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secrets-of-ty · 14 days

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Danny Phantom Fanfic Masterlist

I've been meaning to do this for a bit! Since I've been in the Phandom for 10+ years I've picked up a lot of good fanfics over the years and I think it'd be great to share them again in case people have forgotten/haven't encountered them!

I mostly used Fanfiction.net in my older days so a lot of them will be linked there. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to fics being completed, so expect the ones listed to be bingeable with an ending! And finally, I'm not huge on romance/smut so most of them probably won't involve those genres, I'll point out ones that do. (These are in no particular order).

👻 Happy Reading! 👻

👻 = Regular Fic

🟢 = Alternate Universe Fic

⚔️ = Crossover Fic

💙 = Would Recommend!

💙💙 = One of my Favorites!

💙⚔️💙 Mirrored by Lynse

"As a general rule, diving into unknown swirly vortexes in the Ghost Zone is a bad idea, but this was a time when Danny had no other real choice. Meanwhile, Jake thought he was through dealing with ghosts, but Rotwood, well, he's just getting started."

I posted about this one a few years ago and the author, @ladylynse , said it's also available on AO3. This is by far one of my f a v o r i t e fanfics that I read annually or so! If you're a sucker for American Dragon too, definitely check this one out <3 The characterization of both Jake and Danny, plus watching their friendship grow, always gets me in the feels.

💙👻 Phantom's Sketchbook by AkoyaMizuno

"Mr. Lancer finds himself in an unparalleled situation, he has access to something which can give him incredible insight into the personal workings of Amity Park's local ghost teen hero, Danny Phantom."

It's been a while since I've read this one, but I remember it having a lovely characterization of Lancer plus his mentor relationship with Danny. (I loved this one a great amount back in the day that I, uh, made fanart and turned it in for a school assignment. Which is lost to the ages now 😅)

👻 Darkness by Cordria

"Maddie and Phantom are trapped in the dark. Can they come to an agreement to work together before they both die at the full moon? Part 1 of Illuminations Saga."

I don't quite remember this one but I DO remember Cordria had some absolute bangers. You'll probably see their name a few more times on this list.

💙👻💙 Masks by Cordria

"Sometimes, people hide who they truly are behind masks. This is a short story about the day that Lancer decides enough is enough when it comes to Daniel Fenton. Sequel is 'Plunge'"

When I said Cordria had bangers, THIS is one of them! Another fic that I read annually, this one involves Lancer getting closer and closer to Danny's secret while he's stuck in detention for the weekend. I love love LOVE the characterization of Danny and Lancer in this, another at the top of the favorite list!

👻 Plunge by Cordria (sequel to Masks ^)

"Sequel to 'Masks'. Now that Lancer has learned the truth and has let Danny out of his office, Danny needs to face the next hurdle: his parents."

For some reason, I always forgot to put this on my favorite list so I often missed out on reading it with my annual read of Masks. I remember it being a decent sequel where the Fentons pick up the pieces of Danny's reveal.

👻 Pits by Cordria

"Danny has been captured and thrown into the Pits by Walker to fight for his life. Listen in as he tells his dark, twisted tale of surviving despite the odds. Warning: dark and depressing. Sequel is 'Final Exam'."

Another one I don't fully remember, but it had to be a solid read since it's on my favorites haha! I have a vague sense that it was a little angst/gore-y(?) as the description warns, so just heads up!

👻 Lab Rat by AnneriaWings

"The look on my parents' faces – eager, curious, somewhat hateful – wasn't exactly hard to give away their intentions. I knew what they were going to do to me even before Mom snapped on a pair of rubbery, white latex gloves."

*** This one is definitely a vivisection fanfic with graphic descriptions, so beware that content. Again, haven't read it in a long time but it had satisfied my angst itch back in the day.

👻 Wondering by Phantomrose96

"A continuation to Cordria's starshot #69 "Wondering". Danny's been captured and tortured by his parents, but he refuses to say a word until his psychiatrist starts connecting the dots. Can he risk keeping it a secret any longer?"

*** Another angst, lab experiment-esque fic. There are definite graphic scenes (as warned in the first chapter). I do remember this fic being huge in the 2010s (definitely a staple of the Phandom). The relationships and Danny recovering from his torture were great highlights.

👻 Connections by Lynse

"Maddie knows that the Booo-merang has keyed into Danny, for whatever reason, so what's she to think when she sees it collide with Phantom?"

Don't quite remember this one, but Lynse is amazing at writing, so it's bound to be a good read.

👻 Confessions by Lynse (Sequel to Connections ^)

"Follows Connections. Danny's secret's not as safe as he thinks, what with Maddie unable to ignore her wild suspicions any longer and piecing things together and Jack asking questions all on his own."

Same as above!

💙👻 Earthquake by Turkeyhead987

"Danny leaves with his bathroom excuse and leaves Dash curious. He follows Danny and ends up the the gym room with him. While they're in there, an earthquake occurs and leaves them trapped inside. Will any secrets be revealed? No DashxDanny! They're just the main characters!"

This one is another one that I've read multiple times over the years! From what I remember, it was a fun read involving Dash and Danny being trapped in the gym after an earthquake, and explores how Danny handles his secret around Dash while they wait for rescue.

💙👻 A Jock and a Hard Place by AnneriaWings

"Danny and Dash were silent, trying to wrap their mind around that stupid, simple fact – the door was locked. They were trapped. In a janitor's closet. Together. (Collab with Haiju)"

No romance in this one! Another story where Danny and Dash get trapped together. I've read this one several times, and remember enjoying the tension of Danny's secret being revealed. I also think they explored Danny and Dash's relationship in a fun way!

👻 An Unlikely Alliance by Represent

"Maddie wants her family back. In an attempt to understand her Danny's change in behavior, she unwittingly enlists the GIW to exorcize Phantom from her son."

Gonna be real with ya'll, I don't remember this one at all. But uhhh I'm gonna throw it on here just because I can. :)

👻 Flip Turn by dreamsweetmydear

"Danny's life the last couple of years has been chaotic and pretty scary, to say the least. However, one detention with Mr. Lancer opens a window of opportunity that promises to turn his life around in more ways than one. Revelation fic. Post-"Kindred Spirits.""

Yet again, I don't remember this fic. Sorry! But it's under 8000 words, so it's a little bit of a shorter read than some of the ones on this list!

👻 Journey of Secrets by WolfKael

"First Danny Phantom fic! DXS, TXV, but not super-heavy. Lancer's class is on a trip to the Ghost Zone, courtesy of the Fentons! (Takes a couple chapters to gain momentum, and I promise it isn't your average 'field trip' fic!) T because I'm paranoid, but it could probably be K ."

Also not a fic I remember. It's got about 50,000 words so thought I'd throw it in for anyone that likes a longer fic!

👻 Vulnerable by HaiJu

"A desperate moment leads to a difficult choice, and Danny must deal with the consequences. A collaboration between Anneriawings and Haiju."

Don't remember it, but HaiJu had/has some great fics! Seems to involve Danny and Maddie after skimming the first chapter.

👻 Little Fires by Represent

"My family's supposed to be geniuses, yet they've never figured it out. Now I know why. Because they already know I'm Phantom. They must know. The better questions are: Have they known this whole time? What's in that vial? What happened to Skulker? And what's in the locked drawer?"

You know what, if I remember it, I'll say something 😂

👻 Judge, Jury, Executioner by Cordria

"The Observants and the Ghost Council are sick of the Fentons creating half-ghost creatures that disobey the rules of the universe. It's time for them to step in before more are made. Can Danny save his parents and keep his secret intact? A three-part fic."

💙👻 A Phantom Marooned by LordPugsy

"No one but Danny was suspicious when his English class was awarded an all-expenses paid cruise trip by an anonymous benefactor. Everyone but Danny thought it was bad luck when they became ship-wrecked on an island in the middle of nowhere. No one but Danny fully understood the dangers lurking in the trees. No one but Danny knew how much danger they were all in so far from home."

This one involves Danny and his class getting out of Amity Park, so it's a little more oc-filled and explores a nontraditional setting for the trio. There might be a little SamxDanny in this one if I remember correctly, but overall I do remember having fun reading through this!

🟢 Candlelight by HappyLeif

"Sam's only friend is the ever-loyal Tucker, ever since Danny began slowly distancing himself from them after some accident freshman year. She wanted a friend, but she never thought she'd find the one she was looking for in the highly debated ghostly hero of Amity Park.

AU = Danny alone during the portal accident. Looks like there's some SamxDanny in this one! Don't remember it but heck I might have to reread it since the synopsis has me interested.

👻 Crashing and Burning by GriffinRose

"For two years, Maddie has put up with Danny's ridiculous lies and excuses. She's tried everything to get through to him, but the pattern just goes on. She's so tired of fighting him on this all the time. And so, after two years, she's done. She doesn't care what her son does anymore, because Danny doesn't seem to care that he's her son."

👻 I'll Be Here by HaiJu

"Some days you can't pick yourself up. Having family means you don't have to. Danny-centric, three oneshots. Completely shameless hurt/comfort. Bring tissues… and antiseptic."

👻 What Little Girls Are Made Of by HaiJu

"Phantom and his younger double save Amity Park from a monstrous ghost, nearly destroying themselves in the process. The Fentons have always hunted ghosts; now it's time to save one."

💙👻💙 You Should Be Dead by SaphireDragon11

"Dash and Kwan are horrified to discover they've accidentally killed their classmate, but perhaps even more so when he shows up at school the next day. With his secret on the line, Danny soon discovers Dash and Kwan are the least of his worries."

THIS story is definitely a favorite and fun read! The ending battle chapters always gets me excited to reread! ***Danny does get straight up shot by Dash at the beginning so be warned for that content. But I remember a post going around a year or so ago where someone had drabbled about Danny getting up after being shot by Dash. This story explores that concept with a longer plot!

💙👻💙 Roughing It by HaiJu

"Lost deep in the woods with an undead pack on their heels, Maddie and Phantom find themselves entangled in an awkward alliance. Can they cooperate long enough to get out of this mess?"

Another favorite! This one explores Maddie and Danny's relationship, kind of similar to how the show did in the Maternal Instincts episode. I adore how HaiJu explores Maddie's thought-process with dealing with Phantom in a situation where she kind of needs him and he won't leave her alone. Great mother-son fic!

👻 Phantom of Truth by Haiju

"Locked away in a secret government lab with Phantom as her subject, nothing stands between Maddie and the truth... except, perhaps, herself."

Haven't read this one in a loooooong time, but I remember being around for HaiJu updating this fic, posting about it on Tumblr, and the Phandom being generally hyped for it. Another staple for the Phandom! It's another torture fic, so heads up regarding that content!

💙👻 Shadow of a Doubt by Haiju (Sequel to Phantom of Truth ^)

"The truth was supposed to save Danny. Fix things. The lab, the experiments, the lies, those were all in the past. Weren't they? Sequel to Phantom of Truth."

And then BAM on top of finishing Phantom of Truth, HaiJu hit us all with a completed sequel! I was super excited whenever this fic got updated, felt like I was waiting for a new episode to air on TV every time! There's some OCs in this since it explores Danny running away from Amity, but I remember genuinely loving the OCs and loved reading about Danny mentally recovering from being experiment on.

👻 Just a Boy by Tay1019411

"Maddie and Jack finally have Phantom right where they always wanted him: in there lab, helpless, but everything is different now. Now, Maddie faces the truth about what Phantom really is."

🟢 Make It Go Away by DarkNymfa

"Not for the first time, Danny cursed himself for never telling anyone about his extra-curricular activities. And now, far more injured than he could fix himself, Danny desperately wished that he had told just one person."

No one knows AU

👻 Flicker by DarkNymfa

"It had taken just one moment, one split-second in which she had seen Phantom instead of Danny. Now she found herself on a path she didn't want to be on. One she couldn't leave, not anymore."

👻 The Scientific Method by ReconstructWriter

""After two years of failures you'd have better luck asking Phantom to be your lab-rat," Jazz said. The Fentons decide to try just that."

👻 Phantom Hitchhiker by ghostanimal

"Phic Phight Oneshot: While students get to leave early after a ghost attack, teachers have to stick around for boring meetings to discuss the attack. The ghost attack was now over, but it didn't mean all the ghosts were gone. Lancer finds himself driving a certain Phantom home while reflecting on how young the poor kid is."

