#like you’re gonna throw some ‘tHeY hAvE tO’ logic at me

[bluejutdae]

“Oh, let there be hotel complaints” | Chan x you

warnings: nsfw, D/s dynamics, face and pussy slapping, overstimulation, mention of safewords, Daddy kink.

This is just Chan brain rot and my mind gently suggested me the image of first time inexperienced Dom Chan who wants to try some BDSM but he’s too scared to hurt you so he decides he’a going to try on himself all that he’s gonna do to you…

Title from Dinner & Diatribes by Hozier

Chan has had plenty of vanilla sex, but then you introduced him to BDSM, and especially the concepts of Doms and Subs, and something switched in him. He started reading online forums and blogs. And when the topic arose again, he clearly told you he’s interested, but he won’t do it yet. Because the thing is: despite how hard even just reading stuff about it makes him, he has no experience, and he won’t risk hurting you.

So, he does what any good Dom should do in his eyes, he tries things on himself.

One day you turn home to find his face red and a bit swollen, but when you ask about it, he just distracts you with filthy kisses. What you don’t know is that he slapped and slapped and slapped himself until he deemed he had found the right strength to use.

Another day he disappears for the whole afternoon and, when you see him in the living room, he looks flushed and a little exhausted, but giddy. Just like Changbin when he maxes out at the gym and he’s incredibly tired but proud of himself. What you don’t know is that he spent the afternoon edging himself with a vibrator on his shaft and his tip and, after hours of denying himself, he came and proceeded to overstimulate himself, because it’s only logical to pair up the two experiences, right?

What you noticed though, is that there’s a change in him. He’s more assertive with you on some days, makes sure you eat and doesn’t let you go to sleep if you haven’t removed your makeup. Pushes you to sleep more when he knows you have had a bad day at work, and every time you comply and thank him for taking care of you, he kisses a little filthier, holds you a little firmer.

It’s months later when he asks if you can try something kinkier. You’re excited and happy and you start to mentally prepare yourself to be a good teacher without forgetting this is about pleasure. But then Chan shows you exactly how deep the still water runs deep.

“You’re gonna sit there” he says and he’s so commanding yet sexy you melt instantly. “And we’re gonna have a quick talk. Nothing too extreme is going to happen today, but I need to establish some rules”. You nod in response, and he looks at you with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “You’re gonna use your pretty words, baby girl.” That’s it. Not a suggestion, not an option, a rule. Fuck, you knew he would be good at this.

“I understand.”

He’s quick with the rules: you must verbally answer, you’re gonna use the traffic light system for now, you must use the safe word if you need to, and the moment you think something’s wrong he’s gonna stop. You also must ask for what you want, not just take it.

Not too long later you’re on the bed, shirt previously discarded and clad only in your panties. And Chan is completely dressed, hovering over you. He’s been kissing you deeply and touching you just enough to make you want so much more. You’re embarrassingly wet and you’re sure you’ll have to throw away your panties. He’s holding your crossed arms at the wrists and, in doing so, he’s holding you down. You try to buck and raise your ass to relieve some of the dull aching you’re feeling in your core. “C’mon Channie, touch me.”

“But I am touching you…” he replies with a smirk on his lips. His free hand caresses your face, and he tests the gives of your lower lip with his thumb. When you suck on it, though, he takes it away and shakes his head. “What did I say?” You are lost, what happened? Did he say something?

“You’re just a cockhungry whore, uh? You can’t even wait for me to give you something, you’re so greedy you just want to take and take.”

Oh.

The realization in your face makes Chan smile. “There it is… tell me what you did wrong, and I might consider going easy on you.”

“I didn’t ask to suck your thumb-” he knows there’s something you want to add, he knows about your Daddy kink. And it turns him so fucking on, but he’s not gonna press about it. He considers your words and considers just letting it slide, but there’s flames licking at his insides.

“Too bad you didn’t ask, uh?”

Sudden, sharp pain irradiates on your left cheek and it’s less the pain and more the surprise that makes you gasp and, less than a second later, moan. Chan wants to apologize, years of conditioning making him feel guilty and mean and abusive, but he can’t deny what he feels.

He grabs your face, fingers splayed where he slapped mere seconds ago, wet thumb digging into the opposite cheek and kisses you messy and filthy, sucking your tongue in his mouth. Chan removes the last piece of clothing you have on and sits on his knees, with his thighs slightly spread apart. He holds your legs open with firm hands, one on your calf and the other clamped around your knee. He’s just… staring at your pussy. You try to squirm away and close your legs, but his eyes are suddenly on you. There’s a warning in his face that accompanies a displeased sound. “Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry” you blurt out trying to repair something before you do too much damage. You can feel wetness dripping down your folds, and Chan can too. “You’re so wet. Fuck, you love being on display for me…” He has never felt this. There’s a power rush, a shiver starting from his spine and moving towards opposite endings: towards his brain, making him lose words and making him want to act up, want to deliciously destroy you, making a mess of you and then put you back together; and on the other ending, traveling south towards his cock and balls. He’s been ready to cum the moment he sat you down and you agreed to do this.

“Love, are you just going to stare at me?” You ask when you grow too impatient to keep sitting still, a bit embarrassed too by his too focused staring. He shakes his head, and there is a quiet chuckle that can be heard in the room. His lips raise in a slow smirk, like he’s just been made aware of a secret, and you didn’t. And maybe he did.

Chan made plans for tonight. Plural. You told him you like not knowing everything in advance, so he planned different plans based on your responses to his actions. It was harder than organizing recording sessions. But since he saw your reactions earlier, he decides to stick to a precise plan. So, he acts in it.

Quickly and hard he delivers a slap on your inner thigh, the pain is a delicious sensation, hot and cold at the same time. A moment later the skin reddens to show Chan’s handprint and if possible, his cock gets ever harder. It twitches a little from where it’s hidden, head flushed and red, slowly but constantly leaking precum, forming a wet stain on his slacks .

“Fuck Chan!” You cry to his direction, eyes closed shut and brows knit in pleasure. You can feel heat where he hit you, and you want to press your fingers into it, wanting to feel the warmth and the pain and the pleasure. The moment you are ready to ask him for something, he delivers another slap in the same place. This time, though, Chan doesn’t let you breathe it out, doesn’t let you take your time to recover from it, no. He rakes his nails on your hot skin, watches as the skin quickly goes from red to white and to an even redder red where he scratched you. Digs his digits into your skin and revels in your gasps, feeling hot and ready to lose control, if a wind would blow in the room, he would cum in an instant. He’s ready for your next moan, your next gasp, but you’re quiet and your legs are trembling, and he’s scared he’s gone too far. He’s on the verge of apologizing, carrying you to the bathroom for a warm bath and cuddles and more apologies when he realizes he read you wrong. He didn’t give you too much, he gave you exactly what you needed, because -unbelievably so, for him- you’re coming. Clit untouched and your sopping hole twitching and throbbing around nothing, but you’re clearly coming. This is a different one, though. You’ve never been quiet while having an orgasm, but watching you with more attention calms him down, you look fine. He kisses you from your thigh to your cheekbone, stopping to nibble at your nipples, tongue lapping at your skin and sucking quick marks on you. “My pretty slut” a kiss on the nose, “you’re so greedy” a kiss on the right cheek, “your little pussy came untouched” a kiss on the forehead, “now I must give it some attention” a kiss on your chin. “Tell me your color?” He adds, tone sweeter and a hand caressing your face like you’re made of the finest glass.

“Green”. A smile appears on his face and he manhandles you to straddle his slacks covered thigh. Your wetness is seeping through the fabric, you squirm and he can see you’re embarrassed. “I told you I was gonna give it some attention. I want my baby girl to feel good.” He grabs you by your hips and forces you to move and grind your pussy on the fabric of his slacks. One of his hands sneaks into your hair and he pulls, stopping you from hiding into his neck. “No hiding. And stop hiding all your pretty sounds from me.”

The pleasure mixed with the overstimulation are overwhelming, and Chan’s new role is playing a big role in the moment and your arousal. His fingers are probably going to leave bruises in your skin, and you can’t wait to stand in front of a mirror to see them. Chan hands guide you back and forth and soon you’re clenching around nothing, “m’close Channie”, too desperate to control your movements.

“It’s okay, my baby. Just ask for it.” His hard cock is begging to be touched, still in the confines of his underwear and trousers. Yet, he has never been this hard and close to coming untouched. Your moans, the redness on your cheeks, the sweat matting your hair to your forehead and your incessant moans and cries of pleasure are making him lose his mind.

“Please Channie, can I cum?” You pant. “Let me cum, Daddy.” The last word is whispered, muffled into his shoulder but he hears it anyway. And he understands why you like it, the name giving him power, giving him a specific role, giving him the chance to give you exactly what you need.

“Then cum for Daddy.”

He watches you as cum, hands guiding your movements and his muscles flexing to give you as much pleasure as he can. He loves you like this, unabashed and free, vulnerable just for him.

But having you moaning and screaming his name is not enough. He doesn’t stop when you try to take a moment to collect yourself, he fixes his hold on your hips and forces your movements again. Back and forth, back and forth, again and again and it doesn’t matter how loud you whine, it doesn't matter your overstimulation, what matters now is making you cum another time. Anytime he pushes you towards him, he also pushes you down, setting an unforgiving pace that is torture on your sensitive clit. He’s relentless, but after just a few minutes you’re both rewarded with your legs clamping down on his thigh as you cum again. Unbelievably so, watching your second orgasm triggers his own orgasm and he moans your name loudly. He kisses you, messy and hungry, lips demanding and tongue insistent, claiming even your breath.

You’re gripping his shirt so hard, your fingers hurt. He delicately lays you down onto the bed and kisses you softly. As soon as his breathing comes back to normal, his worries come back too.

“Are you okay, baby? Did I hurt you? Was it too much? What do yo-“ you interrupt him with silly, quick kisses, trying to diminish his worries.

“I am more than okay.” A kiss. “I feel perfect.” A kiss. “You were perfect.” A kiss. “You’re always perfect, love.” A kiss. “I love you.” A kiss.

You kiss some more and he insists on showering together so he can take care of you and make sure you drink water and eat some fruit and chocolate. He tells you all about trying on himself what he did to you, and you’ve never loved him more.

[ellecdc]

Hello I’m new here (tumblr) and idk if I’m doing this right but hi!

Your fics first came up with regulus and moon water so I’ve been binge reading your fics :), I was wondering if you would write Sirius x reader?

Where like Sirius is like head over heels for reader and it’s just him talking to the marauders about her because she’s like on prefect duties so he misses her.

If not that’s fine.

hahaha lovesick Siri is my kryptonite - thanks for your request; here's a cute little baby blurb <3

please note: my requests are currently closed as I finish exams and work through the requests that I currently have.

lovesick!Sirius Black x fem!reader who's on prefect rounds and he's upset about it

“So….why exactly is Padfoot pouting right now?” Peter asked cautiously as he shed off his bookbag and sat down to watch James and Remus’ game of wizard chess as Sirius hung upside down from a grandfather chair looking awfully contemplative. 

“His bird ditched him for some other bloke.” James muttered without raising his head.

Sirius scoffed dramatically and shot James what was probably supposed to be a withering glare, but was significantly diminished from his current upside-downness. 

“First of all, do not call my darling girl a bird. Second of all, she did not ditch me for another man, she has prefect rounds with Regulus.”

“The better of the Black brothers; good for her.” Remus commented; dodging a throw pillow lobbed at him from Sirius without moving his attention from the board. 

“What? You think you’re going to die if she’s not here to stroke your ego, Pads?” James asked teasingly.

“I might.” Sirius responded earnestly.

The other three Marauders groaned.

“You’re all just jealous you don’t know what it’s like to be in love.” Sirius accused as he repositioned himself upright in the chair.

Remus and James both turned to give him unimpressed glares.

“You’re nearly as bad as Prongs now.” Peter muttered, earning him indignant “oi!”’s from both James and Sirius.

“I can’t help it if she’s the best thing to ever happen to me, Wormy.” Sirius pouted.

“I am sitting right here.” James grumbled. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You’re a close second, Prongs.”

“She can’t be that great if she willingly puts up with you.” Remus commented, causing Sirius to launch himself out of the grandfather chair and onto Remus’ back.

“You take that back right now! My girl is the sweetest, most angelic, lovely person in the whole wide world and we’re all better for it.”

“Oh my gods, okay, okay. Merlin’s tits you’re wild.” Remus muttered as he bodily shoved Sirius off of his person.

“I can’t believe she puts up with you if this is what you’re like around her.” Peter commented, earning him a laugh from James.

“Oh, you should see it, Worms. She reduces him to nothing but a soppy lovesick smile whenever she’s around; no more feral Pads, he’s right docile with her.”

Sirius stared between his three friends with his mouth hanging open, face painted in a look of pure betrayal.

“See, this is why I spend so much time with her; she’d never treat me like this.”

“And yet, here you are.” Remus taunted.

Sirius stood quickly as he scoffed derisively. “Fine. I’m going to go hang out with her; at least then I’ll know I’m wanted.”

No one said anything as Sirius dramatically stormed out of the portrait hole and the Gryffindor common room once again returned to its appropriate volume.

“His logic is flawed if he thinks Regulus wants him anywhere near them during their rounds.” Peter commented, causing James to groan.

“Reg’s gonna hex him into oblivion if he disrupts their prefect duties again.” The Headboy groaned.

Remus let out a long suffering sigh as he stood from his long since abandoned chess game and made for the portrait hole.“I’ll go play interference…again.”

[theemporium]

congrats on 10k cece! truly, so well deserved🫶🏻🫶🏻 yk this celebration reminded me of a funny thing , but i literally just turned legal in my country and I went to a bar with my girls and the bartender said that I look 14 and kept thinking my id was a fake😭🥲🥲

hopefully this experience will be a little sweeter hehe! how abt a nico with "Stop saying things that make me want to kiss the hell out of you." 🩷

thank you for requesting!🫶🏽

31. “Stop saying things that make me want to kiss the hell out of you."

.

“M’comin’, m’comin’! No need to bang the door down.” 

He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when the person behind the door knocked for the third time in a row. An annoyed huff left his lips as he shuffled through his apartment, his body heavy and his brain far from fully awake. His hair was still messy and dishevelled, and he had barely remembered to throw on a pair of sweatpants before opening the door, let alone a shirt. 

He had half the mind to open the door and bite the other person’s head off for waking him up from his nap. 

Nico was only slightly surprised to find you on the other side, a smile on your face and two large bags in your hands. 

“Oh,” was all Nico managed to murmur out. 

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” You frowned a little, your expression sheepish and apologetic. “I thought it was still early enough for you to be awake.” 

“No,” he lied, despite both of you knowing the truth. “S’fine. I didn’t realise you were coming over.” 

“Yeah well, I know you,” you said as Nico guided you into his apartment, opening the door a little wider as you wandered in. “And I know you probably haven’t bought any groceries or anything since you got in last night.” 

Nico’s cheeks burned pink. “I was gonna get around to it.” 

You shot him a look of amusement as you placed the large bags on his kitchen counter. “It’s not much, just some basic groceries. I know jet lag is still probably throwing you off.” 

His eyes softened as he wandered in behind you, peeking into the bags to see a variety of fruits and vegetables and other basics packed in them. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?” 

“Every once in a while,” you teased, lightly nudging him with your elbow before you reached into one of the bags. “And I know you are picky with your coffee so I even got that instant coffee from the store in Hoboken instead, since you’re probably going to want to stay up as long as you can to get your sleep schedule back to normal again since coming back from Switzerland.” 

Nico just stared at you in awe.

You glanced over at him, your cheeks burning a little when you found him already looking back. “What?” 

“Stop saying things that make me want to kiss the hell out of you,” he murmured, his brain still half-asleep and the warm feeling in his chest taking over any logic or control he had over his tongue before he could potentially ruin his friendship with you. 

“Well,” you swallowed a little. “I wouldn’t exactly complain.” 

“Yeah?” He murmured.

You nodded. 

Nico didn’t waste another moment as he leaned down to grab your face, pressing his lips against yours like had been wanting to do for far too long. He sighed happily into the kiss, nudging you back against the counter as you sunk into the kiss. 

“Thank you,” he murmured against your lips.

You huffed out a small laugh. “For the kiss or the groceries?” 

“Both,” Nico confessed before winding his arms around you and pulling you into a proper hug for the first time since he left for Europe at the start of the off-season.

.

[imaginespazzi]

Part 6: Leaps of Faith

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 7

I hope that you catch me, cause I'm already falling (you put your arms around me and I'm home)

(In which a writer who can see the end approaching starts building towards that ending)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst and Fluff

Words: 8.0K

TW: Swearing, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Good evening my lovelies <3. Happy Sunday and Happy Mothers day! First of all, I wanna thank y'all for being ever so patient with me. I know I've been pretty bad about updating lately and y'all have been so sweet with your asks and I really appreciate it. This fic is very close to its end. I probably could have ended it with this chapter but there's a very specific ending I want to write so this one is more of a self-indulgent filler but I think y'all will like this one. There will be one more chapter and then an epilogue of sorts. Once again, there are most likely logistical inaccuracies. I'm not even gonna lie, the editing on this one is shoddy so there are definitely grammar errors/typos. For now, ignore them and I'll go fix them later. As always, even if we're near the end, feel free let me know what you liked, what you didn't and anything you'd like to see before we get to the end. Have a wonderful week my angels <3

April 2024 

“It’s a little early for ice cream hon,” Azzi jumps at the sound of her mother’s voice, startled eyes following the direction of the noise to find Katie leaning against the kitchen door, with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s a little early to scare the living bejesus out of me mom,” she says with a hand to her chest. 

If possible, Katie’s eyes roll even further at her daughter’s sarcastic tone as she makes her way over to the kitchen counter. She’s gotten herself a spoon and everything, ready to steal some ice cream for herself, when she notices the flavour. Next to her, Azzi stiffens. 

“You hate mint chocolate chip Az,” Katie says quietly. 

“I couldn’t find the strawberry ice cream,” Azzi defends stubbornly, her face taking on a guarded expression. 

Katie walks over to the freezer, opening it and pointing at the strawberry ice cream, Azzi’s favourite, that’s sitting in plain sight, “it’s right there.”

“Well,” Azzi splutters, “I’m trying something new,”. 

“You hate trying new things.”

“I’ve grown up I guess.”

“Azzi.”

“Mom.”

“Azzi, why are you eating ice cream you hate at 4 in the morning?” Katie finally asks in her best mom voice, sighing when she gets a mumbled response from her daughter, “in words Az, please.”

“Paige likes it,” Azzi admits slowly, and before Katie can say anything, before Azzi can dwell on what she’s said, she launches into a rant, “god knows why. Actually I know why because she’s stupid and weird and likes the dumbest shit. Who the fuck likes mint? Who the fuck likes mint and chocolate together? Gross. This shit is disgusting. It tastes all wrong. Paige is just-,” Azzi throws her hands up in the air, “she just doesn’t understand that some things don’t belong together. They can’t. They’re too different and it just- there’s a fucking balance to things you know? And she just- she doesn’t get that. It’s just- it’s not meant to be.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re eating it right now,” Katie says carefully. 

“Because I miss her,” the truth bursts out of Azzi like an erupting volcano, burning itself into every crevice of her skin, “because for some fucking reason I don’t hate the taste of mint chocolate chip. Because maybe they do go together and maybe I’ve been the stupid one this whole time.”

Since she’d stepped out of the hotel in Cleveland, all Azzi could think about was going back, saying fuck it to all the useless logic she’d come up with and going back to the only thing in her life that had ever made sense her Paige. But as it often did in that clichéd battle between head and heart, her head had won out. And she’s never questioned why her head wins so much, why she’s always chosen to listen to the practical side of her brain, until now. Until now when the urge to turn back time, to make herself stay in that hotel room, is all that’s consumed her for the last week. 

“Azzi,” Katie wraps her arms around the younger girl, “what happened with you and Paige?”

Azzi hesitates for a second and then everything’s spilling out of her lips, the good, the bad, the inbetween, all of it tumbles out like an uncontrollable waterfall. There’s something freeing about being able to say it all out loud, something freeing about the tears Azzi finally lets roll down her cheeks. She grips the edge of the counter to keep herself from keeling over, starting to feel herself crumble under the heaviness of all these stupid feelings. 

“It shouldn’t be this hard,” Azzi whispers, “we used to be so easy.”

“Oh Az,” Katie rubs a thumb against her daughter’s cheek, “you used to be kids. You’re all grown up now. It’s always harder when you’re older.”

“Well, I don’t like it. I just want to be the way we were again.”

“So why don’t you?” Katie asks like it’s the most simple solution in the world and Azzi shoots her mother an exasperated look. 

“What do you mean? How do we even do that? We can’t be just friends again. We tried. Were you not listening at all?”

“Azzi, sweetheart, you’ve never been just friends.”

“That’s not true,” it’s a futile attempt at arguing against what’s become more of a fact than an opinion in Azzi’s life. It’s a truth she’d let herself acknowledge once and then buried deep within her, scared that once unleashed, it would ruin everything. Except, it turns out, even without it, things had still turned to dust.  

“Do you remember when you came home from Minnesota that first summer with Paige? You were either moping around or you were on call with her. There was no in between. It got better eventually, the moping stopped but the calls? I think you fell asleep on facetime with her almost every night. And you were tired every morning after, you barely had time to eat before school but every time I suggested that maybe you cut back, that was never an option,” Katie smiles fondly, “it’s when I knew.”

Azzi does remember, remembers talking about everything and nothing, remembers laughing and crying, remembers when Paige’s breathing was the only lullaby that could relax her into sleeping. And she remembers battling with that voice in her head, the one convinced there’s something more, silencing it with I’d do this with anyone. But that wasn’t true then and it’s not true now because Paige has never been just anyone, never been just a friend. Because even if Azzi’s never been brave enough to say it out loud, Paige is and has always been everything.

Despite knowing the answer and maybe dreading it just a little bit, Azzi asks it to her mom anyway, “what did you know?”

“That she was your person. You were too young, I couldn’t call it love just yet but I knew Paige was different then, she was yours in a way none of your other friends were. You were different around her,” Katie nudges her daughter, “Azzi you’ve always been just a little bit in love with her and she’s always been just a little bit in love with you too. The two of you have just been a matter of time.”

Azzi closes her eyes, and unlike other people, she doesn’t see darkness or little spots of light, she just sees Paige. Her mother’s words wash over her, like acid in her self-inflicted fight the feelings wounds and yet, the idea of she’s loved me too feels like a band-aid being delicately placed on the scars of her heart. 

“And place,” she whispers, eyes still closed, “we never seem to get time and place right.”

“Why do you need to?”

Another exasperated look is sent Katie’s way at that question, “we live on different sides of the country mom, what do you mean why do we need to?”

“I mean the two of you have barely ever been in the same place. But you made it work, when you had even less, when you felt even less. But you’re adults now. You have other resources now. And I know timing is difficult but- it’s you and Paige. What are you so scared of Azzi?”

Azzi sucks in a deep breath, “what if Paige runs away again?”

“What if you run away again?”

“Excuse me?” 

“Who was the last person to walk away, Azzi?,” Katie sighs when Azzi is adamantly silent, “I know she hurt you by leaving. I know she hurt you by pushing you away. But you did the same thing. You chose UCLA,” Katie holds up a hand when a frustrated Azzi tries to interrupt, “and it was the right decision for you Azzi and she should have supported it. But that doesn’t meant you didn’t hurt her and then you chose Zoe-”

“I didn’t choose Zoe-”

“Yes you did Azzi. Sweetheart you’re my daughter and I will always tell you the complete truth even if it’s not what you wanna hear. And the truth Azzi is that Paige might have hurt you in 101 different ways but that doesn’t mean you didn’t hurt her back in 99 different ways too.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Azzi whispers, “that’s the problem mom. It hurts when she hurts me but it hurts even more when I hurt her. I don’t want that for us but I just- I just don’t know how to stop it without stopping us.”

“You haven’t even tried, baby. Paige held out a hand and you ran away.”

“She left first. How am I supposed to trust that she won’t just do that again," all that’s missing from Azzi’s stubborn whine is a foot stomp.

“Because she came back. It took her a little bit, I know, but she came back and she’s ready to fight, the question is, are you?”

“Why are you defending her?” Azzi splutters, “who’s side are you even on?”

“There are no sides to this sweetheart. The two of you are on the same side. So maybe instead of fighting against her, take that hand, fight with her.”

***

The WNBA draft is a momentous occasion this year. With a hyped draft class like no other, and the promise of even greater ones in the future, there’s a sense of celebratory hope dangling in the air. When the invite had first come in, Azzi had known the same one would be sent to a certain blonde in Connecticut as well. And a part of her had wanted to hide herself away from that possible collision, but every other part of her wanted nothing more than to get just a glimpse of the blonde.

One moment Azzi is surrounded by flashing cameras and the echo of her name on everyone’s lips, the next everything around her is fading away her eyes meet Paige’s on the other end of the WNBA draft orange carpet. It’s nothing new really. Since she’s met her, the blonde has commandeered all of Azzi’s attention whenever she’s nearby. Sometimes it feels like all of her other five senses fade away to give birth to a secret sixth one, one that’s solely dedicated to Paige, one that’s terrifyingly all-consuming. And yet, despite the heaviness of we’ve said too many goodbyes, for the first time in what feels like eternity, Azzi feels like she can finally breathe. 

And then Paige looks away. 

And Azzi’s back to struggling for air. 

It’s selfish of her, she knows, to expect something, not when she’d been the one to leave them stranded on different islands. But Azzi doesn’t seem to think logically when it comes to Paige and even as she tries to turn her focus back to posing for the camera, every inch of her body is dangerously aware of the blonde’s every move, just a mere few feet away from her. Her conversation with her mother is echoing in her head, giving rise to dangerous desires of what if i grabbed your hand and we ran away together. 

Paige is a natural on the orange carpet, all dazzling smiles and twinkling eyes. She glides through it, inching closer and closer to Azzi, but never giving away any sense of discomfort. And if it was anybody else, maybe they’d never catch onto the nerves hidden beneath Paige’s facade of calm, cool and collected. But once upon a time Paige used to be Azzi’s favourite puzzle and she has every part of the blonde committed to memory. It’s in the way Paige’s teeth gnaw at her lips for the briefest of seconds, in the way her right index finger is begging to tap a beat against where her hands rests on hips, in the way she’s blinking just one too many times. 

And then with one more heavy footed step from Paige, the distance between them is barely a couple inches and they let out identical breaths of air, both of them keeping their focus on the cameras in front of them. It’s loud, too loud, and still all Azzi can focus on is the sound of Paige breathing. The air around them is thick with tension. It feels a bit like they’re silhouetted against a sky made of words they’ve left unsaid and clouds of all the bitter mistakes they’ve made are hanging over their heads. And when their pinkies brush together, and a jolt of electricity sends shivers of I miss you more every day again her skin, Azzi questions if she’s ever made the right decision when it comes to Paige. 

“Wait wait wait,” Ari cuts in, as she squeezes herself in between the two of them, “I wanna get in between the two of you.”

A harsh cry of no sits heavily on the top of Azzi’s tongue as the older woman forces a break in whatever little bit of contact she’d had with Paige. She feels a little pathetic, the way every little inch of her skin is craving for that touch back. It had been nothing, a barely there moment and still Azzi thinks, when she goes to bed tonight, if that was all she’d get of Paige, then it’ll be the only thing that’ll feature in her dreams. 

“Alright one with just Paige and Azzi,” Ari directs the media, stepping out of the way and pushing the two younger girls together. And it’s laughable that a little brush of their pinkies had Azzi feeling any type of way because when they’re suddenly pressed together, every inch of Paige’s side fitting into Azzi’s like it belongs, the way the world suddenly bursts with light and colours makes Azzi wonder if every moment without Paige has simply been monochrome. 

It comes to them naturally how to pose together, arms winding around each other’s waist, heads involuntarily leaning against the other’s. And the smiles might be for the cameras but Azzi knows hers is the most real it’s been all night. It might be temporary, she might lose Paige in the chaos, but for now Paige is here and Azzi has learned how to be content with whatever little she can get. 

