blue eyes, his mocking smile, the seriousness in which a single movement of his eyebrows could leave you frozen, knew that Billy was in danger while under the influence of Mindflayer, but he could with it, even so he seemed to give in to the horrifying being Steve just wanted the blond to be fine.

The road was retaken again with a loud sound that made it slow down, left the car with its chocolate mane hitting the air and looking directly at the mall which was far away but from the height it could be seen perfectly.

— Billy…

He muttered and went back into the car to accelerate everything to reach the center.

"..."

— It's ironic that now you are the same Billy Hargrove you are by my side when you used to hate me... why? If I had never done something to you...

— I thought so too. -Billy whispered exhaling the smoke caused by tobacco when smoking the night cigarette that he had a habit of doing long ago, the morning was perfect companion of sincerity for those two submitted to their own decision to hide every trace of their current situation, like two fierce bears that they hated each other, like two birds of different species willing to fight for food for their young, like two bees determined to kill any intruder.

In Steve's home, his parents were rarely seen, so he practically grew up only with the help of friends, he had everything, he was not missing anything, but something crucial like the presence of his parents was too lacking.

— But since I saw you, you've always been someone pretentious and you thought the world was at your feet, but when I arrived in your city, the world turned to me and your reign was over. -He said mockingly messing up Steve's beautiful long strands, approaching him dangerously at the level of bumping his breaths, Hargrove's cunning hand ran subtly across the abdomen over the shirt of the blue eyes boy, his breathing became heavy and the mischievous smile was worth photographing.

— Even I didn't resist your charms and now the brat I hate most is now the current love of my life that tells me a new story every day. -It was true. Harrington's sincere and full smile of victory appeared after an icy eternity hidden in Olympus, Billy believed he was unworthy to see such a beautiful smile or simply the gods had rewarded him with being able to see her after giving up his arrogant and self-sufficient attitude when he knew clearly that he needed help, but the one who gave him help was now loving him without any condition on.

The strong and rigid arms of Hargrove were present at the waist of the tallest attracting his body to him and deposit a soft and sweet kiss on the chestnut's lips, the kiss was not any kiss, however, the hands of the opposite were directed to the hair and turned back of the blond stroking with subtlety and curiosity as each muscle of him reacted to his touch, was similar or identical to his with the lips of others.

— I really didn't think of loving someone like that. -Said the lower one, standing next to his partner on the sofa taking a suggestive position in them which made them laugh in unison, it was not strange in them, but they would do it this time in a different way, sweeter, pure love between them, It was not simply quenching sexual impetus. As if Billy wanted to convey something.

— Not me, or at least hide it, I'm not one of those but I just don't want to be hurt, Billy, enough with your father's ...

— Don't remember, it's not worth it. -He smiles. — Now he will go away with his wife, I will be alone with Max, my little sister, don't tell her, but I love her too much, I just want to protect her.

— How did your mother do it with you before... that?

— Exactly the same. -He said with a smile, he had opened very well with Steve about his whole life and they had sworn to always take care and love at all times but hide it, it was not a good time to prove it so much, but, his friends already knew That at least made them feel good, not as something forbidden, not quite.

— Better eat my mouth and let's make tonight the best of all our lives… -He said it in the most vague and sad way of all, he was a self-confident and sincere Billy, Harrington didn't respond and that night was really the one that made his own.

— Do you promise we'll be together until the end protecting us? -Steve murmured over the red lips of the blue eyes boy stripping off his clothes little by little.

— I promise you with my life.

"..."

The trip was being dangerous and tears fell on his cheeks involuntarily, what was going on? He knew that the only ones who could make a scandal of that magnitude were his friends, and therefore among them was the bad guy in the movie: Billy.

Several stop signs were passed without any respect, the traffic lights were useless before the worry of a being who loves, a being that is about to lose everything by a simple war between two worlds but it was the truth, they had to do it or they would die more people.

"Thank U" by Alanis Morissette was in the background in the car singing to give everything, the lyrics of such melody did not help the chestnut at all, he despaired but finally arrived. While he was going down, every memory next to the blond came to his head, almost destroying his good expectations and also everything that crossed his path, when he entered he found a great monster being attacked with fireworks and in the second floor could see his friends, it was comforting to know that his beloved was not participating in this.

He went up immediately to help others, everyone was almost glad to have him on his team to stop the Mindflayer, however, Steve's features seemed to fall like a mask, the security he was feeling fell like a crystal mask breaking into the ground to reveal the face of the aforementioned full of terror when the beast, looking mocking, looked down, the scene was incredible, Billy had a prisoner to Eleven which seemed to have a conversation where Billy was stunned, confused.

Steve left everything immediately going to where they were seeing the monstrous image of a being more than ten meters high in front of him.

— Billy! -Exclaimed the brown eyes boy in a desperate scream, looking at him with great anguish to see what he was doing. — Let her go! -The fireworks stopped because there were few of them, there was nothing else to attack, Mike could come almost behind Steve being able to help Eleven with Max and the others, all grouped watching that scene and how the abomination was ahead admiring everything.

Steve slowly approached Billy.