👻 Returning After the Reveal by Illusn

"Phic Phight attack, using a prompt by Love-ly-ish. Danny returns to school after his secret was revealed in a ghost attack, having to deal with people suddenly treating him differently."

👻 Vantage Point by Lynse

"Phantom was young. Painfully young. Somehow, Lancer had never really noticed that before. One-shot, written for the 2019 Phic Phight."

👻 Oddities by Lynse

"Jack can't deny that their ghost hunting equipment malfunctions around Danny-consistently and exclusively around Danny-and decides to get to the bottom of it, once and for all. One-shot, written for the 2019 Phic Phight."

👻 To Be a Hero by cosette141

"Danny has always known the consequences should he be captured by the Guys In White, but now Tucker is going to learn firsthand just what the stakes are for his superhero friend and what it really means to be a hero. (not slash) hurt/comfort"

👻 Family Reunion by Dp-Marvel94

"For Phango. Prompts used- Setting: Family Reunion, Wes Weston, Aunt Alicia, Stuck in the thermos. And Identity Reveal…kinda (does it count if Wes had already worked out that Fenton was Phantom but hadn't seen him actually transform so wasn't completely sure?)"

Wes Fic!

👻 Stuck by SummersSixEcho

"[OneShot] After a prank from two of his ghostly acquaintances, Danny is stuck in ghost mode during one of the most important events of his young half-life. If only he didn't have to give a speech on top of it... [Phic Phight 2020 entry; prompt by Ghostanimal]"

👻 One-Eighty by SummersSixEcho

"[One Shot] After a grueling battle, two teenagers at a diner try to sort out a night of revelations. [DannyMay 2020, Day 28: Diner]"

👻 Threads of Time by ZombieRed

""I just want to know what's going on with you, Danny! I wish I could just, I don't know, spend the day figuring out what you've been hiding from me. Then maybe I could help you. But you being closed off from everyone is only hurting you. Can't you see that?" Or Maddie keeps on waking up to Thursday morning [No PP, pretty much ignores season 3 as a whole]"

👻 Invisible Stitches by Lynse

"Family bonding time might be less dangerous now that his parents know his secret, but that doesn't mean Danny is wild about being kept in the dark when it comes to his dad's plans for the weekend. One-shot."

Loved the concept of Danny having trouble being away from Amity Park!

👻 Whenever You're Ready by SummersSixEcho

"[OneShot] Jack and Maddie try to show their son they are very supportive of Phantom once they find out his secret. They want him to tell them on his terms, but everything ends up in bigger misunderstandings and more revelations they weren't prepared for. [Belated Phic Phight entry for Star G, Arioz, Bird, Dekalkomania, and Wife]"

Written in a Journal-Entry style! Interesting format if I remember correctly.

👻 An Attempt at Camping by Seasilver17

"They should have known that even when they were in the middle of nowhere camping. Something would have to go wrong. Curse his Fenton luck"

👻 Secrets Secrets and Advice (This Teacher's Vice) by AppleScentedLazers

"After a particularly grueling day Mr. Lancer just wants to go home, kick up his feet, and read some Shakespeare. But, when he runs into two of his students looking for their missing best friend, Lancer ends up with more questions than he has answers for. Such as, who is Phantom? And just what is Daniel Fenton hiding?"

👻🟢 Going Ghost by cosette141

"My take on the moment Danny turns on the ghost portal and becomes half-ghost… as well as an alternate way for Sam and Tucker to find out. Friendship Oneshot"

👻 Lair by Lexosaurus

"When something goes wrong with a piece of Vladco tech, Valerie ends up stuck in the Ghost Zone. With Phantom."

💙👻 In Case of Emergency by Unlucky Alis

"Lancer is grading papers when he gets the call. "I'm calling from Amity West. I have an underage patient here who has named you as their emergency contact." Lancer rushes over, of course, fretting all the while about what accident Danny Fenton has gotten himself into now, because it could only be him. Except, when he arrives, it's not the Danny he expected to find."

I remember enjoying the little twist on Lancer being the emergency contact for Phantom yet having no idea. Lancer handles it pretty well all things considered. (I think you guys can tell I just like Lancer fics at this point HA)

👻 Furthest from Myself by WastefulReverie

"An accident during a ghost invasion leaves nearly a hundred citizens with inexplicable ghost powers. Little did they know, this was only the catalyst for a series of revelations."

👻 Ghost Smarts! by Dekalkomania

"When it becomes clear the ghosts are here to stay, the Amity Park school district decides they need to teach proper safety precautions. In dire need of extra credit, Danny takes Mr. Lancer's offer to be the assistant in an assembly titled, "Ghost Smarts!"

Very unprepared for what he signed up for, Danny must deal with the eccentric detective J.J. Bittenbinder, all while not blowing his cover."

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show-your-fangs · 1 year

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The Secrets We Keep (a Bunny and Clyde story) Masterlist

A Sugar Daddy!Hotch x BAU/cam girl!Reader series

You've been working as a cam girl for years to get yourself through college, but what happens when you start working at the BAU and it just so happens that your boss, Agent Hotchner, is one of your customers.

It's You (original ask) - After a series of coincidences, Aaron starts to suspect that his fellow agent might be the woman he's been watching pleasure herself online for months.

The Contract - Aaron asks you a question that officially blurs the lines between your professional, platonic relationship, and your professional, intimate one.

Blurbs

Bracelets - Aaron fucks your face in a precinct bathroom to relieve some stress.

Requests are open for Bunny and Clyde, they're everything to me so pls keep them coming 🩷

As always, a shout out to the anons that have helped come up with this amazing story and to the love of my life @canuck-eh for putting up with me

#show your fangs masterlist #show your fangs writes #show your fangs hotch blurbs #the secrets we keep #bunny and clyde #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner fanfiction #dom!hotch #sugar daddy!hotch #aaron hotchner x female reader #cam girl!reader #bau!reader

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persevereforahappyending · 4 months

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A Legacies Secret - Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Tara Carpenter x Reader

Summary: You just wanted a happy life with your girlfriend but then Ghostface attacks, revealing long thought to be buried family secrets.

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Death, Murder, Stabbing, Shooting, Blood

Status: Complete

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Headcanons

HC 1

#tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x you #tara carpenter imagine #masterlist #tara carpenter masterlist #a legacies secret

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bellarkeselection · 6 days

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His Compass of Harrenhal part 4

Part 3

- do y'all want one more part to this mini series???

Tag list - @only4thefics @superintenseart @universallyrascaldreamercookie @uniquecroissant @vavafaure1994

Daemon and I silently stood there just staring at the old caretaker of the crumbling castle. The weight of the words that had just come from his mouth was very clear in the forefront of our minds. I knew that this day would come, but I never imagined that it would be as sudden as this. This visitor was not simply us meeting a friend for a chat. No, this was the Dragon Queen Rhaeynra Targareyon.

She is a fierce dragon and I am simply a fish out of water. She could kill me probably without even blinking and walk away if she wished to.

She is also Daemon's former wife or maybe in her eyes they are still together. There's no possible way that she knows about me.

"Daemon, what do you think she's going to do to me?" I mumbled lifting my head up slightly with a very nervous expression crossing my features.

He squeezed his fingers into my hips where his hands were resting on my body. "I don't know. But you shouldn't worry your head about it."

"But she's your wife."

His bright purple eyes meet my gaze. "Y/n, don't worry about it because I will make sure she doesn't touch you or the baby in any capacity."

"Daemon! She's your wife. She needs you to get the support of the lords of the realm. I don't help give her any assistance-"

He covered my mouth with his right hand closing most of the gap that was still between us. His voice went deeper yet remained in the gentle side that he only showed around me. "Listen to me, little fish. You are important to me. I wouldn't have the support of the Riverlands if it wasn't for you. So I never want to hear you say she doesn't owe you anything when she does owe you some grattitude."

"I'm still afraid, Daemon." I whispered to him under my breath. The dragon prince nodded his head wrapping his strong arms gently around my waist, bringing me in closer.

Simon, who was standing in the doorway spoke up once before announcing his presence. "My king, my lady, we should address the princess before she wastes anymore time."

"You should go. I'll stay back-"

"You won't dare do any such thought. We're in this together you and I. I want you by my side."

"I wasn't expecting you."

Rhaenyra eyed her husband then the crowd of men behind him. "Seems rather a lapse in foresight. I see you have done well here."

"They are sworn to me and not a moment too soon." Daemon admitted to her proudly, knowing she needed this army to have any chance of getting the Iron Throne.

Rhaenyra lifted her head up slightly to send him a deep glare asking the question. "And to whom are you sworn?"

"The world is not what we thought it was. This war is just the beginning. Winter is Coming with darkness and doom. ( Se vys iksos daor skoros īlon thought ziry istan. Bisa vīlībāzma iksos sepār se beginning. Sōnar māzis rūsīr darkness se vējes.)"

Rhaenyra made a confused expression. "You sound like my father. ( Ao sound raqagon issa kepa.)"

"I saw that we cannot withstand it..and yet, somehow we must. ( Nyke ūndan bona īlon daor withstand ziry. Se yet, somehow īlon līs.)" Daemon clicks his tongue glancing over his shoulder at me for a brief second before looking back at her. He lowered himself down onto one knee catching her by slight surprise. "The realm's only hope is a leader who can unite it. And my brother chose you. You are the true Queen. Rhaenyra, the first of her name, Protector of the Realm. I am meant to serve you and all of these with me until death or the end of our story."

Slowly every single lord around me bent down on one knee to address her properly as their Queen. I placed one hand on my swollen stomach and did the best I could to be down on one knee like the others. Squinting my eyes I was still trying to understand what they were saying in High Valyrian, I was still learning the language from Daemon. "Leave me again at your peril. ( Henujagon issa arlī rȳ aōha peril.)"

"I could not. I tried. ( Nyke could daor. Nyke sylutan.)" Daemon rose from the stone ground addressing her before her dragon made a noise. "My Queen."

"For every one of us who falls a hundred of them. There will be no mercy." Daemon put his back to the two of us, drawing his sword out and declaring to the massive crowd of men. "We fight for our Queen!"

The crowd drew their swords and cheered alongside him till Rhaenyra noticed me standing at the front of the crowd with my hands resting on my stomach and I was only really looking at her husband. "Daemon, who in the realm is the pregnant woman standing before me?"

"You're grace..." I nervously bowed my head down to address the dragon queen before me.

The queen slowly walked forward scanning her eyes down my body and held her eyes solely on my pregnant belly. "What is your name, my lady?"

"Y/n Tully, your grace." I simply responded to her.

She questioned back softly. "Who is the father of the babe in your belly, Lady Tully?"

"Um. I must admit I am not comfortable sharing that information, your grace." I lowered my gaze from hers and accidentally took a few steps away from her showing I was afraid of her next response.

Rhaenyra bites her lip in a tight line. "Daemon, I demand to know what else you have been doing here while working to secure me an army of Riverlands men and I demand to know now!"

"Rhaenyra, she's my - the baby growing in her womb belongs to me." Daemon placed his sword back inside its holder coming over to the two of us.

The dragon queen clicked her tongue. "There's more you're leaving out. Tell me now."

"She's my wife." Daemon finally mutters under his breath. This caused everyone else in the crowd to gasp and take large steps backwards in utter shock.

Rhaenyra whipped her head around glaring at me and I shut my eyes thinking she would lay a hand on me. Yet when I heard a harsh smack where I peaked one eye opened seeing Daemon holding his cheek with one hand. "You promised me you'd be loyal to me. You led me on when I was a child and I believed you and yet you still do this. You betray my trust by marrying and bedding another woman!"

"I now see what my brother saw in you when he named you heir. I see that you will be the realm's protector even if you no longer are the object of my desire." Daemon made his way past his former wife stopping directly in front of me. He cupped my face in his hands resting his forehead against his. "I've never thought that a woman would change me, make me truly care about her safety, want to bear her children and not simply to further my house. She brings out the best version of me."

"And where does your loyalty stand, Y/n Tully?" The black Queen questioned me after we had broken away and I was standing beside my dragon husband.

"My loyalty will be to your cause, my Queen." I gave her the best curtsy I could, sending her a weak smile.