As the media moves to capture other people, the logical thing to do would be to separate, to let go of each other. But instead they stand there, still completely wrapped around each other, heart rates in sync as they breathe in each other’s presence. And then Paige’s hand falls from the small of Azzi’s back to tangle their fingers together and they let out identical sighs of relief, something so cathartic in the purposefulness of that touch. Everyone is too busy to notice that the two of them have fallen into a whole other world, one where there’s only two of them and every emotion that they’ve only reserved for the other. There’s no words exchanged as Paige guides the two of them out of the spotlight, somehow keeping their hands clasped together in secret, despite the ever growing crowd. And Azzi doesn’t know this building at all, doesn’t have the faintest clue where she’s being led to, but as long as it’s Paige pulling her along, she doesn’t care where, she thinks she’d go anywhere. 

Paige stops abruptly in a secluded corridor, turning to fully face Azzi. And the sincerity in the blonde’s crystalline blue eyes, as they roam every inch of Azzi’s body before coming to fixate on her face, steals the air away from Azzi’s lungs. Paige has gotten better over the years at building walls, but with every new lock she places on her emotions, there’s a key to open them that seems to always find its way to Azzi. In the delicate golden hue, Paige shines brighter than any star ever could and in the dim light Azzi can make out every bit of hurt and love and please can we just have this moment that Paige can’t put into words. 

“Hi,” Azzi whispers softly, hands itching to reach out and caress Paige’s skin. 

“Hi,” Paige says back, even quieter. She stares at Azzi as if she’s memorising every little detail and then her face crumbles. Azzi feels her heart drop at the single tear that trickles down Paige’s cheek as she lets out a broken whimper. And this, this unspoken power they seem to have over each other, the uncanny ability to just hurt each other without any bit of effort, is what scares Azzi the most. It’s too much. They shouldn’t be able to do this. 

“Paige,” Azzi’s fingers twitch but she hesitates, not knowing if it’s the right thing, “fuck- P what’s wrong?”

Paige doesn’t reply, eyes wandering down to where Azzi’s trying to keep her hands still against her sides and when she looks back up, her eyes are bloodshot, “what’s wrong? What’s not wrong Azzi? You won’t even fucking touch me.”

“I didn’t-” Azzi struggles to speak, “I didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“Can you just- fuck- can you just stop overthinking things for once in your life. Of course I want you to touch- you know what nevermind. This was a bad idea. You made yourself clear and I’m just- fuck- I should- I should just go.”

She sounds adamant enough but all it takes, when Paige moves to leave, is the strangled cry that leaves Azzi’s lips. The sound is enough to pull Paige right back in. She takes one look at the tears brimming in Azzi’s eyes. And then she’s pushing Azzi against a wall, hands on either side caging the younger girl between her body and the hard surface behind. She presses their foreheads together and Azzi feels like every part of her might just be a part of Paige too. 

“I miss you. I miss you so fucking much. It’s barely been two weeks and I- fuck- Azzi- I’ve missed you every single second and now you’re here and I still miss you. And it really fucking hurts.”

“I’m sorry,” Azzi whispers, finally letting her hands cup Paige’s cheeks, and it’s worth it for the way Paige seems to completely melt into her touch, “I’m sorry I keep hurting you. I keep thinking I’m doing the right thing but- I don’t know- I feel like I’m always doing the wrong thing when it comes to you. I don’t- I don’t know what to do.”

“Just let me be with you,” Paige’s voice is wrecked with desperation as she presses herself as close to Azzi as possible, “I’ll be your whatever- whatever you give me- whatever you want- I just- I just want you Az- whatever little bit you’re willing to give me- I’ll take it- and if you want me to wait- fuck Azzi- I’d wait forever- you know that right? However long it takes, baby. Just want you- just want us.”

Leaps of faith are scary. Azzi’s never been great at taking them, too cautious, too much of a worrier. She’s more of a step back from the cliff kind of person. If she doesn’t jump, she can’t fall. But here’s the thing, when she was fourteen, Azzi jumped off of her first hypothetical cliff. It had been on a plane, when after avoiding one too many deep questions, Azzi had admitted to a girl she barely knew,that maybe she could like girls. It was the first time she’d ever let herself acknowledge that truth about herself and the girl next to her was a stranger but there was something about her, something that screamed i’ll hold your hand and if you jump it’ll never be alone. And ever since then, that girl, Paige, has always been there. Hands outstretched, ready to jump off any ledge. Because if there’s hard ground underneath, then they’ll learn how to fly together and if there’s water, they’ll figure out how to swim. With Paige there has always been the promise that, whatever it is, they’ll figure it out together. And it’s with that promise in mind, that Azzi takes the leap of faith. 

“Me too,” Azzi whispers, heart beating erratically. 

“What?” Paige searches Azzi’s face, as if waiting for her to take it back. 

“Us. You. You and me. I want that too,” a ghost of a smile begins to creep onto Azzi’s face, and for the first time in god knows how long, she feels feather light, a little bit like she’s floating on a rainbow. 

“You mean it?” Paige asks earnestly, hands moving from the wall to clutch at Azzi’s waist, “don’t play-Azzi- okay- you mean it for real?”

“I do. I want this- I want this so much and I’m still- I’m still really scared and maybe it’ll be a disaster but I- I want to try. With you.”

Azzi used to think she knew all of Paige’s smiles. Her small, not quite fake, but only for cameras and people she didn’t quite know, smiles. Her just for my friends smile that was filled with mirth and childlike joy. Her basketball smile that transformed into a smirk when she got too cocky. Her only for Drew smile, soft and filled with so much adoration and pride. Her Azzi smile, the one only the brown-skinned girl gets to experience, a smile that made Azzi’s her heart swell with love. But the smile that stretches across Paige’s face now, is one Azzi’s never seen before. This one throws Azzi’s entire world of balance, so bright, so big, so full of emotions. If she could, she’d tattoo that smile onto her skin forever. 

“We’re really doing this?” Paige asks, still a little stunned. It wasn’t what Azzi had planned for tonight. She hadn’t really had any plans for what would really happen. But then Paige had walked in and all Azzi could see was forever she was tired of fighting against. 

“We should take it slow okay-” Azzi wraps her arms around the older girl’s neck, keeping their foreheads still against each other’s, “I don’t- I don’t wanna rush into things and fuck it up. I can’t- fuck- I can’t lose y-”

“You won’t,” Paige swears, squeezing at Azzi’s wait, “I won’t let you. We can take it slow. We can take it however you want- I just- we’re doing this?”

“Yeah,” Azzi can’t help the grin that fills up her entire face, “yeah we’re doing this.”

And as they surge forward to claim each other’s lips, and as they meld every inch of themselves into each other, and as they smile and cry into the kiss simultaneously, and as they etch promises into each other skin, and as they let themselves finally fall into each other, for each other, it feels a lot like coming home. 

***

July 2024 

The early morning sunlight casts a dark shadow across Paige’s face, causing the still asleep blonde to scrunch up her face in irritation. Azzi, who’s been awake for nearly half an hour now, can’t help the fond smile that creeps onto her own lips. She shifts herself to block the sun and Paige lets out a content sigh, burrowing herself further into her pillows. And the thing is every moment with Paige is special but there’s something about waking up to her in the morning. Azzi’s always awake first and it gives her ample time to just admire the girl in her arms, blond hair tousled all over her pillow, lips parted slightly open, and one arm always, always, splayed across Azzi’s torso, holding her close. Over the course of time, Azzi’s found out that the second she moves, Paige seems to feel her leave, waking up instantly. 

There had been an adjustment period if Azzi's honest. It had taken her a while to shake that fear of Paige not being there in the morning. The first morning, she’d been scared to open her eyes, even if she could feel Paige’s presence right next to her. That had been one of the few mornings that Paige was fully awake first, hovering above Azzi to wake her up. And when she finally did get the courage to open her eyes, the first thing Azzi had seen was Paige, blue eyes sparkling with unfiltered adoration, a smile filled with promises of every morning just like this. And that had been enough. 

Azzi reaches out to brush a hand through Paige’s soft blond hair, mesmerised by how pretty Paige looks in the morning glow. A lot of Paige belongs to the world now and Azzi’s not opposed to sharing really, because someone so fucking perfect, deserves to be celebrated like that. But there are some parts of Paige that belong to Azzi and Azzi only, some parts Azzi cherishes as being only hers. This is one of them and Azzi takes a snapshot of it, knowing she’ll need it to function in a few months, when she won’t get the real thing. 

“Are you watching Paige sleep?” Azzi almost jumps at the sound of Drew’s voice at the doorway, having been too immersed in Paige to have even heard the door open, “that’s kinda creepy Azzi.”

“Jesus Drew, whatever happened to knocking?”

“I forgot?” Drew grins, before he plops on the bed, the force of it making the whole frame shake a little bit. 

“Drew!” Azzi chides, “you’re gonna wake her up.”

Drew cocks his eyebrows, sparing his sister, who seems unphased by the sudden little bit of chaos around her, still fast asleep, an unimpressive look, “please she can sleep through anything. Besides, it’s already 9. I thought we were gonna do things. I been up for aaaages.”

“She’ll be awake soon,” Azzi smiles, ruffling the younger boy's hair. Drew rolls his eyes and it’s remarkable how much he resembles Paige, not just by face, but the mannerisms too. 

He huffs for a second before his eyes sparkle with an idea, “what if we pour water on her!”

“Drew!” Azzi chastises again, trying not to giggle. 

“Boo,” Drew crosses his arms across his chest, “you used to be so cool Azzi.”

Azzi laughs as she’s reminded of a younger version of herself, scheming with Drew on how to wake Paige up. And it’s not that she’s beyond that really, tucking the water idea for a rainy day, but Paige looks too peaceful this morning and she wants to preserve that look of serenity on the older girl’s face for just a little bit longer. 

“Hey Azzi,” Drew says after a while and Azzi hums in response, “when you and Paige get married, I can still be a groomsman right? Even if there’s no grooms?”

“Wha- where did that come from?” the brunette’s eyes widened at the question, sitting up a little straighter. 

Drew peers up at her with all the innocence of a pre-teen, “you are gonna get married right?”

“I don’t-”

“It’s too early for your yapping Drew,” Azzi’s saved from answering by Paige’s tired voice entering the conversation. She looks over to find Paige’s eyes already on her, a soft smile playing on her lips as she looks up at Azzi. If Drew wasn’t sitting right there, Azzi would lean over and kiss her and let Paige deepen it until they were both satisfied. 

“Oh thank god,” Drew cheers dramatically, “I thought you were gonna sleep forever.”

Paige scoffs, the arm that’s still wrapped around Azzi’s torso tightening its hold, “I wish.”

“Well you’re awake now so get up,” Drew whines, moving from his spot on the end of the bed, to flop on top of Paige’s body instead, “get up, get up, GET UP.”

“Get off,” Paige groans but there’s no real force behind it. Azzi watches with a fond smile, as Paige flips Drew over so that she can tickle him, eliciting rounds of laughter from the younger boy. Something in her heart flutters, her mind going back to Drew’s question. She’s never really been one to think too hard about marriage and children and that domestic suburban life, leaving it up to fate, but now- well, maybe. 

“Okay aight aight enough. Go get ready for breakfast and we’ll be down in a second,” Paige says, ushering Drew off of the bed. 

“You can just tell me you want me to leave so you can kiss Azzi you know?” Drew scrunches up his nose, “you two are gross.”

Paige sends him a stern look and gets a dramatic eye roll in return but as he always does, Drew does as he’s told, mock saluting the two of them and skipping out of the room. 

“He’s right by the way,” Paige says softly, turning back to where Azzi’s leaning against the backboard, “I do want to kiss you.”

Azzi smirks lopsidedly, “what’s stopping you?”

She squeals in surprise when Paige pulls her, the force of it causing both of them to tumble onto the front-end of the bed. Azzi ends up on top of Paige, hands resting around her neck, the blonde’s hands holding her waist in place. 

“Good morning,” Paige grins, clearly proud of herself as she chases Azzi’s lips to pull her into a searing kiss.

“Good morning,” Azzi whispers back, thumb caressing Paige’s left cheek.  

“Just so you know,” Paige pulls away, a determined glint in her eyes, “we’re so getting married one day.”

***

October 2024

Azzi’s mood has been rancid for the last couple of weeks. It’s terrible she knows; it makes her irritating to play with and a nightmare to live with. But even if this had been expected, that she would be on one end of the country and her heart would be on the other side, it doesn’t stop her from constantly being in a state of missing Paige. And it’s different from before, now that there’s a certain surety of of course i’ll see you soon but soon never really feels soon enough. 

“Azzi can you please get the door,” Kiki calls from her room when the doorbell rings. 

“I’m busy,” Azzi grunts back, snuggling further into her pillow with a book she isn’t actually reading, “you go get it.”

“Azzi please, I’m literally in the middle of getting dressed,” Kiki yells exasperatedly. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s pretty sure her teammates are about this close to plotting her murder, and deservedly so, Azzi would sink back onto her bed and let the incessant doorbell noise continue. But she does love her teammates, thinks Kiki probably deserves to change in peace, and it forces her out of bed, grumbling away about annoying visitors. Until she actually gets a look at the visitor. Paige stands on the doorstep, confident as ever, a bouquet of roses and peonies and lilies in her hand. 

“You’re here,” Azzi breathes out, staring in awe. 

“And thank fucking god she is,” Kiki quips from behind her, “maybe we can finally get our old happy Azzi back and not this bitch.”

Paige laughs, “watch how you talk about my girl Rice.”

“You’re here. You’re really here,” Azzi whispers again. 

“I heard you missed me baby,” Paige says, her cocky smirk betrayed by the softness in her voice. And then Azzi is flying into her arms, throwing Paige off balance. 

“So fucking much,” Azzi admits into Paige’s neck, eliciting a giggle from the blonde, “Kiki’s right. I have been a bitch.”

“Just a little bit,” Kiki calls out again but there’s a new fondness in her voice. It’s funny how her team, even the haters, have slowly become Paige fans. They’d been hesitant at first, just like the UConn girls, but now well, it seems the basketball world’s Montagues and Capulets have learned to accept their star players’ relationship. 

“Missed you too Az,” Paige’s tone is vulnerable as they break away, “alright, go get changed, I wanna take you somewhere.”

“Or…,” Azzi presses her lips to Paige’s neck, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses, “we could stay here and do something else.”

Paige shivers under her touch, stepping away to keep some semblance of control “n-no I have plans,” but she can’t help but kiss Azzi’s pout away, “it’ll be worth it, I promise. Besides,” she bites at Azzi’s ear, “there’s always later.”

***

“Your big plans are to bring me to the supermarket,” Azzi cocks an eyebrow as they walk down one of the many aisles, “you turned down sex for this? Should I be offended?”

Paige doesn’t say anything, concentratedly looking at signs, trying to figure out a specific section, before an aha! moment dances over her face, and she pulls Azzi with her, the younger girl going willingly, despite the eye roll. She stops triumphantly in front of the sushi section and Azzi looks at her quizzically. 

“I’m getting you supermarket sushi,” Paige says pointedly, “and then you can get me mac and cheese.”

And if you brought me sushi I’d have brought you your favourite mac and cheese. Oh. The realisation of what Paige is doing trickles around Azzi a little bit like rain after a long summer drought. She thinks back to the bouquet, everything suddenly making sense.

“You’re such a dork Paige Bueckers,” Azzi says softly, tapping the older girl’s nose. 

“Your dork,” Paige grins cheesily, “now hurry up and pick one. I don’t wanna miss the sunset.”

***

Once she catches on it, it doesn’t surprise Azzi to find that Paige has everything planned out perfectly, down to the exact spot in the park- the one by Paige’s recovery airBnB, the one they’d taken countless walks in trying to repair their friendship- where the two of them can be away from everybody else, in their own little bubble. And she has a picnic blanket, that’s a little small but they don’t really want space from each other anyways. They lean against a tree, food set up in front of them, Paige’s laptop, carefully piled on top of a couple of books to be the perfect height, set a little bit further away. 

“So what NBA game are we watching?” Azzi asks with a smile and Paige groans, “what? Was that not part of the plan?”

“Dude come on. It’s the beginning of October. Please tell me you know the NBA season isn’t happening yet,” Paige rubs her temple, only a little endeared by the comment, “are you sure you’re a basketball player?” 

“There are games in October. I swear I’ve seen them before,” Azzi says sceptically. 

“Yeah at the very end of the month, not right now.”

“Well then close enough,” Azzi says indignantly, “I don’t need to know the exact day.”

“Whatever you say baby,” Paige acquiesces with a smirk and it earns her an elbow to the stomach, “what the fuck? That shit’s domestic violence you know?”

“Big words Bueckers, didn’t think you knew them,” Azzi teases, placing a kiss against Paige’s offended expression, before settling herself against the blonde’s side, sighing contentedly when she gets a kiss on her temple in return. They’re cliché enough to put on Love and Basketball, but Azzi doesn’t really end up watching much at all. In between slow kisses, she almost falls asleep a couple of times, the comfort of Paige’s arms like a blanket wrapping her in the warmth of this is my fairytale. 

“THE POLAROID,” Paige’s shout breaks Azzi out of her haze as she feels her body being shaken off, the blonde rummaging through her bag for the camera, “we have to take the polaroid. My wall needs it.”

“Oh yeah a tiny polaroid picture of us inbetween all your Lebron posters, a perfect fit,” Azzi drawls only to be met with a scathing look from Paige. 

“It’s for important things and Lebron is the most important of them all,” Paige explains with complete seriousness, as she finally finds the polaroid camera and shimmies back to Azzi with it in hand. 

The sunset is beautiful. Pink, purple, orange and blue, all blending together to create the perfect picture. But Azzi thinks it’s not nearly as beautiful as the girl in front of her, not nearly as beautiful as the date Paige had planned, not nearly as beautiful as the future she can so clearly see now. Her mind drifts back to the night of the phone call, and she can almost hear Paige’s sobs again, can still hear her own voice breaking. Back then, they had seemed impossible, a butterfly like dream that danced out of their grasp. 

“Hey,” Paige captures her chin with two fingers, “where’d you go?”

Azzi shakes her head, “nowhere. I’m right here. With you. Where I should be.”

“Sappy goof,” Paige snorts but she kisses Azzi like she’ll take those words and hide them in the labyrinth of her mind, protect them there forever. 

Taking the picture is a task, both of them bickering about angles and lights. It’s unnecessary arguing, in true Paige and Azzi fashion really but there’s something so mundanely domestic about it that Azzi finds herself wanting to memorise this moment too. They finally get the frame just right, somewhere in between what they both wanted. Azzi smiles at the camera, her Paige smile, as the blonde in question presses her lips against her cheeks. 

Click. 

And Azzi hopes, that however many years later, when they have a home of their own, amidst all the photos that they’ll take over the next years, this one will be hung somewhere on their wall, a testament to finally realising every dream they’d dared to dream together. 

***

December 2024 

There are pebbles being thrown at her window and Azzi has to stop herself from laughing when she peers down to see Paige, freezing cold in the Virginia December air, staring up at her with a goofy smile. She shakes her head when her phone rings, knowing it’s Paige and answers it with her own foolish grin. 

“What exactly are you doing?” Azzi asks, “come back to bed.”

“You said I was unromantic. I’m trying to be romantic,” Paige’s teeth chatter in the cold, as she balances her phone in one hand, still throwing rocks with the other. 

“I didn’t say that and throwing rocks at my window is supposed to be romantic? You’re going to wake the whole house up.”

“That’s what they do in all the good rom coms. And you said and I quote ‘we’re kind of boring’. You might be boring Azzi Fudd but I most definitely am not.”

It had been a throwaway comment Azzi had made at dinner with some friends from high school. One of her friends had been going on and on about some adventurous trip that she and her boyfriend were going on, and then asked Paige and Azzi if they had any of that planned. To which Azzi had replied that they were a little too busy, considering they were college basketball players still in season, and besides they were “kind of boring” people. She hadn’t meant it in any type of way. Personally, Azzi likes boring. Paige however, seemed to have taken the comment to heart and Azzi had woken up at 2 a.m. to an empty bed and the sound of something being thrown at her window. 

“Okay I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You're really interesting baby and the most romantic person in the world. Now will you please come back to bed,” Azzi concedes, already missing the feeling of being cuddled up in her blankets with Paige’s body heat keeping her nice and toasty. 

“No,” Paige says indignantly, “come down here.”

“Paige, it's freezing. It’s gonna start snowing any minute.”

“Exactly. That’s exciting.”

“Sleep is exciting,” Azzi whines, but she’s already padding around her room looking for a warm sweater, grumbling under her breath about the warm California sun she’s missing. She tiptoes down the staircase, wincing at the one step that creaks just a little too much, before pushing herself out the door. And it’s freezing cold, there’s sleep in her eyes, but it’s all worth it Azzi thinks, it’ll always be worth it, just to experience Paige’s smile. 

“Knew you’d come,” Paige grins cockily, mittened hands pulling Azzi into her.

“Yeah yeah. What are we even doing?”

“Azzi Fudd,” Paige bellows dramatically, “may I have this dance.”

Azzi stares at Paige’s outstretched hand wondering if this is some sort of cry for help, but one look at Paige’s face tells her that the girl in front of her is being absolutely serious. 

“This is your idea of exciting? Dancing in the street while it’s freezing with no music?” Azzi raises an eyebrow, but she takes Paige’s hand. 

“It’s spontaneous,” Paige says the last word with a flourish, as she spins Azzi, “why not dance in the street when it’s freezing with no music?”

And well, that’s a fair point. If anyone were to look out their window that night, they’d probably think the two girls were somewhat crazy. Laughing and giggling and tripping over each other as Paige hums a melody and Azzi occasionally joins in. It’s ridiculous and corny and cliché and perfect. And then the first little bit of snow falls, white drops circling around the two dancing girls, snowflakes catching on their eyelashes. The dim glow of the streetlight is enough to catch identical smiles on the two girl’s faces as they revel in each other. 

“You know some people say if you make a wish during the first snowfall, it’ll come true,” Paige whispers, still waltzing the two of them around, cheek pressed to Azzi’s, “you wanna try?”

And the thing is Azzi doesn’t really believe in all of that, in magic but something about Paige, something about this moment feels magical. It makes a believer out of Azzi. 

“Yeah,” Azzi smiles, “let’s make a wish.”

They stand still, holding hands, eyes closed, both a little breathless, as they make their wishes. And when they open them, if it feels a little bit like maybe their wishes have already been granted, well they’ll share it in a secret smile but never out loud. After all, wishes don’t come true if you speak of them. 

***

April 2025

7 seconds to go in the National Championship and Azzi’s UCLA Bruins are down by two points. It’s her last chance, having already declared for the 2025 WNBA draft, to win a national championship, to bring home their first basketball national championship since the 1978 team that had won the AIAW championship, to win their first NCAA championship ever. It had taken some sheer luck to get to this point if Azzi’s honest. As a two-seed in the Spokane region, they’d benefitted from their one-seed having been eliminated early and then getting to face a Cinderella six-seed in the final four. On the other side of the bracket, UConn, the favourites coming for a repeat, had been stunned by another team, the team that UCLA was now facing. That had caused a bit of a second-hand sting and Azzi’s not really trying to take revenge for Paige, but it'd be a lie to say the get back at them for me babe from earlier this morning isn’t ringing in her head. 

The play is simple, set screens for Azzi, get her open, get her the ball. A two would get them to a tie and three would win it outright. Either will do. It’s a little too reminiscent of last year when Azzi had failed at tying the final 4 game and she can still feel that loss on the tips of her fingers. They break out from their last timeout, breathlessly running to their spots on the floor. The whistle blows, Kiki inbounds the ball and everything is a blur. All Azzi knows is the shot clock is winding down. She runs off of what feels like a million screens. And then she’s open on the wing, for a millisecond. A perfect pass from Kiki makes sure the ball lands straight in Azzi’s hand. And she doesn’t think, doesn’t breathe, doesn’t even notice the defender put up a hand, she shoots the ball. There’s two people on the court that know for sure that ball is going in the minute it leaves Azzi’s fingers, the shooter herself and her biggest fan in the stands, who’s been just a little bit in love with that shooting stroke, since before anything else had even begun. 

With a delicate swish, the ball falls through the net, the buzzer sounds around the arena, the crowd explodes in blue and gold, as the UCLA Bruins win the 2025 national championship. 

Everything stills in Azzi’s brain for a second, her thoughts taking a second to catch up to reality. She’s never really been one to emotion on the court, keeping herself steely guarded through most games, even at the very end. But now, triumph and pride and just utter happiness at finally achieving one of her biggest dreams, comes roaring to the surface, manifesting itself throughout her entire body, as she lets out a scream of joy. Her teammates engulf her and she gets lost in a sea of hugs and tears and bright, decadent smiles. 

As thing start to calm down, there’s really only one thing on Azzi’s mind and Paige’s words echo in her ears, because if I’m gonna end up fucking crying, then I want it to be on your shoulder. And if I’m gonna end up celebrating, I want it to be in your arms. And Azzi thinks maybe Paige had discovered one of the biggest truths of their life with that, the truth that at the end of day, in any moment, big or small, happy or sad, the one person Azzi wants next to her, is her Paige. It’s been that way since she was fourteen, and too young to really understand the meaning of wanting someone forever, and she thinks if she has her way, it’ll be like that for the rest of her life, the rest of their life. 

Paige is beaming in the crowd, standing next to Jon and José, a #35 jersey proudly adorning her torso. She waves when she catches Azzi’s eyes, always her biggest cheerleader. And Azzi throws caution to the wind, fuck it, not caring that there’s still a large crowd or that cameras are likely to follow her every move. She pushes her way into the stands, stopping right in front of the blonde. 

“On a scale of one to ten, how bad would kissing you right now be?” Azzi asks, still a little breathless. 

A myriad of emotions flicker through Paige’s face before settling on a mischievous smirk, “probably pretty bad but you should do it anyways.”

Azzi grins before merging their lips together and everything else fades to the background, until she’s consumed by nothing but Paige. They break apart far quicker than either of them would like and Azzi expects to feel just a little bit of fear at what she’s just done, likely given the media a spectacle they could run a million and one stories about but instead, with her forehead still pressed against Paige’s, she feels nothing but calm. 

“I’m so in love with you,” Azzi whispers and Paige’s eyes widen. They’ve known it for a while now but it’s the first time either of them have said it. 

“Say it again,” Paige demands. 

“I’m so in love with you,” Azzi says again, grinning so hard, she thinks it might become her permanent expression, “like really fucking in love with you.”

“I’m so in love with you,” Paige whispers, pulling Azzi into a bone-crushing hug. 

And this might not be the moment where everything finally comes together. There’s still so much life left to live, so much that they still need to work through, so much they’ve yet to deal with. But for now, Azzi has a national championship and she has the love of her life, the rest will work itself out, or so she hopes.

[fieldsofwriting]

Please write dad March I'm begging respectfully ❤️❤️❤️

Well since you asked so nicely. (And i’m stuck at work with nothing better to do)

Dad March HC be upon ye:

When you first tell him you’re ready to have kids/pregnant he is so fucking nervous. He can’t be a dad?? He’s an asshole! But after some reassurance from both you and probably half the town he’s ready.

Man goes full dad mode. He is panting the nursery- do not even try and help! You will be told sit your ass down and focus on growing the baby or whatever you do.

He gets Ryis to help him build/design the crib. Those are the only nails he doesn’t complain about making. He also refuses to have Ryis do anything but the bare minimum to assist.

“I’ve gotta do it, or how else am I gonna be a good dad?” His logic is flawed but he’s got the spirit.

When he feels the baby kick for the first time? He has genuinely never had a bigger smile. Looking at you with the most genuine and sincere smile, “That’s our little guy…”

He wouldn’t care what you’re having, he’d still insist on “teaching them the ways of the forge” from a young age.

You settle on a highchair a safe distance away.

He’s so protective over his baby. Like, no one gets to hold them until they wash thier hands, are positive that thier not sick, and have been through vetted by him.

It’s even worse if you have a little girl. “No man will ever be good enough for her. She is a princess.” “March you’ll give her an ego.” “Good, just like me.”

This would also be the #1 way to get him to be soft. I feel like that is something people seldom see. But when he’s rocking his baby to sleep, talking to them quietly about his day to them it just makes you fall harder.

You know that meme where it’s like Dads when thier kids are babies vs toddlers and it’s like one picture of them cradling a newborn vs throwing a toddler in the air? That’s him.