— Steve no, it's not safe!! -Shouted the younger sister of the blonde however did not get even the least case from the protagonist, Billy's teary eyes in front of Steve showed that he did not want to do any of this, but his body was now damaged by the same influence of the monster , being a few inches in front of Billy, one by one looking into his eyes, the brunette spoke.

— Hey... you look very bad, idiot... -He whispered subtly watching his beloved, showed features that were not his own, influencing on a higher level by the supernatural.

— I'm Steve, the boy you hated and hit without explanation, remember? The one who loves you now without any commitment, the one who will take care of you like that costs his life... -He muttered, everyone was attentive, but the influence was shouting to claim Steve's body as an offering, however the fear of the chestnut was still but I wasn't going to give up.

— I beg you to beat this that has you trapped, you don't exist to be cornered, to be trapped, you exist to be free, like that night in which you and I were free, please, Billy... react, please... -The hands of others had been on the chest of the blond, the tears of the lowest were sprouting, he was being himself, little by little he could beat the supernatural, he smiled as he knew how to do it, hugged him carefully but being punished for that Beast hurting him inside, he gasped at the stabbing pain in his chest.

— You don't know how much I love you. -It was the only thing he could say and released the child, just when he felt the destructive presence of the being in front of them, he pushed Harrington falling to the ground and being helped by the companions.

— Billy! -Eleven exclaimed, his powers still did not return to her, and he could not do anything, Billy held that kind of assassin tentacle of the Mindflayer with both hands, it was just directed for Steve, another of them went straight to attack the blond going to the side from his abdomen, Billy tried to endure but his forces were almost nil, another attacked the free side of the boy, Steve could not release the force and anger accumulated to see his boy being hurt in such a way because he was being stopped by his friends, desperately shouting the name of his beloved, when a final blow pierced the chest of the ojiazul, simply leaving it without any force, the portal was about to be closed but almost minutes later this was carried out ending the life of the Mindflayer almost instantly .

— Billy, no! -He screamed heartbreakingly watching the dying and blood-drenched body of his entire life, his breath was leaving, the blood was leaving him and his life was about to end, Max and Steve immediately came to his aid, Steve took him in his arms part of his body combing his curls as if that brought him back to life, the chestless tears of the chestnut fell on the lap of the blond.

— You laughed, please, don't leave me here, I beg you. -He pleaded with total destruction in his voice and heart, a slight smile peeked over the blond's face to turn to see his redhead sister releasing a weak "I'm sorry" for all the damage he had caused, finally turned to his Straight-haired angel and wonderful smile, weakly took his cheek.

— Thank you for making me see life in a fantastic way. -And with this, Billy's life was over.

The screams of Steve and his lament was a requiem sounded throughout the nascent life of his companions, the cry of his little stepsister and his allies were of pure fury, the life of his sweet and bad Billy Hargrove had ended up simply defending him from a inevitable death but thanks to his pure and honest love he had simply taken the place of the person he loved as he promised.

— I will protect you with my own life...

[music-my-angel]

Beliefs and betrayals

Prompt - Hey my birthday is on Oct 31 😋 and I was wondering if you could do a 5sos one? Where all the boys hate on Luke because he gets all the attention and they just say mean things about him and then Luke runs away and after that, the boys feels a lot of guilt especially Michael cuz he’s Luke’s boyfriend (Muke 💕) and then the boys go out and search for him and saw him in an alley being ganged up by a bunch of gangsters and they save him and all fluff esp. with Mikey ❤️

Prompt - Can u do a 5sos fic where Luke has an argument with the boys? Luke storms out and goes for a walk but falls into a cellar or something. He hits his head and breaks his leg (maybe an open fracture?) but when he tries to call the boys they all ignore the calls. Cal gets worried when Luke’s not home after a few hours and goes out to find him. He finally finds him when it’s dark and Luke is freezing and in pain. Lots of apologies, fluff and bromance at the end when they go to the hospital? Xx

Prompt - Can u PLZ do one where Luke from 5SOS starts self-harming because of the boys making hurtful comments about him and when Michael finds him bleeding out it is almost too late and he has to go to the hospital and the boys realize their mistakes. Make the boys work for Luke’s forgiveness. Thank U so much if u do this prompt and I LOVE your work and u r a really amazing writer!

Prompt - Hi! I really need a prompt where Luke is there for everyone when they need someone but the boys are really mean to him even after Luke helps them and Luke starts self-harming

 ------

It started almost unexpectedly. Even Luke wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the exact reason why and when his bandmates turned on him. But over the past few weeks, his bandmates had kind of been giving him the cold shoulder. They haven’t really been communicating with each other much and it wasn’t something the youngest in the band really appreciated. So, he decided to confront the boys only to learn that the boys didn’t have a problem with each other, they actually had a problem with him.

------

All Luke wanted was to resolve the troubles among his bandmates but instead had them all turning against him.

“Who said we had a problem within the band?” Calum asked.

“You all are not talking to each other so obviously there is a problem” Luke explained.

“We are talking to each other, Luke. We are not talking you” Ashton pointed.

“I… What?” Luke asked, surprised.