Rhaenyra glared at me and her former husband but bravery pushed her jealousy aside knowing we had bigger problems if she wished to take her throne back from her half brothers. "Our focus needs to be on getting my throne back from the Greens. But don't think for a moment that this conversation is over between the three of us." She spun on her heels being escorted into a separate room by Simon leaving me, Daemon and the lords behind us all thrown for a loop by how she ended the conversation.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

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queenimmadolla · 2 years

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𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀

(eddie munson x secret admirer!reader)

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 Summary: After four long years of pining, it's high time you tell your crush you like him and quite possibly your last chance to, luckily there's no better time for love confessions than Valentine's Day. If only you hadn't chosen to do so anonymously, because you're pretty sure he's hoping his secret admirer is someone else.

Warnings: pining, angst, misunderstandings, very brief (blink and you miss it) descriptions of oncoming panic attack (doesn't happen), Heather Holloway being a sweetie, and a whole lot of fluff a/n: I did way too much for something that was supposed to be 2.k word count wise, and is definitely going to flop because of how late I'm posting it but I don't care because it is still technically Valentine's Day. A HUGE thank you to @kitmon for being my incredible beta-half (get it?) and if you like slow burns (and I mean the best ‘GET TOGETHER ALREADY but also please take your time really finding and understanding each other’ fics), go devour their masterlist. Happy reading and Happy Valentine's day ♡ word count: 10k

You stood posted by a row of lockers, peaking around the corner of the hall to watch as the longtime object of your affections laughed at something one of his friends said.

“Are you stalking him again?”

You jumped, clutching your biology book to your chest as you swiveled around to face Heather, your best friend.

“Geez!” You hissed out, voice low as you checked to make sure you hadn’t attracted his attention.

But it’s you, so of course you hadn’t. Eddie was still leaning up against his locker and chatting away, face framed by the mane he called his hair. His curls were defined much more than usual—clearly he’d washed his hair before school which meant he must have been up early. Why did you know that????

“I’m not stalking him,” you grumbled and Heather giggled. “I’m just observing him.”

“Well, stop observing him and go talk to him.” She nudged your shoulder, giving you a reassuring smile.

“I’m gonna—,” You answered with false bravado that soon wavered, “. . . eventually. Look, I have a plan. Okay, today is a new day, Valentine’s Day and the perfect day for romance. No more watching from the sidelines─”

Heather coughed out a stalking, followed by another cough, all of which you ignored.

“No more quietly pining, I’m telling him how I feel.”

Heather raised her eyebrows, tongue clicking.

“Let me get this straight, you’re not only going to actually exchange words with him, you’re actually going to tell Eddie Munson about your feelings?”

Your heart fluttered just at the mention of him.

Edward Wayne Munson. Eddie.

You’d had a crush on him since your freshman year of high school, and contrary to your best friend’s earlier statement, you had exchanged words with him already. Sorta. Basically.

Freshman year you’d ate shit in the hallway, tripping over literally nothing and all your belongings had scattered, he’d stopped walking to help you pick your things up before he was off again. It wasn’t much conversation, but he did say something about those invisible rocks people left lying around.

Then your sophomore year, he’d sat behind you with his club at the school’s mandatory pep rally. One of his friends had accidentally jostled you and Heather a little too roughly when he was finding his seat and Eddie had apologized on his behalf.

Then last year he’d held the cafeteria door open for you and your friends when you slipped in. That time, you’d been the one to thank him and he had said you’re welcome. Almost unprompted!

So, yeah. Maybe you were a little delusional, it didn’t matter though. What mattered was you were running out of time.

Somehow, Eddie had managed to fail the past two years, allowing you to catch up to him but that meant you were now a senior as well. You’d let the other chances to approach him pass you by because you were too scared of rejection, this was your last chance.

The college acceptance letter you’d received at the start of the week also spurred your bravery, if he rejected you, you only had a few months left until you were on your way to California, there’d be all those states between the two of you.

You had nothing to lose, so today was gonna be the day.

“Yes,” you took a deep breath, slowly exhaling as the determination sank deep into your bones. “I’m gonna tell him.”

“How are you gonna do that?” She cocked her head, the curls of her side ponytail bouncing.

“I’m glad you asked, my friend.” You grabbed her hand, dragging her down the hall to your partially opened locker. You pulled the door open fully to reveal a bouquet of roses, set on top of your books.

Her face wrinkled up in confusion, “You bought yourself flowers again?”

“No.” You glared at her, a hand scratching your head as you hissed out through gritted teeth, “And we promised not to bring that up anymore—these are for Eddie.”

Heather perked up at that, a hand resting over her chest as she fawned, “Dude, that is so cute! When are you gonna give them to him?”

“That’s the thing, I’m not actually going to give them to him directly. I need your help. You’ve got history with him, yeah?”

You already knew she did so it didn’t surprise you when she nodded. You slipped one rose from the bouquet and handed it to her.

“Can you leave this on his desk?”

“Sure! Wow, I can’t believe I get to be part of your love story,” she marveled, twirling the stem between her fingertips.

God, you hoped it’d be a love story and not a tragedy.

“And these are for you.” You pulled out a smaller bouquet of pink roses, and Heather just about burst into tears.

The two of you had been best friends since middle school, and often spent your free time watching corny teen movies, usually living through the main characters of the romance ones. You’d had a couple of almost-boyfriends, in the end you hadn’t been interested in them enough to accept when they’d try to make it official. And Heather simply hadn’t caught the eye of anyone, which was ridiculous to you considering how pretty and nice she was, so you were usually her valentine on Valentine’s Day. This was the first time you actually got her flowers instead of a bunch of chocolates to eat the night away, you’d figured she deserved them.

She’d had a crush on Steve Harrington, but he hadn’t noticed her and ended up dating and getting dumped by Nancy Wheeler. Then he’d dated every other girl except her. You feared your non-existent relationship with Eddie might go the same way.

“Dude,” Heather yanked you in for a hug, squeezing you to the point you thought your ribs might be bruised.

“Uhm. Heather. Ow.”

“Oh, sorry.” She released you, holding you by your shoulders, “Okay, so I just give it to him?”

“No, no, no, no, no. There will be no interactions. Just leave it on his desk.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

You were about to reply when the first bell cut you off and threw you into a panic, nudging Heather in the direction of the classroom so she could beat Eddie there. Heather took off running once she realized the reason for your worry, only you both failed to remember Eddie was late to everything.

You reluctantly made your way to your first period, plagued by thoughts of Eddie’s reaction to the first rose.

Would he like it? Oh, you hoped he liked it.

What if he thought it was some prank? What if he threw it away? Would he do the same to the rest?

Oh, well. There was no backing out now.

Your carefully thought out plan was put into action. You’d made sure to play sick the last 15 minutes of every class to get an excuse note to the nurse, only you didn’t go to the nurse. Instead, you ran around leaving a rose in Eddie’s various hang outs. One at the creepy old bench you knew he did business at. Two roses with the stems placed through the slits of his locker, three on his windshield wipers, one of the younger students in your art class was in Hellfire with him and after swearing him to secrecy, Will had promised to deliver three to Eddie personally, without revealing your identity.

During lunch, you found yourself behind the stage of the cafeteria, in part of the drama department. It’s where Hellfire took place.

You’d been there a handful of times, only when your curiosity for the metalhead got a little too overwhelming for you and you wanted to feel closer to him without having to face him. It was only ever set up on Fridays, the day Eddie got to school early enough to do so.

You made your way over to sit in the chair closest to his throne, casting it a couple of nervous glances.

This would be where you left the last rose, so of course, everything about the set up, the throne had to look daunting to you now; a representation of how you were seeing Eddie as your confession grew nearer. If things didn’t go as planned, it’d be the last time you could come here.

The thought made your stomach hurt, a large void beginning to form there.

The last rose was much too personal to leave just anywhere, where someone without a key to the room would find it. No one but the Hellfire club would occupy this area today. Attached to the rose with a ribbon was a note with a simple message that meant more to you than you cared to admit. You’d written it when you first came up with your plan at the start of the week and had been debating on whether or not to sign your name since then.

The answer should’ve been obvious, right? This whole thing was to let Eddie know how you felt about him, and your romantic intentions were clear with the red roses. This note would finish implying the rest. And if you wanted Eddie to know it was you who admired him, you just had to write your name.

Yeah, simple as that.

You clicked the pen in your grasp, placing it just over the paper.

You wavered, licking your lips as you tried to convince yourself to just own your goddamn name. That’s all you had to do. Write on the paper.

Just write on the paper.

Your hand was beginning to shake, and with a heavy heart, you realized your name wouldn’t be going on this note.

You weren’t brave enough for that. You set your purple pen down, staring down at the words written in pink ink before you rolled the paper up, making sure the ribbon was secured (you’d used a hole puncher to slip the ribbon through) and left it on the seat of the throne before scurrying out of the room as fast as you could.

—

Eddie was at a loss, completely stupefied.

When he’d arrived at his history class, after having mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of boredom he’d face, he was surprised to find a single rose on his desk. By surprised, he meant incredibly suspicious. A glance around the room confirmed he wasn’t being watched, everyone was gossiping about Emmy Switcher’s upcoming party, so he’d settled into his seat and marveled at it.

Eddie wasn’t one to ever really get things on Valentine’s Day, not counting the mandatory valentine’s cards in elementary and middle school. The last time he’d gotten a card was his first senior year, and it had been a prank by a couple of girls on the softball team and their boyfriends. Embarrassed the shit out of him. The following Valentine’s Day he’d faked being sick to avoid falling victim again—god, he craved affection so much it made him pathetic enough to still hope for something gross and cheesy to happen to him.

A rose was harmless though, right? Unless it was poisoned or something. Eddie lifted it to his nose, but all he could pick up was the seductive floral scent and when he didn’t immediately pass out from chloroform, he figured it was just a rose.

He glanced around again in vain, hoping someone would somehow stick out and when no one did, he held it in his grasp, rough fingertips stroking over the soft petals for the duration of the class.

He’d been stunned when he arrived at his locker to find two roses hanging out of it. A few people were staring at him as he carefully pulled them from their place, but they looked more curious rather than shy or mischievous. He had a feeling whoever was leaving the roses for him wasn’t around.

He refused to leave them in his locker, the stems clutched in his hand as he went about his day and found more. Eddie was more than proud to display them, somewhat smug at the attention they were garnishing him.

Yeah, fuckers. Someone finally liked him. Eat shit.

He’d spent his English class convincing himself he’d never find out exactly who this someone was. He was pretty fucking stressed after that. He tried to come up with a roster of sorts, girls he thought might be interested in him enough to maybe leave him pretty flowers and woo him right out of his Reeboks.

He’d only been able to come up with four—impressive—but his first pick he was quick to scribble out. He hadn’t had a decent interaction with her and he figured it was creepy of him to put her at the top of the list all because of his wishful thinking.

The second girl listed was possible, maybe. Chrissy Cunningham. He’d had a crush on her for as long as he could remember since she was always nice to him. She’d dumped Jason a couple of months ago and he’d been dealing to her for a short amount of time, but she seemed pretty flirty to him. Although, flattery did work on him.

The third name made him nervous, and not in a good way. Tina Sawyer. They’d both got pretty drunk at her Halloween party and hooked up in her bathroom but she avoided him like the plague afterwards, obviously embarrassed about interacting with him, which was typical for the lot of Hawkins.

He’d been sure it was a drunken mistake but sometimes, he’d catch her staring at him, and she didn’t look all that disgusted with him.

The last name on the short list was that of Tammy Thompson. She had made her interest in Eddie pretty clear his junior year, always trying to sit behind him in classes so she could play with his hair. Unfortunately, Tammy was very, for the lack of better words, aggressive with her affections. He’d made out with her once and it had been sloppy and messy in the most unattractive of ways. It was like tonguing a dog.. Then he remembered she’d actually been able to graduate, unlike him, so he was spared.

By lunch, Eddie was ready to try to figure out who his secret admirer was. Out of the two remaining girls on his list, he was leaning more towards Chrissy, who he felt wouldn’t be ashamed to hold his hand in public.

He and his lunchbox full of drugs—and some snacks—made their way to the Hellfire lunch table where he spent a significant amount of time studying the two girls.

“Uh, are you okay, Eddie?”

Eddie glanced up at the concerned face of Will Byers, who’d arrived much later than the rest of the guys and Stephanie, one of the two girls in Hellfire. The question drew the attention of the rest of the table and Eddie internally sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine—what are those?” Eddie asked, eyes honed in on the roses resting on Will’s tray.

The younger teen handed them over, “A girl told me to give you these.”