He would love to hear thier laugh, so he’d throw them up as high as he could manage, put them on his shoulders.

You know how cats have the scruff? He just picks up your kids by the back of his shirt and lifts them up like a little briefcase.

He has full on conversations with your kids. Even if they don’t make sense he is so invested. He just talks to them like tiny humans rather than babies.

You know how thier like big players with carpenter tools? he’d do that but it’s the forge and he’d use playdough to help show them how to do it. “It’s the family business!”

This man would cry the first time your baby goes to school. He’d try to pretend he didn’t but if they run off like nothing happened? He’s DEVASTATED.

Okay I could continue but I’ll be done for now-

[mapofthesea]

forward!jimin x social media manager!fem!reader

hockey!au

genre: smut, fluff, porn with a hint of plot!

word count: 5.8k

summary: star forward Park Jimin is not only good at the game of hockey, but the game of life. He’s rarely faced with adversity and enjoys the perks of being admired by millions of fans between his sporting and modeling endeavors. To you, he’s nothing but a massive thorn in your side: a reminder of your past life as a puck bunny and your biggest challenge in landing your next promotion. He’s damn lucky he’s handsome.

warnings: arguing, tension from past relationship (they were never Together but they did fuck), swearing, jimin is a smug little shit, jimin with a lip piercing (!!!), hockey talk but no actual game time action, they have Feelings for each other, kind of enemies to lovers but lowkey, specific smut warnings include: penetrative unprotected sex (don’t do this irl!), dom!jimin x sub!reader, slightly bratty reader, degradation (he calls her a slut, she likes it though) and praise, making out/sloppy kissing, fingering (f receiving) oral (f receiving), handjob, hair pulling, hickeys/marking, multiple orgasms, coming inside, slight overstimulation, aftercare ofc

a/n: as always my work is not proof read or edited so there may be some mistakes! Also this is clearly smut so please do not go below the cut if you’re under 18 or uncomfortable with the content noted above. Happy reading!

The warmth of the hotel sheets engulfs you, the expensive feeling silk rubbing gently against your freshly washed skin. You barely know what time it is, but the sleep weighing down your eyelids negates any logic.

An involuntary sigh passes your lips as you feel your spine decompress from the cramped position you had to assume on the plane ride here. Your phone vibrates on the beside table but you skillfully ignore it, snuggling further into the comforter. A sweet lull of sleep starts to envelope you- and then your phone vibrates again. Once, twice, three times, and then the barrage of texts turns into a full blown call, rattling your phone violently.

"Fuck, what?" You yell, throwing the covers off and snatch the phone off of the bedside table. The brightness makes you squint, answering the call without seeing who it is.

"Hello?"

"Oh Thank God, Y/N. I need you to-" the sound of your boss's voice sends anger through your veins. It was his idea for you to travel to this tournament, and now he has the audacity to call you after working hours?

"No, please, Ken. It's late and I'm tired. Whatever the issue is it can wait until the morning."

"It really can't, Y/N. I need you to go talk to Park. Now." You still, heart hammering at the name. You can't imagine what the fuck he would need at this hour, but you're not a babysitter and you certainly aren't giving up your rest for him.

"No, I'm just here to do media for the games. It's not my problem if he needs a handler tonight." Ken sighs and the tension is palpable through the phone line. The silence buzzes through you like a live wire.

"If you don't go talk to him now, your job is gonna be a lot harder than it needs to be in the morning. Please, Y/N. I need someone with boots on the ground to help me. If you get it solved I'll fast track your application for the promotion." Ken's offer hangs over your head. Fuck this capitalist system and the fact that whoever takes the promotion is based more on connection than talent. As much as you despise having to continue to climb the ladder after years of hard work in college and the office, the perks of better health insurance glimmer in your mind.

"Okay, fine. I'm going." Anxiety spikes in your chest as Ken thanks you and hangs up. You vividly remember the last time you were one on one with Park Jimin, and the thought makes your cheeks flame. Suddenly your breezy pajamas feel too warm, and the slightly damp strands of your hair at the nape of your neck itch.

When you started your career in sports media, you never saw yourself working for the same hockey team he plays for. You always saw it as a near impossibility when you moved away from your hometown for the degree- but the universe works in weird and cruel ways that happen to force you into close quarters with a whole gaggle of professional hockey players. You really tried your very hardest to avoid interacting with any of the players on the team outside of working hours, not just Jimin. Although several of them had also flew in today and settled in the same hotel, you made sure to book with a separate airline and get a hotel room on a separate floor. You had no interest in mixing your business with your personal life; it’s nothing but an irresponsible risk.

But here you are now, embarrassing yourself by applying a fresh layer of deodorant before you leave your hotel room. The lavish hallways are luckily empty, and the cool elevator shaft eases the heat crawling up your neck. It’s incredibly nerve-wracking to imagine why you needed to have this intervention, and the idea of how he may answer the door makes you dizzy.

Maybe he’d injured himself? But surely you wouldn’t be the one called to his room in that case. There was always the possibility that he did something to cause a media storm- got into a fight, was spotted robbing a store, maybe it was reported that he did cocaine in a bathroom- but it had only been a few hours since their plane landed, so would he have had time for any of that? And wouldn't covering up a personal blunder be up to his personal manager, not you? Your palms slick with sweat at the possibilities of the mess you’re going to find behind his door.

You hover outside it, staring at the gold plated numbers illuminated by the nearby sconces. It's oddly intimidating to know he's just on the other side of the door; living and breathing and simply existing- perhaps making some kind of erroneous mistake that could ruin his career or basking in the aftermath of that. The wood of the door feels thick and expensive under your fingers as you knock, and it’s so feeble that you can almost guarantee he didn’t hear it. You swear and try again, knocking harder despite your shaking knuckles.

“Coming!” His voice sounds light and airy but it makes lead drop through your stomach. The urge to run away overtakes you and just as you make the decision that no, this isn’t worth the possibility of a promotion, the door swings open.

Park Jimin has no right looking this handsome at whatever ungodly hour you had knocked on his door. His black hair is mussed at the back of his head as if he had just been laying in bed. The softness of his hair is almost enough to weaken you, but the familiar narrowed cut of his eyes runs ice through you. Heat blooms in your cheeks as you blush and internally chastise yourself for the stupid reaction; you were here for a professional reason, so why the fuck was your heart hammering in your chest at a million miles an hour?

"What can I do for you, Y/N?" Jimin's silky voice filters through your hazy mind and you startle, shaking your head to clear the suffocation surrounding you. Alarm bells ring at the familiar cadence of his voice, the way he perfectly crafts the syllables that make up your name.

"Um, I-" your eyes flit around his face; the tempting golden sheen of his skin under the gold casted hallway lighting, the fullness of his cheeks and his pretty lashes and the silver gleam of his lip-ring...

"What the fuck is that?" You practically yell, pulled out of your reverence at his handsomeness as the lip ring registers. It's a bold silver curve, resting temptingly in the middle of his plush bottom lip. It shines as if tempting you to look closer, to touch it, to feel it. Your stomach stirs at the fleeting thought of how the cold metal would pull an addicting contrast between the heated press of his lips.

"This?" He licks at the metal with his tongue and you suddenly feel the need to take a seat. "Got it a while ago, honestly. Off season stuff." He waves his hand nonchalantly as if you'd asked him if he wanted chocolate or vanilla cake. "You like it?" He arches a perfectly shaped brow and leans casually on the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. He's small and lithe for a hockey player, but you know that he has intimidating strength corded through his arms and the stamina to match.

Dumbly, you nod at his question. You like it a lot. Jimin lets out a heady laugh and you can only imagine how fucking stupid you look right now; slightly damp hair and a flushed bare face, mismatched sleep socks and these stupid lamb pajamas your mom got you for Christmas. Your face blanches at the sudden realization that the shorts were certainly too small for standing in a hotel hallway under Park Jimin's gaze.

"Wait, no, I'm here because Ken told me to come down and talk to you!" You backtrack quickly, pulling at the bottom hem of your t-shirt.

"Awe, come on Y/N, you mean you didn't want to come visit me for old times sake?" His electric eyes travel your bare legs. You grit your teeth and try to find the fire of anger in your stomach-the shield that's allowed you to ward off your feelings for him for so many years- but it's been replaced by the quivering attraction that never quite left.

"N-no, Jimin." You plant your hands on your hips; hoping to instill some of the social media manager persona back into your conversation. "That thing is a liability for you, and for me, it sounds like, because Ken sent me down here to take care of it. You'll have to get rid of it. It's out of regulations for the games." Jimin blinks owlishly, as if he had never considered that the piercing would be out of regulations.

"Really?" He licks the damn piercing again and your greedy eyes soak up every part; the perfect pinkness of his tongue and the way he maneuvers it around the metal in a tantalizing circle that's much too familiar. Your stomach simmers with arousal.

"Fuck, Jimin, yes. It really is out of regulations, and I would assume Ken saw some picture of you with it, and he's pissed and made it my problem because he isn't here yet. So please, for me, take it out for the games." When is this guy ever going to give you a break? You spent your entire teenage years pining for him and half of your college visits home tangled in his bedsheets, and now as a full fledged adult you're begging him to get his shit together so you can get considered for a promotion. "Please, Jimin, can you just do this one thing for me?" The exasperation of the night makes your voice whiny even to your own ears, and you can practically see Jimin's ears perk at the sound. A cheeky grin overtakes his features.

"If I remember correctly, I've done lots of things for you." You don't miss the shift in his voice; the darkened tone that haunted your dreams for months after you vowed to never speak to him again. Suddenly your throat feels dry and you choke on your rebuttal as he takes a confident stride into the hallway. You can smell the clean linen of his cologne and you instinctively close your eyes and take an inhale. Your nose flares and you swallow your impure thoughts.

"Listen." You poke a finger into his chest and immediately regret it; the firmness of his well toned muscles rejecting your jab. "Come on, Jimin. I'm begging you."

His chest shudders under your finger, and he's so close you can feel the exhale of his breath against your hair. You're frozen as he moves, clasping one of your shoulders with strong fingers. His grip makes your skin tingle as he lowers himself to match your stare.

"I seem to remember you being much better at begging, Y/N. Hmm? Want to try that again?"

Arousal lights your veins and your brain whirs into overdrive, screaming at you to follow the animal instinct clawing inside your gut. Unbidden flashes of your past with Jimin run through your mind: the grip of his hands on your plush hips as he drives himself into you, the paths of bruised kisses he left on your tits after hours of teasing them, the reddened claw marks you left on the bronzed skin of his back.

The current of dominance in his words sparks something dormant inside of you; the slumbering brattiness that you had converted into tenacity reborn. You surge up against him, closing the gap with a bruising kiss. He stumbles slightly in surprise but easily recovers, capturing you around the waist as you devour his mouth. The cool metal of the lip ring is just as addicting as you imagined it to be, wedged between the unending warmth of his plush lips. It's fucking addicting to be kissing him again as he pulls you against the hard planes of his body. There's no hesitation in his actions as he shoves his tongue into your mouth and you nipples pebble in response to the liquid heat he elicits in you.

Oxygen becomes useless to you the longer you kiss him. All that matters is the connection of your bodies, the slip of your tongues against one another. Your heart stutters with yearning as Jimin helps himself to a handful of your ass cheeks and you nip at his piercing playfully. A moan reverberates through him and he uses his grip on you to pull you impossibly closer, walking your bodies backward into his hotel room.

The change of scenery shocks you enough that you finally break from the kiss, panting from the exertion. The heavy door slams shut behind you as Jimin pushes it, perhaps a bit too hard. To your wild satisfaction Jimin looks just as winded as you feel. “Fuck,” he croaks the word and you smile, unable to hold back anymore. Something in your mind loosens, and you surge forward to fumble with the tie of his sweatpants. A beautiful moan falls from his lips and for a second you’re sure that the control he never gave you had become yours: that in the years you’d been apart he had shifted into a man who let you take. After so long of playing the sexy and mysterious playboy, Jimin had finally unraveled for you.

But his sudden strength re-emerges just as you begin to wiggle the fabric down his hips, and he captures your wrists under his palm. Forcing your wandering hands away, a familiar gleam of delight at your pliancy shadows his eyes.

“Oh, little girl, you know better than that, don’t you? Or did you forget how this goes for us?” He tuts dismissively but the passion on his face makes your knees weak. “You-“ he shuffles you closer to the king sized bed, “do what I want you to, isn’t that right, Y/N?” Arrogance colors his tone, and you have half a mind to tell him to shove it, but he guides your hands back to his cock and your brain shorts.

He’s hard, twitching under your touch as he holds your hands there, controlling the pressure of your touch. From your seated position on the bed you get a glorious view of the vein in his neck throbbing, and you regret not plastering any bruises onto his neck earlier. “You always were so good with your hands, Y/N. Fuck. Used to drive me crazy thinking about your hands on my dick.” The husk of his voice makes wetness pool between your thighs. It had been so long since you heard him like this but it was just as delicious as before. The pressure he holds on your hands relinquishes but it’s clear what he expects of you so you snake your hands under the layers of fabric dutifully.

You can’t help but tease him a bit, tracing the curve of his balls through the fabric of his expensive boxers. His hips jump forward and he bites out a warning that has you eager to feel the firm hotness of his bare cock in your hand. You shift forward to pull him free, and you keen at the sight of his cock.

A thatch of welcoming dark hair at the base, the length that puts your last boyfriend to shame, the pretty red-tinged head pulsing with a pearlescent shine of precum. Suddenly, you feel extremely empty.

The seam of your pajama shorts presses right where you need it, so you settle for rubbing your thighs together subtly for now. Your hand encases his length, starting with small gentle strokes that you know are doing nothing but driving him crazy. His stomach clenches and trembles as you start pumping him faster, relishing in the little jumps of his cock as your grip gets firmer.

“Feels so good,” the praise falls from him without thought and strikes a hot iron in your stomach, thighs rubbing together without much thought. “Pretty little hand on me like that, fuckin missed that.” The haze of arousal occupies you enough that you don’t allow yourself to overthink anything: instead taking the liberty to rub your thumb firmly over the tip of his cock. The precum aids your glide but you feel a devious idea sneak up on you and you promptly lean forward to spit directly onto his cock. The sound he makes is inhumane and you adore it, gobbling up the strained whimper of your name as he grasps your hair, hard.

Pleasure shoots down your spine at his grip and he grins slyly, calculating eyes shooting down to the quivering of your thighs. You don’t cease your hands, only adding the second to cup at his balls again while he appraises you. “My pretty little slut, spitting on my cock without me even asking.” He holds your hair harder, cocking your head just enough that you can’t look away from his smoldering eyes. “Are you my pretty little slut?”

You were expecting the question: a relic of your college aged trysts, but it still bowls you over like a semi truck.

“Y-yes, Jimin. ‘M your pretty little slut.” He grins so hard that his eyes scrunch and an approving sound rolls out of him. Your pussy throbs at that, hips canting forward as you mindlessly work your hands over his cock. “Do you need some help?” The grip on your hair disappears and you immediately miss it, the sting of your scalp serving as a beautiful reminder. It takes you a minute to decipher what he means, but the way his penetrating stare flickers between your eyes and your center clues you in. The seam of your shorts had been consistently stimulating you but not nearly enough for any kind of relief: you had soaked through them and your panties while Jimin spoke to you.

You pout at him and nod even though he really didn't need more persuasion. Jimin's quick to cup your pussy in his hand, rubbing his palm over the soaked fabric. Your grip on his cock tightens at his touch and he hisses approvingly, pressing harder against your pussy. You grind your hips upward in a bid to get him closer to your clit. The dull pressure of him cupping you entirely only heightens the neediness in your veins.

"Please, Jimin," you whine and petulantly drop your hands from him when he doesn't get the hint fast enough. Jimin arches a brow at you.

"Is this the game you wanna play, Y/N?" Only now do you realize that his hand has stilled as well, the heat of his palm radiating against your wetness. You shake your head, unable to bear the idea of being denied his touch any longer. "That's what I thought," he tuts. "Now be a good girl and keep touching me, and maybe I'll return the favor."

You immediately grasp for him again, making quick work of thumbing the vein running on the underside of his cock. Jimin returns the favor by honing in on your clit through the fabric of your shorts. You work each other in a lustful tandem, sharing moans until Jimin slips his fingers underneath the soaked layers of fabric on you. The feeling of his fingers on your bare pussy sends you reeling, hands doubling their work on him as he circles your clit with a nimble index finger.

"Fuck, Y/N, you're gonna make me fucking cum," his hips stutter wildly under your grip and you smile, dopey on the satisfaction and the energy building in your core.

"Wanna make you cum," you supply, squeezing the head of his cock lightly. Jimin grunts heartily, head tipping back against his shoulders and you know you have him right there. Triumph squeezes your heart as you make quick deliberate strokes across his cock.

You hear him cum before you feel it, the beautiful tone of his voice husked with arousal. His hips stutter and buck against your hand as his cum paints your top and your palm, the sticky wetness oddly satisfying to your lust addled brain. A laugh of disbelief leaves him as your hand finally loosens. His own hand comes back to life and you gasp; surprised by his renewed energy so soon after coming.

His chest heaves as he bares down over you, leaning your body back onto the plush mattress. His eyes skate down to the mess he made of your shirt and a devious smirk decorates his face.

"Hmm, maybe we should get you out of this messy shirt?" His voice is invariably playful again and you can't help the laugh that bubbles out of you.

"Oh, I guess if you insist..." you bat your eyes playfully as he dislodges his hand from your pussy. It leaves you feeling oddly cold, but the gentle tug at the bottom of your shirt distracts you.

"Can I?" The sheepish look on his face stuns you. After everything that had happened tonight, and all of the times he had taken the liberty of stripping you naked before, you're surprised to see the hesitation on his face.

"Yes, Jimin, if you're sure." You cup his face gently, thumbing the delicate metal of his lip ring. He nips at your fingertip and laves at the spot with his sinful tongue. The flush that stains your face is blocked by the fabric of your shirt as he shucks it off; and Jimin's gaze finds your tits immediately.

"So pretty," he pinches a nipple in reverence. "I missed these tits, Y/N. Missed you." You can't be sure if he meant to admit the last part, but hope strikes your heart regardless. He squishes your tits together and jiggles them, and for a second he's transformed back to the boyish college freshman he was when you first started to hook up; high on his new career as an athlete and the fame that came with it.

His tongue laves across the curves of your breasts, biting a bruise into the supple flesh right above your nipple. The pain transforms into arousal in a second, and your hips buck against him in silent question.

"Oh, can't have just half the outfit on, can we?" He dances his calloused fingers along the waistband of your tiny shorts before yanking them clean off, underwear easily going along with them. The rush of cool air that meets your pussy raises goosebumps along your skin.

"Don't worry, baby. I'll get you nice and warmed up again." Jimin cracks a feline smile and settles comfortably on his knees before parting your thighs. Wetness slicks between them and he hums in satisfaction.

His long hair tickles your legs and you already feel so overwhelmed that by the time he puts his mouth on you, your back is arching toward the ceiling. He presses a kiss to your pussy and the cold sting of his lip ring brings tears to your eyes. Jimin parts your lips with his fingers and allows himself to feast, licking you so thoroughly that you think this must be a holy experience.

Surely this is what divine intervention feels like: Park Jimin feasting on your pussy like a man starved, circling your clit with his tongue and teasing your throbbing entrance with his deft fingers. Your body is honed into every move he makes, and each twitch of his tongue and push of his fingers brings you closer to the sweet, blinding edge. Your hips squirm at the overwhelming sensations and Jimin nips at your clit in retaliation, throwing a strong arm over your lower stomach. Effectively holding you in place, he redoubles his efforts and slides two fingers home, stretching your walls at the same time he wraps his lips around your clit and sucks.

The hot wetness of your arousal, his mouth, the slip of his tongue against you, and the shockingly chilled press of that god damn lip ring send you into happy oblivion. An inhumane string of noises rips from your throat as you come, writhing against the sheets as white heat flashes behind your eyelids. You vaguely register Jimin's fingers pushing you through the high as he laps the last bits of arousal out of you.

"There's my pretty little slut," he purrs as you settle. Your thighs twitch as he pulls his hand away to smooth down the hairs sticking to your face. It takes you a few blinks to register the pretty grin on his face, but you return it with ease.

"Never get rid of that thing." You gesture vaguely to his mouth and a puff of laughter runs across your face. He tongues at it thoughtfully, and even though you had just come, your pussy throbs again.

"Funny, about an hour ago you were begging me to take it out."

You slap his chest noncommittally, still weakened from your explosive orgasm. Jimin pecks your forehead and you keen. A softness appears around his edges as he looks down on you; and even in your bare faced, sweaty state you feel adored.

"I missed you too," the words burst forward before you can rethink it. It'd been swimming around in your mind since you accepted your job offer and caught sight of him for the first time in years. Although neither of you were ever bold enough to make it official, there was no denying the magnetic attraction you shared.

"Fuck, I'm so glad you said that. I have so much I wanna talk to you about-" he presses another delicate kiss to the corner of your lips and you grin. "But I am so hard right now, can we please talk later?" He rolls his hips against you and the evidence is clear. Your brain blanks, replacing the fuzzy adoration with sharp, demanding need.

"Uh huh, talk later. Need you now." Jimin makes short work of his shirt at your approval. His instagram modeling presence has made you no stranger to the sight of his bared chest; but the toned muscles of his pecs and abs scramble your mind. His skin nearly twinkles under the light, and whether its a trick of your mind or the evidence of a very fancy moisturizer, you're just happy to be in his presence.

"Flip," he orders, voice devoid of the sweetness it held just moments before. A shiver wracks your spine as you follow his instructions, flipping onto your hands and knees and obediently curving your back. Jimin hums in praise and you feel renewed energy course through your veins.

He traces the curve of your ass, ghosting his touch around the sensitive skin. You can't see him but you can picture the self satisfied grin on his face as he relishes in the smooth skin. The touch of his lips against your full cheek shocks you and you rock forward into the bed. Jimin bites into the flesh firmly and you moan at the feeling of his sharp canines. You can imagine the blooming bruise that will be there by the morning, and the mere idea of the sore reminder of this night makes your core throb.

"Do you-" Jimin's words die in this throat. "Do you have any condoms?" The punch of reality has you sagging into the sheets. Of course you didn't. The last thing you expected was for this night to unfold like it did. Heavy disappointment weighs your heart.

"I didn't bring any, I haven't..." he trails off again and you wait a few breathless seconds for his words before you twist your upper body so you can see his face. His cheeks are flushed a rosy red that's so endearing your heart squeezes. If it weren't for his evident arousal you would think he had just woken up from a long, restful sleep.

"I haven't been with anyone in a while." He gives you a sheepish smile and you nod in understanding.

"Me either." The admission passes between the two of you like calm water, cooling the tension until a storm whips up in Jimin's eyes. His cocky grin returns as he palms himself.

"I'm clean, are you?" You nod, body reacting to his insinuation before your mind can fully catch up.

"I'm on the pill," you breathe the words as if you can't believe them, and Jimin looks absolutely ravenous. He runs two thick fingers up your pussy, gathering the heady arousal that already has you slippery and stretched for him.

"Gonna let me get in you raw, huh?" He shuffles forward until you can feel the tip of his cock pressed against your folds. He holds his cock against you with his thumb as he glides, careful not to enter you prematurely.

"If I woulda known all it took was a few years apart..." you huff a rueful laugh that transforms into a moan as he slips the head of his cock into you.

"Oh fuck-" Jimin wastes no time in sliding in until he is seated fully inside of you. Your walls pulse around him and you can feel drool pooling in your mouth. He takes a handful of each of your asscheeks and pulls your body against his own, a little experiment to see just how greedy your pussy is for him.

An obscene squelch sounds between your bodies and it only spurs Jimin into further action.

"Fucking perfect little ass and pussy swallowing me up." Jimin moves impossibly fast, taking care to sheath his entire cock inside of you hard before pulling out. Your finger nails rake through the comforter as the waves of pleasure ripple through you. Jimin's body encases your own, trapping you under the strength of his muscles and heat of his sweaty skin. With his chest pressed to your back, his cock drives into you at a brand new angle that makes your toes curl with delight. Jimin's sinful lips find a home at the juncture of your neck and he seems more than happy to decorate you with hickeys to match the one on your ass. The addicting drag of his cock pairs with the tickling cold of his lip ring each time his mouth lands on you, and the sensory overload has your stomach clenching.

You have completely lost control of your mouth and allowed the animalistic sector of your brain to take over as Jimin fucks you stupid. His own incoherent grunts vibrate against your neck in fragments. "Pretty...good little slut...fuck..."

Your eyes roll as he slows his thrusts, aiming for the perfect spot that makes your legs jelly. It only takes him a few moments to find it, and the world quickly becomes washed with tears.

You hiccup his name as he steadies a hand around your abdomen, sneakily playing with your clit.

"You gonna come for me, Y/N? Get my cock all nice and wet just like you're supposed to?" He braces his unoccupied hand overtop of you, clutching the headboard with flexing muscles. His presence is suffocating in the best possible way and you feel like you're drowning in Jimin.

"Such a perfect little pussy. So hot and wet for me all the time." His voice wavers and his thumb catches your clit just right. A dark chuckle graces your senses just as you tip into oblivion.

Your entire body contracts and shivers under him as you cum, Jimin's hips driving you forward until you collapse into the comforter in a fit of cries. It feels like you come forever, leaking waves of arousal around Jimin as his hips slap against your own.

"Good job, baby. I-I'm gonna come, you feel so good." You whine and plead for him, ready for the electric feeling of him filling you with his cum. You're still feeling shaky when he comes, driving his hips as far forward as possible as he fills you. Beautiful airy moans leave him as he grinds against you, relishing in the sloppy warmth of your mixed cum.

His hips slow their movement but his mouth never ceases, spilling praise and planting kisses along your back until he's spent. When he pulls out you instantly feel empty, whining as his cum slides out with him. Both of you are too spent to do anything about it, but Jimin watches with hooded eyes from beside you as it leaks onto the comforter. It's scary how suddenly the sleepiness hits you, and you reach near blindly for the man next to you.

You must look exhausted because he coos and pecks a kiss over your nose. "You can sleep here." You giggle and crack your eyes open and find him so close that you can see the irregularities of his teeth as he grins.

"Good, cause I'm not walkin' back to my room now. Even if I could walk, my clothes are ruined." His face flushes at the reminder of your debauchery. He licks his lips and your eyes catch on that damned lip ring again.

"You really will have to take that out for the games," you run your thumb across it again, obsessed with the feeling.

"I know," he whispers, and then his lips are ghosting over your own for permission. This kiss is nothing like the one you shared at the top of the night. It's gentle and slow and punctuated with a deep connection that runs years deep. Despite how much you had done tonight, this kiss feels the most intimate of all.

No more words need to be exchanged as he helps you sit up and walks you to the bathroom with some pajamas from his bag. He patiently waits outside as you pee-both of you agreeing that you weren't quite ready to be that available with one another- and he lends you a bit of his face wash in earnest.

The comforter is stripped from the bed by the time you're back, and he's pulled the extra pillows from the linen closet to accommodate for you. You shuffle under the sheets and are happy to find them just as silky as your own were. Jimin slips in next to you, fully clothed again, and promptly kills the bedside lamp.

Sleepiness overtakes you almost instantly then, and it's so dark that you rely on the pattern of his breath to gauge if Jimin is still awake.

"I'm sorry if I made things weird for all that time, I- I was just scared that I would say the wrong thing." You speak to the surrounding darkness, and for a minute you think that maybe you missed the short window of opportunity. But then Jimin gives a thoughtful hum, shuffling so that he can tuck your body against his chest. His response is muffled by your hair.

"It's okay. We were young and stupid last time. I hope you'll let us try again." Your heart swells and you hum in affirmation and snuggle back against him. "Tomorrow?" You offer, the hazy edge of sleep just seconds away.

"Tomorrow." Jimin agrees before your consciousness drops easily into dreamland.

[hqbaby]

sixteen — this is real

fuck ur instincts — suna x reader & atsumu x reader

you and suna are just fooling around—so why does he care so much when you start falling in love with someone else?

previous — masterlist — next

word count. 1.5k content. swearing, pretty tame tbh

him: wanna come over tonight?

y/n the love of my life: sorry!! got plans

Suna can’t help the frown that takes over his features as he stares at your message. It’s not a big deal. You’ve turned him down before, this isn’t anything special. In fact, this is completely normal. Did he really expect you to drop everything going on in your life for him? Of course not.