“Maybe you’d have seen it if you were not busy being the face of 5sos for management, continuously trying to be the good guy for the girls and stealing all the credit” Ashton spat out.

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Luke questioned.

“Have the girls wrapped around your little finger, do you? By what? By telling them that you are the main star of 5sos?” Michael asked.

“Mikey” Luke mumbled.

He expected it to be a joke but the looks on his bandmates’ faces confirmed that it was no joke at all.

------

Over the next few weeks, all he got from his bandmates were either nothing at all or words that could break your heart into pieces. Unfortunately, this also messed up with Luke’s self-doubts. And the boy was never good at dealing with troubles on his own. Blaming himself for the conflicts with his bandmates, Luke turned to self-harm.

Luke wasn’t new to cutting himself. His bandmates also knew that and they always made sure to be the reason why Luke wouldn’t consider harming himself. But right now, they were the exact reason why he was harming himself. And they didn’t even realize it.

It was all getting a little too much now.

------

Luke had kept his distance with his bandmates but it actually hurt him to see his brothers behave so coldly with him. Ashton had always been like his big brother and Calum was his best friend. Michael, on the other hand, was the closest person to him. He was Luke’s boyfriend. And it hurt to see them cut him off like that.

So far, Luke had been quiet but then they got into a massive fight again. This time, it was Michael accusing him of cheating on him.

“Why would you think so?” Luke asked, anger seeping through his voice.

“Because there is a picture of you with a girl circulating on the net” Michael shouted.

“Why would you believe the pic and not me? The pic isn’t even clear” Luke yelled.

“Because you haven’t really done something to make us believe you lately” Calum added.

“What are you, Luke? A credit-stealer? A betrayer? A cheater?” Ashton asked.

Luke looked up at them in shock, shaking his head.

“I need a walk” He sighed.

------

Luke hadn’t meant to go far and he didn’t even make it past the alley near their apartment. Instead, he got jumped by a few guys who wanted his wallet. Thankfully, his bandmates weren’t far too. Right after Luke had walked out, Calum didn’t feel too good about how they had behaved to the boy. He pointed it out to the boys and especially to Michael about how they couldn’t even see the boy in the picture well to conclude that it was Luke.

The guilt took time to settle in but once they all started regretting their words, they made a run to find the younger boy only to find Luke in an alley with a few guys looking to hurt the boy.

Luke had been more than relieved to hear Michael’s voice as the men around him tried to run away but not before pushing Luke down the alley.

Luke literally heard the bone snap before he passed out.

------

To see Luke surrounded by some mean looking guys had Michael’s heart hammering through his chest. He shouted at them and tried running at them when suddenly one of them pushed Luke. The shout from Luke already gave away the extent of the injury and pain.

Michael had bent over Luke, apologies spilling through his mouth when Ashton shouted, “We need to get him to the hospital, Mike.”

From there, it had been a blur for Michael. Luke was wheeled in for surgery. And hours later, they learned about Luke’s leg fracture as well as his recent self-harm bout.

If the boys weren’t feeling guilty already, then that was a big blow to them.

------

Sat around Luke, they all waited for the boy to wake up. And when he did, he could already feel Michael’s forehead on his arm and the tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I’m so sorry Lukey. This all happened because of me” Michael cried.

“Not because of you” Luke whispered.

“Luke, you up?” Calum asked, reaching for Luke’s hand.

Luke nodded, before turning to Michael.

“You got hurt because of me. You were cutting because of me” Michael sighed.

“Because of us” Ashton cut them off, “sorry seems too small, Luke.”

“I don’t know how to make up to you, Luke” Michael admitted.

“I don’t know either” Luke confessed.

The boys shared a look with each other, watching the boy turn his back to sleep.

------

It wasn’t going to be easy for Luke to forgive them. They believed some fake pictures and news and let themselves believe that Luke was stealing their credit. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to forgive Michael. His boyfriend believed that he was cheating on him. Neither did Luke know how to forgive them nor did the boys know how to ask for forgiveness but all they knew was that Luke mattered more to them than they thought. And for that, they were ready to start from the beginning again. Ashton had to become a big brother again, Calum had to be the boy’s best friend again and Michael had to make Luke fall in love with him again. Or maybe it wasn’t even needed. All that they needed was to be there for the boy again.

------

A/N

A long one after such a long time. Not too sure about this but hope you all like it.

[2whipped4haz-and-tom]

Dares: Part 4 (Tom Holland x Reader)

This had truly been a long time coming. A whole year actually. I’m so deeply sorry its taken me so long. I love you all. This is for all of you who were here since the beginning and all of you coming after. Love you <3

Word Count: 1876

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Warnings: cursing only, angst

Tag List: aussie-mantle, j-k-aesthetics, no-username9, ma-feffka, sophiphillips, shakespeare-and-shenanigans

MASTERLIST

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

When Tom said he’d wait for you, he’d meant it. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t getting restless. You still didn’t answer any of his calls, or his texts. Zendaya usually didn’t have any news about you for him, and it was starting to bother him. Though, from the looks of your personal Snapchat, you were doing perfectly fine, having fun with new friends, and occasionally some of your mutual friends.