Eddie felt his heart skip a beat, “You know who she is?”

Will nodded and before Eddie could demand a name, he rushed, “I’ve been sworn to secrecy!”

Eddie scowled, carefully setting aside his roses so they wouldn’t be involved in his annoyance.

“Byers, I’m gonna level with you. I’ve been in this miserable prison for six long years. While I’ve had my fair share of hookups, I have not ever had a girl like me enough to leave me roses and do cute shit before. And I fear I never will again. That’s why I’m actually gonna need you to tell me who it is so I can have a girlfriend by the end of what is supposed to be the most god awful romantic day of the year. ‘Kay?”

Eddie’s eyebrows dart up, face set in an intimidating glower but Will remembers how scared you looked when you trusted him with this task. He also knows, very well, how it feels to love someone without them ever knowing because you fear what their response will be. He’d also seen Eddie eyeing both Chrissy and Tina.

Will knew what it was like to have that special person interested in someone else, too. So, he’d protect your secret.

“I swore.”

Eddie groaned, head dipping forward in a brief moment of defeat before he slammed his fist on the table, making the other occupants jump.

“Whatever, I’ll find her myself.” Just as Eddie stands, an idea occurs to him. Will said he wouldn’t tell him who it was, but the youngest Byers hadn’t said he wouldn’t tell him who it wasn’t, “Is it Tina?”

Will shakes his head, nose wrinkling. Nothing against her, she just wasn’t the nicest to him or his friends. Not the meanest, still.

Eddie breathes out a sigh, mumbling an oh, thank god as he makes his way to the cafeteria doors. That only left one possibility, and he was due to meet up with her in just five minutes. He couldn’t fight the grin off his face.

──

Your heart was racing a mile a minute, having witnessed everything transpire at the Hellfire table.

You’d selected your lunch table four years ago because of the perfect view of Eddie it provided you, but right then it was killing you. You’d ruined your manicure, picking aggressively at the polish as you watched Will and Eddie, breathing out a sigh of relief when it looked like Will hadn’t revealed your identity.

Eddie hadn’t seemed too happy about that.

Then he stormed out and you fought very hard with yourself to not follow after him because then Heather would be right and you’d be a stalker.

“Regret it yet?” Heather asked after she’d swallowed a bite of her sandwich.

“No.” You sorta lied. Yeah, you kind of regretted it but at the same time, knowing Eddie wouldn’t have to let you down gently made you less anxious. Besides, it wasn’t like you could just climb up the stage and duck past the curtain leading to the hellfire room without one of it’s members spotting you from their table. They’d tell Eddie in a heartbeat, especially if they found out the last rose and that damn note was there.

“Sure,” Heather drawled, glancing over her shoulder as you picked at your food, appetite suddenly gone.

Maybe you really should have written your name on that love note.

“Well, I hope you mean it, because Dream Girl is on her way to meet Ice Cream.” Your head snapped up at the mention of Chrissy Cunningham and Eddie’s code names you’d given them so both you and Heather were free to talk without either of them suspecting anything. You referred to Chrissy as Dream Girl because you’d known all about Eddie’s crush on her (while Heather had been depressed about Steve and Nancy, you’d eaten your weight in ice cream over Eddie and Chrissy’s more than friendly interactions with each other, which had nothing to do with Eddie’s code name—he was ‘ice cream’ because you wanted to lick him all over).

Sure enough, you looked over Heather’s shoulder, following her gaze to see Chrissy bidding her friends goodbye before she walked right out of the doors Eddie had pushed past minutes ago and as you watched her exit through the double doors, something inside you withers and dies a bit.

You knew Eddie sold to her (gave her a discount because she was pretty and because of their flirting, hearing him say that made you want to drive a knife right through your chest), you and Heather had followed them out a couple of times which is how you were both aware of the flirtationship.

After the first time you’d spied on them, the two of you had gone back to your home where Heather held a mock funeral for you. Now, you wished it had been a real one because you were sure Eddie had not only loved your roses, he also assumed they were from Chrissy. They would send him right into her arms at that shitty ass bench. And when he’d get a hold of the love note, well, you’d be the reason why Eddie and Chrissy would be hand in hand come Monday, canoodling by their lockers and kissing like no one else was watching. All the things Eddie should have been doing with you.

You should have signed your name on the fucking note.

─

Eddie had paced a pathway, disturbing the mounds of fallen leaves surrounding the picnic table.

His stuff, another rose he’d found waiting for him included, were on the table and he’d taken off his jacket, despite the chill of the February air. He was working himself up in his head, overheating in the process.

“Eddie?”

His head shot around, grinning as Chrissy—who apparently left him roses—approached him, face broken out in a smile.

“Hey, Chris.” Eddie’s heart was racing a mile a minute, palms sweaty as he rested them over his hips, then quickly realized he looked stupid so he crossed them instead.

She laughed at his nerves with absolutely no malice and they sat down at the bench, getting down to business. She’d been about to hand him a twenty dollar bill after he slid her the ziploc bag of nugs, but he held up his hand.

“On the house.”

“Eddie, it’s always on the house. I feel bad.”

“Then stop.” He emphasized the demand with bulging eyes, smirking when she giggled. She had to like him, right?

Eddie tried to be discreet about it, plucking one of the roses from his growing pile. He played with the stem, even sniffed the petals again in hopes she’d comment about it, maybe look a little excited about it or just give him any sort of reaction to indicate it had been her.

Chrissy was too busy moving things aside in her backpack to make room for the baggy. When she finally did look back up, she smiled, but gave no hint she was even familiar with them.

“Ooh, pretty flowers. Where’d you get those?”

Was she playing coy?

“Uh, someone’s been leaving them for me all around school.” Was it you?

Chrissy’s face lit up and Eddie thought it was finally the moment of truth.

“That’s so sweet! Do you know who it is? Or is it like a secret admirer sort of deal?”

Evidently, not the moment of truth. She had to be toying with him, trying to prolong the reveal. Because if it wasn’t her, he was out of ideas. And he really, really didn’t want to be out of ideas. Not when there was someone out there, maybe thinking about him.

“I actually have no idea who it is,” he sighed out, hoping if it was her, she’d just put him out of his damn misery already.

Chrissy, glanced down at the table and Eddie perked up. Nerves? Was she finally gonna come out with it?

“It wasn’t me, Eddie…but, I wish it had been.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say, mouth dropped open a little as his eyebrows quirked up in surprise.

Okay. Hadn’t been expecting that. He was expecting a yes it was me or a no it wasn’t me but not Chrissy confirming it hadn’t been her while also telling him she liked him.

“So, you haven’t been leaving them for me?”

Chrissy shook her head and reached across the table to place her smaller hand over his, palm warm against his skin. Eddie’s eyes squeezed shut as he groaned, head falling forward to rest against the table.

“Eddie?” Chrissy asked, concern lacing her voice.

He let out a very long sigh, a little miffed at how messy this whole thing had gotten. Now, there was his, Chrissy’s and someone else’s feelings in the mix. Christ.

“‘M’sorry, Chrissy.” Eddie sat up straight, face grim as he slowly pulled his hand out from underneath hers. “You’re great, fantastic, actually. You’re really nice and really pretty, but… I’ve been going crazy all day, trying to figure out who’s behind these.”

He gestures to the roses at his side, the sight of them filling him with an intense wave of longing.

“It’s been like years since I’ve gotten anything with real meaning behind it for any occasion—” he wasn’t counting the hellfire club or Wayne, referring to romantic intentions—“let alone Valentine’s Day, and someone in this school seems to be thinking about me.”

Eddie thought about what it must have taken to do something like this, it may have seemed like a trivial thought, something simple to others. He knew it wasn’t. He had no idea who it was, but he put himself in their position. They had to know enough about him to know his schedule, where he spent time, and then make the time to leave them in those spots just before he got there.

He’d spent the time waiting for Chrissy considering the anonymity of it. On the chance it wasn’t her, there was someone else in the school who was too afraid to approach him directly. He’d thought it might be out of fear of being seen with him, seen doing anything remotely romantic with him. Then, why even bother? They had to be afraid of his reaction, it’s what he would be nervous about if the positions were flipped.

And god, he’d never felt more alive before, more seen and all it took was a couple of roses. He felt like those fawning girls in John Hughes movies.

“Before today, I never would have approached you about this, you know? I know we flirt, but I never would have been brave enough to cross that line.” He admitted, looking into her shiny blue eyes. Aw, man. Eddie hated making girls cry but it was true, he would have been waiting for her to make a move, or for Tina to make a move. Any of his past hookups, really. He’d have been with any of them—having craved affection and everything that came with it so bad—if they had just been the ones to initiate things on a more permanent basis.

He would have. Past tense. They could all form a conga line and confess their undying love for him but, unless they were the one who left him the roses—the one who made him brave enough to actually go around confronting people in an attempt to seek her out—he’d let them down.

“She made me brave, makes me feel really wanted and I don't even know who she is. It’s not you, it’s just─”

“I’m not her.” Chrissy finished for him, wiping under one of her eyes. “It’s alright, Eddie. I mean, I’m obviously a little sad, but it’s not your fault or hers. I do hope you find her, though. She’d be lucky to have you.”

She gave Eddie a sad smile, making him feel even guiltier but it’d be pretty shitty of him to try to be with her when he’d be thinking of someone else.

“Thanks, Chrissy.” Eddie stood up and gathered his things. It was clear she was upset and would probably need some time to gather herself, he didn’t want to force her to leave first or linger around and make it awkward.

He left her with a small, parting smile, relieved that he hadn’t charged her. Would have felt like a douchebag to make her pay for weed and turn her down in the span of five minutes when she’d been nothing but pleasant to him.

Eddie shook it off, determination setting in once more. Sure, he was back to the drawing board, but if all else failed, he could corner young Byers again until he finally gave him a name.

He’d come up with a pretty good list of ways he could force Will to give up the name by the time school let out and he got to the Hellfire room.

It wasn’t until he set his little bouquet and the lunchbox down (he didn’t bother with backpacks, just shoved whatever he needed in his pants pockets or the box), walking around the throne in a circle like some fucking animal because he was so restless, that he saw the rose.

The flash of white had caught his eyes and he dove down to grab it, trying to be as careful with pulling the piece of paper away from the stem of the rose, only he realized whoever left it had hole punched the thing together so he ripped the ribbon with his teeth rather than rip the note.

The ribbon was stuffed into his back pocket as he eagerly sat himself down, rose clutched in one hand and the note in his other.

Eddie,

Please excuse my lack of eloquence in this note and also in our real life encounters.

Eddie felt a shiver of excitement wash over his skin, cheeks a bright shade of pink at the confirmation he’d indeed interacted with his secret admirer before. Fuck, she’d talked to him! It made her feel even more real.

She was a real person, someone he could probably hold hands with and kiss. Unless, this was done in a purely platonic way which would be a little fucked up. Red roses to be friends? C’mon. He read on.

I hoped you liked the flowers. I was actually debating on getting you different ones, something a little more personalized to you, but I ended up going with roses because, well, they convey romance better.

Eddie leaned over the arm of the throne, sagging back as he allowed himself to completely collapse with relief. Just for a few seconds, then his eyes were glued to the pink penmanship.

I’m trying really hard not to sound creepy because I’m totally not creepy and I know what you're thinking, ‘that’s what a creep would say’ but I swear I’m not, I just. I admire you. A lot. I have for so, so long. I admire the way you keep going, even when things are absolute shit for you, I like how you watch out for the younger classmen that come in and don’t really have anywhere to go. I like the way you dress, how pretty your hair is (even when it’s frizzy which is so unfair), how passionate you get with your rants (even though sometimes you’re an asshole about it).

And I like your laugh I LOVE your laugh. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had what feels like the worst fucking day of my life and I’m ready to breakdown and cry and scream, but I don’t. Because I can hear you laugh your ass off at something one of your friends said in the cafeteria, by your locker or even when you’re just walking past me. And I wish I was there, laughing alongside you or making you laugh. I don’t know how your laughter makes me feel better, it just does. I get all smiley and I feel warm inside and I want to give you a hug for it, for making me feel better without even trying.

But I can’t. You kind of scare me. Not in the mean, scary way, I’m just not sure you’ll like me. Or that it’ll go anywhere, or even if it should.

