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lauraneedstochill · 1 year

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“All yours” (modern!Aemond Targaryen, college au, part 1)

🔥 part 2: First time for everything

author’s note: the idea came out of NOWHERE. I reread my The Greens (modern!au) — and then this thing happened. to keep up with the tradition I’m posting it as it is (I may regret it when I wake up lmao), hopefully, some of you can enjoy this silliness! ✨ • Aemond doesn’t lose an eye but he still has a big scar (let’s pretend Luke missed by a couple of inches) • I originally said that he’d be into sports however I’m yet to pick a sport for him so the description is very vague (I’m open to suggestions!)

words: ~3000 (I TRIED to cut it short... but alas)

warnings: none, I think? they just swoon over each other (and a cheeky blond makes an appearance again ;)

⋙ It’s impossible not to know who Aemond Targaryen is when pretty much every girl on campus has a crush on him. The tall athletic guy with chiseled cheekbones and bright eyes who wins one tournament after another, manages to stay at the top of his classes but barely talks to anyone and has a handful of friends. Even the scar on the left side of his face — a faded red stripe from his temple and down to the cheek — only adds to his appeal although you suspect it’s mostly due to people not knowing how he got said scar. Come to think of it, there isn’t much to know about him at all: he’s not on social media, rarely goes to parties, stays out of trouble and doesn’t even like his pictures being taken. There is a certain charm to that mystery yet you also can’t help but respect his intelligence and perseverance. (And you may find him attractive, but that’s a given.)

⋙ You share a few classes with him, and he usually sits nearby although you think it’s purely a coincidence. He once gave you his pen when you forgot yours, and he also sometimes stands behind you in line for coffee in the nearby cafeteria but you never really interact. You catch him looking at you a couple of times and you don’t think much of it. You might’ve thrown a glance or two at him, too, since there’s no crime in that.

⋙ You get paired up for a project by mere chance: your best friend fell sick and his mate missed the class for whatever reason so you and Aemond are the only ones without a partner, and Mr. Harrold tells you to work together. Aemond approaches you when the class is over.

“Hi” — “Hi” you say in unison. There’s a glint of a smile on his lips, his eyes studying your face.

“I’ve got two training sessions today, can we maybe start tomorrow?” he suggests.

“Sure, tomorrow sounds fine,” you nod. “Meet me in the library at 3?”

You quickly discuss the books you’ll need, and he casually asks for your number so you could text him the details. While you’re typing it, you miss the grin that appears on his face. Truth be told, you’re too busy thinking of how good his arms look with his sleeves rolled up.

⋙ The next day, he’s only five minutes late. You don’t even notice, wrapped up in reading, until he rushes in, a tad disheveled and very apologetic. You are about to tell him it’s no big deal when you notice blood on his hand — or more so on his knuckles. He looks like he wants to avoid the subject but you are truly shocked at the sight.

“Should I worry about the other guy?” you muster a smile, looking him over with concern.

“He deserved it,” Aemond mumbles as he sits next to you, averting his gaze.

He goes to dig some books out of his bag when you take his hand — you do so without thinking, it almost comes out as a reflex. While you examine his bruised skin, Aemond pretty much forgets how to breathe.

“It’s not that bad but will swell up in the morning, so you need to apply some ice,” you tell him, fingers gently brushing over his. “Here, this is the next best thing I can think of,” you grab your cup of iced coffee and put it to his knuckles. When you glance up at Aemond, you see him looking at you with a stunned face expression, and you realize that you might’ve overstepped a little.

“I’m sorry, you probably already know what to do without my advice,” you move to pull back the cup, but he suddenly covers your hand with his other palm.

“Don’t,” he breathes out. “This feels nice.”

Within a few seconds, his cheeks turn red.

“The ice, I mean, you were right about applying the ice,” he corrects himself, and you can’t help but smile wider. The most popular guy on campus is blushing because you held his hand, and there’s something very endearing about this moment. Or maybe it’s just him.

You push that thought away and divert the conversation to your assigned project. He keeps his hand intertwined with yours for the rest of the evening, both of you acting like it’s no big deal.

⋙ The next time you see him, he brings you coffee, and somehow he guesses your order perfectly. You meet up a few times a week, and he makes sure to come in time. Always prepared and polite, he buys you coffee regularly and insists on carrying all your books. You now sit together in classes, he shares his secret Spotify account with you and you learn that you share a passion for reading. Aemond also gives you his hoodie when he notices that you’re cold on your way out of the library one evening. He pulls the hoodie up over his head and his T-shirt comes up, too, exposing his lower abdomen and the tight lines of his abs. You take a deep, long breath, pretending that you didn’t see a thing.

And sometimes his hands brush yours and his gaze lingers on your face. But it’s another thing you try not to think of.

⋙ He mentions in passing that his training will get more intense as the competition season begins. At this point, you’ve been meeting for a couple of weeks pretty regularly, and you feel a slight twinge in your heart at the realization that you’ll see him less often. What you don’t expect is for him to stand you up. At any other time, you might’ve cut him some slack, but it just so happened that you are in a really bad mood since the moment you woke up, and him not answering your texts only rile you up.

You are so annoyed, you come into the locker room with little to no hesitation. Most of the guys already left but you still hear a couple of them whistling at you, and you flip them off. Aemond just got out of the shower and when you see him, he already has his jeans on and stands next to his locker searching for a clean shirt.

“Dude, your girl looks pissed,” one of his mates comments, and Aemond gives him a perplexed look. And then he turns to see you, your eyes burning holes in him, and his face pales.

“Oh, fuck,” he mutters. “We were supposed to meet, weren’t we?”

“Yep,” you drawl with a frown, and his face falls even more.

He doesn’t have time to explain as you hear another whistle.

“Nice ass,” it’s Jeff, one of the frat boys who’s famous for not keeping his hands to himself. You are about to shut him off but when Jeff looks up at you, his smirk disappears.

“Woah, I didn’t know it was you!” he raises his hands in defense. “My apologies to your ass,” he glances behind your back, terrified. “...To you, I mean my apologies to you!” he backs off. “Hey, it was meant as a compliment, tell your boyfriend I’m not his punching bag!”

“You need to google what a compliment is, you idiot,” you scoff at him, and Jeff all but runs off.

The room is awkwardly quiet, and Aemond’s friends quickly get out, leaving you two alone. He barely has time to open his mouth before you press your hand to his chest, making him stumble back purely out of surprise.

“Care to explain what the hell was that?” you hiss at him, your gaze burning. “My boyfriend?!”

“I didn’t say that, he made an assumption,” Aemond clarifies.

“Jeff was the one you got into a fight with?” you suddenly figure out. “But why?”

“He was talking shit about you,” he says, clearly displeased.

“And you decided it was worth a fight? I could not care less if he — ”

“I do,” Aemond cuts you off. “And I think it was worth it,” he punctuates with so much certainty, it takes you aback.

In the next second, you realize that your hand is still on his bare chest — it’s warm and toned, his muscles tense under your touch — and you are standing very close to each other. It’s very, very hard not to think of.

“Um, thank you, I guess,” you step back with your gaze still on him. “I-I shouldn’t have barged in here, it wasn’t very —”

One of your legs bumps into a bench, your eyes widen — and you are about to trip over when Aemond catches you. With a blink of an eye, his hands are on your waist as he brings you closer again, and this time the distance between you two is even shorter. You involuntarily look at his lips and when you glance back up, you catch him looking at yours.

If he kisses you right now, you won’t mind. In fact, you will probably enjoy it. Probably a lot.

Aemond clears his throat and pulls back.

“I’m sorry that I stood you up, the coach didn’t let us rest for a minute,” he explains with a repentant tone. “I wanted to send you a text, I really did. And then it just went out of my head.”

“It’s fine, I get it,” you give him a wan smile. “You warned me that you would be busy.”

“Still, it was rude on my part,” he insists. “You have any plans for the evening? We can still go to the library, I’m all yours for today.”

The way he phrases it makes your heart skip a bit. You bite the inside of your cheek to concentrate.

“They closed earlier,” you sigh. “Something about updating the catalog.”

Aemond only thinks for a second.

“I, um... Live close by. Maybe you can come over? No one will bother us there,” his smile looks sheepish and unsure but there’s a hint of eagerness in his voice. And he is still very much half-naked.

“I happen to be completely free,” you say as your concentration goes out of the window.

⋙ Aemond apologizes again, profusely. He gives apologies in the locker room, on your way out, in the cab — and when you get out of the car and he opens his mouth again — you turn and firmly place your hand over it.

“I think I got it the first time,” you tell him, and he looks amused with your act.

You feel him smiling, his lips tickling your palm, and you move your fingers away as your cheeks heat up.

“Quite fierce, aren’t you,” he remarks.

You don’t notice a sidewalk curb but Aemond does — his hand finds yours when you are a moment away from stumbling again, and he tugs you closer. He doesn’t comment on it, asking you about your day instead. There are a few other parts of your body where you want him to put his hands on, you think.

⋙ His apartment is unexpectedly huge — four bedrooms and a living room, high ceilings and large windows, and you can’t hide your bewilderment. He half-heartedly explains that his dad left it to them after the divorce.

“Oh, so it’s not just yours,” you conclude, relieved. “Makes it look like less of a palace.”

“I have my own, actually,” he almost looks ashamed, and you find his modesty ever so adorable. “I’ve repainted the walls, and the place needs some air. So I’m crushing here at the moment.”

He tells you that his older brother Aegon mostly hangs out in his gallery, Helaena took a week off to visit her friends, and you already know that their youngest — Daeron — studies abroad.

“Mum recently moved in with her boyfriend,” Aemond nonchalantly adds while showing you to his room.

You realize that it’s just the two of you. The thought of it warms up the lower part of your body, anticipation tingling in your abdomen, but you do your best to keep it together.

Luckily, you get easily distracted by the beautiful interior, his sister’s plants and paintings, and rows of photos on the walls, and you try not to gawk at the surroundings. Aemond tries not to gawk at you. You both fail.

“Feel yourself at home, I’ll go look for my charger,” his hand grazes your back after he opens the door. Aemond leaves you standing but the feeling of his touch remains. You have to pinch yourself to get back to reality.

⋙ You see his bookshelf that stretches from one end of the room to the other, and excitement bubbles in your chest as you rush to take a closer look. There’s a plethora of books of all colors and genres, paperback and hardcover, and you energetically look through the rows filled with them. You reach for one of the books on the upper berth, standing on your tiptoes but it causes you to lose balance. The only reason you don’t fall flat on your back is because Aemond’s hand swiftly lands on your waist, steading you. He turns you around to him, and your faces are suddenly only inches apart.

“Are you always this clumsy?” he chuckles lightly, his breath fanning over your skin.

Only when you are around, apparently.

Aemond’s lips part, his brows raising, and he stares at you, surprised. And then you realize that you said it out loud. Before you get a chance to correct yourself, he lets out a laugh, and you feel your face flushing. You close your eyes in embarrassment, trying to steady your breath, and his laughter dies down. He firmly locks his hands around you.

“What’s on your mind?” Aemond murmurs after a minute of silence.

You, you, you. Fearing that there’s still a chance that you are misreading the situation, you vaguely respond:

“A lot of things,” but your voice comes out strained and quiet.

When you don’t hear him replying, you open your eyes — your gaze immediately meeting his. The warmth from his hands slips into your body.

“You know what I’m thinking about?” Aemond asks in a low tone, his eyes a shade darker in this lightning. You shake your head because talking seems like an actual challenge right now.

“Kissing you,” he confesses, maintaining eye contact.

You inhale sharply, a wave of relief washing over you. And then something else sparkles inside, tightening your chest, and the well-known burning sensation blossoms right under your navel.

“You should,” you tell Aemond, and it’s the only confirmation he needs.

He crashes his lips into yours with fervor, pulling your chest flush against his and knocking the breath from your lungs. His hand cups your face, guiding you even closer, his mouth greedy and intent with its every movement, and your head goes dizzy with longing. The kiss is both tender and heated, and you lose yourself in the moment, only thinking of how soft and supple his lips are, and how ineffably good they feel.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a while,” Aemond mumbles against your mouth.

“Only been a month,” you manage to say while his lips move from your jaw to your neck.

“Long before that,” his words burn the spot just below your ear, making you shiver. “Ever since you argued with Mr. Harrold that Zelda Fitzgerald wrote ‘The Great Gatsby’ and her husband was a total — hmm, how did you call him? Yeah, a total nitwit,” he cackles.

You glance at him with your mouth ajar:

“Aemond, that was last semester.”

“I didn’t know how to approach you,” he admits, abashed. “And I didn’t want it to be weird or to mess it up and — ”

You shut him off with another kiss, and he hums in satisfaction. His thumb softly rubs your cheek while he deepens the kiss, his mouth exploring yours. His other hand dares to move lower, squeezing your hip and making you sigh at the alacrity of his. It’s simultaneously overwhelming and not enough but he still holds back a little, not crossing the line just yet.

“Wow, can’t believe this is finally happening!”

You break the kiss, startled by someone’s voice. A blond guy is leaning on the door frame, a pair of glasses and a grin on his face. Aemond groans into your shoulder, his hands moving to your waist.

“It’s Y/N, right? I’m this dipshit’s brother,” he shamelessly walks closer and extends a hand. You reluctantly go for a handshake, but he plants a quick kiss on yours.

“Aegon,” Aemond says with a warning tone.

“Oh, don’t grumble at me, I’ve been listening to you talk about her for months,” his brother’s smile widens. “Now Hel owes me 50 bucks.”

“Why is that?” you squint at him.

“We made a bet. I said he’d grow a pair and ask you out before the year ends. Glad I was right,” he snickers.

“Well, technically...,” you can help but laugh.

“He still didn’t?” Aegon fakes a gasp. “I apologize on his behalf, I taught him better than that!”

“Can you please fuck off already?” Aemond glares at him, irritated, and Aegon rolls his eyes but takes the hint.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it, kids,” he winks at you and walks away.

“I like him,” you exclaim.

“I don’t,” Aemond retorts and pulls you in for a kiss as soon as the door closes. “But I will let him win the bet.”

“Is that so?” you cock your head with a smile.

“Yeah,” he pauses, his face getting serious, and he almost looks scared while asking: “Will you go on a date with me?”

“I’d love to,” you agree without a second thought, and his lips twitch upward, making your heart swell with affection. “Where do you plan on taking me?”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Aemond says cryptically, his eyes never leaving yours. “May be more than just one date,” he sounds both daring and pleading. You gently trace the line of his scar, and he relaxes at the movement.

“So you are all mine for a while, huh?” you joyfully assume, earning a laugh from him, and he leans in, his hand lovingly caressing your face.

“For as long as you’ll have me,” he whispers before closing the distance between your lips. ➡ part 2: First time for everything

• listen, I looked at his face and I thought there’s no way girls won’t find him attractive, with or without a scar. so yeah, this version of Aemond is more confident. I may do a second part? maybe more headcanons (love confessions, meeting his family, moving in together, etc.)

• I kinda want to write for Aegon, too... I mean, just look at the original photo and tell me he doesn’t seem like the sweetest fuckboy ever! tagging @greenowlfactif, @kyuupidwrites since you asked (I hope that’s fine 🥺)

✨ recent fic: “My first choice” (she’s Aegon’s bestie, inspired by “Little women”) 💌 my masterlist English is not my first language, so feel free to message me if you spot any major mistakes!

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jayujus · 4 months

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rent a boyfriend! - chapter 4

— 04 cocktail party!!!

written ~ 1.0k + smau

heeseung adjusts his tux, sweat building at his nape from nervousness. who would have thought that he'd be taking a girl out that he met from a sketchy site?

he rings her doorbell, unsure if the flowers are too extra or not.

a few seconds later, y/n opens the door, flashing a bright smile at him. honestly, she's surprised he is actually real herself even if she did not really question it. he is a fine man, especially in the suit he is wearing right now and in person. a small smile forms on his face as he hands her a bouquet of dahlias and roses. y/n's smile grows even bigger as she grabs the bouquet from him, pulling him into a hug as she steps outside her apartment.

"this dress is so pretty on you." he whispers in her ear as she links her arm with his, as if they've been a couple for so long. "you look good too."

exiting the luxurious apartment building, y/n is met with heeseung's NOT white van. his car was fairly nice, a black bmw. "you didn't bring a white van?" heeseung raises his eyebrows as he opens the door for her. "did you want me to?" y/n doesn't say anything, putting on her seatbelt. "this is a nice car." heeseung hums, "i got it as a gift by my brother," y/n nods, giving him the directions to the building.

once they arrived in the building's huge parking lot, y/n tells him some reminders. "my parents are going to want to meet you right away, just be normal. please," heeseung hums. "don't worry!"

he helps y/n step out of the car, "should i leave the flowers in the car...?" heeseung shrugs, "are you going to come and get it later?" y/n thinks for a few seconds, "actually, i was wondering if you'd be able to drop me off tonight. you don't have to! just wondering." she asks nervously, which makes heeseung blush. "i'll drop you, no worries."

immediately when y/n enters the building with heeseung by her side, she hears her mother rushing excitedly to her, some of her drink spills on the way. "oh my god! y/n! is this the boy you were talking about?" y/n hums, "this is heeseung." her mom flashes a big smile at him, "hi heeseung, we should talk a little bit. i will go find your dad, y/n." y/n sucks in her breath, mouthing a 'sorry' to heeseung before her mom walks away.

about two minutes later, y/n's mom comes back with her dad, who greets heeseung. "you are a very handsome man, surprisingly. my y/n has never had a boyfriend before, so i was worried who'd she bring." y/n covers her face in embarrassment, hinting at her parents to stop talking. "what do you do? what do your parents do?" heeseung purses his lips at the bombarded questions. "i study law. my parents run a family restaur-" y/n elbows heeseung, "his parents are doctors." y/n's parents smile, "wow! that's really cool, y/n, you did a good job finding him." y/n smiles awkwardly, dragging heeseung away a few seconds later.

heeseung furrows his eyebrows when y/n told a lie.

heeseung ended up meeting a lot of y/n loved ones tonight. he first met her parents— which was awkward, her friend group, her aunts and uncles, and her sister.

when heeseung excuses himself to the restroom, her sister, jinah, asks, "where did you meet him, y/n?" y/n quickly comes up with another lie. she won't have to see heeseung again after tonight, right? it won't matter. she'll send him the money and they won't talk again. "we met at the mall! yeah! he offered to pay for my stuff so it just went from there...." she smiles awkwardly and jinah knows she's lying. she can tell but she doesn't say anything about it right now. the last thing she wants her baby sister dealing with is more stress than their parents already give her.

when heeseung comes back, jinah excuses herself and the two just hang out by the food, munching on some of the chocolate covered-strawberries while talking about whatever.

"i honestly thought you weren't real, my friends kept saying so. your hair color kept changing in every picture." heeseung chuckles. "my friend sunghoon dyes my hair for me," y/n hums. "i like this color on you." he blushes, jokingly flirting with her back.

"do you want to dance?" heeseung nods and y/n grabs his hand, pulling him with her to the dance floor.

the party ended and it was around 1:30 am. y/n was hugging her friends goodbye before being left with just her sister, parents, and heeseung. "heeseung, it was good to meet you. you seem like a nice man and you make my daughter happy, thank you." heeseung smiles at her mom and dad, bowing at them.

he also bows to y/n's sister, "get her home safely." y/n's dad says, to which heeseung nods. "don't worry, mr. jeon. i will."

heeseung considers placing a hand around her waist. he really thought she was the prettiest girl ever but this was only for one night, that would be too awkward.

"thank you for doing this for me, actually. i'll send you the money when i get home." heeseung purses his lips, "you don't need to send me the money, it's fine." y/n raises an eyebrow as she enters his car. "what? no, i'm paying you." heeseung protests but there is no point because y/n continues arguing back.

"i rented you for one night, so i have to pay you." heeseung doesn't say anything else but mumbling an 'okay.'

"you make a pretty good boyfriend, to be honest. do you have any girl you're interested in?" heeseung hesitantly shakes his head. "what about you?" y/n shrugs. "beomgyu's cute but he doesn't like me."

"the atrocious man you posted?" he jokes and y/n jokingly slaps his arm. "be nice!"

"he fumbled, seriously he fumbled." y/n blushes and turns to face the window, "tell me about it."

a few minutes later, they arrive at her apartment building. "want me to walk you in?"

"you don't have to," heeseung asks again and y/n says the same thing, so he just helps her out of the car and she gives him a quick hug. he hands her the flowers he got for her. "goodnight heeseung." she smiles, "goodnight."

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KAIA'S NOTE sorryy this isn't proofread and i'm not the most confident in my writing skills 😣 also if im unable to tag you anymore i wont be able to keep you on the taglist 💔💔

TAGLIST (CLOSED) @leep0ems @yyawnjun @saursoob @heerinnie @wvnkoi @heeslut4life @sunghoonnsupremacy @ramenoil @chxrlvspp @wonniestars @beommii @kwiwin @dimplewonie @eleanorheartschishiya @sunkislove @jaeyunluvr @txtlyn @aishigrey @simjyunnie @oldjws @baevsxii @sumzysworld @iamliacamila @yvrikoo @hotsforikeu @w3bqrl @jiaant11 @caryssoverhere @boutyouwonu @aespaslut @nishislcve @neocockthotology @erehkinnie30 @icepshrince @26796i @defnotfertilizedtoesw @kissezfornamjoon @ghostiiess @lprww @stilesks @k1ttylvr @rantiii @rikizm @kgneptun @jjunae @aerivrs @bomi-ja @dani-is-tired @ttylxox2 @i-yeseo

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imbiowaresbitch · 4 months

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A is for Assbutt, ch. 1

Summary:

Dean has been a teacher for five years, and a dad for three. Well, he'd been a dad for six years, but Lydia failed to share that information. When she died in a car accident, he got custody of Emma, who became his entire life in an instant.

Charlie and Stevie tell Dean he needs to date, but as a single dad, he can't just pick up anyone. Emma comes first.

A chance meeting with another single dad at pickup, the father of Emma's friend Jack, has possibilities suddenly occurring to Dean. Cas has sole custody of Jack, and is also the legal guardian of his neice, Claire.

Can Dean and Cas make it work?

The mid-winter sun shone down on the schoolyard. Kids were running every which way as shouts and laughter echoed off the red brick of Crestview Public School, where Dean had been teaching for five years. He, along with two other teachers, was on yard duty, and he blew on his chilled fingers, his gloves forgotten at home yet again.

“Mister Dean!”

The shrill cry, urgent and angry, but not injured, pulled his attention to the boy running full tilt toward him, a smaller figure trailing behind. The bigger kid, Ryan, stopped in front of him, the smile curving his lips wide with an unholy glee that he remembered far too well from the previous year when the little shit of a bully – sorry, energetic and strong-willed child – was in his second-grade class.

“He called me the B-word!” Ryan declared, pointing at the younger boy, who tilted his head in confusion at Ryan before turning big blue eyes on Dean and shaking his head.