He’d been patient to let you heal, but now it was time to start winning you back. And he had a plan.

You woke up to a buzzing sound. You were back home, since you had no current jobs until the next month. Your parents were out working, so you were wary about who might be at your door. You reached into your nightstand for some pepper spray, and walked to the door. Through the peephole, you found a man standing there, flowers in his hand. You opened the door.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

The kid, who was probably around 16, looked down at your naked legs before looking back up. You probably should’ve dressed up before opening the door, but it was too late now.

“Are you Y/N?” He asked, occasionally looking down at your legs.

“Yes?”

“These are for you.” He said, shoving the flowers in your face.

“Thank y-”

“You know Tom Holland, right?” He looked excited.

“Uh-”

“Can you tell him that my little brother loves him? Robert just won’t stop talking about being like him one day, and being his favorite superhero.” You assumed Robert was his little brother.

“Okay… I’ll do that.”

The kid nodded. “Alright. Have a nice day.” He took one last look at your legs and walked away.

You closed the door and walked to the kitchen to get a vase. As the vase was filling with water, you read the note that was with the flowers. Carnations, your favorite ones.

“I’m sorry.- T.H.” The note read.

The note ended up in the trash, but the flowers ended up on the dining table.

“Flower boy said you inspire his little brother. Just thought you should know.” You texted.

Five minutes later, Tom texted back, but you deleted it before you could read it.

For the next month, twice a week, carnations would find their way to your home, given to you by the same kid, who continued to gush about how great Tom was, and eventually, about how cool you were.

“Hey Mike.” You said, opening the door for him.

“Hey, Y/N. No flowers today, just a note. My little brother kinda read it in the car...”

You shrugged. “Its fine. You guys can come in if you want, my little sister made some cookies earlier.”

“Nah, I have another order to get to.”

“Alright, make sure to tell your mom the carnations were beautiful this week.”

“I will.” He said, turning around. “Oh, wait. Robert says you should forgive Tom.”

“Bye, Mike. Bye, Robert!”

Mike turned back around and got in his car.

When you were comfortably sat in your room, you read the note.

“Will I ever find someone as beautiful as you? Nope. Will you ever meet someone better than me? Yeah, and at 7:00 today, at the address down below. Love, Tom”

Below the message was an address. It wasn’t too far from your house. You didn’t know if you should go or not. You were curious as to what Tom had planned, but you also didn’t want to continue encouraging Tom’s behavior. 20 minutes before 7, you decided to go.

You quickly got dressed and ran outside to get in your car. You got to where Tom said to go with 2 minutes to spare. You texted him.

“I’m here.”

Did Tom ever expect you’d actually go? Yes, because he knew you were way too curious to ever miss this. But was he happy about it? Of course. It’d taken him a couple weeks to get this surprise in order. Everyone involved had busy schedules, so to get everyone together in one place was a little difficult. He sent a text back to you.

“Come inside, the host will show u to your table”

Inside was inside of the restaurant. From his seat at a table, he could see you walking in. His heart started to race. He looked towards his partner in crime.

“Thanks again for doing this.”

The other person shrugged their shoulder.

“Well, let’s do this. Hi, Y/N.”

The restaurant didn’t look too expensive, but you definitely felt underdressed in your jeans and blouse. And you definitely wished you dressed better when you saw who Tom was with.

“Oh my god.”

Tom smiled at you, then gestured to the other person. “Y/N, this is Daniel. Daniel, Y/N.”

The Daniel Radcliffe stood up from his seat and held out his hand to you. “Hey, its nice to finally meet you. Tom wouldn't shut up about you for the past two weeks.”

You sat down in a chair and smiled. You’d worshipped him for so long, and he was a big part of why you wanted to act. You said all of this to him.

“I’m so flattered. Honestly, its so shocking that I inspire people.” Daniel said.

For the next hour and a half, all three of you engaged in conversation. It was the first time in a while that you’d talked to Tom without crying. It was a good feeling. Daniel was the first to leave.

“It was so great meeting you.” You gushed.

“Of course, and I meant what I said. If you ever need anything, call me.”

You nodded and he was off.

Tom paid the bill and you two walked outside.

“Tom… Thank you.”

“I knew you really wanted to meet him. It would’ve happened eventually but… I know you. You wanted that sit down meet up.”

You rolled your eyes. He was right.

“Y/N...” Tom started, but you cut him off.

“Tom, this doesn’t change anything… between us. I- You’re my best friend. And I love you, but I don’t want us to start hanging out again while I’m still not over you.”

“Y/N-”

“Tom… It was a nice night. Can we please not start talking about our whole… drama? I don't want to remember it like this.”

He nodded his head, the disappointment clear on his face.

“Do you need a ride back home?”

You smiled and gave a small nod of your head.

The car ride was filled with silence. Neither of you felt the need to say anything, and Tom didn’t want to ruin the night as you had suggested before.

When you were back home, he walked you up to your door.

“Thanks again, Tom.”

“Of course, I’d do anything for you, darling.”

Your face turned red but you didn’t say anything.

“Goodnight.” He said, as you begun to close the door.