You’re so confident, Eddie. And you’re stupid attractive (you are, and I’m sure you’re aware but I’ll go ahead and tell you I’m also physically attracted to you) and it’s so overwhelming that I can’t contain it anymore and I don’t really want to. We only have a couple of months before we’re out of here (I have a feeling this is gonna be your year, you’ll be free of this sentence, too), and I don’t want to have any regrets. The only way I’d ever regret you is by not telling you how I feel.

So, here I am, Eddie Munson. Never thought I’d ever be confessing like this, but for the first time in my life, I feel brave. And it’s all because of you. Thank you, Eddie. I’ll be running around— dodging teachers and detention write ups— like Rocky in his training montages to get these roses to you because you deserve your flowers and I’d be delighted to give them to you today, and every single Valentine’s Day after. Actually, I want to give you even more than that. If you’ll have me.

Love,

What the fuck?

Eddie hastily searched the bottom portion of the back side of the paper, where the note ended for a signature, a name, initials, something but that’s where it ended.

There was no name.

“NO! FUCK! NO! No, no, no, no, NO! I’ll have you, take me, just tell me who you are!” Eddie groaned out, note dropped into his lap so he could clench the roots of his hair with both fists as he doubled over.

This had to be a nightmare. It was the only reasonable explanation for someone to say all those wonderfuckingful things, just for them to disappear.

His heart hurt and he blinked frantically to ward off the onslaught of water and sniffed to deter the tingle in his nose.

The unmistakable sound of his own little rat pack making their way towards the room wasn’t enough to get him to pull himself together.

“Eddie, dude, are you okay?”

Eddie recalled his final option, head shooting to glance around at their faces in search of one in particular.

“Byers. Where’s Byers?”

“His mom picked him up after lunch, wasn’t feeling good,” Mike informed him, completely unaware his grand Valentine’s gesture for Jane had been the cause of his sudden illness.

It was the final straw for Eddie, he snatched the lunchbox and flowers and grumbled out, “Sessions canceled.”

He must have looked pissed as none of them protested, probably having something to do with most of them having dates afterwards.

He almost made it out of the room when Gareth called him back, holding up a purple pen he’d found on the table and figured Eddie was about to forget.

“Is this yours?”

Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“No.” Then he walked out.

Before promptly storming back in, swiping the pen out of Gareth’s meaty hands. Eddie clicked the pen and scribbled furiously over the side of his fist until the ink finally ran. It wasn’t purple. The ink filler was pink.

His secret admirer’s pen.

“What a cruel parting gift,” he sighed, shoving the pen in his pocket before making his exit. Again.

The really sad thing was Eddie couldn’t even sink into depression in the peace of his room. Emmy Switcher had approached Rick about wanting some herbal refreshments at her party and since he was still under house arrest (how Rick managed to deal and supply in his circumstances baffled him) the job fell upon Eddie. He’d driven to Rick’s restocked, then hit the party.

It was a horn fest, couples everywhere he looked. All heart-eyed and attached at the tongue. It was disgusting.

Eddie was pouting, quietly fuming that it wasn’t him and his secret admirer making out or cuddling or doing something equally romantic but noooooo. Just had to take the ‘secret’ aspect to its extreme.

He banished himself to a dark corner, only interacting with people when approached for drugs or weed. He’d caught sight of Chrissy and it had looked like she wanted to come over but he’d purposely shifted his gaze. Despite the gaping hole left where his heart was, it wasn’t Chrissy or Tina, or the girl in the upstairs restroom, who’d thrown herself at him when he’d been searching for a free bathroom to piss in, that he wanted. Eddie wasn’t in the mood to rebound.

Which was kind of crazy considering he hadn’t even been in a relationship, hadn’t been dumped. He wanted everything in that note, especially the promise of more and only with its author.

Now, Eddie hadn’t been in love before. Some serious lust and want, yeah, however, reading that note made him feel like he was falling a little bit in love and he wanted, very badly, to dive headfirst the rest of the way. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

Once he’d sold out the rest of Rick’s inventory, he stole a beer and headed for the front door.

Once outside, Eddie took a minute to breathe. He hadn’t realized how stuffy it had been in there until he was no longer engulfed by the claustrophobic displays of affection.

He trudged down the pathway and paused when he saw the figure of a girl sitting on the lawn. Her head was directed down towards the ground and she was most definitely not wearing the right clothes for the outside weather.

Eddie cursed under his breath, plans to immediately drive home and get crossed put on hold as he walked over, noting the dew already coating the grass.

“Hey, you okay?”

─

Drinking your sorrows away probably wasn’t the best idea, considering how much of a lightweight you were.

Originally, you’d wanted to lock yourself away in your room for the night—and probably the rest of the weekend as well as maybe the next school week; nothing wrong with playing sick to avoid facing reality and your problems─to cry and pass out. Heather, on the other hand, had plans for you. She’d dolled you up, having to force you to wash your face and re-do your makeup once when you had started crying—put you in a cute outfit and dragged you to Emmy Switcher’s party.

You knew her intentions were pure—as pure as underage drinking could be—but she knew her mistake when the party started to couple up. You’d been approached multiple times and she’d try to encourage you to go for the decent acting ones, you just hadn’t wanted to. When Chrissy Cunningham showed up, you’d gone for shots of the hard liquor (over the sink of course in case you gagged it up, which you did a decent amount of), sure that Eddie would soon follow and you’d be forced to witness their affection.

Obviously, you ended up shitfaced and somehow lost track of Heather. Or maybe she lost track of you. You’d very briefly attempted to find her, accidentally spotted Chrissy, now making eyes at Eddie who’d shown up, and you’d promptly headed outside, eager for some fresh air and an escape from the madhouse. The high alcohol level in your blood kept you from feeling how chilly it really was and you settled into the grass, twirling strands of it around your fingers.

You weren’t sure how long you were out there when someone approached you.

“Hey, you okay?”

You looked up, ready to ask them to just leave you when you locked eyes with Eddie Munson. Most of the liquid courage coursing through your veins evaporated, you couldn’t look at him for long, gaze moving back to the grass. What a way to start sobering up.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? ‘Cause,” Eddie sat down next to you, one leg crossed and his other, knee up with his arm resting over it. His unopened beer was at his side, “You’re outside, alone, in the cold and you look pretty fucking sad.”

You scoffed, fingers still playing with the strands of grass as you tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t make you seem pathetic. In that time, Eddie took you in.

He knew you, he’d seen you around school and you were nice enough to greet him. Pleasantries in passing. Pretty Hallway Girl, as you’d been dubbed—though never referred to as—until he knew your name. It had been the first one he had jotted down on his list for his secret admirer’s identity, of course he realized with your lack of interactions, it wasn’t likely. He entertained the idea of dating you often, you’d just never shown any real interest in him. Eddie thought about it a lot. Anytime he caught sight of you, really. Your pretty face didn’t make it easy for him to stop. He was a really, really big sucker for your eyes and that smile you’d give him during those brief interactions; like the two of you had some sort of secret between each other. Warmed him up inside.

And here you were, all sad at a party. He didn’t really mind not getting crossed if it meant he got to comfort you, keep you company.

“I’m just drunk,” you finally blurted out, unable to come up with anything else, “And bummed.”

Try devastated.

“You look it,” he joked, nudging his shoulder against yours.

“You don’t look that much better.” You shot back.

“That’s fair,” he sighed, breath visible in the night air as he tilted his head back. “I’m pretty bummed, myself.”

You really didn’t want to ask, figuring he’d already had some sort of lover’s quarrel with Chrissy and you didn’t want to get in the middle of it.

But you were an idiot, so you asked, “Why are you bummed?”

You watched him dig around the pockets of his leather jacket, pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out of the pack, clenching it in between his teeth as he shoved the pack back into the pocket before he shrugged off the jacket entirely—denim vest included—putting it around your shoulders.

It caught you off guard but you were grateful, your body having decided to become once more susceptible to the chill of the air and dewy grass. Eddie must have been a freaking space heater because the lining inside was blissfully warm.

“Thank you,” you mumbled, shimmying around in it until you could slip your arms into the long sleeves of it, your fingers barely poking past the hem.

“You’re welcome,” he shrugged, flicking the lighter to life as he lit the cigarette. After he’d taken a drag, he answered you.

“Love,” Eddie blew out along with a wispy plume of smoke, “Didn’t expect it to be so complicated.”

You wanted to mime the action of staking yourself in the heart. Of course he was in love with her. She was wonderful! And on top of that, he thought she’d been the one leaving him roses! Had he read the note? Assumed it was her, too? DUH! You were definitely playing sick next week.

“Yeah, well. Join the club,” you grumbled, hugging his jacket around you. It was as close as you were ever gonna get to actually hugging him.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, hoping to school his disappointment. While he wasn’t looking for anyone else tonight, it was still displeasing to hear you were taken but of course you were. He couldn’t imagine you dating sporadically, you seemed much too wonderful for someone to even consider giving you up. No, he was gonna hurt himself with ideas involving you and a high school sweetheart stemming back to your freshman days, probably.

“Ah, I see. Is he here?”

You froze for a moment, “Uhm, yeah. He is.”

“Then why come? Or did it happen in there?” He jabbed a thumb behind him, gesturing to the party inside.

“No, it didn’t happen tonight, it was earlier. In the day. I didn’t really want to come but my best friend dragged me out here. I thought I was doing good, apparently not ‘cause here I am. I’m mostly bummed because of myself, though. I didn’t follow through on something I sort of promised myself and I messed everything up. For me. Not for him. I think he’s pretty happy, so I don’t want to ruin that. He deserves to be happy.”

Eddie could tell you meant it, you were vague as hell but whatever you’d done, however it ended, you genuinely seemed to want your boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) to be happy. He hoped it wasn’t something you had to cave into for one of those meatheads. You deserved better than those jerks.

“That’s pretty selfless of you if you ask me,” Eddie raised the cigarette to his lips, admiring you.

“Eh, I guess. I fully plan on punishing myself for it, though. Really make sure to rub the salt in there, you know?” You finally turned to grin at him, despite the sinking feeling in your stomach.

Eddie thought about how he couldn’t just stop going to school so he could avoid having to look at all the faces in the crowds and wonder if his admirer is one of them.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m right there with you.”

Sweetheart. He really was trying to kill you.

“Eddie, get your ass in there and make up with her.” You lightly slapped his arm and jabbed your finger in the direction of the house. You were not about to let your sacrifice be in vain and he’d better stop unknowingly torturing you like this.

“I can’t!” He laughed, amused with your sudden bossy attitude.

“Why not?” You whined, eager to just get him away from you. It wasn’t fair, he wasn’t being fair.

“Because I have no idea who she is.”

Once again you froze, eyes widening. Luckily for you, Eddie didn’t look too much into your reaction. He figured most people would be surprised over him nursing a heartbreak from someone he didn’t quite actually know, or was aware that he knew.

“What?” You asked, trying to seem as uninterested as possible as you played with the ends of his jacket sleeves.

“Fuck it. Someone left me roses all around the school and this really amazing love note.” For a moment, Eddie entertained the idea of trying to convey exactly what it meant to him, then he thought better of it. He’d either seem crazy, desperate or like some pathetic guy in love (which, he kind of was on the cusp of), “Pretty sure it was a girl.”

Not a single dude in the high school was romantic enough to pull it off, maybe leave him an entire bouquet, but not expand upon it like she had.

Eddie licked his lips, raising the cigarette to them once more and ready to admit that he had no fucking clue who she was, but he figured he might as well make one last rally.

“Wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

“Not me,” you lied flawlessly, with a gentle shake of your head. “Sorry, Eddie.”

Sorry I’m a big liar because HOLY FUCKING SHIT, wasn’t expecting that.

“I figured. Still had to try, your boyfriend probably would have kicked my ass, though.” Yeah, Eddie hated Valentine’s Day.

He stubbed the cigarette out into the wet grass, and laid the rest of the way down, hands covering his eyes as the back of his head met the ground.

You frowned down at him.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Hello.

Eddie peaked at you through his fingers, “No?”

You shook your head and as Eddie moved to push himself back up, he yelped.

He shifted onto his side, digging around his pocket for whatever it was that stabbed him.

“Ouch,” He hissed, yanking the purple pen out. “Damn, that hurt like a bitch.”

Your eyes squinted at it in suspicion.

“Is that my pen?”

“Huh?”