Logic doesn’t stop it from bothering him though. The truth is that he hasn’t been alone with you since you left him that one night. Sure, he sees you around friends but you never really talk because you’re not supposed to be this close. Sure, it’s only been four days since that night but still. It unsettles him, it makes him feel like he doesn’t know where the two of you stand.

“Sorry, Bo, I got plans with Y/N tonight.”

Suna’s head shoots up to find Atsumu grinning at their teammate. What?

Bokuto waves it off. “No biggie, bro!” he says. “Say hi to her for me.”

“Will do.” Atsumu closes his locker and turns to look at Suna. “Ya good, man?”

So he’s your “plans,” Suna thinks. It makes him want to hurl. He hates it.

“Yeah,” he manages to say, already sprinting out of the locker room. “I’m fine.”

He’s not fine. He feels like he’s burning from inside out at the thought of you ditching him for Atsumu. Fucking Atsumu. Don’t you know that he used to cry after science exams? That he had to take his driving test four times? That he and Osamu once spent an entire week finishing a 10,000 piece puzzle while everyone else thought they had died?

Suna slams his head on his steering wheel. It doesn’t matter if you know any of that. All that matters is that you’re choosing Atsumu. Instead of him.

He pulls his phone out and starts typing a message to some girl who gave him her number at a party. She wouldn’t say no to him. He knows she wouldn’t. And that’s why he can’t bring himself to send the message, why he throws his phone on the passenger seat and drives back home instead of doing anything stupid.

Kiyoko reaches her leg out and pokes you with her toe. “What’s up with you?”

You glance up from the lab report you’re working on, bemused. “With me?” you ask. “Not much, dude. What about you?”

She gives you a knowing look. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Am not!”

“You’re withholding gossip!” she accuses, grinning as she points a finger at you. “Come on! I need to know what’s going on!”

You put your laptop away. “Nothing’s going on!” you tell her, but there’s a smile in your voice that says otherwise. “Well, nothing too crazy at least.”

“Tell me!”

You start laughing as your roommate hops onto your bed, grabbing one of your pillows while she looks at you eagerly. “It’s really nothing,” you say. “‘Tsumu just kinda sorta… asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are,” she says. “Because if he actually did that, you wouldn’t be seeing him tonight.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you said no to him. You’re nice, you don’t string guys along after you turn them down.”

You stare at her. She stares at you. You stare at her. She cocks her head to the side. You give a small nod.

“Holy shit!” she exclaims. “You said yes?!”

“Not yet!”

“Yet?!”

You’re laughing as she tries to tackle you. “Dude, chill!” you say. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen!”

She shakes her head, hands on your shoulders as she rattles you around. “You have to tell me,” she says, leaning close enough to make her already-wide eyes look wider, “do you love him?”

“I don’t know!” you say, pushing her away.

You furrow your brows at the words that fall out of your mouth. You were supposed to say no. Why didn’t you say no?

“You don’t know?”

“Are you using me as an excuse to avoid your homework?” you ask in an attempt to change the subject.

“Doesn’t matter!” she says. “Wait. What about Suna?”

You wince. 

The truth is that you don’t know what’s going to happen with Suna. You’ve been avoiding him ever since the night that you decided not to stay over. You still see him when you hang out with his friends and go visit his team, but you never talk to him, sticking to your usual polite-but-not-close relationship in public.

It’s been eating you alive and you don’t really know why. You’re going to have to talk to him eventually, about Atsumu, about everything. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but for some reason, it feels like it is. Why?

“If I say yes to Atsumu,” you say carefully, “I guess things with Rin will be over.”

It hits you as soon as you say it.

Over.

It seems so final, so unnecessary. Surely, there’s a better way to do this. This can’t be it.

Kiyoko looks thoughtful, like she’s considering her words very carefully. Then, she asks, “How do you feel about that? You know, ending things with Suna.”

You shrug. This time you know you mean it when you say, “I don’t know.”

You’re sitting in Atsumu’s car with your head leaned against the window. You haven’t planned anything special tonight, just eating take-out and driving around. Normally, you’d be talking each other’s ears off, but you can’t seem to focus right now.

Ever since your talk with Kiyoko that afternoon, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about Suna. It bugs you more than you know it should and that only makes it worse.

“Yer quiet tonight,” Atsumu says. His voice isn’t accusatory or harsh, like he’s just making an observation. “Somethin’ botherin’ ya?”

You chew your bottom lip and fiddle with the straw of your drink. “Yeah. Just a little.”

He hums. “Do ya wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know if I can,” you tell him quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothin’ to apologize for,” Atsumu says, glancing over to give you a reassuring smile. He finds a spot near the lake on campus and parks nearby. “We can talk about anythin’ ya want. Or not. We can just sit here and eat. That’s okay too.”

He turns the engine off and rolls the windows down, the autumn air drifting in. There are a few other people in the area, groups of friends daring each other to dive into the lake and couples talking or getting into arguments. It’s a night like any other and, as you sit there eating and listening to the playlist you and Atsumu put together, you know you wouldn’t mind spending more of your time like this.

“Have you ever had to let something go?”

The question just falls out of you. It fills the gaps in the air like it was always meant to be there. Like it was something you were always meant to ask.

“Anythin’ in particular?” he asks, taking a sip of his drink.

You look out the window and see a girl, soaked to the bone, walk out of the lake before chasing after her friends. 

“A person,” you say, “after you realized that you wanted different things.”

“Yer not talkin’ ‘bout me are ya?” His tone is teasing.

You shake your head and smile at him. “No.”

You catch the way he looks at you. His gaze is soft and warm and kind. It makes you feel like you’re all that matters to him at this moment. Like the rest of the world is just static. 

The only other person who ever looked at you that way was Suna and he only noticed when he was inside you in one way or another.

It feels different when Atsumu does it. It makes you feel like you matter just by existing.

“So,” you say, trying to stop yourself from focusing too much on the look on his face, “have you ever had to let someone go?”

He considers your question for a moment. “I have,” he tells you. “‘Samu actually.”

That catches you off-guard. The twins are absolutely inseparable, as far as you know. “‘Samu?”

“Yeah.” He nods, getting into it now. “In highschool I thought that we were gonna do volleyball together forever. I couldn’t imagine a world where I’d have to go at it without ‘im, but that’s what happened.

“I was so mad.” He chuckles, clearly recalling a fond—or maybe not so fond—memory. “We got in a big fight and… it wasn’t pretty.”

You nod along, the story distracting you from any thoughts of Suna. “What happened?”

Atsumu sighs. “I had to get used to it,” he tells you. “We had different dreams and it wasn’t right that I pushed mine on ‘im. It wasn’t ‘Samu’s job to change and I wasn’t bein’ fair to either of us by thinking he would.”

He offers you a smile, all boyish and a little shy. He knows the vulnerability should irk him, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when he’s talking to you. Not when you’re looking at him all nice and understanding and so fucking gorgeous.

You lean over the console and kiss him. It’s short and sweet but it means everything to the two of you.This is real, you tell yourself. You don’t know much else but you know that this—you and Atsumu and all the little spaces in between, this—is as real as you’re going to get.

notes. THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM *mic drops and runs for the hills*

[its-isover]

Li Zhao Yu had zero doubt in his mind that he was, indeed, one of the best. After all, not just anybody could hit radiant in Valorant. He leaned back in his chair lazily, stretching with a yawn. His gaze flickered to his webcam and then back to his screen. His career was a crisp green carpet, with him fragging well enough to be the top or at least second highest fragger each match.

“I think that’s about enough for today, chat,” he muttered into his mic as he rubbed his eyes. It had been…five hours? He swore it did not feel like he had been playing for that long. Unfortunately, right as he was about to log off, he heard a little ping from his phone. Picking it up, his expression turned to one of mild annoyance. With a little “tsk”, he put his headphones back on.

“Change of plans, chat, seems like a few friends want to grind comp for a bit. We’re in for some…five-stack shenanigans.”

With a few final stretches for his shoulders and neck, he joined his friend’s party, the four already present members waiting for him. His eyes narrowed at their lack of rank.

“Weh, what gives?”

“I needed help carrying some new friends,” his friend responded dryly. Li only sighed, “Whatever, man, just don’t make me derank.”

As it would turn out, lower elo was absolutely god awful atrocious to him. Li had half a mind to cut the stream, almost certain he would get into trouble of some kind for the level of toxicity he was displaying. Granted, he only said about a third of what he really thought in team chat, but given the words circulating through his head, he had little doubt what he was saying was awful enough.

“Bai chi ya…zhen me wu yong…” Frankly, he was way too tilted to be playing. Did that stop him though? Of course not. Because Li Zhao Yu was not a quitter. The night was off to a horrible end, and three matches in, Li was throwing in the towel. “I’m done with this,” he had declared, leaving the party and slumping back in his chair. He ran his hand through his hair, eyes shut and brows furrowed, pulling his hair back and ruffling it, leaning forward, sighing, and ruffling his hair again. “I’m done,” he repeated. Done with what, exactly, he did not bother to elaborate. He got up to stretch a bit, finally feeling the dull ache in his neck. The pain absolutely was not worth it. Playing with those idiots? Deranking this much? Disgusting. He had never seen this much red in his career since he…he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d done this badly. Except it wasn’t even his fault. How could it be, when he was the match MVP in almost all of them? He should stop. He should get some rest, some time away from the blasted game. But no.

Against his better judgement, he hopped back into solo queue. There were various reactions to his decision in chat, ranging from “You sure about this?” to “I really think you ought to rest” to “Hell yeah! We don’t end on a loss!” Not that any of that mattered to him. Li felt like shit, and since it was caused by numerous losses, his only logical solution was to garner just as many, if not more, victories to compensate himself emotionally.

What a stupid decision. These random guys he ended up with on his teams weren’t much better. Left to his own devices, he very well might have played through the night to recover all his lost rr. It took his roommate, Ryo, pulling the plug on his PC for him to go to bed. With that abrupt end to his stream, Li hauled himself under the covers, passing out as his frustrations turned to exhaustion and overcame him.

Maybe Ryo was right, all he needed was a little rest. Li thought, until he had breakfast and Ryo said he was going out with Kirra. “You’re not gonna duo with me?” had been Li’s first reaction, breadcrumbs dropping as he dropped his bao onto the table. Ryo only shook his head. “Maybe tonight,” Ryo offered. “Maybe you should come along, the fresh air might make you less insufferable.”

His suggestion was met with a sharp glare, lavender eyes piercing through dark onyx ones. Li looked nothing short of scandalised at the notion of his grind being interrupted. Was he expected to agree? Hell no. There was nothing Ryo could say to convince him to go out just to be a third wheel on his roommate’s date. Li was sure Ryo knew him well enough to know that, so he wasn’t really sure why he had bothered asking. However, that clarified itself when Kirra showed up, an unfamiliar face in tow as she declared they would all be going on a double date.

It was awkward, to say the least. Ryo and Kirra walked on ahead, hand in hand, leaving you behind with Li. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if Li wasn’t already bothered, but there was no way of knowing that as you walked beside him, trying to gauge what would be an appropriate distance to put between the two of you. It didn’t help that Ryo and Kirra took the dog, which left you and Li with even less of a buffer.

How does one start a conversation with a stranger your friend set you up with when they look completely disinterested? One option is always to just…not. For better or worse, you weren’t a quitter (though not to Li’s extent). Just your luck that you managed to hit the topic of Valorant. By the way he perked up subtly, you had to assume it was of interest to him. Progress was progress, and you were quite satisfied with how you’d managed to chip the ice. That is, until the dreaded question arose.

“What’s your rank?” Li asked, seemingly nonchalantly, but the sideward glances he shot you told you otherwise. Subtle as it was, his gaze wasn’t one so easily ignored, and you happened to notice the pale lilac of his irises rather acutely. You laughed nervously, rubbing the back of your neck in hopes he’d catch onto your awkwardness and change the topic. At this point, you weren’t sure if he was socially inept or just insensitive, because rather than act according to your hopes, he’d turned his head to look at you properly, tilting his head slightly as though prompting you to get on with your answer.

“I don’t have a rank, I don’t play comp,” you replied sheepishly. You swore you saw a flicker of disappointment cross his face, but by the time you’d blinked, his features had returned to their usual bored expression. “We can hit an internet cafe after lunch, I’ll duo with you and we’ll find your rank.”

His offer was more of a statement - no, an instruction. You felt a smidge of betrayal, not quite sure you like Kirra’s boyfriend’s roommate very much in spite of her insistence that he’d be a good match for you. Then again, you didn’t think it was her fault since you don’t exactly love Ryo very much either when she thinks he’s brilliant. Perhaps this was just another clash of opinions, since you’re sure she meant well.

Li seemed to have little interest in much else, to your mild dismay. While he would respond to any conversation topic you decided to jump into, he never quite seemed nearly as interested as he did when you brought up Valorant. Until music, that is. At which he promptly asked to see your playlist, his brows furrowing as he found little common ground. With a murmured promise to send you a few of his playlists and then some he'd try curate more towards your taste, he returned your phone.

If only your awkward date ended with a walk in the park. Lunch was an equally tense affair, with Li mostly feigning disgust at the couple with you, and you trying your best to avoid his gaze. As lovely as his eyes were, there was something cold and piercing about them that made you feel like he'd see right through you, and you weren't yet sure if you enjoyed it very much. Worse still was the way his hand found its way to your waist immediately after dropping enough money to cover both your meals in Ryo’s hands as he steered you away after lunch, bidding Ryo and Kirra farewell as he led you to an internet cafe. To his credit, he did keep his word…

“Um, look, Zhao Yu, I'm really not good at the game, I just play casually,” you began, trying to excuse yourself.

“I'll play casually with you then,” he insisted with a shrug, not at all bothered by the change in plans. Without waiting for any further protests on your part, he ushered you into the cafe. He strode up to the front desk with a comfortable familiarity, and you wouldn't be surprised if he'd told you he was a regular there. As you pondered his screentime, he had already paid for the time, once again returning to your side to usher you in. It was, in part, a sweet gesture, but a part of you felt the firmness of his hand was also partly to keep you from running off. Left with little other choice, you obliged and sat at the computer beside him.

You grinned sheepishly as your final game ended in borderline disaster.

“You weren't joking when you said you're bad,” Li quipped. For a moment, you half expected him to curse at you the way you'd heard him swear at the enemies and some teammates, but the barrage of insults never came. Instead, you felt a cold hand reach up to brush the hair from your face, his fingers gently twirling a lock of it before dropping his hand. His expression had softened, seemingly placated by the contact. “It's fine, it's not competitive…and you're cute.”

His last few words were mumbled, too mashed together for you to catch, but if the tips of his ears turning red was anything to go by, you'd guess he'd complimented you.

“Did you say something?” you pressed, hoping he'd repeat himself, but he only shook his head. “Mei shi ba, zhi shuo ni ke ai.”

Once again his words were quick, melding together like a fluid melody in his native tongue. It felt like you were hearing him properly now that he wasn't whisper-shouting at a screen, and it was…charming. You smiled to yourself. Cuteness privileges, huh? You could probably make use of that.

“Right, so how much do I owe you? For both the meal and this?”

Your questions were halted by a shake of his head and cold purple eyes enrapturing your own. “Another date, probably, I don't take cash.”

“Ah, then I guess I'll see you some other time?” So maybe he was a little pushy.

“We can plan while I walk you home. Zou ba.” Scratch that, he was a lot pushy. But it was part of his charm, you'd suppose, from the way he'd kept you on the inner side of the sidewalk to the protective hand on your waist as he insisted on escorting you to your door, Li Zhao Yu was a very straightforward individual, especially when it came to his interests.

“Zai jian le…unless you've anything else to say before I go?” The slight bit of hope in his voice was apparent.

“Thanks.”

“I don't need thanks from you, I want to do things for you.”

It was hard not to giggle at his bluntness. “I know, you make that quite clear,” you point out, kissing his cheek as a goodbye.

Perhaps for the first time on your date, Li was speechless. You'd tease him for it if you weren't into him too. Well, there's always more opportunities on future dates.

[theladybarnes]

CRIMSON AND CLOVER: CHAPTER THREE

" You know, you're not what I thought you'd be like ”

▸ summary: winter ends and so do relationships ▸ characters: robin buckley, eddie munson, & steve harrington 💕 (ft. dustin henderson and jonathan byers) ▸ word count: 13.7k         ▸ warnings: SEMI-SMUT (18+MINORS DNI) handjob, & angst ▸ series masterlist

DECEMBER (CONTINUED..)

 “You’re kidding me.”

 “I am not, Jonathan!” you hissed, looking down the hall. When there was no sign of anyone else coming out of their rooms, you continued on. “I just..left.”

 “But why would you just..that doesn’t make sense! Tell me from the beginning again.”

 Sighing, you sat down in the chair by the kitchen phone. It had been over an hour now of venting to Jonathan and because he’s currently hopped-up on whatever his friend Argyle supplied him, it’s taking longer to explain everything to him. 

 “Fine, but this is the last time.”

 “Last time, promise.”

 You go over the events that happened at the end of the night you spent at Steve’s. It was a bit painful to explain it in detail again but you really needed some advice from your friend. “..And when I looked back, he was standing there. Note in hand and everything.”

 “Christ.” he sighed, “And since then you two haven’t talked?”

 “I called him when I got home that afternoon. Other than that we’ve been thankfully busy. Mostly just school and then work. But I’ve switched with Keith a couple of times to avoid the long hours.”

 “You really know how to put on the theatrics, don’t you?”

 “Seriously?” you gaped, looking at the receiver as if it insulted you and not your friend on the other line. “I’m doing anything for theatrics. I’m literally trying to get out of possibly another fight.”

 “Yeah, which surely won’t happen the next time you see each other again.”

 “I’m sort of hoping it'll resolve itself by then.” he went silent for a moment and you knew that he was possibly coming to his own thoughts on it. “Don’t you think?”

 “I’m thinking you’re not gonna like what I have to say.”

 “I’m sure I can handle it. Just give it to me.” 

 He sighed softly, seeming to be more nervous at your request. But he spoke up either way. “I think you’re in the wrong for asking that much from Steve.”

 “..you’re right. I’m hanging up.” 

 “Would you let me finish?” Jonathan chuckled before he turned serious again. “I get where you’re coming from. I know that in your head it’s just logical for the guy with no official ties there to just leave and go with you.”

 “Good, you get it.” 

 “But,” he continued on. “I also think it’s wrong for you to assume it'd be easy. Steve Harrington has lived in Hawkins his whole life and despite any complaining he might have done to you at some point, a small part of him is gonna be scared shitless to just leave the comforts of home.”

 You frowned at your friend’s words. Hating that a small part of you felt like what you were hearing was right. “But I left home. I haven’t lived there in almost three years..”

 “And I’m sure if your parents asked you to come back you’d tell them no, right?”

 “I—“ the answer died on your tongue. At this point you weren’t sure what you’d actually say to a question like that. While Hawkins the place wasn’t your home, the people that inhabited it were. And you didn’t think you could give up any one of them. Especially Steve.

 “I know it sucks not to have things go your way. But sometimes you gotta take the curveballs life throws at you and do something else.”

 “Something else?” you frowned. “But..what about the relationship? The feelings we worked on getting out..all that was just for nothing? All because we let fear get in the way of progressing it?”

 Jonathan sighed and you can practically envision him with his hand on his hips right now. “Who says you guys are supposed to progress together? What if there’s changes along the way?..Look this is definitely something you should talk to Steve about. But, if this were me in the situation. I’d just do what my heart thinks is right. Even if it’s to the disappointment of others. Just do what makes you happy, you know?”

 The thought about what makes you happy was easy to answer. It was Steve. He was the only thing these days that made you the most happy. But Jonathan was right, if you truly went with what you wanted, some people along the way might get hurt. 

 “Henderson? You still there?”

 “I’m here I’m just..”  you sighed. You were about to ask about his thoughts on taking a gap year when the sound of a car engine cut you off. Dragging the phone and long cord with you, you peeked through the window to see Steve parking in your driveway. “Shit.” you whispered. “Can I call you back later?”

 “What? Why? Is Steve there?”

 “Yes,” you muttered, looking as he seemed to be talking to himself in the car. “I think he must have heard you lecturing me.” 

 “Good. The two of you need to seriously sort your shit out. Anyway, Argyle is gonna come over tonight. He has this new album he wants to show me.”

 “Fine, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

 “All right, sounds good. And look..just hear him out. Maybe he’s going through something we don’t know about, okay?” 

 The two of you muttered out a quick goodbye before dropping the phone back down. Grabbing your thick coat off the coat rack, you quickly made your way out the door. Closing it up behind you with a swift thud as Steve had just made his way out of his car.

 “Oh, hey.” he said nervously. “Guess you heard me coming in.”

 “Yeah.” you said plainly. “I was by the door anyway..”

 The two of you slowly moved towards each other. His usually confident demeanor faltered as he approached. His eyes, usually warm when looking at you, had a dull shine. Snow crunched beneath your boots as you both met in the middle of the driveway. It made your stomach twist to know that the two of you were not only nervous but awkward with each other. Even when you hated Steve you never felt this bad.

 “I missed you.” He said softly, reaching a hand out to place on your arm. “I missed you all week actually.” 

 “I missed you too.” you said softly, not even realizing that amidst the trouble, there was the need to see him again until he was before you now. Your eyes caught sight of a little patch of green peeking out from his shirt. Reaching forward you pull down his coat to expose the familiar tacky vest from work. “You came from work..”

 He chuckled a bit, nodding his head before he unzipped his coat, exposing the rest of the vest to you.“Yeah, I did. Would have come sooner, but I was sort of building up the courage.”

 That tugged at your heart a bit and you reached out to cup at his cheek. Rubbing with your thumb soothingly. “You should never be afraid to talk to me..”

 He reached up to place his hand on top of yours, a small smile on his face. “Never. I’ll always want to talk to you..it was getting you to talk to me that made me nervous.”

 Sighing, you look down to the ground. Not sure how the two of you were going to approach this. But things couldn’t continue this way. Turning your attention back to Steve, you give him what you hope came off as reassurance. “I’m listening..”

 Changing your hand to lace together, he led you over so that the two of you could lean against your Aunt’s car. Shading you under the roof of the parking spot and also placing you closer to his side. 

 “I have a small confession.” he murmured, moving his other free hand into his pocket. “I did come with other intentions than just talking.”

 You watched as he dug out a small box from his pocket. The size was oddly too familiar with something else but he quickly opened it up before you could question it. Peering down, you looked inside to find a beautiful gold necklace. 

 “Steve,” you softly gasped. “It’s not even Christmas yet.”

 “Humor me.” he said before reaching in. He pulled at the chain until he was able to dangle the center of the necklace to you. A small letter ‘S’ shined back at you. Nudging at your shoulders, he gently turned you around so that he could place the necklace around your neck, quickly locking it on. 

 Turning back to face him, the two of you glanced down at the accessory. It was a perfect fit. And though you’ve never been one to have your boyfriend’s name be proudly displayed for others to see, the small little S made your heart beat faster.

 “I've, uh, wanted to give that to you for some time now.” he said, clearing his throat. Almost nervously. “That box has been sitting in my sock drawer since the summer, honestly.” 

 “The summer?” you asked, “Why?”

 “Remember that night before we were stuck in the elevator?”

 You couldn’t help but smile a bit at the memory. It was the night that cemented your feelings for Steve. “Yeah,” you nodded. “There was that mess on the roof, then I got upset and you came over to cheer me up..it was perfect.”

 Steve smiled at that, nodding his head in agreement. 

 “That night changed everything for me.” He reached up to cup the side of your face, eyes boring down to yours when he suddenly turned serious. “I wanted to tell you I loved you a thousand times that night. But seeing as we weren’t there yet, I settled for trying to make a grand gesture sort of thing.”

 “You’ve loved me since that night?”

 “I’ve loved you since Prom, Honey.” 

 Your jaw slacked at the small confession. Unsure how you could have missed at all that Steve’s feelings for you had been that serious then. Prom had been the first time in months since the two of you kissed and he felt that strongly then?

 His hand reached out to hold the necklace, brushing his fingers lightly over the letter before he let go. “I got this the next day. Right in Starcourt.” he said, voice tinged with some sort of fondness. “Was gonna give it to you right when you entered the store, but then..”

 “I came from Billy’s attack.” you finished, reaching up to hold onto the necklace. “You wanted to give me this since then?”

 “I wanted to give it to you as a way to ask you to be my girl,” he looked down at the ground sadly. “But I guess now I’m giving it to you, to ask if you’re still my girl?” 

 You breath hitched at his words. It would seem leaving didn’t just prevent a fight from happening, but also put in a whole new worry for Steve. “I’m always gonna be your girl, Steve.” you said softly, reaching over to grab hold of his hand. 

 “Then why does it feel like I’m about to lose you?” 

 “You don’t have to lose me, Steve.” You sighed, letting go to lean back against the car. “In fact, I think me asking you to come with me proved otherwise.” 

 He straightened his composer, lips pursing at your words before he glanced up at you. “I told you, I can’t go with you. Not when I feel like I still need to be here.” 

 “I don’t get it, Steve.” You scoffed, pushing your hair away from your face. “How can you easily give me this necklace, talk about loving me for so long only to let me leave without even thinking about coming with me.” 

 “I can love you and know where I want to go, Trouble. It’s pretty easy to do both things.” He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “What I don't get is how you can love me back but be upset that I want to stay here. Why is long distance out of the question?”

 “Because long distance isn’t feasible for us, Steve!” You moved to stand before him, peering up at his face better. “How can you and I, the same two people who sneak into each other’s houses in the dead of the night, the very people who are constantly touching each other, suddenly just deal with the next four years without seeing each other.”

 “We’d see each other,” he pointed. “We’d have holidays, birthdays, and surprises. There’s ways we’d work things out.” 

 You sighed, meeting his intense gaze. "Those are only if we even get the chance to see each other. You’re forgetting that there are going to be nights where the both of us are tired from either work or school and we wouldn’t even have the comfort of having each other.”

 He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I know but Hawkins is... it's my home. There's something here I can't just walk away from."

 “But you’re willing to walk away from us? From me?” you asked, trying to keep your voice steady from the sudden ache in your throat. “I thought we were a team. I thought we'd want the same things..”

 He paced back and forth, unable to meet your gaze as he suddenly became torn. "My friends are here, my family is here.”

 "Why do you insist on staying stuck in Hawkins? You have so much potential, Steve. You could go anywhere, do anything, but you're choosing not to."

 The word slipped out before you could see the impact cut across Steve’s hurt face. It was the same word that Tommy had used just the other month and from Steve’s furrowed brows, you could tell it struck a nerve again. 

 "I'm not stuck, okay?” He gritted. “This is where I belong right now. I've got responsibilities here."

 "Responsibilities? What about your own dreams, Steve? What about your future?" you pressed again, exasperated at the fact that almost a week later and he still wasn’t seeing it. 

 "I've got people here who rely on me here, despite what you want or think." he countered, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

 "But what about you? Have you ever thought about what you want?" you shot back, feeling the weight of the disagreement hit again. 

 He hesitated for a moment, eyes cast down on the ground before he could meet your gaze again. "Maybe I've never really thought about all of it. But I can't just up and leave everything behind.”

 "It's not about leaving everything behind, Steve. It's about growing, exploring, finding your own path," 

 There was a life for Steve outside of Hawkins. Outside of you, and though your main point was to have him explore that life with you, it was hurting to see that he didn’t want that for himself. 

 “Look, I know it’s new for me to not agree to what you want, but this isn’t by choice. Even when I was with Nancy, I told her the same thing. I’d stick around, make sure she was okay and work here. I wanna do that for everyone.” 

 Bringing up Nancy brought up a sour feeling that you shoved down. Knowing that in some way, this was Steve’s poor excuse. “I’m not Nancy Wheeler. Okay? I’m not gonna sit back and let the boy I love waste potential in a place that doesn’t deserve him.” you glared. “And in case you can’t tell, the others are all grown up now. They’re in high school, Robin is following up right after me in graduating. What happens when they’re all gone, Steve? Is that the time you figure out you wanna be with me?”