“Night.” The door was shut for a couple seconds before you threw it open and found Tom still standing there. You practically jumped on him, your arms wrapping around him.

“It just hit me that you literally fucking brought Daniel Radcliffe to meet me.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms back around you.

“Tom, thank you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you. And not just because you help me meet famous people.” You chuckled. “I’m sorry I’ve been acting like such a bitch.”

He pulled away to look at your face. “No, no, darling, you haven’t been acting like a bitch. I’m the one who ruined all of this-”

“No- Okay well, yeah, but I made things worse by acting so dramatic-”

“You weren’t acting dramatic-”

“Yes I was, and it wasn’t fair to you or to me or to our friendship-”

“Y/N-”

“This is it. I’m done being mad, and sad. I don’t want to regret pushing you away. I want us to go back to the way we were before, if you’ll still have me.”

“Of course, I love you. I’ll always want you.” You could hear the underlying meaning in his words.

God, you wanted to give in right then and there and just say fuck it to your friendship and try to see where a relationship could go. But you meant what you said about him being important to you. Nothing was worth risking that.

“Goodnight, Tom.”

“Goodnight.”

When you went to bed that night, you felt the happiest you ever had since this whole shit had started. Maybe one day you would completely get over him. But at least for now everything between the two of you was okay.

It was now Christmas time, and it was time for Tom to get a move on. No, it was actually time for him to get a move on. You had asked him to be at your house at noon, and it was now 1. But he had to get everything ready for his big ask. Everything kind of felt like he was getting ready to do a “promposal”, or how Harrison called it, a “tomposal”.

He had his bouquet of flowers in his hand and quickly sent a text to your younger sister to get you up to your room. At the confirmation that you were in place, he got out of his car, and stood by your bedroom window. Suddenly everything he was about to do felt silly. What if you didn’t like it? What if you laughed at him, and just closed your window, making all this work for nothing? It would break his heart to receive that type of rejection. He held up the heavy box over his head, clicked the button and the song began playing.

“All my instincts, they return. And the grand facade, so soon will burn.”

Tom listened to the song, feeling every lyric move through him. He couldn’t have written a more accurate song for his feelings towards you. He stared at your bedroom window, hoping you could actually hear the song, and hoping that you would look outside and at least acknowledge him.

“Come on, darling.” He mumbled.

And suddenly, the front door opened, and there you stood, wearing the most Christmas-y outfit anybody could wear. Tom couldn’t breathe, and had to look away from you in order to breathe properly again.

There were tears welling up in your eyes, and you couldn’t stop them from falling.

“Y/N. I know you said that you wanted to forget this whole mess, and go back to being friends. And I wanted to respect that, I truly did. But it doesn’t feel right anymore. You’re not my friend anymore, you’re the love of my life. And I know its probably insane, because we’ve only known each other for a year, but that’s how I feel. Totally and completely in love with you. If you want me to go away and forget about this whole day, I’ll do that. But, Y/N, I have to try.” He took a deep breath. “Are you ready to give us, as boyfriend and girlfriend and hopefully more one day, a shot?”

With a shaky intake of your breath, you opened your mouth and said-

[clary-jace]

the summers of our youth

summary: the summer of nineteen eighty five is the best summer of el hopper's young life and it's not just because she has the worst summers in the world to compare it too. aka, nineteen eighty five makes up for every year before it.  pairing: mike wheeler & eleven  word count: 3,836 notes: so i wrote this over the course of like three days and originally almost just made it a text post and then i decided that no, it needs it’s own fic. because it’s what my daughter deserves. i hope u enjoy and please let me know what you think !! 

read on ao3

Summer 1983

The days still passed in a blur. After years of the same routine day in and day out, nothing surprised Eleven anymore.

It was the same wake up call, the slamming of the door against the wall and a flood of harsh white light into her dark room. Being forced to leave her stiff bed, immediately being followed and guided by the usual men in their dark suits and cold eyes.

Eleven had no idea what day it was. She never did. Every day was exactly the same. Well, not exactly. Sometimes she had celery with her bread at night instead of carrots, or the harsh woman, with her bright red hair and dark lips, would trim the nails on her toes and feet when washing her hair and arms. But most days were exactly the same, no change.

Part of Eleven enjoyed the fact that every day was the same. It gave her time to prepare herself in the mornings, when she would awaken before the door would slam. She always knew what to expect. Of course the things she was asked to do would vary from day to day, but it was always in the same vein, and always involved her powers.

Listen to the Russian men. Find the monster. Kill the cat.

None of them were things that Eleven wanted to do, but she had learned time and time again that it was best not to argue. Papa never liked when she argued. Even on days when his smile seemed a little brighter, or his touch seemed a little softer, he never liked when she argued.

So she didn’t. At least she tried her hardest not to. Even when she was forced in the tank, which was her least favorite. She hated the way the water pushed up against her body, the way the air helmet weighed heavy against her shoulders, pushing her further and further into the water. Those were the days that it was hardest to contain her anger against Papa.

“Now Eleven, I know you hate this, but you’re the only person who is able to do it. So, it’s in your best interest not to argue with me. You know I would never do anything to harm you.” He would say, when he’s in her room at night, touching his finger to her nose. The contact with make her squirm, but she never showed it when he was still there. He hated when she coiled away from him.

