#pencils shavings and shared smiles

[gravedigginbbydoll]

pencil shavings and shared smiles {pt.2}

Fem! Teacher Reader x Teacher! Eddie

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AN: I’m honestly so grateful to find people who enjoy my writing :) This started as a bit of fun aside from my current WIP that I’m DETERMINED to not immediately trash, so I wanted to practice some writing on the side, and hey, it’s been a while since I’ve done fanfiction (like, over 6 years…. I think my last fanfic was at age 16! I'm now 23.) so I figured why not? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next bit (I’ll be honest, I was struggling with it, but the next chapters will be better, I swear!) I don’t have an exact plan for how many parts this will be, but I’m excited to see where it’s headed! 

WARNINGS AND CONTENT:  Minors DNI!!!, Noncanon, Hawkins AU, Normal Hawkins, Rumors about Eddie, Eventual Smut, Very fluffy, Outcasts and Bullying, Mentions of Loneliness, Flirting, Fem!Reader, use of Y/N, older! Eddie, short-haired Eddie, 1995/1996 Hawkins, F! Reader has a dark past, angst.

Summary: You settle into Hawkins, looking for a way to spruce up your place, and bump into a familiar face. You maybe even meet some new friends. Things are looking up. 

The next few days following your encounter with Eddie, you throw yourself into trying to get settled in and getting to know the town. You had been there for a few days before coming to the school but still had boxes piled high and needed some items. 

You focused on moving all the boxes into their designated spaces. But then, you realized you didn’t have much when it came down to it. You had work clothes, plates and bowls, cutlery, basic toiletries, cleaning supplies, and three makeup items. 

In your rush to leave the city, you left so much behind you hadn’t realized. As a result, your apartment looks abandoned in its barren state, and the hideous peeling pink floral wallpaper from the 70s makes your skin crawl. 

That’s what led you to this moment. A shopping spree throughout Hawkins. You’re determined to make the “blink, and you miss it” town feel cozy and like home. It is home now, after all. Though you may need a blanket to cover the ugly cracked green leather couch that came with the place. 

You’re piling up blankets, knick-knacks, and even plants to busy the place. By the time you get to the antique store, you’re sure you’ve burned a hole in your savings. You look around, admiring old furniture with history you wish you knew. You see a large wooden bookshelf, probably older than you, and bite your lip, picturing the perfect reading nook in your large window, a chair with too many pillows, and a table to set your favorite cup of coffee on. You did just buy some new mugs, after all. 

In your daydreaming, you barely notice the presence creeping toward you. 

“As lovely as that little vintage piece is, I heard it’s haunted.” 

You jump a bit, startled by the sudden speaking. When you turn, you feel that familiar creeping of heat across your skin, your stomach twists with nerves while your heart thumps a loud, steady beat. Eddie. He’s wearing a super distressed band shirt with the sleeves cut off, his slightly muscular inked biceps on display. Your thighs tighten at the display, and you mentally scold yourself. 

Now is not the time! Get a hold of yourself.

His brown eyes twinkle with mischief as he tilts his head at you, sticking his thumbs in his jeans pockets. You are instantly reminded of a puppy and feel your insides practically melt. Your heart is thumping embarrassingly loud. You hope to god the cute metalhead in front of you doesn’t somehow have super senses. 

“You redecorating?” 

You shrug, a shy smile gracing your lips. “You could say that, I guess.”

He nods and looks back at the bookcase with intrigue. His expression is thoughtful yet almost solemn as he speaks softly, his words barely reaching you. “Seriously though, that bookcase is bad luck. Belonged to a notorious killer. Henry Creel. Killed his whole family when he was like 9.” 

You feel a chill go up your spine, the sense of fear deep in your belly. But, of course, you knew the old trope of sleepy towns never really being sleepy. Still, the last thing you would’ve guessed to happen in Hawkins was premeditated murder. You peek over at Eddie, who looks at you; his eyes are almost sorrowful as he rubs your shoulder comfortingly. You feel an electric current shoot through you at his touch, and goosebumps shoot up your neck. A flutter in your stomach reminds you that you are far too emotional about this man, despite barely knowing him. 

“Sorry,” He rasps. “I sometimes ramble and forget what I’m saying. I didn’t mean to spook you. It was ages ago. He’s in jail now.” He pulls away his warm touch, and you almost find yourself leaning back for more. 

You shake your head. “It’s fine. Everyone has skeletons in the closet, don’t they?” You remark jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. 

Eddie’s eyes don’t sparkle as they usually do, and he looks a bit more guarded as he smiles softly. “Yeah.” 

You feel a tug at your heart and remember the encounter between the grouchy bookstore owner and Eddie. It’s clear he has a past, but you won’t bring it up. After all, you’re the last person who should be digging through someone’s history. 

“Hey, so a few friends and I are headed to a bar called The Hideout; tonight to bid adieu to summer. I was just wondering…if you’d like to join?” Eddie says shyly, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks flush. “Of course, I understand if not; I just figured since you’re new here, it may help you get more acclimated and maybe even meet some people-” 

You cut off his rambling with a hand, your lips fighting the urge to smile so vast your jaw may break. “Eddie, I’d love to. What time?” 

He grins, his signature dimples appearing and making your stomach flutter. “Great. Around 7 pm tonight. First drink on me.” 

You feel your cheeks heat once again as you nod, tucking some hair behind your ear. “Can’t wait.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later on in the evening, you are stressed and pacing. You remember dancing and singing to calm anxiety as a young teen and get the bright idea to turn on the radio to your favorite rock station. 

Now, you're dancing around your living room as You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette plays on your radio. You’re dressed in a black slip dress, the satin fabric accentuating your figure. Maybe you’re dressed a little too nice for a bar. Who cares? Dr. Martens on your feet create a more casual look but also possibly causes a noise complaint from your neighbors as you stomp and sing, applying makeup. 

“AND I’M HERE! TO REMIND YOU! OF THE MESS YOU LEFT WHEN YOU WENT AWAY!” 

You scream into your hairbrush, jumping around. 

The singing calms your nerves a bit, and by the end of the song, you’re panting and thinking maybe you should try to hit the gym more. 

You glance at the clock and realize the time is flashing a red and angry 7:30 pm. 

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” You scramble, tripping over your feet, quickly putting on earrings and a choker, trying to rush out the door. 

Fucking Alanis Morissette. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You arrive at the bar, hoping to pass off as fashionably late. You look around before spotting Eddie, his back to you in a well-loved leather jacket. He’s at a booth with some friends, a dark stout in his hand. 

You tremble slightly as you walk over, your body thrumming with nervousness, and tap him on the shoulder. He turns, lighting up the minute he sees you. “Hey! You made it! Come on and sit down.” 

You feel embarrassment sink into your skin, hands nervously fiddling as you sit beside him. He introduces the rest of the table, practically making your head spin. There’s Nancy, a petite and beautiful brunette who works as a Chief Editor for the local paper. Steve, a handsome man with an impressive head of hair, works as a coach at Hawkins Middle and High Schools. Robin a talkative and nervous blonde who works as a band teacher at Hawkins High. According to Eddie, this wasn’t everyone in their circle, just the ones he could fit in a booth. You laugh, nerves wracking your stomach as you hope to make a good impression. 

A few minutes in, you’re laughing and practically snorting at a story Steve is telling about Eddie accidentally flashing everyone in a Romeo and Juliet drama production, where he insisted to the drama teacher that they swap the actors and actresses. Eddie had been playing a side character, a plain maiden, when he tripped over his dress and - “Absolutely ate shit! He landed with his head between his legs, and everyone could see his Garfield boxers!” 

You can’t stop laughing at the image of a smaller and younger Eddie, his loud personality causing so much chaos on the stage. You were glad he had gone to buy your drink, seeing as you had laughed so hard you were sure tears had fallen from your eyes. You wiped your eyes and sighed, taking a breath in. 

Eddie returned at that exact moment with your drink, settling it down while playfully glaring at Steve. “Harrington, you better not be talking shit.” 

Steve flicks a paper straw wrapper at Eddie and scoffs. “Can it, Munson. I could kick your ass any day.” 

Eddie immediately leaps into action and pulls Steve into a headlock, tousling his hair while laughing. Steve yells, trying to fight off the taller man and protect his hair. Robin laughs and rolls her eyes while Nancy softly smiles, shaking her head. 

“Knock it off, you two. You’re letting on that you’re both children way too early. I need new friends,” Robin whines, covering her face in embarrassment. 

You feel sheepish, smiling. You’re not used to the attention. Not this much, anyway. But you’re having fun. Eddie’s friends are vibrant, loud, and the most genuine people you’ve ever met. 

Eddie lets Steve go, Steve grumbling about his hair and sitting back next to Robin, who smirks at him while she messes his hair up even more. Eddie then takes his spot next to you, sliding in, and due to the small booth, your thighs touch. You can’t help but feel warmth creeping across your insides from the alcohol and Eddie’s clothed leg pressing against yours, which is bare. You ignore the heat pooling between your thighs at the contact and the ever-so-sinful thoughts about his ringed and masculine hands. 

Eddie leans over to you, his blinding grin causing your stomach to join in on the anatomy shuffle currently happening in your body, fluttering to the point that you think you may have swallowed a bird. 

“Sorry if we’re a bit much. But, now you’ll have a few familiar faces, right?” 

You nod, smiling softly. “Yeah. Thanks, Eddie.” 

He nods, and you almost swear you see his eyes dart toward your lips before he turns back towards the group, all arguing about what the next movie night should be. You feel your heart skip a beat. You can’t help but be grateful for this introduction and even the awkwardness it brought. You now felt a little less of a stranger in Hawkins. A sense of relief rushes through you. Maybe, things won’t have to be so lonely. 

Eddie interrupts your thoughts once more when he leans over towards you. You almost feel drunk on the scent of tobacco, vanilla, rum, and something spicy like cloves and cinnamon. Your thighs tighten, and you curse your brain for instantly thinking dirty thoughts. You’re in no state to have a physical or romantic relationship. Your throat tightens as you push down the ideas and look at Eddie. 

“Hey, so we're goin' to hang out at the Palace Arcade. It’s usually super packed, but tonight they’re having a party there, so no one under 21. You wanna join?” His eyes sparkle with mischief and something you may be misreading as hope. 

You bite your lip, thinking that maybe you’re too deep and should head to the comfort and quiet of home. You haven’t been to an arcade in years. Much less a party. Sour memories threaten to come up, but you push them down and set your resolve. You are just a woman in her mid-twenties trying to have fun. You deserve that, at least. Even if it’s really a lie. 

You smile at Eddie, nodding. “Sure, I’ll tag along. I haven’t been to an arcade in years.” 

Eddie grins, his dimples flashing. “Great. You can meet the band.” 

You perk up, looking at Eddie quizzically. “Band?”

He nods but puts his finger to his lips and winks, signifying it’s a secret. You furrow your brows and feel your stomach flutter as the ever prominent question wracks your brain again. 

Who the hell is this man?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

taglist: @bebe07011 @corrodedcoffincumslut @kurdtbean @nerdflash

[mewhenimanangel]

everywhere ʚɞ miles morales

pairing: 42!miles morales x reader

synopsis: miles finally asks to take you out.

wc: 2.3k

warnings!: swearing, kissing, making out, google translate spanish

prev ʚɞ

it'd been a week since miles invited you over and thanks to him, you got your grade up. the week had been full of flirting, whispering and laughing during class, texting all the time, him and his friend joined your table at lunch, and him finding any excuse to touch you.

in physics he kept his knee touched against yours, he would "drop" a pencil or whatever so he could hold your thigh using it to support himself while reaching for it. when he sat behind you in math, you would feel him touching your curls or your shoulder every now and then. when you would pass a paper back to him his fingers always reached out far enough to touch yours.

it was thursday afternoon on the walk home from school, safiya didn't come to school that day so it was just you and miles. "no because why did she say that like is that bitch really insane" you laughed. "shit is crazy for real" miles agreed, grabbing an arizona. you were currently in lenny's bodega heating up a beef patty - the last one how ironic, debriefing with miles about your day at school. "no fighting bout it this time?" lenny chuckled, ringing you guys up. "nah, he willingly agreed to share this time" you giggled.

you continued walking, both of you munching on your respective halves. you said something that made the both of you laugh and miles just stared at your smile, he wants that image stained in his brain. "alright, what. stressing me out with the staring" you joked, feeling a little awkward. "nothing" he laughed off before continuing. "will you let me take you out?" he asked you. all of a sudden you were nervous and looking around with a doofy grin on your face. "okayy. where?" you threw your trash in a nearby bin.

"it'd be a surprise. actually not really a surprise but on saturday, would you come?" he asked. "yeah i'll go on a date with you" you smiled. he pressed his lips together to hide the big smile that was growing on his face. he laughed out "okay alright, cool. i'll let you know the time" "okayy bye" you kissed him on the cheek and went up your block.

ʚɞ

it was friday night and you were rummaging through your closet for an outfit to wear. you groaned out a sigh and grabbed your phone opening miles' contact.

you pressed face time and waited for him to pick up. "yeah?" his prowler distorted voice answered. you looked at your phone to see him on what looks like to be a roof, prowler gear on. "oh shit sorry, didn't know you were doing your prowler stuff." you said, about to hang up. "nah it's fine, m'not busy right now" he told you, prowler voice turning off. "need something?" he asked you. "miles where are we goingg" you whined. "its a surprise, you can't handle surprises?" he chuckled. "i don't know how to dress for surprises. i don't know what to wear" you sighed. "you look good in everything, don't over think it."

"yeah well i wanna look good for you" you rolled your eyes. he scoffed "you literally always look so good, chiquita relax." suddenly there was a loud bang in the distance and he shot his head over his shoulder. "you'll figure it out. aight i gotta go" he said, prowler voice back on. he quickly hung up and you sighed, going to the kitchen to make a chicken wrap for dinner. this was a 3 am you problem.

ʚɞ

you got in the shower to shave, exfoliate, and scrub your body. getting out of the shower, you put on a face mask letting it set before you came back to do your skincare routine. you sat in your mirror to put product through your curls, deciding to let them down past your shoulders.

you finished your makeup and got dressed in the outfit you'd picked after a few hours of searching. you decided on a short strapless black dress and a gold chain belt that hung around your hips and chunky loafer heels. you decorated yourself with two layers of gold jewelry and your mom's earrings she'd given you.

you admired your look in the mirror before leaving to go in the living room. your dad looked over at you and furrowed his eyebrows "where you going all dressed up?" he asked, pausing his show. "i literally told you i was going out tonight" you scoffed, grabbing your purse. "with who?" he asked you. "miles.." you answered in a small voice. "that damn boy again?! y/n you're not-" daddy please, you literally already said yes. plus he's downstairs already. please please pleaseee" you begged, leaning over the chair in his face.

"ughh alright fine! but that location stays on all night and when i call, you answer. aight?" he bargained. "yayyy thank you daddy" you gave him a quick peck on the cheek before running to grab your purse and jacket. "okay i gotta go byeee" you ran out the door, and down the building stairs. you were about to open the door but miles was on the other side about to do the same thing. "oh hey. was gonna come and ask if you were still coming" he joked. "sorry, stuff with my dad" you smiled.

he took the time to really take you in. the way your curls perfectly framed your face, the way your gloss made your lips shine, the way your necklaces graced your collarbones, the way your dress hugged against your waist. "wow. you look amazing..you look like elegant and shit" he chuckled, feeling a little nervous. "here, they're for you" he smiled, handing you a bouquet of red roses. he reached out to hold your hand, leading you down the street. "ahh thank you" you didn't know what to say, compliments made you awkward.

"you look reall good too by the way" you checked him out. he wore a pair of grey pants with a black short sleeve top and jordans, black jacket over it. "tried my best to look as nice. i don't be dressing like that"he shrugged. "well you look very nice anyway" you squeezed his face.

"can you tell me where we're going now?" you asked him going down the metro stairs. "rockefeller" he answered with a smile. "to do what?" you furrowed your eyebrows. "skating" he answered leading you to a seat. "aw i haven't done that in so long. i used to go with my mom" you told him. "i know, safiya told me." he rubbed a thumb over your knuckles and only now did you realize neither of you had let go.

"you're such a sweetheart, i never would've guessed" you said. "what do you mean?" "i don't know. like i would've never thought we'd be going on a date. or that you would be so thoughtful" you shrugged. "i'm full of surprises, chiquita" he said with a smug look on his face. "yeah whatever" you giggled, resting your head on his shoulder.

you were still hand in hand walking to the entrance to purchase your tickets. “okay well now i feel overdressed” you sulked, taking off your heels. “nah you look good. don’t be afraid to show everybody else up” he got in his knee in front of you and helped you put your feet into the skates. thank goodness you wore socks. he looked up at you and the action felt so intimate while he gently placed your right foot in the skate.

soon after he put his skates on and put your bag and shoes in a locker. he took your hand again and helped you walk out on the rink. you were immediately losing your balance, throwing an arm around his shoulder to hold you steady. “aight i swear safiya told me you used to do this all the time.” he laughed. “only sometimes! and i never actually learned” you giggled.

unlike your clumsy and struggling to find balance movements, miles was smooth and moving with ease, hand on your waist to keep you up right. “how do you know how to skate” you asked him. “unlike you, i actually tried to learn” he joked.

for the majority of the time you stayed close the walls using them to move without making a fool of yourself. miles slowed down to match your pace, practically showing off how easy it came to him.

“alright come on” suddenly he was in front of you and grabbing your hands to pull you out in the middle. “alright wait wait wait wait” you frantically put your hands on his arms. “aye you need to learn chica. hold my hands and watch my feet” he told you. you followed his instructions as he pulled you along, yet yours remained unmoving.

he laughed “you know you gotta move yours too right. just copy how i’m moving mines but in the other direction”

he was in control but you followed his movements and eventually got the hang of it, enough to even move on your own. “atta girl, it ain’t even that hard” he smiled at you and you geeked at his praise. he grabbed your hand again and turned your body in a little twirl. which wound up with you falling into his chest nearly sending him to the ground. “aight so we not that far yet” he laughed. he looked at you before pressing a kiss on your lips.

you continued skating until your time slot was up and you got your things and left. “hungry?” he asked you. you nodded your head and responded with a small mhm before he led you down the street to a cozy restaurant.

you sat down and he ordered a plate of appetizers for you both. you talked the whole time throughout the meal, laughing your ass off. he excused himself for a moment and you kept your eyes on him watching as he found your waiter and told him something.

he came back after a minute and sat down and you guys got back to talking. after a few minutes your waiter came back with two plates, one with a raspberry brownie with fudge and one with strawberry caramel cheesecake - your favorite. he put the plates down and sent a wink to miles before walking away.

you looked down at the plate and it had the words ‘will you let me be your boyfriend?’ written in caramel drizzling. you gushed and bit your lip to hide the huge grin that spread across your face “ohh my god i thought you were literally never gonna ask” you giggled. “is that a yes?” “yes, it’s a yes” you smiled. he leaned over to the table to kiss you, hand placed on your cheek.

you finished your desserts and miles paid the bill before you left the restaurant. you practically couldn’t stay off each other on the walk to the subway station, you arms were wrapped around his and when you complained that your feet were hurting he leaned down so you could climb on his back.

you sat down on the train and he rest a hand on your thigh while you laid your head on his shoulder. “still got one more thing to show you. you down?” he asked. “yeah, for whatever”

you got off and he led you back to his graffiti site. “now how i’m supposed to climb that fence in these heels” you twisted your mouth to the side. he chuckled. “i’ll go over first throw them over the wall and i’ll hold them till you get over duh”

you followed his instructions and hopped the fence before leading you down. there was a wall, once blank now decorated with your face, detailed and big across the wall. you looked so beautiful through his eyes. he moved up next to you and took your hand in his. “ughh you are so..” you didn’t finish your sentence you just put your hands up to his face and brought your lips to his in a heartfelt kiss.

he wrapped his arm around your waist to pull you in closer. his other hand moved to push your curl out of your face and at the back of your neck to deepen the kiss. his hand slid down to your ass making your lips part slightly and his tongue slid in your mouth. the blaring sound of your ringtone made you jump and you sighed seeing it was your dad calling. “hey baby, you on your way home yet? it’s getting late, think you’d better come inside” he told you.

“okay i’ll see you” you answered, hanging up the phone. “it’s my dad, he wants me home” you sighed. “alright let’s go” he said.

you hopped the fence again making your way out of the station. “your feet still hurt?” he asked you. “a little bit” you answered. “well then hop on madame” he joked, leaning down so you could get back on his back.

you talked the whole way home, literally talking his ear off as your chin rest by his shoulder. “sorry if i’m talking too much” you said. “no it’s okay i like listening to you.” you smiled and buried your face in his shoulder, hiding the giddy expression on your face.

he got to your apartment building and gently put you back on the ground. “i’m really glad you asked to be my boyfriend.” you told him. “i’m really glad to be your boyfriend” he smiled. you held his face and pressed your lips against his before pulling away. “goodnight miles” you said. “good night, hermosa” he said back, easing away as you walked in your house.

taglist ౨ৎ

@prettypink-princesss @itsnotino @r3d0n33 @iluvprowlermiles @jmsanchoo @stevenknightmarc @melllinaa @444morales @noetophat @bigdikzaddy

[luvu2themoonand2saturn]

Hello, I love your blog!

I was wondering if you could write a fic or blurb (whatever you want) where the reader is a teacher.

That would be amazing. Thank you!

science fair

joe burrow x teacher!wife!reader

warnings: pure sweet fluff <3 one slightly suggestive comment towards the end

word count: 1.1k

summary: joe surprises you at your students’ science fair

note: thank you for this request!! hope you enjoy my love <33

Warm April sunlight split the grey clouds outside the windows, still covered in droplets of rain, sending soft light streaming into your classroom. School started in ten minutes, and you were enjoying the quiet and a warm cup of tea before the inevitable craziness of your day commenced.

It was a big day for the third graders that you taught. They had spent the past month working on projects for the school’s spring science fair, each having chosen a topic to research that they found particularly interesting. They had compiled information, carefully writing it on construction paper, arranging it neatly on poster boards alongside a handful of pictures. The posters had been taking up almost all of the free surfaces in your classroom for the past couple weeks, and seeing the back countertop and spare desks in the corner bare was oddly sad. Nonetheless, you knew in no time they would be strewn once again with paintings and spelling tests, spilled pencil shavings and uncapped markers.

Your kids would have a couple minutes after the bell rang to deposit their backpacks and coats in the classroom, before you herded them down to the gymnasium, where their posters were taped to the walls or set up on tables. Parents had been invited, giving them an opportunity to see what their kids had been working on, and allowing the kids to share their research.

The bell rang, and you stood from your desk to open the door, letting your students inside as fresh spring air flooded the room. A chorus of “Hi, Mrs. Burrow!” rang out as you greeted each student. While hats were taken off and ruddy cheeks warmed, boots swapped for clean inside shoes, you asked your class, “Are you guys excited for the science fair today?” The raucous noise that erupted from the pack of kids made anything they said unintelligible, but they were clearly looking forward to it.

Raising your voice above the noise, you said, “Okay, everyone, let’s line up. We’re going to walk quietly to the gym. Last person out please switch off the lights and close the door behind you!”

You led your students through the halls, filing into the gym and directing them to locate their projects and get ready for parents to start arriving. You walked between the tables, admiring their work, answering questions and assuring them they were all going to do amazingly - and you knew it was true. All of the kids you had taught in your career had made you infinitely proud.

Parents began trickling in, their necks craning as they searched for their sons and daughters, faces lighting up when they saw them. You continued to drift amongst your students as parents knelt to examine posters and ask questions, smiling as you watched your students’ animatedly share their work.

“Mrs. Burrow?” asked a soft male voice from behind you, the last voice you were expecting to hear at the science fair.

You turned around, surprised. “Joe!? What are you doing here?” He wore a visitor’s badge on a lanyard around his neck.

“Well,” he said, gesturing around the gymnasium, “I figured if the parents get to come and see their kids’ work today, I could surely join them to see my lovely wife’s work.”

Brushing a speck of lint from his shoulder, you asked with a smile, “And what is your expert evaluation?”

“Looking at how happy these kids are, I’d say you’re doing perfectly.” He slid an arm around your waist to pull you against his side, adding, “You’re going to make an incredible mom.”

You mirrored his gesture, resting a hand on his back as you replied, “You’re going to make an incredible dad. Now, is this why you were so damn weird when I asked you what you were doing today?”