“My favorite—and pricey—pen. I lost it at school today.” In fact, you were sure you had and you were sure that was your pen. You’d broken off the clip of it by accident and you recognized the large crack in the body of it, having once given into an intrusive thought regarding whether or not you had the strength to break it while you were bored in class. You did have the strength and luckily for you, it still worked.

When Eddie made no move to give your pen back, you figured he didn’t believe you so you added, “The ink is pink, right?”

Eddie continued to stare at you, mouth slightly parted in awe, and you suddenly felt very nervous, glancing behind you to see if there was something that caught his attention but all you could see were the empty lawns.

“What?”

He finally blinked, licking his lips again.

“You’re a really good liar.”

“What?” You repeated, this time your question was laced more so with confusion than panic. He was right, but why was he saying that?

His lips slowly parted up at the corners until he was grinning at you so wide, his dimples were showing and you could feel your heart beating wildly against your rib cage, as if it was trying to break free to fly right over to him.

“This is your pen?”

“Yes!” Is that what his happiness was about? That he was holding your prized pen hostage?

“This is your pen?” You could tell he was having fun at your expense now, getting more giddy by the minute.

“Yes!” You laughed out, his joy contagious even if he was teasing you with your own belongings. “That is my pen. Give me my pen!”

He clicked it closed with his thumb, “I found it where we hold Hellfire sessions, same pen that was used to write my love note.”

And just like that, your heartbeat seemed to stop all together, smile dropping instantly as you wished a giant hole could form in the ground below you and swallow you up.

“That’s not my pen,” you denied, shrugging off his jacket as you quickly rose to your feet. “I gotta go, bye, Eddie.”

When you saw him starting to hastily rise, you bolted, literally running back into the house to try to find Heather and get the hell out of there.

You heard Eddie frantically calling your name but you didn’t stop, forcing your way through the bodies as you desperately searched for your best friend.

Luck was finally on your side because you were soon smashed into her back by a passing group.

“Whoa,” she laughed, turning to steady you, “There you are, I’ve been searching for you everywh—hey, what’s wrong?”

You were sure she must have noticed the panic on your face, eyes shiny with tears you refused to let fall in public.

“I wanna go home, we have to leave.” You grabbed her hand, pulling her into a secluded corner as your head darted in the direction of the front door. You wanted to make a run for it but you feared running into Eddie on the way.

“What happened?” Heather asked, voice initially soft before hardening as her protective nature came out, “Did someone do something?”

You shook your head, chest heaving with your breaths. You were so close to having a panic attack.

“Eddie. He knows. He knows, Heather.” And because she was your best friend, she understood, mouth and eyes going wide.

“Holy crap. Wait—isn’t this what you wanted?”

“No—yes—I don’t know! I can’t face him!” There was a reason you hadn’t written your name down on the note, regardless of how badly you wanted to. You were just scared.

“Why not?” She bent down, leaned in closer to hear you. This girl and her twenty questions.

“It doesn’t matter, he didn’t want it to be me, anyways. He would’ve asked earlier, and he only did it now because of that stupid pen!” You should have kept your mouth shut and just gone to buy another over the weekend, “Can we just please get out of here? We can try the side gate in the backyard.”

“Is Eddie looking for you?”

“Yes, that’s why we have to leave!” Whatever Eddie had to say, you didn’t want to hear it. Yeah, maybe he could want you but if he didn’t, was searching for you to let you down gently you’d be heartbroken.

“He knows and you don’t think he wanted it to be you?”

“Yes!”

“Then why would he be looking for you?”

You refused to answer her, pushing her towards the back door instead. She went willingly for a few steps, then Heather stopped and you bumped into her back again as she craned her neck to look over her shoulder.

“I think it's too late for that.” She pointed at something behind you and you followed her finger.

Eddie was standing on top of the kitchen table a bunch of guys had carried into the living room to play beer pong on, eyes searching the room with his lips set in a frown.

He was attracting attention, a multitude of heads turning to peer up at him in curiosity.

Oh, god. He was looking for you, you were probably going to get rejected at a fucking Valentine’s Day party in some stranger’s living room.

Eddie must have caught the attention of someone near the sound system because the volume of the music was lowered and you could hear everyone muttering amongst themselves, asking what had happened to the music before they noticed Eddie.

He glanced around, not even a little nervous at the amount of people staring at him. He hadn’t planned on making a huge show of it, figured they were all too drunk to pay him any attention, luckily he was used to being a spectacle.

Eddie used it to his advantage, calling out your full name.

The crowd muttered, everyone looking at each other in confusion or maybe trying to catch sight of you.

It wasn’t long before someone recognized you, head turning in your direction, followed by many more—a domino effect—until just about everyone was staring at you, including Eddie.

He hopped off the table and made his way towards you, crowd parting to allow him. Heather slipped her hand into yours at your side, giving you a reassuring squeeze before she too stepped away, leaving you to finally face Eddie.

Eddie didn’t look at anyone else, gaze trained solely on you.

“Hi, again.”

You blinked, unable to keep yourself from glancing at the crowd around you, curious—nosey—to see what would happen next.

Guess you were going to have to finally face reality, no more running. You didn’t think you could break through the crowd, anyways.

“Hi,” you whispered but you knew Eddie had heard you, his lips pursed into a smile, eyes lighting up when you didn’t shut down.

“You ran away before I could tell you how I feel.” Eddie took another step, pretty much invading your personal space but he was desperate to be close to you and maybe body block you in case you tried to flee. He didn’t want you to run away again, to disappear like he feared you had when you hadn’t left your name on the note.

“It’s only fair right? Since I know?”

You nodded again, the drum of your heartbeat loud in your ears. You were surprised you could hear Eddie over it.

Eddie stared down at you, lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t look upset or frustrated. It looked like he was thinking about something.

Little did you know he was reciting the note in his head to give him some courage, he’d memorized it.

He didn’t leave you waiting for long.

“I admire you. A lot.” Your breath hitched as the words you’d jotted down were repeated to you, “So much that I want to stand on expensive looking, antique tables and crash parties for you. I like the way you get animated when you talk, the way you give into your intrusive thoughts at the most random of times—yeah, I saw you trying to see if your finger fit in the pencil sharpener in the library once—I like how kind you are, even when people don’t deserve it.

“I like how you’ve never made me feel ostracized, never made anybody feel like that and I like how dramatic you are—storming off, making an exit, falling flat on your face in hallways then staying there like a dead body before you decide to reanimate again once you’re done being embarrassed. I like how you beat up your locker when it won’t open and then you give it a couple of pats to apologize once it finally does.”

Eddie chuckled at those particular memories, having been thoroughly amused when watching you and you feel your face get hot at being the cause of his cute laugh.

“And I really like your face, your pretty eyes, all of this,” Eddie gestured to you, to all of you from head to toe, “… you’re beautiful. Although, I gotta say, you drove me really fucking crazy today. Made me feel emotions I didn’t know I was capable of feeling and you scared the shit out of me when I thought I’d never get to know who the person I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with is.”

Okay, maybe you didn’t want the ground to swallow you whole.

“I know we only have a couple of months left of school and you’re probably going off to continue being amazing at some college in some big city a million miles away—‘cause that’s my luck—but I’m willing to work with that. I want to drive those million miles to give you flowers and hold your hand, kiss you, listen to you complain about your bad days, hear you brag about your good ones, kill all the bugs you’re afraid of—even though some of them freak me out, you make me feel brave, too—and just be all around disgustingly domestic with you.

“And yes, that includes all the not so fun domestic stuff like fights—which we’ll get over, I’ll do just about anything, even cave first, if you give me those big, coy eyes of yours—and taxes. I want to do it all with you. If you’ll have me.” Eddie ended, eyes wide and just a little out of breath.

There it was. He’d thrown it all out there, everything he wanted to offer (because he wanted to give you everything, even though it kind of terrified him).

And you—you were just staring at him, left to gape at him since you’d expected… well, you hadn’t really known what to expect since you usually ran from the consequences—be they good or bad—of your actions.

He wanted to be with you. Holy crap, Eddie Munson wanted to be your boyfriend. Wanted to do boyfriend things like visit you at college and hold your hand. You’d thought, the whole time, it had just been you observing him. You never thought he’d be observing you, too. It all sounded too good to be true, you couldn’t really think, couldn’t really form words.

You didn’t have to, Eddie grew anxious, maybe even a little impatient despite having decided the moment you’d run away from him in the front yard that he’d chase after you for as long as it took him to get you to give him a chance.

He found himself blurting out his strongest desire, “Can I kiss you?”

This was it, you were faced with another opportunity, and this one was the actual last opportunity you had to tell him how you feel, without any anonymity. No more hiding, no more running.

“Yeah,” you breathed out and he was on you before you’d even finished saying that singular word, his surprisingly soft lips pressing desperately against yours as his hands moved to frame your face, one of his thumbs stroking along your cheek.

Your eyelids fluttered shut as you returned the kiss and just like that, what he intended to be a simple but firm kiss, turned into your lips moving against each other, a little wet and enough to have Eddie want to pop his leg up like in the fucking movies.

The only reason he kept himself from introducing his tongue to yours like he so badly wanted to was the sounds of encouragement around him; cheering and hollering. You broke away, having also heard your peers whooping and wolf whistling, to hide your face in his chest, bashfulness returning full force.

Eddie laughed and kissed the top of your head, unable to contain his grin and joy. He definitely wasn’t used to this, more accustomed to jeering, not cheering. A couple of people even clapped him on the shoulder.

“You know what, I think they’re rooting for us, sweetheart.”

You pulled away just enough to look up at him, offering a small, pleased smile of your own.

“They’re not the only ones.”

Well, he had to give you some tongue for that one. The cheering and sounds of excitement got louder as he did.

—

You hadn’t walked into school hand in hand with Eddie when Monday came around—though you’d spent pretty much the entire weekend with him, driving around town, lounging around your room (he’d come in through your window) and making out—he hadn’t mentioned anything about meeting up in the parking lot and you weren’t offended in the slightest. While you wanted to see him, you appreciated the extra time to calm your excited nerves before you did.

Heather ran up to you the second you made it to your locker, grin stretching from ear to ear.

“I still can’t believe it. It didn’t even happen to me and I’m pinching myself because of how romantic it was!”

“Imagine how I feel,” You were all smiles as you turned the combination for your locker. But of course, since it was openly known as one of, if not, the shittiest of lockers in the school—having belonged to several wrestlers and football players before you, who’d evidently cared for it on the rough side—it didn't budge when you tugged at it.

You wouldn’t miss it when you graduated.

With a sigh, you pulled the straps of your backpack off of your shoulders and handed it to Heather. Then, you yanked aggressively at the small locker handle. It was your routine though, so you knew it wouldn’t open then, either. It was only when you slammed your fist against it, after all the yanking, that it opened.

Roses immediately flooded out of it, piling onto the ground at your feet. You and Heather watched with open mouths, glancing at passersby, who also looked on in surprise, until your stuffed locker finally finished its floral avalanche.

“Like ‘em?”

You jumped up, and then internally scolded yourself for almost trampling a couple of your flowers. You carefully twisted around to face Eddie, who was leaning back against the row of lockers behind you, smug smirk on his handsome face.

“Yeah, what are all of these for?” You asked, still marveling at them as he pushed himself off the lockers to wrap his arms around your middle and press a kiss to the side of your head.

“I realized I never got to ask you to be my Valentine or give you flowers. So, I bought some Saturday morning,” They were on sale so he’d gone purposely overboard, “used my uncle’s collection of mugs as vases to keep them alive, then woke up at the asscrack of dawn this morning to get here before you did. I probably broke your locker even more, by the way. So, be my Valentine?”

“I’m pretty sure it was part of the terms and agreements of our relationship, but yes. I’ll be your Valentine.”

Eddie closed your locker for you, pressing his weight against it to make sure it was secure and no more roses would escape before he scooped up the ones that had fallen out, arranging them into a large bouquet which he handed to you, leaning in to give you a kiss.

You hummed happily against his lips, nose wrinkling in glee when you felt him smile.

Eddie let out a content sigh when you parted before glancing to his side at your gawking best friend.

“Hey, Heather.” Eddie wasn’t at all bothered by the audience. “Nice shoes.”

“Thanks! They’re new. You done sucking face?”

“For now,” he promised, then turned his attention back to you. “I’ll see you later, beautiful. I’ve got a test to barely pass. Gotta make sure I walk that stage with you.”