 Steve circled back towards you, finger pointing over at you. “That’s not fair for you to say. You know I want you, God, it’s literally the one thing that’s been consistent since I met you. Why can’t you understand that me being here doesn’t mean I’m not with any plans of my own, huh? Why is it automatically your way or nothing?”

 Tears welled up in your eyes the longer you stared at Steve. “Then tell me!” you cried out. Frustrated that you pushed him into thinking things had to go your way. “Tell me what it is you want! Because as far as I know it just sounds like excuses to not be with me!”

 “I thought I made that clear a while ago. I want you, dammit!” he yelled, moving to gently place his hands on your shoulders. “Please, can we just pause this? I need some time to figure this out. Can we... can we take a break from this?"

 You held your breath. Not quite ready to have Steve be so suddenly upset from all this. You couldn’t help but think back to what Jonathan warned you about. Steve wasn’t ready to leave this place. Even if you didn’t understand, it didn’t change how he felt. No matter how much you wished it would. 

 “What’s gonna change in the next six months, Steve? We fall even harder for each other and break up then? When are we finally gonna stop going in circles over this and realize we’re on different paths?”

 “Different paths?” he asked softly, confusion over his face. 

 “Yeah,” you sniffled. “Different paths..” 

 His jaw slacked a bit and you tried to keep your composure tough but the realization is hitting harder than you thought it would. Before you know it, your vision of Steve is suddenly blurred by your tears and you’re swaying in place to keep from running back in the house to burst into a sob.

 “Honey..”

 “I think we want different things, Steve. I want to explore, grow, and I thought we'd do that together. But if you can't leave Hawkins..then I need to understand that I can't ask you to." Wiping at your eyes, your sight cleared up to catch his expression mirrored the same anguish you felt inside.“I never meant to push this choice onto you. Not when you weren’t ready. I want you to want things with me. But if you aren’t ready then I need to let you go..”

 “Please,” he pleaded, “I love you.”

 "I love you too," you whispered, ignoring the ice that was gripping onto your heart at the moment. "But if we keep this same argument months later..who knows what might happen. We might even grow to hate each other..”

 He reached for your hand, desperation in his eyes as he pulled you closer. "We can work this out. We've been through so much worse than this."

 "I know, but this is different," you said softly, pulling your hand away gently. "I feel like we both need to figure ourselves out.”

 "I don't want to lose you," he pleaded, voice cracking. 

 "I don't want to lose you either," you admitted, tears streaming down your cheeks. "But I need to move forward. And I don’t think I can do that when I know there’s going to be pain in the future.”

 He looked broken as he watched you take a step back. Hand twitching out to you before he brought it down to his side. "What... what do you want me to do?"

 The words felt like knives, but they needed to be said. "I need you to let me go too, Steve..”

 His eyes glistened with unshed tears, his silence speaking volumes. "So this is it?" he finally whispered. “After everything we’re just..over?”

 “Please, Steve.” you pleaded softly. “Let me go too.” 

 his hand reached up to cup your cheek, his gaze searching into yours. "This is what you really want?" You nodded, feeling a lump form in your throat. 

 "Yes."

 His lips met yours in a tender, bittersweet kiss, filled with all the love, and heartache that lingered between the two of you. It was a goodbye in itself, a lingering moment that you wished would go on for an eternity.

 When you pulled back, you carefully reached up to return the necklace, feeling like you were the person least deserving to wear his sign of love. But Steve quickly reached out to stop your hands. Shaking his head as he carefully readjusted it on you.

 “I’m– it’s yours. Regardless if we break up or not.” 

 Tears welled up in your eyes as you clutched the necklace tightly. "Steve..."

 "Please," he insisted softly. "You wanted me to make some decisions for myself? You keeping that is one of them.” 

 With a heavy heart, you watched as Steve stepped away from you. Hand reaching up to pinch at the side of his nose as he tried to conceal his emotions from coming through. It took everything in you to let him return back to his car. 

 You thought back to what Jonathan had said about doing what your heart thought was right. Even if it was to the disappointment of others. 

 Little did you know it’d be you who was disappointed in the end.

 JANUARY (THREE WEEKS LATER) 

 It had been a long dead night over at Family Video. The soft radio playing from the speakers was the only noise between you and Robin for the past hour. Something you were a little grateful for considering the awkwardness that came in when you first clocked in for your night shift.

 It was three weeks since that night in the driveway and things within your small group of friends had turned painfully stagnant. Whether it be from your three week reclusive approach, or Steve’s avoiding one. No one knew how to handle the break up. Hell, neither one of you would so why would your friends be able to?

 But along with the sadness between you and Steve came the awkwardness with Robin. Stuck between being friends with the both of you. It wasn’t until a couple of days ago that she had slipped up about knowing the details of everything that happened. Causing your walls to momentarily come up around her. 

 But that happened over a week ago and you were really trying not to push away one of your newer friends all because of a bad breakup. Robin was nice to you before even knowing Steve personally. So with that in mind, you tried your best the whole night to be friendlier. Or as friendly as you could be. But that didn’t mean it was going to be easy.

 Robin had restocked the snacks, you organized the return tapes, and then lastly the two of you worked together to set up a promo spot for tomorrow’s movie selections, All in record timing. Once Robin noticed you were slowly opening up again, she seemed to be keen to make up for the few awkward hours before. 

 “I don’t know how I feel about Weird Science.” Robin sighed, looking over the stack of movies facing the door. You set down the clipboard with the list of things to order for tomorrow to go join her on the other side of the counter.

 “I know. But, considering we’ve got Fright Night and Teen Wolf up, it’s at least keeping with the whole sciencey-horror theme.”

 “There’s absolutely nothing horror to do with Weird Science.” Robin scoffed as she adjusted one of the boxes, scrunching her nose over at the mini poster for Teen Wolf. “Keith’s gonna kill us.”

 “It can be considered scary if you’re bad at Science?” you tried, looking back over to her. She had a knowing look on her face that had your confidence in the set up crumpling. “Okay, he might. But just say I did it.”

 “Right.” she snorted. “It’s not like he’d ever tell you anything anyway.” 

 Reaching back for the stock list, you go over all the candies once more before sighing. It’s been a slow night and you weren’t looking forward to another hour here. But this was the life of a working teen and you were oddly still putting up with it. 

 Robin, who was quietly tidying up around the register, suddenly let out a loud gasp. “Oh no!” she said, reaching down the counter for her bag. You quickly left the candy area to join back at her side. Looking at her worriedly.

 “What’s wrong?”

 She pulled out a miniature calendar from her bag. Flipping through the pages rapidly until she landed on one with scribbled notes on it. “I completely forgot to write up the assignment needed for the Terminator’s class.” 

 The familiar name amused you momentarily before you glanced over her shoulder to see the circled date. “Shit.” you frowned, “How many pages do you need?”

 “Just three, but I barely had my notes put together yesterday.” she looked through her bag for another notebook before flipping through them for a certain spot. “God I’m gonna have to pull an all-nighter after this.”

 Glancing at your watch, you wince at the late hour. “You need more time.” 

 She ignored you momentarily to push back the notebook and calendar into her bag before coming back up. Biting her lip in worry. You couldn’t help but feel bad for your friend. Feeling the familiar panic of academic stress. Pushing the phone towards her, you nudge for her to take the receiver. “Call Steve to pick you up. Then at least you can get started sooner.”

 “What?” she gaped, looking at the clock on the back wall. “No, I-I can’t do that! You’d be by yourself.”

 “It’s fine, Robin.” you reassured her, pushing the handle into her hands. “Steve will get here fast, and you’ll at least get a big enough head start and maybe catch some hours of sleep before school.” 

 “No,” she shook her head. “I wouldn’t feel right leaving you by yourself. What if some creepy guy comes in and murders you?”

 You stood still blinking over at her. Wondering why she’d mention something so creepy at a time like this. “Not that I needed that new fear, but I’ll be safe. I’m a big girl.” You take the base of the phone, dialing the number practically engraved in your mind before pushing it to her ear. “What I do need is for you to study. So get to begging.”

 There’s a moment of worry on her face before the sound of Steve’s voice perked up through the phone. She thankfully gets the idea of you not backing down from your offer and asks Steve to come take her home. You give her a thumbs up and get the area ready to close off. Needing the distraction from the inevitable moment of seeing Steve again for the first time in days.

 Robin helped too. Making sure the windows and backdoors were all checked and locked before joining you back in the front. It was only a couple of minutes before the headlights of Steve’s car shined through the store.

 A part of you hated the idea of being alone. It was going to be creepy. But the sight of Steve stepping out of his car, hand combing through his lush hair, made you want more than ever for Robin to get out of here. The sound of the door ringing open snapped you into averting your gaze from the boy and you quickly meddled with the few papers in front of you to keep your focus on.

 “Hey, you guys ready to go?”

 “Uh, it’s just me, actually.” Robin said, grabbing her bag. “Henderson is gonna wait out till closing and for her Aunt to pick her up.”

 Without even having to look up, you knew that Steve’s eyes were on you now. It was like a magnetic pull that he still had on you. But you couldn’t look up just yet. Not when you knew what kind of face he’d be giving you right now. “Is that true?” he asked softly. 

 “Uhh, yeah, I was gonna call her in twenty minutes and let her know.” you coughed, face down. The sound of his keys jingling was oddly loud, but not as loud as the sound of your heart beat. 

 Before you knew it, Steve moved to stand in front of you at the counter. Forcing you to finally make eye contact with him. His eyes were etched with the same worry that looked at you the night in your driveway. You tried not to visibly recoil from the ache that burst into your chest.

 “I could come back for you.” he offered softly. A small bit of confidence in his voice. 

 “That’s fine, Steve. I’ll get home.”

 “I’m serious,” he frowned. “I could just come back. You’d be able to close up and maybe get some–”

 “NO.” you said quickly, having to physically take a step back. There’s a flicker of hurt over Steve’s face and he’s balled up the fist holding onto his keys. You can’t help but feel like how it was that second year here when you were cruel to him on purpose. Pushing him away from having still been mad at him. 

 You didn’t feel good then and you don’t feel good now.

“I’ll be fine,” you said more nicely after a minute of awkward silence. “You should take her home..she really needs the extra time.”

 He glanced over at Robin, giving her a questioning look, but all she did was mouth a please to him before he nodded his head. Backing away from the counter almost defeatedly. “Be safe.” he said softly, shuffling over towards the front door. 

 Taking that as a leaving cue, Robin picked up her bag from the counter. Reaching over to place her hand over yours as she threw you a sympathetic smile. “I owe you a million for this. Call me later so I know you’re okay?”

 “A million and one.” you said softly, trying to smile back. But with Steve’s presence there you’re sure it’s more wincing than you wished. “I’ll call you.” you added.

 The two make their leave after that agreement. Quietly making their exit from the store while you stayed over at the counter. They quickly enter the car, leaving you and family video alone for the rest of the night.

  Thirty minutes later and you’re done with the store being dead. If Keith wanted to get mad at you for closing early, then he could pout about it in the office tomorrow. Right now, all you wanted was to get into your bed and try not to think about the haunting brown eyes that looked at you with such concern tonight. 

 Picking up the phone, you made an attempt to reach out to someone at home. But with your Aunt possibly still out and Dustin most likely hanging out with your friends, there’s no one there to answer your call. You’re suddenly filled with panic of how the hell you’re getting out of here. 

 A part of you thinks it might be fine to just call Steve. It’s not like he’d be upset since he was so adamant before. But even the short car ride home would be long enough for that horrible pain to come back in and you didn’t think you could handle that. Nor did you want to put Steve through that either.

 Looking at your watch, you realize you’ll at least be able to make the last bus for the night if you close up now.

 Rushing to the back, you make a move to grab your jacket and purse, ready to lock up and get the hell out of here. But before you could grab the keys, you could hear the sound of the door’s bell jingle. 

 “Dammit!” you whispered to yourself. Of course tonight you’d still have to deal with annoying customers. Turning off the light in the room, you grab the keys and slowly enter back into the front. “Uh hey, sorry but we’re actually closing up–”

 The sight of an empty front desk killed off your words instantly.

 “Hello?” you called out. Taking a small hesitant step, you enter the counter booth and try to peer out into the store. There isn’t a soul in the place. 

 Biting your lip, you reached over to the phone on the counter. Unsure of who’d you’d even cal-

 “Lovely night, isn’t it?” 

 You let out a small yelp, grabbing the clipboard near you and swatting it to the direction of the mysterious voice. 

 “OW!” 

 Peeking your eyes open, you’re welcomed to the sight of Eddie rubbing the side of his head. A glare on his face as he looked over at you. 

 “Is that how you greet all your customers?” he chided.

 Setting down the clipboard, you use your hands to lean against the counter. Getting in some air to help calm you down before you looked back up at Eddie again. This time you used your hand to slap at his arm.

 “OKAY! Really?!” he asked as he moved to rub his hand. 

 “Yes, Eddie, really! Why the hell did you come in and scare me like that?”

 “Scare you?” he scoffed. “I said it was a nice night!”

 Frowning, you crossed your arms over your chest. “Oh yeah? And so sneaking up behind me as I called out to a totally empty store didn’t make you think I’d freak out?”

 “I thought you’d enjoy a different kind of greeting.” 

 Sighing, you turned away from Eddie, ignoring his presence momentarily so that you could finish up all that you needed before you’d eventually push him out. Even if you were about to have a heart attack, you’d still make it in time to catch that bus.

 “So I’m bored tonight.” Eddie yawned out, moving to stand in front of the counter before you. Unaware that you’ve moved on to closing up rather than waiting around. 

 “How fun.” you replied back, collecting the inventory papers together. 

 He tapped his hands against the counter, looking over the place before the VHS display caught his attention. “None of these go together.” he snorted, picking up one of the tapes. “Weird Science wasn’t even scary.”

 “I wasn’t going for scary.” you muttered, reaching out to grab the tape from his hands to set out on the counter. “I was going for..sciencey-horror..ish.”

 “Ish?” he smirked. “When did they bring in that genre?”

 “They brought it in just for Family Video, didn’t you know?” you shrugged. 

 He reached over for the copy of Fright Night next. Reading the back description out loud to himself before his gaze returned back on you. “Got a thing for vamps?”

  “Nah, but that Chris Sarandon is kinda hot.” you said quickly as you grabbed the tape and scanned it into the checkout before Eddie could change his mind. “Will that be all tonight?”

 He finally caught on to how rushed you were making things. Dramatically, he spun around to look around the store as if he had a line of people waiting behind him. 

 “Are you trying to kick me out, Princess?”

 “Yes!” you laughed, waving your hand out for him to pass over the rental fee. “If I close the store now I can catch the last bus home.”

 Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a couple of crumpled up dollar bills for you. “Why the hell are you taking the bus this late? It’s not safe.”

 You want to tell him because a giant flesh monster scrunched your car up into a ball last summer. But since that wasn’t an option, you settled for the semi truthful answer. “Because I have no car and need to get home.”

 He watched in silence as you flattened out the crumbled money before adding it to the registry. You noticed that he’s given more than needed and figure he’s already prepaying for his inevitable late fee. 

 “So..why don’t I just give you a ride home?”

 You waited until you closed the register before looking over at him. There was a bit of pink to his cheeks and you wondered how someone who had this usual odd confidence could be nervous about offering a ride. 

 “You know, Robin warned me about creepy guys coming in tonight.” you teased, watching as his face turned from nervous to shock. 

 “Offering a ride constitutes me being creepy now?”  

 “Probably.” you laughed as you watched Eddie cross his arms over his chest. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to be a bother to your night anyway. You were probably coming in to grab a movie and head home.”

 “It’d be an honor to drive you home, Henderson. Lord knows I gotta work on doing the whole nice friend thing.”

 “Oh and we’re friends suddenly?”

 “It’s what I’d call us.”

 Quickly, you closed up the computer, shutting it down so that you can end the night finally. “You kinda have to know a thing or two about each other before you can say you’re friends.” you pointed out before reaching down to grab your stuff. 

 “You know a lot about me.”

 “Like?”

 He tapped at the cover of the tape smiling at you. “That I got a thing for vamps too.” he winked, making you roll your eyes. “Besides, what better way to get to know each other better than with a nice ride home?”

 You let out a small sigh, unsure what the hell you were just about to agree to. But if he was cool enough to hang out with Dustin and his friends. Then you shouldn’t dwell too much on the simple favor. Right? 

 “It wouldn’t be trouble for you?”

 “You’re trouble, that’s for sure.” he chuckled. “But the ride isn’t.”

 The words sound all too familiar to you and you can’t help but blink a couple of times over at him. He’s not aware of the history of that nickname, and you hold back on telling him in favor of nodding your head. 

 “Let’s head out then.” you said instead.

 The next five minutes are left with you closing up the store with Eddie closely behind you. Talking about his recent venture out to Indianapolis for the weekend and how he’s excited to finally finish up the school year, again. 

 Oddly, you found yourself actually enjoying his company. It was sort of light spirited and completely free of problems. Something you haven’t had in a while. The only downside was playing down events that took part in the time you’ve dealt with the upside down. Like how you became close to Nancy and Jonathan. Or why Billy’s break up with you was a bigger deal and the fight he had with Steve. Or the damn mall fire. Everything had to be vague, but Eddie didn’t seem to mind. He actually enjoyed talking less about the heavy stuff and focusing instead on the more fun. 

 It was nice not to really think of the stresses you were bound to have this year and focus on silly things. Like what sort of bands Eddie listened to. 

 “So Iron Maiden isn’t a cool rock band led by girls?”

 “It’s like you’re musically inept outside of pop.” Eddie laughed as he parked his car just on the street of your house. You couldn't help but laugh at his reaction before you shrugged your shoulders. 

 “It’s not all pop. I like rock too.”

 “Really? You like rock. Like who?”

 “Joan Jett.” you said simply after thinking it over for a second. “She’s got killer makeup, great voice, good music. I love her songs. ” He raised a brow at you, almost waiting out to see if you were fibbing or not. 

 “She is pretty cool.” he agreed eventually before slapping gently at the wheel. “All right, that settles it. The Henderson family is officially a lot cooler than I expected.”

 “Oh?” you laughed. “You’re just figuring this out now?”

 “Not to mention you’re all so humble too.” 

 You playfully slapped his shoulder. “Don’t you forget it.” you smirked, reaching down to grab your bag from the floor. “Thank you for the ride and music lesson. I guess that means people from the Munson family are a lot nicer than I expected.”

 “Ahh, that stings a little.” he laughed, shaking his head. “But honestly, I think you should just say that the Munson family are nice to people like you.”

 “People like me?” you frowned, unsure what he meant exactly by that. “Care to elaborate?”

 “I would,” he said as he glanced towards your driveway. “But it’s late and a gentleman should never keep a lady from getting some sleep.”

 “Suddenly you’re a gentleman?”

 “Get out of my van.” he deadpanned, waving you off. “Here I am trying to charm you and you’re throwing me off with your quips.” 

 With a giggle you climbed down from the seat, ready to close the door after you when suddenly a thought came into mind. “Maybe we can hang out again?” you said softly, unsure of where you were going with this offer. “You can tell me what kind of person I’m like and maybe show me more of those groups you wouldn’t shut up about?”

 Eddie’s chest rose as he quickly sucked in some air. His brown eyes widened in shock before he quickly changed his face back to his familiar smile. “And you’d be okay hanging out with a creep like me?”

 “Wouldn’t be my first time.”

 He seemed to question that answer before he shrugged his shoulders. “You got a deal. I’ll uh, see you soon then.” He held up the VHS tape with a small smile. “That is if Chris Sarandon doesn’t get me.”

 “Oh that’s terrible.” You laughed, finding humor in his cheesy words. But instead of being embarrassed, he only grinned wider. Like that was the reaction he was looking for.

 “As long as it’s gotcha laughing.” He winked before changing the gear in his car. “Till next time, Princess!”

 You waved him off, waiting until he was turned around and back on the street before making your way up the driveway to your house. It’s odd but you found that you’re smiling genuinely about something for the first time in weeks. And it’s because of Eddie Munson of all people. Making a new friend must have been the thing you needed right now. Especially when you thought about how much you’d be laughing when you got to hang out with him again.

 “Your Aunt’s car looks a lot like Eddie Munson’s van.” said a voice suddenly, disrupting your thoughts. 

 It scared you a bit. Causing you to let out a small gasp as your head snapped towards the direction of the noise. 

 At your house stood Steve. Back resting against the front door with his head hung to keep his gaze downward and off from you. The gravel beneath your feet was the only noise as you slowly made your way over.

 “What are you doing here?” you asked slightly out of breath. Your composure was calm but the sight of Steve standing there had you feeling anxious. 

 “I drove by your house and noticed no one was home..was worried you’d still be stuck at the store.”

 “Oh.” 

 He pushed himself off the wall, closing the rest of the gap that kept you two apart. On his face was a look you weren’t quite place. Was it anger? Disappointment? Worry? Jealousy? 

 “I could’ve come back for you.”

 “Steve..” you sighed. He held up a hand, shaking his head as he seemingly tried to calm himself down. 

 “We wouldn’t have had to talk. It could have been just a ride. You’d have never needed to talk to Eddie Munson or get a ride from him.” 

 There’s a hint of disdain the way he dragged out Eddie’s name and you couldn’t help but sigh again. This was something you had worried about when Dustin had started to hang out with Eddie. The two were close these days. With how long that ridiculous game took, it’d be crazy for them to not have bonded by now. And while you knew deep down that your cousin could hold strong friendships with everyone. Steve did not.

 For a short while, Dustin was the closest thing he had to a best friend before Robin came into the picture. But the very idea of Steve hating a simple ride from Eddie threw you off.  

 “He came to rent a movie right when I tried calling home. Okay?” you crossed your arms, tilting your head a bit. “He’s a nice guy..he offered the ride when I told him I didn’t have a car.”

 “But I could have come. I would have.”

 “I didn’t want you to come.” You said slowly watching again as the bitter truth caused the hurt cut across Steve’s face. “We haven’t been alone in weeks. The silence would only make things..painful.”

 His head dropped quickly to look back to the ground while you wrapped your arms around yourself. This wasn’t the kind of shit you wanted to add to Steve’s list of problems. The break up was hard..period. But no matter how you go about things, you can’t stop this pain from coming in. 

 “I just wanted to make sure you were safe..” 

 “I know..thank you.” 

 He looked back up and raised a hand. Almost like he was going to reach out for you. And while you were dying to feel the touch of his skin again, doing that would probably only make things harder on the two of you. So without another thought, you took a step back from him. 

 His hand dropped quickly, stuffing into his pocket while he covered up his face with his other hand. Rubbing at the corners of his nose before he turned his gaze back towards the road. There was a glazed sort of look in his eyes. 

 “Right, so you’re here. I’ll just uh, head back home.” 

 You’re about to nod your head, but Steve didn’t even get the chance to see as he quickly turned and dashed away from your side. Moving towards the direction of the driveway. The sight of his retreating figure only hurt your chest even more as your thoughts were plagued with all the things he must be thinking right now. 

 The night of Tina’s Halloween party came into mind. The way he looked driving you home after hearing the truth from Nancy’s drunken confession. Before you know it, you’re chasing after him. 

 “Steve?” you called out when you reached close to his backside. He spun around quickly, almost bumping into you and causing you to fall back. But he quickly reached out to catch you. Cradling you close to his side until you were able to get your footing right.

 “Are you alright?” He asked, checking over you before he let go. His eyes were red and even if it weren’t cold you’d know it was from how he was probably feeling right now. 

 Reaching out, you couldn’t help but cup at his cheek. Watching as his eyes slipped close from the relaxing touch. It’s been weeks since either of you have been able to share this kind of comfort. An intimate moment that you shouldn’t be having with him. Not when things were already so hard. But just because things were over doesn’t mean the need to make sure Steve was okay could go away so easily. Especially when in moments like this, when he still meant the world to you.

 “I need time.” you said quickly, ignoring the worried voice in your head. 

 “Time?” he asked softly, eyes opening slowly to look down at you. The pad of your thumb brushed over his cheek and you could feel the warmth underneath. Your mind replays a supercut of all the moments you’ve felt that cheek. Kissing, against your own, against your body.

 God this was a mess. You were a mess.

 “I need time to feel comfortable around you again..I need to get over you, Steve. But I can’t do that if you’re still trying to be my hero..”

 “Hero.” he chuckled sadly, shaking his head from your gip. The brim of his eyes were red and he looked suddenly tired. “Never really did a good job of that, huh? Guess I’m supposed to be just your coworker now?”

 For a second you couldn’t speak. Only shaking your head no as you tried to reassure him that what he was thinking wasn’t true. He was everything to you. He could never be anything as casual as a coworker. But at the moment, you didn’t know what you could call Steve. He wasn’t your boyfriend, nor your enemy, and friend felt wrong. 

 “You’re just..Steve.”

 His throat bobbed. Like that was the worst answer he was expecting. And though you wanted to reach out again and pull him close, you couldn’t. Because this was just how things had to be. Just the two of you stuck in this limbo of love and loss. 

 “Right,” he said after a minute. “Just..Steve.”

 You opened your mouth, ready to apologize if what you said came off worse than you thought. But Steve quickly caught onto that and held a hand up, waving you off a bit. “I get it.” he said a bit curtly. “I’ll see you around, Hone–Troub– Henderson.”

 Again he’s gone from your side without a proper look at your reaction. He practically sprinted over to his car across the street, not once turning back. It was only a second after he pushed himself into his seat that his car was revving to life and leaving the block. 

 You waited out until you couldn’t see the taillights of his car before you forced yourself inside the house. 

 The usual warmth of your home wasn’t welcoming at all. All it reminded you was how cold you were feeling and no matter what, nothing could thaw out this permafrost that surrounded your heart. The empty house taunted you with the loneliness you were feeling. 

 That’s because you’re alone now. (Tick)

 “I’m not alone.” you whispered softly, making your way to your room.

 You will be. (Tock)

 FEBRUARY (VALENTINE’S DAY)

 It’s four weeks after that night in front of your house that you found yourself with Eddie Munson again. The two of you have changed simple hang outs into make outs,then into something else you couldn’t quite place. This night in particular, you found yourself knocking on his trailer door after work. 

 “Fuck, don’t stop.” Eddie groaned.

 The two of you were sitting on the dingy couch. Some loud tv show playing in the background as you straddled Eddie’s strong thigh. It’s been like this for a while now. What was originally just a chance to makeout with someone you trusted on Valentine’s day. Turned into Eddie flirting with you and you eventually feeling the need to make up for his lack of dating life. 

 It was Valentine’s day and you had unfortunately worked the night shift over at Family Video. Something you would have been pissed about last year. But considering the current changes in your love life, you didn’t have the room to be too upset. Especially when you found out you worked with Robin. That gave the two of you five hours to complain about how complicated love was. 

 Kind of like how your relationship with Eddie had turned from friends to..complicated.

 “God, you’re so whiny.” you smirked, pausing the movements of your hands. You glanced down to his lap, getting another look at the size of Eddie’s cock. It was red and hard against the base of his stomach. Weeping from the tip from the few strokes you had given him. It was only the second time you’ve done this with Eddie and you’re still stunned by how he gets from a simple handjob.

 “Shut up.” he gritted, letting his head sag back against the couch. “If you’d have any idea how good you are at this, you’d be just as desperate too.” The ego boost does something to you, and you quickly lean in to press your lips roughly against his. Causing the boy to let out a loud groan before he fought back. 

 The kiss was so different from your past boyfriends. Billy had always been so dominant, taking what he wanted without thinking too much if you liked it or not. Steve’s was sweet, hot, and romantic. As if it were the last kiss on Earth. And Eddie’s was fierce. Like he wanted you to remember him hours later.

 The tip of his tongue poked through your lips, brushing against yours as he deepened the kiss. His hand went down from your neck to grab at your hips. Pulling you closer into his lap. It made your head spin a bit but you pulled back enough to tighten your grip around his cock. Picking up the pace with your wrist. During times like this, Eddie never lasted long. He was already riding high from just kissing, and with the added teasing he’d never make it long.

 His other arm moved to grip at your thigh. Digging his fingers with every jerk that his hips gave as he reached closer to his climax. He jerked his leg up, giving you a slight sensation between your legs as you straddled him. While small, the touch was stimulating enough to have your eyes fluttering a bit. It’s been a while since you’ve really let anyone get you this aroused but you’re finding it hard not to roll your hips.

 “That is, princess.” he cooed, making your face get a hot flush. “Let me make you feel good.”