His head fell back as he laughed, remembering the breakfast you’d shared on the couch that morning. He had skirted the questions you asked about his plans, his responses all oddly vague. “Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn’t be suspicious.”

“I thought you were being weird, but that’s pretty standard for you,” you joked.

“You’re weird,” he shot back, his endearing smile eliminating any insult from his words.

“And that is why you married me,” you said sweetly. “Thank you for coming to this. It means a lot that you’re interested.”

“Of course, honey. I’m always interested in what you spend your days doing.” He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek, and you caught one of your students, Ben, watching. He gave you a funny look, eyeing Joe, making you laugh. Joe’s gaze followed yours to Ben standing by his project, and he guided you over, keeping a hand on your lower back.

“Hey, kid,” Joe said with a warm smile, giving him a fist bump.

Still wearing an odd expression, he asked bluntly, and slightly suspiciously, “Who are you?”

“I’m Joe. I’m married to your teacher, Mrs. Burrow. What’s your name?”

Recovering from the initial shock of seeing some random man kissing his teacher, he responded with a grin, “I’m Ben. Can I tell you what I learned about polar bears?”

“Of course, Ben. I’d love to hear,” Joe said, bending down to get on the boy’s level.

Ben beamed while he talked Joe through his project, delighted to have his undivided attention. You watched their interaction, one hand absentmindedly rubbing Joe’s upper back, marveling at how natural he was with kids. He was so attentive, fully focused on the pictures Ben pointed at, listening to the facts he rattled off excitedly.

“This is great work, bud. I’ll put in a good word for you with the boss here,” he said conspiratorially, tilting his head towards you.

After giving Ben a star sticker from the sheet in your back pocket and leaving him with another curious parent, you and Joe drifted through the crowd. “I can’t wait to go to science fairs for our kids,” you said wistfully.

“That’s one project we could get started on soon,” he mumbled into your ear, squeezing your waist.

“Maybe even tonight,” you suggested in an undertone.

“I like how you think. Why waste time?”

“Exactly. Speaking of time, I should get back to my kids.”

“Alright, sweets. I’ll see you when you’re home, then. I love you.”

“Love you too, Joey.” After giving him a quick peck, you disappeared back into the crowd of parents and students.

He smiled as he watched you go. Our kids. The thought warmed his heart. He couldn’t wait to have another member join your little family.

“Love you too, Joey.” After giving him a quick peck, you disappeared back into the crowd of parents and students.

He smiled as he watched you go. Our kids. The thought warmed his heart. He couldn’t wait to have another member join your little family.

[georgiedoodles]

📚Broppy CollegeAU | "Campus Days"

Part 2: Sharing is Caring

   It’s a fresh Thursday morning, Branch walks into his class 10 minutes early and sits down at his station. While he unpacks his newly purchased art supplies, he can see a pink figure walking over to the station next to him, greeting him with a bright smile.

“Good morning branch!” Poppy says in a sing-song voice, waving to her neighbor. She leans her portfolio against the wall and opens her pink bag to unpack her art supplies onto her cart.

“Morning Poppy” He gives her a shy smile while organizing his cart, making sure all his supplies have his name written on them. After, he adjusts his easel and props up his painting paper, neatly sticking some painters tape on the corners to keep it flat.

Poppy organizes her materials in her cart, making sure she has everything she needs to be prepared. When she double-checks her materials, she realizes that she left some materials at home. “SUGAR! I forgot some of my stuff back at home!!” She frantically looked through her bag to make sure she didn’t misplace it somewhere. Branch looks over to see her practically throw all her stuff out from her bag and he hesitates.

“Well, if you want, I can share with you.” He says wearily, “What are you missing?” He looks at her cart, trying to see if it’s not out in plain sight.

“Well, I’m missing my Platinum White, my Matte Medium, AND I’m missing my pallet!! The most important thing we use!” She drops her hands on her lap, feeling shame and embarrassed at the event. She looks over at Branch with puppy eyes, “If you could share with me, I’ll make it up to you! I can buy you breakfast or some coffee during our break.” She clasps her hands under her chin, pouting, and facing down while looking up with her eyes just right, gazing at Branch.

Branch is moved by her ability to use such a face on people, “Poppy, I offered, you don’t have to beg. You also don’t have to buy me anything to make up for it, we all make mistakes.” He shrugs, moving his glass pallet to be on top of her cart and his. Luckily, it’s large enough to give sufficient space to mix paint.

Poppy excitedly moved her stuff around to make space for the large pallet, it’s clean and perfectly reflects the light from the window next to them. Poppy gives her signature toothy smile to Branch, “Thank you so much! But please, let me buy you something, either way I ran out of coffee creamer at home so I need to buy some on campus today, would you at least accompany me?” She anxiously waits for his response, fluttering her eyelashes to hopefully convince him.

“*sigh* Alright, I’ll go with you to the coffee shop at least, Luckily it’s only right outside the building.” He reluctantly accepts and playfully rolls his eyes.

Before either of them can continue their conversation, the professor begins class, and they tune in. During their independent work time, Branch and Poppy peacefully share paints, a large pallet, and some matt medium. They are listening to their own music, Poppy with her white earbuds in, Branch with his large Black headset.

After two hours, it’s time for their 15-minute break. Everyone in the classroom stands to stretch followed by a wave of groaning and relief. Poppy reaches her arms above her and leans back to relief the tension in her back, then pats her apron clean of the pencil shavings she left earlier. Branch shakes his hands to relieve the tension in his wrists and stretches his legs, cracking his knuckles during the process. Poppy grabs her pink strawberry print wallet from her bag and leaves her earbuds on the cart. Branch stands up, leaving his headset on his cart, and leaving his apron on his chair.

“Okay let’s go before the break rush hits the café!” She beckons Branch to follow her, slightly bouncing on her toes with excitement. Branch follows close behind her as they leave the classroom and out into the hotter summer air, he’s glad he took off his cardigan before they started class. Walking into the café there were students sprinkled throughout the aisles. Since it doubles as a mini convenience store, there are two cash registers, one for the café and one for the main store.

Poppy and Branch make their way to the line, and she stares at the large chalkboard menu on the wall ahead of them.

“Hmmm, what kind of coffee do you think I should get? A brown sugar expresso or an iced matcha expresso?” She taps a finger on her chin, still looking at the board. She leans on her right leg, fiddling with her wallet’s keychains.

“Well, the question is, are you feeling like a hot drink in this weather, or a cooling drink?” He glances at her from the side, seeing how focused she is on deciding.

“Well then since it’s hot out today, I’ll go for the Ice matcha expresso.” She pauses, with a mischievous grin as she side-eyes Branch. “Branch, what is something you’d get?” Poppy hides her smirk, looking to her right and out of Branch’s view.

“Hmm, well I’m not into sweet coffee, so I guess I’d take a café con canela? But I’d make it iced since it's hot outside” He shrugs, completely oblivious to Poppy’s plan.

Once they were at the register, Poppy sent Branch to the pickup section to wait for her. When she finishes ordering she eagerly meets Branch, rocking back and forward on her heels, pretending like she did nothing suspicious. Then she hears her name being called and walks up to the counter to grab two drinks.

“Here ya go!” She holds out her left hand with the iced café con canela, smugly smiling at him. Branch is confused but realizes what she did. With a defeated huff, he gently takes the cup from her hand only to accidentally brush his fingers over hers and held it close to his chest, a blush creeping to his cheeks at the contact.

“That was clever, thank you for the coffee though.” He looks away from her gaze and smiles a tiny bit, feeling the cold drink cooling down his clammy hands. It was totally sweating from the heat, not from anything else.

Poppy giggles and makes finger hearts with her left hand, “You’re very welcome, enjoy it while it’s nice and cold~” She teases him and begins to walk out of the café, her high ponytail bouncing with each step she takes. Branch rolls his eyes and smirks, catching up to her pace, and making their way back to class.

When class is about to end, Poppy begins her cleanup and briskly takes Branch’s pallet to clean. She smiles when he notices and thanks her. Once she turns to make her way to the sink, Branch can only notice how nice she smells. She has a fresh strawberry and lemon body spray on, he unknowingly takes a deep breath and smiles.

“Wait why did I do that?? That’s so creepy and weird!” Branch thought and winced in embarrassment; he looked around to see if anyone else had seen him. Luckily, he’s safe and resumes his cleanup. He stands and takes his used brushes to the sink, with his brush soap and scrub, he stands next to Poppy to share the sink with her. They both stand shoulder to shoulder and wash their equipment together; he looks over to her and realizes that she’s a tad bit taller than him.

“Hey Poppy, how tall are you?” He squints and looks down at her feet, trying to see if she's wearing heels or platforms to make her seem taller.

“I’m 5 feet, 5 inches tall~” She smiles and continues to clean her brushes. When she glances over to Branch, she notices the height difference. “What about you, how tall are you?” Poppy tries to mentally measure him.

“I’m... shorter than you... by an inch.” Branch pouts and looks away from her, he feels tiny next to her, even though there’s only an inch difference between them, he feels like a mouse. Embarrassed, he unconsciously shrinks himself, lowering his shoulders and rubbing his right foot on his left ankle, this was grabbing Poppy’s attention.

She feels bad that he thinks negatively of his height, she dries off her hands, places her brushes on the edge of the sink to dry, and turns to face him. Leaning on the sink with her right hand and her left hand resting on her hip she starts, “Branch, there’s nothing to be ashamed of, in fact, I actually like that you’re a similar height to me.” She smiles sweetly at him, hoping to give him some form of comfort.

Branch slowly turns his head to look at her, his eyebrows relaxing, feeling a bit more at ease from her smile. “Why would that be something you like?” he asked with a half-smile and a fang poking out, he was confused by her statement.

“Well, for starters, it means I can hug you better, I don’t have to bend too far backward or forward to reach around you. Second, when my friends and I are the same height, we tend to have similar sizes in clothes, so we could trade if we’d like!” She giggles and uses her hands to emphasize her statement. Unknowingly, her giggle relaxes Branch, and he accepts her words of comfort. He turns his body halfway away from the sink to face her, and smiles, “I’ve never thought of it like that. My brothers had always made fun of my height since I’m the shortest out of all of them.” He shrugs and finishes rinsing the last brush, drying it off, and collecting the rest of his stuff.

A tiny thought pops up in Branch’s mind, “What would it feel like to hug Poppy...?” as he thinks about his idea, Poppy finishes up her cleaning and gathers her materials with her, faces Branch, and smiles.

“Let’s finish up so we can head out!” She turns and begins her bouncy stride back to her station, packing up the last of her stuff. Branch follows and heads to his station, stuffing his materials in his backpack and red container.

As the pair walk out of the classroom, the door opens and slams the two with a wall of humid summer heat, making Branch groan in discomfort and Poppy embracing the warm weather. They both stop at the art building’s quad, standing under the shade, facing each other.

“I had fun today, thank you again, for sharing your stuff with me.” She blushes slightly and smiles at him, holding her iPad in her left arm and readjusting her portfolio on her right shoulder. “Have a good day then, and I hope your class isn’t boring” Poppy chuckles, shifting her feet from side to side.

“Thanks, and you’re welcome, I’m always here if you need help.” Branch rubs his neck with his free hand, avoiding her gaze but still looking around her. “The light looks really pretty when it shines on her hair” he blushed as he thought to himself. With a few goodbyes, they parted ways, until they see each other again on Tuesday.

Previous Part | Next

[angelmichelangelo]

Maybe 2012 Mikey being badass? (i've got nothing else lmao)

x

Like most things in his life, being the klutz of his family, he discovers it by entire accident.

Raph and April are out front on the front lawn, training together, a newfound activity that the pair of them have taken to, now that Raph’s number one spar partner was currently unconscious in the tub upstairs.

Mikey’s stomach clinches at the thought. It’s something he often tries to forget these days. Wind whistles past him and he looks up from his spot on the porch, huddling down into his oversized hoodie, he feels some of that unease surrounding his chest start to ebb away. 

At least Raphael was outside, doing something other than just brooding in silence. Casey had even managed to get some dinner down him last night so… maybe things weren’t so bad after all.

With Donnie on constant lookout for Leo, Mikey supposed he was on a similar kind of duty with Raph. The turtle and the girl twirl around each other, unphased by the new year chill that hangs in the air still.

Mikey taps the end of his pencil against the sketchpad. So far it was full of just quick warm up sketches that he’d done through the morning so far. One of the stretch of trees over on the horizon. A frog. One of April standing from afar during her own warm up with Raph.

He taps at the paper, little residuales of pencil shavings bouncing with it when—

“Shit!”

That’s Raph’s voice, sharp and worried that has Mike snapping his head up so fast like rubber.

He’s crouched down beside April who’s now laying in the grass, one leg stretched out, she’s grasping at her ankle, and even from here, Mikey can make out the fresh glimmer of tears she’s stubbornly holding back behind her eyes.

He pushes his sketchpad and pencil aside onto the step as he leaps up, running over to meet them.

“It’s fine,” April tells him straight away before he even has a chance. Raph’s hands are awkwardly hovering over the ankle she’s still grasping at. “Just rolled it funny.”

There’s a little bite to her words that tells him that there was nothing funny about it.

Mikey huffs, crouching down beside her, he offers her a lopsided smile when he tells her.

“Apes, I’ve had a fair share of rolled ankles in my time.” He gently pries her hands away to inspect the damage. “It still hurts like shell.”

It’s swollen already, probably nothing too serious but Raph’s face pales anyway. He never was any good with anything remotely medical. Mikey remembers when they were kids, he couldn’t even watch E.T because of that one particular scene in the med bay tents.

“I’ll go get Don,” is what he tells him, already springing to his feet and making a dash towards the house. 

April sucks in a breath. Now it’s like she’s really trying not to cry and Mikey can’t help but feel bad for her. 

“Here,” he says, gently wrapping his hand around her injured ankle. “I’ve been told I have warm hands. It might help.”

She flinches at first, with the sudden contact, but after a while she relaxes, no longer fisting tight handfuls of grass beneath her palm, even the glossy tears in her eyes seem to sink away.

She blinks. “It.” She says suddenly, stopping short like she lost the thread of her own sentence. “Mike. You’re—”

She’s cut off by the sound of running feet. Two pairs of running feet exactly because Raphael rejoins them with Donnie in tow. He’s got his little med kit with him (that still has the Mikey Do Not Touch sticker that’s slowly starting to peel away on the front) and when he sits beside her, he’s looking breathless and tired.

“Hey,” he says. “Can I look?”

April sniffs. She shakes her head to scoot her bangs from out of her eyes. “It’s not that bad,” she tells him. She inches her leg upwards. “See. I can move it now, really.”

Mikey’s hand stays firmly in place and… and he knew he was being trivial when he said about having warm hands but… but suddenly the skin of his palm that’s touching against hers feels very very hot.

He pulls it away when Raph squeaks in surprise.

Donnie, who was previously rattling about in his box, turns his head and stops short, a frown knitting between his brows. It matches Raph’s current expression almost perfectly.

“I thought you said it was swollen?” Donnie comments, leaning forward to inspect the very not swollen ankle. In fact, it looked in perfect shape. “You said, in your words,” he shoots April a somewhat apologetic look. “Gnarly.”

Raph squeaks again, in disbelief it would appear. 

“It was!” He looks between April and Mikey with quick desperation. “Wasn’t it?”

April gulps and then slowly nods her head. “I… I dunno what happened.” She watches rather gingerly as Don packs his stuff away again. She gives her foot a twirl as if to test it out. “Mike grabbed onto it and… and it got all warm and it was just. Better.”

Donnie and Raph look up at the same time then. Gosh, they really do act like twins sometimes.

“You… grabbed it?” Raph asks, voice pitching upwards slightly. 

Mikey shrugs. His hand no longer feels hot, but he thinks if he had ears right now, they’d probably be burning. “I just held onto it. Thought maybe it’d help.”

Donnie presses all along her joints and bones and once Raph’s pulled her to her feet, she’s able to walk around just fine. No wincing or secret achy bits. It’s like she never hurt it in the first place.

And once Don’s signed her off he retreats back towards the upstairs bathroom again. Raph, Mike and April watch him go when Raph turns to his brother, lifting up one of his hands between his, he says,

“Jeez, bro. You could have maybe unlocked the healing hands any other time for when we needed it other than now. No offense, April.”

But there’s no real bite to his words, not in the way his lips are curling around a knowing smile, or the way April’s bumping his shoulder with his. 

He pulls his hand away with a laugh. “Ha. Leo’s gonna have a field day when he wakes up and finds out I did it on the first try. By accident, too.”

And for an icy moment, Mikey wonders if that when should have been an if. But it all bleeds out, warmth pouring in when Raph barks a laugh and grabs his hand a second time, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Yeah he is,” he tells him, eyes sparkling. Then, his voice goes soft. “And he’ll be proud too.”

And Mikey’s chest aches again, but this time, it feels a little less terrible. And he just can’t wait for his brother to wake up, just so he can tell him all about it. 

[flowerpottlady]

Shine

Day 5 of my domestic Jily series! Inspired by @jilymicrofics

***

Lily stepped from the bathtub, ever so carefully, still completely unused to the added weight tacked onto her midsection. She stuck a blind hand out, reaching for a clean towel from the pile on the counter, and wrapped herself in it - wondering just how much bigger her bump would grow before she would have to charm the towels to accommodate for her new size. 

She could hear James pacing from the next room over, ready to leave over half an hour ago, when Lily decided she needed a quick shower before venturing out into the Muggle world - a secret date that James had planned on his rare night off from Order duties. 

Lily decided to take her time though, it wasn’t often she got the chance to dress up, and at thirty weeks pregnant it took a while to do almost anything nowadays. She picked up her wand first, using it to quickly dry her hair, marveling at the thickness of it, the shine, that pregnancy had given her auburn locks. She dabbed some makeup on, deciding that a spot of pale pink blush on her cheekbones helped to take away from the slightly chubby cheeks she had recently developed. 

After outlining her eyes with a charcoal pencil, brushing some golden eyeshadow across her lids, and swiping the dark mascara over her eyelashes - Lily took a moment to stare at her, relishing in how unnatural she felt in her body.  Like it wasn’t hers anymore. 

Her once flat stomach bulged from her. Her body changed in unimaginable ways, all for her child. While her back hurt, her breasts ached, and she was certain there was a foot lodged into her spleen - Lily wouldn’t give it up for anything. She loved it, carrying a new life inside of her, creating another human being - from the purest form of love that Lily shared with James.

She rubbed her hand down her swollen belly, imagining the baby that would soon be in her arms.  Wondering what it would feel like to see its red face, to feel their skin against hers. “I’m so ready for you sweetheart,” she whispered, hoping her baby would hear her. 

“Lil?” James’ voice came through the door - only slightly apprehensive. “I don’t want to rush you, but I am getting very hungry.”

“Almost finished!” Lily yelled back, snapping her attention to the pale blue dress hanging against the door. She dropped her towel, kicking it toward the corner of the bathroom - and slipped on the silky slip, giggling at the way it clung to her bump. 

The blue dress was next, and Lily reached towards it, fondly remembering the last time she wore that dress - at Alice and Frank Longbottom’s wedding before her seventh year. She danced until her feet hurt; James twirling her, laughing with her, whispering in her ear. He had kissed her on the cheek at the end of the night, and Lily was certain that was the moment she had fallen in love with him. 

It was a simple dress, and Lily smiled widely when she realized it still fit her - even better than before. The strapless top exposed her pale shoulders, lightly dusted with freckles, and did wonders for her boobs - exposing her cleavage in a way that she knew would drive James wild.  It fell mid-thigh, the empire waistline swinging around her bump and - 

“Lily!” James shouted through the door again, interrupting the time she spent simply admiring herself. “Love I know you must be hungry too, are you almost done yet?” 

She rolled her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear and opening the door wide. James was standing there, leaning suavely against the doorframe - dark hair mused perfectly, his strong jawline freshly shaved. The dark gray button-down shirt he wore perfectly accented his pecs, his sleeves already slightly rolled up.  He smirked at her, hazel eyes moving up and down behind his round specs, drinking her in. 

She was so getting laid. 

 “What? I’m ready, and starving, let's go.” 

He grinned, bearing his perfectly white teeth, “You’re cute.” James said softly, stepping forward to peck her cheek. “I’m very lucky I married you.” 

“I’m very lucky to have married you too.” She whispered back, grasping his hand. “Now c’mon, will you tell me where you are taking me yet?” 

“Not till we get there.” 

Lily could only roll her eyes then, smoothing her dress down her bump. “Well, I hope it has chocolate cake. Little Harry is very hungry for some chocolate cake.” 

“Well, I hope little Josephine, is equally as hungry.” James said knowingly, “Because you know, you are having a girl.” 

“Even if we are having a girl, we are not giving her my second name. We are in the 1980s now, dear, not the 1880s.” 

“Right, of course. Silly me. My parents are Euphemia and Fleamont. It’s easy to forget.” James laughed, grabbing Lily’s purse and guiding her out the front door. 

She was silent for a moment, a small contemplative smile stretched across her face. 

“What’s that look for?” James asked, turning to look at his wife after locking their door. 

“Oh, nothing really…” Lily began, shrugging her shoulders. “I’m just really happy to be doing this with you.” 

“Getting dinner?” 

“You know what I mean,” she said softly. 

“I do,” his hand reached for her bump, pressing a hard kiss into her cheek. “I’m very happy to be doing this with you too.” 

***

Start from the beginning here! 31 Days of Potters

[deepdiveintothedeephive]

Stranger Things Masterlist

(Ongoing 2016 TV Series)

One Shots Multi-Chapter

Ongoing Completed

F!Reader = Female Reader

M!Reader = Male Reader

G!Reader = Gender Neutral Reader

Character(s) :

Eddie Munson

One Shots :

You look Lonely by @eddiemunsons-missingnipple (VirginRockstar!Eddie x F!Groupie!Reader)

Hold Your Horses by @oneforthemunny (Cowboy!Eddie x F!Reader)

Recipes for Romance by @lokis-army-77 (Bestfriend!Eddie x F!Reader)

The Taste of You by @onegirlmanytales (PervRoomate!Eddie x F!Reader)

Janitor!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader Shorts by @oneforthemunny

Cheese Dust by @eddies-house (BusDriver!Eddie x Teacher!Reader)

Burning Desire by @lavendermunson (Professor! Eddie x F!Collegestudent!reader)

Multi-Chapter :

The Dark Paradise by @munsons-hellfire (Biker!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader)

The Story of Us by @svbrbnlegends (MusicTeacher!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader) Part 1 Here

Pencil Shavings and Shared Smiles by @gravedigginbbydoll (Teacher!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader)

Crayons & Cassettes by @comfort-writing (Dad!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader)

Don’t Stand so Close to Me by @word-wytch (Student!Eddie x F!Teacher!Reader, Eddie is of age)

The “Yes” Policy by @pinkrelish (Mechanic!Singledad!Eddie x F!Reader)

I Wanna be Yours by @allthingseddie (SingleDad!Eddie x F!BestFriend!Reader)

Steve Harrington

One Shots :

Sun Burnt by @inkluvs (Cowboy!Steve x F!Reader)

Big Dick!Steve x F!Reader by @cherryc1nnam0n

What I go to School for by @radioactiveparker ( Student!Steve x F!Teacher!Reader)

Multi-Chapter :

Baby I Can’t Fight This Feeling by @superblysubpar (CoWorker!Steve x F!Reader)

A Lesson in Romantics by @stvharrngton (Teacher!Steve x F!Teacher!Reader)

[superbwritersroom]

You enter a room, and it's full of people just like you.

Well, not just like you - not all look or sound like you, and more likely than not, you'll have different opinions and outlooks on things. But the shared passion oozing out of them all, the relatable issues and road blocks being discussed, and the posters on the wall of the men and women from the show you're all obsessed with tells you you're in the right place.

This, is the room full of writer's - just like you.

Some are just beyond the windows that line one side of the room - natural light babes, inside & outside. There's the dark and moody lit space too. A couple at desks, some are on the floor, couches or squishy chairs. Some have turned a corner into what appears to be a fully functioning coffee shop, another a library. Some are smoking, others are staring at the ceiling and crying. Many are laughing and talking together. Quite a few are hosting more than three different kind of beverages at their work stations. Almost all are snacking.

One girl, who's half a bag deep in Salt & Vinegar chips, sees you, and she smiles, before shouting: You're here!