“Did not,” he said solemnly, and Ryan turned on him, looking like he was about to turn the argument physical. Dean stepped between them quickly, holding a hand out, and Ryan stopped his charge, a mulish expression on his face.

“He did! He’s lying! He called me the B-word!” Ryan shouted, his face red with the cold and with anger, and Dean sighed internally.

“I'll deal with this, Ryan.” He crouched down to be at eye-level with the other boy, who met his gaze earnestly, bright blue eyes open and honest. “What's your name, buddy?”

“I'm Jack Novak, and I'm six years old,” Jack told him promptly, and Dean couldn't help but smile a little. Still, they really tried to discourage name-calling, so he smoothed his expression, going for serious but not threatening.

“Jack, did you call Ryan the B-word?” he asked, and again, Jack tilted his head to one side, a little like a kitten inspecting a bug for the first time.

Jack shook his head.

“I promise I didn't, Mister Dean. My daddy told me I shouldn't lie to teachers.” Dean took a breath, sensing that Ryan was about to explode behind him, but Jack continued. “I called him an assbutt. That doesn't start with a B.”

This is very much a WIP, with 8 chapters already, roughly 30K written so far. I've got a crap-ton of bangs to write, so this is the one that'll be going up as I work on those but can't share.

Read chapter 1 on AO3.

Part of my Embarrassing Things Kids Say series.

Thanks to @nickelkeep and Ariadne for the beta!

#destiel #castiel #dean winchester #redamber79writes #profoundnet

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bluhourz · 11 months

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hi! can i req when beom gives u silent treatment?

I hope this turned out how you wanted it to :)

when he gives you silent treatment

A quiet Beomgyu was never a good sign. He was usually bouncing off the walls and you could hear his bright laugh from miles away. So when you came home late to an unusually quite house after getting side tracked with friends, you were surprised and a bit scared. At first you thought maybe your boyfriend was not home, but then you saw his shoes neatly lying next to the door. He was definitely home. So now you had to find him.

"Gyu? I'm home!" was your first attempt to get his attention. But you were just met with the silence again. Slowly you made your way through the house, checking each room to see if he was there. It was only when you reached your bedroom and you slowly opened the door that you saw him.

Beomgyu was sitting on the bed with his phone in his hand. He was staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging you.

"Baby?" you tried again. Still nothing.

"I'm sorry I'm late," you started off. You kept your distance and slowly walked over to the opposite side of the bed he was on.

"You know how Y/F/N gets. She started a story and then we were there for another hour," you tried to say it lightly, however, Beomgyu didn't even glance at you. Now you knew for sure this was why you were getting the silent treatment.

"You won't believe what she told us though," you glanced at him quickly, "You know she was seeing that Hongdae boy she met a few weeks ago."

You knew your boyfriend was just as invested in the gossip stories as you, so you tried getting him to speak like this. You could see it working already as he pretended to be on his phone even when you could tell he was listening intently now.

"So they were going on a date last week, but he just ghosted her a few hours before they had to meet," you sighed, it was time for the money shot.

"I mean, I was surprised. He seemed like such a nice guy," you turned to look at him for his reaction. However, your boyfriend beat you to is as he immediately sat up and nearly crashed into you.

"What do you mean you thought he was nice? You said you hated him a few days ago!" he said with a big frown and pout to go with it.

You really tried your best but you couldn't hold the laughter in. A small giggle escaped you as you finally looked Beomgyu in the eyes.

"First, are you going to give me more silent treatment or have I served my time?" your eyes glinted as you asked him.

Beomgyu's face fell into a straight line. He narrowed his eyes at you as he pondered the question, "Do you really think he is nice?"

"No, Gyu, I don't think so. He is an asshole," you said confidently.

Before you registered it, Beomgyu grabbed you and pulled you down to lie with him.

"Okay, I forgive you then," he sighed happily.

You giggled as you got comfortable. A few moments of silence followed before Beomgyu's soft voice filled the room again, "Did you at least have fun?"

"Yeah, kind of. Y/F/N was a mess afterwards so we all had to comfort her a bit. I think she's okay now," you replied, "I missed you though. I'm sorry I didn't message you earlier to let you know." You snuggled further into your boyfriend's side.

Instead of responding, Beomgyu just pulled you closer and left a kiss on your head. He was silent for a while before he spoke again. "It's okay. I was just worried about you. You weren't answering my calls and I was panicking."

You pulled away slightly to look up at his face. You smoothed out his hair as you talked, "I really am sorry. I didn't think about how you were going to feel."

He smiled at you gently, "Next time, I need hourly updates and your live location at all time."

You giggled at his idea, "It's a deal."

The two of you stared at each other for a few seconds, the love between you two evident.

"And I'm sorry I gave you the silent treatment," Gyu said hurriedly before pulling you in for a kiss. You couldn't even protest as his lips met yours already. You gave in instantly though, immediately melting in his arms.

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zyettemoon1800 · 1 year

Text

Celebrating Juneteenth with Hobie

Hobie x black!reader

I know I'm doing this late, but I had my own partying to do

Morning

He will wake you up with breakfast as he blasts some old black punk songs.

If the neighbors try to complain, he will just flip them off and say that y'all are celebrating that y'all survived another year dealing with segregation ,racism, and capitalism.

You are in charge of pulling him back in before things escalate and you both have a repeat of last year.

After that eventful breakfast, he pulls out two shirts and pants that he made for the both of y'all for this wonderful day.

As you're getting ready, he is giving you all kinds of accessories that go along with his.

When you both are done with clothing and makeup, he does take pictures of both you and him before leaving the house.

Afternoon

Because you both lived in a town where Juneteenth wasn't really celebrated, you two decide to walk to a black marketplace that was going on about 5 blocks from where you were.

Though Hobie is stingy with his money, if it's a small black business and the prices are acceptable, then he will let loose a little.

Once you both got there you were overwhelmed with the smell of delicious food and beautiful clothing and accessories that were on display.

To keep you dormant for the time being, he brought you to a food stand that was selling steak on the stick and turkey legs.

The smell alone made your stomach growl as hobie paid for two turkey legs and a drink.

After you got your food, he told you that y'all will both look around first before purchasing anything.

Though he knows that you have your own money, he also knows that you will try to buy this entire place if you were by yourself.

One hour turned into several as y'all ate, bought stuff, and danced. Though you were tired and were ready to go home, Hobie had one more thing up his sleeve.

Night

He pulled you to a dark alley before he wrapped his arm around your waist and made sure your legs were around him tight before he started swinging from building to building.

After about 6 minutes, he finally landed on an old building that faced the big city.

As you were about to ask him what was going on, you saw a bright light out of the side of your eye.

When you turned back around you saw fireworks littering the sky.

Hobie pulled you into his lap and put his arms around your waist as he explained that when you were busy stuffing your face and looking around, he talked to a guy that was going to be popping fireworks with some of his friends.

You turned your head and kissed the side of his face before turning back to watch the amazing light show.

#hobie brown imagine #hobie brown x reader #hobie brown #hobie headcanons #hobie brown x black!reader #hobie Brown x black reader

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corrodedseraphine · 1 year

Text

alone together | one shot

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: When nightmares and lack of sleep become too overwhelming for you you try to find solutions in weed. It turns out that the day you turned to Eddie Munson for help, the deal you made involved much more than that. angst/fluff, stragners to friends to lovers

10 337 words (including alternative ending)

TW: mentions of death, nightmares, weed use, mentions of an accident

the one shot is also avaliable on ao3

I got inspired while listening to Alone Together by Fall Out Boy

In this story I wrote two endings, the alternative ending can be found as a link in the story, also the very last part is an extra, you don't have to read it if you don't want to, I just decided that reader kinda deserves this kind of It's finally here!

Big big big shout out and many thanks to my friend @i-me-mine for wearing shining armor and figting with the insecurity dragon in my head like a pro, I wouldn't finish this story if not her support and advice ♥

eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist

Darkness and sudden blinding brightness ran through your head alternately. A deafening bang and then Steve And Robin carrying you out of the mall. Where is he? Joyce is running. She is running terrified toward Will and Jonathan. After making sure her boys are safe she sees you. She runs up all crying repeating over and over how sorry she is and hugs you tightly. Still dazed you don't know what's going on. Where is he? You look at the despair in Joyce's eyes, your senses slowly returning to you and with them the ability to understand what is happening and why she might be sorry. You jerk out of her embrace, your legs trembling but running ahead towards the gallery entrance. You stumble over the untied laces in your shoes, then you fall for the first time. Joyce is at your side again, asking you not to go back there, but you don't listen to her. Once again you tear yourself away from her and run on, calling out to him, hoping that he will come out soon, safe and sound, but nothing happens. You are already at the door when you feel Steve and Jonathan pulling you aside with all their strength. They are stronger than Joyce. You can't get away from them so you scream even more. You beg them to let you go but they don't listen to you. With all your strength you try to escape them, kicking, screaming, choking on your own tears but they won't let go. Steve pulls you to him even tighter and you drop your strength letting him hide you in his arms tightening your fists on his Scoops Ahoy uniform. From afar you hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances, when they arrive on the scene and approach the three of you, you repeat over and over that he is inside there, that they need to save him, that he needs help. A group of firefighters goes inside. Time begins to pass a million times slower, an eternity passes before one of them comes out saying that there is not a living soul inside. This is impossible. Feeling you trying to break free again, Steve squeezes you even harder.

The nightmare of memories of that night comes back to you several times a week. It has been months since the final battle with the mind flyer and the Russians, and yet although the wounds on your body look healed, the mental ones seem to grow deeper by the day. Nightmares, pain and longing are devastating you from the inside. You can't remember the last time you slept a full night, the last time you didn't wake up feeling exhausted.

Plunged into your thoughts, you sat next to Robin on the benches in front of the school watching Eddie Munson and a boy you don't recognize disappear into the woods, the place where he handles all his not necessarily legal business. Then an idea popped into your head. You sprang to your feet and told your friend that you need to do something urgently. As you reached the picnic table you see the boy closing the metal box and about to go back to school. In the distance you hear the bell ringing to signify the end of break.

"Eddie!" you shout, not wanting to miss your chance.

The metalhead turns around at the sound of your voice. Of course he recognizes you. From the very beginning of school you've attracted his attention. From the very beginning he has been fighting a dangerous fascination with you. He never thought in his life that his name would come out of your mouth, so he turns puzzled in your direction and what he sees begins to worry him. Your pale face and the shadows under your eyes speak for themselves. Ever since the starcout fire in which your father died, you have been languishing. You were less and less every day, which he understood perfectly, but he couldn't help but want to approach you and offer any kind of support. Your situation was already so awful that he quickly gave up the idea because he claimed that if the rest of the school saw you in the company of The Freak it would make everything even worse. Now that you were standing in front of him he had two choices. Ignore you for your own good or stay.

"Hey," he said, smiling. "What's up?"

"How much weed can I buy for this?" you asked, pulling a few bills out of your pocket.

He knew he shouldn't pry. He knew he should never pry into the reasons why people turn to him for drugs, but, damn, after all, you weren't some ordinary customer. "Are you okay?" he asked, approaching slowly. "Have you ever smoked it?"

"No, but I've heard it makes you calmer. I need it Eddie, please." Your desperation was evident at first glance.

"Let's make a deal, okay?" he said sitting back down at the picnic table and opened the container. Later he patted the seat next to him indicating for you to sit on it. When you were next to him he began to speak further. "You tell me what's going on, and you'll get your first dose for free," he said.

"I can pay you, you can't just give it to me." you muttered.

"'kay, then another way... I won't sell you anything until you tell me why you need it." Nervously, you stared dully into the tree in front of you. You didn't know what, but there was something about him that made you feel safe. Your heart told you that you could trust him, but your brain screamed that confiding in a drug dealer might be a bad idea. Then you looked at him. Big chocolate eyes full of warmth kept their gaze on you.

"I really don't want to hurt you y/n." he said with concern. "I know you might have heard different things about me, but I have to worry you, most of them are not true." he laughed lightly.

"I'm not afraid of you Eddie..." you said quickly. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to talk about all this." You lowered your gaze locating it on your hands.

"Is it about your dad?" he asked quietly.

"Have you ever had nightmares?" you asked without raising your eyes. You didn't want him to see the tears in your eyes. You didn't want him to see what a mess you were in.

"It happens, usually when I watch too many horror movies, then I dream about Michael Myers chasing me all over Hawkins, and because I avoid PE like a fire I don't even have the energy to run away." he tried to make a joke to lighten the situation, but seeing that they were a bit out of the mood for jokes he stopped right away. "Sorry..."

" 's okay"

"Y/n look at me, please." When you raised your eyes he frowned. He had never had the chance to look at you from such a close distance. And now that your glazed eyes were looking at him he couldn't get out of admiration of how beautiful they looked. The tears added to their shine. However, he quickly chased these thoughts aside. He will be in awe of you later, because this situation will definitely not leave his thoughts for a very long time.

"That night..." you began, breathing deeper and deeper. "At Starcourt. It comes back almost every night. I relive it all over again, every time I close my eyes I see everything all too clearly." You hid your face in your hands ashamed of how your tears began to get out of control. In truth, you didn't want to break down in front of him, but day by day you had less and less strength to somehow keep yourself grounded. "I heard that it helps to calm down...I thought that if I calm down I will finally be able to sleep normally, I can't remember the last time I slept through the night, I'm so damn tired, Eddie, so damn tired..."

Then he decided to take a chance. He expected many things. Most of all that you would get up and start yelling at him that he should stay away from you, that what was he thinking. What he didn't expect, however, was that when he embraced you you immediately leaned toward him cuddling your face into his chest. Robin hugged you many times. Steve hugged you many times. Jonathan hugged you many times before they left for California. However, none of this equaled the feeling you got when Eddie hugged you. Seeing your silent permission he pulled you closer to him and began stroking your back. When your sobs subsided he still embraced you with one hand, and with the other he opened the box taking out a small sachet and handed it to you stopping his hand on yours a moment longer than he should have. As you began to pull the money from your pocket he half-stopped you saying it was a special offer for the first deal, but you put them in his jacket pocket with a quick motion.

"Can you show me how to do it?" you asked staring at the object in your hand.

He knew it was completely out of place but he couldn't hold back a soft chuckle when he heard the question. As you embarrassedly began to move away from him and stood up from the bench heading in the opposite direction from the school.

"y/n!" he called out standing up quickly. "I don't know where you're going, but do you have room for one more troubled soul?" He didn't know how many months he had spent wondering what it would be like if he could talk to you, spend some time with you. He didn't know how long he had been trying to get rid of his hopeless fixation on you, but nothing was working. While chastising himself in his mind for taking advantage of such a delicate situation, he knew he had to give it a shot, as it might be the only opportunity he would get. "Since this will be your first time with this kind of thing I could be with you then, y'know, just in case..."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes Eddie..."

"I know and I'm sorry! But I promise not to make a single hopeless and stupid joke again!" You could have just ignored him at that moment, but something inside prevented you from doing so. Some strange attraction and the need to feel again as you did the first time he hugged you wouldn't let you just walk away. You wanted his company, you wanted him to be close.

"I don't know where I'm going..." was all you answered.

"We can go to my place." he suggested, and you agreed.

When the last bell rang for today you left the school heading towards the parking lot. Right next to you walked Robin. When you told her that you wouldn't be going home with her and Steve today she insisted that she needed to "explore the area."

"Hey Munson!" she called out walking up to the van he was standing by.

"Hi?" he said surprised as she measured him from head to toe.

"I just wanted to see for who my best friend was ditching me today, and you have my blessing. You two have fun!" she exclaimed, hugged you goodbye and disappeared.

"Sorry about her." you said quickly. "I don't have a lot of friends here besides her and Steve, so she was a little surprised when I told her I was coming back with you today."

"Understandable." He nodded thoughtfully. Did that mean you now treated him as a friend?

"Anyway, my presence in your company has been approved, so shall we?" he smiled charmingly, opening the door for you like a true gentleman. You ignored the fact that your heart skipped a beat when you noticed the dimples in his cheeks.

It wasn't until you pulled into the Forest Hills Trailer Park that Eddie's excitement turned to concern. He didn't hide where he lived but he realized that his place of residence was one of the reasons he was being laughed at. He hesitantly looked in your direction and noticed that you were looking at him. When your gazes met you smiled slightly and got out of the car. Was he hallucinating or did you blush for that brief moment?

"Welcome to my kingdom," he said letting you into the trailer. You looked around with curious eyes.

"Wow, that's huge." you said when a collection of caps and mugs caught your attention.

"My uncle is crazy about them, whenever he is in some new place he has to bring back at least one cap and mug from it." he laughed.

"This is so cool!" you said. "My dad used to do the same thing with lighters. At home we have a lighter from every possible state." After a while, only sadness got to you, reminding you of the real reason for this visit.

"So, are you ready?" he asked seeing your face slowly fade.

When you entered his room, for the first time in his life he regretted that he had not cleaned up. The room was in chaos, but you didn't seem to care. When you sat down on the bed, step by step he showed you how to roll a joint and you fired it up. The first few gushes made you cough, but eventually it calmed down. Feeling the stress caused by this meeting drain out of you, you began to feel more and more comfortable.

"How are you feelin?" he asked with a grin.

"Good I guess," you shrugged your shoulders. "Thank you for inviting me here," you said.

"Believe me, the pleasure is definitely on my side." his smile was now much wider.

"I like your smile a lot," you giggled, feeling increasingly relaxed and funny.

Normally he would have said it was some strange weed-induced hallucination, but this time he was completely sober. The situation seemed so surreal that he pinched his arm to make sure it wasn't a dream. "That's a good thing, because I really like yours." he finally replied.

"Will you tell me more about this game?" you asked changing the subject. When he noticed the small figure in your hand he had to think for a moment. You didn't seem to be one of those people who would suspect him of worshipping Satan through a board game, but somewhere deep down he still felt insecure. "My friends play it too, but somehow I never got into it," you said.

"Do you really want to hear about it?"

"Yeah, if you feel like it."

Needing no further encouragement, he began to explain to you what it was all about. Later the topic descended to the campaigns he was involved in, and you absorbed every word he said. He was an amazing storyteller, and you were happy to be drawn into his adventures forgetting everything else.

"This really seems like fun." you said leaning against the wall taking one last inhale. "What if I told you that Demogorgons exist?" the words slipped out of your mouth before you had time to think them through.

"Part of me would think it was pretty sick and metal but the other part would go insane of fear." he laughed. You wanted to reply however you were overtaken by the loud sound of your stomach burping.

"Shit, sorry." you said embarrassed.

"How about some pizza? A pretty girl shoved some cash in my pocket today, she stubbornly refused to take advantage of my special offer." He winked at you while standing up.

"Apparently she appreciates your work." you said back.

Thus, the evening passed exceptionally quickly for you in Eddie's company. You ate pizza, and in the meantime he told you about his ideas for new campaigns. When at some point he left and went to the bathroom you were left alone in silence. Suddenly his bed began to seem a little too comfortable for you. You lay down for a while inhaling his scent from the soft pillow. Without even realizing it, you fell asleep with peace of mind.

When he returned to the room and saw you lying snuggled into his pillow he stood up as if he were stunned. It must be a dream. It must be the most beautiful dream of his entire life. Still unmoving from his spot he wondered if he should wake you up or let you sleep on. After all, that's what this was all about, right? That you would finally get some sleep. Selfishly, he allowed himself to enjoy your presence for as long as possible. Pulling an old blanket from the closet and taking a pillow from the living room couch, he made himself a makeshift bed on the floor next to the bed. He nervously wriggled and were sitting up from time to time reassuring himself that all this was not a product of his imagination and what was happening was true. You were there. You were sleeping peacefully in his bed. At the very thought that you felt safe enough to do so he had the feeling that his heart would explode.

It was reaching nine in the morning when you woke up. For the first time in a long time you were well rested. Slowly opening your eyes and lazily stretching, you noticed that you were wearing yesterday's clothes. Later you remembered that the bed you were lying in did not belong to you at all.

"Shit!" you cussed quietly, jumping off quickly.

"What happened?" asked an alarmed Eddie from the floor.

"I am so sorry!" you began. "I don't even know when I fell asleep!"

"Hey, it's fine, chill." tried to calm you down.

"Did you sleep on the floor?"

"Apparently it's good for your back" He smiled broadly. "So, we achieved the goal?"

"No nigthmares, and I haven't felt so rested in a long time." You said calming down slightly.

"I'm glad I could help."

"I should go now, Robin must have lost her mind by now that I missed the first lesson."

"Yeah, okay." He didn't want you to go, but nothing was coming to mind that he could stop you with. "My uncle- he uh, he's just sleeping on the couch in the living room, poor guys work night shifts so we have to be quiet."

You tiptoed out of the room and quickly put on your shoes, then left the trailer, and Eddie gently closed the door behind you.

"I'm sorry again," you expressed, standing in front of him.

"You really have nothing to apologize for." he said, sitting down on the stairs. "I spent a very nice evening." There was that smile again. What was going on with you? His presence made you nervous, but it wasn't the nerves you were used to in recent times. This was something new, something that made you want even more Eddie Munson in your life.

"Me too, but I made you sleep on the floor, it feels bad." you sighed.

"And I feel great." he lied. The truth was that the pain in his neck after that night was killing him, but it was definitely worth.

"Thank you Eddie. For everything."

"At your service, m'lady. Shall I give you a ride home?"

"No, no need." Then, with an uncertain step, you approached the stairs and bent down to hug him. "You don't even know how much you've helped me." you muttered into his neck. Stepping back, you waved goodbye to him and headed for home.

Looking at your receding silhouette, he recalled with disbelief everything that had happened since you ran up to him in the woods. That day he came to one more conclusion. Eddie Munson was in love with you and this time he had no intention of denying it.

Full of hope in the middle of the night you did everything as Eddie showed you, unfortunately your sleep did not last long. Woken up by the same nightmare as always since four o'clock, you didn't sleep a wink. On Thursday you fell asleep and woke up every two hours or so. You didn't understand anything. After all, everything had worked the first time.

When Eddie heard a knock on the door on Friday night, not knowing who it might be, he didn't open it at first. He was too busy thinking what to do to get the courage to do more than smile at you in the hallway. Many times seeing you somewhere he felt like coming up and talking to you but always halfway through he gave up and changed direction. What if you didn't want to be seen in his company? What if that evening meant nothing? And he would never have the chance to spend time with you again? But you had to run out of pot at some point, and then you would come for more, right? Seeing your overtired face at school and blackened eyes, he was beginning to doubt if you were even using it. All the what ifs stuck in his head were definitely holding him back.

The knocking on the door was getting more and more overbearing, adding to his irritation.

"Jesus H Christ, WHAT?!" he shouted annoyed opening the door immediately regretting it. You stood in the doorway shocked by his reaction. You glared at him with wide hard eyes, noticing that he immediately softened at the sight of you, but you still couldn't get a word out. Thinking that coming here was a mistake you began to back away slowly.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." you muttered.