Occasionally he would press his cold, lifeless lips to her forehead and she would wait until he was out of the room, the space blanketed in darkness to rub the feeling from her skin against the harsh cotton of the pillow. She would do it with her back turned, so the small camera in the top corner of her room wouldn’t catch her.

When she had been younger, smaller and more prone to trembling and crying loudly in the night, the camera used to be a god send. Papa would come in when he saw her in distress, stroking her head and hugging her tightly to his chest. As a young girl she used to think this meant he loved her, and wanted her to be safe and happy, but she didn’t know if any of that was true anymore.

So, at night she would turn away from the camera, even as her hot and heavy tears would roll down her cheeks, dampening the rough blanket underneath her body. She would pull her knees into her chest, tucking herself into her gown, desperate for any kind of warmth in the cold chill of her room.

Every night she would shiver and shake in bed, her lips going numb and raw from the cool air that would come in through the ceiling, dreaming and wishing she could go somewhere warm. She wondered if the places she saw in her dreams, with warm light and soft ground beneath her feet existed and how far beyond the lab she would have to go to find them.

She knows that they’re only just dreams though, and she’s stuck in her cold, uncomfortable room for the foreseeable future. That she’ll wake up in the morning to the banging of the door and Papa’s tight smile and cold hands against her wrists. She’s been here for days, days that are the same from beginning to end and she knows that she’ll be here for days and days to come.

But gosh, does she hope that someday she’ll be able to feel the warmth she dreams about.

Summer of 1984

Summer in the cabin is stuffy, hot and lonely.

It’s miles better then her life in the lab though, and for that she can’t bring herself to complain about anything.

Because she’s not alone, she has Hopper. Who has to work during the days but sometimes brings ice cream home, letting her have a couple scoops after dinner, even letting her put it on her waffles if she asks nicely. He lets her stay up later too, even letting her watch R rated movies on TV when he doesn’t have to work the next morning.

Sure, she misses her friends and wishes she was allowed to leave, and not just stand out on the porch, which Hopper lets her do sometimes when there’s a nice breeze or a summer rain storm (which El quickly learns is her favorite kind of weather, because it reminds her of that night in the woods all those months ago when she met Mike and Lucas and Dustin), but she has a real bed now, with soft sheets and Hopper never opens the door to her room without knocking first.

It’s progress from the lab, and that’s all matters to El.

Besides, even though Hopper is very strict about her leaving the house and keeping the shades drawn during the day (which El hates the most of any of the rules because it makes the cabin so hot ), he’s stopped chastising her for visiting Mike in the void every night. Which means every night he helps her bring the television into her room and for thirty minutes he busies himself with the newspaper or case paperwork and leaves her be.

She would be lying if she said that these visits to Mike weren’t her absolute favorite part of being in the cabin. Sure, it hurt more than anything that she couldn’t reach out and touch him or talk to him, but seeing him every day and knowing that he was okay, that was enough for her.

He’s grown taller since that fateful night back in November (months are something she’s been learning with Hopper, months and dates, which all started when he had to explain to her what July 4th was when the loud, explosion like noises could be heard in the distance), even though he’s usually sitting when she sees him, sometimes she catches him pacing back in forth the length of the Wheeler basement.

The heat has made his hair grow too, the first time she saw it curled on the ends and in a wild mane around his head she laughed so hard she almost lost her concentration in the void (it wasn’t as funny the next day when she woke up and her hair was a poofy, curly mess, causing Hopper to giggle at her at the breakfast table). Hopper had told her that the humidity made people’s hair grow, El didn’t know what humidity was, or why it made people’s hair grow, but it certainly made Mike look funny.

One day when she saw him, his skin was bright red and she felt her heart stop. It looked like his skin was on fire, and that it would burn her finger if she touched him. He looked uncomfortable, picking at his skin as he spoke softly into his walkie to her. The sight had made her heart squeeze uncomfortably in her chest and instead of just the light sprinkle of tears she usually had when listening to Mike, she exited the void that night sobbing, her chest heaving and tears falling heavily from her eyes.

“It’s called a sunburn, kid.” Hopper tells her the next morning when she mentions it. “A lot of people get them in the summertime. You get them when you spend too much time in the sun.”

“Summertime?” El asks, her voice small and quiet. She’s heard the word before, on television, and when Hopper is muttering to himself about how “damn rowdy” teenagers get in the summer. She has a vague sense of what it means, something to do with school being out and it being warm, but that’s about as far as her knowledge takes her.

“Yeah, it’s what this time of year is called. It gets hot, kids aren’t in school anymore.” El nods. “It’s like when I found you, remember how cold it was and all the snow that was on the ground?”

“Yes.” El whispers, practically shivering. She remembered all too well the time she spent in the woods, twenty eight days, she counted, and how the cold, lonely whiteness had reminded her of the lab. She had been so sure she was going to die out there, get to briefly feel what it would have been like to be normal before having it ripped away from her.