She bounds up to greet you, and begins to tell you all about this magical place you've entered.

Excuse the mess, the pencil and eraser shavings and crumpled up pieces of paper are kind of a hazard of the job, you know?

Hopefully the sound doesn't bother you? Some people have the silent keyboards and some have the really clacky type-writer ones. Maybe invest in some headphones? Or if you like sound, that one over there has been playing the exact same song on repeat for two weeks, we have a bet going for how long she'll last. And that one? Well, they're about to - ah, yup don't worry they're just screaming at the blank Google Doc. It happens.

Well, here's your spot. Right there's a map for the lay of the land, sure you'll get the hang of it quick, but don't hesitate to reach out if you're lost or have questions - just drop something in the Mailbox.

You're a writer! Congrats, kid!

She starts to walk away and then backtracks, pointing a finger as she corrects herself:

not kid. Cause we're 18+ here.

And with a peace sign, she's off. And you're in the writer's room. What will you do first?

Taylor's Challenges

the masterlists for any challenges taylor has hosted herself

Community Challenges

the masterlists for any challenges put on by other blogs in the fandom that taylor has participated in/read

Writing Challenges 🧡

any writing challenges taylor comes across, whether she's participating or not, are reblogged with the tag:

writing challenges 🧡

General Tags for Resources:

writing prompts 🧡

encouragement 🧡

inspiration 🧡

writing advice 🧡

quotes 🧡

music 🧡

memes 🧡

non-writing resources 🧡

[uh-velkommen]

Young Royals Fan Exam Questions and Answers

*Note that the questions are asked in a different order every time

Which character primarily speaks English?

What does Simon wish for Wilhelm?

What animal sits in Wilhelm's snow globe?

Which of these scenes is NOT shown in seasons 1 or 2?

What color are the students lockers?

Simon's fish are named Oski, Olle, and what?

In which scene do Simon and Wilhelm share their first kiss?

What colors are in the Hillerska uniform tie?

Who gave the final speech of season 2?

What charm is on Wilhelm's necklace?

Why was Wilhelm sent to Hillerska?

Which cartoon character is featured on Simon's pencil case?

What does Simon like on his Spaghetti?

Where does Simon live?

Who is the head mistress?

What color are the lights in Wilhelm's bedroom?

What genre is the movie night?

What year was Hillerska founded?

What does Maddie yell in this season 2 scene?

Who gave Erik the snow globe?

Which horse is NOT Rousseau?

What is Simon's voice type?

What school does Rosh and Ayub go to?

What number is Simon's locker?

What does Wilhelm knock over in the music room?

Which is the correct statue stood behind Hillerska?

What does Wilhelm ask the royal court for?

What does Wilhelm find in Erik's jacket?

What does Wilhelm do to calm himself down?

Who had a kleptomaniac phase?

How does Stella cheat on her exam?

What does the outside of Wilhelm's bedroom look like?

What kind of hotdog does Simon get at the game?

What is Wilhelm's bad habit?

When will August begin his military training?

How does August wear his ring?

How long has Boris had his watch?

Who is Rickard?

What did Wilhelm call the king of Belgium?

What game does Boris have on the table in his office?

What do you do when the royal family passes by you?

What scandal did Stella plan on having at the royal jubilee?

What does Simon have on his keychain?

What does Sara's mom cook for her birthday dinner?

What did Simon want to improve on for the rowing team?

What is Frederika's horse named?

What do the girls drink mulled wine out of?

What city is pictured above Micke's couch?

Madison makes the heart bounce like what?

What score does Sara get on her math test?

Answers below the cut:

Maddie.

To have a nice Christmas.

A frog.

A boy getting his head shaved.

Green.

Felle.

The hallway outside of the movie room.

Blue and red.

Wilhelm.

A cross.

Because he got in a fight.

Garfield.

Ketchup.

Bjärstad.

Anette Lilja.

Red.

Horror.

1901.

Fuck the patriarchy!

His grandfather.

A horse gated out in a field.

Tenor.

Marieberg.

36.

A drum.

A man holding a discus.

Two Poke bowls.

A cigarette case and a lighter.

He rubs his chest.

Felice.

She writes the answers on her thigh.

A plain green field.

Boiled (they were out of grilled).

Biting his nails.

Autumn/Fall.

On his Pinky.

40 years.

August's mom's boyfriend.

Rudolf.

Chinese checkers.

Step aside and smile.

A nip-slip.

A middle finger.

Pabellón.

His stamina.

Indigo.

A shampoo bottle.

A bridge (San-Francisco?).

Badminton.

B+

[bmodiwrites]

You Drew Stars Around My Scars

Hi friends! This one is based of a prompt I got sent a couple of days ago. The general gist of it is janitor x workaholic AU. So, here we are! Eddie's a story board editor with nothing to go home to and Steve, well, he's a janitor. This little beauty is filled with cuteness, a few twists, and lots of steddie goodness. Oh, there's some naught stuff, too. Minors, DNI! Check it out here or over on AO3! Let me know what you think in the comments below <3

Dropping the ludicrously expensive color pencil back onto his drawing desk, Eddie reclines back into his chair. He quickly clenches and unclenches his fingers in a desperate attempt to get some blood flow back to them. The sketch before him, a recent episode idea for Epic Kids, is almost perfect – after ten straight hours of work, Eddie is glad to see the thing finally shaping up into what it’s actually supposed to be.

As a story board artist, the demands on Eddie change daily. He doesn’t work for one show or something simple like that. Instead, he works for a company that dabbles in both television and video games. His projects range from children’s shows to multi-million dollar selling video games. No one knew the 90’s would be the time technology blew up – now, so many different game consoles exist, Eddie is never shy on work.

Upon picking up the craft right out of college, Eddie didn’t expect this to be the rest of his life. Sometimes, though, the world works in mysterious ways. The children’s book he always wanted to write comes alive in the shorts he draws and ideas he shares. Though he’s still wanting to put together a D&D epic for younger kids, Eddie is content enough with his lot to continue doodling on someone else’s dime.

He's about to pick the red pencil back up when the creak of his already open door startles him. It’s well past the time at night where anyone else is usually in the building. Eddie likes to close his door until everyone leaves so he’s got the space to himself. Now, he’s drawing in ambient light with nothing to disturb him – except, he guesses, for a gorgeous man dragging along a cleaning cart.

For a lingering moment, Eddie knows the man hasn’t seen him yet. He’s got headphones covering his ears and his head bobs to the beat. Strong hands are already reaching for the tools he’ll need to clean the floor before clearing out Eddie’s trash. This guy is new because no one ever took the time to sweep up the pencil shavings under Eddie’s desk. Lately, he’s been coming back to the office to a clean space. Now, he knows who the culprit is.

Since the guy still isn’t reacting to Eddie’s presence, brown eyes greedily take in their fill. Though the headphones push it down, the janitor has gorgeous hair. It’s thick and dirty blonde. Eddie thinks about the potential for amazing hairstyles and almost swoons. As his eyes roam a little further, Eddie notices wide wire-framed glasses pushed up an angular nose. They enhance hazel eyes that are now looking at him with a mix of panic and surprise.

“Oh damn, I’m so sorry. No one is ever here, I didn’t even think to knock. I’ll uh – I’ll come back later.” The words are out of the new janitors mouth so fast that Eddie’s head spins. Though, he’s quick to put it on right in hopes of keeping this mouthwatering stranger in the room.

“Hey, it’s alright. I should be thanking you. You’re the first cleaner to ever pick up my pencil shavings. It’s awesome, man. I appreciate it.” Eddie finishes his thanks with a soft smile. It should be enough, saying something sweet before moving on. Yet, it’s not. Eddie feels compelled to keep talking. “Are you new?”

The guy looks incredibly uncomfortable for a second before nodding. It’s brief and coarse but it’s a reaction – one that Eddie wasn’t all that sure he was going to get. Happy with that small crumb, Eddie’s smile widens.

“Cool, you’ll like it here. I’ve been working behind this desk since college. Loved every second of it.”

His comment is met with silence that lingers so long Eddie thinks his new friend is done with the conversation. He’s about to grab at his pencil again when that deep voice sounds off.

“Maybe you’re right. It’s really quiet. I like that.” The man pauses for a second, takes Eddie in. His hazel eyes roam over Eddie’s face and down until he sees the drawing on the desk. For an instant, those eyes widen, but the moment is gone long before Eddie can process it.

“I’ll let you get back to your work, Mr. Munson. Sorry again about the interruption.”

Shrinking back at the name, Eddie calls out immediately – “It’s Eddie. Please, call me Eddie.”

Though the man doesn’t verbally respond or outwardly acknowledge Eddie’s request, there’s a short little nod before the squeaking of the cart sounds again and the enigma of a man is gone as quickly as he came.

Over the next couple of weeks, Eddie changes his routine in hope of bumping into their new custodian again. He walks the halls every couple of hours during the day to see if the man works while the rest of his crew does, but never finds him. He then stays a little later, lingering in his office until the call of food or a television show or plain boredom has him collecting his bags to head off for the night.

Eventually, Eddie’s enigma makes another appearance. This time, though, Eddie is not prepared for him. He’s been curled up into the sanctuary of his arm, napping soundly, since his last meeting. They ripped apart his drawing and asked for something completely different than what Eddie had been picturing. The game isn’t even out yet and Eddie is over it. The headache that sets in kicks his ass, making the call of the flat of his desk so very enticing. He doesn’t know he’s fallen asleep until the door kicks open and he’s blinking awake.

“Shit, I did it again. I’ve been saving your office for last every day, trying not to disturb you on your late nights. Sorry, Mr. – Eddie. I don’t mean to disturb you.”

Sitting up a little straighter in his chair, Eddie stops him before he can go. “Wait! You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind the interruption. It’s probably needed. I’m spending way too much time here, anyway.”

With an invitation to stay, the guy doesn’t take off like the rocket he had just been trying to become. Instead, he lingers in the doorway, eyes roaming over Eddie again. Since they’re staring at one another, Eddie doesn’t disguise his desire to look back.

This time, Eddie notices a thin little mustache that covers red and probably delectable lips. They’re plump and forming words that Eddie is obviously missing out on. He clues back in just in time to catch the tail end.

“ – my friend’s son loves Epic Kids. I get so many more cool points now because I know one of the artists.”

Eddie is glad he managed to tune back into reality – catching that compliment makes the rest of his shitty day seem insignificant. Epic Kids is his pet project, one he’s much more interested in than the stupid game pitch still haunting him from his desk. Though, Eddie is unsure how the man before him knows about his involvement. He hasn’t had a new project for the show cross his desk since they first met.

“How did you know I worked on that show?”

The man smiles then, his lips (they are absolutely kissable, Eddie just knows it) quirk into a knowing grin. For the first time since Eddie encountered him, there’s a sign of life outside of trash cans and a grumpy demeanor.

“That first night I barged in, you were working on a doodle that ended up in yesterday’s show. After Lucas finished up the episode, I watched through the credits. Eddie Munson, Storyboard Editor, is pretty hard to miss.”

“It’s kind of unfair you know my name and I don’t know yours,” Eddie petulantly says before he can stop himself. Though, it’s not a bad thing because the man laughs, genuinely chuckles, and points to the embroidered name on the left side of his tacky blue jumpsuit.

“I’m Steve. Steve Harrington.”

Eddie’s cheeks heat up for some reason, as if access to a name gives him so much more. While it’s just a title to call the hot man that roams the halls at night, Eddie sees the vulnerability as something more. An obvious door has been opened and he’s timidly excited to step through it.

Steve becomes a regular fixture after that. It’s easy for him to wheel his cart into Eddie’s office at the end of the night and make conversation while he goes about his duties. Eddie draws or sits in his chair listening intently to everything Steve’s got to say. He learns about the man’s found family and his platonic soulmate who also doubles as a roommate whenever she’s in town. The connection they have is something that should be cherished, despite only being nurtured for a handful of minutes the nights Eddie can force himself to stay late enough.

There is, of course, an easy fix. Eddie isn’t one to actively pursue another person, especially when he’s not quite sure about their interest. Steve, it seems, is the exception to every rule that Eddie’s ever put into place, however. Their time together is too nice not to extend it past the walls of his workplace. Never mind the fact that Eddie is more than excited by the prospect of Steve in anything but the ugly blue uniform he’s forced to wear. The man is beautiful, Eddie sees that through and through. Something tells him, though, that Steve has lots of potential outside of navy blue.

He bids his time until the perfect opportunity presents itself. It’s a Thursday night and Steve is already talking about the weekend. He has yet to mention Friday night, however, so Eddie takes that as his chance.

“What about Friday? Are you free? There’s this joint in town I’ve been dying to try out, thought you might like to come.”

Eddie waits with bated breath as Steve blinks a few times behind his thick lenses. He goes about putting the trashcan back in its spot, even replaces the bag before looking in Eddie’s direction.

“Uh, yeah. That – that sounds good. I haven’t been out with adults I didn’t grow up with in ages. I think I’d really like that.”

It takes a massive amount of effort for Eddie not to happily jump up from his chair. His fist is tingling with the need to thrust itself into the air in triumph, but Eddie keeps control. After finally securing some extra time with Steve, the last thing Eddie wants to do is muck it up by being over eager or worse – immature with his excitement.

It seems, however, that Steve is just as excited. Pink overtakes his cheeks and a smile that Eddie’s never seen before stretches those gorgeous lips wide. And while he’s not making eye contact with Eddie at all, Steve sneakily glances in his direction time and time again as he finishes up.

Eddie feels like he’s back in high school again, fumbling over his first crush. It’s a glorious thing, experiencing freedom like that after the fickle mundaneness of adulthood.

----

As expected, Steve is an absolute dream out of uniform. The yellow polo Steve’s wearing makes the hazel in his eyes stand out beyond belief. His blue jeans are tight in all the right areas, enhancing thighs and ass like navy blue fabric never could. Eddie has to physically close his mouth upon first glance, lest he starts drooling before the date actually gets started.

Thankfully, Steve spots him across the weird little bar and makes a beeline in Eddie’s direction. The space they’re in is an eclectic little place that serves beer while it’s patrons play mini golf on the two courses out back. It’s one of the coolest things Eddie has seen – he desperately hopes this little place won’t be the last of such an interesting idea.

Everyone around them looks to be enjoying themselves, either way.

Glad for that knowledge and reassurane, Eddie makes quick work of getting them both a drink and the things they need to play the first course. Steve is slightly stiff as they start but loosens up by the third hole.

Now that they’re not in the noisy bar and the party before them is a couple holes ahead, Steve relaxes. He starts to shoot better and actually takes a couple pulls of his drink. It’s a relief because Eddie already thought he blew it.

As it turns out, Steve is just a man with a little social anxiety. When it’s just the two of them, Eddie gets so much from Steve. He talks about his family the most, the little brother (who’s not actually a ‘real’ sibling, though Steve counts him as one) that’s been a pain in his ass most of Steve’s life, the niece and nephew he spoils incessantly. It’s a beautiful thing to experience a person so dedicated to the people around them.

Eddie tries to reciprocate by telling him about art school and the program he did throughout. He talks about the children’s book he wants to write, despite never spilling the beans of that to anyone else in the entire world. Uncle Wayne doesn’t even know the plot of Eddie’s dream work. For some reason, Eddie can’t stop himself from speaking so earnestly to Steve. It doesn’t hurt, however, that Steve is pretty candid with his words, too.

The only thing that Steve doesn’t talk about is himself. After the first date and then the second, Eddie chalks it up to nerves and taking things slow. He’s in deep already, so the change in pace is a welcome thing.

Except, it keeps happening the longer they’re together. Two dates turns to two months of dating, two months of Steve avoiding questions, two months of them never once setting foot in Steve’s apartment. Admittedly, the lack of personal details is a little off putting. Though, Eddie is eager enough to see where things might go with Steve that he pushes all of that aside. One day, one day really soon, Steve will open up.

It eventually happens, just not in the way Eddie ever thought it would.

For the first time in their entire relationship, Steve’s walking him towards his door. Well, he’s backing Eddie up against it because they can’t keep their hands off each other. Between their intense connection and the chemistry that runs rampant, Eddie’s been edging himself, waiting for this very moment. It’s a little much now that it’s happening but Eddie’s here for it, eager and willing, too. So much so that he doesn’t question Steve leaving off lights as they stumble inside.

Despite the time it took them to get here, Steve is anything but patient and inexperienced. He doesn’t fumble or miss buttons in the darkness of the room. His accurate attack gets Eddie out of his clothes in record time.

Instead of taking off his own, however, Steve immediately drops to his knees, eager hands finding Eddie’s cock without struggle. Long fingers wrap around the base while Steve’s other hand drops to Eddie’s balls. He rolls them at the same time the wetness of his mouth sucks in the head of Eddie’s cock. It’s so glorious, Eddie can do nothing but thread his fingers through Steve’s hair and pull him closer.

The suction is so good that Eddie has to dig the nails of his free hand into the fleshy skin of his palm. Drawing blood is the only thing stopping Eddie from shooting down Steve’s throat but it’s all too good to make him stop. At least, Eddie thinks that until the end is actually imminent. Then, he tugs on Steve’s hair, pulling him off as gently as possible.

“You’re way too good at that. Care for a little something more?” Eddie asks as Steve stands up from his spot on the ground. There’s a smile on his face, though Eddie barely recognizes it in the dark. He thinks to ask about the light but bypasses the urge – if Steve wanted them on, he would’ve flipped the switch as he passed.

Knowing that, Eddie is a little surprised that Steve takes off his clothes at all. Usually when a person liked to keep the lights off, they liked to keep their clothes on, too. Steve, it seems, is filled with contradictory worries and triggers. He sheds his clothes in the same manner he disrobed Eddie. It’s efficient and quick and soon, they’re both standing in front of each other naked as can be.

Steve doesn’t give Eddie much time to take him in. That self-conscious air is back, despite Steve covering it up by sliding his body on top of Eddie’s on the mattress. They fit together so well it’s difficult to keep up with anything at all aside slick slide of Steve’s hips as he grinds down against Eddie. Their cocks are both wet with pre-cum that makes each brush of their pelvises an electric thing. Eddie is already done in – he’s not sure how much more he can take.

There must be precognition in Steve’s life because he moves away from Eddie right as he thinks that. It’s both a torture and relief, one that’s only made better by Steve shifting his body so he can dig into the bedside table for a condom and some lube. The triumphant little noise he makes is kind of nice, too. It reorients Eddie back to the real reason they’re taking each other apart. He loves Steve. Steve loves him. Coming together like this is the ultimate culmination of their feelings for each other.

That thought echoes in Eddie’s head while Steve lubes up a finger, then leaves a dollop of the cool liquid on Eddie’s hip for later. When that finger breaches him, Eddie lets Steve project his love into him, feeling complete for the first time since things started between them. It’s satisfying and dizzyingly delicious.

Steve is very good at the things he’s doing to Eddie. His fingers take no time at all to find Eddie’s prostate. They nail the bundle of nerves tirelessly before not touching it again for many minutes on end, despite more digits coming to the party.

Eventually, three fingers barely skim against it by the time Steve’s getting antsy for more. Eddie too is right there with him.

“I’m good, Steve. I’m good. I need you, baby.”

A soft chuckle slips from Steve’s lips that are pressed against Eddie’s neck. While hands fumble between them, Steve kisses and nips little marks into soft skin, distracting them both from the lurid slip of a condom down Steve’s cock. Eventually a hard tip presses against Eddie’s entrance and the softest of whispers echoes in his head.

“I’ve got you, Eds. I’ve got you,” Steve mumbles, his words laced with lust and want and anticipation that reaches a peak as Steve finally presses inside.

It’s so difficult to keep his composure, Eddie doesn’t even try. He yells out a loud “fuck” that sits in the room with them. While Steve draws back and thrusts forward, Eddie clings to him. He runs his hands over Steve’s back and sides, tracing lines of something like scarring from one side of his torso to the other. If he was thinking straight, Eddie would’ve taken that all into account. Instead, he wraps his arms around Steve’s neck and lets the man drop even more weight upon him, distracting Eddie further.

When the end comes creeping near, Steve’s head is tucked into Eddie’s neck, his harsh breath like a tsunami’s wind. Eddie is hanging on the precipice, already able to cum for minutes now. He’s clutching to that edge just to make sure he tumbles off at the same time Steve does. It only takes a handful of thrusts and a cleverly placed bite of Steve’s teeth right above Eddie’s collarbone for both boys to free fall into the unknown abyss of immaculate pleasure.

Eddie must black out because the next time he blinks back to consciousness, there’s light streaming through Steve’s windows. There are curtains but each one is pulled back, letting in the light.

It’s then that Eddie sees them, the reasons behind Steve’s need to keep the lights off in front of Eddie. There are scars everywhere that Eddie can see. Some are long and thin while others look like something tried to take a bite out of Steve’s skin. The flesh is red and raised, though healed completely all the same. Eddie wants to reach out and touch but he refrains. Intimacy is a gift he doesn’t want to give away. Misplacing Steve’s trust in him is not at all what Eddie wants to do.

Already, it’s too late, though. Steve turns slightly, revealing more of the scars on his chest and neck. There’s a long line around his throat that Eddie is surprised he’s never noticed. It obviously hides well under all the clothes Steve wears. This time, he doesn’t tamp down the urge. His fingers brush up against Steve’s neck on their own accord.

“What happened, Steve?” Eddie’s eyes are welling up with tears. He can’t decide if he’s mad at whatever did this or overwhelmed with the need to care for the man before him. That must be clear – Steve doesn’t draw away or try to hide. He rolls over completely and pulls Eddie into his arms.

“It’s – really hard to explain,” Steve starts, his hand idly running up and down Eddie’s sides as they cuddle. “The town I grew up in, Hawkins – it made the news a bunch of times a few years ago.”

Sensing some familiarity, Eddie wracks his brain, trying to remember but New York is a long way away from Indiana. He still nods his head, willing Steve to go on.

“Some crazy stuff went down that you probably won’t believe. In the end, I took a beating to make sure my family got to see another day. I got… taken and the things that were trying to tear Hawkins apart, they did this to me. A couple times over.”

Steve’s a little breathless when he finishes. Despite not sharing all that many details, Eddie knows whatever he just purged from Steve is a lot. It’s something that’s stricken him down in unimaginable ways.

For all it’s worth, Eddie leans further into Steve, dragging him in a little closer. He doesn’t know what to say but that seems to be okay. Steve wraps him up tighter and lets the easy silence settle between them. Without noticing, both drift off again.

Between a nap and another round of amazing sex a while later, Eddie is famished when they eventually resurface to go about the rest of the day.

Steve volunteered to cook so Eddie wanders around the apartment. He takes in the comic books and CDs. There are toys in a box in a corner and a big tv box tucked into a nice looking stand. It’s simple and nice and totally not what Eddie expected at all.

Neither is the master’s degree Eddie sees hanging from the wall.

“Steve, you went to college? For longer than the mandatory four years?” Eddie’s voice is high, the shock clearly coming through.

Steve comes bounding around the corner, a spatula still in his hand. “What are you screaming about in here?”

Eddie takes a long breath and then another. He looks at the diploma on the wall and then back at Steve. “You never said you were a college boy.”

Laughing lightly, Steve shrugs his shoulders. “You never asked.”

“But – “ Eddie starts, his face flushing. The mere thought is too much. How can he ever say the words?

Steve, of course, beats him to it. “But what? But I’m a janitor? You know, Eddie – that’s pretty narrow minded of you.” The words hold no malice, despite the tone of Steve’s voice.

“I don’t like people or crowds. I have PTSD from all the trauma in my teens. Offices and university campuses are the Mecca of loud noises and large masses of other humans. Instead of putting myself into danger, I work a slow job that fits my complexities. It’s exactly what I need, Eddie. Kind of like you.”

The last sentence is enough to make Eddie’s head spin. He for sure thought he was getting a lecture where in fact he gets the opposite.

Steve strides towards his bookcase a determined look in his eye. He searches and skims his fingers over book spines until the right one is in his hands. “Read this. You might understand things a little better. I always told anyone who asked that the events weren’t real but they are. Everything I wrote down in that book is what me and my friends went through. All of it.”

Steve taps the top, looking directly at Eddie. “Read it, don’t read it. If you’re curious about me, you’ll find a lot of what you want to know between those pages.”