"Wait, please!" he stopped you by grabbing your wrist. "I didn't mean to shout, I just had a shitty day today wasn't expecting anyone..." he began to explain.

"Sorry, I'll just go." you interrupted him.

"No, come in, please." he said quickly. He hoped you didn't notice how desperate he felt for you not to leave. "We can be alone together, right?"

"I just... I don't understand. I did everything as you showed me and it still didn't help. It's like it stopped working...Maybe I need something stronger?" you said stepping into the trailer.

"Woah! not so fast, okay? Come on, we'll try again, if that doesn't help, we'll think about another solution."

"But..." You weren't convinced, your desperation to finally start sleeping normally without nightmarish memories recurring in your dreams was pushing you very far.

"Please, let's just try." He really cared about helping you, but he knew that something stronger instead of solving the situation could only make it worse, and he definitely didn't want to be responsible for that.

You sat down more comfortably on his bed this time sharing a joint in half. One puff for you, the other for him. The first few minutes passed in silence between you.

"What, do I have something on my face?" you asked when you noticed him looking at you.

"Yes, tiredness." he said with a wince.

"Really? I didn't notice." You rolled your eyes.

"In that case, you're welcome." He winked at you.

"Thank you, you're a great friend!" you laughed throwing a pillow at him. Being with him was easy for you. In his presence you forgot all your worries, he was like a lifebelt when you were drowning in your nightmares and fatigue.

"Are we friends?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"I mean... I would like to be your friend, I know we haven't known each other very long, but I really like you Eddie." You said confused not knowing how to read his reaction.

"It will be an honor for me." He nodded handing you the joint.

"So, firend, what do you usually do when you can't sleep?"

"I don't have much trouble sleeping, but I remember that when my mother died I was in a similar situation as you."

"Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's fine." he waved his hand. "I remember at the time I was unlikely to have nightmares, but there were nights when I couldn't sleep at all. Then Wayne would come to my rescue and read me books until I fell asleep."

"Sounds nice." You smiled slightly. "When I was little my dad always told me bedtime stories. He always preferred to make up something himself rather than read." your heart contracted at the mere mention. You could still hear his voice in your thoughts. "Now all I can do is read to myself." you sighed.

"What about your friends?"

"All of them... have moved on. They are there for me when I need them, I know they care about me, but they are starting to put their lives back together after all that has happened. I know that if I just asked them in the middle of the night they would come to me without hesitation, but I don't want to be a burden. I don't want to disturb them. Just because I didn't move on it doesn't mean they have to, too." Tears came to your eyes. You had just considered each other firends and here you were already pouring your heart out in front of him.

"You don't feel like a burden now do you?" he asked as if reading your mind. Embarrassed you just lowered your head and drowned your gaze in your hands. "Y/n look at me." he asked. "Please don't feel that way."

"I'm sorry." You mumbled.

"You're more than welcome here y/n, trust me." he moved closer to you. "I had a shitty day today, but you being here made me have a really good evening, y'know?" He smiled slightly. "And damn, today I gained a new friend! What could be better?" His smile was contagious, and seeing that, he continued. "As your new friend, I want to offer some help." He grabbed a book lying on the bedside table. "But maybe you want to change first? I mean not the way you are thinking, Jesus- I mean sleeping in jeans can't be very comfortable, I can get you something to change into," he began to explain and turned towards the cabinet looking through his clothes. Luckily he was standing with his back to you so you couldn't see his burning cheeks. When he handed you some clothes, you thanked him and disappeared into the bathroom. When you returned his heart froze. He didn't expect the sight of you in his clothes to be so overwhelming. His old gym shorts fit you perfectly emphasizing your curves. The old T-shirt with the Metallica logo was a bit too big, but the whole thing made for a really beautiful view. A view that made him hot. He pushed all thoughts aside focusing on his task.

"Lie back and get comfortable, I would like to invite you to go on an amazing adventure with me."

"I don't want you to sleep on the floor again because of me, Eddie."

"I will be fine, promise."

"Maybe...we can share the bed? It's big enough for both of us, friends can sleep in the same bed and it won't be weird, right?" even though your voice was quiet in his head it sounded like the world's loudest bell.

"S-sure." he replied. With each meeting you surprised him more and more with how willingly you allowed him to be close to you. When most people rather avoided him like a plague you circled around coming closer with every step.

Reading Eddie in truth took you on an adventure. The Hobbit absorbed you to the point that instead of falling asleep you listened avidly to the continuation, constantly asking Eddie for one more chapter. His voice enchanted you, you felt like you were being transported to a completely different dimension. One in which only the two of you existed. You didn't know when you found yourselves so close to each other.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?" he looked away from the book. He looked beautiful. How could you not notice before how handsome he was? Mesmerized with the veiw you forgot what you wanted to say. Why did his lips suddenly look so kissable? "y/n?" he asked seeing the lack of response on your part.

"Yeah?" you shrugged.

"Did you want to say something?" he chuckled.

"Oh, yes I um-" you began to stammer. "Thank you." that was the first thing that came to mind.

"That you didn't leave me alone with all this."

"I was serious when I said we could be alone together."

"I'm glad to have a friend like you Eddie." you laughed quietly charmed by his words.

You went back to reading. You made it through the next two chapters when finally your exhaustion won out. As you listened to his words slowly begin to blend together you drifted off.

That night there was no trace of the nightmares. Instead, you dreamed of green hills, and gardens among them. At one of them was working a contented Dustin who was much shorter than usual. Walking further you heard the sound of a guitar, intrigued you entered the house placed in the hill. There you were greeted by Eddie with a broad smile that you were beginning to adore.

"Hello m'lady." he said putting down his guitar. "Are you ready for an adventure?" he extended his hand toward you, and without hesitation you grabbed it. Feeling happiness and excitement fill your soul you knew you would have followed him to the end of the world.

The tranquility of your dream didn't seem to be shared by Eddie. This time he was the one who didn't sleep a wink all night. His initial delight at the fact that the girl he had long dreamed of felt safe enough with him to just sleep in his bed was gradually overshadowed by anxiety. Eddie was never one of the optimists, so all the dark scenarios easily possessed his mind without letting him fall asleep.

As the sun began to rise over Hawkins Wayne found his nephew on the steps in front of the trailer. His face was worried and his leg was shaking nervously.

"What's wrong, boy?" he asked, sitting down next to him.

"Can you promise me you won't freak out?" Eddie asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"I'll do my best.""Do you remember Hopper?"

"Of course I do, we were buddies back in high school," Wayne responded.

"His daughter is sleeping in my bed now." Seeing the surprise on his uncle's face, he continued before his thoughts moved in the wrong direction. "It's not what you think! She came to me for weed. Yes, I know you don't approve of what I'm doing, but we're not talking about it now..." he explained step by step how the development of your relationship looked. He admitted that that day you also slept at their place, and then for the next few days nothing helped. Now, once again being in bed with him, you had no trouble falling asleep. "I don't understand it, why does it only work when she's here? What if she will think that I am giving her something else? That I'm intentionally drugging her with something? Jesus, Wayne what if she thinks I want to gain her trust just to hurt her?"

"Slow down a bit son! First of all you are overthinking, and second of all I think you've watched too many movies."

"But-"

"If I were you, I would think about whether weed is actually the solution in this situation. It seems to me that something else might be her calming factor." the man smiled slightly as he saw how his nephew still couldn't comprehend it. "That poor girl is alone every night in an empty house that reminds her of her father's death, no wonder she can't fall asleep there," he said.

"She said she still has nightmares about that night..."

"What time did she fall asleep?" asked Wayne looking at his watch.

"Uh, I don't know, around eleven?"

"So she's been sleeping for about eight hours now without nightmares or awakenings. As a serious parent, I should give you a pep talk and a scolding about bringing girls home at night." he laughed. "But our family has never been normal, so I guess I need to make you aware that you're probably the one calming her down, my boy."

"What?" That was impossible. Or was it?

"You heard me. Now come inside." he patted the boy on the back. "Eddie?" he whispered as the younger Munson headed back into the room. Metalhead turned around with a questioning look. "Make sure he stays for breakfast, or lunch, whatever is ready when you get up."

When he returned to the room he found you sitting on the bed.

"Hey are you okay?" he asked sitting down next to you.

"Yeah, but still probably a little tired." you yawned. "Are you okay? You look worried."

"You know I want to help you right?" he asked quietly.

"I know, and I'm very grateful to you for that." You placed your hand on his. "I've always thought you were a good person. I know that everything others say about you is nonsense. Believe me." You sent him a reassuring smile.

"Do you want to sleep for a little while longer?" he asked smiling back.

"Sounds great."

Once again, you fell asleep without the slightest problem in no time. Eddie, wondering about his uncle's theory, also finally gave in to tiredness. He also thought that seeing you as the last thing before sleeping was like winning the lottery.

Days slowly turned into weeks, breakfasts into lunches and lunches into dinners, and you became a regular visitor in the Munson's trailer. Wayne as well as Eddie very quickly adopted you into their warm and family home. When you weren't spending time at school or with Robin and Steve the only place you could be found was at the Forest Hill Trailer Park. You spent very little time in your house and when you did it was mostly talking to Joyce and the rest of the family about how they were living in California. You missed them terribly, but you didn't want to move to them despite the many times they convinced you to do so.

Your friendship with Eddie was developing at a deadly fast speed and the boundary between you was blurring just as fast. So was the distance between you shrinking in every way. The closer you got to knowing him, the deeper you fell into the hole. He was there for you whenever you needed him. He always listened with patience to what you had to say, offered a shoulder when you needed to cry, and immediately afterwards, as if by magic, he made you laugh and made the sun shine in the sky again. He was more than happy to let you in closer, telling you about his childhood, how he ended up at Hawkins, trusting you like he had never trusted anyone before, revealing his darkest corners to you, and when, in a gesture of comfort, your hand touched his or he felt your arms wrap around his waist he felt something entirely new. He felt peacefulness. He was used to being alone, and knowing that you were now alone together brought with it a significant improvement in his life. Until now, he hadn't cared much about his own fate, but your presence made him realize that he was capable of so much more. With your support, he felt as if he was actually able to reach the stars. You have always held a special place in his thoughts, while he was convinced that you were just a silly high school crush, but now you have made a warm nest in his heart. Little did he know that in the meantime he had also found a way into your heart and for that moment he was already knocking on his door.

You were sitting with Robin on the benches in front of the school when you noticed a familiar silhouette approaching in your direction

"Hey!" he greeted you. "You left this at my place yesterday, good thing Wayne noticed because otherwise you could have said goodbye to your reputation as a perfect student." He handed you your homework.

"Shit, I completely forgot about it! Thank you my knight."

"You're welcome my lady." he bowed low. "See you later?"

"Sure!" you replied with a broad smile.

"In that case, dear ladies, let me take my leave for this moment."

"Be safe my dear friend!" you waved goodbye. As he was walking away halfway he turned in your direction once again due to which he missed and bumped into a trash container standing in front of the school. Seeing this you chuckled.

"When are you going to tell me about it?" your friend asked, bringing you back to the ground.

"About what?" you asked surprised.

"About what's between you two? Don't get me wrong, because I love the fact that it happened, but I haven't seen you as happy as this in a long time. You spend almost every free moment with him!"

"Because we are friends Robin!"

"I don't recall me or Steve making you turn red like a tomato."

"Well, okay maybe you're right, but how do I know he feels the same way?"

"Moments ago he called you his lady, he looks at you with the same admiration with which he would look at Ozzie, for heaven's sake!"

"What should I do?"

"Ask him out on a date."

"Do you think I should?"

"I think you should."

"Yeah, maybe I should." you slowly nodded.

The first lesson for Eddie lasted an unmercifully long time. Completely uninterested in what the teacher was saying, he was scribbling in his notebook when someone said your name. It was one of the cheerleaders who sat in front of him.

"Did you hear that y/n is now hanging out with The Freak?" whispered one of them. Unfortunately loud enough that Eddie could easily understand everything.

"Some say they're dating." replied the other.

"No way, I don't think she would ever fall that low."

"People do strange things to deal with grief. Maybe he gives her drugs for free?"

"I don't know, but after her father died, she got really weird. Maybe they even fit together?" she shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. What are you wearing to Saturday's party?" they changed the subject.

Listening to their conversation about himself, all his happiness evaporated. He felt as if he had defied the wall. When the bell finally rang he wanted to leave the classroom in front of which you were already waiting for him.

"Hey!"

"Oh, hello." Seeing your wide smile, he couldn't help but reciprocate it.

"Are you okay?" you asked sensing his sad mood.

"Yeah." he lied. Even if he wanted to tell you what was going on he couldn't.

"I wanted to ask you something." you said nervously. "I heard there's a drive-in cinema event this weekend..." you took a deep breath. "Maybe you would like to go there with me? For a date?" You did it. You managed not to panic and get the last two words out. Your pride in yourself, however, did not last long. After a moment of silence, Eddie burst out laughing. That was the moment when everything fell to pieces.

"I see you're in a joking mood today." he replied. Fortunately, the doorbell rang.

"I have to go." you muttered, turning your back to him. Grateful that you could get lost in the crowd of students going to classrooms you thanked god that Eddie didn't witness your demise.

you can find an alternative ending here

From that moment on you avoided him like a fire. You didn't even look in his direction. Eddie didn't quite understand why there was such a change in your behavior. He missed you unimaginably, and the pain he felt when you changed the direction of your path when you saw that he was going your way broke his heart. Maybe the cheerleaders were right? Recently your condition had improved so maybe you didn't need him anymore? Maybe everything you managed to build over that time was not as important to you as it was to him? Maybe, in fact, this whole friendship existed mainly for you to have free access to drugs? There were many options in his mind, but none of them were true. Still sanctimoniously convinced that your idea about the date was just a silly joke, he was still looking for a reason why you pushed away so suddenly.

After your feelings and the very idea that you could be more than friends were violently erased your sleeping problems returned. The first night you kept waking up time after time, the second night you didn't sleep at all. Many times you wanted to pick up the phone and call him but when your hand reached for the receiver the reason why you couldn't do it appeared as a painful memory.

At lunch on Thursday, he watched you closely. Bags appeared under your eyes again, and after a while he noticed you struggling with your eyelids which were getting heavier and heavier. You tried to stay awake at the table. How tired did you have to be if you wanted to sleep in the damn noisy cafeteria? Did your sleep problems come back? Why didn't you call him? Why didn't you come to him?

Fighting fatigue was harder than you thought. You rested your head on your hands placed on the table feeling how you could no longer defend against it.

"Can we talk?" a voice came from behind you, at the sound of which your heart wanted to jump out of its cage. The voice you longed for. "In private." he said pointing with his head toward the corridor which was empty at lunchtime. Seeing his serious face, your nerves immediately drove the sleepiness away.

"What's up?" you asked once you were alone. As quickly as those words left your mouth you felt waves of embarrassment. What's up? Was that really the only thing you could get out of yourself at that moment?

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. "I thought we were friends, that we could trust each other."

"Eddie I don't think I understand what you mean..."

"You can't sleep again, you stopped talking to me, why?"

You were about to lie that everything was fine, but before that lie could make a sound you were interrupted by the school secretary.

"Eddie?" she asked standing behind him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned toward her, thinking that now he didn't have time to listen to what he had done this time that he was going to face another visit in the principal's office. "We just received a call from the hospital. Your uncle was in a car accident." When he heard this news he felt himself grow weak leaning against the wall. His world was taken over by darkness and a cold he hadn't felt in ages. The memories came back with redoubled pain. Suddenly he was twelve years old again in his old elementary school when one of the teachers told him to pack his backpack because his Uncle Wayne had come to pick him up from school. Not understanding much he happily ran out of the classroom. Only Wayne's worried expression and reddened eyes showed that something was wrong. That day, 12-year-old Eddie had to understand that he would never see his mom again in his life, and his dad would be in jail for years to come.

"Eddie?" Your voice snapped him out of his trance.

"I have to go to the hospital." He said running toward the exit, you, not thinking much, ran after him. At that moment, your heartbreak caused by his rejection didn't matter. He was there for you when you needed him. Now it was time for you to be the strong one for the two of you.

There was silence in the hospital, where bad omens lurked alone. When you were informed that Wayne was currently being examined you sat down in uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. Eddie nervously moved his leg rubbing his face with his hands. He was trying to be calm but the thought that he might lose another parent made him nauseous. He didn't even notice when tears started to run down his cheeks. You noticed it much sooner and crouched down in front of him cupping his face and rubbing the wet marks with your thumbs.

"I can't lose him." His voice was breaking and his lower lip was trembling. "I can't stay alone without him."

"You won't lose him." you answered immediately. You rose up and sat on his lap so you could hug him and be as close to him as possible. He immediately melted into you sobbing against the bend of your neck. He felt all his walls cracking. He couldn't remember the last time he allowed himself to cry, but now in your embrace he felt safe. He reciprocated the hug clinging tightly to the material of your shirt. With one hand you gently stroked his hair and every now and then whispered that everything would be fine.

You didn't ask questions, you didn't interrupt him, you just let him cry out all his fears and worries. When he began to calm down and his grip loosened you moved slightly so that you could see his face.

"You are not alone with this." you said quietly placing your hand on his cheek which you stroked with your thumb. "We are alone together, remember?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore..." he muttered while sniffling still holding his hands on your back.

"I'm sorry. But I want you to know that even though you don't feel the same way I feel about you I still want to be your friend. I still want you in my life Eddie."

"What-" Confused he tried to follow your words. What feelings are you talking about? Still, he didn't have time to finish the question because, seeing the doctor walking down the corridor and right next to him Wayne with his arm in a cast, you immediately jumped off his lap and ran towards them. Fortunately, apart from his broken arm, nothing was wrong with him. Eddie hugged his uncle with relief, cursing how much he had scared him. Wayne joked that he wouldn't get rid of him so easily, but there was an audible emotion in his voice. The three of you returned to the trailer, where the older Munson immediately stated that he needed to go to bed. Eddie suggested he go to his room to sleep, and this time he would be the one sleeping on the couch.

"What a day, huh?" he ventured, falling back on it.

"Yeah..." sat down next to him. "I'm glad your uncle is okay," he said.

"Yeah, me too..." he sighed looking at the ceiling, after a moment he looked at you. "Thank you for being there for me."

"Alone together, right?" you smiled slightly.

"You really mean it?"

"It's going to be a little hard at first, but yes."

"I don't think I understand..." Was being with him really that hard? Was he really that annoying?

"Stop overthinking Eddie." You interrupted seeing his thoughtful expression mixed with worry. "I understand that you don't feel the same way I do, and that's okay. You don't have to feel guilty about it."

"I still don't understand. What kind of feeling are you talking about? You have to explain it to me."

"Eddie I swear if you're trying to make me feel like an idiot now or this is some kind of joke then please stop."

"No y/n, wait. I really don't know what you mean, what feelings?"

You took a deep breath. To be honest, it looked like he still hadn't guessed anything. After everything, you asking him out, how come he still couldn't figure it out? "I like you Eddie, much more than a friend could like a friend."

He would be lying if he said he never thought about that moment. Of course he thought about it. But it was never from this side. In his thoughts, he was always the first to say what he felt. There were days when hope allowed him to imagine you throwing yourself into his arms in response. There were also days when he self-inflicted punches thinking that when he did that you would laugh at him because of it. And then he understood everything.

"When you were talking about a date...You weren't joking?" he muttered uncertainly.

"Of course not! Why would I?"

"Jesus, I'm a fucking idiot! I'm sorry! For real- I'm sorry. Damn fool! The girl I've had a crush on for ages asks me out, and I what? I laugh about it?" He was angry with himself. "Damn it!" he slammed his fists on the pillow panicking.

"Leave this poor pillow alone!" you joked moving closer to him. "Have you had a crush on me for a long time?" why the sudden courage and confidence in you? You had no idea, but this time you weren't going to just walk away.

"It wasn't obvious?" he muttered and took a strand of hair covering his mouth with it.

"Eddie I asked you out and you laughed at me. How could it be obvious?" You took his hand.

"I don't know." A part of you wanted to be angry with him, but you didn't hide the happiness you felt about this confession. In addition, the sight of him so shy melted you up to the limit. "I seriously thought you were joking," he said.

"I wasn't. And the proposition still stands if you're interested."

"Of course I am!" he said and pulled you into his lap and embraced you tightly. He never wanted to let you out of them again. "So dreams can come true after all." Pure happiness was painted on his face. He looked at you with a dreamy gaze, wondering what he deserved such a miracle in his life. He wondered how such a beautiful and amazing person could have chosen him. You, on the other hand, were also drowning in thoughts about how Eddie Munson became your home. About how your first deal was so much more than pot.

"What else have you dreamed of Eddie?" you asked quietly running your hand over his cheek.

"I'm afraid if I tell you it won't come true," he said.

"What if I help you make them come true?"

He brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear and, after a moment's hesitation, kissed you gently. It was the sealing of a promise that you would always be alone together.

a few months later

The white blinding light inflicted pain on him. Only after his eyesight adjusted to it he was able to see where he was. Several cables hooked up to his body and an IV stuck in a vein. An unbearable burning pain over almost his entire body. The last thing he remembers was your weeping face, Dustin's screams and the feeling of all his life escaping. Scene after scene he recalled what had happened, and Steve's words about not being heroes echoed in his head. He remembered coming to terms with his death. He remembered how his last words were I love you directed toward you. He had no idea how he survived it. He had no idea what or how a powerful force allowed him to remain in this world, but when he turned his head and saw you sitting by his side he thought that maybe it was because of your love that he was still here. You were a walking example to him that true love exists and is able to overcome everything. Maybe it was also able to overcome death?

"Eddie? Eddie, baby, oh my god!" you shouted, waking up Wayne who was snoozing in the chair across from you, and quickly ran to get a doctor. After a series of examinations, you were finally able to re-enter the room. Wayne not waiting much you sat down next to him catching his hand.

"You scared the shit out of me, son." His voice was breaking and his cheeks were already wet with tears. Every day that Eddie spent in a coma was a nightmare. Worry about whether he would ever wake up sucked all the strength out of both of you. No wonder you yourself couldn't control your tears. But not wanting to spoil the moment between them, you stood by the door with your hand pressed to your mouth.

"Sorry, I had to do something... I had to keep them safe." His voice was weak, but it was the most beautiful sound in the world. A sound that was confirmation that your Eddie was not gone. That he is here with you.

"Come here, kid." said Wayne extending his hand in your direction. Needing no further encouragement, with a quick step you covered the distance between you. You sat down in the vacant seat on the bed.

"I thought I had lost you," you sobbed out.

"Sweetheart..." he squeaked out. "I'm so sorry..." Now he too began to cry. All three of you didn't have the strength to hold back the emotions that were gripping you at that moment.

"It's okay now Eddie, you're here, we all are. It's okay now." you took his hand and kissed the top of it. "I love you so much. The most in the world."

"I love you too, very much."

Wayne's heart grew at the sight of the two of you. His son deserved the best, and he was sure you were able to provide it all for him. Your moment was interrupted by the loud sound of the door opening, through which a breathless Joyce rushed in.