Eddie pinched your cheek, pressed another kiss to your forehead and rushed off down the hall. You’d barely locked eyes with Heather when Eddie came running back, taking your face in his hands as he muttered something about one more and gave you a kiss that had you a little shaky on your feet.

‘One more’ actually turned out to mean a couple more pecks before he really forced himself away, blowing you a kiss just as he disappeared around the corner.

“He’s whipped,” Heather stated.

“Pretty sure I’m falling in love with him.”

“That’s appropriate.” You both nodded before you turned to face your closed locker, arms full of sweet smelling roses.

“. . . You still need to get your books, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Heather slid her arms through the straps of your backpack, over her front, so she could hold your flowers for you as you prepared to battle your locker again. It was totally worth it.

—

Eddie never ended up giving you your pen back, it’s the one he used to write love letters to you while you were away at college.

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chaostudee · 2 months

Text

the secret of us, chapter one

༘.˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚

the atmosphere was palpable as the last two cars fought to gain the first place position. the sound of the cars caused the ground to rupture and the screams of the crowds were defening as you stood anxiously in the mercedes garage. you locked your eyes on the screen, with your fingers crossed, as you watched george struggle to defend against his rival max verstappen.

for as long as you could remember george had always wanted to be an f1 driver and now getting to witness him living it gave you a sense of gratitude for him. from all those years ago when he was winning in karting and now where he was fighting for podiums in f1. it all felt too surreal for you even, so you couldn't even begin to think about how he had made his childhood dream become a reality. you admired how he had pursued his interest and never looked back.

as for you, you were still working on achieving your dream. a few months ago you had been offered an internship with f1 alongside a group of journalists, which is anything you could ever want of course but this opportunity was only a stepping stone to reach your your end goal. if you succeeded in this aspect this could secure your future as a journalist.

"MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS"

you sigh in defeat once you hear the commentator, devasted for george but still pleased that he got a podium. you watch as the team celebrates in the garage and you can't help but smile at the scene. it was only a matter of moments before they all started to head out to the podium and it was your instinct to follow.

just as you were about to head to the podium in support of your brother you are beckoned by claire your manager.

"y/n time for interviews come on", she clicks her fingers, encouraging you to follow her. you were eager to support george on his win but this internship was important so you grabbed your things and followed claire.

"okay y/n i'm going to get you to ask a few questions if that's okay?" she asked, her hands held firmly to her clipboard. your eyes widen in shock because previously you had

"rly? are you sure that i'm ready for that?" you ask uncertain if this is a good idea as you had only been observing for the past week or so.

"i'm sure" claire confirms before she hands you the microphone and shows you briefly the type of questions to ask the incoming drivers.

the first to walk in is none other than the lewis hamilton and all the journalists scramble to get him for an interview as this is his first podium finish in a year. you make no effort to call him over yet he makes his way over to you.

once you notice him making his way over to you, you look at claire with worry but she gives you a stern look and whispers "you can do this".

"um hi lewis". he nods at you whilst maintaining deep eye contact which scares and excites you as you feel your cheeks warm and your hands beginning to shake.

"u-um how are u um feeling after um getting that podium"he smiles, oblivious to the nervousness you were experiencing.

"god i'm so happy its been a while and george being up there with me to enjoy it was also just incredible" you smile at this comment. formally you had lewis hadn't met, george felt as though it wasn't important to bring his family into the public eye when most of his life was documented by the public. in saying that there were a few drivers that knew your existence but would never approach you and just smile and wave as they passed you throughout the paddock.

"okay so how do you feel mercedes are doing this year?" he sighs and hesitates before answering. previously he has felt as though the team was in a tough spot but now the future was looking brighter and especially with both drivers getting on the podium he was hopeful for what the rest of the season could bring.

"i mean we have our ups and downs, and obviously this week is one of the good ones and perhaps hopefully we can bring more good results for the team"

you nod in understanding and you look up briefly from your notes to catch him looking at you. you shyly smile to yourself. his eyes on yours made you feel nervous, more nervous than usual and you couldn't deny his attractiveness.

"okay lastly is there anything you would like to say to the fans at home?" you ask, tucking a piece of hair beyond your ear, looking up at him awaiting a response.

"i just want to thank them for their continued support for me and george and the team and hopefully we can give them more wins" he says nodding in satisfaction.

"okay um thank you lewis".you thank him for his time and nod at him.

"no problem" he says with a small smile before walking off to the next journalist. he couldn't resist taking a look back at you, and just at the moment you had done the same. once he had caught you staring you blush and look away quickly. he tried to hide the smirk on his face as he looked up an answered another question.

after the interview lewis walks off in the opposite direction with a small smile across his face from that interaction. unlike other journalists you had taken the time to listen and account for his point of view. and god he couldn't stop thinking about the way you maintained eye contact with him. you were just finishing up your last interview and in noticing you were just about to leave lewis decided to stay back and wait for you. he wanted to know more about you and he couldn't wait to call you out on the fact that he saw you staring.

gathering up your material you say goodbye to claire and you begin to walk out in the direction of the mercdes garage so that you can meet up with george in his drivers room as he said that he would drive you home.

you feel a tap on your shoulder and you jump in fear, dropping your notes everywhere. but your fear turns to embarrassment once you see who stands in front of you.

"um hi sorry for startling you" lewis says as he starts picking up all the notes you dropped. you get down on the ground and join him, frantically picking up the papers.

"oh no no its fine i'm sorry" you apologize just when you both reach for your bag. you pull your hand away quickly and you can tell he noticed.

"here" he hands you all your belongings.

"thanks"

"um i just wanted to tell you that i rly enjoyed our interview, like most journalists seem so uninterested when asking me questions and you actually seemed interested in what i had to say" he admits, rubbing the back of his neck whilst looking at you.

your eyes widen at this. "well thank you it means a lot coming from you and today was actually my first day believe it or not"

he chuckles. "are you for real?"

you nod with a smile. "wow i'm impressed.....um sorry i don't even know your name"

you chuckle. "it's y/n"

"no last name?"

"you have to earn that" you throw back at him.

"oh do i now?" he counters folding his arms across his chest. your eyes flicked to his biceps but quickly back to his eyes.

you bite your lip and nod.

he laughs under his breath. "okay well i'm going to give you my number and if you want to have dinner or something i would love to get to know you more and hopefully earn your last name"

you are shocked at his abruptness but you were pleased once he handed you a card with his number.

"fancy" you mutter raising your eyes. you flick the card between your fingers, examining it.

"is this what you give to all the girls you fancy?"

"who says i fancy you?" he points out cheekily.

you roll your eyes at him. "well certainly from the way you were looking at me"

"you were looking at me too" he adds smartly and you just smirk in reponse.

a ping comes from your phone and you realise it is it a message from george. you look at the text and then back at lewis.

"okay um i have to go sorry"

he nods, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "okay....well i guess i will see you around y/n".

"yeah um see you". you wave at him before walking off to meet george. as much as you wanted to look back you didn't but feeling his gaze on yours gave you comfort. lifting up his card you sigh, knowing that you were most likely not going to reach out to him but you couldn't bring yourself to discard of it. lewis had made an impression on you but that was all it could be. in defeat you slip the card in your bag for safekeeping.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚

after you had walked off lewis smiled to himself and turned around only to be greeted by charles.

"hey mate" lewis says to charles beside him with an arm around his shoulder. "hey what's up man?

"what's got you all smiling for?" charles asks noticing the smile displayed across lewis's face. "nothing" lewis replies bluntly.

charles looks at him confusingly but deicides to not dig further. many people knew that lewis kept his cards close to his chest.

"you know that girl u were talking to?". "yeah y/n ...what about her?" charles tuts and chuckles to himself.

"sorry to break it to you man but she is off limits"

lewis looks at him confused because he is sure that u didn't mention a boyfriend.

"she's george's sister" lewis's eyes widen in disbelief. his teammates sister?! george had, had a sister all along and had never told him?!

"no way for real?". lewis couldn't understand why george would keep this from him. sure he could understand the fact that maybe he wanted to keep you out of the public eye but he could have kept his secret. and he had told charles of all people.

"for real i'm sorry."

lewis sighs thinking back to your conversation.

charles notices lewis in his own world and glares at him.

"be careful, pls i do not want to get in the middle of all this"

lewis laughs as if the idea of anything happening between you two is ridiculous. it was just harmless flirting after all.

"don't worry about it"

#sir lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton imagine #lewis hamilton #masterlist #lewis hamilton fanfic #f1 imagine #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #f1 fluff #the secret of us #george russell

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astrum-aetherium · 1 year

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⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ astrum's the secret history & henry winter thirst masterlist ⋆｡°✩

hi, all! because we are slowly but surely approaching the 200 posts mark and this blog hasn't even been up for a full month, i've decided to provide all those who are new to my page a handy tool to facilitate orientation. when you expand this post, you will be greeted with a summary of all of my original posts and asks regarding the topic of my blog — incessant, tenacious, shameless thirst for the secret history's very own henry marchbanks winter.

admittedly, i am a complete sucker for lists and organizational tools, which is why this will simply be a heavenly experience for me — even more so because i'm currently procrastinating writing my term paper. however, without much further ado — find the list below the cut.

-> IMPORTANT NOTE: due to the link limit on this post, i can no longer expand it to my liking. because i don't want to create a second masterlist (just yet), however, you will find any newer uploads linked in my own reblog of this post (look in the notes).

˚₊· ❥ general — sfw, informative, personal

my opinion on tsh / addressing the problematic aspects of tsh / henry's middle name being 'marchbanks' and a possible explanation / what henry might've whispered to camilla / my opinion on whether or not henry and camilla were in love / my fancast(s) for henry / my favorite books / my opinion on dorian gray as a character (+ parallels with tsh) / comparing henry to marble statues / modern media henry would be into / elaboration on camilla macaulay / will i be writing about other tsh characters? / tips on getting into classical studies / country house daydreams

˚₊· ❥ henry winter nsfw scenarios

general headcanons about henry's sexual preferences / summer thigh riding / car sex / study date sex / mating press position with henry / riding henry / scratching his back during intimacy / bondage with henry / henry being into bdsm / henry's dirty talk part one / henry's dirty talk part two / neck teasing & biting / henry and cnc / dumbification with henry / henry sucking his partner's fingers / sucking henry's fingers / henry & cigarettes after sex / henry physically responding to pleasure / henry being distracted by your moans while studying / henry & the smell of gasoline / henry muffling you due to your volume / relentlessly teasing henry / cockwarming during studying / sex at bunny's funeral / henry calling you 'good girl' / henry and aftercare / giving henry head to cure his headache / size kink with henry / ignoring henry while he gives you head / clit spanking with henry + coming from your clit being spanked / you and henry at the beach / doggy style position with henry / henry with an inexperienced partner / inexperienced henry with an experienced partner / being bratty with dom!henry + being bratty and fighting henry back / henry burning you with his cigarette / shotgunning a cigarette with henry / jacking henry off with pretty nails / henry using his diary for dirty entries in latin

-> own category — sub!henry: general headcanons / ignoring needy sub!henry / sub!henry punishing you back / making sub!henry beg + reaction to his begging / mirror in front of sub!henry / henry still being dominant while subbing

˚₊· ❥ henry winter sfw / mildly nsfw scenarios

henry & hanahaki disease au / henry with a polar opposite partner / henry with a partner similar to judy / spoiling his partner / getting off on spoiling his partner / enemies to lovers with henry / best friends to lovers with henry / academic rivals with henry / henry being soft(er) with his partner / henry during your period / henry's birthday party at francis' country estate / falling asleep on henry whilst reading / owning a locket with henry's face in it

˚₊· ❥ general satiric / amusing scenarios

gay hampden / list of pop culture scenarios flea wants the greek class to go through / henry holding a baby / playing roblox with the greek class / greek class barbenheimer feud / locking the greek class in a room with the percy jackson movies / the greek class' opinions on percy jackson / being locked in a room with henry / henry watching reality shows with you / henry turning up at your house / showing the greek class colleen ballinger's apology video / keeping the greek class in a glass terrarium / forgetting henry in the cereal isle at walgreens / the greek class being actual people (+ bunny shitting headcanon) / bunny possibly being okay (they revoked their statement) / henry writing smut in his diary

˚₊· ❥ henry winter scenarios inspired by songs

taylor swift — last kiss / taylor swift — illicit affairs / dead girl walking part one + part two

˚₊· ❥ bonus: prose and poetry shared by my saturn anon

one — marble / two — divinity / three — dancing in the rain / four — intimacy overseas

#astrum masterlist #astrum asks #the secret history #dark academia #henry winter imagine #henry winter x reader #henry winter thirst #indulgent thoughts #henry winter smut

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yoongisleftearring · 1 year

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S E C R E T S E C R E T

-> in which Stray Kids attempt to protect their image after an unexpected encounter with you, but, oh, Changbin is kinda hot? AND emotionally intelligent?? Oh no.