All the sudden, Eddie remembers where he heard the name Hawkins before, where he’d even been privy to Steve’s name prior to them meeting. Looking down at the book in his hands, Eddie distinctly remembers demogorgons and bats with tails that stung and ripped and tore. Quickly, Eddie riffled through the pages in order to get to the back cover.

There, in all his gorgeous glory, was Steve Harrington, not at all smiling at the camera. Reading into the bio, Eddie ticked off all the educational credentials that Steve has. Two master’s and a prestigious scholarship from the university he used to teach at. Despite himself, Eddie is surprised, yet not all at the same time.

Instead of continuing to read through the book in hopes of finding out more details, Eddie closes it and puts it back on the shelf where Steve found it. Sucking in a long breath, Eddie nods, then goes to join Steve in the kitchen. Now that the cats out of the bag, Eddie thinks he might enjoy learning more about his boyfriend strictly from the source himself.

As Eddie settles himself against Steve’s back, he allows himself to relax. Steve’s mystery is one Eddie can’t wait to pick apart. Until the clues lay themselves out for him, however, Eddie’s content to hold onto Steve tight and see where the road leads them. It’s too easy to be enraptured by a man that holds his hand while flipping pancakes with the other.

“Thanks,” Eddie whispers as the breakfast making commotion calms down.

Steve doesn’t ask him what he’s thankful for or demand an explanation. He simply pulls Eddie close and silently finishes breakfast.

Slow and steady.

Absolutely perfect in every way.

tag list (message if you'd like to be added): @infinite-orangepeel, @thefreakandthehair, @corrodedcoughin, @prettyboisteveharrington, @writer-in-theory

[nothwell]

Hello! I was wondering if you could share any tips on outlining, if you do so? I'm trying my second manuscript and I haven't found anything that really helps yet.

Hi there! So my outlining process has evolved over the past ten years since I first started writing Mr Warren's Profession. But the short version is: I write a book like sewing a quilt or patching a rip. I have a few key cathartic emotional beats I want to bring to life and I fill in the gaps between them with whatever is necessary to make the story make sense.

Beyond that, most of my outlining is just rapidly writing in brackets the absolutely necessary things a scene needs to get across and then going back and expanding on that in actual prose.

Examples from Mr Warren's Profession under the cut.

THIS SUMMARY:

[aubrey hits the pavement for new mills, old mills, counting houses, customs offices, considers moving to Liverpool, forgets to eat, etc., then gets a telegram from lindsey being like “miss ur faice” and goes to visit in london, telling himself he can also use the trip to look for london work; in reality he relishes every moment spent with lindsey, who lets him forget his troubles and relax.]

BECOMES THIS SCENE:

In Manchester the next morning, Aubrey shaved, dressed, and opened the door to go out before he remembered he’d been sacked. He stared into the empty hallway with unseeing eyes. Then he shut the door to put his head in his hands and think the problem over.

He had the whole day to himself. No responsibilities, no appointments, no schedule of any kind.

And he hadn’t the first idea what to do with it.

The day yawned before him, empty hour upon empty hour gaping into infinity. The thought of it made his stomach knot. His savings wouldn’t last forever.

One short trip out to buy a newspaper later, he pored over the help-wanted advertisements. There weren’t as many as he’d hoped. Still, he circled in pencil every business seeking a clerk. Tucking the paper under his arm, he ventured out into the city.

The first mill seemed promising. Its manager, Mr. Dobson, listened attentively as Aubrey recounted his relevant work experience.

“What did you say your name was?” Mr. Dobson asked when he’d finished. “Warren?”

“Yes, sir.”

Mr. Dobson frowned thoughtfully. “One moment.”

Aubrey waited as Mr. Dobson flipped through the documents on his desk. At length he produced a telegram and brought it close to his nose. His eyes flicked over the words. His frown deepened. He glanced back and forth between the telegram and Aubrey’s face. Then he put the telegram down on his desk, his hand over the text.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m afraid the position’s been filled.”

Aubrey mirrored his frown, confused, but thanked him for his time all the same.

Similar scenes played out in every subsequent office Aubrey visited. One manager shut the door in his face the moment he said his name. Another was less careful than Mr. Dobson in keeping his telegram’s contents secret. The body of the message remained hidden, but Aubrey caught the sender’s name. Block capitals spelt out SMITH.

Aubrey’s eyes widened. He corrected his expression and returned his gaze to the manager’s face in time to see a responsive flicker of fear in the man’s eyes.

The contents of the telegram were easy enough for Aubrey to guess. He forced a smile and cut the interview short. No sense in wasting the manager’s time, much less his own.

As he walked down the road away from the office, it took considerable effort to keep his chin up. Internally, his emotions volleyed between despair and rage. And yet, for all his anger, he knew he had no one to blame for his predicament but himself. Smith didn’t need to stretch the truth to give any prospective employer more than enough reason not to want Aubrey in their office.

When Aubrey reached the next business on his list, he stared up at the door and found he couldn’t muster the will to knock. He turned and started back for home. A hot packet of chips from a stall along the way improved his mood somewhat, but his mind remained overset by hopeless dread. Soon he wouldn’t be able to afford food at all.

Aubrey trudged up the stairs to his garret well after seven. He made a game attempt at reading The Engineer as he finished off his chips, but couldn’t focus. With a frustrated huff, he crumpled up the empty, greasy newsprint wrapper and chucked it into his wastepaper bin. Then he went to bed and lay staring up into the darkness.

Smith had destroyed all Aubrey’s hopes of future employment in Manchester. Aubrey didn’t want to leave the center of the industrial revolution, the home of Mechanics’ Institutes and engineering schools and the rush and roar of iron and steam. But Manchester was hardly the only city in England.

London, for example. London had hundreds of offices and counting-houses and businesses who’d never heard of Smith, much less received his telegram.

It also had Lindsey.

~

THIS SUMMARY:

[aubrey falls into a routine of go out, look for work, come home, eat a hot meal, retire to a warm bed, fuck his handsome boyfriend, and get up the next day to do it all over again. When the weekend arrives, lindsey invites him out to the theatre again. Aubrey points out he’s hardly dressed for it, lindsey offers to loan him clothes again or buy him a new suit outright.]

BECOMES THIS SCENE:

The next day, Aubrey boarded the train to London. The ride took up most of the morning. Aubrey spent it combing The London Star for potential leads. By the time he arrived at his destination, he had a list of offices to visit, sorted by neighborhood, arranged in a loop through the city which would bring him back to the station by seven and home in Manchester by midnight. Before he visited any of them, he stopped at the Post Office to mail a letter.

As he’d supposed, no one in London had heard of Smith. They’d also never heard of Mr. Jennings or Rook Mill. Despite this handicap, Aubrey made some favorable impressions. He felt much better about his prospects than he had the previous evening, and relaxed enough to nap on the train back to Manchester.

When he returned to his garret, he found a letter shoved under the considerable crack between the bottom of the door and the threshold. He picked it up with a smile, which widened as he opened the envelope and saw it was exactly what he’d hoped—a reply to the letter he’d sent Lindsey that morning.

The day after that, he made another trip to London, reading the same paper and making a similar list. But the labyrinthine route he planned didn’t return him to the train station. Instead, after walking the city from noon to dusk, he turned towards Belgrave Square and landed on Lindsey’s doorstep.

Mr. Hudson raised an eyebrow at his appearance—the mud and soot and smog hadn’t been kind to his only suit—but led him in to the library regardless. There, Lindsey sat reading a fat leatherbound volume. When he saw who stood in the doorway, he broke into a grin and leapt out of his chair.

“Aubrey!”

Relief washed over Aubrey as he returned Lindsey’s grin. He’d felt conflicted about inviting himself over Lindsey’s house. He hated to be presumptuous. Yet it gnawed at him to spend so much time in London and none of it seeing Lindsey. The letter he’d received in reply, while affirmative, retained the perfunctory tone required to give the impression that their relationship remained businesslike. As such, Aubrey couldn’t quite convince himself his presence was truly welcome.

Now, however, with Lindsey pulling him into a strong embrace, Aubrey had to admit he might be wanted.

Aubrey leaned into Lindsey’s shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his body, the secure hold of his arms across his back, and the gentle nudge of his chin against the top of Aubrey’s head. Lindsey loosened his grip to brush his fingers through Aubrey’s hair. Aubrey tilted his face up for a kiss, which Lindsey provided with enthusiasm.

“Did you have any luck?” Lindsey asked when he broke it off. “Are you hungry at all? Thirsty?”

“Tired,” said Aubrey, but he did so with a smile. “You?”

“Oh, fine as ever,” said Lindsey. “Please, sit—”

And Aubrey found himself ushered into a plush armchair with a glass of brandy by his elbow.

“Really,” Aubrey began, “you don’t have to—”

“Nonsense,” said Lindsey, dragging his own chair close to Aubrey’s. “Now, tell me everything.”

He put a hand over Aubrey’s, thumb rubbing across his knuckles. Aubrey turned his palm up to squeeze Lindsey’s in return, and told all. Lindsey’s hand clenched his as he described what Smith had done to his reputation in Manchester, but relaxed as he moved on to his greater success in London. Just as he finished, Charles arrived and announced dinner was ready.

“Dinner?” said Aubrey after Lindsey sent Charles on his way.

“Dinner,” Lindsey confirmed with a smile. It waned when Aubrey didn’t return it. “Is that not amenable to you?”

Aubrey, recalling his last dinner at Lindsey’s house, hesitated. “Won’t your sister mind?”

“She’s visiting Lady Pelham in Yorkshire. There’s no one here tonight but us.”

And the servants, Aubrey didn’t say.

But when he followed Lindsey to the dining room, the only servant there was Charles. The table was set far more simply than at the dinner party, with fewer courses and more familiar fare. Lindsey watched Aubrey carefully as the latter took his first spoonful of soup.

“Is it…?” Lindsey began after Aubrey swallowed.

Aubrey smiled. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”

Lindsey relaxed and dug into his own bowl with a fascinating combination of relish and decorum.

“What were you reading when I came in?” asked Aubrey.

Lindsey swallowed. “Poe. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Are you familiar with him?”

Aubrey hated to disappoint Lindsey with his ignorance, but he couldn’t pretend to know what he didn’t. “What sort of stories does he write?”

Far from looking disappointed, Lindsey perked up. “Promise you’ll stop me if I bore you.”

Aubrey nodded, and Lindsey launched into a passionate explanation lasting through dessert. He had his dessert spoon in hand, and had used to to poke at his sorbet no fewer than three times, but hadn’t brought any of it to his mouth—he kept pulling it away to throw his arms out wide in broad, emphatic gestures. Aubrey held back a fond smile at the sight.

“Doyle owes Poe a greater debt than he realizes,” Lindsey concluded. “No matter what Holmes would say on the matter.”

Aubrey supposed he ought to read it for himself, and said as much. Lindsey, who’d finally managed to sneak in a mouthful of sorbet, gulped it down to grin at him.

“What have you been reading?” Lindsey asked.

“Nothing so fantastical as Poe,” said Aubrey. “Just The Engineer.”

Lindsey shrugged. “I’m interested.” When Aubrey continued to hesitate, he added, “You’ve listened to me prattle on about Poe for the better part of two hours.”

But Aubrey, glimpsing the clock on the wall behind Lindsey, shook his head. “I ought to return to Manchester.”

Lindsey’s face fell. “What? Why?”

“Because that’s where I live.”

“Well, yes, but—it seems dashed inconvenient for you to travel all the way back there, just to return to London in the morning.”

Privately, Aubrey agreed. Aloud, he said, “What else can I do?”

Lindsey stared at him. “Stay here, of course.”

The offer lifted Aubrey’s heart to new heights. He swallowed hard to put it back in its place. “I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s hardly an imposition if I invite you.”

“After I’ve already invited myself over for dinner.”

Lindsey scoffed. “That’s not—dash it, surely you know you’re welcome here at any hour?”

Aubrey didn’t, actually. Such a notion hadn’t entered into his wildest fantasies. He knew he ought to respond with gratitude, but shock trapped the words in his throat.

When Aubrey failed to reply, Lindsey added, “I’m happy to host you for as long as you remain in London. Perpetually, if need be. It’d be my pleasure.”

Aubrey coughed. “Not perpetually. Just until I find employment. And a place of my own. Shouldn’t take more than a week.”

“It could take a decade for all I care,” Lindsey said with a laugh. It died when he saw Aubrey’s face at the thought of remaining unemployed for so long.

“A week,” Aubrey insisted.

Lindsey’s smile returned, weaker than before. “As you wish.”

Aubrey mirrored it more sincerely. “Thank you.”

They retired to the library after dinner. Lindsey happily handed his book over to Aubrey and selected another from the well-stocked shelves. Aubrey settled on one end of a long sofa. Lindsey stretched out on the remainder of it, the back of his head coming to rest on Aubrey’s thigh. Aubrey cast a bemused look down at him. It took Lindsey a moment to catch it.

“This all right?” he asked, peering up from his book with wide eyes, all the more ridiculous for being upside-down.

Aubrey bit back a laugh and nodded. Lindsey gave him a concerned frown in return.

“Are you sure?” he said, starting to sit up. “Do you need more room?”

But Aubrey put a hand on his forehead and gently pushed him back down. Lindsey acquiesced, his head rubbing against Aubrey’s thigh as he re-settled. Aubrey kept his hand on Lindsey’s curls and trailed his fingers through them as he read.

Aubrey hadn’t read fiction since he’d been a boy in the workhouse, piecing together scraps of improving penny literature donated to the Sunday schoolhouse years before. Poe proved leagues above anything churned out by the authors of Jessica’s First Prayer and Froggy’s Little Brother. Yet even the tension of The Fall of the House of Usher couldn’t keep Aubrey awake after the day—the week—he’d had. His eyes burned with exhaustion. He’d just made up his mind to soldier on without complaint when his half-stifled yawn caught Lindsey’s attention.

“Sorry,” Aubrey said in response to Lindsey’s quirked eyebrow. “It’s not the book, it’s—”

“—staying up past eleven after rising at five to tramp all over London on foot?” Lindsey ventured a self-deprecating smile.

Aubrey blinked at him, chuckled, then bowed his head in defeat.

Lindsey shut his own book, plucked Poe from Aubrey’s hands, and marked the page with a red ribbon from the library table drawer. Then he tugged the weary Aubrey up from the sofa, put an arm around his waist, and led him down the hall to bed.

The soft, warm bed began lulling Aubrey to sleep as soon as he crawled between its sheets. He stayed awake just long enough to feel Lindsey’s lean limbs curl around him. Then he was out.

He awoke the next morning with his cheek on Lindsey’s breastbone. He lifted his head from the steady rise and fall of Lindsey’s chest to gaze upon his sleeping face. The temptation of his parted lips proved too much for Aubrey. He crawled up to kiss them. Lindsey, half-waking, gave a hum of pleasure. Aubrey pulled away to watch his blue eyes flutter open.

“Good morning,” said Aubrey, unable to suppress a self-satisfied grin.

Lindsey echoed the sentiment and leaned in for another kiss. Aubrey happily complied, rearranging his hips to line up with Lindsey’s. As he’d suspected, Lindsey’s prick stood as ready as his own. They’d both gone to bed naked, which made it easy for Aubrey to frot their cocks together between their bellies. He grinned wickedly down at Lindsey as the latter’s throat bobbed in a swallow of eager anticipation. Then Aubrey rolled his hips. Lindsey arched his back and spent in short order. Aubrey’s crisis followed close behind.

An hour or so after a more drawn-out encore, Aubrey rose, washed, and dressed to hunt for work again. Lindsey, still abed and watching throughout, persuaded him to stay just long enough to gulp down a hot cup of tea and a biscuit. He couldn’t, however, persuade him to come back to bed, or to take a holiday from his quest.

Even after rising late and leaving Lindsey’s house later still, waking up in London rather than Manchester gave Aubrey an early start on his search for employment. He covered more ground than the two preceding days, following up on the more promising offices he’d visited on his first trip into the city.

When he returned to Belgrave Square that evening, Lindsey awaited him with a ready smile, a hot meal, and hours of fascinating conversation interspersed with quiet leisure. That night, Aubrey slept better than ever before, no doubt aided by the sweet release that came with clenching Lindsey’s cock between his own slick thighs.

The rest of the week fell into the same routine; Aubrey woke in Lindsey’s bed, marched all over London, and returned to Lindsey in the evening. Throughout the day, the thought of his Lindsey kept his chin up and a smile on his lips. He could happily spend forever like this—provided he found employment soon.

Saturday arrived. Aubrey rose at half-past six and began to dress. A low grumble from Lindsey stopped him.

“Where’re you going?” Lindsey mumbled, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

Aubrey, who’d bent to put on stockings, abandoned the effort with one off and one on. “To look for work.”

“On a Saturday?” Lindsey sat up and blinked at him. “Who’ll be hiring on a Saturday?”

“Plenty of people, or so I’m hoping. Most offices should be open for half the day.”

“Good God,” Lindsey groaned.

Aubrey bristled. “We can’t all afford to live on five days’ pay.”

“No, I know, it’s just—it doesn’t seem fair.”

“It isn’t. And yet, here we are.”

Lindsey sighed. “You’ll be back in the afternoon, then? We could attend the theatre tonight. Or the opera.”

Aubrey preferred the theatre, but a more pressing concern pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. “I haven’t anything to wear.”

“Borrow something of mine. Or if you return early enough, have a tailor come ‘round and take your measurements. It wouldn’t be ready for another few days, but you’d have it by next Saturday, and then we could…” He trailed off at the look on Aubrey’s face.

“I should probably find work before I buy a new suit,” said Aubrey.

Lindsey frowned in confusion. “I meant I would buy it for you.”

Aubrey had suspected as much. His eyes flicked over to his only jacket, hanging off the back of one of Lindsey’s chairs. Its battered, dusty elbows and frayed cuffs looked even more worn in the midst of all Lindsey’s luxuries. Aubrey couldn’t deny it needed replacing. A new suit might even better his employment prospects. And yet the thought of Lindsey spending so much tied Aubrey’s guts into knots. Knowing Lindsey was rich as any Rothschild did nothing to ease Aubrey’s conscience. The money might be meaningless to Lindsey, but it meant everything to Aubrey.

Rather than voicing any of his actual concerns, Aubrey replied, “I had a notion we might visit the Crystal Palace. They’ve got an electrical exhibition on.”

Lindsey would likely be terribly bored, but Aubrey wouldn’t need a new suit to attend.

To Aubrey’s surprise, Lindsey didn’t seem at all bored by the prospect. On the contrary, his face lit up as if it, too, were powered by electricity. He announced his delight at Aubrey’s suggestion and shrugged on a dressing gown to cross the room and give Aubrey a celebratory kiss. Aubrey found himself smiling in return as Lindsey ran a hand through his hair and on down his cheek.

~

THESE SUMMARIES:

[Aubrey finds a great clerking job at some kind of office and is about to start when he gets the telegram from mr. Jennings (goes back to Manchester to pack up his stuff? Which is still there because he’s paid up through the end of the month?). Aubrey is torn between the sensible option of clerking and the fantastical possibility of getting started on his dream job. Lindsey is like “FOLLOW YOUR HEART!” because he’s too rich to ever have to deal with reality. Still, the lure of engineering is too much for aubrey to resist, and so he returns to manchester]

[aubrey explains he doesn’t want to work under lindsey again; lindsey offers to sell the mill back to clarence; aubrey says that’s not fair to the rest of the workforce, plus he probably wouldn’t keep even a coal-passing job under clarence; explains that this London clerking gig is the first job he’s acquired without personal connections; feels he hasn’t ever really earned anything in life; lindsey’s like “okay sure let’s pretend your friendship with certain individuals gave you employment advantages; those advantages wouldn’t have done shit for you if you weren’t a hard worker. Would Smith have done half so well in your place?” and aubrey points out smith is doing exactly as well as him; better, in fact. Lindsey doesn’t have much to say to that, apart from: “Seems like your mind’s already made up; no coal-passing for you.” And aubrey’s like “yeah but…. Engineering…” and lindsey’s like “ah.” And aubrey falls all over himself trying to explain his reasoning and apologize to lindsey at the same time but lindsey’s just like “whatevs, FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS~!” and aubrey can’t quite believe anyone would say that and mean it sincerely but if anyone would it’d be his precious puppy lindsey. The dolt.]

[lindsey is like “never let someone else stop you from going for what you want most” and aubrey is like “oh yeah like ur dad and school” and lindsey’s like “well, yeah, that, and also…” and aubrey is confused about what else lindsey could want most that anyone would try to keep him away from and then he’s like “oh wait his friends and sister tried to keep him away from me” and then aubrey is overcome by the realization that he is what lindsey wants most and doesn’t really know what to do with this information—quick, cover up your emotions with physical displays of affection!]

BECOME THIS SCENE:

Despite spending most of the night and all the next morning’s train ride considering the problem, Aubrey came no closer to a solution by the time he reached Lindsey’s doorstep. He found Lindsey at breakfast, surprised at his early arrival but delighted to see him. Aubrey sat beside Lindsey as he was bid and made a valiant effort at returning Lindsey’s joyful expression, but could do little more than push his bacon around his plate.

“Is there anything else you’d prefer?” Lindsey asked.

Aubrey jerked to attention. “No, sorry, it’s—I haven’t any appetite.”

“Everything all right?” said Lindsey, frowning. A handsome frown, but the sight cause a pang in Aubrey’s chest regardless.

“Fine,” Aubrey hurried to reassure him.

Lindsey hesitated, then spoke again. “Forgive me, it isn’t that I don’t believe you, it’s just…”

“…you don’t believe me?” A wistful smile tugged the corners of Aubrey’s mouth.

Lindsey mirrored his expression. “If there’s anything I can do…”

“I’ll ask,” said Aubrey, the lie coming to his lips even easier the second time.

Lindsey’s forced smile did nothing to alleviate Aubrey’s guilt. Aubrey sighed and set down his fork.

“I received a letter from Mr. Jennings,” he said. Lindsey’s eyebrows rose against his reluctance to explain further, so he added, “He’s offered me a job as a coal-passer.”

“Excellent!” said Lindsey. “What’s a coal-passer?”

“The person responsible for keeping the engine fed.”

“Ah,” said Lindsey. “And this… distresses you?”

“I have to refuse,” said Aubrey. “A coal-passer doesn’t earn near so much as a clerk. And I can’t return to Manchester. Not when I’ve everything waiting for me in London.”

Lindsey nodded along, but his brows remained knitted. Aubrey returned to his plate. He poked a few morsels, then dared another glance at Lindsey, whose expression hadn’t changed.

“What?” said Aubrey.

“You don’t seem entirely at peace with that decision.”

Aubrey, unused to being so transparent, hurriedly dropped his gaze and replied to the table rather than to Lindsey. “It doesn’t matter.  I’m moving to London. I’ve a new job. A good job. I’d be an idiot to turn it down to shovel coal.”

The room fell silent, save for the tines of Aubrey’s fork scraping his plate as he stabbed at his eggs.

“Is it because coal-passing has more to do with engineering than clerking?” Lindsey asked.

Aubrey brought his head up sharp to regard Lindsey, whose confused frown had given way to concern.

“It does,” Aubrey admitted. “But that’s irrelevant.”

“But if you’d prefer it—”

“—then I’m an ass, and deserve to starve in the gutter, which is where I’ll end up if I—” Aubrey swallowed. “And besides, if I return to Rook Mill, I become your employee again.”

“I could sell it back to Clarence.”

Aubrey blinked. “What?”

“Clarence Rook,” said Lindsey. “If I return the mill to him, then you’d be his employee, not mine.”

Aubrey stared at him, unable to comprehend the notion of a massive property transfer for no other purpose than his personal comfort. “Mr. Rook would slash wages back to where they were when you acquired the mill. And he’d sack me again in the bargain.”

Lindsey appeared shocked. “Why would he do that?”

In lieu of explaining exactly what Lindsey’s dearest friend had imparted to Aubrey during their meeting, Aubrey replied, “Because I’ve a habit of violence towards my fellow staff.”

“Only under duress.”

Aubrey shook his head. “This clerking job—it’s the only one I’ve ever earned. Every other position I’ve held has resulted from personal connections. My—” Aubrey scrambled for the correct word. “—friendship with Mr. Jennings convinced him to hire me on as an office boy, and before that—the Post Office didn’t hire me for my brains.”

“Then they were fools,” Lindsey replied with conviction. “You’re brilliant.”

Aubrey’s instinctive protest stuck in his throat.