 The dirty words had your head spinning a bit and you pulled back enough to stick your face into his neck. Sucking lightly against the vein on his neck while continuing to jerk your wrist. Eddie’s breathing began to grow louder. 

 “Yes, fuck, please don’t stop.” Eddie rasped, letting the wrecked voice send a chill up your back. It pleased you to know you had this boy at the mercy of your hands. Moving your hand and wrist faster now in order to work him over. You made sure to use your long nails at the sensitive skin of his cock, causing Eddie to whimper whenever it was dragged closer to his slit.

 He moved to rest his face against your neck, pressing soft kisses at your skin while his other hand moved to cup at your breast. The only material keeping him from touching your warm skin being the bra you managed to keep on during his fondling earlier. 

 The gentle squeezing plus the ridge on his thigh you were rolling on hit just the right spot to have you letting out a moan yourself. Unfortunately, with how close Eddie was, there wasn’t going to be a chance for you to come with him. 

 “Come for me, Ed.” you whispered into his ear, another shudder falling from him. Stopping your rolling, you gave the base of his cock one good squeeze before jerking at a quicker pace. 

 The base of his member twitched in your hands and when Eddie let go of your breast, you watched in awe as he gripped to your hips, focusing down at your movements before he let out a loud guttural moan. 

 Ropes of white hot cum began to shoot out from the slit of his cock, coating your hand as you carefully continued with the jerking motion. It wasn’t until you watched as Eddie’s head fell back from ecstasy that you gently let go of him. 

 The mess before you doesn’t help with your sudden unattended arousal, but you remove yourself anyway. Quietly letting him know you were going to clean yourself off. The water quickly washed away all the remnants of your night and you quickly glanced up to fix up your appearance. The sight of your necklace quickly stole your attention.

 The small single ‘S’ sitting on the middle of your chest brought a pang of guilt to your chest. You hadn’t taken off the necklace since the night Steve gave it to you. Something that was probably wrong considering what you were just doing with Eddie. But wearing it brought you a sense of comfort that you couldn’t bring yourself to give up. 

 After you got yourself together, you emerged from the bathroom to find Eddie was still on the couch. He was tucked back in his pants but still with the belt unbuckled as he continued to catch his breath. A small snicker fell past your lips and you quickly covered your mouth when his eyes turned to look over at you. 

 “It’s not funny.” he frowned, trying not to smile at your amusement. “I’m literally a mess and you’re looking over at me with that goofy grin on your face.”

 “My face is never goofy.” you said as a matter of fact, hand reaching up to gently hold onto the necklace. “If anything, it’s your position that’s goofy.”

 Eddie held a hand up, pretending to mimic your voice through his hand while you moved towards the couch. It was a struggle to find your sweater amongst the mess of the room, especially when you just threw it behind you earlier. But before you could bend over to pick up the item, Eddie had climbed up from the couch to you. 

 Placing his hands gently at your hips so that he could have you face him. “Let me make you feel good, Princess. I know you didn’t get to come.” he said softly, rubbing his thumbs on the bare expanse of your stomach. 

 It hurt to look up into Eddie’s eyes. They were warm and so full of a genuine interest in you. Like you were the only person he cared to look at. It made moments like this confusing. Where your mind knew that this would make you feel right and move on, but something in your heart made it hard to follow through it. 

 Letting go of the necklace, you reached out to cup the side of Eddie’s face. Letting your thumb brush across the apple of his cheek before you gently pressed a kiss. “I’m fine.” you said softly, getting out of his grip to reach for the sweater. From the side of your eyes, you could see that Eddie was watching you as you pulled the material over your head.

 From his calmness you knew where this conversation was going to go. It’s not the first time Eddie’s pointed out an offer nor would it likely be his last.

 “Hey,” he coughed softly, shuffling awkwardly closer so he could rest a hand against your arm. “I didn’t mean to put you off.” Calmly you moved over to place yours on top, rubbing soothingly in hopes to get that worried look off his face.

 “It’s okay.” you said softly, not really having the courage to tell him what you were thinking. “Like I said, I’m fine with what we’re doing now.”

 Eddie reached out and gently brushed a hair away from your face. “Are you?” he asked slowly. “Or..are you I don’t know, nervous? I mean shit, I’m more than grateful for what we do now..and labels are shit. But if you’re wanting to be something more official in order to feel comfortable doing more then I’m more than happy to–”

 “I like us being friends, Eddie.” you cut in. Scared for what words might come out next. You weren’t ready for that kind of talk. “Even if what we’re doing is not the most normal thing friends do. I like just hanging out and having fun.”

 There’s a flicker of something in Eddie’s eyes. Like he might have wanted a different answer. But he threw you his signature goofy smile and leaned in to press a mushy, rough kiss to your lips. Causing you to laugh against his hold. 

 “Sounds good to me, Princess. Now I’ve kept you stuck in this dump long enough. You should probably head off home.”

 You turned your watch over, noting that while it was a little bit late, it wasn’t the worst you’ve come home at. But since Eddie’s Uncle might be coming home soon, it’d probably be easier to leave now than stick around and dance around the friends with semi benefits relationship.

 “I’ll see you later, Eddie. You rest up.” you smiled, taking a step back from him. He chuckled at that, waving you off as you quickly made your way out the trailer door. The residents of Forest Hills trailer park were quiet that night. A dark and eerie chill going up your spine as you made your way over to your Aunt’s car. Across the way you glanced towards Max’s trailer. 

 The majority of her lights were all off aside from one flickering light from the main front window. Things had been rough for her lately. Ever since her stepdad took off and her Mother started working two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. Things haven’t been the easiest. Especially with the sudden downsizing in lifestyle.

 You wished you could make things easier. But honestly, you didn’t have much you could say to Max that you thought would make her feel better. The events of the summer battle caught up to her and she began to close everyone off. Including you. 

 She was protecting herself from others. Every approach was met with a cold wall that you couldn’t crack. No matter what you or her friends did, she was a different girl now. She was here in Hawkins but her mind was somewhere else. And if you were being honest, you’d say that you were starting to feel the same.

 Your mind was busy focusing on other things like school, work, and your new thing with Eddie. But your heart wasn’t in it. Not the way it should be. It was permanently stuck in a loop of being unable to enjoy the new life you were making for yourself. All because of a boy in Loch Nora who still had power over it.

 Which was where you were now.

 Through the lush houses of the neighborhood and up the driveaway of the path that led to the Harrington household. You’ve been there so many times, but for the first ever you’re nervous to be there. You shouldn’t be here. 

 And you definitely shouldn’t be getting out of the car to walk to the front door. And you really shouldn’t be knocking..

 It only took Steve about a minute to come up to the door. He was more cleaned up since the last time you saw him. His hair was a little shorter, and there was a noticeable little bit of stubble on his lips. Almost like he’s debating whether or not to grow a mustache or not. It’s kind of nice..

 “Hey, you okay?” Steve asked worriedly. His brown eyes looked over your body, almost like he was checking to make sure you weren’t hurt. It was a little embarrassing. You didn’t mean to make him come down to the door, let alone be suddenly worried about you. 

 “I’m sorry…I just ended up here.” you whispered finally. Not really able to think of a better excuse to say. “I should go.” 

 He quickly stopped you by reaching out for your hand. It’s almost like an electric shock to have such contact from him again but you don’t dare let go of his warmth just yet. 

 “What’s wrong?”

 “Nothing.” you shook your head. “I just wanted to–”

 “See me?” He asked softly.

 You look at him for a long time. Feeling such an overwhelming amount of unsurety. Steve was someone who managed to wedge himself into your trust again. He earned it. But right now you were finding yourself struggling to be fully open to him. The thoughts running through your head were leading to a place where you two couldn’t go down. Not when things were so different now. 

 “It’s Valentine’s day,” you said lamely, wincing a bit at the dumb words that quickly came into mind. “D-did you go out?..”

 “You drove all the way over to my house to ask me that?”

 “..yes.” you lied, not needing him to know it was more like an impulsive need to see him tonight than some random inquiry.

 Steve looked a little bit taken back. Probably not quite believing the answer, but eventually went ahead and nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said honestly, to your heart’s dismay. “Uh, with Molly Stevens. I knew her from school last year.” 

 Nodding your head, you tried to control the jealousy that started to fill up in your throat. You have absolutely no right to feel this way about Steve. None whatsoever. But the very idea of him out with another girl brought up such a venom to your throat. 

 “Did you guys..” you waved your arms in front of you in a mindless motion. Stupidly unable to speak the words you’re dreading to hear. Steve looked only slightly amused as he crossed his arms over his chest like he’s caught you in your lie. The dark green shirt looked tight on his biceps, distracting you from that fact very quickly. 

 “No.” he answered simply. “Didn’t feel right.”

 “Right.” you nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief. “That’s um..good. I mean, not good but it’s um—“

 “And what about you?” He interrupted, raising a brow to you. “Did you go out?”

 “I worked tonight..” 

 He turned his wrist over, frowning down at the time his watch displayed to him. “It’s eleven thirty. Store closed at ten.”

 “I may have..gone to hang out with a friend.”

 “With Eddie.” he corrected.

 “Yes.”

 His lips pursed a bit before he took a step closer to you. Pushing your back to rest against the threshold of his door. “And did you guys..?”

 “No, not that.” You said evenly, gauging his reaction. “..but something like it.”

 For a moment Steve looked stunned. Like the words froze him in place. Now that previous venom is turning into guilt. He didn’t even do anything besides go out on an innocent date and here you were ready to burn Hawkins to find her. Meanwhile you were the one actually doing more with another guy.

 For someone that didn’t want to hurt Steve, you sure did so easily. 

 “I’m sorry.. I should go.” You whispered, feeling like you’ve put the guy through enough as of lately. Before you could fully turn around Steve had already reached out for your hand, keeping you in place. 

 The look on his face isn’t the same sad one you saw flicker moments before. It was determined now. Like he was fully trying to understand what you were saying before him. Carefully, he leaned down to press his face inches before yours. The small fan of his sigh brushed over your face. 

 The closeness should make you nervous. It should make you want to step back. But you’re curious to what he would say next.

 “So you mess around with Munson and still end up at my doorstep?” He asked softly. There’s a slight darkness in his tone that should warn you how bad an idea this is. But again, you ignored it. “Did he not make you feel good?”

 “He made me feel..fine.” you whispered back. Not sure how much you want to deep dive into whatever it is you and Eddie were doing. Turning your head up a bit, you peered up at him, placing your hand to rest gently on Steve’s chest to both keep him from getting closer and to get a chance to feel his heartbeat. 

 “Just fine? Not good?”

 “Steve,” you sighed. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.”

 But your words only encouraged him to pull you inside of his home. Keeping an arm hugging at the side of your waist as he pressed your back against the closed door. The personal space is gone out the window now that he’s able to wedge himself between your legs. 

 It’s painfully embarrassing how your body is instinctively trying to wrap around him. But you managed to keep your flat back against the door and legs unwrapped from his waist. But Steve seemed to be aware of your inner dilemma, moving to press himself even closer. 

 “He doesn’t make you feel good, honey?” He said finally, moving his face down your face to your neck. 

 The old nickname had your body shuddering. It’s been too long since you’ve heard it. This was definitely not the way you thought the conversation would go. But you’re struggling to find a way out of it. 

 “What I’m feeling isn’t your concern anymore..” 

 “Oh, it definitely is”. His hand slid down your waist, down to your hip, the tip of his fingers nearly diving past the waistband of your jeans. He casually rubbed his thumb underneath the hem of your shirt. “I want you feeling better than just fine.”

 “Yeah?” you asked softly, moving your hands to place against his shoulders now. They were itching to wrap around his neck, but you reminded yourself to keep from making things messier. Not that Steve seemed to care as he slid closer into the small space you had before. 

 “I want you to feel great.” he leaned down to your ear, pressing a kiss to the spot beneath your earlobe before he finished. “Actually, I want you feeling so fucked out of your mind that you wouldn’t dare go to another man’s house after fooling around with me.”

 There’s a darkness in Steve’s words but not one you’re afraid of. In fact, you’re excited. It had your heart racing and core growing so hot that you had to slightly rub your thighs together from the excitement. “Is t-that all?” you managed to ask, unable to think of a better response. 

 “That's all I want right now.”

 It’s hard not to feel that familiar spark that fires up your body when around Steve. You were feeling embarrassingly desperate for it at this point as you pulled him down towards you. “We shouldn’t be doing this. We’re broken up for a reason..”

 “It’s a bad idea.” he agreed, brushing his lips carefully down your neck. He seemed to catch the sparkle of the gold chain around your neck and followed down the line to where the S laid on your chest. He then gently placed a soft kiss against it.

 “We’re being so incredibly stupid right now.” you gasped, feeling his lips graze up again. 

 Though the tender touches were setting a blaze to your skin, it wasn’t quite satisfying the ache growing inside of you now. In fact, it was setting your whole body into a desperate, needy, frenzy. 

 “I gotta be honest with you, baby.” He said calmly.

 “Honest?” you gulped, failing to get yourself to cool down.

 “I really don’t care if we’re being stupid.” 

 Something took over you and you moved your hands up to grab hold of the hair at the nape of his neck. Pulling back so that you could get a good look at him. The browns in his eyes were gone and he looked at you with such a desire that you could feel yourself get embarrassingly aroused. 

 You should stop this. You should push him away and leave his house. Because there had to be something more important in life than having sex with Steve Harrington right now.

 But you really couldn’t remember what.

 “Fuck it.” You sighed shooting forward to press your lips against his. He didn’t waste his chance at all and wrapped his arms around. Using the palms to push down your lower back to press your chest closer to him. 

 At some point there’s a struggle with moving past the door and breaking the kiss apart. When air was needed, Steve quickly pulled back, pressing quick pecks to your lips before he turned to drag you up the stairs. Each step had your heart beating faster as you focused your sights on the warm glow coming out his bedroom door. Anticipation washing over you for whatever was going to happen next. 

 Once the two of you were in, he quickly shut the door behind him with the kick of his foot. Only giving you a second to catch your breath before he rushed over to capture your lips again.

 “Tell me,” he said against your lips. His hands were already working on your clothes, shedding them off with no problem. “Tell me you want this.”

 “I want this.” you said pulling back, moving to cup the sides of his face. “I want you.”

 For a second it looked like Steve wanted to say something else, but you pushed to press your lips back together. Capturing up any words he had in order to get back into the greedy need that had been building up. 

 Then after that, there’s nothing else left. Just you and Steve.

 The clock besides Steve’s bed ticked softly as you lay in his arms. It’s only been a short amount of time since the two of you had your fun and you can feel how Steve is easily relaxed against you. Letting his hands rub over your bare skin while he held you close. 

 It should make you worried. Things between you two were over. You both made it that way. But the soft kisses he was pressing against your arm and neck were too distracting. The feeling of completeness was too good to give up so quickly. And with the way Steve keeps pausing to give you looks, you think he might be thinking the same. 

 What could either one of you do? It’s been such a long attempt to get over him but all you can feel is yourself falling again with every touch. If anything, you think you might be even more in love with him after this. 

 You think back to the night where Eddie dropped you off. It felt like Steve was done with you. But like yourself, one night of giving into each other’s needs seemed to fill you both with an urge neither of you could quite get rid of just yet. 

 His hand reached out to cup at the side of your face. Bringing your attention back to him again before he kissed you.

 “Stay.” he said in between kissing you and down your cheek. No part of your face or body was left unscathed from his pink plump lips. You reveled in the sensation. Melting into his hold and allowing your body to relax again. It’s all you’ve missed these past few weeks. But even in Steve’s affection care, the worry of the real world sets in quickly with you. 

 “I can’t.” You said sadly. “It’s getting late.”

 “Who cares? It’s Friday night.” he replied, kissing even more now that he realized it has some sort of effect on your emotions. “You don’t even work tomorrow, I do.”

 “Your parents will be home soon, won’t they?”

 “They love you. Might even wanna take you out for breakfast.” You pulled back to give him a knowing look. He smirked a little bit before he rolled his eyes. “Okay, they’d freak out, but we’ll be quiet.”

 “I drove in my Aunt’s car..” you laughed, but turned to shuffle closer to him in the bed. He reached over to grab the back of your leg, moving your thigh now to drape over his waist. It brought your bare body dangerously close to his but he kept things tame for now. Moving to rub the palm of his hand on the round of your behind.

 “She can get it towed.”

 Rolling your eyes at his convenient answer, you pushed at his chest lightly. Attempting to get out of his warm hold but he changed to bring his arm back up to wrap around your waist, locking you in place. 

 “I’ll call the shop myself.”

 “Steve..” 

 Not wanting you to continue with the inevitable truth, he pressed his lips back onto yours. Shutting up the conversation and forcing you both to enjoy this fluke of a night. You give in to him, if only for a moment.

 It’s unfair how this is the most comfortable you’ve felt in days and it’s because you’re in his arms. But as soon as you begin to wonder why it’s like this, you remember how it felt to be in his arms that night. And how incredibly crushing it felt when you pulled away. So you made the kiss count until you eventually pulled away.

 His lips turned down into a pout. Which you forced yourself to ignore as you rolled out of the bed. A shiver hitting over yourself when you left the comforts of his warm side. Reaching down on the ground, you gather up the forgotten pieces of clothing you two discarded when you came into the room. 

 By the time you’ve got your outfit presentable and ready to go, Steve has moved to sit on the edge of his bed. Only a pair of boxers covering up his body now. He extended a hand out to you and you find yourself easily slipping it inside his. You hate how it feels perfect there. 

 “I want you..” He said, low and soft. Like he was almost afraid to say the words out loud.

 “I know,” you sighed, pulling the hand up towards your lips to press gentle kisses at his fingertips. “You always wanna go again.” 

 A frown flickered over his face, like he wasn’t quite looking for that answer. But he doesn’t say anything else, choosing instead to take your hand and lead you out the room and back downstairs to the front door again. 

 “Can I ask you something?” He asked nervously once the two of you were at the threshold. 

 “Yeah, of course.” 

 He paused for a second, looking deep into your eyes before he spoke again. “Did you come over on the pretense of having sex? Or because you really wanted to see me?” 

 A small pang of guilt began to build up in your chest again tonight. Reaching for his hand, you reached out to place it against your chest. Almost hoping that he’d feel the sincerity of your words through your heartbeat.  

 “I was thinking about you on the drive home.” you said trying not to reveal just how much you were actually thinking about him. He didn’t know the pathetic way you were still in love with him. “I didn’t even realize I had shown up here until I was at your door. It was like I needed to see you tonight.” 

 A small creeped on his face at your reply. He took the words as permission to press his lips against yours once more. Like always, it made your mind foggy and breath short. “Then tell your thoughts to think of me again tomorrow? Maybe after work?” he said, pulling away to return his gaze.

 You should say no and remind him that tonight was a fluke. A misstep on your attempts to move on from each other. But your body is unwilling to listen to your logic and instead chooses to nod your head. Making Steve’s small smile turn into a grin that has you trying to remember when was the last time you saw it.

 “Goodnight, Trouble.” He said softly, holding the door open for you.  

 “Goodnight.” You mumbled still a bit love-struck. 

 He waited at the door until you were in your car and waving off. The enticing view of Steve’s house eventually faded and you managed to get your brain working again in order to get home. The tv is playing some romance film for your Aunt and you bashfully wish her a goodnight as you floated to your bedroom. Still on the Steve induced high. It wasn’t until you flopped over your bed, brushing your fingertips over your kissed lips that Dustin decided to come in. A similar goofy grin on his face as he held out a Hershey’s kiss to you. 

 “Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

 “You’re in a good mood.” You snorted, taking the candy. “What were you up to tonight?”

 “Just got off the radio with Suzie.” He said with a dreamlike sigh. “She read out sonnets to me.” 

 “That’s sweet. You rode all the way up to that hill to talk to her?”

 “Hill?” He snorted before he remembered. “Oh! That hill. No, Steve spent most of the night helping me set up this new ham radio in my room.” 

 You shot up from your bed, looking at your cousin with a confused frown. “Wait, Steve was here?” You asked. “In our house?”

 “Yeah,” he confirmed. “He came around the time you left for work. Hung out with me all night until like an hour and a half ago. Didn’t even get to thank him before he dashed out of here.”

 Your mind was suddenly wrecked with a thousand thoughts. Why would Steve lie about going out? Why would he invite you in after hearing about Eddie? He didn’t have to lie about going out on a date, not with you. It’s not like you’d have judged him for taking things slow. Lord know you didn’t have the right to. Was he waiting to see if you’d come home from work all this time? Did he know you’d go to his house? So many questions without any chance of an answer came to you.

 “That was really nice of him...” you said softly, looking down at the candy.

 “Yup. That’s Steve for ya.” he replied matter of fact. “Makes you maybe wanna consider things, right?”

 Dustin’s attempt to mend the two of you hasn’t gone unnoticed these past couple of weeks. He wasn’t too aware of all the details. You and Steve never dived into it with him. Not wanting to ruin the relationship with the boy for either one of you. He was uncharacteristically neutral for the most part, but you knew that he was secretly hoping for some sort of reconciliation. 

 “Goodnight, Dustin.” you said instead, cutting the conversation short. He let out a big sigh before nodding his head, waving over at you before he closed up the door behind him. You kicked off your shoes, laying back onto your bed with only one thought running through your mind. 

 What were you going to wear tomorrow night?

A/N: HI GUYS I MISSED YOU. So sorry for the long awaited update. I struggled so hard to make this break up real but also angsty and drama filled? I don’t feel too confident in it, but there’s so much left in the season to work with so I hope you guys enjoy this. 

[bucknastysbabe]

70s/80s summer camp for jace it’s just so fitting

SO FITTING THAT LIL SUMMER BOY, I struggled at first and really found my groove so I hope it’s good! Thanks for requesting❤️❤️

AU Bingo - 70’s Summer Camp - Jace Velaryon

Rating: Explicit

Tags: TW//underage drinking, consumption of marijuana and alcohol in LARGE quantities, Jace and Reader are 18, Cregan’s little sister!reader, enemies to fwb to lovers, slight angst, Addam and Alyn share one brain cell, poor Luke, Cregan is the ultimate Big Bro, cunnilingus, pnv!sex, Frottage, blowjobs, Jace’s Horse Dong, virgin!Jace, we goin wild at the summer camp

“It’s going to be a hot summer this year folks! But we have hotter music for the Summer of seventy-nine. Here’s The Logical Song from Supertramp.”

The man on the radio was right. It was sweltering in Jace’s little black Pontiac firebird transam. He swerved at breakneck speed around the bends on the mountain roads, second nature at this point. Lucerys was in the passenger, nervously eyeing his brother.

“You’re making me quiver,” he shoved the twerp, “Quit being a pussy.”

Luke mumbled, “M’not a pussy!” He sunk down into the leather seats, brown eyes cast to the surrounding trees and views. They’d go through the mountains before making it to the lake and the camp. Camp Wolfwind was the name, the Stark family generously started it over decades ago.

Cregan Stark, Jace’s best friend by mail most of the time would be there. He was assistant director of camp this year, just a year older than him. Cregan always had the air of being mature, making Jace feel like a kid without even trying. Mr. Umber was the camp director, some wildman looking type with a booming laugh.

Jace’s mother had him and Luke come to this camp since they were little, to quote, “I’m not sending my children to that snobby hobnobbing farce of a camp. You boys are going to learn to be of the people and nature.” Safe to say Camp Wolfwind was a staple of Jacaerys summer. It really was a great place.

Being a senior counselor this year added bonuses. More time off between campers, say-so on party invitations, and all the grass, liquor, whatever you could get your hands on. It was a poorly hidden secret Mr. Umber grew his own bud. But only on the weekends you could partake, per Cregan.

“Whose gonna be the female senior counselor?”

Jace almost wrecked the fancy car. Fuck. Cregan’s little sister got that post. He’d had to work with the thorn in his side since, god, he first camp to Wolfwind. She had a way of getting under his skin with that sharp laugh and glinting eyes. Most of the guys thought she was sexy, looking like Jaclyn Smith of Charlie’s Angels.

Jace saw a demon with horns snorting at him when she opened her mouth. He had no clue how that girl was related to the ever calm, collected Cregan. Jace huffed, annoyed that Luke brought back the information he had banished since receiving the letter from his friend.

Whatever. It was his last summer at Wolfwind before heading off to college. Camp stopped last week of July and most of his stuff was packed up back home anyway.

A sign for the camp flew by, Jace’s knuckles whitening on the wheel. Luke snorted and popped back a cheez-it, “You’ll be fine, she’s really not that bad.” The elder brother made a familiar turn, much slower now, and scoffed, “Okay, sure, that’s why Aemond makes you cry at Christmas.” The two were pulling hair and throwing blind punches, the car skidded to a halt as insults were slung.

Cregan leaned into the open window, grinning in amusement, dodging a stray elbow. He slammed on the hood of the trans am a couple of times before Jace collected himself and shot one last side-eye to his shit of a brother. The eldest Stark huffed in humor, “Good to see you Jace and Luke, let’s get you two parked then you can go into the woods to work it out.”

Jace smiled and shook his best friend’s hand, “That can be arranged.”

Luke was back to pouting, quiet and slamming shit as he grabbed his stuff upon parking. The familiar smells and sights greeted Jace’s nose. He couldn’t help but grin at the lake shining under the view of the mountains, the wooden buildings here and there, up through the trees were obstacle courses and archery ranges. The smell of the mess hall wafted by. The Velaryon felt at home here.

Sliding his Ray-bans back, Jace sauntered to the senior counselor rooms, a duplex where he’d be connected to Satan herself. Luke stomped off to the more open spaced male junior counselor building, throwing one last bird finger. Cregan leaned against the porch frame now, holding out a bag full of camp clothes.

“You need to leave that poor boy alone,” he teasingly chastised. Jace plunked his suitcase on the bed and eyed the mirror in front of him. He shrugged, “Always sound like my mom Stark.” Cregan shrugged, “You know me, someone’s gotta do it.” The smaller brunette plugged away his personal clothes.

“Sis is real excited to see you,” he deadpanned.

Cregan’s dry humor could either make one want to drown or laugh until crying. Currently it’s drowning. Jace slammed a drawer shut and snarked, “I’m sure she is, surprised she-wolf wasn’t waiting with a sign that said ‘welcome pansy!’” Another huffing snicker from the elder.

“Well get your swim trunks on and meet down by the dock, Umber’s got us a nice selection while the counselors get here.”

Jace sighed a bit at that. Some bud and a beer would be nice. He shimmied on his red trunks and sandals, putting his best foot forward. He was the alpha somewhat now, had to exude authority. The Velaryon had no idea how his cousins, one a drunken slob and the other an uppity seminarian could exude so much confidence.

Down on the dock, Big John Umber was lighting a pipe, booming, “Jace! My boy! Get over here and have a puff!” Jacaerys grinned, “Yessir, how’ve you been this year?” He took two greedy puffs of the potent herb and held until exhaling with a couple of coughs. Umber’s big hand clapped his back as he replied, “Business is booming son, spent the whole year in Miami!”

Jacaerys waved and nodded at familiar faces; Maris and Cassandra, Ben and Aly Blackwood, Alyn and Addam, then the she-demon. She waved her painted nails, long dark hair streaming down a regrettably beautiful body. The she-wolf cooed, “Jaceyyyy, you ready for camp? Then college? Gonna have to unlatch off of mommy’s tit by then.” Her hazy eyes were lidded, lips curled in sarcasm.

Jace cracked a beer open and sniffed, “Might have to fight Lucerys and Joff back for that position Stark. Sure you’re ready to go wild without Cregan’s approval.”

Cregan’s dark, sharp eyes turned to the pair. She waved a hand, “Just playing around bro, chill out, smoke some more damn.” She stuck her tongue out at Jace and leaned back, exposing more tit than he really needed to see.

He sat on the dock’s edge, humming along to the radio, feeling the buzz tickle his senses.

Soon enough more arrived and a little gathering had developed into a party, Cregan and Umber high as balls watching from their kingly wooden dock chairs. Even little Luke had finished his pouting fit to have some PBR, making a face. Jace was flirting with Cass, boasting about his college plans.

Before a little hand pushed him into the water with a laugh. Jace dunked under the chilled night water, coming up to wipe his hair back and curse, “Hey! What the fuck?” She smiled down at him and said, “Sorry, Cass looked bored. I wanted your spot.” A raucous of laughter echoed around, drunken teens.