"Y/n!" she exclaimed upon seeing you. "Oh Thank God!"

"Joyce!" you quickly got up and threw yourself into her arms. "I'm all right. I'm fine."

"I'm so happy, baby." she said squeezing you even tighter.

"This is Eddie." you said when you pulled away from her after a moment. "My boyfriend, I told you about him on the phone."

"Yes, I remember! Hi, Wayne, Hi Eddie." she greeted them. "The kids told me everything, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that."

"I am fine now." Eddie sent her a slight smile.

"Y/n, honey, I'd like you to see someone, okay?" she cupped your face. "This may come as a bit of a shock to you, but..."

"Where is she?" before Joyce finished her sentence a familiar voice reached you. In that moment, the world came to a standstill. Was it a dream? Did you really die during your last mission in the Upside Down and now you are in heaven? Is that why you are seeing him now? "My Little girl." Hopper's voice broke in mid-word. After the hell he had been through, he was finally home. He was finally with his daughters. Seeing how dazed you were standing motionless just staring at him, he approached you with a slow step not wanting to scare you. He realized that his sudden resurrection was a shock to you.

"Dad?" you whispered slowly reaching out your hand toward him, and he immediately grabbed it. He was there for real. His hand was warm. He was breathing. He was alive. Emaciated and down-at-heel but alive.

"It's me y/n. Really me." he said pulling you slightly toward him. When you were close enough he locked you in a bear hug.

"You are alive. You're alive." you began to repeat to convince yourself that what was happening was real.

"Yes, I am alive I am back. I will never disappear again, I promise."

Eddie Joyce and Wayne watched your reunion with joy. Neither of them dared to speak up to let you enjoy it to the fullest while sending each other tearful happy glances.

"Hi Wayne and... Eddie." he said looking toward the hospital bed as he moved away from you.

"Hi Chief." said Eddie hesitantly feeling his heart about to fail from nerves. He expected a rant that he should stay away from his daughter.

"Do you know each other?" you asked surprised.

"Your boyfriend occasionally liked to take rides with me in the police car." he smiled slightly and walked toward the bed. "Thank you for keeping my daughter safe, boy." he patted him on his healthy shoulder.

That day was definitely destined for miracles. That day you regained everything that was most important to you. You got your family back and swore to yourself that you would never again allow the loss of any of them.

187 notes · View notes

jennay · 8 months

Text

Come Back Home

Jolly x reader

An: Random idea I had that I got stuck on and required way too much help from @a-villain-vying-for-attention then decided to make her a character since she basically came up with the ideas and I wrote it. Lol thanks for being my shadow writer for times when my brain decides it's done thinking.

Words 2200

Jolly Master List

This is chunked into four sections bear with me. I hate transitional writing 😂

"Please don't tell them. They'll just worry, and next thing you know, they'll be at my door, and it's just not the right timing for me to come back. I need to finish my work here, and it's not completely horrible. I think I just miss everyone, and I feel isolated." You admit over Facetime to your best friend, Kayla. "It just wasn't supposed to be like this. “Moving away from you guys was literally one of the worst decisions I've made."

Kayla sighs, "I don't mean to say I told you so, but I did." She laughs, "But the worst part is, Noah told you, Jolly told you, and you still just said bye bitches. Do you know how sad it is not to have you here? I have to deal with them all the time, by MYSELF."

You peel yourself off the couch, dragging your feet through the dining room and to the back door.

You brace yourself for the inevitable assault of the sun, but it still hurts like hell when you open the door and get blasted by its rays. "Fuck." You groan. "It's bright." You squint your eyes and cover them with your hand as you stumble to the camping chair you set up on your porch for such occasions. You hated the daylight. You wished you could be a nocturnal creature, but sadly, you had to pretend to be a responsible adult, even if you sucked at it.

"Wow, look at you, Dracula." She mocks you from the other side of the video call. "You look like you're about to die over there, paler than a ghost and skinnier than a twig. Do I need to come over and feed you some blood? I know it's only been six months, but I will literally come over and mother you to death. I'll bring Noah too, and we'll play house. God knows we need some practice." She flashes a big smile. "You know, for the future and all that jazz."

You laugh, shaking your head, "This is new for you!"

"Yeah, well, now I'm just working on convincing Noah that it's a good idea." She tucks her hair behind her ears. "So I need you to come back because I'm not raising these imaginary kids without their badass aunt."

You roll your eyes at her, "These kids don't even exist yet, so I think we have some time, and besides, I don't know if I'll feel any better moving back. If I have to watch HIM date other people and it not be me…well, I'd rather stay here and suffer in silence."

"Well, he's miserable without you, and why are we not using his name?" She laughs again. "Mopping and shit, constantly.”

You shrug, "I think he's probably fine. I basically threw myself at him and got no reaction. I literally slept in his bed the night before I left." You pause, growing frustrated. "Maybe we're just supposed to be friends; maybe he only sees me as a friend. That's OK. I can't be mad about that, but it always felt like there was something more, you know?"

Kayla groans loudly, "You both suck. If you would've just let me meddle, I could've set you two up."

"I don't want you to set me up! I wanted something natural." You say with all seriousness. "I wanted him to say it."

From behind Kayla, Noah pokes his head into the view, "He's dumb...guys are dumb." He gives you a face that says, duh.

"Well, now I'm here, and I can just say fuck it. I'll find someone here."

Noah's laughter rings through the speaker, "And then break up because all you're gonna do is fucking compare the two and be a whiny baby about how he's not Jolly, so you had to break up? Fuck off, y/n." He chuckles again. "Just come home."

You shake your head, "No. You will have to come to drag my dead body home before I willingly come back."

Noah grabs the phone from Kayla's hand, and you meet with wide eyes. And in a serious tone, Noah says, "Dead or not, at least you'll be home where you belong."

Kayla, Noah, and Jolly were lounging on the couch, munching on some greasy take-out that Noah had ordered from the nearest pizza place. While Jolly was engrossed in the latest episode of Bob's Burgers, Kayla was shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

She couldn't stand the sight of him, acting like nothing was wrong, like he wasn't the reason her best friend wasn't living with them anymore.

Noah noticed his girlfriend's glare and chuckled softly, nudging her elbow with his. "Chill," he whispered in her ear.

"NO!" Kayla shouted, startling both Noah and Jolly. She slammed her food on the coffee table and turned to face Jolly with a furious expression. "I'm sick and tired of pretending like everything is fine. I want my friend back, and if this is what it takes to make you use your brain, then so be it!" She pointed an accusing finger at Jolly, who looked confused and scared. "You need to go get y/n back right now or get on the next flight to Sweden because I can't stand having you around. You make me so mad, both of you, pretending you don't care about each other. She's depressed as shit living there with her fuckin awful family, but she'd rather stay there than come home because of you!" She roughly gets off the couch and storms out of the room, heading for the stairs. "You're such an idiot," she yelled over her shoulder at Jolly.

Noah raised his eyebrows and bit his lip to stop laughing as he saw Jolly's dumbfounded face. Jolly put down his food and looked at Noah with a puzzled expression. "What did I do?" he asked innocently.

Noah shrugs and says, "I think it's more of what you didn't do…"

Kayla comes back down the stairs, holding her food in her hands. She glared at Jolly one more time and flipped him off, then walked out of the room. "Buy the damn ticket!" she screamed from the hallway.

Noah heard the door slam and shook his head. "Well," he said, standing up and grabbing his food. "There's your answer. Bring y/n home."

"How am I supposed to do that?" He loudly asks.

"I don't know but you need to figure it out, Kayla might actually kill you in your sleep."

You grab your coat and head for the door, feeling a sense of excitement and anticipation for the day ahead. You were going hiking with your sister and her husband, and you couldn't wait to explore the great outdoors with them. As you glance at the clock, you groan in annoyance, realizing you're running late again. You can't help but wonder why you're always so disorganized and frazzled.

You pull the door open, taking a deep breath of fresh air as you step outside. Suddenly, you're nearly choking on air as you see a familiar face staring back at you. Jolly stands there with a backpack over his shoulder, his long hair draped over his shoulders, and a black backward hat covering the top of his head. He's dressed in black skin jeans and a deep red plaided flannel, looking effortlessly stylish and cool.

Your shock disappears as quickly as it came, replaced by annoyance at the sight of Jolly. You can't help but feel irritated that he's here, disrupting your plans for the day. You'd be lying if you said you didn't feel a little bitter still.

"Hi." He quietly says, looking from you to the ground, feeling awkward. He hadn't planned what he was going to tell you.

"Can I come in?" he quietly asks.

You nod your head, stepping aside. "I was leaving, but I guess this kind of changes my plans," you say, rolling your eyes. "What are you even doing here?" You say as you follow him to the living room. "I've tried so hard not to think about you; I moved states, Jolly, and now you're at my house. Are you trying to make my life hard?" You don't sit down knowing you're too heated to stay in one place.

Jolly doesn't sit on the couch either. Instead, he sits on the armrest, staring at you with confusion and annoyance; he folds his hands in his lap and allows you to continue. Why was everyone so irritated with him? He didn't know what he did in the first place. "What did I do?" He questions.

You're eyes dart back to him. "You treated me like I was special, OK? I thought I was special to you…then, you go and date other people." You say, running out of breath. "Then I dated other people because I thought you didn't want me and I was right, you didn't care at all, but then I dumped them because all I could think about was you!" You dramatically cover your face with your hands, pacing back and forth. You enter your kitchen and stare out the sliding glass door. Your back facing Jolly as he observes you. "I stayed in your bed the night before I left, and you still let me go."

"I thought you were leaving for a job! I didn't want to be the reason you didn't go!" He whines. "You told me you were leaving for a job."

You still don't turn around to look at him, knowing he was right, "I just thought you'd ask me to stay if you really wanted me."

He stands straight, walking toward you; you feel his hands on your shoulders, spinning you around to face him. His dark eyes scan your face, wishing he wasn't the reason you were upset.

He leans in close, his breath warm on your face. "You were always special to me," he whispers, his voice low and sincere. "I never meant to hurt you. I was just confused and scared. I didn't know how to handle my feelings for you. I was afraid of losing you, so I pushed you away. I never stopped thinking about you. I came here to tell you that. To tell you that I'm sorry. To tell you I need you."

Jolly pulls back slightly, his eyes searching yours for a sign of forgiveness. He gently cups your face in his hands, his thumbs stroking your cheeks. He smiles softly, his eyes shining with hope. "Can you give me another chance?" he asks, his voice pleading.

You feel a surge of emotion, a mix of anger, pain, and love. You want to scream at him, to push him away. But you also want to hug him, to kiss him, to hold him close. You're torn between your head and your heart. You look into his eyes, and you see the sincerity and the regret.

You see the man you fell in love with, the man who made you laugh, the man who made you feel alive. You feel your resolve weakening, your walls crumbling. You lean in and press your lips to his, answering his question with a kiss.

"So I'm bringing you home." He smiles against your lips. Pulling back, his brown eyes search yours, "This long distance thing isn't how I want to start this." he gently kisses your forehead.

You nod knowingly, "I guess we should start packing."

Jolly smiles, running his hand through your hair, "I'm pretty sure Kayla has a timer set."

You giggle. "She is absolutely crazy." You lean up, kissing Jolly again. "But it's why we love her."

He nods in agreement, "Plus she's Noah's problem."

With a cautious glance, you gently push the front door open, hoping no one will notice your arrival and ambush you as soon as you enter the house.

You sneak into the living room on your tiptoes, holding Jolly's hand.

Noah and Kayla are so engrossed in the TV show that they don't even look at you.

You pretend to be nonchalant and sit down on the recliner next to them, giving them a hard stare.

Her eyes widen as she realizes who you are, and she jumps off the couch and runs toward you. You're home! This is fucking amazing!" She screams in your ear. "I was expecting you guys to take more time, to be honest…you both suck at directions. I don't know how you managed to drive all the way back here." She laughs as she releases you from her hug and embraces Jolly instead, "Look at you. I can finally be in the same room as you without being pissed off. I'm so proud of you." She jokes with him. "Wow," She scans the room and sees the three of you together. "So, is it official now? Can we all just admit how stupid the two of you were? I mean, come on, you could have just moved down the street instead of moving two states away." She snuggles up to Noah on the couch. "I'm not going through this again. You guys have to sort things out by yourselves from now on." She says and acts like she's dismissing you.

Jolly chuckles, sitting in the recliner; he grabs you and makes you sit on his lap, catching you off guard.

You shake your head light laughter falling from your lips, "Well, I missed you too, dick."

You lean into Jolly's chest and wrap your arms around him, feeling his warmth and heartbeat. You sigh in contentment and happiness, glad to be home with the people who loved you the most.

#jolly karlsson x y/n #jolly karlsson x you #jolly karlsson one shot #jolly karlsson fanfiction #jolly karlsson fic #jolly karlsson x reader #jolly Karlsson fluff #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fic

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dontbesadsanaexist · 2 months

Text

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

Jihyo x fem!reader

Warning: angst

Word count: 940

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"I like you."

Her eyes widened in surprise and her lips curved into a smile. "Me?" A few meters away from both of us we could hear loud voices and laughs, indicating that the others haven't left yet.

It wasn't supposed to be like that.

Yeah, I didn't want to say it in front of the school gate, where everybody could hear me. If I would've known what she was going to say I would've keep this to myself, and kept daydreaming about something that is never going to happen. But the temptation to even try something was to high.

So I waited.

After the drama class when everybody was leaving to go home. It was winter. As a result the night came quickly, and we had, for only lights outside, the bright glow of the street lamps.

Even though Chaeyoung was with me, I still felt my hands trembling, the hands I previously put in my pocket to warm myself.

She was the last one to passed the metal gate. Her bike by her side, she walked towards me and Chaeyoung, thinking we would do the ride home together as always.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

Chaeyoung gave me a look that said everything. She was the one that has always encouraged me to confess. Coward as I am, that idea never crossed my mind. Until she brought it up one day, and it didn't seem to leave her head since then.

Her feet gave a small push on my leg to get me to talk.

"I- Can we go, like, far from the others? I don't want them to hear."

"Sorry, my parents expect me to be home in 15 minutes. Just tell me, they can't hear you from here."

That's right, she didn't know so of course she didn't expect it to be such a big deal.

Chaeyoung saw my nervousness. And as a good friend she is, she decided to spoke up for me.

"She likes a girl but she's too shy to tell you."

...What ?

My brain took some time to comprehend the information just as I heard jihyo giggle.

"It's just that? Who is it?"

I look up at Chaeyoung to ask some help but she just pushed me more to tell her.

"Come on, just say it."

A big sigh left past my lips as I played with my fingers. My eyes didn't dare to look into her owns. I thought that maybe, I was going to fall into some trance that I couldn't escape, like every time I stare at her.

"The person... is you."

"Me ? Really?"

I wasn't expecting such a quick response. When my eyes met hers she had that sort of glow in them, as if I just gave her the gift she'd always wanted.

The warmth at my side left as Chaeyoung grab her bag from the floor and put it on her shoulder.

"Finally, I'll leave you both alone now."

Son Chaeyoung what the fuck were you doing?!

That's what I wanted to say, but my lips where already sealed from the confession. My heart was beating loudly in my chest now that I was left with my long time crush. And by long time I mean 2 years.

I heard the sound of a bike's wheel moving. Jihyo was walking slowly, as if she was signaling me to follow her. The first seconds were an awkward silence. Until she broke it.

"How long has it been?"

"Two years, maybe? I mean, I've realized this year but.. Yeah it's been two years."

She let out a nervous chuckle and looked at me.

"Sorry, you know I'm het-"

"I know."

She nodded her head and kept her gaze on the floor.

"But I've already crushed on a girl, Sana, I think Chaeyoung already told you."

Yeah, you even kissed her. How is that suppose to be considered straight?

"I know that too."

She smiled as if it was going to save her from this embarrassing situation. We walked a bit more until it was time to go separate ways. Before I could turn my back she stopped me.

"You know, I'm happy that you told me."

I just hummed and turned away from her, ashamed of myself. I was so focused on wiping my wet cheeks that I didn't hear her shouting my name.

A buzz in my pocket brought me out of my thought. The screen lighted my face in the dark. It was a message.

-'Did Chaeyoung forced you to tell me?'

-'... A bit?'

I didn't lie. She was the one who would always come up with the idea that she was going to love me back, just like she loved Sana. My hope obviously covered my rational thoughts, and the stupid part of my brain showed up.

-'I've already told you this but, I'm really happy that you told me :)'

She is lying, even that little emoji at the end couldn't hide it. I know she is feigning happiness. She was everything but happy. I know that if she could, she would have change class, and even country. I must disgust her so much, it's okay, I disgust myself too.

I let her message on seen as I put my phone back to my pocket. The bus was coming in 4 minutes, which left me enough time to cry without people judging me from afar.

But I didn't let my tears fall down again. It was my fault. I shouldn't have imagined such things with her. Romantic dates, movies... God I was so stupid. I knew how it was going to happen.

I look up at the sky, a cold breeze raised some of my hair. When I think about it, it was at this moment that the lights in the dark blue sky turned off, as if the stars had stopped shining.

Yeah, I knew all of this,

But why does it still hurt?

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It's quite small, but I really waited to publish something.

Hope you like it :)

(You can cry, I'll cry with you)

#Twice #Jihyo #Fluff #Angst #Chaeyoung #Twice imagines #Twice angst #Twice x reader

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march-hare01 · 9 months

Text

Article by: GTHO bible

“It was love at first sight,” is how Gary Thompson remembers the night he saw his 1970 Falcon GTHO Phase Two for the first time.

“It was up on stands on the lot at John Gigante Motors on Parramatta Road in Croydon,” reminisces Gary today from his home in Mount Annan, New South Wales.

“My friend Paul Bianco and I were headed to the ‘brickies’ for some street racing action.

We had just driven by when the bright orange of the car caught my eye, and we immediately turned around to go drool over it,” remembers Gary. “They wanted around $4,200 for it. The salesman didn’t mind letting a 21 year old behind the wheel of such a powerful beast either!” After the road test, Gary talked turkey with the salesman clinching a deal that afternoon which included a then nine month old Electric Blue 351 XY Falcon 500. “They gave me $3,000 as a trade-in,” smiles Gary. This was fifty one years ago back in 1972, and the barely one-year old Falcon GTHO was just out of warranty and had just been traded-in by its first owner.

*** I’LL NEVER FORGET THE NIGHT THE FLYWHEEL EXPLODED THROUGH THE BONNET! ***

“I’d had the Phase Two for just ten days when my good mate Paul who was the test driver for Jack Brabham Ford where we both worked, lined me up to race his peppermint green Lotus twin-cam Mk1 Escort.” “We’d taken off in a symphony of noise, dust and wheel spin.I was revving the HO to 7,200rpm in 1st gear when I clutched to change to 2nd gear. We were flat out side by side on Newbridge Road at Moorebank, it was just before midnight.”“There was a loud bang! Then everything went pitch black.”“I had no headlights, and no dash lights. The electricals had been cut completely.” “Thunder struck, here I was doing 70 mile per hour trying to steer the big Falcon in complete darkness as I slammed on the brakes.My foot went straight to the floorboards and it took me a second to register that I was steering a runaway freight train!” tells Gary as he relives those harrowing frightening moments gripping the thin steering wheel with white knuckles whilst attempting to pull up a ton and a half of an out of control hunk of metal. If anybody had been watching this event unfold, they would have heard a loud explosion, and witnessed pieces of flywheel shrapnel explode through a bulging bonnet, and sparks coming from under the car where the rear of the engine block was tearing up the road. The gearbox bellhousing had also taken leave with the exploding flywheel, leaving Gary with a gearbox full of neutrals. “I was about a kilometre down the road before I came to a stop.”“Paul’s Escort had also suffered shrapnel wounds lodged from projectile bits of the flywheel embedded in his door panels.”“My ten day old car looked like it had been struck by lightning.”“It’s bonnet bulged upwards with a huge gaping hole where 20 ounces of flywheel had exited like an Apollo 11 rocket. The engine was now pointing skywards pressing against the underside of the bonnet.” A tow truck was quickly called from a nearby phone box, and the damaged Falcon GTHO taken to a local panel beater. “The next morning I was told it would be a write-off,” tells Gary, who then decided to have the car taken to another panel shop instead. “I’ll never forget the night the flywheel exploded,” says Gary. Two weeks later the Falcon was all repaired like new again. “The panel shop had offered me an XY GT style bonnet which came complete with air-scoop shaker assembly left over from a Falcon GT. The original XW grille was left on, but we added later model XY taillights.” Gary opted to remove the original black GT side stripes, “We did this for no other reason than to make it look different.” Mechanics at Jack Brabham Ford rebuilt the original motor with new bearings, and fitted a steel flywheel instead of the cast iron factory unit which had exploded into a million pieces. “They even had to repair the dowels at the back of the engine block which had broken off when the motor scraped along the road! The gearbox input shaft also needed to be replaced because it was bent like a banana. We ended up fitting after-market extractors as the original exhaust manifolds had been severely damaged. Before having the engine repaired, Gary who worked in spare parts at Jack Brabham Ford knew John Goss from McLeod Ford. “I had actually bought his ex-race car motor from his Phase Three GTHO for $300. I was going to rebuild it, but it was cheaper to repair my original engine. I sold this bare motor, less the Phase Three race camshaft which a mate fitted to his car, and broke even getting my money back on the whole deal. Originally registered with GT-187 number plates, the HO was re-registered with GT-388 after the repair. Gary kept his Falcon GTHO for a few years after this, and vividly remembers the first time he took it off the clock winding it past 140 miles per hour. “My wife and I were returning from my in-law’s house in Queanbeyan, and as we went through the township of Collector along the Federal Highway, a small Datsun 1600 was right on my backside along the windey bits.

“On the first open straight of road, I took the HO off the clock!”

“My nervous wife looked at the speedo and said ‘it’s on the H where it reads MPH (miles per hour)’.”“I took her word for it.”

“I wasn’t game to take my eyes off the road at that speed!” laughs Gary now.

Five decades would pass before Gary laid teary eyes on his old bright orange Falcon, which is now in the hands of Melbourne collector Joe Barca.

“I never thought I’d ever see my GTHO again,” says Gary in disbelief.

“I was thunder struck again, this time though by the condition it’s in now which is better than it was new!”

Chris Dent from Falcon GT Restorations in Sydney had completely restored this super-rare Ford for a previous owner to a Gold standard Concours condition, resulting in winning the Grand Champion

‘The Best Car of Show’ at the 2015 Falcon GT Nationals.

The current owner Joe tells,

“It had won every category in the show it was entered in.

It cleaned up every trophy! I had to have it.”

It was this moment that Joe knew he had to buy this outstanding GTHO should it ever come up for sale.

As chance would have it, not long after the Falcon came onto the market for sale by tender, and Joe was the successful bidder paying $500,000 for this very special one-of-a-kind car.

“It’s also my wife Debbie’s favourite colour,” states Joe with a wink, as he justifies this expensive purchase.