Lindsey spoke on. “Let’s pretend your friendship with certain individuals provided an advantage in seeking employment. What good would this advantage have done if you hadn’t proved yourself worthy of the positions you held? Would Smith have done half as well in your place?”

“Smith still has the job I was sacked from. I’d say he’s done better.”

Lindsey, who’d opened his mouth to continue, choked off whatever he’d intended to say.

Aubrey supposed he ought to feel victorious. He’d made his point and silenced his opponent. By the rules of logical debate, he’d won. Yet all he felt was a growing, gaping void in his chest. His soul threatened to sink into it.

Lindsey’s grimace became a sad smile. “Your mind’s made up, then. Clerking over coal-passing.”

“Yes, but—” Aubrey stopped himself.

“But what?”

“Nothing. It’s not rational.”

“To the devil with rational,” said Lindsey. “What is it?”

Aubrey forced the words out in a rush. “Clerking in London would be a step away from engineering. Likely forever. If I start as a coal-passer, I could learn on the job and advance to fireman, second engineer, engineer—”

“So become a coal-passer.”

“At what cost?” said Aubrey. “It wouldn’t be fair to Mr. Lawson. I’ve promised to start first thing on Wednesday.”

“What do you owe him? Write an apologetic letter and wash your hands of it.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to you!” Aubrey blurted.

Lindsey sat back and stared at him. “What?”

“If I return to Manchester, it’s farther from you—and we’ve already planned that I’d move to London so we might be—” Aubrey cleared his throat and looked to his plate, stabbing his eggs again. “It’s not fair to you to have me run off, not after you’ve been so obliging. Putting up with my nonsense.”

“What nonsense?”

“This,” Aubrey didn’t say. Instead, he replied, “You wanted to go to the theatre, and I dragged you all over the electrical exhibition.”

“I suggested we attend the theatre,” said Lindsey, enunciating each word with careful patience. “You suggested we visit the Palace. I agreed, and had a wonderful time. We both did. That’s not nonsense. You listen to my prattling about Poe and Braddon and Doyle and heaven knows what else. You overlook my blunders—”

Aubrey lifted his head. “What blunders?”

Lindsey half-smiled. “I asked you if you rode horses.”

“That’s—” Aubrey coughed. “Anyone could make that mistake.”

Lindsey’s sheepish smile broadened. “I gave you a calling-card case.”

Aubrey, who hadn’t realized Lindsey recognized his error, flushed scarlet. “And I cherish it!”

“You do?” Lindsey sounded genuinely surprised.

Aubrey thrust a determined hand into his jacket pocket and produced the object in question. Silver flashed in the morning sunlight. Lindsey stared at it. Then a tentative grin appeared on his face, and he closed his hands over both the case and Aubrey’s palm.

“My point,” he said softly, gazing into Aubrey’s eyes, “is I’m delighted to see you happy. And stricken to see you miserable. Engineering—if you could’ve seen your face at the exhibition!—it makes you so—” He shook his head. “I can’t bear to watch you throw that away. You shouldn’t let anyone stop you from striving for what you want most. Least of all me.”

Aubrey’s reply—that Lindsey was what he wanted most—stilled on his tongue at Lindsey’s tone. It sounded as though Lindsey knew precisely how it felt to be kept from his most heartfelt desires. What could prevent one of England’s richest, handsomest bachelors from having everything he wanted, Aubrey couldn’t fathom. He thought back on what Miller and Graves had told him of Lindsey’s school days. That must be what Lindsey meant; his father keeping him from school, and his friends shielding him from romantic developments.

Then Aubrey recalled why Graves and Miller had wanted to speak with him in the first place. Why Rook and Miss Althorp had done the same. Every person in Lindsey’s life wanted Aubrey out of it. And Lindsey wanted—

Aubrey.

Lindsey wanted Aubrey most of all.

The revelation swept over Aubrey, flooding his mind with panic.

“Are you all right?” Lindsey asked.

Aubrey didn’t trust himself to speak. He stood and closed the short distance to Lindsey’s chair. Lindsey looked up at him, his stunning blue eyes wide in confusion. Aubrey closed his own and swooped down to press a ferocious kiss on Lindsey’s parted lips. Lindsey returned it with equal passion. When the awkward position grew too much to bear, Aubrey pulled back to rest his forehead against Lindsey’s.

“I suppose I’ll be an engineer,” said Aubrey, still not daring to open his eyes.

Lindsey kissed him again. “A brilliant one.”

Aubrey laughed and nuzzled Lindsey’s throat.

~

Nowadays my outline looks like writing out almost the entire scene in brackets, then going back and editing out the brackets, fixing the tenses, and cleaning it up until it's prose.

I'd compare it to learning to draw. At first the sketch and the final drawing look wildly different. But if you put the hours into sketching, eventually the sketches themselves become final drawings and you have to do very little to "finish" them.

Hoping any of this was helpful to you, and thank you for asking!

[gravedigginbbydoll]

pencil shavings and shared smiles {pt.1}

Fem! Teacher Reader x Teacher! Eddie

Masterlist Next

AN: Heyo! So I was watching Abbott Elementary and got sad, so there’s that. Hopefully, this will be a multiple-part thing but do not expect regular updates. I am a busy gal, lol. Also not heavily edited!

WARNINGS AND CONTENT: Minors DNI!!!, Noncanon, Hawkins AU, Normal Hawkins, Rumors about Eddie, Eventual Smut, Very fluffy, Outcasts and Bullying, Mentions of Loneliness, Flirting, Fem!Reader, use of Y/N, older! Eddie, short-haired Eddie, 1995/1996 Hawkins, F! Reader has a dark past, angst.

Summary: The last thing anyone expected Eddie Munson to do once he graduated was to go off to get an Education degree. Now he’s approaching 30 and the coolest music and drama teacher in Hawkins. Enter you, a new teacher at Hawkins Middle School. You moved to the little sleepy town of Hawkins from the city, hoping to give kids joy in learning while also settling into a calmer town. You meet Eddie while moving your stuff into your classroom, and he piques your interest. But people talk, and you can’t help but wonder…Is he the monster they claim he is?

You walk through the doors, arms heavy with the large box full of posters and decor for your classroom. You walk briskly through empty hallways, cursing yourself for not asking the nice older woman working the front desk for some assistance. Finally, you turn one of the labyrinth hallways into what should be your hall. English. You sigh out of relief. For such a small town and school, you felt as though the hallways went on forever. You’re about to turn into your room when you hear rambunctious laughter and shouting from a nearby hallway. Your curiosity is peaked. It’s late in the summer. Most teachers are here to set up, but some are home, enjoying the days before the school year starts. 

You scurry to put your box haphazardly in your classroom, the only one devoid of posters and books. You then walk as quietly as you can in your heels, the soft clicking against the tile almost silent with all the excitement in the classroom. Finally, finally, you reach a point where you can peek into the door, seeing the back of a man dressed in a dark flannel, the sleeves rolled up so you can see the tattoos littering his skin and rings on his hands, his nails painted a chipped black. His hair is wild and wavy, cut shorter on the sides and longer on top. He speaks animatedly to a group of young kids, all of them seemingly 13 or 14. They look at him with stars in their eyes, and it tugs at your heartstrings. 

“So upon the last blow by Lady Eda,” He gestures to the petite girl to his left, her hair in colorfully beaded twists, her shy grin with a mouthful of rainbow braces. The rest of the kids sit on the edge of their seats, awaiting the following words. “The mighty and powerful dark wizard is laid to rest!” The kids erupt in joy, shouting and jumping out of their chairs, a few members hugging the petite girl you assumed was ‘Lady Eda.’ The mysterious man clears his throat again, and the kids rush to their chairs and sit intently. “You are cheered on by the crowd of townspeople, all leading you to the tavern, where you sing and dance the night away. The town is now free of his evil. Congrats, heroes.” He speaks warmly in his raspy tone, the kids in front of him beaming and seeming to burst with joy. “And with that-” He puts down a folder and folds up some journals, “We finish the campaign.” He gets up, showing you the distressed and torn jeans and combat boots on his lower half. “Now get out of here, twerps. I’ll see you with the new fish soon. You can show them the ropes.” The excited chatter continues; the kids grab their bags and stuff their things in them. They all hurriedly leave the classroom, finally noticing you and seeming to tone their excitement, nodding a ‘hello ma’am’ to you, except for ‘Lady Eda.’ She sticks behind, enveloping the man in a tight hug as he chuckles and hugs her back, leaning down and gently telling her to enjoy the rest of her summer. She nods excitedly, running out the doors after her friends, barely noticing you. 

You peer out of the shadows, knocking on the door frame, seeing the man gather up his stuff and mutter at a volume so low you almost miss it, “Fucking Doyle.”

You furrow your brows and smile a bit, amused by the mystery of this man and his evident hatred for a teacher you knew was in your hallway. “I’m no Doyle, but it’s nice to get a feel for who I should avoid,” you joke, your tone light. 

The mystery man attempts to stand up quickly from his bent position of picking up things, hitting his head on the edge of a desk, “Oh- I- Shit!” 

You fight a smile, biting your lip at this man who’s quite a character. You expected mostly bored housewives and businessmen in Hawkins, but it was shaping up to shock you quite a bit. 

He carefully got up this time, holding a hand against his head and spinning on his heel. His big brown doe eyes and a slight smattering of freckles make your heart jump a bit. He had smile lines and a shy smile, his facial hair short and scruffy. You feel your cheeks heat. Fuck. You didn’t expect a young man around your age who was so damn attractive at Hawkins Middle School, of all places. 

His face broke out into a shy crooked grin as he walked towards you, a hand held out towards you. “Hi. I’m Eddie Munson. You can just call me Eddie. I teach music and drama. I also run the DnD club here- that’s what the kiddos were doing here.” 

You shake his hand gently, feeling the calloused fingertips against your palms. “Hi. I’m Y/N Y/L/N. You can call me Y/N. I’m teaching English. I’m down that way,” you point back towards your hallway. 

He nods, smiling, removing his hand from yours gently. “Well, nice to see someone younger than the dinosaurs in that hallway.” 

You snort, feeling heat creep across your skin immediately and covering your mouth. “Sorry- Is it really that bad?” 

He nods, and his face molds into a false sorrow and pity expression. “I heard that Mrs. Winnow was around at the birth of Christ.” 

You snort again, another laugh bursting as you smile at Eddie. “You’d think with that kind of life, she’d be teaching history, wouldn’t you?” 

Eddie grins devilishly, shaking his head. “Nah, she’d immediately make all the other teachers obsolete. They need their jobs.” 

You grin, your heart pattering with joy at the young coworker. You were glad to find someone in a similar age range. So far, you only met your neighbors in your rundown apartment, who were around 40, and a few coworkers, who were above 50. 

Eddie cocks his head at you, leaning against the doorway, his arms crossing his chest, covering his distressed Metallica concert shirt. “So, you’re new to Hawkins, huh?”

You laugh humorlessly, sighing, looking up at him. “That obvious, huh?”

He smiles softly, an expression reading I’m sorry. “Eh, most of us grew up here. It’s not a town that people are really flocking to. So what brings you here?”

You fiddle with a loose thread on your blouse, biting your lip. You don’t want to say too much, so you shrug and smile. “I wanted some change from the big city. So I closed my eyes, spun around, and pointed at a map. Lo and behold, fate decided Hawkins.” 

He nods and still has a crooked smile as he turns, grabbing up his messenger bag full of items you assumed he used for the campaign. “Well, let me know if you want to meet some living humans, not fossils. I have a few friends here, and none are quite at retirement age yet.” He grabs a piece of paper he had about, jotting on it quickly, then handing you the parchment, smiling. “My number. In case you want to take me up on the offer.” 

You pocket the number, looking up to thank him. You look up, and his back is turned toward you as he exits the school, lifting his hand and waving while calling over his shoulder, “Bye, city girl! Good luck with the fossils.” 

You fight a smile as you walk back to your classroom, your fingers brushing the parchment in your pants pocket. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once you set up your classroom, sweat dripping down your forehead, you realize you have no books for your bookshelf. You frown, biting your lip. The classroom looked terrific, with posters for books you felt were classics and a few inspirational ones. With soft lamps and lights along with the desks arranged, you should be satisfied. You curse yourself, knowing a teacher’s salary is not enough to splurge on books, but you can’t help but hate how only the textbooks are on the shelf. You head out of the school, determined to get more leisure reading books for your future students. 

You head to a local bookstore, fondly named ‘Hit the Books.’ An older man with small glasses is behind the counter explaining to a very disinterested edgy teen how to use the register. You look at the expansive store, surprised how it could stay open in such a small town with so few customers. Next, you head over to the Young Adult and Children’s section. You grab a few books, holding them in your arms as you walk from aisle to aisle. Eventually, your stacked up to your chin with books, struggling to hold them. You hear a chuckle behind you and cautiously turn, waddling like a penguin to avoid spilling novels everywhere. 

There stands Eddie, his grin clear as day. He’s missing his flannel, now just in a short sleeve, his tattoos in full view and adding to his grungy look. “You need help? It seems like you’re carrying a library there.” 

You feel heat travel across your skin and shake your head, backing up a little, “I got it-” You almost trip, Eddie catching you by your shoulder, and his eyes twinkle with amusement. 

“I think I’ll help anyway,” He grabs half of the stack of books, his own at the bottom. You spot ‘Merlin’s Woods,’ a book you recognized as one that had been among the fantasy books for teens and children. You fight a bit of a smile at this, Eddie helping you to the register. The young teen girl lights up at his appearance, her thick black eyeliner exaggerated by her wide blue eyes. The older man, however, looks on in a bit of disdain, making you frown slightly.  

“Mr. Munson! How’s it going?” The young girl asks, clearly more alert than before, ringing up your books along with Eddie’s. You’re about to interrupt her and let her know you’ll pay for your own when Eddie squeezes your hand without looking at you, smiling and catching up with the girl. Eddie then looks at you after paying, a smile on his lips. 

“Do you need help lugging out this library to the car-”

The older man, still gruffly bothered by Eddie’s presence, shoves a box in the young girl’s arms and hands Eddie his book. “Don’t worry, Mr. Munson; Julia can handle it.”

The young teen Julia looks at the older man in protest, her brows furrowed. “Mr. Munn, I’m supposed to work the -” 

He cuts her off, holding up a hand. “Shush. Go help the missus with her books.” 

She groans, mumbling as she stacks the books in the box. You look to Eddie, his smile faltering as he looks at you, holding his book. Something tells you the bookstore worker does not like Eddie. Something else tells you that Eddie knows. You open your mouth to say something before Eddie clears his throat, glancing at Mr. Munn. 

“I guess I better head out. I’ll see you around,” He says softly, smiling at you gently before turning and quickly jogging to a motorbike outside. You watch him sling a leg over the bike and drive away, feeling a twinge of hurt and sadness. It may not have been your fault, but you couldn’t help but feel for Eddie. 

“Careful with who you surround yourself, Miss. That Munson boy is trouble. He may have straightened out a bit since heading to college, but he is still a bit delinquent. Be careful,” The old man gruffly tells you, pointed looking at you over his glasses. “You look like a nice girl.” You feel your skin prickle with disdain and heat travel from the back of your neck across your chest. Nice girl. You hate that phrase. It meant docile. Obedient. You ignored the older man’s stare, turning towards Julia. 

“C’mon, my car is out here.” You lead the young disgruntled teen toward your modest, rundown car, opening the trunk. She huffs as she places the box in the back, clearly heavy for her small frame. You close the trunk and turn towards her, about to utter a thank you, when she stares hard at the floor and kicks a small pebble before sighing. 

“Mr. Munson isn’t a bad guy. Just so you know,” she softly says, looking up at you, her big eyes full of sincerity. 

You nod and smile softly, “I figured. But do you mind me asking why Mr. Munn is so set against him?” You tilt your head at her, and she huffs out a breath, annoyance at the older man clear across her face. 

“Some dumb old rumors the geezer still believes from the ’80s. Mr. Munson was the town’s troublemaker and outcast. There are a lot of crazy rumors about him. I don’t think they’re true, but he never tries to disprove them. He came back to help outcasts feel safe at school. Give them a teacher to trust,” The young girl’s voice is thick with emotion, and you can picture she was one of the outcasts Eddie helped. It pulls at your heartstrings. 

“Well, thank you, Julia. I appreciate your help. And don’t worry, I won’t listen to the rumors,” You playfully wink at the girl as she weakly smiles and waves goodbye before retreating into the small shop. 

You climb into your car, starting up the engine as you bite your lip and wonder… 

Who really is Eddie Munson?

[nvrcmplt]

listen i know sunday passed but if ayalon does NOT get to suck luan off, he will literally crumble into a million pieces and cry .

It made him laugh, as his stomach fluttered with moths in its centre. Hands low to hold Ayalon's head to his stomach, messing up his two-tones with fingers combing through as they whined with the same needs as most nights. Luan knew the man wasn't starving or dying, if anything the tone was needy - and Luan didn't feel that sadistic to deny his moth that attention. After all - it's been a whole day of moving things around.

Luan showing Ayalon his hidden cameras, sharing their own personal AV's with a wink and romp in the sheets afterwards. Teasing Ayalon about leaking them for his own amusement, but mostly - giving the edited versions to Ayalon to enjoy in his own time.

Luan then took a long shower, removing hair-dyes from his mangled locks, returning to his more straw hue of blond and rubbing his body pristine and clean. Trimming strands and shaving nearly all forms of hair off his body. Though not down there, that itched like a bitch and he wasn't up for the messing around - thankfully he was already trim from his faux-profession before.

Air-drying and relaxing in his stable boots whilst he fixed his piercings into place and stroked lotions in his flesh - it was in little time that Ayalon's needs were in demand. Donning the common blouse and literally nothing more - he was caught soon enough. Now - he was laughing at the other, but not from pity or anything, but to still the excitement bubbling in his own blood.

Now at his God's mercy almost, Luan really enjoyed the sight of them below them like this, the smell of ink and pencils was a staple in the apartment now - telling Ayalon to relax whilst he finishes things off and takes a few calls to sort things out on their end for his escape. "You big drama queen." Came his comment, amused as his fingers tugged politely at roots and knee nudged them back onto their floor cushion - just enough to let himself step back and rest his rear on the sofa's arm. Thighs part, hiding nothing as his hands smoothed to his hip to run his fingers like spider-legs against the fabric to pull it apart with a smile. "Since you've been waiting for so long…" His hand was gentle in lifting his flaccid shaft, stroking digits delicately down the upside with a low hum.

Lashes fluttering as his other hand rose up his stomach, tugging the shirt with it to gently tug at the latest metal hoop upon his nipple - that made him stifle a noise with teeth in his lip. "I'm all yours."

[redrosesandforgetmenots]

Through Your Eyes

Pretty Little Liars (Chapter Four)

3,974 words

The storage closet of Art Room B was quiet, the stiff air smelling like oil paint with a lingering under current of pencil shavings and paper. Tweek was tucked away into a corner, working on the project that would make or break his grade this semester- a mixed media project meant to "evoke the image of the written word." He sometimes wanted to know what was going through his teachers head when she assigned this type of shit.

He had chosen to depict a poem from "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins. And was trying to figure out what picture from a magazine evoked the word "coalescing." Tweek gently pulled the magazines out of his bag, the folder Craig had given him earlier falling out as well. Distracted by remembering its existence, he opened it, curious to see what he had dropped.

He was immediately greeted by Craig's face, the half finished portrait of the boy who sat next to him in first period. Tweek quickly closed the folder, flushed. Craig had seen it? It was the first thing in the folder that the other had assembled. Questions flooded his mind. Is that why Craig came out to him? Did he think Tweek had a crush on him? Did him coming out mean he had a crush?

Tweek quickly shoved the folder back in his bag, turning his attention back to the magazines. He stared blankly at the images in question, but his mind was still racing with thoughts about Craig. Soon the bell rang, and he made his way into the actual classroom, quickly zipping past everyone on their way out and running to Wends' locker. 

Thankfully, they were actually there, in an animated conversation with Stan. Tweek stood behind the dark haired boy, not saying anything. Luckily he was quickly spotted. "TT?" Wends asked, looking behind Stan.

"Hey, Tweek! We were just talking about this weekend-" Stan noticed Tweek absolutely shaking, his breathing ragged. "... You okay man?"

"I-Im- What if I like Craig?" Wends expression went vacant, eyes empty as they measured their response.

"That … would be okay. But hes… I don't think you know him well enough to like him." Wends pointed out, before mustering up a pitiful smile. "I'm not sure he's exactly boyfriend material, T…"

"Craig's a dick!" Stan exclaimed.

"I know." Tweek replied bluntly. "B-but I could get to know him better!" Wends and Stan shared a glance.

"... Well dude… I know parties aren't your thing, but … my dad's taking my mom to a cannabis convention so I have the farm to myself. I was gonna have a little get together. I could invite Craig, if you want?"

Tweek paused for a moment. He knew Stan meant the best, but he was also inviting Bebe and Eric, so chances were their little get together would become a full on rager, and that was absolutely not his scene. But if Craig went, it'd be a nice neutral place to talk. "I'd be okay with that." 

"Cool! Chances are he won't show up unless I invite the other guys he hangs with… I guess this little party isn't going to be that little." Stan said, looking to Wends, who shrugged. With who he was inviting, it didn't seek like it ever would've been in the first place. 

"Charge a door fee, see who still shows up," Tweek joked, before the bell started ringing. He quickly scurried to his next class, dodging others in the hallway.

*****

"Its not l-like it's a full on date Bebe, i-its just a party!" Tweek had once again been dragged out shopping. This time it was just the two who were out thrifting, Bebe holding an assortment of women's blouses up to Tweek, attempting to visualize him in them.

"Mmm… this isn't gonna work, you're gonna have to actually try stuff on." Bebe said, putting her choices into the cart. "And besides, Craig dressed up to give you your papers back! You need to like, return the favor?"

Tweek shrugged. "He probably had s-something else to do, or he just ran out of clean laundry-"

"I've seen Craig wear the same exact shirt for a week straight. And there definitely wasn't anything else going on today, I would know!" Bebe pointed out. She went to the sweater section next, pulling out a mint green cardigan. "Cute… but not super you. Yknow?"

"That colour is f-fucking ugly." Bebe gasped in faux shock, horrified by his hatred for pastels. 

"Excuse you, it's almost spring! You really need to experiment with florals, or something." She pulled another cardigan off the rack. Brown, with little crochet leaves hanging off it in various shades of green, vines giving it more texture as they ran parallel down the front and sleeves. It looked handmade.. Tweek had to admit he liked it. They put it in the cart.

"OK so like… cargo pants are not going to go with my Spring Awakening forest academia vibe I'm trying to go for..  how do you feel about shorts."

"Abhorrent." Tweek replied, but was dragged over to the rack anyway, this time on the men's section. 

Bebe huffed. "You're not being a very good dress up doll!" She joked, pulling a pair of very short corduroy shorts off the rack. They matched the brown of the cardigan, but Tweek shook his head. Who would ever want to see that much of his legs? "Pleeeaaaassseee at least try them on? You'll be so cute!"

"Im n-not supposed to be cute, Bebe." Tweek replied, "I-Im trying to not get peoples attention." He already looked weird enough.

"Okay but, do you wanna look cute for Craig?" She asked, putting the shorts in the cart. Tweek flushed, but didn't push any further. He had to admit, he regretted not putting in any effort today. He literally just picked the same sweater from yesterday off the floor because he knew it was still mostly clean from being washed two days ago. Should he have worn a button down too today? No- he could never get the buttons right. Which was concerning considering how many of them were in the cart right now. 

Bebe rifled through them, picking out one that looked pretty sheer, it was white, and had way too many ruffles for Tweek's liking. They lined the collar, down the front, and the ends of the sleeves. "It's not perfect," she said, "But I have an idea!" She handed him the shorts, shirt, and cardigan. "Go try these on right now!" Tweek groaned, but did as asked, entering the dressing room.

There was a slew of hangers already in the dressing room, and the mirror was cracked on one side. Still, it would work. Tweek changed as quickly as possible, avoiding his reflection before stepping back outside for Bebes reaction. He hid in the door frame, pulling down the hem of the shorts. They couldn't even make it past the middle of the middle of his thighs. 