Jace narrowed his eyes and swam around to get tossed a towel from Addam, shaking his head. Jace plunked down near the white-blonde and was passed a shot, taking the whiskey quickly. He swallowed down the burn, feeling easier. The Hull boy snickered, “Cregan’s sister has it sooooo bad for you Jace.”

He raised a brow and guffawed at such a notion. “Yeah and gas is gonna go down too!” They both laughed at that, the male humming, “Glad I get a deal on the diesel family monstrosity.” Alyn piped in, “The monstrosity is named mouse and she does a good job.”

Another shot or two was passed around, Jace beginning to feel pretty smacked. He shook his head and excused himself from the twins, “I think I’ve lived up to the family lightweight standards, and I’m gonna retire boys.”

“Awe c’mon, c’mon, we got ghost stories soon!”

He smiled and promised another night, half stumbling back to his new cabin, all to himself. He could shower! Shower! Fuck yes. Jacaerys Velaryon felt like a king. The dim porch lights blurred in his vision, the door almost there.

“Tapping n’for the night already?,” she asked softly, long hair braided back. It looked pretty. No. Bad Jace. Cregan’s sister was drunk off her ass too, eyes hazy and leaning against the wall with a too wide grin. Jacaerys snipped, “Why y’care? Want to push me n’to the water again?”

She shuffled closer, face so sharp and pretty, dark eyes enticing. “No, I wanted to get you to myself and I was making sure ya’ weren’t leavin’.”

Jace’s face suffused into a blush. He stuttered, “W-wh-Wha?” He was a big virgin. With a capital V. Berlin Wall sized V. The darker haired girl smoothed a hand up into his hair, asking, “Taken? No good hm? Whas’ the play here.”

He steadied himself, blinking some sobriety into his thoughts and said, “I’m going to go to my shower. You can turn the radio on. The rest is up to you but,” he snatched at her waist, “Quit playin’ ‘round with me.” She moaned softly, nodding.

He let her go and moved to his room, stripping inelegantly, heading straight to the shower, leaving the door cracked. It got to a steaming heat, he stepped under, sighing, his cock beginning to hang heavy between his legs.

Right.

Jace had a ridiculously sized cock. So large in fact he thought something was wrong and went to his step-father about it. Who crassly widened his pale eyes and exclaimed, “That’s a damn horse if I’ve seen one. Congrats lad. No wonder your mother loves some Strong’s.”

So usually when he got to the point of attempting to fuck a girl, they would shy away or screech in pain. But he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to fuck right now, this she-wolf was a menace.

The radio clicked on. ‘Spooky’ by Little River Band filtered into the haze, making Jace a bit woozy as more blood flew between his legs. He heard her light footsteps, then a body slid behind his own, soft tits and feminine hands sliding up Jacaerys’ taught torso.

She murmured into his ear, “When did’ja get all handsome hm? Get this,” she wrapped her hand barely around his cock and shook, “This Fuckin’ monster.” He moaned softly, leaning dark hair back onto her shoulder. “Dunno, tried to hide it today.”

He flipped her round under the spray, getting a good look at wet lashes, dilated pupils, and swollen lips. Jace stared, hands groping at her built ass, cock nudging her thigh. She pulled him forward with two hands, sculpted lips drawing Jace open. They slid tongues across another sensually, occasionally getting a little nip from her, a hand pulling at his aching member.

Jace groaned helplessly, whining and chasing her lips with wide eyes as the she-wolf pulled back. She snatched some conditioner and slathered it on his cock, Jace’s legs trembling. The brunette girl braced herself against the wall, ass up, legs tight together.

“C’mon, y’old maid, fuck the gap!”

Understanding knocked him clean in the skull, shaking hands guiding into that shining opening, gasping and stuttering her name as he fucked the man-made gap, her teasing fingers helping along. She cooed and shivered, “Y-yes, that’s it, fuck you’re perfect! N-nudge there, there, THERE!”

Jace must’ve been getting her clit based on pitchy whines and cries, her cute hands scrambling for purchase as her back arched and then gushed on his cock, pussy convulsing. She tightened her strong thighs around him on last time before dropping to her knees.

“Cum on my tits Jacey, just like those pornos you watch.”

It didn’t take long looking at her wrecked face and swollen cunt to have him painting her tits in white, some reaching her chin and lips. He heaved and choked out hoarse moans, body wearing out. He slapped a hand on the shower wall and whimpered her name when the she-wolf licked his cum off her chin— fuck, lips, moaning.

“Does your mother know,” Abba warbled. She grinned evilly, patting his oversensitive cock. Standing back up she sung, “We’re gonna have fun this summer, Jacey.” And off she went, leaving the male a shaking panting wreck. He was gonna get her ass next round.

Jace was met with a rude awakening besides a mega hangover the next morning. Stretching and shuffling to the mess hall, he waited for his duplex neighbor. She gave him a disgusted look and shoved past, giving Jace an eyeful of legs and ass in her bitty jean shorts. Her dark hair whipped around.

Oh. Jace was a bit perplexed. She was just licking his cum off her chin last night. Now the cold shoulder? Was this one of those games girls played? The brunette was a novice on the front and he certainly couldn’t go to Cregan about it.

Shuffling into the mess hall Jace managed to stomach some grits and coffee, head pounding. Addam and Alyn sat down, identical faces cheery. Those two were immune to anything. Alyn hummed, “What’s your bag? Looking like a bummer man.”

Jace took a miserable sip of his coffee. He murmured, “Do not start yelling and jumping when I start talking. Got it? Or coffee in your face.”

Cregan was off in the corner with Aly, the two seemingly close this year.

The twins nodded, eager for the skinny. Jacaerys sighed, “What does it mean when a girl gives you the cold shoulder after gettin’ ah-uh a little hot and heavy.”

“Who?!”

Jace hissed, “I said shut it! Doesn’t matter!”

Addam, the more suave of the two, “She’s playing games then, wants you to beg and grovel for her. Or…if this is who I think it is, she wants it on the DL.”

“Downlow then, but riles me up during the day. Just great,” Jace whinged while sipping his coffee. Alyn whispered something to Addam, the other nodding and they descended into giggles. A plate slammed down, the trio jumping and growing red faced.

“Morning girls, what’s the skinny?,” the she-wolf asked with a conniving look. Addam shrugged off Alyn’s red face and Jace being an idiot, “Which girl has the nicest ass, what did you expect Stark?”

“I’d assume it would be mine,” she hummed, taking an obscene bite from her banana, watching Jace. The brunette took the last bite of his apple and darted off, holding his mug of coffee, “See you guys for cleanup later!”

Jacaerys was going to explode. With anger, lust, he didn’t know what. He stomped to the little overlook on the lake he’d found as a kid, sitting on a rock. The lake was calm and lapping on the smooth rocks, sky sunny, fish flopping here and there. With every sip of his warm drink, his blood began to settle.

The crunching of leaves took that serenity and shat all over it. Stark’s sister sat next to him, a strange look on her face. Both began to speak then stopped. Jace bolted out, “I don’t know what the deal is here but I can’t handle it.”

Pretty lips frowned and she replied, “Fine, I’m sorry. It’s fun to see you get red in the face. But I can’t just change my personality around you,” she looked off into the distant, “Cregan is Cregan no matter how close you two are. I wanna keep fooling around, why not?”

Jace narrowed his eyes and held out a hand, “Fine. Just fucking around on the low. But just know I’ll get you back.” She grinned and shook his hand, stating, ���You got it Velaryon.” They sat down in simple peace before the call of the speakers came, the order for clean up.

Over the next week was a flurry of inebriation, hard work, escaping Cregan’s watchful eye, and shoving away the Hull twins. He’d spend his nights learning all the ways to pleasure a woman. Jace’s favorite was face first between her strong thighs, lapping and sucking. She’d get all whiny and soft on him.

Especially when he crooked his middle finger up and she made his chin slick with arousal, Jace going back in for more, rutting into his bed frantically. He made her come so many times one night she cried and held to him until the she-wolf remembered her situation and ran away.

As the days to campers arriving drew nigh, she was a staple in his bed after their romps, the pair just chatting and smoking cigarettes. Dreams, hopes, funny stories, sad stories. He felt like he’d known the Stark sister for years by now.

They never reached full penetration, Jace utterly petrified by hurting her, as much as she begged for it. Getting head was just as nice, especially when she’d get him down her throat, the male holding her distended neck and whining helplessly, balls drawing tight so damn fast.

Then the campers came. The two would bicker and shove each other when directing the others. Not to mention the inclusion of night rounds to make sure no kids were being naughty. Occasionally they’d find some kids macking against a pine but nothing serious. The leaders were the naughty ones.

It went like this all summer. Until the very last week. The send-off dance with all the staff and the tweens moving up to counselor next week. Jace was excited and decided he would ask his girl. Which wasn’t his girl but they did everything like a couple, the whole camp had picked up on it.

Jace reluctantly asked Cregan one evening. He was shaking in his shoes, “Y-you know how your sister and I can get, but, I really like h-her.” The elder Stark deadpanned, “You’ve been at it all summer, you think I can’t tell that? She likes you a lot too, go for it. I wouldn’t want any other man to have her hand for this dumbass dance.” Jace grinned and pulled Cregan into a brotherly hug, thanking him tremendously.

He would wait until later to spring the question on her. Jace may have gone a bit overboard, flowers from the woods and twigs spelling out, “Be mine?” Aly loaned some candles and he was set, waiting. The door opened to his cabin and there she stood, gorgeous as always.

She took in the surroundings and stifled a laugh, eyes wide. “W-what’s all this?,” she questioned, snorting again. Jace’s heart and smile began to fall, she seemed to dislike this. He murmured, “I asked Cregan, he doesn’t care, wanted to take ya to the dumbass dance as a last ride, c’mon?”

“You went and asked Cregan? Really? What is this? My silly engagement proposal? Fuck you Jace! We knew what this was from the beginning!,” her dark hair tossed about as she hissed again, “Don’t fucking talk to me again!”

The door slammed shut. The radio turned to some cheery disco song. Fuck Suzi Quatro. Stumblin’ in to what? A brick wall, in the trans am at 120mph. Jace, stunned, sat down on his bed. He wiped away a stupid tear, steadying himself.

“FUUUUUUUUuuuuUUUUUCK.”

Okay, maybe he felt better now. Jacaerys Velaryon would just have to do like he did last year, pining over a different girl then. Get blackout drunk and puke in the grass. Then get back and go way too hard on the dance floor, maybe Cassandra would let him have a squeeze. Blegh.

Jace moped his week away, some of the kids asking why he wasn’t with his ‘girlfriend’. He’d snap, “Back to the ropes course! She’s not my girlfriend!” A snap of the line and the little shits would go scrambling. Meanwhile the she-wolf ignored him utterly and completely. Not even to jab or play a trick. Nose up and eyes away, not responding to any teasing.

He tried to get her attention once and she simply crossed lean arms and stared until he got the point and shuffled away. Pure torture this was. Alyn and Addam exchanged confused glances, they had no clue on what pissed her off so bad. Addam clapped Jace’s shoulder and laughed, “Girls man! Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

But Jace worried about it, pacing his wooden floor the night of the dance, all dressed up. By that he meant a linen shirt and some nicer shorts. Luke probably had a damn silk disco top on. The brunette dabbed on some cologne, ignoring his wild hair. He hoped she went home or something.

The dance was awkward and filled with the smell of sweaty teenagers and weed. Cassandra offered a flask and said, “Looks like you need it, sorry bout’ ya girl.” Jace took the heady drink to the dome, swallowing down the burn, finishing it. He shook his head and garbled, “Sorry,” then shuffled away.

The buzz kicked in but Jace felt more moody than anything. Luke’s silk shirt did bring a slight smile to his face. Same with Cregan’s brotherly hug and promise, “She’ll come around.” But the music and happiness wasn’t seeping into his bones.

Grabbing a beer the eldest Velaryon went to his spot by the lake. It was much quieter out here, only crickets chirping, faint music emanating from the mess hall. He found his rock and sipped on the beer, stuck in his thoughts. Beer bottle still sealed by his plush lips, Jace caught a glimpse of lights over by his duplex cabin.

Taking a gulp and placing down the bottle he stared at the dim light, an aching feeling crawling up from his belly to chest. Longing. God. He was so dreadfully in love. Taking one more swig he disposed of the bottle and trudged to her side of the cabin.

The door was ajar, Blondie singing about that glass heart. Jace pushed the door open and raised his brows. There she was, pinning a banner up. Per usual the female snapped, “I wasn’t done yet you dunce!”

‘Sorry for being a bitch’

She stepped down and gestured, face aflame, “Well. Here it is.”

Jace noted the trembling in her bravado, the multiple discarded outfits, even a curling iron was steaming on a dresser. She never did her hair or wore make-up. “Are you going to say something or stare? I know I’m a piece of shit!”

Lean arms began to wrap around herself, shying away.

“No, no! Just surprised!,” Jace crawled onto the bed and pulled her to straddle him, taking in that familiar beauty. She blushed and turned her head, but little hands curled under and behind to grab his shoulders. The she-wolf murmured, “I’m really sorry— I’ve never felt this way about anyone and I freaked out. I know I’m crazy…but that was shitty. I-I’ve always held the cards?”

Jace grabbed her chin to look at her long lashes and rouged cheeks, sighing, “You are crazy. But I forgive you. A valiant effort by the way, but you always look pretty to me.” She huffed, Jace smiling and nibbling at sharp jaw. “I don’t do makeup for anyone,” the other brunette stated.

“You gonna keep talking or kiss me sweetheart?”

Stark jerked her gaze towards Jace and took charge eagerly, hands moving to grab his face. Ah great, the radio was on the Doobie Brothers. Sexy time initiated— Jace internally cringed. Their lips sealed eagerly, finding a familiar pattern before Jace licked into her mouth. He got a breathy sigh, an arch closer into his frame.

He grabbed her pretty ass and squeezed, dragging her across his already aching cock. The she-wolf gasped and whined into his maw, lapping harder afterwards, humping him desperately. Jace thumbed a sensitive pulse point on her long neck before sliding a hand under her crochet top— no bra to be found.

Now he had something to work with, both hands relocating to her tits, tweaking and pulling at sensitive buds. She yanked off the top in a flurry, going to work unbuttoning Jace’s linen shirt, kissing her way across tanned skin. He shimmied the top off to push his she-wolf into the bed, him growling at her forced moan.

He rutted into her clothed cunt, the little hotpants doing nothing to hide. Jace rumbled against her ear, “Does it feel good, letting someone else have the cards?” She stuttered a retort— gone squeak as he pulled up on the front of her shorts.

“Fuck yes it feels g-good, get ‘em off!”

Jace grinned, that pretty pussy he missed so much…wet and swollen for him. Him. Only Jace. Sliding back to her chagrin, the male unbuttoned and pushed down his shorts and boxers, heavy member dripping with arousal. Eyes hazy but determined she moaned, “That- ugh- fucking monster is going inside me. Stud.”

Jace nodded, barely catching the bottle thrown at him. He looked down and smirked, a bottle of lube sat in his calloused hands. Jace casually put it aside and hummed, “Gotta get my pretty girl ready first hm?”

The girl almost shrieked when familiar lips met eachother again, Jace lapping and suckling her clit. He sighed, “Y-you’re so fuckin’ wet baby.” She shoved him back down, thighs shaking. Jace flicked his tongue as one, two, three all eventually fit into her tight pussy. Sloppy noises outweighed the background drift of music.

Stark cried and shivered, “Ah-haaah, Jace, fuuuck! Another, Jus’ one more! So close.” He could almost cum right then at her broken voice. Easing a pinky inside, she gasped and shuddered, coming undone when Jace flicked the sensitive spot under the hood of her clit and fucked all fingers up in the way she liked.

“Jace! Jace! Fucking god!,” she hollered.

He kept his mouth wide open for her gush of arousal, moaning and slurping eagerly, until she whimpered and shied backwards. Jace simply took his essence covered hand and jacked his cock a couple of times. He eyed her sated look and asked, “Still want this baby?”

“Uh-huh,” she rasped, legs wide open, cunt twitchy and still shining with arousal.

Jace slathered himself further down with the KY, even taking time to work her stretched opening, earning the cutest little noises. Now pressed on top, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, they stared intensely. She thumbed his cheek and murmured, “I really, really care for you Jacaerys. M’sorry for freaking out. I could probably spare this for later but,” he kissed her gently, hands smoothing up and down soft skin.

“S’okay, I promise, I care for you so much. Now just relax, we both gotta make this work okay?”

Another kiss and Jace led the heavy blunt tip to her soaked entrance. Oh god. He can’t believe this was happening. He tucked his cheek next to the fellow brunette to listen for anything, lacing fingers with her own. It was a big stretch, her panting going hoarse as the first few inches slid in.

Fucking hell. She was like Heaven, so tight n’ silky hot. She gasped, “K-keep goin’ Jacaerys, c’mon.” Soon the fattest part of his length was deep inside, cockhead nearing her cervix. One more push and they were snug as possible— joined completely. In a sweaty tangle of limbs, half-mewling cursed and sweet words.

She kissed him deeply, licking into Jace’s mouth, sighing, “I can feel you, hell, so ah deep.” He could feel it too, the lump in her lower belly. Puffing softly he asked, “Can I? Can I try?” Another peck to sweeten the deal.

“Go for it stud, be gentle.”

He slid back inch by agonizing inch, mouth open with helpless moans of her name. Every inch of her cunt was pulling along him, wanting to suck back in. Then gathering his wits, Jace forced himself up, the she-wolf mewling in glee. Unsteady at first, Jace developed a good pace, sweat dripping down his back, and god knows what leaving his mouth.

She scratched and cried at his shoulders, legs wrapped tight around slim hips. She warbled, “S’good, only you, only you stud, fucking me so good.” Jace’s hips stuttered at that, picking up the pace before he blew from her just being…sexy. Soft slick noises developed into full-on slaps and squeals.

Jace rambled, “Tight- s’tight- ohgodyoursoperfect! Ohhh-only mine!”

He was falling apart fast, balls tight and nerves on fire to bust a nut. She swirled lithe fingers around where they were joined then to her clit, crying and carrying on. Jace rapturously watched— her fingers, their copulation, the belly bulge. In a frenzy he pulled out with a load groan, painting her legs and the bed with loads of spunk.

Unable to catch his breath, Jace flopped onto his belly, leg still woven with his girl’s. The pair rested for a minute, music filling the peaceful void. A raspy voice and warm body curled over to him, her nosing his hair. Practically purring she cooed, “Couldn’t have been better. Too sweet. They make you Velaryon’s different.”

Jace huffed a laugh, rolling her onto his belly, “Was is good enough you’ll call or write me when we go off? If I remember…that stuffy girl’s school isn’t too far from mine.”

Her sculpted lips curled upward, “A hop and a skip they say. Gotta get the lads from somewhere. I’ll be around.”

He grinned and squeezed her. Damn Starks.

[ugh-yoongi]

Hi! For the Valentine’s Day drabble I was thinking there’s an office Valentine’s Day party and namjoon and y/n are both single but somehow they end up hooking up in a broom closet. 😭😭

boy oh boy was i glad to get an excuse to write some namjoon porn after this whirlwind of a day! mr. shows up to the office 15 minutes late with starbucks a giant ass hickey on his neck thinking his coworkers wouldn't notice....... hoe behavior.

this is rushed bc i've had brainworms since yoongi's tour announcement, my bad! unedited again bc we die like men.

pairing: namjoon x f. reader

genre: pwp, crack/humor, office au

rating: explicit. minors dni.

warnings: swearing, catboy yoongi agenda, taehyung is a menace, mentions of drug use (weed), reader wears a dress and is a bit of a brat, one (1) spank, fingering, protected sex in an office closet.

wordcount: 1.2k

not taking anymore drabble requests, but feel free to come yell at me about how unhinged this week has been in bts world

(The party had been Taehyung’s idea.

A nice way to break up the afternoon, he’d said, because it wasn’t like Q1 was already slow as it was; wasn’t like you spent most of your workday typing gibberish into empty Word documents to appear busy. Point is: there was no soulless office monotony to break up, Seokjin just hadn’t felt like arguing, so he’d signed off on the Valentine’s Day party without even reading Taehyung’s harebrained proposal.)

“There’s a chocolate fountain in the cafeteria,” Yoongi says, voice bordering on stunned disbelief as he drops into his cubicle next to yours. “It has edible glitter in it.”

“Yeah,” you retort, because there certainly is a chocolate fountain with edible glitter in it in the cafeteria and Seokjin had signed off on it without sparing a second to think. “Taehyung’s idea.”

Yoongi scoffs. “Were the heart-shaped bath bombs his idea too?”

“Haven’t seen those. Where’d he put them?”

“In the toilets. He’s gonna ruin the plumbing. Seokjin’s gonna throw a fucking fit, and we’re accounting, so he’s gonna make it our problem.” Yoongi groans. Plonks his head down on his desk. “I bet he’s gonna cut the Cat Fridays budget to cover the cost.”

“Oh no,” you intone, “not Cat Fridays.”

Yoongi picks his head up only to glare at you. “Fuck off. Some of us need the stress relief.”

“So grow up and smoke weed like an adult, Yoongi.”

“I have asthma, you fucking prick—”

Yoongi’s tirade—which you’re sure was going to be effective and logical and would not, at all, devolve into baseless name-calling—is interrupted by Taehyung, who appears behind you out of nowhere and sprinkles confetti over your and Yoongi’s desks. “Surprise! Party time!”

“Taehyung, I swear to fuck—”

But then Taehyung’s gone, the copious amounts of heart-shaped confetti the only proof he’d been there at all. Your desk neighbor looks murderous, but the lure of the chocolate fountain is strong, especially when there’s little tea cakes, too, so it’s not really a surprise that he nearly bulldozes you into the wall to get there first.

It’s not that you hate Valentine’s Day. You don’t even dislike it, because you actually like those chalky conversation hearts so everyone offloads them onto you, it’s just a little hard to focus when Kim Namjoon strolls in wearing a silk shirt with the top button undone. It’s doubly hard to focus when Jeongguk zeroes in on him immediately, and goes, “What is that?”

You pretend not to hear it, because they can’t suspect you if you don’t react, and a reaction is exactly what Jeongguk is looking for.

“What is what,” Namjoon replies, sounding as nonplussed as ever. You’d buy it, if you didn’t know him as well as you do, but because you do, you know it’s a farce. Any second now he’s going to crack. Sooner, if anyone presses him on it.

You hear someone click their tongue. Maybe Jeongguk, but you aren’t turning around to check. You can already feel how warm your cheeks are; there’s no way you’d be able to hide it.

“That thing on your neck.” Oh, god, that’s Jimin’s voice.

Namjoon chuckles. Acts like this entire conversation is beneath him, and that’s definitely doing something for you. Definitely has you squeezing your thighs together as you stand next to the stupid chocolate fountain, trying to eavesdrop over the mechanical whirring. “I got hurt at the gym last night.”

“The gym,” Jimin repeats, and it’s clear he doesn’t buy it. “And what were you doing at the gym that resulted in a neck injury? You just said the other day you haven’t been working out much.”

“CrossFit.”

“Wait, I’m confused. Were you doing CrossFit or were you at the gym?”

“He was doing CrossFit at the gym. He just said that—”

“No he wasn’t,” Jeongguk argues. “That’s like saying you were doing gym at the gym, it doesn’t make sense—”

You roll your lips to keep from laughing. Look up at seemingly the perfect time, because Namjoon’s already looking at you, gaze all but saying, see what you did? And, yeah, you do—you can see it loud and clear, all the way from the other side of the room, because that dark bruise on his neck is courtesy of you. Roughly three days old, given in the dark of his bedroom after company drinks on Friday.

So you tamper your embarrassment. Shrug a little. Dip a strawberry into Taehyung’s ridiculous chocolate fountain with the edible glitter and stare as you bring it to your mouth, wrap your lips around it. Jimin and Jeongguk are still arguing, and Namjoon is just watching, corners of his mouth quirked up infinitesimally.

Then he gestures to the hallway.

Mouths meet me there.

And you know what that means.

It’s frenzied and hurried from the start. Namjoon’s everywhere and nowhere at once—skimming, pinching, grabbing at every inch of skin he can get his hands on before they disappear, move onto someplace else. “This is gonna have to be quick,” he says, already breathless, and you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“No shit.”

That earns you a smack on the ass. “Keep this out of the way,” he says, pushing your dress up and over your hips. “See, this is the reason I told you no marks.”

There’s a riposte on the tip of your tongue, something obvious like you weren’t complaining when I was giving it to you, and Namjoon must know this because he pulls your underwear to the side and sinks two fingers into your cunt. Embarrassing, how seamless the slide is; how there’s no friction, just his large fingers pressing insistently on your g-spot.

He groans. Aborts the sound halfway so he doesn’t get the two of you caught. “Love how you’re always so wet for me.”

“Not you,” you retort. “Got really excited about the chocolate fountain.” You can’t see him, considering he’s got you bent over at the waist, but you know he’s rolling his eyes.

“I shouldn’t fuck you at all, since you wanna be a brat.”

“Yeah, I think HR would be inclined to agree—”

He cuts you off with another swat to your ass. Stops touching you only as long as it takes to roll on a condom, and then he’s pressing inside. It’s all heat: Namjoon rolling his hips at a steady pace, careful to be quiet; his fingers immediately moving to rub at your clit, because this definitely has to be quick; him whispering pure filth in that deep voice of his.

You’re teetering on the edge of the quickest orgasm of all time when your blurt out, “Is Yoongi allergic to cats?”

Namjoon just groans again. Pure annoyance. Plays along. Says, “I don’t know, why?”

“Be-because he said he can’t—fuck—smoke weed because he ha-has asthma, but he’s really—oh fuck, I’m gonna come—really scared Seokjin’s gonna—fuuuuuuck—gonna get rid of Cat Fridays.”

Namjoon thrusts harder, reaches deeper. “Will you just shut up and come? Who cares about Yoongi right now—”

Then, because both Yoongi and the universe hate you, there’s a knock on the door. “Really weird you two are in there talking about me while you’re fucking.”

And Namjoon must have some kind of voyeurism kink he hasn’t told you about, because he moans low and spills into the condom.

[ghost-proofbaby]

modern!steve harrington + mine cause i just KNOW he’d love that song and daydream about a future with his girl listening to it 😭💜

mine (steve's version)

warnings: hurt/comfort, my fingers slipped and put angst

wc: 2.1k+

an: okay i completely goofed here and made this far angstier than you wanted, and did not realize until AFTER it was done. 😭 i'm gonna apply the same logic as miss swift does with surprise songs - since i technically messed up, if you'd like a redo with more sweetness, let me know and i've got you haha 😭 i also just processed you wanted him to listen to the song and that image broke my brain so basically what i'm saying is this one will definitely get a redo haha sorry nonnie <3

It had all started over a stupid fight. A fight that he didn’t even recall how it had started. That’s how stupid it had been. 

Steve had been tired, coming home from a long shift at the diner. It had been a shit show for the entirety of the twelve hours that Steve had been there, instantly making him regret pulling a double to cover one of his coworkers who called claiming they had a fever, but that he’d definitely seen posting on their stories about being out for drinks very late the night before. But he wasn’t going to tell his boss that — he’d been there. One too many beers on one of his rare free nights with friends, and he too would call out, claiming something along the lines of food poisoning. 

He wasn’t fully lying. That much alcohol probably had poisoned him considering the way he felt like death the next morning.

The coworker wasn’t what had him in a sour mood, though. Nor was it the one elderly couple that had kept trying to have terribly long conversations with him when he knew he had food to run. Nor was it that obnoxiously large group of preteens that seemed to have no self awareness as they’d reeked absolute havoc on the diner for the final hour before closing. No, none of that really phased Steve anymore — he was just tired. He was tired, a bit too easily irritated, and just wanted to sleep. 

His plans for the night had been crawling into bed with you, watching some TV show or movie he wouldn’t pay attention to with his head in your lap as your fingers would scratch soothingly at his scalp. His plans for the night didn’t include this fight. If he could have stopped, God only knows he would have.