“Well, that was winter time.” Hopper says, taking a bite of his waffle. “It’s a season, just like summer is. Fall is the time of year it was when you met Mike and Lucas and Dustin, with all the leaves on the ground.” El nods, beginning to understand. “And spring was the season we just had, when all the birds started making noise.” Hopper grumbles and El can’t help but giggle softly.

She’s pretty sure that winter is her least favorite of the seasons. She hasn’t quite made her mind up about summer yet.

Sometimes she loves it, like when Hopper lets her sit under the open window at night so she can watch the sunset and the stars decorate the sky. Or when he brings a device home with him one evening, a fan he calls it, and he plugs it in in the corner of her room, sending a cool, but not too cold, breeze, over her as she sleeps.

But sometimes she hates it, like when her hair frizzes around her ears and makes them itch. Or when she sits cross legged on the couch and they stick together because of how hot and sticky it is. She hates how opening the small window in her bedroom, something Hopper allowed her to do when all the lights in the cabin were off, provided no relief.

“Next summer is gonna be better, I promise.” Hopper says softly to her one night as she’s sitting on the couch, still wiping away her stray tears after visiting Mike. He comes to sit next to her, the couch dipping under his weight.

“Really?” She whispers, glancing down at her crossed legs, which even in the early evening are still coated with a sheen on sweat. Tonight had been particularly hard watching Mike, he had been trying his hardest not to cry as he mentioned something about fighting with his dad.

“Really.” Hopper says, moving one arm so it’s draped behind her on the couch. “I’m gonna try my hardest to make sure that next summer you get to be out there with your friends instead of cooped up in here.”

El feels herself smile. Hopper’s said stuff like this before, but this time feels different. That night she dreams of running around in the sunshine with her friends, the warm sunlight on her face and the wind in her hair. It’s the same kind of dreams she used to have in the lab, only now she has hope that someday they’ll come true.

So, El doesn’t quite love summer yet, but she thinks that could change.

Summer of 1985

The next summer is hands down the best summer of El’s life.

Hop teases her when she tells him this, reminding her that she doesn’t have much to compare it to and that she’s only fourteen, but El doesn’t care. She doesn’t think any summer in the future will be able to compare to the summer of ‘85 (she’s wrong, turns out that every summer only gets better and better, but when she’s fourteen she has no idea).

Because the summer of 1985 is exactly the summer that El had always dreamed of. She spends day in and day out in the sunshine, running around with her friends, collapsing in laughter, getting grass stains on all of her new clothes and occasionally pulling Mike behind trees or large rocks so she can press a kiss to the sun kissed, well freckled apple of his cheek away from the prying eyes of their friends.

She learns that summer that she actually really loves summer. But that’s not the only thing she learns.

In the middle of July, July 17th according to the calendar she now keeps above her bed, day two hundred and fifty four according to the numbered days since she returned that Mike now whispers to her in the nightly walkie calls, she learns to swim. At first it reminds her too much of the baths from the lab, of the heavy water against her skin, but with soft whispered words of encouragement from Mike and the cheers of her friends, she manages to swim the length of the Harrington pool without much trouble.

(Turns out that El is the fastest swimmer of all of them, beating even Lucas in a race.)

A couple days later she gets her first sunburn. She wakes up in the morning her skin burning, red and raw against the stretch of her shoulders and on the back of her knees. Hopper chastises her for spending too much time in the sun without sunscreen, but El is just happy that she has a mark on her skin to represent how much time she gets to spend outside.

When she shows the burn to Mike, he tells her that eventually it’ll fade and maybe her sunburns will turn into freckles just like his usually do.

In the first week of August, she finally learns how to ride a bike all by herself. Each member of the party had attempted to teach her at some point, but Will ended up being the one who was able to get through to her. In that moment when he let go and she was actually riding her bike (a well loved, dinged up hand me down that Hop found a yard sale a couple months ago), where the wind was running through her hair and her friends were clapping, El felt like she could do anything.

Those weren’t the only things she loved about summer.

When the heat first started to settle on Hawkins, El feared that there would be a repeat of last year and she would never be able to find relief in the small cabin, but even that was different this summer. One night after work Hop came home with a machine, much larger and more complicated looking then the simple fan that still sat in her bedroom.

“This is an AC unit.” He had said, plugging the device in next to one of the windows, letting the cool air fill the cabin. The air reminded lab for a brief second, but then she caught a glance of Hop’s content smile and she couldn’t help but grin herself.

“I love it.”

Hop doesn’t respond, simply reaches over and rustles the hair on her head, which is longer this year but still wild and curly and frizzy in the heat of the summer. The gesture fills El with a warm pool in her stomach and she decides that she like the feeling. She likes it a lot.

There are other moments that summer where her stomach flips and her heart soars and she feels like she’s floating. A lot of moments, actually.

Like when Max hugs her from behind one night when the gang is trying to catch fireflies, her breath tickling El’s ear as she squeezes her. Or when Dustin laughs at one of her jokes, crisp and clear as they eat peanut butter sandwiches in the Wheeler backyard.