"You look so perfect!" Bebe replied, but swooped in to make adjustments. She tucked the top into the pants and thankfully did up the cardigan. It left only about an inch of shorts hanging out the bottom of it, and Tweek glanced down to his bony, bruised knees with a grimace. "Okay, so I'm gonna take this blouse, wash it obvi, and then dye it green. So then for jewelry-"

"No." Tweek stopped her in her tracks. He was already uncomfortable enough, the party was bound to be overstimulating, the last thing he needed was the feeling of accessories. "Th-this isn't girls go games, Bebe. I-I was just gonna wear jeans and a t shirt or something. This is… i-its too much."

Bebe was pouting. "Okay… no jewelry, I can do that but please, please at least come in with this? We can bring you a change of clothes, I promise! But you'd look so good next to me and Wends in our matching sweater dresses!" Tweek sighed, but relented. 

"A-as long as I can change … c-can we go now?" The music was loud, and the smell was really starting to get to him, it made his exhaustion feel all the more prominent. 

"Totally, thanks for doing this, TT! You're like, the first customer in my new stylist business!" She joked. Tweek quickly went into change back, ignoring the mirror once more. Now he was gonna smell like thrift store all day… hopefully Bebes trip to Ulta wouldn't take that long, he desperately wanted a shower.

Tweeks phone buzzed in one of his pockets, and he pulled it out as he exited the dressing room.

Unknown Number:

Have a good weekend everyone! Enjoy the party, I'm sure it's gonna be killer!

-L

Okay, what the actual shit? Tweek rolled his eyes and blocked the number. How cheesy, who even signed their texts anymore?

The shopping trip wrapped up with relative ease, and Tweek and Bebe made it to Wends house for the pre party sleepover. 

*****

"But, are you sure you like like him?" Marjorine asked while Bebe was pushing Tweeks cuticles back. Tweek groaned.

"I-I don't know! He's just- AGH! This is too much pressure!" Tweek pulled his hands away from Bebe to grab at his hair. He wasn't sure how the topic of his liking of Craig came about, but he wanted this conversation to be over. 

"Isn't he straight?" Nichole asked, looking up from the TV where she and Heidi were trying to figure out a movie to watch. Tweek simply buried his head in his hands, refusing to answer. He knew Craig wasn't, but that wasn't anyone else's business. He was good at keeping secrets- he'd kept his parents for long enough after all. 

"Didn't he have that crush on that kid with tourettes in the fourth grade?" Heidi offered.

"Craig is definitely gay." Red piped up, "at every family reunion it always gets brought up. He's never had a girlfriend, at least."

"Guys! It's uncouth the speculate on someone's sexuality!" Wends said, "... but I remember in fifth grade he held hands with Tweek all the time until Cartman called him… well, you know."

"Fags?" Tweek replied for them, before letting out a sigh. "I-i mean.. he's always been like that though! H-he was a very clingy kid."

"To you," Nichole said, "I don't remember him ever holding hands with Tolkien or Jimmy."

"H-he held hands with Clyde!"

"Yeah, but Clyde was a cry baby. I mean like, I get it after his mom died, but it's like he never stopped." Bebe replied, gently taking Tweeks hand again to finish her task.

"Well, I think Craig's just afraid of what other people will think! And you can't live your life that way!" Marjorine said with a smile. "And I think all the fellas just gave him shit because they're too afraid of themselves."

"Well said," Wends said, handing Marjorine a bag of Cheesy Poofs. 

"C-can we just not talk about Craig tonight?" Tweek asked, and all the girls nodded and replied in agreement. 

*****

Craig couldn't believe he got dragged to a lame party and Stan's house. He would have absolutely said no, if Stan hadn't promised that Tweek would be there. Now he was in the living room, sitting on the couch with Kenny and Jimmy as they passed a blunt back and forth. 

He still hadn't seen Tweek, but honestly he was just trying to zone out the overly loud music and chatter around him. Thankfully the lights were dimmed, but he still could hardly think. "..  I wanna go home." He mumbled, more to himself than anything.

"H-hang on, the girls aren't even-arent even here yet!" Jimmy replied, before taking a hit. That was a lie. There were plenty of girls at this party, but he knew which ones Jimmy meant. 

"Yeah dude! And they're bringing the tweeksterrrrr!" Kenny replied, sing songing the nickname for Tweek in a teasing tone. "And I heard from Marj that he's gonna look super hot tonight." Craig rolled his eyes, leaning back. He guess he could at least hold out to see Tweek, then go home…

The door swung open, letting in a blast of cold air. Bebe, Wends, and their friends all entered in, Tweek bringing up the rear, wearing the shortest shorts he'd ever seen. Wasn't he freezing? Still, Craig took a long, appreciative look at his legs. They were pale, and covered in light blonde hair and bruises- they looked like they were sculpted out of marble… at least to Craig. Tweeks internal monologue was far less kind.

"Everyone is looking at me- these shorts are too short, I'm fucking freezing! Are my legs turning blue? Oh god fuck everyone can see my goosebumps they must look so gross-" Tweek's mind rant was cut short when he made eye contact with brown eyes from across the room. The door closed behind him,but he didn't move to get closer inside. He and Craig stared at each other for a moment, before Craig finally made a move to get up. 

"...Hey." Craig greeted, feeling much less confident on his feet than he had sitting down. He finally felt the full effects of the weed hitting him, and he was probably staring a little too intensely at the shorter blonde in front of him. 

"Hey…" Tweek greeted back, wrapping the cardigan tighter around the sheer green blouse underneath it. Luckily the cardigan covered everything, but it still made Tweek nervous.

"You look cold." Craig said simply. "Do you want a blanket?" He had no fucking clue where the Marshs kept their spare blankets, but he could figure it out.

"Uuuhh… kinda.. kinda wanted to get a drink first? Maybe a snack or something?" Tweek couldn't give a shit about snacks right now. Truth be told he wanted the blunt sitting plainly in Kenny's hand, but he needed to get a scope of the party first. At least make the rounds before bailing. 

"Oh… yeah, for sure. I'll come with you." The song changed, playing Speed Drive by Charli XCX, which effectively got most people dancing. Craig absent-mindedly took Tweeks hand to lead him through the surprisingly thick crowd and into the kitchen. Thankfully it was mildly quiet, Stan and Kyle having a conversation by the fridge withstanding. There was a good amount of alcohol on the kitchen counter, mostly stolen from Randy's stash. 

"What did you want?" He asked, dropping Tweeks hand, who looked at them briefly, before grabbing a beer off the table. "Gross… that's all?"

Tweek shrugged, "I'm a simple man." Craig cracked a smile, before pouring midori into a mountain dew. "That's disgusting…"

"You have your drinks, I got mine." Craig replied, now secured with his stereotypical red solo cup. "Wanna head back out to Kenny and Jimmy?"

"... Not really? I-i mean… it's kinda loud in here, man." Tweek replied, shifting from foot to foot as he looked around. 

"I brought my car. I'm sure we could just sit in it with the heater on and smoke." Craig replied. "Come back in when we're good and stoned."

"... I'd like that. Yeah…" Tweek replied, grabbing another beer. Just in case he finished it in the car. Craig took Tweeks hand again to lead him outside, out to his shitty PT Cruiser. 

"So…" Craig started once they were inside with the heater blasting, and he pulled out a joint from his pocket in a plastic baggie. "You look really nice tonight."

"... Thanks man." Tweek replied, and Craig could swear he saw Tweeks cheeks redden in the dim light. "I never dress like this though… i-its um… I-I'm pretty cold?" Craig passed him the joint, and finally noticed the polish on the others fingers.

"Did you paint your nails?" Olive green had been perfectly manicured onto them, with flecks of gold sitting on top.

"Ummmm… B-Bebe did, actually. Said my outfit needed more green tones." Tweek pulled his hand away protectively, before taking a hit off the joint. 

"Maybe she can do mine sometime." Craig replied, showing off the manicure he'd done in sharpie. It was mostly faded by now, but the black was still managing to just barely hang on. "I think nail polish is pretty cool."

"Damn, you really are gay." Tweek said without thinking, immediately shutting his mouth and looking towards Craig, who was… laughing? He didn't seem to be upset at all.

"I mean… yeah I guess… I mean I had to think about it and..  I guess everyone else realized before I did, and that sucks ass but, I am pretty damn gay." He locked eyes with Tweek again, his gaze hazy. "And you look really pretty…"

"You are so stoned right now!" Tweek replied, going to take a few more sips of his drink. The way Craig was looking at Tweek made him feel butterflies, but he was so obviously high out of his mind- he couldn't really mean it, right?

"Tweek… I am so serious. You're the prettiest boy in the whole damn school I swear- you-you..  fuck man, I don't know what I'm saying."

"...Clearly." Tweek replied. "I-I'm just going to smoke the rest of this, if you don't mind." 

Craig nodded, focusing more on his drink instead. He still stared at Tweek, his eyes drinking in the way moon light looked on him. It highlighted the curve of his nose in pale light, caressing his gaunt cheekbones and long eyelashes. He even looked pretty smoking a joint, his lips wrapping around it in a way that made Craig's recent realizations about his wants prove more than true. "You look like an angel," he said after a while of silence, feeling the warmth of the alcohol fill him.

"D-dont say cheesy shit like that man!" Tweek replied with a laugh, "I'll think y-you have a crush on me or-or something!" The joint was almost done, looking like it was down to the tips of Tweeks long fingers. Piano hands, Craig remembered.

"Do you still play piano?" He asked quietly, now staring at Tweeks hands.

"Uhh… y-yeah. Thankfully my-my parents never cooked anything or brought any-anything to the house so I got to umm… sorry I got to keep my stuff? S-s-sorry I didn't mean to talk about it."

"No its okay… I'm glad you gotta keep your piano." Craig replied. Tweek was still shivering slightly, and Craig took off his hoodie, handing it to Tweek. Tweek graciously took it, immediately putting it on. He'd tolerate the teenage boy stink if it meant that he'd be warm..  and honestly, Craig didn't smell that bad.

"Thank you," Tweek said, zipping the hoodie up.

"Ready to go back inside?" Craig asked, to which Tweek just shrugged, but got out of the car anyway. The hoodie was so long it actually covered his shorts. Something about the sight made Craig feel warm inside- or maybe that was the alcohol. Either way, the warmth kept him going until they got back into the house, where rain started pattering on the windows. It went unheard over the music.

"You do look really nice tonight, that outfit looks good on you." Craig complimented. It looked like Tweek had even made an attempt to tame his wild blonde hair, though any effort was destroyed by the wind outside.

"I feel l-like a ti-tik tok alt kid circa twenty twenty."Tweek replied bitterly. "But thanks man… B-Bebe just wanted t-to dress me up t-to-FUCK. … Tonight. She just wanted to dress me up tonight."

Craig slid a little closer to him, taking his hand again. It was subconscious. It honestly felt natural. He could feel Kenny gleefully staring at them, he looked up to see the bastard flashing him a thumbs up. "Why'd she wanna do that?"

Instead of a reply, Tweek just smiled awkwardly at him, squeezing his hand. "... I think I need another drink."

"Third beer of the night… I'm surprised you're not a lightweight." Tweek just shrugged.

"M-my bodys been through worse."

They made their way back into the kitchen, which had gotten busier in their absence. Tweek quickly grabbed another beer before he was pushed out of the way by a girl with long black hair, and he and Craig retreated to a corner. "T-too loud in here…" Tweek mumbled.

"Hey queers," Came the ever grating voice of Eric Cartman. "You guys need a room or what?"

"Fuck you-w-wait… is that an offer?" Tweek looked at the larger boy in confusion. Eric had the most smug look on his face, but it wasn't evil… it was so odd.

"Figured if you two fags wanted to hook up you should at least have your own room! They've got a spare bedroom now, I could take you to it." Cartman offered. Craig and Tweek looked at each other incredulously.

"I… we.. we're not gonna fuck, dude." Craig replied, incredibly confused.

".... sure, whatever, but isn't it too loud in here, aren't there too many people here for your autistic asses? Don't you guys wanna confess all your gay feelings and shit?" Craig tensed at that, but nodded. There were too many people here for his autistic ass, actually.

They followed Eric up the stairs to a bedroom that looked like it belonged to Stan's older sister once upon a time, and Eric quickly shut the two of them inside alone. Never in his life did Tweek think Eric Cartman would be his saving grace.

Tweek went to sit on the bed, immediately pulling the blanket up over his legs, kicking off his boots. He leaned back against the wall, letting out a sigh of relief as the noise was finally muffled enough for him to relax.

But now the two were alone. In a room. Together.

Sure they'd been in the car together, but being in a bedroom had more expectations. People would certainly talk, especially since Cartman was absolutely running his mouth right now. "Hey so… we aren't gonna be…y-yknow… sleeping together?"

"I'm not interested in sex." Craig said plainly. It sounded almost rehearsed.

"C-cool! Just checking!" Tweek replied, "me neither… a-anyways um… I guess we could talk?" Craig nodded, sitting on the bed next to him, but reached out to hold Tweeks hand again. Tweek didn't protest. Actually, it was kind of nice.

"W-we held hands all the time when we were kids…" Tweek whispered. Staring at the interlaced fingers between them.

"Yeah… why'd we stop?" Craig asked, his words slurring slightly.

"Cartman called you a fag and you stopped."

"Oh…"Craig had a look of concentration on his face. "... sorry." He mumbled finally, his thumb stroking the back of Tweeks hand. 

"D-dont worry about it. A-a-after that I came out and we stopped talking as much."

"Wait- I thought we stopped talking because your parents got arrested?"

"A-are you kid-kidding me? Dude, I came out and you never texted me again! Y-y-you wouldn't pick up my calls-"

"My dad took my phone that year. Shit grades."

"What-why didn't you say that then?"

"I didn't know you were texting me!" 

Tweek and Craig stared at each other for a moment, mouths agape in mirroring expressions of shock.

"Oh… I… I guess I didn't think to ask… wh-why you weren't picking up."

"And then your parents got arrested and you kind of… you kind of stopped talking to anyone but Wendy and Bebe." 

"Yeah…." Tweek bit his lip in thought, before looking back up at Craig. "Everyone thinks you're a complete dick, you know?"

"I know." 

"I-i-its kind of funny… y-you have a reputation of being such an ass wipe, b-but you've always been nice to me… I mean-usually."

"I like you." Craig stated bluntly, putting his other hand on top of the one he was holding.

"Man, y-you can't say shit like that-"

"No. Tweek. I like you. I have a crush on you. I have for years."

"I-you-I-WHAT?"

[dazey-aceie]

Hi can I request a part two to this just with riddle and Floyd?? Thank you!! ❤❤

-✒️ anon

Disney Twisted Wonderland with a s/o that has trouble sleeping, occupying themselves with work. (Pt 2)

✎ Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Floyd Leech

☁︎ Fluff

⚠︎ Warnings: Mention of pills

! Word Count: 1.1k

ꕤ Notes: the title is still a mouthful- and here’s part 1 incase you want to read it lol

Riddle

“y/n! What did we talk about!?”

That sentence scared the shit out of you, for a couple of reasons actually. Well for starters, you were sitting in a comfortable silence, 2, the sudden sentence was extremely loud, and 3, it came from a familiar voice. A very familiar voice.

“Ack! Riddle!? You scared me!”

You could hear the red-head audibly sigh. He stuck his plan to his head, clearly irritated. He was still in his dorm uniform, rather than pajamas, so you could probably turn the tables if you wanted to.

“It serves you, right y/n. You said you were going to bed 2- no 3 hours ago.”

“..3 hours ago..? Its- ah shit. Its 2 a.m.!”

“I know.” He rolled his eyes, he walked over beside you, seeing the piles of paper surrounding you. Like a fortress of work that failed to protect you from the fire breathing dragon, a.k.a. him.

Your hair was a mess, and reading glasses were sloppily placed spin your face. There were 3 mugs of coffee, each that has been reheated more than once. Pencils and pens littered the floor, as well as paper clips. There was a bottle of pain relief and water by your side as well. It was clear that you weren’t exactly prepared for a long night.

“What am i to do with you…” Riddle shook his head as his expression began to soften.

You smiled a nervous smile as your palm rubbed the back of your neck, “Oh come on… you looove me.” you dragged out.

Riddle couldn’t help but chuckled, “Indeed I do, which is exactly why this is unacceptable y/n.”

A put was visible on your face, “Don’t say my name like that…” you whined out.

Riddle began to fix the stacks of papers tapping them against the table to adjust their placement. You stayed silent, unsure if he was going to scold you more or not. He walked away carrying the mugs, and he came back 5 minutes later. He picked up the pens, pencils, and paper clips, and he handed you the glass of water. You didn’t take it right away not exactly processing everything, “Drink it, you need to stay hydrated.”

“A-ah, okay!” You gulped down the glass as Riddle moved the bottle off to another table.

“I-i’m sorry Riddle,” You bowed your head, “I know I said that i would stay on track with my studies and that i would start going to sleep earlier and-“

You were cut off by a kiss to your forehead, Riddle was being more affectionate than normal, knowing that you were tired and needed it.

“It’s okay y/n.”

“…It… is..?”

“Mhm. I know that you’re trying your best. But right now I need you to go to sleep.We have to get up in a couple hours so let’s head to bed. I'll help you with your work tomorrow.”

You were shocked. I mean, Riddle loved you, you knew that, but he wasn’t all that… lenient. Even with you as his s/o.

He has a reputation to get up, you know that, but this time, he was putting you first.

“Come on, y/n, let’s go to bed.”

You quickly stood up, standing right beside him as you nodded. He took your hand in his and gave it a kiss before using it to lead you to your shared room.

Floyd

“Hey, Little Shrimpy…” A stoic teasing tone said.

Needless to say, you knew exactly who it was without even having to look. It was your 6 foot 2 boyfriend towering above you. You slowly raised your head to see his smirking face, as his razor sharp teeth smiled at you.

“…Hello Floydie…”

“Hello indeed,” he said as he began spinning a couple strands of your hair around his pointer finger.

You, yourself began figuring with the own that was in your hand. Your desk was littered in messy notes and reminders of the sort. As well as eraser shavings.

“Little Shrimpy, you do remember saying that you were gonna go to sleep with me right?”

“Mhmm… I do.”

“Then… Why are you still here?”

He was right. It had been an hour or more since you promised to join him, and shockingly, you were surprised as he was actually being patient. Which was extremely unlike him.

Normally after 10 minutes he would hang around you constantly asking for attention, but he let you do your own thing for about an hour.

“I’ve been waiting for you…!” He pouted, as he whispered into your ear, his soft voice tickled the inside of your ear drums. You visibly flinched, causing him to chuckle.

“We can do this later come on.” He said as he pulled you up from your chair. He gave you a pay on the head before he scooped you up bridal style carrying you to your bed.

“Floyd! No! I need to finish my work. And i’m not tired! That why I came out here in the fist place.”

He shut you up with a kid son your lips and a smile. A cocky smile that you wanted to hate but you couldn’t.

You wanted to speak out against it, but it was as if his kiss was cursed to make your eyelids feel heavy, so you just let him do as he pleased.

He made his way to your room, and he then gently placed you down, covering you in a blanket and wrapping you up to be cozy.

“I’ll be right back, I actually mean it,” he joked, giving you a teasing wink.

After 10 minutes or so, he came back, slowly shutting the door, with a stuffed animal in hand.

“Where did you go?” You asked as your voice was groggy.

“I cleaned up your little mess.”

Again, not exactly like Floyd, maybe he was doing this because he was actually worried.

I mean, you had been pushing yourself recently, ever since you began working at the Monastero Lounge. You had a lot going on with Ramshackle, being a prefect, all of Crowley's chores, all the recent overblots, and just classes in general to top it all off. It was a lot.

Floyd knew that you needed to get sleep and not overwork yourself if you were to keep up your hectic schedule. And you saying that you weren’t sleepy wasn’t cutting it for him.

He laid down beside you, covering himself in the comforter, as he wrapped his large arms around you, tangling his fingers in your hair. He placed the small stuffed animal in between the two of you. He nipped at your ear, whispering sweet nothings until one sentence rang in your head, “I love you y/n.”

“I love you too, Eel.”

Floyd chuckled, as he gave out a happy sigh, breathing in your scent as he closed his eyes.

He would help you with your work in the morning, he told himself. But for now all that mattered was you getting some shut eye.

thanks for reading!! and requests are open <33

[seospicybin]

TWIN FLAME.

PART II

Felix x reader. (s,f,a)

Chapters: Part I / Part III / Eternal Flame.

Synopsis: Back home for a summer holiday, you meet the new next-door boy, Felix, who will turn your summer into a burning bright one. (12,6k words)

Author's note: Part 3 is out tomorrow! Here for the Twin Flame playlist.

Content warning: Mentions of smoking.

"He keeps asking for a date with you!" Kim said with her face looking straight to the front of the class.

You ignored the words of your roommate, Kim, and her tireless plan to set you up on a blind date several times already.

"Trust me when I say, he's it!" She convinced you.

You ignored her again and scribbled something on your notebook.

She nudged your elbow on the table, sending your pencil case dropped onto the floor. You glared at her, "I told you so many times, I'm not interested in going on a date with someone I barely know," you gave her the same excuse for the umpteenth time that Kim could recite it like a meditative mantra.

"And I'm not going to stop saying: who knows? You might surprise yourself!" She said.

Like that was a good idea. You scoffed because you already did, and it turned out not great.

"Just this once, meet him at the coffee shop later after class, please?" Kim tried again, relentless as she usually is.

"I can't, I have to meet professor Choi to talk about my project assignment," you answered.

Kim sighed, intentionally loud that the other students sitting around you could hear it.

"I'm curious about this guy who ruined you this summer," she mumbled, typing something on her phone under the desk.

You don't want to know, you answered in your head. It was better to spare her the rest of the story and keep the pain to yourself.

*

"I'm looking for Professor Choi?" You asked by the doorway with your hand holding the doorknob.

There was someone else in the room, you could only see the silhouette as he was standing near the window, backlit by the sunlight.

"He's out for a meeting!" He answered, then walked up to you, revealing himself in front of you.

Sharp nose, almond-shaped eyes, and honey skin that matched the warm tone of the afternoon sun.

He looked much younger to be considered as another professor who shared an office with your professor.

"Oh!" You beamed, completely out of it.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Well, I need to talk to Professor Choi to talk about my project assignment," you answered.

He looked at the files you held so close to your chest, then at you with eyes that hinted a curiosity, "I can help you with it," he offered.

You hesitated because first, you didn't know who he is, and second, you didn’t trust him to check on your project.

You politely smiled at him, "It's okay! I'll just come back tomorrow!" You said to him.

He softly laughed, "I'm his assistant, and I can give you some pointers if you want to earn high credit from him," he explained.

"Oh?"

You blinked a few times with your mouth agape and realized how rude you had been.

"I'm so sorry," you quickly muttered your apology.

"No worries," he said.

You sat on the table with him sitting across from you, reading your assignment and scribbled notes on the part where you have to fix or rewrite it. He looked so serious doing it, and you always thought that a person is at their most attractive when focusing on something. His eyebrows furrowed when he spotted an error on your writing, and you guessed he didn't shave today because you could see his faint mustache.

He explained all the things he marked and scribbled more notes on it as pointers, then gave the assignment back to you.

"Thank you so much for your help!" You exclaimed as you gathered your files and notebook into a stack on the table, "what made me think of showing this to professor Choi," you mumbled, then put them into your bag.

"I'm glad I can help!" He said.

"Thank you so much once again," you said as you hoisted the strap of your bag higher on your shoulder.

"It's Minho!" He said.

"Huh?"

"My name," he replied.

"I-" You were about to say your name.

"I know your name," he said, then pointed to the written name on the file.

You chuckled and thought of something to convey your gratitude, "let me buy you a cup of coffee sometime!" You offered.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "why not now?" He asked.

He went to pick his bag from the sofa and slung it across his shoulder.

"I'm done for the day so why not now?" He asked again.

There was no harm in it anyway, he helped you with your project, and you had no other thing to do anyway, "yes, sure! Now is a good time!" You said along with a nod.

*

You placed his cup of coffee in front of him on the table, an iced Americano with an extra shot of espresso. You never really pay attention to the men in your university, mainly because you never wanted to date and never intend to. But as you sat across the table from him, you realized you weren't sure you had ever seen him around the campus.

"Is this the first time I see you or...?" You asked, couldn't wait to find out about it.

"It's probably because I was on a study exchange for a year," he answered.

You nodded in acknowledgment, "I see. I'm sorry if I sounded rude," you anxiously took a sip of your coffee.