This said, the Phase Two isn’t Joe’s first rodeo as he’s owned many Falcon GTs and probably more GTHOs than anyone else on the planet.

Unbeknownst to Joe at the time, Gary Thompson the former owner was also the under-bidder who wanted to get his old car back.

Gary’s son Trent then arranged for his dad to see his old Falcon.

“As you can see Dad was very teary seeing it again,” says Trent.

“At least he got to sit behind the wheel again.”

It was at this time that Joe learnt more about this car’s history from Gary who shared his story and photos about the night the flywheel exploded.

This helped Joe to make sense of some minor existing battle scars in the transmission tunnel on the car.

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spideyanakin · 2 years

Text

10 Things I Hate About you - Chapter 2

Eddie Munson x Harrington! reader

Synopsis - A new rule strikes the Harrington household: if Steve wishes to date ever again, his sister needs to find a boyfriend first. As Steve becomes desperate and thinks of everything in his power to set her up, only one guy comes to mind that will take up a challenge such as that: Eddie Munson.

warnings - Season 1 Steve 👎 , ft. Eddie the mechanics, underage drinking, and free cookie if you spot the Titanic reference.

word count - 12.5k

proof read by the amazing @inknopewetrust

series masterlist 🌻

the playlist

"He tried again over lunch today," Steve slumped his shoulders, looking up to the sky. This was supposed to be a new day, a new opportunity for Eddie to try and seduce you, but instead, Eddie almost ended up having your yogurt in his hair. And even if the plan was failing, Tommy, who would have paid good money to see The Freak with yogurt stuck in his brown curls, was disappointed you hadn't gone through with it.

"I'm starting to think this is a bad idea."

"You gave him a fifty bucks a date deal, I'm sure he'll try again," Carol said through a mouthful of Steve's Kudos bar - the extra one he had packed for himself, but her sneaky hands had found it anyway.

"He told me he would," Steve climbed down from the hood of his car when he spotted you leaving the school building. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," He sighed, taking a seat behind the wheel.

"Hey, loser." Tommy snickered at you, taking a new puff of his cigarette and almost blowing it in your face.

"Oh my god, Tommy." You squinted your eyes, pretending like the smoke didn't bother you. "Are you losing your hair? You look balder than the last time I saw you up close?" You watched as his face twisted, placing a hand in his hair as if to protect it from your comment.

"Stop bullying my friends!" Steve yelled from the open window.

"Stop bullying my friends" You mimicked his voice as you settled yourself in the passenger side. "I'm Steve and I think that my dumb friends are actually really smart and good company."

"I don't talk like that."

"Yeah, you do. Oh my hair, my precious hair!" You mimicked again, putting a hand in your own hair as you did. "Wait until people find out it's because you use girl's hairspray.”

"And they never will, because you'll never tell them," he sang the words. "Talking about hairspray, I'm running out. I'm going to have to go to the supermarket before I can drop you off."

"Seriously? Can't you go later?"

"Nope. Don't have the time."

"I hate you."

"Look on the bright side, you can go to the comic book store in the meantime." He spoke to you like a toddler, you hated that.

"Right. Because I'm so excited to get the new Iron Man comic."

"Aren't you?"

You were.

But he didn't need to know that.

"You have to stop being so aggressive." Steve noticed as he watched you remove a few coins out of your wallet and hand them to the seller behind the counter.

"I'm not aggressive!" You argued back, side-eying your brother before thanking the elderly man as he neatly placed your comics in a plastic bag and handed them to you over the counter.

"You just fought a 9 year old over Lord of the Rings." Steve eyed the road through the shop's window, the little boy in question had a big frown on his face as he climbed into the back of his mother's car.

"But he was wrong! I don't know what he read, but that's not how the end of the Two Towers played out! And Saruman does die at the end of Return of the King."

"Why do I even bother with you?" He pinched his nose, his other hand on his hip in annoyance. You watched as the white plastic bag with the Farrah Fawcet hair spray bumped with his hip as he moved. He shook his head before putting his sunglasses back on. "Do you know that people around school are starting to call you a ‘heinous bitch’ more and more often?"

"You forget I don't care what people think." You pushed the shop door open, the little bell ringing with it.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't," you chuckled, looking at him through his sunglasses. "You don't always have to be who they want you to be, you know?" The words came out of your mouth before you could even think them over.

"I happen to like being the king of Hawkins High, thank you," He gave you a chuckle as if you had just said something stupid. The pang in your chest started stinging even more at seeing the careless, stupid, and even sometimes mean facade your brother had created himself just for popularity becoming clearer and stronger. You knew deep inside he wasn't this way.

"Right." Your word came out stiffer than you wished as you opened the passenger door, Steve following you in from the other side. "You know you're paying for my car repair, right?" You asked as you watched him start the engine.

"Uh, no, I'm not."

"Steve, you're the one who put the wrong fuel in."

"Yeah, but it's your car."

"Mom said you were going to pay!"

"Yeah, and?"

"And, so I'm not going to pay for your mistakes. What is this? Asshole day?"

"Why are you like this? You're making a fuss about everything lately."

"Right yeah, because I'm the one with terrible grades and who bugs his sister like it's her problem. You broke my car, Steve."

"I did, but I don't see how I should pay for it."

"Agh!" You wanted to rip your hair out, a groan of frustration slipping out of you. "Please just drive. I have a car to pick up and the less time I have in here with you, the better. I don't want to argue with you anymore."

The air was so thick for the rest of the ride you could cut it with a knife. The only noise that could be heard was the engine mixed in with Steve's frequent huffs, and the chatter of the streets that would come and go at every red light.

When the bright blue banner of the garage came into view, Steve didn't even bother with parking and stopped right in front of the shop.

"I'll see you at home." He gave you a tight smile you ignored, stepping out and closing the door as loudly as you could.

You mumbled something about how annoying and unfair he was being, the ringing from the little bell at the door making a minimum of your frustration dissipate. John, the owner of the place, sat behind the counter; head stuffed in the day’s newspaper, cigarette dangling from his lips. He barely looked up from his paper as he heard you walk in.

"Afternoon," you greeted, walking towards the counter, sighing your feelings away as your hands rested on the cold surface. "You said my car would be ready by today?"

"Oh yeah," He didn't remove the cigarette from his lips as he spoke, his small eyes still fixed on the paper and smoke coming out between words. "We're a bit late on schedule," He turned a page, "Realized the fuel fucked up the engine more than we thought. Munson's still taking care of it in the back."

"Munson?" The name felt familiar.

"Yeah, Eddie Munson." The lightbulb lit up in your mind. You knew exactly who he was talking about.

"I didn't know he worked here."

"Mostly on weekends. But he's filling in for Rob today. You know him or something?" He lifted his eyes up to gaze at you through his blue square glasses.

"We go to school together."

"Alright. Well if you want to go see your car I'm sure he won't mind." You nodded and took this as your cue. Walking toward the doorway, the actual door was missing and was replaced by strings of blue and red clay beads. Now that you were closer, you could hear Metallica's The Four Horsemen faintly playing in the background.

The beads made a soft sound as you passed through them. The smell of fuel, rubber, and the metallic pungency of tools invaded your senses the second you walked in. The garage looked messy to an outsider–yet it was no different than other shops of the kind. A staple of car repairs in Hawkins, this little shop had seen business from every family and knew them all by name. The garage door was opened, giving out to a parking lot and letting the fresh air merge with the unnatural amount of toxins that emitted from each car, tire, and tank served. A range of different colored cars neatly parked outside, each either waiting for their turn to get repaired or for their owners to return.

Your car was parked in the middle of the room, and indeed–the boy you knew as Eddie Munson, the school's proclaimed freak and trouble maker who had decided to suddenly ask you out, was working on it.

His hair was tied back in a ponytail, head bowed into the hood. His black shirt was tight and hugged his torso perfectly, his jean jacket resting on a chair in the back of the room. The electric blue denim jumpsuit he called a work uniform was tied at his waist by the sleeves. The pants of it were decorated with car grease in large uneven patches on the sides as if he deliberately wiped his hands on them multiple times.

He blew a strand of hair away from his forehead as he leaned back to look at his work from a higher angle. His fingers were stained with black as they toyed with the wrench in his hand. He looked so focused. The crease between his eyebrows was evident as he figured out if his work was good enough.

"Thought you didn't want that date?" His voice brought you back from your staring, shoving away the odd feeling in your chest you hadn't noticed was there. You blinked, your expression changing.

"And I still don't. I came to see my car."

"This is your car?" He asked, eyebrows raised as he pointed to it with the tool in his hand.

"Yep." You patted the roof with pride.

"I didn't take you for a girl to confuse which fuel to put in her car." He smiled to himself, looking up from the car's engine to you.

Now he couldn't deny you looked nice–nicer than in that ugly Hawkins high sports uniform you had been wearing yesterday and at lunch again today. Something about volleyball tryouts.

Eddie had never really taken the time to see you. You had always been just a face in the crowd, but a cute one. His thoughts quickly processed and he remembered his mission. He knew loud and clear that he was just in this for the money, however, it didn't hurt that he found you pretty, and it definitely didn't hurt that you were wearing an Ozzy Osbourne t-shirt.

"Actually, that's my brother's fault."

"Ah, now I understand."

"Probably never going to let him use my car ever again."

"Yeah, he fucked it up pretty bad," he noticed. "It seriously poisoned the engine."

"How much longer do I have to wait?"

"Oh, I just finished!" He gave you his most charming grin before wiping his hands on the bottom half of his already disgusting jumpsuit. You could see the white patch with his name on it poking out from the folded top around his waist as he walked to where you were standing. "I just need to try it, see how it starts."

You took a step back to let him open the door and sit in the driver's seat, you could faintly hear the song fade away and the radio host taking over. Eddie left the door open as he turned the key and started the engine. The sound of the buzzing motor came and fully drowned the radio as it came loud and clear.

"It works!” He said as though it were a miracle. “And no smoke this time!" He seemed so happy it made you smile. "All set, princess." He turned the key and slipped out of the car, making his way back to the front and reaching up to close the hood.

"Thank you. I thought I was going to commit murder after a week of Steve driving me."

"No problem," he chuckled.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing," he shook his head with big movements, making his ponytail sway from side to side. "On the house."

"You know that won't make me say yes to that date?" You put a hand on your hip, making him chuckle.

"I know."

"Don't think that getting me gifts is the way to my heart."

"What is the way to your heart?"

"That, I won't tell you."

"Just thought you shouldn't have to pay for what's your brother's fault."

"That's what I told him!" You pointed out. "No, but seriously how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing, I promise. Just get in the car and go do whatever pretty girls do on Wednesdays after school."

"Will John be happy you're giving away free service?"

"I'm sure good old John won't mind. C'mon! Get in! Get away from this smelly garage!" He waved towards the car when you didn't move.

You shook your head in disbelief before getting in and opening your window. "100% sure I can just leave?"

"Yes! Now go, before I change my mind." He watched with a smile on his face as you turned the car back on, smiling when everything worked perfectly.

"Thank you!" You cheered, waving as you made your way out, Eddie watching you disappeared down the road.

He breathed in heavily, walking to the half-broken sink in the back of the workshop. Once his hands were clean and dry he turned the radio off and reached for his coat which was still laying on the chair next to it. He reached in the pocket to remove his pack of cigarettes and lighter before fumbling with the jean, turning the jacket around to get access to the second pocket, pulling out some of the cash Steve handed him yesterday.

The blue and red beads made the familiar sound as he passed by the front desk.

"Did you let another girl leave without paying?" John looked up from his newspaper. "And I won't take a 'but she was pretty' as an answer this time."

"No," Eddie chuckled. "She gave me the money directly." Eddie put forty of Steve’s cash on the desk.

"Good."

"I'm taking my break." He nodded before stepping outside, cigarette already between his lips.

"Harrington! My new best friend!" Eddie cheered, a skip in his step as he made his way to Steve's locker the next day. Sleep still in Steve's eyes while Eddie's were bright and awake.

"What do you want?" Steve wondered as he stuffed his copy of Romeo and Juliet in his locker, only so he could forget it there and never see it again.

"I need your help."

"I thought you were the one helping me? And,” Steve paused his movements, “why is my sister still single?"

"I'm working on it… It's only been two days. And talking about your sister, if you want this to work, I need you to tell me what she likes."

"Well, she likes that same crappy music you listen to."

"I already knew that, not very helpful. Can't you tell me her interests? Her hobbies? What does she read? What does she do on weekends?"

"Well, I think she might read the same nerd stuff you do, but I don't know."

"You don't know? She's your sister," Eddie crossed his arms as he leaned on the neighboring locker.

"Can't you ask her out without all this information?"

"Nope. You saw what happened, I need to be smart about this," Eddie tapped the side of his head with his finger.

"Fine," Steve sighed, closing his locker. "I'll make a list and give it to you tomorrow."

"Works for me!" Eddie smiled and knocked a fist on the locker behind him before turning around to walk the other way.

"What was that about?" Tommy appeared out of thin air. His eyes fixed on Eddie who was already halfway down the hallway.

"He wants to know more about her. I have to make a list of stuff she likes." He took the hook of his backpack in his hand before he started to walk away.

"And you don't know all of that?"

"No, why would I?"

"Because she's your sister?"

"And?" He shrugged. "Shouldn't be my problem."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"I'll search through her room. See what I can find."

"Doesn't she hang out with that Barb girl? You could probably ask her for some stuff."

"Maybe."

"Plus isn't she like Nancy's best friend? Could make you gain some Nancy points."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Steve nodded along.

As if on cue, you appeared in the hallway with headphones over your ears. Steve looked at you with narrow eyes as you made a stop at your locker. You were wearing a Star Wars t-shirt; that could be useful information.

The lunch bell broke his thoughts and he suddenly remembered it was pasta Thursday. Steve watched the students who were still stuck in class start filing out of classrooms, he would have to leave quickly to get in line before the additional cheese would have to be wrestled for and leave the students last in line with only butter for a minimum of flavor to the over-cooked dish.

Like every Thursday, the cafeteria was crowded. The chatter of students echoed loud and clear through the large room. Food had already been spilled and laughter could be heard. Everyone seemed to be exactly where they were supposed to be.

Steve with his friends, cheese proudly sprinkled on top of the macaroni that cooled just enough to be edible.

Eddie was at his table. The Hellfire club was a full house; each member munching at their food, anticipation and excitement coursing through their veins as they waited for tomorrow to come to continue Eddie's campaign.

"I'm telling you, this is a terrible idea!" Jeff nodded along Oliver's words.

"Why? It's good money," Eddie leaned back from his seat at the table, his eyes landing on you. You were at the table you normally sat at, talking with Eddie's physics partner: Barb.

Were you two friends? He wondered as he watched the interaction. You had a reputation for being a loner, yet you seemed to be smiling. A pretty smile that radiated over your features. Eddie noticed your Star Wars shirt, grinning to himself at the thought of a pretty girl like you being a fan of something he enjoyed too.

He hadn't noticed, but the entire hellfire table was staring at him, throwing looks at each other at the sight of their fearless leader cheesing it over some girl.

"This is bad," Eddie's right-hand man, Olvier, whispered into Jeff's ear. "Really, really bad."

"It might be good money, but don't you think it's, like, a little unethical?" Another boy from the table wondered.

"Unethical?" Eddie blinked at the words. "Since when have we had any ethics to begin with?"

"I don't know," the boy shrugged. "Just, imagine if she actually falls for you, and she finds out it was all a scam just so that her brother could get some?"

"She won't find out," Eddie cracked open his Mountain Dew, taking a sip from the tin can before continuing to speak. "And she's tough. You all saw what she did to Jeff's nose," the boy in question looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sure it would take her more than a few dates to fall for me."

"Right… Because leading someone on is totally the right thing to do to gain some extra cash," Gareth spoke up. "I still don't know why you've agreed to this. I don't want to be there when she finds out. Don't count on me to buy you flowers and dumb 'get well soon' cards for when she puts you in a coma."

"Don't think he'd even pass by the hospital," Another boy snorted. "He'd directly be put to his death." That made the entire table laugh, apart from Oliver.

The blonde had a serious shine to his eyes, a frown on the verge of forming. That wasn't what he was worried about, but he couldn't voice his worries, not right now.

That evening, Steve knew he had to work fast. He knew he only had an hour to get home from school, sneak into your room, and make a list of everything that could be useful before you'd be back from your hour of babysitting.

The second he swung the door open he was met with a sea of records and posters. Your bed wasn't made and your desk was a mess. Steve started his search with the desk. His eyes first landed on a big poster with four guys which, at second glance, he swore one looked like Eddie. He looked to the side to find another smaller poster of the same guy, smiling with his guitar. His name was written in bold on the side, but Steve didn't bother to fully read it. He shook the thought from his head before opening the main drawer. A collection of chapsticks rolled to the front, while random notes and spare coins sat at the back. He pushed some of the things around only to find concert tickets of events from eons past.

When he wasn't satisfied with the search, he moved to the smaller ones at the foot of the desk. Opening and inspecting each one with meticulous precision. When he opened the third one, his eyes went wide.

"Oh my God!" Steve reached for the blue game boy. His blue game boy he thought he had lost the year prior. He could see your pink one in the back of the drawer, the screen broken. He grabbed his, moving his hand through the different games to take his pick.

He put the console and games on the floor by the desk to reclaim them as his but continued his search. The fourth drawer had a magazine opened to a page showing multiple different electric guitars. You had circled one, Steve marked it down on his little piece of paper.

You liked guitar.

And you wanted an electric one, a specific model in particular.

Steve walked towards your shelf and scanned through your books. He made a face when he saw your small collection of Shakespeare. He wrote that down too. After that, he saw a few books by the same author. He recognized The Lord of the Rings, writing it down on his list. But then when his eyes scanned over the other works by the J.R.R Tolkein guy, he had to squint and reread the word at least 3 times to register it and to check if he had written ‘Silmirillion’ right. You had stacks of Rolling Stone magazines next to it except Steve barely bothered to skim through them.

His eyes landed on the big Star Wars poster next to him and on the spaceship on your shelf. He wrote that down as well.

Once he was satisfied, he grabbed his Gameboy and the selected games from the floor and left as though he had never been inside of it at all.

Steve's socked feet dropping from step to step down the stairs caught your attention. Like every Friday morning, he was wearing his blue shirt - his favorite one Tommy had gotten him for his birthday. His bag hung on one shoulder as settled for breakfast.

However, he wasn't looking at where he was going or making a cheeky comment to piss you off so early in the day.

His eyes were focused on the blue brick in his hand. The noise of the game rang before the realization hit. The familiar opening of a chest echoed through your ears and your eyes went wild.

The goddamn Gameboy.

"Are you playing Zelda?" He didn't own a Zelda game–you did.

"Yes. On my Gameboy that I found in your room! Also, I don't know how you can play this. It's too complicated."

"What were you doing in my room!?" Your hand collided with the table, making your breakfast jump.

"I was searching for it!" He bit back.

"Dad-"

"You shouldn't have taken his in the first place. You have one of your own. Steve, you shouldn't go into your sister's room, that's private. It's settled. End of argument. Can we eat in peace now?"

You grumbled something, melting in your seat before poking at a blueberry.

You were glad your car was repaired because you couldn't take another drive of Steve's whining and him complaining about how Zelda was too hard.

Fridays were the best. Not only because it was the day when you didn't have any classes with Steve, but also because it was a chain of your favorite classes that led right to the weekend.

But, Friday’s also went by faster than lighting because of it.

"Barb! You're sort of friends with my sister, right?" Steve appeared next to her like a child high on sugar.

"Yeah?" She looked up from her textbook and papers.

"I need you to tell me what she likes."

"What she likes? Why?" She placed the stray papers inside the textbook before putting them inside her bag, her gaze going to the classroom door where students were starting to leave. It was Friday. She wanted to run out of there and not spend any more time than she needed to in these horrible halls.

"Is that so bad that I just want to know my sister better?" He poorly defended himself, placing a hand on his hip to try and sound more convincing.

"That’s weird coming from you," she zipped her bag closed.

"Okay,” he brushed it off, “first, what does she like to do on weekends?"

"Steve-"

"Please just answer the question." He pressed on.

"Well, um… She really likes to go to The Hideout."

"That weird bar on the edge of town?" Steve made a disgusted face.

"Yes, she says she loves seeing new bands play and makes fun of them when they're terrible."

"Okay," Steve started writing it on his hand like notes for an upcoming exam.

"Are you really writing this down? Steve-" Barb lamented.

"I want to remember! Can't you just accept the fact that I want to be a better brother?"

"Right."

"Ok, what else?"

"She likes Hard Rock and Metal… She would die for Kirk Hammett and Axl Rose."

"Wh-who?"

Barb rolled her eyes. "Kirk is that guy from Metallica?” It sounded more like a question than an actual statement. “I think he's their guitarist."

"Oh! Is that the guy from the posters in her room? The one that has the same hair as Munson?"

"They all have the same hair as Munson," she pointed out. "But yeah, Kirk kind of looks like him, I guess." Barb blinked as she remembered your room from the little times she'd been there "Axl is the main for Guns ‘n Roses; blonde, blue eyed guy with long hair. Always wears a bandana and eye-liner."

"Mm-hm" He nodded for her to continue, writing keywords on the back of his hand.

"She also really likes the arcade and roller skating. Um, she likes fantasy stuff like those Star Wars movies and those big books…” Barb trailed off to think of the name.

“Lord of the Rings?” Steve filled in for her and she snapped her fingers in recognition.

“Yes! Lord of the Rings. And I think her favorite character is Darth Vader?"

"Is he from Lord of the Rings?” Steve asked and Barb furrowed her eyebrows at him like she couldn’t believe that is what came out of his mouth.

“Are you serious?”

“It’s… not?” Steve faltered and she shook her head.

“Star Wars… Bad guy…?”

"The guy with the helmet?”

“Mhm,” Barb hummed in reply.

"Okay, thank you! I think I'm all set."

"Are you sure you need this information just to be a better brother?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Thanks!" He beamed before running out of the room. Steve charged down the halls until he recognized the door with the theatre posters all over it.

"Here!" Steve burst into the drama room, earning a questioning gaze from Eddie.

He was alone. Feet on the table that was even messier than the last time he was there. A book in his hand and he was practically one-hundred percent sure he had seen that same cover sitting on the shelves of your room.

"I have ‘the info.’" Steve slammed the note onto the table, in between the figurines and dice, before taking a seat in one of the rickety side chairs.

Eddie looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow and removed his feet from the table before scanning what was written.

"You missed the a," He pointed out and Steve looked at him strangely. "Silmarillion, not Silmirillion," Eddie showed him the cover of the book he was still holding.

"Whatever," Steve dropped his hand on the table. "That's the information I gathered."

"That's not a lot to work from," Eddie pointed to the paper with Steve’s scribbles on it.

"Look it should be enough," Steve huffed as Eddie read through the information. "But I've got more."

"She likes guitar, that's cool. She wants the same model I have."

"Oh yeah! She has a crush on that guy from Metallica, the one with the guitar."