“They’re going to shut off the water, Steve,” you stress, on the verge of tears at this point. Steve didn’t know if they were from stress, exasperation with him, or if you were hurting from how flippant he’d been since he walked through the door. Regardless, it didn’t matter; seeing you misty-eyed twisted the knife in his chest all the same, “What the fuck are we going to do if they do that? This isn’t something to talk about tomorrow.”

“They’re not going to turn it off tonight!” he shouts right back at you, throwing his hands into the air in defeat, “Fuck, I- what do you want me to do about it? What can I do about it tonight?” 

You snap your mouth shut at that, lips pressed tightly to avoid any quivering. 

“I just worked twelve fucking hours, I just wanted to come home and relax, I’m not in the mood-“

“You’re never in the mood,” you flatly interrupt him, tone a stark contrast to all the overwhelming emotions prominent on your face. Your voice doesn’t even waver — he knows that whatever you’re about to say, it’s been on your mind a while, “It’s always we’ll talk about this tomorrow, or we’ll figure it out. But we never talk about it. We never figure it out, Steve. We can’t just- You don’t think I’m tired, too?” 

His heart breaks a little. You’re right. You’re standing there, still in your scrubs from your own twelve hour shift, and fuck, you’re right. 

Things hadn’t ever been easy. Back in high school, there had been the issue of Steve’s parents. After graduation, it had been the terrible decisions of what now. When you two had decided to pack up and get the Hell out of town, it had been the stress of finally dealing with all the uncertainty, all while desperately trying to keep afloat amongst stacks of bills and adult responsibilities neither of you had expected to drown in. Things had never been easy, but Steve didn’t care about easy — he just cared that you’d always been there, by his side, on his team. 

Right now, it didn’t feel like you and him versus the world. For the first time, it feels like there’s only you two in the boxing ring. 

“This isn’t a competition, we’re… we’re supposed to be on the same side.” 

There it was — your voice cracks, and the moment the first tear falls from your eyes, you’re quick to reach up and swipe it away, pretending it never happened. Pretending that one tear wasn’t ripping Steve apart from the inside out.

“It’s not a competition! But Jesus Christ, I feel like I’m suffocating-“

“I’m suffocating you?” the tears are falling more freely, and you make no move to erase them. 

That’s not what he meant. At all. He’s only making it all worse. So, so much worse.

“I-“ he starts, but he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know how to make this better. 

He doesn’t know how to fix this.

In an instant, his hands go from threading and angrily tugging at his hair to flaring at his side as he suddenly walks sharply down the hallway. He’s making a beeline for your shared bedroom, doing the only thing he can think of to fix this for you. For tonight, at least.

You’re quick to follow, only two steps behind him, “Where are you going?”

“I’m-“ he pauses, yanking a random drawer open to the dresser, finding himself staring at a pile of your clothes rather than his own. He huffs through frustration and his own building tears, “I’m gonna stay at Eds’ tonight. Give you some space.” 

“Give me space?” you laugh back in disbelief, not daring to take any more steps closer to him, “You’re the one who’s being suffocated-“

“You’re not suffocating me,” he stops all movement, hand still on the knob of his drawer. He turns to you suddenly, a new found confidence, “That’s- That’s not what I meant, okay?” 

He can’t make this right, but he can’t leave you thinking that’s what he meant. You could never suffocate him — and even if you tried, he’d find it to be the most heavenly way to die. But you didn’t know that, not in this moment, and that was what was currently killing him.

You take a deep breath, one step forward, before asking quietly, “What did you mean, then?” 

One last chance. An opportunity to make this right.

“You could never suffocate me,” all the shouting and the frustration has vanished, only softness and hurt left in their places, “Ever. Don’t you ever think for one moment that it’s you. It’s not, okay? I love you. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, you are-“ he chokes up, looking into your glossy eyes. He can still recall the way he felt all those years ago when they’d first laid eyes on him. He’s memorized the way it felt, because every time you look at him, it still manages to feel like the very first time, “You are everything to me. You’re- Fuck, honey, you’re my entire future. When I think about the future, all I think about is you.” 

You take another step forward. Steve’s own tears now track his own face, his heart racing painfully.

“I love you so fucking much, it’s crazy. And I just- I feel like I’m fucking all of this up. You deserve more than this, and I try to give it to you, but I can’t-“

“That doesn’t all fall on you, Steve,” your hands shake as you lift them, finally close enough to touch him. Each palm rests delicately on his chest and you can’t look him in the eyes, “I don’t want you for your money. Never have, never will.” 

He laughs wetly. You’ve more than proven that. When his parents cut him off completely, you hadn’t blinked an eye. 

“I want you because I love you. I’m in love with you, Steve Harrington. Okay? I’m so in love with you, I followed you across the goddamn country.” 

“Eddie and Robin did too, to be fair,” he reminds you, almost jokingly. All the tension from the fight is quickly fading. His hand drops from the drawer. 

“They did, but I guarantee I love you more than them,” you scrunch your nose, almost grimacing before adding, “No offense to them, of course.” 

“Of course,” he echoes, slowly reaching up and holding your hands that had been pressed to his chest. You don’t pull back.

“I’m just- it’s stressful. We’re both stressed. Neither of us were prepared for this,” you look him desperately in his eyes, “I meant what I said, though. This isn’t me versus you — I never want it to be us fighting each other. It’s always us versus the problem, okay?” 

He nods when you wait patiently for his response, “Okay.” 

“And I want you here,” you continue, “I want you here, in our home and in our bed. I want you here, even screaming back and forth with me, as long as you’re here. With me. Go to bed mad at me, I don’t care. Just… don’t walk away.” 

You smile through the residual tears, squeezing his hands that hold yours. 

Steve thinks about all the examples of love he’d ever been shown. His parents, in a castle of ice. The way the fights always ended in separate rooms, sometimes separate houses. His father storming out to spend the night in a hotel rather than having to be around his mother a second longer. He remembers the way that even with an abundance of money, they were never happy. They never loved each other. A marriage of convenience rather than love. Lasting only out of obligation, not dedication. 

He didn’t want that with you. He couldn’t ever imagine what the two of you have being reduced to that.

When he looks at you, all he can see is happiness. All he can feel is that love bursting from his chest. Images of the two of you by Lover’s Lake, the way the waves of the lake had sent shattered and sparkling flares of light across your cheeks as you’d laughed at him as if he was the funniest person in the entire world. All the nights spent over the phone, talking about nothing and everything, desperate to just fall asleep to the sound of each other’s voices. The ridiculous nerves he’d felt on the first date, King Steve shaking at the thought of putting his arm around you because for the first time, he was truly scared of fucking this up. 

You made him a better man. You saw everything inside of him that was broken, that he had spent so long trying to hide, and you’d simply sat down beside him with glue in hand, prepared to spend as much time as he needed to piece it all back together. 

Go to bed mad at me, I don’t care. Just… don’t walk away.

“I can’t do that, sweetheart,” he finally sighs. Your face starts to fall, but he’s quick to clarify, “I can’t go to bed mad at you. Ever. And we can fight, us versus the problem like you said, all we want but… I don’t want to go to bed mad. I don’t want… I don’t want that. Whenever my head hits that shitty pillow every night,” you both break to laugh, because God, you both really did need new pillows (and a mattress, if you were being honest), “All I want to know is that you’re mine and I’m yours. Sound fair?” 

You smile, and it’s the best thing he’s ever seen. It makes all the long shifts worth it as you nod slowly, “Sounds fair to me.” 

“Good,” he guides the two of you to the center of the room before he drops your hands from his, sighing and letting his shoulders finally drop, “Then in that case, I’m staying.” 

Even with crying tears on your cheeks, you’re still the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. You’re still the best thing Steve Harrington has ever had the privilege of calling his, “Yeah?” 

“Yeah. So if we’re gonna fight — let’s fight, baby.” 

He puts his fists up comically, and you only giggle and grab at them, shaking your head.

“I think we've fought enough for one night,” you mumble, bringing one fist to your mouth, kissing each of his knuckles gently. 

Once you’ve placed your final kiss, he quickly placed the hand beneath your chin, lifting your lips to his. He kisses you in quick succession, and between each one, he repeats the sincerest I’m sorry he can muster. 

He only stops once you’re smiling too wide for him to continue. 

After his lips leave yours one last time, pulling back slowly as he savors it and you, he finally sighs, “I am curious, though — what the Hell are we going to do if they do shut off the water?” 

You shrug, “Like you said, we can talk about it tomorrow.” 

“Or we can use Eddie and Robin’s shower.” 

“Or we can use Eddie and Robin’s shower.” 

As it turns out, Steve Harrington was wrong — when it comes to you, he can always fix things. 

"brace myself for the goodbye, 'cause it's all i've ever known. then you took me by surprise, you said 'i'll never leave you alone'."

[theladycarpathia]

@hellcheeranniversaryweek Day Six - Stardust

He’d never have found her if their van hadn’t broken down on the way back from a gig. 

They were still several miles outside of Hawkins when the van started sputtering. By the time they’d pulled over to the side of the road, it was spewing black smoke. They’d all piled out and opened up the hood. An hour later, they’re still waiting there and not a single car has come by. The van keeps making choking noises every time they turn the ignition and as the hour ticks on later and later Eddie has to think of a plan B. 

“There was a garage about a mile back,” Eddie says, defeated. He’d thought that things had been looking up but there’s no way they can book any more gigs if they don’t have a van to transport their equipment. They can’t afford another one, not even if they pool their resources so they have to fix this one - or all of their dreams are dead in the water. 

“Give me a torch and I’ll walk it,” Eddie says. “You guys stay here, keep working.”

“You gonna be okay?” Jeff asks, his cheek smeared with grease. “You’re the best at this stuff.” Eddie just shrugs. 

“I’ve tried what i can,” he admits, because it’s been over an hour and the van still refuses to move. “If we can get it back to Hawkins, Wayne might be able to fix it.”

Grant tosses him a torch from the glove compartment and Eddie flicks it on and off. He’s not great at remembering to change the batteries. 

“If I’m not back in an hour, presume I’ve been eaten,” he quips, because it’s a dark empty road and he’s seen enough horror movies to know how this goes. 

But his bandmates merely salute him and Eddie sets off down the road. 

It’s dark and along these solitary back roads late at night, the only light comes from Eddie’s torch and the pale glow of the moon overhead. It’s a surprisingly clear night and Eddie takes a moment to appreciate the stars scattered across the dark sky. He so rarely gets to see them like this. 

“Star light, star bright,” Eddie mumbles to himself, suddenly struck by a rhyme his mother used to say to him when she was alive. When she’d died he’d stopped wishing on stars. There didn’t seem to be any point when wishing didn’t save her. 

“I wish I may,” Eddie continues, trying to remember the rest of it. It’s been over a decade but it comes back to him in a strange haze - the smell of patchouli and lemon soap, watching her fingers trace out stars in the sky. 

He misses her. Some days he doesn’t let himself feel it and he feels guilty about that. But if he let it all in, he’d drown under it. She was meant to be here, meant to see him make it big.

If they ever fix the van and actually get famous, that is. 

The light streaking across the sky catches him off guard. For a second it’s so bright, he thinks that there’s a car coming down the road but then he twists and finds the sky lit up. 

He flinches, because whatever it is is arching low over the ground, far lower than it should be. He can almost feel the heat as it passes by and he ducks to the floor, heart pounding. But it keeps soaring overhead, passing by the line of trees to the right of the road. 

Eddie feels the impact when it lands, the force of it throwing him off balance. The torch flies from his hand and he hears it roll away over the tarmac. He lands heavily on one knee and just about manages to stop himself from going all of the way down. He still catches his wrist at a funny angle and the pain makes him wince. 

And then the night is quiet again and Eddie holds himself very still, heart pounding. He has no idea what just happened but the smaller trees are all flattened, branches broken and splintered by the force of the impact. It could have been anything that suddenly came down like that and while the rational part of him knows that it must be something completely logical - a plane making a crash landing - in the dark and the quiet, his mind immediately finds some terrifying and strange possibilities. 

He’s seen films like this. Aliens falling from the sky. Radioactive material from UFOs. Something about to come out from the trees to eat him. 

But time ticks on, and nothing moves, and nothing glows from between the trees. 

Eddie pushes himself up hesitantly, groaning a little when his knee and wrist twinge in complaint. He finds the torch in the verge, surprisingly still functioning and he shines it towards the devastation. 

“I cannot seriously be thinking about doing this,” Eddie mutters, because the band are waiting for him to get help and this is a surefire way to get killed in any horror movie. 

But for some reason he steps off the road and slides down the grass. 

It’s slow going, crossing all of the fallen trees and debris. It’s also further away than he thought and he keeps thinking that he’s made a mistake. That he should give up and go back, and actually get to the gas station like he promised. 

But something in his chest keeps him moving forward, one foot in front of the other. 

He’s exhausted by the time he gets to the crater, with several scratches down his arms and face. He’d pushed through several bushes to reach the mouth of the crater and he had to flinch, because that same light was coming from the center of it, startling and painfully bright. 

But then the light begins to fade and Eddie lowers the arm he’d hastily thrown up to shield his face. 

The next second, he’s skidding down the crater, nearly falling over head first. 

“Miss!” he calls, because the girl lying on the ground looks unconscious. “Miss, can you hear me?”

But she doesn’t answer and finally he’s on even ground and racing across to her. She’s curled up in a small ball on her side and Eddie can’t see her face - just mounds of red-blonde hair falling down her shoulders. 

“Miss?” Eddie asks hesitantly, because she’s lying there in a shimmery blue gown, nothing on her feet, no purse, no sign of anything. He shines the torch around but there’s nothing - no footprints, no trail, no sign at all that she’s climbed down here like he has. 

Suddenly she groans and twists over, hair spilling across the ground. 

“Miss?” Eddie says anxiously and then doesn’t think of anything else because she’s opening impossibly blue eyes at him. 

For a moment they stare at each other, Eddie half crouched over this strange girl in a crater, and Eddie could almost swear that the light is getting brighter. But it can’t be - not from his shitty torch, or from the moon hanging overhead. He remembers that odd light from before and wonders where it came from.

But then the light is gone again and there’s just a faint shimmer across her cheeks, as she tries to push herself up. 

“Careful,” Eddie says when she collapses back with a squeal of pain. He takes another quick look around, because there’s still something ringing in the back of his mind. It doesn’t look like she climbed down here, and yet her ankle is twisted and swollen underneath her glittery dress. 

And when Eddie looks up into the sky, still filled impossibly with stars, he can’t help but wonder - did she fall? 

Not quite a Stardust AU but definitely a modern AU where Eddie finds fallen star Chrissy and has to figure out what to do with her, especially when certain government officials come looking.

[qstea]

hi! would it be possible to get headcanons about what kind of gifts they'd give or what they would do for their relationship anniversary? gender neutral reader for geno, error and if possible, fatal error as well.

(i've never sent an ask before so hopefully this is alright, its ok to refuse. love your writing!! :D)

📎 What They Do for Their Relationship Anniversary ★

Featuring: Geno!Sans, Error!Sans, Fatal_Error!Sans

#Notes: u gave me my top favs tysm *kisses you* srry this took like seven thousand years to make lolol but here u goooo

pronouns used: they/them

Geno Sans

Putting it in simple words, they have no idea what to do for the anniversary.

Definitely goes to Sans for advice and probably rambles about the situation to him. To which Sans just replies ‘get them something memorable, or take them somewhere, like per se, the spot where you met. maybe a vacation?’ and it just all starts to click in Geno’s head.

Alright, so. Their plan is to 1. Take you to the very top of the mountain where they first saw the surface and have a peaceful picnic with you. 2. Buy some of your favorite snacks and a movie you like and eat some popcorn up in their room, and 3. Cuddle and fall asleep together. Perfect anniversary plan.

Still super nervous about how it will go, and isn’t the best at speaking to others. Papyrus and Sans may or may not tag along and make it slightly less peaceful and a little less like alone time between the two of you.

If that does happen, it makes the atmosphere somewhat excitable. Geno isn’t the happiest about it, mainly because they really just want to be alone with you and just bathe in each others company, but if you’re enjoying it, they’re enjoying it.

Logically, some things end up backfiring during the anniversary, but it’s the thought that really counts. And for you two, is all that really mattered in the first place.

Error Sans

I don’t see them really caring about anniversaries. But if you’re super into it, they’ll go along with it.

Not really for taking you anywhere? I think they prefer staying in their anti-void and sharing their bean bag with you while watching undernovela (tbh you should’ve seen this coming. come on, it’s error.)

Afterwards, they’ll open a portal to Outertale and you guys can just hang out and watch the stars. Will point out constellations for you and everything. Ink likes to follow you and Error around mostly because he’s genuinely surprised Error managed to get into a relationship with somebody and for this long too! You better bet Ink’s going to make ship art for you guys on your anniversary. Outertale paintings are his specialty., so expect to find a few art pieces near your date spot in Outertale.

Error is mildly embarrassed and flustered when they do find these drawings though.

The kind of monster to make you a tapestry or a plushie of themselves. Not used to giving people gifts so they’ll just throw them out you and scurry away like the rat bastard they are.

The anniversary isn’t remotely well put together but it’s a nice spending it with Error, so it cancels the flaws out.

Fatal Error Sans

He has a vague idea on what an anniversary is supposed to look like. After being in the save screen for so long and then having Error brutally mangle his code, you can imagine just what that shit does to your memory.

You’ll have to bring up the topic of a relationship anniversary for them to even remember that those things exist.

Very busy a lot of the time (killing Papyruses and multiple versions of Swap and piecing their code together to try to make themselves a new brother, yknow the drill) so might not actually even have an anniversary with you.

But you mean the world to him, so if you practically beg him to do something for your anniversary, he will eventually give in.

Again you’re probably gonna have to do a lot of the work. He’ll just go along with whatever you have in mind. He doesn’t mind.

The most they’ll do is steal get some snacks for you.

Might attempt to crochet or knit something for you with his red strings but he’s not that experienced. He’ll definitely learn for you, though.

Most definitely not experienced in the art of romance so be patient with them.

[prettyyoungandbored]

Be Careful

Pairing: Johnny Knoxville x Reader

Warnings: language, slight fluff, female reader, idk

Author’s Note: I have no business writing this, but I did. So yeah.

NOT MY GIF

The alarm clock read 1:15 A.M. as Y/N exhaled softly.

Her eyes darted back to the television where some black and white movie played. She was half paying attention to it, her mind elsewhere and eyes mostly shifting between the clock and her cell phone.

She was invited to go to the bar with the guys, but she declined, exhausted from spending the day organizing their medical records. She shouldn’t have offered, but considering how frequent the trips to the hospital were, she figured it would be useful for each of them to have a binder that contained important medical documents in the event of an emergency.

Jeff was beyond thankful for it and she was happy to help considering Johnny wouldn’t let her do any stunts lately.

Even though Johnny was a pro at what he did, she still worried. Going through his medical binder was a kick in the stomach for her. His was the most personal considering he was her fiancé. She often worried when she got calls from the guys if it was going to be that “one call.” When they called “action” and she watched Johnny begin, she said a mental prayer begging for him to make it out alive.

The door opened and Johnny appeared, smiling.

“Hey there, cutie,” he greeted her, before bending down to untie his red converse. “Thought you’d be asleep.”

“I tried but just couldn’t seem to keep them closed,” she said, reaching over to turn the light on for him. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Sure did,” he replied, throwing off his jacket and tossing it onto the chair in the corner. “You know how it is. I wish I could say you didn’t miss much, but we spent the night helping get Tyler the PA laid.”

She cracked a smile. “It’s the least you boys could do considering you made him mud wrestle Bam.”

He laughed. “That was the logic.”

He pulled down his jeans before crawling into bed beside her in his boxers and graphic tee. He propped his elbow up, resting his cheek against the palm of his hand.

“I really did miss you tonight,” he said, using his other hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I was a little bummed you didn’t come out with us.”

“I know.” She exhaled. “Honestly, I just needed to decompress.”

“Seemed like you were having an off day,” he noted. “You wanna talk about it?”

“I know you know what you’re doing and I trust you,” she said. “It’s important to me that you know that. It’s just, going through your medical records was a hard pill for me to swallow. I get worried that one prank will be one that either kills you or leaves you with some permanent injury or that these injuries eventually…”

She paused, realizing how pathetic she sounded. She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I-.”

“Don’t apologize for that,” he said. “I’m fucking serious. Don’t.”

“No but-.”

“No - hey, look at me. Open your eyes and look at me.”

She opened her eyes to find him smiling at her. The same smile that made her weak in the knees when she first saw it.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said. “I know it’s a lot for you, and I can’t thank you enough for standing by me and putting up with this shit even when it’s hard to deal with.”

“It’s not that I deal with it. It’s just me getting worried because I love you.” She gave him a small smile. “I told you I’m not going anywhere and I meant it. No amount of concussions or broken limbs or any other injuries is gonna change that. All I ask that you be careful, ok?”

“I will,” he promised, kissing the top of her head. “But only because I think you’re cute.”

She snorted. “That’s the only reason, huh?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. It’s really the only reason I’m marrying you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then I guess it’s ok for me to say I’m only marrying you because the sex is great.”

He shrugged. “Works for me. Now, c’mere.”

He pulled her body under his, peppering her face with quick kisses. “Just one more week then you and I head off to Vegas.”

“Having second thoughts?”

“Never. I’m all in, baby.” He pulled his head back for a sec. “Are you?”

“Not a chance, Clapp. I’m in it for the long haul.” She paused. “Unless, of course, I decide to marry the Elvis impersonator instead. I’ll figure it once we get there.”

[bennie-jerry]

My Beef with Miguel O'Hara - A Spiderverse Rant

If you've read the title of this, you already know who I'm gonna be crapping on.

I know some of y'all are gonna flame me in the comments, but I do not care. Now, if you’re willing to bring up counterpoints about a FICTIONAL topic in a respectful manner, I’ll listen no problem because I don't mind being wrong (and I actually HOPE I'm wrong about this since I WAS excited about watching Miguel in action because there was so much hype around him). But if you take me having beef with a fictional character as me having beef with YOU, then I politely ask you to spare your mental health and drink some hot chocolate under a blanket after you click away from this post, thank you. 

Now back to the topic.

Most of us Spider-Man fans have seen the movie, "Across the Spider-Verse" at some point (and if you haven't, what are you doing? Go watch it, it's on Netflix). Excluding everything that makes it a masterpiece aside, there's one character in the movie who really grinds my gears. Not in terms of how they’re written, but more so just how they are as a person in general. 

Miguel O'Freaking'Hara. 

I do not like Miguel. I feel pity for him, but I do not like him. I do like him as a character, though. I feel like he definitely adds to the story and makes it interesting. I genuinely feel like ATSV would’ve been really boring if he wasn’t part of it. But I do not like him as a person. 

Miguel doesn't JUST have a stick up his butt, he has the whole TREE.

I couldn't care less about the fact this dude looks like a handsome statue because of the stuff he was doing to Miles. I think y’all forgot that this dude THREW A TABLE AT A MINOR UPON FIRST MEETING HIM and then has the nerve to throw away the food Miles got for him like it's trash. If that’s already not a red flag, I don’t know what is.

I don’t care if it was just ‘frustration.’ Miguel's 27 years old, he should know better. Unless Miles was attacking him in the beginning (which he wasn’t), there’s no reason he should’ve done that. But oh…I have much more beef with this dude than just a table. 

I understand that his supposed role and whatnot in the Spiderverse is that he has to keep canon events going. He has to get rid of 'anomalies.’ Unfortunately, Miles Morales (from Earth-1610) is an anomaly because he was never supposed to be the Spider-Man of his universe. So, what does Miguel do? He tries to obliterate the guy.

…Ex–freaking-scuse me?

"Oh, but Miguel tried to talk to Miles about everything!" 

Yeah. And he did it in the worst way possible. Miguel had absolutely no empathy towards the whole situation, then has the gall to wonder why Miles is running off and not listening to him. No dip, Sherlock. I'm pretty sure if you harshly told any normal person that someone they loved deeply was going to die and that they couldn't save them without any hint of compassion, they'd go against what you said and try to find a way to save them, bro. 

Miguel's whole schmo is that Miles becoming Spider-Man was bad because it created Spot and Spot's creating a bunch of problems. As a result, Miguel also tells Miles that saving his dad is not allowed. Here's where I have a problem with that logic. If Miles being Spider-Man is an anomaly in the first place, why NOT save Jeff as a way to prevent more anomalies from HAPPENING? If anything, Miles losing his dad would've just been another canon event for him to continue BEING Spider-Man, even though he wasn't supposed to be. Legit, this dude’s logic irritates the pee out of me.

Miguel's approach to the problem is also hypocritical considering that he lost his own wife and daughter in the universe he belonged to, then invaded ANOTHER UNIVERSE he didn't belong to, which honestly in my opinion makes Miguel look even worse to me. I'm willing to bet that Miguel’s alternate daughter could’ve been that universe’s spider hero, but because THIS vampire edge lord stepped into a universe that was NOT his, it prevented the canon event of the classic “Dead Guardian trope,” leading to that universe’s evaporation.

Another thing that irks me about the whole thing is that MILES IS LIKE 15-16 YEARS OLD. So as far as I'm concerned, O'Hara is trying to eliminate a KID. Even though he knows what it's like to lose a KID. No wonder the multiverse prevented him from being a father—he’s violent, unstable, and completely short-sighted. He’s out here chokeslamming a teenager and calling THEM the mistake. Just because you went through grief and trauma with your own children, it isn't an excuse to take the breath of another child. 

(Y'know, considering the events of Multiverse of Madness, I'm kinda seeing a pattern here--)

Miguel, for some reason, refuses to have a smidge of sensitivity for what Miles is going through. Heck, even Gwen and Peter Parker had more empathy for Miles despite them not telling him he wasn't supposed to be Spider-Man because they actually cared about his feelings TO SOME DEGREE.

I hate Miguel’s whole “You’re a mistake!” speech because Miles didn't create the spider. Miles didn't summon the spider. Miles didn’t choose to get bit. He didn’t find it on his own terms. Miles didn't choose to create Spot—the one who’s actually causing them problems. Someone ELSE brought the spider there. Someone ELSE took away a universe’s Spider-Man. Miles is just trying to deal with what he’s been given. So if Miguel wants to go after ANYONE for ‘anomalies’ in terms of Miles’ universe, he needs to track down the person who put something where it didn’t belong.

For crying out loud, he told the boy that HE was a mistake. It’d be one thing if he said “You being Spider-Man was a mistake” or something. But no. He says that Miles IS the mistake.

During that whole speech, it sounds like Miguel is trying to tell Miles that everything is HIS fault as if Miles had a choice in being bit. As if Miles even had a choice in the fact that a radioactive spider from an alternate universe chose to bite him. 

There were so many other ways Miguel could've handled the issue and he didn’t do that. I don’t care what his so-called intentions could/would be because it really put a disgusting taste in my mouth. 

I still have no respect for the fact that he hypocritically and previously invaded another reality where he was dead so he could be with his family--and here's what I mean by that.

Yes, I understand--Miguel's life on his original earth was freaking sad. He lost his wife and daughter. That's obviously a very tragic thing to go through. But it’s the fact that he's cracking down on Miles so badly despite Miguel LITERALLY being the one to pull a Kingpin vexes me. Miles had ALWAYS belonged to his universe. Miguel’s only in the dump he’s in because he was trespassing.

Don't get me wrong, I feel pity but I absolutely cannot stand the audacity of this man to go after a kid who got bit IN HIS OWN UNIVERSE even though Miguel was the one who contributed to some multiversal disaster in the Spider-verse. You could try to say, "Oh, it's because he doesn't want to make the same mistake again and shatter the Spider-verse or something!" While I could understand that, it’s still not a good reason for Miguel to do and say the stuff he did. I thought at the bare minimum, he'd be at least able to RELATE to Miles considering that he also lost people he cared about.

End conclusion: 

Miguel is vexing to me–but I don’t hate the way he’s written. If anything, I think if he wasn’t written this way, the ASTV movie would be very different. Whether that’d be for the better or the worse, I’m willing to bet most of this storyline wouldn’t even exist were Miguel not like this. So even though Miguel absolutely grinds my gears with his mindset and who he is as a character—I’m not mad at his writers. And I honestly feel like that’s just a showmanship of how great the writing for the Spider-Verse movies is. Good writing is when you’re mad at characters for the decisions THEY make, and not at the WRITERS for having them make those decisions. 

I’m out.