He shook his head, "I'm not bad, right?" He suddenly asked once he gulped his drink.

"Pardon?"

"I mean, from how many times you rejected to go on a date with me only means that I don't meet certain standards of yours," he said, eyes staring straight into yours.

You wrapped your hand around your coffee mug and held it tight, "huh?"

"It's me," he said, "I'm that one persistent guy who wants to go on a date with you," he admitted.

It was the way he confidently said all those things without stuttering and the slightest bit of shame in it.

"Please don't get me wrong, it's not you. I don't have standards, to begin with," you began speaking and clearing your throat to continue, "I just don't think I wanted to date anyone... yet."

He placed his hands down on the table and leaned forward, "I'll take this as our first date then," he boldly stated without asking if you object to it.

He tipped his head to the side as if he was looking at something that amused him, "can I take you for a second date and see if I could change your mind?" He asked.

You blinked your eyes a few times, nonplussed, and wondered if he's always that straightforward?

"And if I still couldn't change your mind, we don't have to go for another date," he added with unwavering eyes looking into yours.

It was like he just executed one big move on the chessboard and waited for you to make your move next.

You lied if you say you didn't find it attractive, he made you wonder if he was extremely confident or just a tad crazy

"Alright," you said and reclined on your chair. You just moved your pawn on the chessboard and were curious what his next move would be.

*

You caught a flicker of light from somewhere in the room, a few seconds of the orange burst of flame in the dark of the club.

Someone came and crashed herself at you, it was Kim, and she was already tipsy.

"Here, take a shot!" She ordered, slamming the shot glass on the table in front of you that the clear liquid sloshing to the side.

"Get on my level!" She slurred.

Kim just didn't know that you were already way ahead of her level of drunk, you looked at your 8th glass of alcohol of the night, and it usually took more than that to numb the stinging pain you tried to endure when you were sober.

You took a deep breath through your nose and took the shot in one gulp, then breath out through your mouth once you drained it down your throat, a golden tip to eliminate the bitter aftertaste of the shot that worked wonder for you.

You didn't expect the pain would be gone like poof, it was still there like a needle poking your heart every few seconds,

"Good girl!" Kim beamed like a proud mom while patting your hair, "now get out there and kill it!"

She yanked you by the hand then pushed you in the direction of the dance floor.

Drinking was one thing, but dancing was your least favorite thing to do. You'd rather just sit somewhere and sip your alcohol in silence.

Kim danced behind you, holding your waist with one hand and swaying her body. You followed suit, swaying your hips and syncing it with her. You heard her laughing from behind you and turned so your backs were against each other.

You could always blame the alcohol when your vision began playing tricks in you, making you see him and his lean figure, the bleached blonde hair peeking from under his beanie.

You laughed it off and rubbed your eyes, "fuck, I'm so drunk," you said to yourself, more like something to convince yourself rather than a fact.

You grabbed Kim's shoulder and whispered, "I'm going to the restroom," you informed her.

But instead of the restroom, you went in the direction of the exit and got out. The cold air brushed your face and woke you up, whether from being intoxicated or highly dazed with your thoughts.

It felt nice for a moment until the cold seeped through you and your body began shivering as a gust of wind kept blowing your way.

Someone placed a jacket on you, and you recognized the scent that clung to it: of summer and danger, of a speeding car and sleepless nights, of pain and the happiness that came before it.

You turned around and found him standing before you, with a warm smile and eyes that were deeply longing for you like a home that called for your visit.

He took your shoulders, then pulled you into a hug, wrapping his hands around you, and placed his head on the side of your face.

"You're shivering," he said.

He was real, and it only validated the pain you were feeling that it got too unbearable. You let yourself breathe only to break down the thinning layer of whatever it was holding your tears in all these times.

"I am here now," he said, a hand holding the back of your head.

And he said as if he didn't take part in the decision you took together last summer and what caused your heartbreak, you withdrew yourself back from him and roughly wiped your wet cheeks with the back of your hand.

You didn't know what was funny, but you found yourself laughing. Were you finally losing it?

"I've been looking for you!!!" Kim squealed from behind him, carrying your jacket and purse. She walked up to you and slipped his jacket off,

"Who's jacket...." her words trailed off as she peered over her shoulder and grimaced as she looked at him.

She handed his jacket back to him then put your jacket on your shoulder.

"Why do I always find you out here with some random blonde?" She whispered but it was loud enough for him to hear.

Kim put your hand around her neck and walked together to the curb, waving her hand up high to hail a taxi.

*

"Why the fuck you didn't tell me?" Kim came barging into your room the next morning, with a huge mug of coffee in her hand and a hairband around her head.

There was a slight fear she might recognize him last night from the bits of story you had shared with her, you mumbled into your pillow, "What?" You asked.

"You think I wouldn't know!" She said as she sat cross-legged on your bed.

Your eyes snapped open, the probability she knew him was bigger, "WHAT?" you snapped.

She slapped your ass through your blanket, "That you're going on a date with Minho!" She answered.

You groaned again to mask your sigh of relief.

"I told you," she slapped your ass again and harder this time, "I told you he is it, and you didn't believe me," she bragged.

You sat up on the bed to avoid getting another slap from her, "Don't get your panties in a twist, it's just a date!" You calmed her down before she jumped to conclusions and took her mug to take a sip of coffee.

"Whatever! He's perfect for you!" She stated with such giddy, "I don't know what it is, but I'm sure about it," she added. Kim had always believed that she has a gift for matchmaking.

You let her have her moment and took another big sip of coffee before finally giving her mug back.

"So, where are you going for the date?" She asked, scooted to sit next to you on the bed.

You hummed and took your phone to reread the text he sent to you, "I think it's that Italian restaurant near the bookstore," you half-heartedly answered and shrugged.

"It's a fancy one, you better dress fancy too," she suggested.

You knitted your eyebrows together, "dress fancy???" You asked in utter confusion.

*

Kim lent you one of her dresses.

It was a skin-tight satin dress in red color that required you to hold your breath in as she helped you zip up the dress. She also did the make-up and curled your hair into silky soft waves.

Your breath hitched when you sat down on the chair, and the dress started to tighten around your waist, suffocating you.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he also sat down on his chair across from you, noticing the unpleasantness on your face.

You let out a long breath and smiled, "I'm alright," you answered.

He looked at you with intense stares as you both waited for your orders, dared to stare back at him and not let him see right through you like you were in a chess game instead of a date.

"I think it would be ludicrous for us to answer silly questions of each other," he said without letting his stare down for a mere second.

He tipped his head slightly to the side and said, "why don't we share a secret about each other? I believe secrets can bind us closer than knowing trivial things about each other," he suggested.

You bit the inside of your cheek, fully intrigued by the idea.

"Why don't you go first?" You dared.

"I'm wearing a different pair of socks today, and I believe the other one is my mom's," he said. He stuck his legs out from under the table and showed you the socks he was wearing, one was plain black, and the other was black with tiny daisy flowers printed on it.

You chuckled as you looked down on it.

"Your turn!" He said.

"I'm wearing Kim's dress now. That's why it's sagging in the chest and bottom part," you admitted, you were always aware that Kim's body is more voluptuous than yours.

Minho smiled, "but it looks good on you. I like the color on you," shot you another intense gaze as he said it.

One compliment and your cheeks were already heating, "your turn!" You quickly said to avert the attention back to him.

He hummed for a while, "I have three cats, and I just bought a stroller for them," he finally said.

You didn't take him as a cat person, let alone having three cats.

"Do you find it weird?" He asked.

"No," you strongly denied, "I'm a cat person too,"

"Yeah?"

You nodded, and a server finally came with your food, once everything was served on the table you continued the talk.

"I always wanted a pet cat, but my mom is allergic," you said to him as you spread your napkin on your lap.

"One time, I took a stray cat home and hid it in my room. She sneezed every time she came to my room," you laughed when you recalled the memory.

He held his glass of water by the stem while intently listening to you.

"What was its name?"

"Weasley, because it has orange fur," you replied.

"Harry Potter!"

You flashed a gleeful smile because he got the reference.

"Where is it now?" He asked as he picked up his fork.

You shook your head, "it was just gone," you sadly answered, "I could only hope it gets a better home,"

When you looked at him, he was smiling at you, and instead of looking away from being caught doing it, he stared deep into your eyes.

"I used to think that it was stupid for people on a date to sit across from each other, but now I get it," he said.

And it felt like a deja vu, this situation, and his words, the red of your dress, then this fleeting, happy feeling. You pretended you didn't hear his words and dug your fork into your pasta.

"Want to know another secret?" He asked once both of you had done with the courses of the meal.

You propped a hand under your chin, feeling so full from the food and content with bubbly feelings.

"Yes," you hastily answered, curious at what he was going to do next.

He leaned forward on the table and whispered, "I know how to get us a free dessert,"

Your eyes widened, "how?" You asked.

He was eyeing the ring on your finger, "May I borrow your ring?" He asked.

The request took you back for a second, "sure," you answered, slowly taking off the thin gold ring your mom gave you as a graduation gift and putting it on his open palm.

He held the ring between his fingers then pushed his chair to get down on his knees in front of you.

You jerked your head away and held your hands out to help him get up, "what are you do-"

"The moment I first laid my eyes on you, I just knew you are the one for me," he began, then held the ring higher in between you and him.

You heard the collective gasps from everyone in the restaurant, and as you looked around, they were all looking at you with their hands on their chest, cooing and a few people even pushed their chairs so they could watch Minho doing a fake marriage proposal at you.

"You are undeniably beautiful, and smart and thoughtful. You are endlessly fascinating,"

You couldn't help but smile as you heard another collective gasp from everyone in the room.

"I know we have our ups and downs, but I promise you, no one will work harder to make you happy or cherish you more than me," he said.

He was so serious about this fake marriage proposal that your heart fluttered, and cheeks heated up, flustered.

"Will you marry me?" He asked, his eyes crinkled under the dimming light of the restaurant, and even with lighting this bad, he looked so beautiful.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath waiting for you to answer him.

You stifled a nod, "yes," you answered.

And a wave of applause coming from every corner of the place, a few whistles, and some people shouting their congratulations at you.

You held your hand at Minho as he slipped your ring back into your finger.

"There!" He said as the ring settled in your finger then kissed on it.

His lips were warm and soft on your skin.

Gosh, he is truly something.

He sat back down on his chair still holding your hand in his.

A moment late,r a server came and served a plate of dessert with the chocolate sauce formed a word "congratulations" and drawings of little heart on the plate.

"This is on the house," she explained, "we're very happy that you got to share a precious moment like this with us. Congratulations once again!" She said.

"Thank you!" You said back with a courtesy smile.

"Can we take a picture of you?" She asked.

She was already aiming the polaroid camera at you and him.

You glanced at Minho, and he glanced back at you, "Sure!" You said.

"Can you get closer?" She instructed, "and show us the ring!"

You both leaned forward on the table until your heads met in the middle and held your hand up with the ring facing the camera.

She took a shot, and the photo printed out seconds later.

"Can you take another photo of us?" Minho suddenly asked.

"Sure!" She replied and aimed the camera back at you and him.

"Why don't you two kiss for this one?" She shyly asked you, even more, flustered than both of you.

He turned his head at you and eyes that were seeking permission from you.

You weren't exactly feeling pressured to kiss him, especially when his face was only inches away from you with his lips that were in a shade of pale pink.

One kiss was all you needed.

You nodded to let him know he got your permission.

"Yes, that would be nice," he said to the server who already held the camera close to her eyes and ready to snap a picture.

Minho held your jaw and volunteered to be the one who stretched his body forward on the table, you closed your eyes even before your lips and his touches.

And one kiss was all it took.

When the flash of the camera went off, he kissed you for a few more seconds before finally letting go.

You looked at him and laughed, spotting a smear of your lipstick on his lips. You reached for his face and swiped it with your thumb, "you got my lipstick on you," you explained, but he caught your hand by the wrist.

"Thank you for saying yes," he said, then lowered his voice, "can you imagine how awkward it would be if you say no?"

"I was tempted to say no," you cheekily responded, "but who I am to say no to this?" You finished as you dug the small fork into the cake with your eyes on him. But also, who can say no to him?

You didn't expect that you'd be kissing him more by the end of the night, in his car as he parked it in the parking lot of your apartment building.

He held your neck with both hands and lathered your lips with his over and over again until both of your lips were swollen.

As much as you didn't want to stop kissing him, your hands slowly pushed him away by his chest.

"I have to go," you said to him.

"Go on another date with me," he said with his eyes lingered on your lips, more like a command than a wish.

You got quiet and saw his eyes filled with so many sparks in it, "okay," you answered with a bashful smile. It was so unlike you to give such haste answer, there was something so magnetic about him.

He pulled you by your jaw and kissed you again, lips brushing and tongue occasionally swiping over your lips.

"At the end of our third date," he said against your lips, "that would be our wedding night," with a smirk on his face that inaudibly screamed 'checkmate' at you.

*

As you watched Minho's car pull away from the parking lot and leave the vicinity, you saw the familiar flickers of orange bursts from your peripheral vision.

Your eyes were so adjusted to his figure that even in the dark, you could see him sitting on the hood of his car playing with his lighter under the dark shade of the tree, curls of smoke around his head added the mystical aura to him.

It was like you had been awoken from a dream, and this was your reality.

He got off from his car and walked up to you, tossed his cigarette butt onto the ground, and stomped on it with his boots.

It was like seeing your favorite movie character coming back into your life, but you have seen this movie before, and you didn't like the ending.

"I've been waiting for you," he spoke, the steam of his breath visible against the dark of the night.

Then it hits you that he probably saw what Minho and you did earlier in the car and felt oddly ashamed of it like you just committed a cardinal sin.

You didn't reply because you weren't sure if talking to him would be a great idea, afraid you might start blabbering about how you suffered for months since the minute you said goodbye to each other that day.

Felix sensed that you put your guard up, real high this time.

One that he shouldn't be easily jumped over as he did before.

"I came here to talk to you and let you know that," he sucked breathe through his gritted teeth, "I don't want you to think that we meet again was fate," he said.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, "fuck fate!" He cursed out loud.

"I came here to for you," he said, his eyes stern and steady.

"I purposely came here for you," he corrected himself, then took a step closer at you.

His bluntness never disappoints you that your mouth got dry like he tried to ask the same from you too: the truth.

You dared yourself to look into his eyes and asked, "why?" With a hoarse voice.

There was a faint smile on his face, he triumphantly smiled because he finally cracked your silence.

"Because I made a mistake for letting you go that day," he said without stuttering, "you were right, I'm a fucking loser and a coward and an asshole," he cursed himself until he ran out of breath.

"I was wrong to think that I can live my life without you in it," he paused to reel himself in since his answer made him lose it, "well, I'm not. I'm impatient when you're not mine," he continued, "I need you,"

You took his words and let them sink in, the you from months ago would have melted right away with his words.

You didn't know what to say to him except for how much pain he put you in, you decided to stay quiet and let his explaining hang in the air between you and him.

"I know you need me too," he said, his voice shaky from the cold. He must have waited for you for hours.

"How are you so sure?" You asked him.

"Last night," he answered without a beat.

And you knew that he would notice it.

"I know you were glad to see me again," he stated, he boldly stepped forward and placed his hands on your shoulders.

"You can't lie to me. I see right through you," he added, moving his hands to cup your cheeks. His hands were warm and your cheeks were burned to the touch.

"Just like you see right through me," he continued.

Your eyes pooled with tears, saw how he suffered as much as you did, his sunken eyes and his face that was always filled with that mischievous smirk replaced by a dark misery one.

When you closed your eyes, tears rolled down your cheeks.

"You shouldn't have come here, Felix," you said, then stepped away from him.

"Goodnight, Felix!" You said without looking back at him.

You hurriedly got in the elevator and leaned once you got inside, placing a hand on your cheek, and somehow you felt like his touch had just reignited the flame inside you.

*

You were glad that all you could think about at the end of the week was your third date with Minho and what are you going to wear.

Kim went to her parent's house for the weekend and you have the apartment to yourself, you have free access to her bedroom, and she wouldn't mind if you borrow her clothes or make-up.

You got a bit overwhelmed at the wide selection of Kim's clothes but settled on a white dress that looks simple yet elegant.

You couldn't do much with your hair, you just styled them neatly and applied some hairspray to secure some stubborn strands of stray hair.

The moment you got out of the apartment, your phone buzzed with a new message.

I'm in the square garden.

I got myself a cute companion while waiting for you.

He sent a picture of a stray cat he mentioned in his text that you almost cooed at how adorable he looked.

This was a good start to date, you couldn’t wait to find out what the rest of the night would be like.

Then you saw him standing there by this car holding flowers in his hand, the giddiness you had a few seconds ago evaporated in a second.

Felix noticed that you were dressed nicely, and he was sure you were going on another date with the guy that brought you home the last time.

He half-jogged his way to you, "don't go," he shouted, "please, don't go!"

Your hands grew limp on your sides as he stood there to stop you from leaving. You turned to the other side.

But he was quick to block your way again, "I can't let you," he said.

"Felix, please? Let's not," you begged him, there was a lump growing in your throat.

He looked at you and shook his head, "if I didn't do this, I'll regret it my whole life," he said.

A hand reached for your neck and brought your face closer, he kissed you with so much passion that you could feel how much he didn't want to let go of the kiss, let go of you.

A searing kiss that reminded me how reckless and stupid you became like how you surprisingly returned the kiss with such eagerness and let him have his way with you.

A broken moan escaped your lips once you realized what you just did, immediately jerked your head back, but with his hand steady on the back of your head, you couldn’t go far.

"Come back to me!" He said, his warmth breathing ghosting your face.

"Come back to me!" He said again, it was more like he was manifesting the words into you.

"It's just the pits without you," he said with his eyes closed and forehead pressed against yours.

"Come back to me," his voice quivering with desperation, "please?"

Felix opened his eyes at the last word of his plead, glazed with so much layer of emotions.

The heat his body emitting, the brightness of his flame, and the warmth it offers called you to let him in, but when you remember how much it burned you, you stepped back almost immediately.

"I can't," you blurted out and took another step back.

You saw the hurt in his eyes.

You shook your head, not at him but for yourself, resisting the impulse to give him the opposite answer.

"I'm sorry," you muttered, then turned on your heels, left him standing there in the dark of the night and the flowers that withered away in his hands along with his hope.

*

You must have completely lost it by now.

You didn't even realize how did you get to the square garden, it was like you were moving on autopilot.

"Did you just walk past me?" Minho said as he waved his hand in front of you.

It snapped you back out of your trance, "I'm sorry, I was deep in my thoughts," you told him.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

Him. You answered in your head.

You shook your head and looked down at your feet, trying to get a hold of yourself and trying not to make the same mistake.

"Nothing," you said.

He smiled at you, "I believe the right answer is nothing," he said as if he sensed that you had so many thoughts fighting against each other in your head.

Your eyes fluttered shut and weakly smiled.

"Minho?"

"Mmh?" He answered with that head tilted to the side he always does that you find endearing and attractive.

"Can I kiss you?" You asked.

The question took him by surprise, "yes," he answered.

You took hesitant steps forward then leaned in close to finally kiss him on the mouth.

He returned the kiss, and following your lead, the tip of his nose grazed your cheek as he angled his head for you.

It was cruel of you, cruel that you thought of someone else as you kissed him.

You deepened the kiss with a thought that convinced you Minho is the one, but the more you kissed him, the urge to run back to him grew stronger.

You slowly let go of the kiss, and Minho gasped for air, a hand holding the small of your back.

"I kissed you," you said to him.

He chuckled, "yes, you did,"

You sadly chuckled back at him, "but why did I think of someone else when I kiss you?" You asked him.

The smile on his face faded but not quite left his face yet.

"That means I'm not the one for you," he said.

You hastily hugged him, clinging into his body as if he was your lifeline.

"Tell me to stay," you told him.

He laughed with his head on your shoulder, "you know I can't do that,"

"Minho, please," you pleaded, "tell me that you are the right one for me," you held him so tight that you could crush his body.

He gently pushed you away with his hands on your elbows, "it's okay, you can let go of me now," he said as he slowly withdrew himself off of you.

You watched as your hands parted in a rather dramatic way.

"I'm sorry," you muttered, your voice breaking at the end of the sentence.

*

*

Felix had been staring out his windshield for almost an hour now. Deep down, he had this glimmer of hope that you would be back to him, and he had been holding on to it since you left him earlier.

He would keep holding on to it, no matter how long, no matter how painful it was. He didn't want to give up on you.

Then there was you, appearing in his sight at the direst of time. Your eyes locked for a second, then you walked to his car.

Your hand was on the handle of his car door, the last grasp of logic offered a second option.

Watch me burn once again, you told to yourself and opened the car door then sat on the passenger's side.

He smiled because it felt like you just claimed your spot back, and that was beside him.

"You waited," you said without looking at him.

"Because I know you'll be back," he answered with a voice as deep as his faith in you.

You took the flowers on his dashboard, "Is this for me?" You asked.

"Yes,"

"Did you buy it or pick it up from someone's garden?"

"I bought it," he answered.

Felix watched as you brought the flowers close to your nose to catch the floral scent of it. He had been longing for it, looking at you like this and knowing that you are his, and his only.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked.

You turned your head at him, "since when did you ask for permission first?" You asked back.

"Because I want to do it right this time," he answered, a smile that made you warm from the inside bloomed on his face.

You leaned in closer at him, facing him with your heart open once again, "go ahead then," you said to him and closed your eyes as you waited for his lips to touch yours.

Felix landed his first kiss on your forehead that made a low sigh escape your mouth.

He kissed your closed eyelid next then your cheek, the tip of your nose, your chin, and then the corner of your mouth.

He swiped his thumb over your lips before finally, finally capturing your lips with his in a dizzying kiss. A kiss that brought you back to square one, a kiss that promises a new beginning, a clean slate.

A kiss that signified, your flames were rekindled once again.

*

Just before you got out of his car last night, he asked you if he could pick you up at 8 the next night, and you said yes.

You were brushing your hair when you heard the knocking on your door, you glanced at the alarm clock on your bedside table and saw that it was 5 minutes more to 8 pm.

You smiled then took your coat from the coat rack in the corner of the room before heading to the door.

You pulled open the door and saw him standing there, his eyes bright and alight when he saw you.

"You're so gorgeous," he said with his teeth faintly biting his lower lip.

It was so strange coming from him, not that he wasn't sincere, it was just that he's an act of service kind of man. He would usually show his appreciation through touches and kisses.

You stifled a laugh and slung your coat to put it on you before getting out, then closed the door behind you.

He helped you fix your hair that caught under the collar and put a strand behind your ear.

He felt tempted to kiss you as his eyes focused on your lips.

"Are we ready to go?" You asked him.

Felix nodded repeatedly, "yes,"

He took you to see a band that was playing a show at a pub, and it brought back a certain memory from last summer.

"I'm working at an indie record label now," he explained as he parted the crowd for you, "and I got invited to gigs like this every week,"

You nodded along to his words, he went to take you to see some of his acquaintances from work and gave you a brief introduction of each of them.

"I'll get us drinks," he informed you before leaving you in one corner of the room with his acquaintance.

You watched as his figure returned with drinks in hands and a smile on his face. He handed one of the drinks to you and took you to the side of the pub, putting a space between you and the crowd of people in the middle of the room.

His eyes were fixated on you, watching every little thing you do like you were going to disappear if he looked away for a mere second.

Then there was this thin barrier between you two that none of you brave enough to break yet, that created this weird atmosphere, like everything was a calculated move or word, being careful to each other.

"The show is about to start," he said, shifting his gaze to the direction of the stage.

You turned around, turning on your heels to face the stage, and watched the band start playing a song.

The crowds rushed to the center, and Felix pulled your elbow to shield you from people brushing your way. He needed a little taste and once he got it, he wanted more of it.

He pulled you close with your back against his chest and snaked his hand under your arm, keeping you close with his hand resting on your stomach.

You held your breath for didn't know how long until you reminded yourself to breathe again.

He placed his head on top of yours and hummed in delight, syncing his breathing with you.

Everything suddenly seemed drowned out, all you could hear was his rhythmical heart beating in his chest behind you and the firm hand on your body.

You turned your head at him until your eyes met his gaze, it wasn't enough for you, you needed more.

You turned around to face him and looked at him, thinking whether it was the right time to break the last layer of your guard.

But Felix was too impatient, he jumped over without thinking, sinking his mouth on you and crushing every bit of your doubts about him.