She feels it when Lucas slings an arm around her shoulder and pulls her into his chest after she uses her powers to help them win the game of frisbee they’re playing in the park. Or when Will shares his ice cream with her at Scoop’s Ahoy without her even asking, so they can try each other’s flavors.  (She also feels it when Steve winks at her as he hands her a cone over the counter, with a bright, “free of charge, Ellie.” )

But she especially feels it with Mike.

That feeling, the feeling that she wants to bottle up and never ever forget, comes to her often when she’s with Mike. She feels it when he holds her hand as they walk in the woods around the cabin. Or when they hug goodnight on the porch and his heart beats soundly against her chest.

Then, of course there’s the feeling she gets when he kisses her. And while the feeling certainly isn’t new to the summertime, somehow it nearly doubles, no, triples, when Mike and El trade kisses in the bright summer sunshine, or in the warm evening dusk. There’s just something so magicalabout it, El can’t seem to put her finger on why, but she knows that she loves it.

El quickly realizes that there are a lot of magical things about the summertime, things she had only ever dreamed about.

The best day of the summer of ‘85 comes in the final days of August, only a couple days before school starts up again. Joyce and Hop decide that the kids (including Nancy, Jonathan and Steve) deserve a day away from Hawkins, so they pack up the blazer and the Byers cars and take a day trip to a lake a few towns over.

“What’s the difference between a lake and the quarry?” El asks Mike from the backseat of the blazer. Dustin is the only other occupant in the car, who much to Hop’s chagrin had called shotgun, and he turns around to begin to explain, but Mike cuts him off.

“I mean, I guess the difference between a lake, well at least the lake we’re going to, and the quarry is that lakes have beaches.” Mike says with a small shrug.

“And they don’t have gigantic cliffs that you can jump off of.” Dustin quips from the front seat, causing Mike to roll his eyes.

El’s hardly paying attention to them though, she’s instead thinking about what Mike said. Beaches . She’s only ever heard of beaches on television, she’s never even seen one. From what she’s heard about them, people go to them in the summer and swim in the water. She doesn’t really understand what makes beaches so different from pools, but she supposes she’s about to find out.

Turns out, beaches are everything she had ever dreamed of.

“Usually beaches are by the ocean, but the ocean doesn’t reach Indiana so we have to make due to lake beaches, which are still really fun.” Mike says when they get there, shrugging as he helps El from the car, grabbing her bag and shouldering it along with his own.

“And we don’t have to worry about getting attacked by sharks.” Dustin adds, coming up next to them and taking a bite of his candy bar. Hop is already down the beach, setting up a place for the party to drop their stuff, but the trio are walking slowly, letting El absorb the scenery and waiting for the rest of the group to show up.

El is absolutely enthralled.

Kicking off her plastic flip flops, she lets her feet sink in the warm, soft sand, sighing softly when he gets between her toes. There’s a small breeze coming off the water that rustles her hair. El doesn’t think she’s ever felt so at peace.

Soon after, the rest of the party, along with Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Joyce show up and soon the beach, in which their group are the only occupants of, is full of laughter and loud voices.

About halfway through the day, after eating a lunch of tuna fish sandwiches and bags of potato chips and sharing a orange soda (El’s new obsession this summer) with Mike, El finds herself standing on the shore of the lake, her toes in the water and a soft smile on her face as she watches the people in her life.

Hop and Joyce are situated on one of the blankets, chatting and keeping their eyes on the kids. There are easy smiles on both of their faces and they both look more at peace then El has ever seen them before.

The teenagers, well the older teenagers, have disappeared down the beach, and El can spot Jonathan and Steve shin deep in the water, skipping rocks and laughing with each other. Nancy is sitting in the sand, a book in her lap, occasionally looking up and smiling at the boys. El doesn’t quite know exactly what happened between the three of them, and apparently neither did Mike or Will when she asked, but she’s happy that they’re happy.

In the middle of the lake El spots Max, Lucas, Dustin and Will playing a game in the deep water of the lake. (El had tried swimming in this water, but it reminded her too much of the bath with it’s dark water, so she settles for standing on the edge). Lucas has Max hooked on his shoulders and Dustin has Will on his and Will and Max’s hands are clasped together. El isn’t quite sure what they’re doing, but she can hear their laughter from the shore and it makes her smile.

“Having fun?” Mike asks, suddenly next to her. His hair is a wild mane of black curls around his face and she can already see his cheeks going pink, and the sight makes her smile.

“Yeah.” She nods, looking back out at their friends, who are now cheering as Max sits victoriously on Lucas’ shoulders and Will floats in the water next to them.

“So you like the beach?��� He’s grinning at her, his eyes bright. El gulps, suddenly overcome with emotion. She takes a deep breath, looking up at the sky, the sunlight warming her face and filling her entire body with happiness.

Her hand finds Mike’s next to her and she threads their fingers together easily. “It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

And on that August day, in the warmth of the late August sun with Mike’s hand in hers, El decides that yes, she does indeed love summer.

tag list (just some of my faves): @mikewheeler, @stydixa, @fatechica, @janeswheeler, @summer-in-hawkins, @themikewheelers (i just love y’all and think you guys are gr8 & gr8 writers, hope you don’t mind being tagged!!)