"Which one?"

"I don't man, the one that looks like you."

"You mean Kirk?"

"Yeah! That's his name."

"Alright, good. I can work with that," A smirk rose on Eddie's lips. A sudden burst of confidence rose to his chest. He was your type. "Anything else?"

"I think her other crush's name has something with roses" he looked down at his hand, the writing so sloppy he could barely make it out.

"Axl?"

"Yep, that's the one!" Eddie could work with that. He basically owned half of the same wardrobe.

"She likes to go to The Hideout–you know that dodgy bar? She likes to go and judge the bands that play apparently."

"I'm in a band that plays at The Hideout."

Steve's mouth hung open into an 'O' shape before he spoke again. "Well, that's actually kind of perfect." He noticed, a bit more to himself than to Eddie. "She also likes the arcade and roller skating."

"Okay,” Eddie nodded, “What's her favorite arcade game?"

"I don't know? She stole my Donkey Kong game so she might like that?" It came out as more of a question than anything.

"Steve, what do you know?"

"Are you being sarcastic?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe."

"Also her favorite Star Wars character is the villain."

"Palpatine?" Eddie scrunched up his nose, tilting his head.

"Pala-who? No, no, the other one, the guy with the helmet."

"Darth Vader?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's arguable that's he's the villain-"

"Please keep that nerd bullshit for my sister," Steve cut him off and Eddie closed his mouth, crossing his arms against his chest, "that's all I have."

"Alright. I'll see what I can do." Eddie nodded before looking back to the table. "You should go," he tapped his watch, "Campaign's about to start."

"I'm home!" Steve yelled as the door closed behind him.

"Steve, can you come help me with the laundry?" Your mom called out from the laundry room. A large basket of folded laundry in her hands.

Steve rolled his eyes before slipping his shoes off and dropping his bag by the entrance. As he did, he noticed a pair of shoes and a bag he didn't recognize sitting by the doorway.

"Why can't Y/n do it?"

"Because she's babysitting. Here," she handed him the basket. "This side is your clothes, and this one your sister's. Just put yours in your room and put the basket with the rest in hers. Is that so hard to do?"

"Babysitting? But her shoes and bag are here?"

"Yeah, they're in the kitchen, baking."

"Ah," he grumbled something else before doing as told.

"So, got any plans for the weekend?" You asked Dustin as you placed the cupcake wrappers in the little molds.

"I'm going to Mike's. We're going to continue his campaign!" The curly-headed boy had a big smile on his face as he mixed the batter with all his might.

"That's nice," you smiled before you dipped your finger into the batter and stole a taste. "Our cupcakes are going to be amazing," you nodded, "high five."

One of his hands removed its grip from the bowl to collide with yours while the other stayed on the whisk.

"Do you need someone to drop you off or pick you up from Mike's?" You questioned as you started washing your hands, speaking a bit louder over the running water.

"No,” Dustin shook his head and his curls went bouncing, “mom said I could go all alone this time!"

"Oh my god," you put a hand to your heart. "Is my ‘lil Dusty growing up?" You faked a sniff, "are you going to fire me?" you wiped a fake tear.

"No!" He giggled at your dramatic sighs. "I still need you. I'm bored when you're not there and I have to spend entire afternoons home alone."

"I hope so," you pointed a finger at him, a small smile playing on your face as you turned back to the cupcake batter. "You still have to teach me how to play D&D, by the way. My half-written character sheet is still somewhere in my room."

"Yes! I promise. Once Mike's campaign is finished, we will do it."

"Deal," you grabbed the bowl and started to pour the mixture in each of the cupcake molds while Dustin washed up.

"What are you doing this weekend?" He wondered as he came back around, watching with big eyes as you skillfully poured just the right amount of dough into each section.

"Homework, probably."

"That's it?" His eyes went wider. Sometimes he thought you never had fun outside of babysitting him.

"No," you giggled. "Might go judge whoever is playing at The Hideout."

"I wish I could come with you," he sighed. "It sounds so much fun."

"Promise when you're a little older. I'll bring you and we can even make a bingo sheet out of it."

"What would we put on the bingo!?" His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Well, stuff like, ‘did the singer's voice crack’, or ‘did he sing a wrong note’, or ‘did the guitarist mess up his chord?’ Oh! I forgot to tell you, last time I went, a band that came from Arizona was playing and the drummer threw up on his snare."

"Ew!"

"Yeah, it was disgusting. The whole band had to stop playing and the show was canceled."

"I'm surprised that you haven't met anyone there," Dustin sighed as he watched you put the cupcakes in the oven.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you always said that the boys in high school are unwashed miscreants," you giggled at the fact that he remembered your words. "You must have met someone cool at this bar."

"How many times must I tell you that I'm not interested in dating?" You laughed.

"But everyone is! Dating can be fun!"

"Not everyone, Henderson." Steve's voice came from the doorway. "Y/n is a peculiar breed of mean girl. No boy would even be interested in her, they're all terrified of her or either think she's a loser." Steve made an ‘L’ with his index and thumb, bringing it to his forehead as he poked his tongue out to you.

Steve thought you'd be in a better mood after he saw you laugh with Dustin, that you'd joke back like you always did, but when your eyes met his, your gaze became cold again. You were glaring daggers at him when he reached for the orange juice in the fridge.

"That's not true! She's like the coolest person on earth!" Dustin argued and a mocking chuckle came from your brother. Dustin's eyes were wide and angry as he looked at Steve pouring himself a glass and placing the bottle back in the fridge. The younger boy burned a hole in the back of Steve’s head before he disappeared into the living room.

"Don't listen to him," Dustin grumbled. "I would definitely ask you out if I was older!" That made you laugh; the hurt that started forming in your chest dissipated with his words.

"Well, thank you. But I do get asked out." ‘Especially recently,’ you thought. "I'm just not interested," You could see in his eyes he still didn’t take that as an answer. "Alright, my young padawan," you changed the subject and ruffled his hair. "Enough boy talk. Let's finish up your homework while these cupcakes bake."

"Why are you acting like this?" Steve's head poked from over your shoulder.

"Why am I acting like what?"

"You've been in a bad mood ever since Tuesday morning," Steve sat beside you by the kitchen counter. He quickly eyed what you were doing and saw your neatly written paper with all the answers to the history questions Mr. Click had assigned. Steve grabbed it but you quickly snatched it away.

"You're really asking me why I'm acting like this? Steve, you've been bugging me all week because you think I'm the answer to all your problems!" You dropped your pen in frustration. "It's not my fault you didn't do your English homework and it's not my fault you got shitty grades so now you're not allowed to get a girlfriend. And you're certainly not going to copy my history homework. You didn't even want to pay for my car and you were basically bullying me in front of the boy I babysit."

"But I always bully you," he pointed it out as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Saying it like his words were meaningless sibling banter and not him reinforcing ideas everyone thought. "And you said it yourself, the guy didn't even make you pay for the repair!"

"That's not the point! You have to stop acting like the things you do are my problem; stop asking me to get a fucking boyfriend and to read a book for you! And stop snooping around my work!" You almost screamed.

Steve was glad your parents were away at Enzo's for dinner because he would have gotten a really long lecture about bribing you to get a boyfriend and he didn't need that right now.

"But you won't get a boyfriend so now I'm stuck home on a Friday night."

"Wow, is that so bad?" You mocked before aggressively grabbing all of your pens and shoving them in your pencil case, stacking your papers before taking everything in your arms and walking up to your room.

"No! Don't leave!"

"Then stop annoying me!" You screamed from the top of the staircase. He heard your loud steps stomping the ground before your door closed with a loud thud and the small clicking of your lock.

You dropped your books and homework on your desk, sighing when you turned the lights on. Frustration burning in your veins, you turned your radio on and brought the volume as high as you could.

The start of Rainbow in the Dark started playing.

It was therapy. It was a cool cloth on the back of your neck on a hot day. Most of all, it was the remedy to tune Steve out and the world around you went silent sans the music that raced the airwaves of your room.

Steve could faintly hear it from the living room but chose to ignore it. This time, he will not give you the satisfaction of being annoyed.

You hummed the lyrics to yourself as you went through your bag, cleaning the empty wrappers and menial scraps that had accumulated through the week. You opened your planner and scanned around the homework for Monday.

Math

English

History

Spanish

You made the list as you went through the stack of textbooks on your desk and neatly placed the ones you needed on the side. You were about to turn around and decide which tape you wanted to listen to after this one when a knock came to your window.

You thought that you heard wrong. Maybe it was a chord in the song you hadn't noticed before. But when the sound of a rock hitting the glass struck again, this time you had the visual. It was a surprise you could still hear the soft clink over the loud music, and as you stepped to get closer, another one clashed with the glass.

You pushed the window up, Dio now playing loud and clear in the cool night air. You looked down to be faced with the last person you expected to see.

"Munson?" You raised an eyebrow. "I thought I told you to stop bothering me?"

"You haven't actually said those words," He echoed from down below.

He had a large smile on his face. His hair was loose and going wild while he was wearing a dark blue shirt that was ripped on the side–you knew you had seen the same shirt somewhere. Skinny jeans of matching color with chains dangling everywhere and purple reeboks complete the look.

It was a look. A completely chaotic, mismatched look that he made work because it was uniquely him.

The light from your window spread a glow over his features as he played with an additional pebble in his hand. For a second, you caught yourself thinking he was handsome. You found yourself shoving away the same weird feeling that had popped up after seeing him at the garage beside your car.

"What are you doing here?"

"I want to take you out," he beamed, dropping the pebble and taking a step closer to your window when the chorus of the song echoed louder through the air.

"I have homework to do."

"C'mon, it's Friday night, please?" He pouted, big brown eyes looking at you like a lost puppy. "I'm playing at The Hideout in 30 minutes, please just come. My van is parked a street away. Doesn't have to be a date."

"You never give up don't you?"

"No," he smirked.

You thought for a second. Dustin's words echoed from earlier: ‘dating can be fun.’ Maybe you could allow yourself just one night at the seedy bar where you would lose your shell. Maybe you could give Eddie Munson the chance to show you who he was behind all the rumors and 'scary' facade.

"I'll come with you on one condition," you levied at him and there was a spark of surprise that washed over his eyes.

"That is…?" He could feel the plan working. He could feel you giving in to him.

"Free drinks."

"Alright, yeah," he thought about the rest of Steve's cash stashed in the door of his van. "Deal."

"Give me a second to change, I'll be right back." You closed the window, then curtains before scurrying off to your closet.

Eddie was in it for the cash. That's what he told himself going into the deal, and that's what he had to remind himself when he watched you climb out of your window as Holy Diver played from your stereo and your feet hit the grass. You were wearing white pants. They were ripped almost everywhere and a chain was hooked to the one side, almost matching the way Eddie's wore his own. Black boots and a loose Metallica shirt brought the look together in some fever dream he was immersing himself in.

Eddie bit back a smile, nodding towards your shirt, "you have a great taste in music."

"I know." You looked at him up and down. "Is that Kirk Hammett's shirt from that cover of Rolling Stone they did two months ago?" You had noticed it when you came to your room and your eyes landed on said magazine.

"Maybe," he smirked. "Might have made it myself when the cover came out."

"Well, it's very nice. Suits you." For a second, you almost thought he looked like him. The same hair, eyes, and cheeky grin. Your heart doing a loop in your chest when you were starting to compare them; the guitar, being in a band. You shook the thought away quicker than it came and walked past him, turning back around when he didn't follow. "C'mon, what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing," Eddie smiled, dipping his chin into his chest before shaking his head and catching up to you.

"Are your parents not going to notice you're gone?"

"They're at dinner. They'll probably assume I'm sleeping by the time they're back."

"And your brother?"

"Nah. I turned the lights off, and the music will stop eventually. He'll have just about an hour left of Dio before he can have his peace."

"Sneaky."

You had never really noticed Eddie's van before. White with blue stripes and the smell of weed permanently stuck to its seats. It was oddly clean on the inside–with no stray papers or candy wrappers laying around like in yours. A guitar pick was dangling from the rear mirror and a bobblehead dragon stood on top of a dash like those Hula girls.

"I like the dragon," you noticed, tapping the top of his head with your fingers to see it move.

"Thanks. I won it at the arcade."

"You go to the arcade?"

"Yeah! Like all the time."

"Me too," you smiled to yourself, watching as he fixed his shirt when he settled in his seat.

"What proves to me that you weren't sent by my brother, the devil spawn?" You narrowed your eyes at him as he closed the door. Eddie's heart squeezing in his chest at the question, his hands began to sweat. You were smart. Really, really smart.

"Sweetheart,” the nickname fell from his tongue as if it were second nature, “you really think your brother would even think of talking to me?" That made you laugh. "I'm sure the idea in itself makes him shit his pants."

It did. But that was before Steve realized Eddie wasn't doing ritual sacrifices on the floor of the drama room.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry to assume," you laughed. "Just thought that maybe he would get really desperate and send the only guy in Hawkins who wouldn't be scared of me." Dammit you were smart. And if Eddie hadn't had as much acting practice from playing Dungeons and fucking Dragons he probably would have been busted the second the question left your lips.

"You don't have that much self-confidence do you?" Eddie narrowed his eyes and looked right at you, trying too hard to change the subject. "Look at you! You really think guys don't want to ask you out, just… because?"

You shrugged and played with the dragon's head again, watching it go up and down every time you touched it. "It's not that I don't, it's just… I'm not very approachable. People are usually scared of me and call me a heinous bitch. Steve gracefully reminds me of it every single day. Either that or they want to date me to be friends with 'Mr. King of Hawkins High',”

"Well, I definitely don't want to be friends with him," Eddie shook his head, making a weird face at the thought. "And I'm no picnic myself," his soft laugh echoed across the little space.

"Yeah, we both have a reputation, don't we?" You scrunched up your nose.

"Definitely," he grinned like it was the best badge a person could wear. "And for the record, I don't think you are a heinous bitch," He smiled, a real genuine smile that definitely wasn't an act. "I think you're very cool, Harrington. I don't know how I hadn't noticed you earlier," he meant it.

"You think I'm cool despite the fact that Steve ‘The Hair’ is my brother?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Despite that."

"Well, I think you're pretty cool too," a stare lingered a little bit too long between the two of you, causing Eddie to clear his throat and put his focus on starting the van.

"You know, never in the world did I think that ‘The Hair's’ sister would listen to Black Sabbath and Dio and like Star Wars."

"Why would you think that?" You smiled because to you, the assumption that you didn’t like any of those things was ridiculous. You wore shirts, listened to the music at near full volume through the hallways, and made it no secret that you weren’t afraid of liking the things you did just because some people found them ‘odd.’

"Because you're Steve Harrington's little sister?"

"So, you think I'm like my brother?"

"Oh, Christ, no. But, I thought you might be. Imagined you to be like a cheerleader of something until I realized that the second Harrington was the girl terrorizing everyone she crosses paths with."

"Jesus," You chuckled. "Imagine me dancing with pom poms."

"Now that's a sight I'd love to see."

"No,” you shook your head amused, “I would look ridiculous."

"I'm sure you'd look amazing."

"I would be a laughing stock! Then people wouldn't be scared of me anymore and where's the fun in that?"

"Yeah," Eddie chuckled with you. That was a fair assessment on your behalf. You weren’t the cheerleading type.

When he parked on the familiar grounds of The Hideout, he reached up for the switch, the small ceiling light making your eyes blink as they adjusted to it.

Eddie leaned toward you to open the glove box. Hand over your knees, he popped open the compartment and his hand barely grazed them as he reached into it. As he rummaged through it, he found a spare ring in the process. Eddie didn't hesitate to wear it on his one ring free finger the second his eyes landed on it.

"Ah-ha!" He smiled when he found what he was searching for. A long thin black tube was between his fingers that made your eyebrows raise high.

"Eyeliner?"

"What? Every rock star wears it." You laughed at the idea of Eddie putting on eyeliner, but it died on your lips when you realized he was being serious and started applying it around his eyes. "Don't look at me like that! Axl Rose wears eyeliner all the time!"

"Yeah, you're right. Axl Rose does wear eyeliner," you smiled at Eddie's comparison to him. Watching his movements as he looked at his eyes through the rear mirror. He definitely wasn't an eye-liner expert; the start of his lines were messy and he was making everything uneven.

For a long minute, he looked like a panda and had to rub some off the black with his fingers. It was far from perfect, but he seemed happy with it.

"How do I look?" He gave an award winning, teeth baring grin when he fully turned to face you.

Now, if you from Monday asked yourself what you thought you would be doing on Friday night, the last thing that would have crossed your mind would have been sitting in the parking of The Hideout with Eddie Munson, gaping at him like a fish as he turned to you with the most adorable grin you had ever seen, wearing eyeliner and comparing himself to your two favorite musicians, and every word dying in the back of your throat as the same unknown feeling that had now crossed you twice upon gazing at him came back.

"Good," you attempted but your words came out in a mumble, blinking the shock away. "You look good. A real rock star." In all truths, he looked really really good. So good you wondered how you had never noticed it before, especially from all your past trips to The Hideout.

Surely you would have noticed someone you went to school with or someone who looked like that.

"Great," he smiled even wider, grabbing the pick necklace from his rearview mirror. "Can't forget the lucky charm,” he winked before opening the door of his van and jumping out.

The Hideout was familiar.

Always the same people flocking to the little joint apart from a few new faces that changed every weekend. The same dark ambiance and washed-out lighting, the same pool table with the same five drunks playing every weekend and sometimes on Thursdays after the monster truck race outside of town.

It wasn't crowded. It never was. But on Fridays, there were always enough people to consider it a crowd, causing a cheerful spirit to hang in the air. Even Madame Bijoux seemed happier on Friday nights. Maybe it was the only day of the week she and the people of Hawkins forgot she was a French woman that came to the bar every day at six, drinking whiskey while wearing all of the jewels she owned and claiming she was waiting for her long-lost love to come back.

It was some Shakespearean tale playing out before your eyes each week.

She was a treasure, practically a ghost from another world but she sat drinking her whiskey with a mystical whimsy about her. Those jewels, the long-lost love… it was all too good to be true most days.

The same stage stood in the back, a banner with Corroded Coffin written in black doubled with red, hung on the side. One of the boys you knew to be in advanced English was still working on setting up his drum set.

But you didn't know why this time everything felt different.

Maybe it was because this time you hadn't gone alone. This time you were accompanied by the leader of its band who played there three times a month. Or that you had suddenly found him handsome and your mind became a mess of thoughts and your body was vibrating with unknown feelings. It certainly didn't help that his eyes wouldn't leave you as you made your way through the small crowd to reach the stage.

"That's Gareth," Eddie pointed at his friend once you were close enough to see. "He's a Freshman and a smartass."

"Is that why he's the only Freshman in advanced English?"

"Exactly why,” He nodded. "Joined Corroded Coffin last year when our drummer graduated."

"Question, why are you in advanced English?"

"They said that it would gain me more points. That I'd have a better chance of graduating if I took it."

"How’s that working out for you?"

"Horribly," Eddie chuckled, waving hello to someone behind your shoulder before continuing. "Definitely quitting at the end of the year. They can shove their extra points up their asses."

"Awww, and I won't get to stare at your empty seat for hours every week? What. A. Shame." Your words brought a fighting smile to Eddie's lips.

"Yeah, sadly. My sincerest apologies," he smirked, "but the year isn't over. Maybe I can think of showing up so you can stare at something more interesting than an empty chair."

"You would do that for me?" You gasped. "I'm impressed."

"You should be."

"This is bad," Oliver leaned his chin in the palm of his hand, his fingers covering his mouth as he sighed.

"You realize you say this every time you see them talk or we mention her?" Jeff side-eyed his friend before looking back to the two of you from their spot. They were standing in the back of the room, right near the stage–a place perfect for spying the crowd.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded, "but I'm saying it because it's true."

"You know the worst that can come out of this is Eddie having to take a trip to the emergency room?"

"No," he shook his head, blonde hair moving with him. "It's his heart I'm worried about."

"His heart?"

"Think about it. Y/n has always been described the same way people have always described Eddie. It's a mystery they weren't friends before this," Oliver crossed his arms. "Eddie asked Steve to gather up some info on her–I read it and Eddie doesn't see it, but they're practically soulmates."

"Oh."

"And her celebrity crush is Kirk Hammett"

"Oh."

"Yeah!"

"This is bad."

"It's very, very bad. I know Eddie. He wears his heart on his sleeve and cares too much. He's going to end up falling for her, I can already see it happening! Her too, and then when she finds out her brother paid him it's going to be like an atomic bomb going off. She's never going to forgive him and we’re all going to burn along with him."

Jeff didn't have the words to reply. He continued watching the two of you from a distance; Eddie had just made a joke, his face sparkling with joy. You were laughing loudly, the sound barely audible in between the chatter, and Eddie was definitely blushing.

Oliver watched, almost angry at the situation when Eddie placed the hand that wasn't holding the guitar strapped on his back in place on your back to escort you through a cluster of people.

Both your laughters became audible when you were just a step away.

"Hey guys!" Eddie turned his head to face his friends. His features lit with something more than usual–Oliver didn't like one bit of it.

"Hey," you greeted them with a shy wave.

"Guys, this is Y/n," Eddie pointed to you, both of them giving small waves in return. "This is Oliver, he's on second guitar," Oliver stiffly nodded. You could feel the cold in his eyes upon eye contact, as if he didn't want you here. It made you awkwardly look away towards Jeff, but that didn't help the awkwardness you were feeling.

"Um, that's Jeff," Eddie's voice became low as he said it, knowing your past interaction with the boy. You gave another awkward wave but he just glared at you. Great, you definitely did not feel welcomed by his friends.

"I'll have to leave you here," Eddie turned back to you, gloriously saving the moment from turning into an awkward silence. "Need to get ready with the band."

"That's alright. I'll go find a seat and get something to drink," you smiled, a warm smile that warmed Eddie's heart. His gaze followed you until you were lost in the sea of people.

"You should flirt less," Oliver said before looking back to his guitar, fixing the strap before placing it around his shoulders.

"Huh?" His words took Eddie by surprise.

"You should: Flirt. Less." He repeated, accentuating the words with each syllable. "Can’t have her really think this is going to lead to a real relationship," Eddie blinked at his friend's words.

"Have you seen the way she is around me?" Eddie pointed to the crowd as if pointing to you. "I don't think she's even close to thinking about actually dating," Eddie scoffed and brushed the words off his shoulder.

"Are you blind?" Oliver’s eyes went wide. Did he not just see the way he was laughing with you? Or acting around you? The way he touched you and blushed and made your own person radiate an energy Oliver only associated with the magical powers of flirtation and charm.

"What?"

"Nevermind," Oliver had enough. If Eddie wanted to put himself in this situation, then he would let him.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Eddie raised his voice as Oliver walked towards the stage and away from him.

"Nothing. You should set up your guitar and mic. We play in five."