He held you close, tight, and lifted your feet off the ground for a few seconds before putting you back down.

You pulled away and looked up at him through your lashes, "take me home," you said to him.

He smiled and nodded with his eyes closed.

*

Felix had been dreaming of fucking you all the time.

Whenever he closes his eyes before sleeping at night, he thought of you.

He thought of your head resting so close to his that he could hear the low intake of your breathing, the gentle touches of your fingertips, the plump of your lips on his skin, and the smoothness of your skin he didn't get tired of touching.

It was all happening to him again even better than the times he imagined it in his head to the point that he couldn't comprehend it.

The way your mouth slacked open as moans spilled out of your mouth but maintained your eyes locked with his as you climaxed.

His eyes were on you as he was thrusting into you, as shallow as possible that you clawed the skin of his back.

This pleasure and the satisfaction of having his needs met sent him soaring high to cloud nine.

And the next thing he knew, he came undone with his head buried in your neck.

And the best part for Felix was you held him close and softly scratched the hair on the back of his head that always made him feel loved.

He searched for your mouth with his eyes closed and successfully landed a kiss on it.

You giggled against his mouth and held his face up above you, trailing the freckles that always remind you of the stars at night.

"Fuck," you breathlessly muttered to him.

He burst out laughing, "what is it?"

"I was planning to make you wait for at least two weeks before we have sex again," you admitted.

"I'm not sorry," he said to you, said it in an unintentionally deep voice.

When he got back from the bathroom, he climbed back onto the bed and nuzzled his head in the crook of your neck, tickling the skin with the tip of his nose and making you giggle.

He put a hand around you and dragged your body closer to him, "thank you for giving me another chance," he said to you, his face turned all serious as he spoke.

You rubbed his forearm, then clasped your hand with his.

"I'll do it right this time," he promised.

"No," you said, "we will do it right this time," you corrected.

Felix smiled because he got to use that word again, 'we' and that means no more space between you and him.

*

Felix has been watching you sleeping for a while now.

It was one thing that he had been taking for granted, it was something that he missed when you were gone.

Your lips were slightly pouting while you were sleeping and looking so peaceful while you were lost in your dream, he immediately touched you to not mistake you as a beautifully carved marble statue.

And your eyes fluttered awake like two butterflies were about to take flights.

"Hi," he said to you, his voice was even deeper in the morning.

You smiled at him, and your first reaction was to touch him, see if he was real.

He caught your hand and shifted on the bed, propping his elbow to towering you.

"I am here," he assured you without having to know that you were seeking an affirmation.

He kissed you with such loving, kissed you some more with closed mouth and longer than the previous one until you heard the door flung open.

"Oh my God!" You heard the loud exclaim the first thing in the morning.

Your eyes snapped awake, and you saw Kim stood by the doorway of your bedroom with her giant coffee mug in hand, "I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't see anything," she said with her eyes screwed shut as if someone had just sprayed her eyes with acid then slammed the door close.

Felix fell back down on the bed and heavily sighed.

"That was one hell of a wake-up call!" He said to you.

You softly chuckled and rested your head on his chest, "that's my roommate, Kim," you mumbled.

"Should I be worried?" He asked.

You chuckled and took his arm as a pillow for your head, "depends," you gave him a vague answer.

"That's so helpful!" He sneered.

You giggled and kissed his cheek.

"I hate to break it to you but we have class at 8.45," Kim reminded, shouted right from behind your bedroom door.

You sighed while staring at the ceiling and caught Felix was looking at you, "you heard her!" You said and shrugged.

There was a dead air in between Kim and Felix that you couldn't quite decipher when they met in the living room, "this is Felix," you introduced him, "Felix, this is Kim," you introduced her back to him.

Kim smiled at him then took a sip of her coffee.

"Nice to meet you!" He said to her.

Kim was a bit taken aback by his deep voice, "Nice to meet you too," she said back.

You quickly steered him to the front door to avoid making it even more awkward than it already was. He gave you a quick kiss before leaving out of the door.

"So, that was the Felix?" Kim said as soon as you got back to the kitchen and poured yourself a cup of coffee.

"That is the Felix," you affirmed.

You took a sip while leaning on the kitchen counter and saw the flowers he gave you, looking fresh and more alive when you put them in a jar filled with water.

"Do you realize that those are begonias?" She asked you.

"They're beautiful," you answered, fully aware that your answer didn't correlate with her question.

Kim hummed and leaned on the opposite side of the kitchen, "I'm not going to lecture you, don't worry," she quickly muttered, "you are a grown-ass woman, and you know what you're doing,"

You nodded, you didn't specifically have things to say to her, mostly because she already know you well enough to know there are boundaries she shouldn't be crossing.

"I'm sorry about Minho," you said to her, now that you remember she must be upset about it, considering she was the one who set you up with him.

"You don't owe me an apology," she said to you, "I was rooting for you and Minho and a bit upset that things didn't work, but that's on me, okay?" She sauntered to you and hugged you for a brief moment.

"I'm happy if you're happy," she said as she let go of the hug.

"Thank you," you mouthed.

Kim took his dirty mug and placed it on the sink, "but he'd better not distract you from studying cause finals are coming!" She said like you needed the reminder of it.

*

"Can I come and see you?" He asked through the phone.

"I never said that you can't come and see me. I told you that I can't go out this week because I have to study," you explained as you took a glass of water and took a big gulp.

"Can I come tonight?" He asked.

"I swear I'm not going to disturb you from studying. I'm just going to bring some food for you," he quickly added.

You smiled like a teenager in love, "yes, I'd love that,"

"Okay, see you later," he said before hanging up the phone.

When the doorbell rang, it was dark outside your window, you didn't realize how long you'd been cooped in your room studying.

Felix got in when you opened the door and pulled you for a kiss as soon as he put down the bag of food on the table.

"I miss you so much," he muttered after smothering you with kisses.

He looked around your place before sitting down on the couch.

"Kim is studying in the library," you told him.

He took out the packs of food from the bag, pulling out two cups of hot beverages first, "here, drink this, it's still warm," he said.

From the delicious smell, you could tell it was hot chocolate.

You peeked inside the bag to see what he bought you, some almond cookies, sandwiches, and the last one is a smoothie bowl.

"You bought a lot," you beamed at him and took a sip of the hot chocolate.

"These are good food for when you are studying," he said.

You gleefully smiled and turned your head at him, "so thoughtful," you said.

"Did I disturb you?" He asked.

You shook your head, "It's time for a break anyway," you replied. You put down the cup on the table, then put your feet up on the couch.

"How's your day?" You asked him.

"Long," he sighed.

You chuckled and scooted closer, putting your folded legs on his lap.

"How's yours?" He asked back.

"Stuffy," you shortly replied, "I think I need a refreshment,"

"You don't like the food that I brought you?" He asked.

You laughed and shook your head, "No, I can eat them later," you said, then leaned in closer and left a few inches of space between you and him, "I'm thinking of another kind of refreshment," you said with an eyebrow raised.

Then he caught on to what you said, "babe, why don't you just say it's make out time?" he said before grabbing you by your neck and kissing you.

He hoisted you onto his lap and let his hands roam your body, touching and squeezing your flesh as he pleases.

"I like this on you," he said against your lips, eyeing the black leggings you were wearing.

He moved his hand up your chest and halted his kisses when his hand touched the nipples poking through your black tank top.

"No bra?" He asked with an eyebrow raised, "try to tell me something here?" He seductively asked as he palmed your breasts through the clothing.

He pulled the hem of your tank top upward, exposing your breasts to him. His hand went to knead on the flesh, pinching your hardening buds and making you gasp against his lips whenever he did that.

You began grinding on him with your hands around his neck, sighing into his mouth as his kisses melted your weariness away.

"Can I take you somewhere once you're done with finals?" He asked.

"Where?" You asked back.

He pecked your lips before answering, "I need your opinion about something," he replied.

It wasn't like you can say no to him, "okay,"

"Okay," he said back and crashed his lips on you again.

A few days later, Felix came to pick you up at your campus, waiting by his car with an unlit cigarette dangling on the corner of his mouth. It was a short ride from your campus to where he wanted to take you.

He only said that he had been living in a house with two other guys from work and never took you there, you couldn’t guess if this is it.

You both climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor, and he led you to the door at the end of the hallway, he inserted the key and swung open the door.

It was a studio apartment bare with nothing, but a small dining table and a study desk.

"What do you think?" He asked as you walked around to check the room.

You sauntered to the big window on one side of the apartment to see the view, "You got yourself an apartment?" You guessed.

He nodded and walked up to you, "do you like it?" He asked.

You softly chuckled, "why do you ask me that? You're the one who is going to live here," you said.

He hugged you from the back and wrapped his hands around you, "I want you to move in with me," he said to you.

Your heart skipped a beat when you heard him saying that, the idea of living and sharing a place with him made you ecstatic. But also, this was a huge step in your relationship and shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Move in with me," he said again since you got quiet, kissed your neck with such loving, "I want you to mess my place," he added.

You chuckled at his words and could imagine the life you'd be having if you lived together.

"I want to fill this place with traces of you," he said.

You put your hands on his and said, "I'd love that!"

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

He tightened his hold around you, "I'm so happy," he said.

"But Felix," you turned around to face him, "I don't think I can just move in with you, I need time," you explained.

You placed your hands on his chest, "and I still need a space of my own," you added.

He rubbed your back with both of his hands, "it's okay, I understand," he said. He took your hand and opened up your palm, pulled something out of his jacket pocket, and placed the spare key of his apartment on your palm.

"Come whenever you like," he said, "no, actually, come whenever you can," he corrected himself.

You stood on your tiptoe so you could kiss him, "I will," you promised him.

He kissed you more, lifted you off of your feet, and held you up for a few seconds before putting you down.

"For a second, I thought you would say that it was because of Kim," he said to you.

You laughed, "well, that too," you said.

"Is there any way to make her soften around me?" he said.

There was no problem between Felix and Kim, but the atmosphere they created whenever they were in the same room was always strange. There was this subtle scornful look on her face when she looked at him, you understood that she was still bitter about her matchmaking not working on me.

"She doesn't hate you," You assured him.

"How do you know?" He asked, blankly.

"Because she's into girls," you informed him.

He blinked a few times, "oh?"

You nodded, "She doesn't hate you. She just doesn't like men in general," you explained if that was anything that could comfort him.

*

Kim and Felix's dynamic was put to a test the following week.

It was Kim's birthday, and she insisted on celebrating it in the club, as a reward for passing the finals week.

Once she blew out the candles of her birthday cake, everyone took turns to wish her a happy birthday and hand her a birthday gift, most of them were from the cinema club that she founded.

You nudged Felix's elbow, and he hurriedly handed Kim the gift you helped him choose for Kim, "Happy birthday!" He said to her.

"Felix, thank you!" Kim beamed with a bright smile and took the bag from him.

You went up next and handed her your gift, which Kim unwrapped right away. She gasped when she found you gifted her the film camera she had been dying to buy.

"Oh my God!!!" She squealed and threw her hands around you in excitement.

"Happy birthday, Kim!" You said to her as she let go of the hug.

"Thank you so much!" She said, then placed a quick peck on your lips.

It didn't take long for everyone to get carried away by the celebration, and Kim was in her prime self, so carefree and vivacious. You sat on the booth with Felix and watched everyone dancing not very far from the table, one of his hands around you and held you close next to him.

"I told you, she doesn't hate you," you whispered right to his ear so he could hear you clear against the loud, thumping noise of the music.

"If you think so, then I'm glad," he said and kissed you on the lips.

Considering that everyone was too intoxicated to care about their surrounding, you let yourself be reckless and let him kiss you more.

Putting your legs on his thigh, dangling between his legs on the sofa, and opening your mouth for him so he could taste you more. You slipped your hand under his shirt to feel the heat of his body and dragged your mouth down to kiss his sensitive spot on his neck.

"God, if only we're alone," he whispered to your ear, then planted a kiss on your neck.

You softly smiled and looked at him, "I need to go to the restroom," you said and excused yourself.

When you returned, Kim pulled you to the middle and took your hands to dance along with her.

"Come here!!! Dance with us!!!" She shouted.

You caved in and danced along with her, it was her birthday after all, this was how you should properly celebrate it.

You signaled Kim when you ran out of breath, you brought your mouth close to her ear, "I'm thirsty!"

"Me too!" She whispered back.

You pulled her out of the crowd and back to your booth, plopped down onto the seat, and gulped bottled water.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Kim asked, fanning herself as a sheen of sweat glistened on her chest.

You looked around, "he's probably outside to smoke," you said.

"It's okay if you want to leave early," she said.

You scoffed, "Nah, it's okay,"

She laughed because she knew that you probably worried for her, "I can go home by myself," she assured you, "plus, I have my friends," her head gestured to her friends in the crowd.

You pouted, you felt bad because it felt like you didn't do your job as a good friend, but on the other side, you didn't want to be a party pooper, "promise me you'll call when you get home?"

"Yes, I promise, " She convinced you.

"Don't get too much fun, okay?" You reminded her.

"Yes, mom!" She said with a mocking tone.

You looked at her again.

She rolled her eyes, then threw your jacket at you, "Just go!"

"Oh my God, I can't believe I got kicked out from your birthday party!" You joked and gathered your things from the table.

You went to give her a quick hug, "happy birthday!" You said again, "and make good choices!" you added before finally leaving her and out of the club.

You walked to the side of the club where most people go to have a smoke, and you were right. Felix was there, leaning against the bricked wall with his head tilted up exhaling the smoke out of his mouth to the sky.

As you walked up to him, you noticed he was talking with a girl you had never seen before.

"Felix?" You called.

He turned his head right away, "Hey, babe," he answered.

You stood next to him, and he put a hand on your back, "this is Yoon! She works with me," he introduced.

You waved at her.

"This is my girlfriend," Felix introduced you to her.

She has this smile that people would find a snide one, but you thought maybe it was just her default, you couldn’t tell.

She hurriedly tossed her cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it to offer her hand at you.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

"Nice to meet you too," you said back. Her hand was small and rough for a girl.

Felix turned his head at you and asked, "Should we go back to the party?"

You shook your head, "No, I already told Kim we're going home,"

He pressed a kiss on your temple, "okay, we're going home!"

He said, then got up from leaning against the wall and held your hand.

"See you at work," he beamed at Yoon.

"Sure. See you!" She said back at him.

*

It felt like it was just yesterday when he brought you here with barely any furniture in sight, but now the whole studio has no space left for any furniture.

Felix steered you to the bed and sent both of you crashing down, making you gasp and laugh as his whole weight pressed on you.

He stripped you off of your clothes, and you took his off, with mouth endlessly connected and hands roaming each other’s bodies.

He kissed you like it was something that gave him a reason to live, it was that consequential to him.

"Did I really see you and Kim kissed earlier, or did I dream it?" He asked you all of sudden.

It was a quick peck you gave to someone you have platonic love with, but maybe the fact that he knew about Kim's sexual orientation changed his perspective.

"Why? Are you jealous?" You playfully asked him.

He rolled to the side and lay next to you on the bed, "to be honest, I'm a little worried," he sincerely admitted, "Kim would make a tough competitor,"

You rolled and got on top of him, "and so you're going to give up?"

He sat up to hold you close to him, "I will never give you up," he told you with such loving eyes, "never, ever, ever!"

You put your hands around his neck and kissed him.

Felix knew how to pleasure you like it was something that came naturally to him. He knew what pleases you and whatnot, he knew how you like to have his hands wrapped around your neck or firmly gripped your waist, the fluttering, little kisses he placed on your skin as you moved against him.

He knew you were getting tired from bouncing on top of him that he quickly gripped you by your hips to guide your movement and kept you moving on his lap.

He knew you were so close to your release from the way you kept clenching around him, "I know, baby," he said to you, "just a little bit more," he encouraged you.

Moans filled the room, bouncing against the walls, and you caught the reflection of you fucking him on the window glass and felt a boost of confidence surging inside you.

You used the remaining strength you had left to keep moving on his laps to finally earn your high, clawing his shoulders as a high-pitched cry escaped your mouth.

Felix swiftly lifted your body and shifted on the bed to have you pinned under him without pulling out.

He lowered his mouth on you as he continued thrusting into you to chase his high.

You gripped the side of your pillows, feeling overwhelmed by having him ramming your already sensitive walls from your orgasm.

A few thrusts later, he cum inside you and letting out the deepest growl you ever heard coming out from his mouth.

He went to kiss you all over, kissing every inch of skin that was available to him, and whimpered as he milked every last drop of his cum inside you.

With his face hovered above you, he caressed your cheek endearingly, "I love you," he muttered.

"I love you," you muttered back without a beat.

He lowered himself on top of you and held you as he had just found his way back into life.

*

Felix sat up on the bed as he watched you making coffee in the kitchen wearing his t-shirt that hung just right below your ass, but he could see the back of your thighs for him to lust on. You stood on your tiptoe to get mugs from the top cabinet that made the hem of the t-shirt ride up, revealing your black underwear underneath, and your messy hair bun bounced when your feet fell flat on the floor again, smirked when he spotted the hickeys he made on your neck.

This is why he needed you to move in with him, your presence means a lot more to him than his mind couldn't perceive.

When you turned around with mugs of coffee in your hands while smiling as brightly as the morning sun, Felix just knew that his day was made from that very second.

You both spent a few more hours on the bed just drinking your coffee and planning your day together.

When it was almost noon, you both got into the shower together and washed each other’s hair. He drove around while waiting for you to make up your mind about your choice of lunch.

After lunch, you walked around the city park and had ice creams, eating them on a bench under a tree while enjoying the turn of the season from winter to spring. Once you got up, you felt your asses got numb from the cold.

He took you to a record store next and browsed some new records with you, he made you listen to bands you never heard of before. You accidentally persuaded him to buy more records than he meant to buy.

By the time you got out of the store, it was dusk. You made him drive around again as you were thinking about what to eat for dinner. Felix could have finished a pack of cigarettes the moment you decided on what to eat for dinner.

Felix finished your dinner because the portion of the ramen you ordered was too much, then you had a little fight because you insisted on paying for dinner that night, and you won, of course, or he let you win.

You both got back to his place, and he played the new record he bought on the record player. The music started playing, and he took you for a dance. He held you close for slow dancing in the middle of the room even though the song was upbeat, he twirled you and pulled you back into his embrace, capturing your lips for a kiss.

The night was getting late, you both washed up before bed and brushed your teeth next to each other while looking at both of your reflections on the mirror.

Felix kissed you once you were both done brushing your teeth, tasting the peppermint toothpaste on your lips, and smiled as he saw your toothbrush was there next to his.

You put on his t-shirt for bed with nothing underneath but your underwear, you talked about how you were doing well in college now and earned a few head pats from him, telling you how proud he was for you.

Felix began talking about how he landed a job at a record label, and he aspired to start producing music since he began working there.

You kissed him and convinced him that his dream isn't as silly as it sounded.

Then he kissed you back, so tenderly, and thank you for coming back into his life.

He kissed you more and more, held you close to him on the bed, and cradled your head to lull you to sleep.

You mumbled goodnight to him, and he kissed your forehead as you drifted into sleep.

He watched you sleeping, and he smiled because the first and the last thing he saw today was you. He could only hope that every day would be like this, this was heaven to him.

*

It started with a scarf you left in his apartment, then your jacket, your phone charger, your earrings, and the next thing he knew, there was a stack of books on his bedside table.

He loved that his apartment was filled with traces of you. In the bathroom, there was your shampoo, and sometimes he intentionally used it just so he could have the smell of you with him that day. One day, you went shopping together, and he bought you a thin blanket that became your favorite, you always put it on when you were watching TV or when you read a book on the single sofa that faces the window.

The top drawer of his dresser was filled with your clothes, but you always chose to wear his t-shirts to bed. He liked it because then your scent would cling to the fabric, and he would wear it when you couldn't sleep over at his place.

And when spring turned into summer, Felix's wish came true.

You decided to stay with him while Kim went to her parent's house for the summer break.

Felix was more than ecstatic to have you fully living with him for a month.

That resulted in new routines, movie night on Monday and game night on Friday, only going out on the weekends.

You did the cooking, and from all the foods you made, he likes the carbonara pasta, and when you had to choose who would do the dishes after, you settled it with a rock, paper, scissors. When you crave something in the middle of the night, Felix would make you a grilled cheese, and he's so good at it.

You took showers together before bed and shared your bottle of shampoo. You slept on the right side of the bed while Felix on the left side, you talked about your fears and dreams and hopes and wishes and weird ideas until your brains shut you down to sleep. Felix kept wanting to cuddle despite the heat of the summer. When he had to work the next day, you woke up early to cook him breakfast then woke him up at 8.

You had sex, a lot.

Sex on the bed, on the couch, in the shower, on the kitchen counter, against the wall, on the floor and the times were also varied, in the morning, right after he came home from work, before dinner, after dinner, or those times he woke up in the middle of the night feeling needy for you.

You tried some new sex positions but ended up breaking the shower curtain. At one point, he made you cum four times in one night. Your mouth, your breasts, your soft skin, and that delicate thing between your legs, he couldn't get enough of it. He couldn't get enough of you.

You laughed over some dumb jokes he overheard at work, and he laughed when he saw your defeated face when he beat you on video games.

He smiled whenever he looked at you, and you looked at him, smiled as you kissed him before he left for work, and he smiled when he saw you were waiting for him to come home from work.

You cried watching a sad movie where the dog died in it, and he held you until you felt better. He screamed and hid behind your back when he watched a horror movie that you deemed wasn't that scary for you. You explained the plot of the movie when he missed a few things, he was the only person you were allowed to talk to during movies.

You fought a few times over small things like you making him drive around for an hour to decide on what to eat for dinner or the way he kept forgetting to fix the shower curtain.

But once you sort things out, you made up almost immediately, and the sex felt even more amazing after.

He smoked less, he stayed home a lot more than he usually did, he slept so well and dreamed of sweet dreams with you in it.

It was like he had found his way around you, that is to revolve around you, for you are the sun for him.

On the last days, before the summer break ends, he watched you reading on the bed with your favorite blanket on and reading glasses perched on the bridge of your nose.

Thinking how a month flew by so fast while he wished it would last forever, just like this.

You noticed he was watching you, "enjoying the view?" You asked without looking at him.

He walked up to you and climbed onto the bed, resting his head on your shoulder to look at the book you were reading.

"Have I told you that you look so hot in glasses?" He asked as he put an arm around you.

You softly laughed, "should I keep start wearing glass then?" you asked and shut your book close.

"You're hot with or without it," he said.

"Make up your mind, please?" You said, half-laughing.

"On a second thought, it'd be a hassle to kiss you with the glass on," he took back his words.

You laughed and took off your glasses, "you're so weird," then kissed him.

You put your book and glasses away on the bedside table before snuggling into his arms and kissing him again. His hands went underneath your t-shirt to feel the warmth of your skin.

"Move in with me," he breathlessly said as he pulled away from the kiss.

He asked you so many times already, but the closer it get to the end of the summer break, the more frequently he asked you.

You had talked to Kim about it, and she didn't mind, but to leave her like that before getting her another roommate would be rude.

"I want us to spend all of our days together like this, " he added, his fingers making lazy circles on your back.

You placed your hand on his waist, then slipped it inside the big hole of his sleeveless top and touched his taut muscles, "Next year," you said to him.

He got quiet for a moment, "but that's four months away," he grumbled.

"Can you please be patient for me?" You asked him.

He couldn't say no when you asked him with crinkles in your eyes and your eyebrows furrowed like that.

He held you tight and groaned into your neck.

"Four months is not that long," you comforted him and scratched the hair on the back of his head just how he likes it.

"And after that, I'll live here with you and mess your place," you added.

That seemed to work as a compromise that he pulled away, and looked into your eyes with a wry smile on his face.

"I can't wait to live forever with you," he said.

Your heart flipped because he put all of his beliefs on your relationship that you feel the need to put just as much.

He caressed your cheeks and looked into your eyes like they held the whole galaxies in them before finally kissing you in a chaste, gratifying kiss.

"I love you so much," he muttered against your lips.

You smiled and pecked his lips, "I love you," you muttered back, "so much," you finished.

He swiped his thumb over your lips to kiss you again with a heart that overflowed with the happiness of knowing that he'll be spending so many of his days together with you.

He knew that the future is uncertain, but that didn't stop him from being grateful for it and that you and him, have made it this far.

*

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