You had seen Corroded Coffin play a hundred times. And each and everyone of these times you knew they were getting better. Each new song they wrote dripped of a new skill, stronger lyrics, and more passionate skillful music. As the band got older, the songs got better. They were all goddamn talented and from the hundreds of other bands you had seen play in this shitty bar, you knew that they had a better chance than anyone else who stepped on the bumpy wooden planks of this stage to become big.

But when the lights went out and everyone started cheering, it felt like you had never seen them before.

The first chords of Eddie's guitar rang through the darkness like a ship finding its port in your soul. You recognized their most recent title: 'Walking in the Dark' . The song started with a guitar solo, almost slow, melancholic, until the whole song was flipped upside down and it became worthy to be featured in a Metallica album.

When the second chord started after a beat, the spotlight set on Eddie. And maybe it was the sip of beer you had just taken, but chills climbed up your shoulders as he started to play. He looked so focused, more than he could ever look while fixing cars just for extra cash. Your eyes lit up as you watched him play the most difficult part of the riff. His hair was going crazy, crazier than ten minutes earlier when you were still by his side and a small smile crossed your cheeks when he shook his head in a poor attempt to move strands of hair away from his face.

People cheered when the rest of the band started to play, and the lights came back in on rhythm with the music. When Eddie started singing, a few drunks joined in like they were singing along to their favorite song. Corroded Coffin having become a staple of the joint, the most fidel clientele had started to know most of the lyrics by heart–you included.

And you hadn’t even realized that this Eddie had been one you admired from afar every time they played, three times a month.

The whole place lit up like fire. The crowd was chaotic–as chaotic as a crowd of drunk Hawkins residents and travelers who had stopped at a motel for the weekend could be. People were raising their drinks with the music, and you felt yourself enjoying the show more than you had in a very long time.You never wanted it to stop.

But everything good had to come to an end. As your beer decreased in its glass, Corroded Coffin’s setlist came to an end. The crowd of singers became smaller, and the alcohol in their veins augmented with time. A fight that had broken out over a spilt drink was taken outside, and the wood on Gareth's drumsticks was periodically chipping away, threatening to split in half with every hard beat.

The last notes rang through the bar and the seven lonely drunks left on the makeshift dance floor attempted to clap, accompanied by the few tables that were finishing up their drinks or food that was left over from their dinner's, the waiters and of course; you.

The entire band was catching their breath, smiling at each other and sharing 'we did well' looks. You watched from your spot at the bar as Eddie shook his head and wiped the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand. He had the brightest smile and you couldn't help but mimic the sight when his eyes met yours from across the room.

Five minutes later, he was standing right next to you, ordering beers for the entire band and another for you.

"So, you like it?"

"Better than other times. You guys are getting better," you smiled, your hand fiddling with your empty glass.

"That's because this time I knew you were in the crowd," he winked, his smile burning even brighter than before. He dropped a ten dollar bill on the cold surface as the women behind the counter handed him the five glasses.

"On the house," she smiled and Eddie was glad you hadn't noticed the way he flinched when he had to repocket the bill he was trying to get rid off.

"Thanks," he nodded, trying his best for his smile not to look fake before turning to you. "Will you help me? The rest are sitting at that booth over there," he pointed with his head, already grabbing two beers and holding the third one by the tip of his fingers in between the two others.

You grabbed the last two before following him.

"You sure you don't want to be alone for your date?" Oliver stated a bit too dryly when you carefully placed the beers on the table.

"Oh this isn't a date" you smiled, your tone directly opposite from his.

"It isn't?"

"No, I refuse to date in high school," you sat down, Eddie sliding into the booth next to you.

"Then what are you doing here?" He narrowed his eyes.

"First of all, I'm not new to The Hideout. I come here all the time. I was there when you fainted on stage two months ago," you pointed to Oliver with your drink before taking a sip.

"Holy shit! I remember that! It was so embarrassing," Gareth chuckled in between beer sips.

"Secondly, I came here with him so he would stop bugging me," you nudged Eddie's shoulder.

"Is that so? Is it not because you find me incredibly handsome?" He put on a fake offended look, placing a hand to his heart.

"No," you giggled. "Sorry to bruise your ego"

"My ego is very bruised"

"You'll recover"

"I don't think I can."

Oliver looked away, his look just getting colder. Eddie seemed to notice, looking at him inexplicably before glancing back at Gareth. Oliver and Jeff might have been giving you the cold shoulder, but conversation flowed naturally with the youngest member of the band.

Around an hour into the conversation, Jeff left. ‘Curfew at 1 am’ were his words before he walked out without even giving you a proper goodbye. But Oliver stuck around, despite the bad feeling that rested at the pit of his stomach when seeing how much you and Eddie got along.

"Wait! So you actually kicked Kevin in the balls?" Gareth held his stomach to try and stop from laughing.

"YEAH!" You laughed with him. "He was being rude to Barb and I think that he hasn’t removed his jock strap since."

"You’re a menace!"

"Kids, as much as I love hearing your laughter and enjoy seeing people have a good time, we're closing up,” the waitress you knew as Clara pointed to the clock on the wall. 3:30 am.

Your eyes went wide, you had never spent that long at The Hideout before. You all looked at each other, Gareth's eyes went to his drum set with a desperate sigh.

"I'll help you put it in your trunk," Oliver said as he finished off the rest of his glass.

"We can help too!" You proposed but Gareth shook his head no.

"No, go home. Don’t worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"It would go faster if we helped."

“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver’s stiff words snatched the smile right off of your lips and Eddie placed a hand on your shoulder.

“They’ll be fine,” he turned to you with a tired smile. "C’mon, “I’ll go grab my guitar and I'll bring you home."

"You better because you're the one who drove me here," you joked, making him smile a bit wider.

It was so easy to keep smiling without remembering every second was based on a bet.

Eddie kept the grin on his face as he walked towards the stage, removing his instrument from its stand before shouldering it.

Your gaze fell back to Oliver and Gareth who were still planted in front of you. Oliver was still glaring icy daggers at you while Gareth just smiled. A sweet smile that made Oliver’s gaze less terrifying.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow?” Eddie asked as he came back towards you.

“Yep, bye!” Oliver waved you both off before running off towards the stage.

“What’s up with him?” Eddie asked Gareth who gave him his best shrug of the shoulders.

“I don’t know.” That was a lie, and he was glad Eddie was preoccupied with you or else he would have seen right through it.

“Weird,” he looked at his friend who was battling with a screw from the drum set. “Shall we?” He turned back to you.

“Yep.”

“Bye!”

“Bye Y/n!” Gareth’s smile warmed the cold of Oliver’s goodbye.

Eddie’s hand didn’t leave the small of your back until he had to push the big two doors open. A breeze came rushing in, making you instantly shiver.

"Fuck, I should have taken a sweater," you had somehow forgotten you were barely at the start of spring and that the air was still cold and called for layers.

"I think I have one in the van," Eddie said as he watched you rub your shoulders with both your palms.

"No, it's alright-"

Before you could protest, he opened the back and carefully strapped his guitar to the side before rummaging through a big green bag he always kept there. Eddie fished a balled up sweatshirt from it.

"Here," there was a sincerity in his words that you couldn’t protest. As the cool spring air passed you by once more, a new shiver was sent tumbling down your spine.

"Thanks," you took the black washed out fabric in your hands before placing one arm in each and hooking it over your head. The end of the sleeves were ripped, and small holes were at the edges of the neck, but you didn't mind. It smelt so much like him it almost made you swoon. And you weren’t a swooner. Weed and cigarettes mixed in with his cologne that smelt like wood and cinnamon. You even put the cuff of the sleeve up to your nose when he wasn't looking. But you weren't going to admit that.

The ride was peacefully quiet. Eddie hummed something you didn’t recognize. You thought it may have been a new song he was working on. The dragon’s head on the dashboard was going up and down almost in rhythm to his music as the van made its way in the direction of your house. Everything felt so perfect you had to do your best to stop from dozing off from pure contentment that washed over you as the dark, early morning streetlights fluttering in and out every second his van sped down the road.

Everything was peaceful, relaxing, and absolute against your better judgment. You weren’t used to feeling this way, let alone willing yourself to reflect on the emotions that surged through your veins every moment spent in his presence.

“I’m sure he’ll come around,” You blinked the sleep away as the words fell out of his mouth. You looked at him, questions as to who was written all over your features. “Oliver. I don’t know why he was so cold.”

“It’s alright,” You looked at the trees passing by. “You know I’m used to people being that way around me.”

“Hmm,” He didn’t sound convinced. Something in his eyes telling you he wasn’t happy with how his friend treated you so poorly. Jeff had a reason, but Oliver didn’t. Even Jeff had acted more civil than Oliver.

The ride came to a stop faster than Eddie wished; parking himself in the same spot he had hours before when he picked you up.

“Thank you for the ride,” You gave him a small smile as you reached to open the door.

“You don’t think I’m going to let you walk back alone at this hour?” He raised an eyebrow and every reply was stolen from your lips. He chuckled when he saw your dumbfounded expression. “C’mon! Let’s go!”

You stepped out of the van, the air getting colder again. Eddie’s sweatshirt suddenly felt like your best friend when another rush of wind blew.

The forest road felt so quiet. High trees surrounding a crumbling strip of pavement Hawkins liked to call a road. A cat stood up on the gates of your neighbor’s home, glaring at you with his big eyes. Halloween was still months away. You started walking through the little gravel road that separated your parents' property with the others, Eddie ducked when some branches almost collided with his face.

"What are you doing?" You stopped as you watched him crouch next to the big rose bushes of your neighbor's home. Quickly, he stood back up, a brightness washing over him in the night as he waddled back towards you, a pink rose in his hand. Not wilted, perfectly formed.

"I just wanted to show this rose how incredibly beautiful you are," he pointed it to you with a wide grin. He was pulling from a playbook you never heard from.

For a golden second, you let the feeling invade you. That vulnerability of being loved, feeling appreciated. But it never lasted long with you. The years of people calling you mean and unapproachable, those words and this identity that you wore as a shield always came back. The bricks of a wall willing to crumble given the chance were fortified again, building higher and higher until you couldn’t see who was on the other side. Before the heat could be felt in your face, where it couldn’t stay for too long, you grabbed the rose and rolled your eyes.

If you couldn’t enjoy the romance of it, you could jest the humorous aspect of it.

"Holy hell, that's the cheesiest thing someone has ever said to me."

"Well, you're welcome. I guess?" Eddie chuckled, pocketing his hands as he walked beside you. He wasn’t embarrassed. Eddie took that statement with pride because now he had a one up on the rest of the guys who tried to hit on you with textbook lines that made no impact at all. He would gladly take ‘cheesy.’

"This is my stop," You smiled. "I should probably give this back," You made a move to remove the sweatshirt from your body but Eddie shook his head.

"No, no. Keep it," You were glad it was dark because you felt the blowback of his words strike you with surprise. It was all over your face, and it was all at the thought of keeping his sweater.

"Thanks," a light wind blew once more and you brought it a bit closer to your body. Boldness coursing through your veins, you leaned in and kissed his cheek as you prepared to depart. "I'll see you on Monday." You gave him a soft smile that brought butterflies to his stomach. He watched as you skillfully jumped over the barely three-foot high fence.

"Does that mean I can finally take you out on a real date?"

"Maybe!" You turned around to answer him. Winking before disappearing in between the trees of the mini forest surrounding your house.

Eddie could still spot you by the bright white of your pants, a dopey smile on his face as butterflies fluttered inside his stomach.

And maybe he wasn’t in this just for the money.

But the aspect that he was… well, that turned everything upside down.

611 notes · View notes

invisibleraven · 27 days

Note

"i brought you flowers." "for what?" "there has to be a reason?" + The GPP?

Alex was nervous.

Granted, that was his usual state, but to Julie it struck as more than his typical anxiety, and if she could notice it, it meant the others would see it before too long.

"Okay, what's up?" se asked, leaning against the fridge, stopping him from stress eating.

"Nothing's up!" he squeaked.

She lowered her eyes at him, making him deflate. "Alex, I can tell when something is up, so spill."

He sighed, then went out to the mud room, coming back with a vase of dahlias. "I brought you flowers."

O...kay. This was way out of the typical Alex behaviour pattern. For one, his allergies usually meant that Alex avoided anything and everything that could produce pollen lest he become a sneezing, swollen facsimile of himself. "For what?"

"There has to be a reason?" he snarked.

Hands on her hips, Julie stared him down until he sighed once more, laying the vase on the island, then not so subtly pushing it further away from him. "I know that they were your mom's favourite, and that today should have been her birthday. I thought they might help?"

Julie immediately softened, gazing at the bright red blossoms. None of her partners aside from Flynn and Carrie had met Rose, but she talked about her enough, about her grief when she passed, so this was a sweet gesture.

"Alex...thank you."

He shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Do you wanna...talk about her?"

"I think I've shared every story I know," she said, gently caressing the petals.

"So tell me your favourite," Alex said, pulling out a stool for each of them.

"You don't mind?"

He shook his head. "Julie I might not have anything to do with my mom, but yours was important to you, and you-well you're important to me. So hit me with a good one."

Julie leaned into his side, squeezing him around the middle for a moment before letting go, swiping at the gathering tears. "Well did I ever tell you about coming out to her?"

"I don't think you have," Alex admitted.

"Well I figured out I was bi pretty early," Julie started. "I mean, why else would I wanna kiss both She-Ra and He-Man?"

"I was always more into Bow," Alex admitted. "Furry underwear ain't my jam."

"Well now you and Willie can coordinate for Halloween," Julie giggled.

"Tell me the story," Alex said while rolling his eyes.

"So I told my mom I liked both, and she was all 'Cool, me too, what do you want for lunch?' in that easygoing way of hers," Julie explained. "She was out and proud in the 90's, which you know, was not the easiest thing to be. But she got me all these pamphlets and was really supportive."

"That's wicked," Alex commented. "Did she she buy every piece of bi merch she could?"

"No," Julie replied. "But my dad did."

They both laughed at that, which is how the rest of their polycule found them. No one really question it-Julie and Alex were weird friends together, but they loved one another fiercely and it was good for them to laugh, no matter the reason.

"Hey," Julie said, once she finally collected herself. "WOuld you guys come with me to the cemetery? I want to give her these birthday flowers Alex got me."

Everyone was more than happy to do so, but they stood back as Julie spoke to the stone, gently laying the flowers there, pressing a kiss to the name before backing up.

Alex stood beside her, giving her a sideways hug, before pulling out a little bi flag, sticking them in with the flowers. "Figured she'd appreciate it. Or is it lame?"

"The lamest," Julie replied. "It's perfect."

#filled prompts #ficlet #the greater polyphantoms polycule #julie and the phantoms

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moonchildstyles · 2 years

Note

jealous gravity blurb?

wordcount: 6.5k+

—————

"Bye, Harry!"

(Y/N) watched as Harry tossed a wave over his shoulder before stepping off the staircase onto the second floor of the library. She just barely caught a glance of him through the stacks, but she couldn't miss that bright smile on his lips, dimples deep in his cheeks. The curve only widened when he approached their table in the back of the non-fiction mystery shelves, a cute blush coloring his cheeks when he found her already looking at him.

"Hi, flower," he greeted her, voice quiet before he bent down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

"Hi," she smiled at him, her hands folded in her lap as she waited for him to set up all of his supplies and textbooks for their study session. "Who did you come in with today?"

Harry shrugged as he pulled out his textbook. "Someone from one of m'engineering pre-req's. She was on her way here, too, so we walked together."

"Oh, okay," (Y/N) chirped, "What's her name?"

"Analyssa, I think?" he told her, settling in his spot, "She also said she's in our physics class, but I've never seen her there before."

"Wait, is it Analyssa Trevor?" (Y/N) asked with a pinch in her brow, thoughts of studying being pushed to the back of her mind for the time being.

Canting his head to the side, Harry puckered his lips in thought. "Maybe, why?"

"If it is her, she is in our physics class. I was paired up with her for one of the first labs of the semester before you and I got close, and I don't think she likes me very much." (Y/N) breathed out a laugh at the memory Analyssa's name brought up; that lab had not gone the best to say the least.

"What do you mean?" Harry already looked pouty at the idea of someone not liking his flower.

(Y/N) shrugged with a shake of her head. "It's nothing crazy, I'm just pretty sure she thinks I'm really stupid and would have killed to have a different partner. I don't blame her, anyway. I was totally lost that entire time, and had to have her help me with everything, so I get it. She just hasn't been very nice since when I see her around campus."

"Well, I don't like that," Harry murmured, his brows knitting together over the frames of his glasses. "I won't talk to her anymore if she'd being rude to you, flower."

Shaking her head, (Y/N) let out a small laugh. She reached across the table and grabbed for his hand that was prattling with his favorite highlighting pen as he bore holes into his textbook. "H, you don't have to do that, okay? It's not a big deal at all, and it was a while ago so I don't really care. If you like her and want to be her friend, you should be her friend; there's no reason to stop being nice to her just because she doesn't smile at me on campus, okay?"

"Are y'sure, flower?" Harry stressed, dropping his highlighter to lace his fingers with hers, "I thought there was a rule about this kind of stuff; I can't like the people you don't, and the other way around, and all."

(Y/N) shook her head, face creasing as her smile widened. "Some people might feel that way, but it's not a big deal for me. It's not like she tried to ruin my life or hurt me, so I don't care if you want to be her friend, H. I promise it's alright."

Though he didn't look completely eased, Harry took her word for it and gave her a short nod. Raising their joined hands, he pressed a kiss to the back of hers. "Okay," he murmured against her skin, "Jus' know you're my favorite person, okay? If it turns into a problem, please tell me and I'll stop."

Of course, he would, (Y/N) thought with a smile. But, she wasn't going to tell him who he could and couldn't be friends with. Besides, she couldn't see any reason she would ever have to set some rule like that. Analyssa probably barely remembered her, just that lingering yuck feeling she had when she saw (Y/N).

It's not going to be a problem.

—————

"Hold on, I need to answer this," Harry murmured, standing up from where he was cuddling (Y/N) on his couch, a furrow in his brow as he looked at his ringing phone.

"Okay," (Y/N) chirped, huddling herself in the corner cushion before he started down the hall.

Her eyes followed him as he pressed his phone to his ear. "Hey Ana, what's up?" he muttered as he went down the hall, the sound of his bedroom door creaking behind him as he went somewhere quiet.

(Y/N) couldn't help the sour look that plucked at her features. This was the fourth time in only the last few days that she'd called him asking about something or other. From what she gathered, Analyssa only seemed to call him when Harry was with her, whether they were out on an actual date or playing around at one of their apartments. She even called when they were in the middle of something! Harry had to decline the call twice before she texted him instead.

While she still had no problem with Ana being Harry's friend, she was beginning to get a little annoyed. Not at Harry of course—he was only being a good friend, picking up the phone when someone needed him—but at Analyssa. She couldn't even text him first to see if it was a good time to call before she had his phone buzzing?

Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) wrapped her arms around herself as she tried not to eavesdrop on the muffled conversation filtering through the crack Harry left in his door. She was sure if she bothered to tune in, she would hear engineering jargon she had no business ever understanding, and the sound of Harry's quiet laughter as Analyssa no doubt shared an inside joke with him about some neuron or particle exelerator or whatever goes on in those engineering courses.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes at herself as she caught herself allowing inky jealousy to creep into her mind. Rationally, she knew there was no reason for her to be jealous, especially recalling the conversation they had a couple of weeks ago with Harry basically offering to cut Analyssa out of his life for her. It was just something about the way Analyssa was going about this friendship that was beginning to rub (Y/N) the wrong way. All the relentless calling was just the beginning of the constant texts that came through and the fact she had to walk with him between any class they had together, including physics, though (Y/N) was never early enough to spot them.

And maybe, just maybe, there was something that bothered (Y/N) about the fact they had inside jokes and a bond over subjects (Y/N) could only hope to somewhat understand someday. While she was happy for Harry in some respects; she knew she wasn't the best sounding board when he went off about some of his projects for other classes or research papers he was interested in, so she was happy he had someone now that could indulge him in those conversations and spur him on in those aspects. But, along with that, she now had to see Harry grow closer to someone who was just as invested in his passions. And it just had to be someone (Y/N) didn't have a stellar history with.

The sound of Harry's voice sending out his goodbyes to Ana knocked (Y/N) out of her head, forcing herself to focus on the film that was playing on the television so it didn't look like she was moping the whole time he was gone. By the time Harry reentered the living room, he had run his hand through his hair a handful of times leaving the curls a mess on his head and he had rubbed the sleep from his eyes that had him dozing off as he laid with his head on her chest.

"Everything okay?" (Y/N) asked as she welcomed him back with open arms.

A slow smile spread across his face as he climbed back on the couch, crowding around her until she stretched out with her legs lining the length of the couch and Harry fitting himself between. With his head cushioned by the soft of her tummy, Harry wrapped his arms around (Y/N)'s middle. "Yeah, Ana jus' had some questions about the research project we have due in Phillips' class this week."

"Oh," (Y/N) sounded, nodding her head as she began running her fingers through his hair, detangling the ringlets, "And—uh—what was the project about again?"

This was something else she found herself doing now that Analyssa was nudging herself into the picture: trying to make sense of his far-above-her-paygrade projects and courses.

She could feel the sweet smile that spread across his face with the way his cheek smushed into her tummy. "Don't worry about it, flower, 's not that fun even for me to do."

Swallowing, she pinched her lips as she tried to find another way to crack at him. "Do you want to talk about it at all? What you're doing for the project, anyway? I always complain about my English classes, so..."

Harry delivered a squeeze of his arms around her waist in a quiet hug before he shook his head. "It's really alright, love. 'S jus' a bunch of boring reference checks and journal stuff, nothing exciting. Ana picked a much better subject than I did, but one of the rules was that we all had to do different subjects with no repeats, otherwise I would have stolen hers."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the mention of Ana, (Y/N) only nodded her head and continued playing with Harry's hair. "Okay," she sighed, "Let me know if you change your mind."

"I will, flower, thank you," he said, craning his neck to press a kiss to the bare of her hip that was revealed by her rucked up shirt. "So what did I miss of the movie?"

—————

With much effort required and a skipped coffee and snack trip before class, (Y/N) got to the physics hall before Harry. Trudging up the stairs and not seeing him up there waiting for her in their predetermined seats threw her off immediately. But, there was a method to her madness—though the longer (Y/N) went without the warmth of a chai in her hand, though, the method was beginning to lose its sparkle—, she wanted to see Analyssa walking in with Harry.

It wasn't like she was expecting to catch them in the act—Harry would never—but she wanted to see how Analyssa behaved around him. Better than anyone, (Y/N) knew what it was like to fall under Harry's charmingly cute, shy spell, so she wouldn't be surprised if Ana fell victim to it as well. At least that would explain the phone call she made to him last night that had him standing in his bedroom for twenty minutes while their pizza grew cold.

Only a few others were in the lecture hall with her as she took out her laptop and other supplies in wait of Harry's arrival, leaving the space quiet enough to hear the chatter from the hallway. Once he was close enough, (Y/N) pinged up at the sound of Harry's muffled tone making an appearance over the residual chatter.

Her gaze was pinned to the doorway as she anticipated him walking through the heavy double doors. The first glimpse of his hand had (Y/N) sitting up straight in her spot until she realized he was holding the door open for Analyssa, her long black hair shining in the light as she shook her head in laughter at whatever Harry had said. Her wire framed glasses fit snug on the slope of her nose with her lips painted over with a coffee colored gloss that accentuated the curve of her smile. Her book bag hung over her shoulder, the mass of which nudged at Harry's side as he came through to fall in line beside her. (Y/N) watched as Analyssa flipped her hair over her shoulder before nudging at Harry with her fist, her fingers tugging at the material of his knitted sweater as he shook his head with his own smile on his face.

All that stopped as soon as Analyssa spotted (Y/N) up the staircase. Suddenly, she went reserved, pulling back from Harry as her expression flattened. From his profile, (Y/N) caught the way his brows furrowed and a question hovered over his pursed lips until he followed her gaze to see his girlfriend patiently waiting for him. In the polar opposite to Analyssa, Harry's face brightened at the sight of (Y/N); dimples denting his cheeks with a bunny-toothed grin molding his features and creasing his eyes.

(Y/N) gave him a soft wave with which Harry reciprocated with a flash of his navy blue nails that matched his sweater. While Harry stepped in the direction of the staircase, he murmured something to Analyssa over his shoulder. Jerking his thumb in (Y/N)'s direction, Analyssa only shook her head with a pleasant smile on her face, nodding her head towards the other end of the room.

With that, Harry gave her a short nod before waving a goodbye to her, most likely with a promise to talk to her later. Splitting off in opposite directions, Harry scaled the staircase to the back of the auditorium where (Y/N) sat while Analyssa only spared them a half glance before she was going to her own seat.

"Hi, flower," he greeted her quietly, ducking his head and pressing a kiss to her cheek, "You're here early."

"Yeah, wanted to surprise you," she smiled, only half-lying, "I've missed you."

"We've been together almost everyday, love, what do you mean?" Harry teased her, settling in his spot beside her before reaching for his plethora of notebooks and utensils.

It was true. With midterms approaching, she and Harry had spent majority of their time together trying to study and do other things before they were too busy with their class blocks and exhausted from all the brain power to see one another for a couple of weeks. Still, it seemed Analyssa was monopolizing that time as best she could without being present.

"I know. I just feel like we haven't been able to talk a lot since you've been helping out with other people's projects and all. Only wanted to see you a little extra today," (Y/N) sighed, hoping she didn't sound as jealous as she felt in her head.

"Flower," Harry cooed, twisting his features into he same expression he had when one of the sad animal commercials played on T.V. "I'm sorry, you know I don't mean to not pay attention to you, right?" he asked, reaching out and grabbing for her hand that was sat in her lap.

"I know, I know. You're being a good friend, I get it." Really, she did, she just didn't understand why Analyssa had to do the things she did in the first place.

"I promise, this weekend, after everything for Phillips' class is all turned in, you're going to have all of m'attention. Doesn't matter how many times she calls, 'm all yours. No exceptions." To drive his point home, Harry pressed his lips against hers in a telling kiss. Just a peek of his tongue was felt against her lips before he was pulling back, aware of the slowly filling lecture hall around them.

"Okay," she sighed with a dream in her tone, more than happy with his answer and commitment. Besides, who knows? Maybe Analyssa really wanted to do well on this project and would back off after it was turned in and she could no longer edit or consult with Harry. Still, a doubt lingered in the back of her mind when she recalled the way Analyssa's face dropped when she caught sight of (Y/N) in the back of the room.

With Harry's attention diverted back to his utensils, his current task at hand being the organization of all of his highlighters and pens, (Y/N) rolled around the best way to ask her next question. Of course, Harry noticed the way her eyes lingered over his profile and she'd grown a little too quiet, especially since she had supposedly shown up to class early just to see him.

"What's going on in that head of yours, flower? I can almost hear y'thinking," Harry teased, coordinating his highlighters by color and size before he was happy with the arrangement.

"Nothing, nothing," she rushed out, internally cringing at the way she deflected in the most obvious way, "I mean... I was wondering if something happened when you and Analyssa came in. She looked upset all of the sudden when she looked up here."

Harry's brow furrowed at her avenue of conversation. "I noticed that, too," he murmured, aware of the fact Analyssa was in the same room despite being on the other side, "I asked her if she wanted to come up and say hi, and she said no and almost ran to her spot to set up."

(Y/N) fought to school her expression. None of this evidence was favoring Analyssa the more Harry shared. If (Y/N) really felt like torturing herself, she would let herself run down the more than likely possibility that this was going further than Analyssa needing help in a shared class and moving into the territory of the girl having a crush on Harry and hating that he had a girlfriend, especially one that she considered to be less than.

Instead, (Y/N) tried to laugh it off, huffing out a breath that lacked humor. "I knew she didn't care for me, but she really doesn't like me."

Harry deflated at her words. "(Y/N), I'm sorry, if y'don—"

"H, no," she cut him off, shaking her head before he even finished, "I want you to be friends with whoever makes you happy. If she doesn't like me, that's fine. As long as she doesn't convince you I'm some crazy bitch or something, I don't care what she thinks of me. As long as she's a good friend to you, it's none of my business."

With his green eyes wide and rounded out, he looked to her with a short smile on his lips. "You know I love you the most, right? No one could convince me that you're anything less than wonderful."

"I know, and I trust you, Harry. If something bothered you, I know you would tell me," (Y/N) gentled her tone, slipping a sweet smile on her face as she spoke, "I love you, more."

"I don't know, love, I think I love you mo—"

"We are not doing this in the middle of class. We are not going to be those people," (Y/N) cut him off with a laugh. Settling with a kiss pressed to his cheek, (Y/N) decided she won that argument.

With flushed cheeks, Harry relented with a quiet okay just before Stanfill exited his office and into the lecture hall.

—————

"Naomi, you know I don't care that you brought a bunny home, but I'm telling you that the leasing office is going to find out and kick us out if it keeps thumping and bothering the neighbors."

(Y/N) sighed into her phone as she made her way through the hallway to Stanfill's room. She was running late as is, and this conversation was slowing her down.

"I know, I know," Naomi bubbled off, (Y/N) able to see the fluff of her blonde shag fluttering around her face without having to see her, "But all the bunny blogs I've checked said that when they thump it means they're scared, and I don't want to scare Cheese anymore by running after her."

"Ny, I thought we agreed that we can't name her since she needs to go back outside when her foot is healed."

"But, (Y/N)..."

She already knew what her roommate was going to say the second she started that. And Naomi wasn't wrong; the bunny was very cute and (Y/N) was getting attached to having a little rabbit pad into to the kitchen when they were chopping up vegetables for dinner.

"I know," (Y/N) sighed, seeing Stanfill's door approach, "I'm about to go to class, but I'll call you after. I'll ask Harry if he has any ideas to get her to calm down."

"Alright, thanks for talking to him. It's like he knows everything," Naomi said, (Y/N) not needing to see her to know she was shaking her head, "But I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

(Y/N) hung up just before she walked through the heavy double doors. Her head was down as she slid her phone into her back pocket, thoughts of her almost-pet bunny on her mind. They really couldn't keep her; not only could they not afford the lifestyle of an indoor bunny, but they would eventually have to find a pet friendly apartment, which would be even more expensive and who knows how they feel about bu—

Why is Analyssa sitting in her spot?

As soon as (Y/N) spotted the black flick of hair and wire-frame glasses, she knew she had no chance of schooling her features into staying neutral. With her eyes wide, she watched as Analyssa had her hand draped over Harry's shoulder, telling him something despite the obvious discomfort on his face. His cheeks pinkened as soon as he caught sight of (Y/N), his expression going apologetic as he tried to shrug out of Analyssa's grip without making a scene. Analyssa followed his line of sight, her entire expression dropping into something much more sour the second she realized it was (Y/N).

In a split second, (Y/N) did her best to nuetralize her features and resumed her steps up the stairs. Giving their new seatmate a pleasant smile, she greeted Ana with a quiet Hello, before she rounded the desk to Harry's other side. As expected, Analyssa didn't bother to reciprocate her greeting as she just barely managed to intwist the sneer from her lips by the time (Y/N) was close enough.

"Hi, H," (Y/N) murmured, dropping her bag to sit next to Harry on his opposing side. Only a flick of Analyssa's black hair was seen over the barrier of Harry's body.

"Hi," he whispered, sounding much-too-guilty for someone who did nothing wrong. With his voice quiet enough for only her to hear, Harry ducked down to hover his lips by her ear, "I'm sorry, (Y/N). I told her that I was saving that seat for you and she didn't listen, and I—I don't know, I got too nervous to tell her to mo—"

Settling her hand on his shoulder, (Y/N) cut him off with a quiet squeeze. "It's okay, I'm not mad. I'm a little annoyed maybe, but I know it's not your fault. Don't worry, okay?"

Harry didn't seem even slightly convinced, but with Stanfill setting up his ancient projector at the front of the room, there wasn't much room to argue. In his act of solidarity, Harry made a quiet movement to scoot his chair closer to hers before settling his hand on her thigh. Peering down the line, (Y/N) caught the way Analyssa didn't seem too impressed with the gap Harry created between their seats, but didn't do anything to change it before Professor Stanfill's monotone voice filled the lecture hall.

The ever-dutiful physics expert, Harry was quick to start jotting down notes as soon as the subject for the day was introduced. Though her laptop was still getting fired up, (Y/N) didn't worry as she knew she could still look off Harry's page if it came down to it, especially with the way he angled his page just right so she got the perfect view of his blocky writing.

But, as much as (Y/N) wanted to distract herself with whatever subject Stanfill planned on torturing her with for the next hour, there was something even more unpleasant that just wouldn't leave her mind.

Last Friday had been the due date of that project Analyssa had been so adamant about getting Harry's help on, and after a weekend free of any phone calls (though she definitely did still text), (Y/N) had assumed the worst of it was done. Analyssa didn't have an excuse to seek him out all the time. She never would have expected Analyssa to make a move this bold and steal the spot next to Harry that she knew was always reserved for her. She wasn't even trying to hide it anymore—her crush on Harry or her distain for (Y/N).

As much as (Y/N) didn't want to be that girlfriend, she had a feeling she was going to have to have a talk with Harry about his friend. She wouldn't be surprised if Harry hadn't picked up the fact that Analyssa was trying to make a move on him, but that didn't mean (Y/N) hadn't noticed. At the very least some boundaries needed to be made.

—————

"All assessments much be turned in by the end of the week, no excuses or exceptions. Class is dismissed."

(Y/N) had never been more relieved to hear those three words, Stanfill's voice bringing joy for the first time. Not a single word of lecture had penetrated her brain, keeping her muddled in her fuming thoughts the longer she had to stew in them. She couldn't help but steal a glance down at Analyssa every few minutes, always catching her dutifully paying attention to the front of the room, which only served to annoy (Y/N) more for some reason. She had effectively ruined (Y/N)'s afternoon and she didn't even care to look smug? Look annoyed that (Y/N) had shown up and taken Harry's other side? Look like she had feelings at all?

Stopping herself before she went further down a childish spiral, (Y/N) focussed on packing up all her things. A barren page of notes lit up her laptop screen, even with the help of Harry's angled notes. She'd just have to grab them later when she had more room in her brain to process anything but annoyance.

Just as she slung her bag over her shoulder, Harry stopped her with a nervous pinch to his features. "I—uh—I need to talk to Stanfill about that extra assignment I wanted to do. Will y'wait for me? I think we need to talk a little before y'go home."

"I do, too," (Y/N) sighed, aware of Analyssa's presence as she slowly packed up behind Harry, "I'll wait for you in the hall, okay?"

"Okay," Harry affirmed, eyes not meeting hers as the slope of his shoulders declined.

Rising to the tips of her toes, (Y/N) pressed a kiss to Harry's cheek, feeling the dent of his dimple rise to his skin the longer she lingered. "Make it quick. I miss you already."

(Y/N) knew it was cheesy, the way she sent him off, but she didn't care. She couldn't care when she saw him get blushy with a small smile on his face as he nodded at her. She just wanted him to know that she wasn't upset with him, and there was nothing detrimental about the talk they needed to have.

By the time Harry had his hand laced in hers as they scaled the stairs, Analyssa had gone; only a flash of her black hair could be seen as she exited through the double doors. Breaking off, Harry started towards Stanfill's office with a promise to be right back while (Y/N) nodded her head, already slipping out her phone so she could call her roommate back while she waited on Harry.

The corridor was quiet as (Y/N) exited the lecture hall, finding a bench adjacent to Stanfill's room that she made her home for the next few minutes at least. Pulling up Naomi's contact, (Y/N) found herself happy to have the distraction of something as easy to deal with as an unruly rabbit in her apartment as opposed to what filled the last hour of her life.

Just as she went to press the dial button, (Y/N) spotted Analyssa lingering a little too close to Stanfill's door to be considered a coincidence. It wouldn't be a surprise if she had overheard Harry talk about staying back for a minute, and now she was planning on getting a minute with him before he was busy with his actual girlfriend. In the same moment, Analyssa seems to notice (Y/N) waiting on her bench, a bitter expression pinching her brows before she openly rolled her eyes and turned away with a flick of her hair.

Oh? So, that's how its going to be?

In a flare of anger, (Y/N) slipped her phone into her pocket before she blasted off with pure adrenaline and called out to Analyssa. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

It was automatic the way she responded without turning: "I'm busy."

"Okay, well this shouldn't take too long," (Y/N) told her, rising from her spot on the bench and joining Analyssa by the double doors.

"What do you want, then?" Analyssa snarked, turning on her heel to face (Y/N).

Sighing, (Y/N) did everything she could to not lose the gumption she had grown at the sight of Analyssa's eyeroll. "I just want to know why you have such a problem with me."

Analyssa's eyes turned hard at (Y/N)'s words, the gleam in the brown color matching the edge to her tone. "You know why."

"If it's about that project, I'm sorry, okay?" (Y/N) exasperated, tugging harshly on the strap to her bag, "I didn't realize it was such a big deal to you, especially since I know you talked to Stanfill after and told him I didn't do any of the work so my grade was lowered. I tried my best, and I'm sorry you got stuck with me."

(Y/N) watched as Analyssa's features switched, looking moments way from laughing out loud. "You really think it's over that?"

"I don't know what else it could be, b—"

"You use him! That's why!"

Stunned by the outburst, (Y/N) took a step back. "Excuse me?"

"Everyone knows you're using Harry to get a good grade. Everyone sees you copying off his notes all the time, and I know he made you a study packet one time. It's not hard to put together why you suddenly wanted to fuck him after ignoring him for months."

(Y/N) was speechless as she watched the way a fire burned behind Analyssa's eyes and her tone spit venom at her feet. When she stood up, (Y/N) had been completely prepared to spar with Analyssa about the stupid lab, assuming that had been what had stemmed all this dislike, but she had not ever considered something like this would leave her mouth.

Sure, it wasn't not like they had ever tried to make it a secret that (Y/N) took notes off of Harry's pages or that they had grown close after setting up those tutoring sessions, but there was no place in her mind that she fathomed it would translate into her using him for a grade. And, (Y/N) wanted to point out, she didn't ignore Harry for those months, she was just trying not to drop dead out of boredom every time she set foot into the lecture hall.

"Analyssa, you know that's not true. I can't believe you would ever even sa—"

"Please," she cut her off, "I know how useless you are with this class, (Y/N); you told me how much you hated physics and had no reason to be taking it after your roommate dropped it. But suddenly, Harry's following you around like a puppy, going to parties, skipping class to go hang out with you, I'm sure, and you're now passing with a B? Everyone knows what that means."

"Yes, Harry helped me, but I worked hard for that grad—"

"Sure," Analyssa spat, continuing the trend of cutting (Y/N) off with her superior tone, "Because you completely understand every unit we go over, right? You understand what kind of degree Harry's working towards and the kind of job he wants to go after after he graduates, right?"

Now, (Y/N) just felt embarrassed. She had been the one to start this confrontation and now she was getting degraded in the middle of the hallway, her intelligence called into a ruthless line of question.

Of course, she didn't understand every unit in their physics course. If she did, she would be doing a lot better then the high C average she had managed (though she wasn't going to correct Analyssa on the B judgment she had given her). If she understood exactly what field Harry wanted to go into with his degree, she'd probably switch her major the second he told her the salary he could make. If she understood any of that, maybe she wouldn't feel like crumbling in the middle of the corridor. Karma, she figured—don't start an argument you can't finish.

"See?" Analyssa continued, "It's not fair to Harry, what you're doing do him. He deserves someone who can actually hold a conversation with him about more than reality TV and magaz—"

"Analyssa?"

(Y/N) perked up at the sound of Harry's voice just before she deflated again, knowing he had to have heard at least the tail end of what Analyssa had to say about (Y/N)'s intelligence.

"Harry!" she chirped, faint color filling her cheeks as she realized she had been caught, "I thought you were still inside, sorry—"

"No. What were you just saying?" Harry's tone was hard, edged in a way (Y/N) had never heard before.

Analyssa floundered as she tried to come up with an explanation. "(Y/N) and I—We were just..."

When nothing followed what she had to say, Harry gave a slow nod of his head. Disappointment flooded his features as he moved around Analyssa's stock-still form. As soon as he was close enough, he wrapped his arm around (Y/N)'s waist, tugging her to his side though he didn't once pull his gaze from the dark-haired girl.

"(Y/N) is jus' as smart as you and I. Don't ever talk to her like that," he told her, voice quiet but stern and uncompromising, "She's a better person than you will ever be, even if you pass this class with a higher grade, only because I know she would never talk to you like that. Even though you would deserve it."

Watching the way Analyssa's body completely deflated, her eyes going dark, (Y/N) almost felt for her. She knew she would be heartbroken if Harry had so outrightly rejected her, but (Y/N) also never would have acted the way she did.

"Harry, c—"

With a shake of his head, Harry cut her off. "I don't want you trying to sit with us again, and I don't want to talk to you, anymore. I'm not interested."

That was all Harry had to say before he had his arm tight around (Y/N)'s waist, leading her away.

The walk to her car was silent, save for a pair of times Harry had to keep (Y/N) from running into someone or going the wrong direction with the way she had her eyes pinned to the floor. Each time he whispered for her to be careful with his arm around her waist before he righted her. By the time her car came into view, she has expected him to do as he usually did: open the door for her before he sat in the passenger seat and passed the time with her before he had to go to his next class. Instead, Harry pulled her to the back set of doors. He climbed in first, dropping his bag to the front seat before he tugged (Y/N) in to follow him, her own supplies joining the heap.

"C'mere," he cooed, wrapping his arms around her in a sealing hug that settled her bones in a way that made her feel like she was coming home.

Tucking her face in his neck, (Y/N) took in deep breaths of his scent, surrounding herself with everything Harry in an attempt to calm herself from the rush of tears that clogged her throat. There was no reason to cry, she told herself, Analyssa is a bitch but that's no reason to cry on Harry's sweater and exhaust herself before she went home to deal with Naomi and the bunny.

"'S alright, flower, 's alright," Harry crooned, running his hand down her back in a soothing circuit. "You know nothing she said was true, right? You're the smartest person I know, and she's a bitch for telling you otherwise."

That managed to get a tiny smile cracking (Y/N)'s features; she'd never heard him talk like that before, but now was as good a time as any she figured. Nonetheless, the pure faith she heard in his voice as he told her that she was the smartest person he knew was enough to keep tears flooding to her eyes. She definitely didn't feel very smart right then, but it was nice knowing that Harry held that conviction for her intelligence.

"I started it," (Y/N) peeped against his neck, "I talked to her first, and I shouldn't have."

Harry sighed, his chest puffing against hers as she kept her cradled to him. "Probably not, but I understand why y'did. She pushed too far today."

"I asked her what her problem was with me, and I assumed it was because of that lab from forever ago, but she looked at me like I was stupid when I brought that up," she laughed humorlessly, voice going nasally, "She started going off about how everyone knows I'm using you to pass physics, and that you do everything for me, pretty much."

Though his hands on her stayed gentle, (Y/N) could feel the way Harry's body tensed and his corded muscles began to wind tightly over his body.

"You work hard for your grade, (Y/N), and I couldn't be more proud of you, you know that?" he cemented, his tone deep and grumbling as she figured he was trying to quell his own anger over the frustration in favor of comforting her.

"Thank you," she peeped, a small smile molding her features at his words, "I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn't let me speak. She just kept going off about how its not fair to you that I don't understand all of your engineering and physics stuff. I think she was in the middle of telling me I was too stupid to be with you when you came out."

"Yeah, I think I caught that part," Harry grumbled, his hand over her back stuttering as he held her close to his chest. "But, you know that's not true, right, (Y/N)?"

"I think so." She wished she could offer more conviction, but now wasn't her most confident moment.

"No, no," Harry shook his head, his neck stretching under her lips, "You know so. Y'trust me, right?"

"Of course I do," (Y/N) blurted out, no second-thoughts or hesitation.

"Then, I need you to believe me when I say that you are more than smart enough for me, and I'm lucky that you want to spend time with me. We don't have to have the same interests, or hobbies, or majors to be in love. I love you the way you are, and I know you love me the way I am. That's enough."

"I know," she whispered, voice wavering as the lump in her throat grew larger as tears spilled over her waterline.

"Don't let her bother you, (Y/N). She doesn't mean anything to us." Harry's strong arms only rivaled the strong conviction in his voice, and (Y/N) had never felt safer than in that moment.

"I love you," she breathed out, trying her best to keep her breathing in check before sobs took over. He was right, Analyssa didn't deserve to live in her head over this, so she would be granted only one good cry, then this situation was over.

"I love you, too, m'smart girl. So, so much."

(Y/N) didn't know how long they spent cuddling in the back of her car, only noting the way her eyes felt heavy by the time she finally stopped crying. When she glanced at the clock on her dashboard, she made a move to pull away form his chest.

"Hey, where are y'going? 'M warm," Harry complained, never lessening his hold on her.

"Your next class starts in five minutes," she explained, reluctantly falling back against his chest, "You need to go if you want to make it."

"'M not going today," he told her simply.

"Really?" (Y/N) breathed, not realizing just how relieving it was that he wouldn't be leaving her for the afternoon.

"Really," he affirmed, pulsing his arms around her, "Barely even want to go to m'car so I can follow you to your place, but I guess sacrifices must be made if I want to cuddle you properly in bed."

For a split second, (Y/N) recalled the way Analyssa spit out the fact Harry had started to skip a class here and there to hang out with her. But as soon as the thought came, (Y/N) crumpled it into a ball and pushed it out of her mind. There was no space for her in their relationship.

Even though she wanted Harry, (Y/N) was the one that had him and that wasn't going to be changing anytime soon.

—————

eeepp first gravity blurb to be seeing tumblr im so excited! thank u sm for reading and sorry for any mistakes! if you have any ideas or requests of your own please send them in:)

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