━━━━

pairing: Idol!Changbin x Influencer!reader

featuring: stray kids + other random idols

genre: smau, crack, fluff, slight angst, mature themes, cursing, fem!reader

status: ongoing!

warnings: cursing, sexual themes, more to be added probably

a/n: another changbin smau because he's my bias, and what're you gonna do about it?! Fair warning this will most likely be ridiculous

━━━━

Italicised: written!

Taglist: open!

━━━━

profiles

part one: *gone wrong*

part two: tissued™

part three: acquainted with the hood of my car

part four: handsome young uncle

part five: Mr. Seo

part six: powerwalked into the hood of my car

part seven: rich AND a liar

part eight: not the slay you meant it to be

part nine: 123456

part ten: NOBODY is safe

part eleven: so you think he's cute

part twelve: concerned. confused. afraid

part thirteen: not very feminist of you

part fourteen: better than therapy

part fifteen: on brand

part sixteen: divinely muscular short king

part seventeen: betwixt

part eighteen: educational brainrot

. . .

━━━━

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svthub · 1 year

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svthub's secret garden: a spring collab

This spring, love is in the air! Take a stroll through our garden and discover our secret world of colorful blooms. Who knows who you might run into...

This collab will contain a combination of SFW and NSFW works. See each individual fic for tags and warnings.

Join the Secret Garden taglist!

peony: one trick peony • @wongyuseokie [NSFW] fluff/angst • csc x female reader

synopsis: choi seungcheol could only do one type of floral arrangement, and the rest he’d pawn off to you, granted he got a ton of orders, but he would always take the orders for arrangements that he could never do. this time he went too far. he took an ‘only peonies’ arrangement–a painfully delicate flower–and took an order for a wedding, and with your luck, you’re the only two florists available that weekend.

tulip: my destiny • @wonuhour [SFW] fluff/romance/angst • yjh x female reader

synopsis: when he first met you he didn't think anything of it but he felt drawn to you. When you two started to spend time with each other he fell in love with you. So he takes you to the tulip garden, hoping you felt the same for him, since this is the place you two met each other for the first time.

dandelion: whichever blooms first • @strawberryya [SFW] fluff/hints of angst • hjs x gn reader

synopsis: a dandelion is resilient, it can weather any storm, and at the end of its life it will even grant wishes to whoever sees its worth as something more than a simple garden weed. your relationship with joshua is the same, you hope, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to make a wish that your love will last a lifetime anyways.

rhododendron: sunkissed • @junkissed [SFW] fluff • husband!wjh x wife!reader

synopsis: this year for your anniversary, jun takes you on a trip down memory lane through the flowers of your past together.

carnation: be sweet • @heartkyeom [NSFW] angst/smut • prince!ksy x princess!reader

synopsis: with your country’s finances in trouble, an arranged marriage with a fellow royal is the only viable solution. yet, kwon soonyoung is not a good person, a good prince, and he is certainly not meant to be someone’s husband

foxglove: by line • @wonwussy [NSFW] smut/drama • jww x female reader

synopsis: you know the hotshot ceo is up to no good, and with the interview that can make your career, you’re finally going to have proof.

lily of the valley: valley of broken dreams (and lilies) • @duhnova [SFW] angst/fluff • ljh x female reader

synopsis: you met jihoon when you were both young and dumb — a promise you two made to become big in the music industry laid shattered years later when you lost your ability to sing, and now you have to live in the shadow of your boyfriend while you struggle to come to terms with your broken dreams.

orchid: he was sunshine, i was midnight rain • @dkakapizzaboy [NSFW] fluff/angst/smut • lsm x female reader

synopsis: he was sunshine and roses and you were orchids and moonlight. two very different people in the same industry. he was loved and you were feared, he was a warm cup of tea on a cold day and you were a bucket of ice cold water. what would happen if two highly sought after, up and coming sustainable fashion brands decided to work together on an exclusive, once in a lifetime collaboration?

zinnia: everlasting love • @sluttyminghao [NSFW] fluff/smut • kmg x female reader

synopsis: mingyu wants you to know how much he loves you after dropping hints for years, and takes you on a date you'll never forge, and maybe you'll also figure out you love him too.

lavender: and we meet again • @idyllic-ghost [SFW] fluff/angst/romance • xmh x reader

synopsis: there is something familiar about that house on the hill, even though you swear that you have never seen it before. but you’re drawn to the lavender fields and the oceanview - and the lonesome looking man you see sitting on the porch. when you approach him there is something in his eyes that you cannot understand - a knowing, a deep feeling. the question is, will you ever have enough time to figure out what that look means?

hyacinth: how flowers bloom • @cheolism [NSFW] fantasy/smut • bsk x reader

synopsis: every year, you and the god of spring meet at the edge of the clearing to perform the ceremony that decides if winter will endure or if spring will prevail, repeating the ceremony weekly until spring finally wins. after you won the last five weeks, keeping the world under your icy spell, seungkwan decides to use alternative tactics to dominate you and bring spring back.

trillium: trillium • @beahae [NSFW] fluff/smut • hvc x female reader

synopsis: vernon is flying in to see his girlfriend. oh shit, that’s… you. being away from him since it happened a few months ago makes it hard for it to feel real, especially after two years of what you both convinced yourself was a purely platonic friendship. now that he’s here in the flesh, you are determined to make it feel real. and very non-platonic.

forget-me-nots: promise ring • @lovelyhan [NSFW] fantasy/fluff/a pinch of angst/smut • lc x reader

synopsis: no one would've guessed that the daughter of the town’s royal mage has a soft spot for the clumsiest fire elemental in the entire realm. but when the crown prince suddenly asks for your hand in marriage, you're forced to consider how you feel about a certain lee jung chan a lot more seriously.

#svthub.collab #svthub: masterlist #the secret garden

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countrymusiclover · 3 months

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2 - One Day It'll Be Just You and Me

( @beautifulguycollector - gif belongs to this blog )

Part 3

The Lion Knight and Dragon Princess

Tags- just send an ask to be added @cdragons @kmc1989 @starkleila @noirrose21-blog @lover-of-books-and-tea

Should the new couple of chapters just be Flashbacks of Aerys rule with Vaella and Jaime’s romance or Should I keep going from Flashbacks to the present timeline??? Let me know in the comments pretty please it would help a great deal 🤗

Breaking through the clouds I soar down towards the castle courtyard where we kept our dragons at. My dragons wings raised down, throwing some dust when her feet were planted and I brushed hair out of my eyes seeing my brother Rhaegar coming over to me watching with a huge grin on his face. “I assume you had quite some fun out there riding.”

“Indeed I did, brother. I rarely ever get to escape these walls flying on Amethyst.” I slid down her right wing, getting some mud stains on my boots when I landed in a puddle of water. Sticking my tongue out at him I teased. “Don't lie. I know you need an escape as much as I do.”

“I never said that I didn't enjoy it.” Rhaegar changes the tone in his voice reminding me that we still have to worry. “Regardless of how free we feel, it could be dangerous. If father finds out especially-”

“Rhaegar!” I growled underneath my breath at him.

He dropped his shoulders knowing that his tendency to worry too much would get old between him and I. I wanted him to just live in the moment with me instead of having his head stuck in a book or worrying about father’s stability as king. For he could not even ascend the throne till he died so there was nothing more for him to do. “I’m just thinking of us and our safety, your safety especially. You’ve heard how he treats our mother, imagine what he would do to you.”

“I don’t want to imagine it everyday, brother!” I raised my voice at him clutching my hands into fists at my sides. “Look if anyone asks what I was doing I’ll tell them I came to watch you fly above the Red Keep and get some fresh air. I was absolutely not riding a dragon myself. Are you happy now?”

His purple eyes lifted up and over the top of my head speaking about someone off in the distance coming over to us. “You’re my little sister and I’ll always worry about you. But I must admit I am happy to see he is coming to look out for you when I must check on my wife.”

“Jaime!” Whipping my head around his name flew from my lips with such cheer.

The golden lion gave my brother and I each a bow of respect. “Good morning, my prince, my princess.”

“I'll leave you two alone. Elia and I need to take care of some things for Dorne.” My brother disappeared, turning on his heels for the castle entrance.

Jaime tilted his head seeing the expression on my face was worrisome to him. “What’s troubling you, Vaella. It's starting to show on your beautiful face.”

“My brother's constantly worried about my father going mad. I just want to enjoy my life, for example riding my dragon without having to worry will my father ground me from riding her ever again.” Throwing my hands up from my sides I huffed.

The Lannister knight wasn't sure what he could truly do for the princess he served except to offer sympathy. “I'm sorry you feel that way. Maybe one day things won't be like this and you won't feel so um-”

“Trapped.”

He nodded back yes. “Exactly, if the old gods and new are kind to you of course.”

“If I'm ever so lucky in their favor I'll gladly accept the idea of freedom. So long as you get to join me.” Jaime smiles down at me watching me cross my arms over my chest wondering what it would be like to not be trapped inside the Red Keep.

Sitting at one of the bar stool seats I pushed ten gold coins towards the center of the table holding my cards close to my chest. I was wearing a dark red dress with a slit at my right knee that had no sigal attached to it. “Oh darn I don’t have enough for a full deck. Whatever shall I do?”

“You’re bluffing.” One man said to me with his four friends.

I clicked my tongue, throwing my hair around in my face with a flirting look. “Oh what. None of you are brave enough to fight me for my cards to prove I’m wrong.” I had two strands twisted into a braid at the front with the rest of my hair covered by a dark brown bandanna tied up into my hair to conceal my very obvious appearance of being a Targaryen.

“You haven’t lost the last two games we’ve played.” Another guy said knowing they’d soon be out of money. These four men never thought that a simple tavern bartender lady would be this good at poker. But I had been taught by the best youngest Lannister.

The man sitting in the middle scooped up his coins heading towards the exit. “I’m tired of this.”

“Wha - where are you going. We haven’t finished. You - you think I’m gonna behead you or something if you lose or win.” I slur some of my words picking up my cup of wine, downing half of it in one sweep. “I want a full table. I want everyone at this table!”

“Where is Clarrise Arther?” I recognized the male voice that came through the loud crowd of people inside the tavern.

The owner pointed in my direction. “She’s right there, Ser Jaime.”

“Excuse me jents, but it is the end of her shift so this game must end tonight I’m afraid.” Jaime pushed through the crowd with his golden armor of the Kingsguard brightening in the burning candle lights inside the tavern.

Throwing back the remainder of my drink I licked my lips feeling a little tipsy when he tried to tug me by my arm to leave the table. “You’re scaring away my opponents.”

“With your track record you would have beat them in the next three cards.” He responded by looping my arm through his seeing I wasn’t good with my balance.

I corrected him with a cocky smile. “I already had a full house in one move.”

We made our way through the tavern and upstairs to the private rooms me and the other owner had since it was where we lived. Jaime’s younger brother had made a deal for my safety in exchange for a large sum of Lannister gold at the end of every month to pay the rent. Stepping inside my small room I closed the door and locked it once Jaime had entered inside leaving the noisy downstairs voices out in the hallway. “So what is the news of John Arryn’s death?”

“There will be a ceremony at the capitol tomorrow morning. But I already told you that you had nothing to worry about from him.” He answered my question.

I throw my hands up and away from my sides whispering nervously under my breath. “We need to be afraid. John Arryn was friends with Lord Owen Merryweather.”

“I still don’t see what the problem is.”

Putting a hand to my forehead I sighed heavily. “Owen Merryweather was my fathers hand when your father stepped down. He saw you helping me escape with Tyrion once you killed my father and sat down on the Iron Throne. What if he ended up telling someone?”

“But who would he tell?”

Meeting his deep green eyes I muttered the king's name. “Robert Baratheon.”

“If he told the king both of our heads would be secured on the city gates by now.” Jaime slowly walked forward running his hands up and down my arms trying to calm my nerves. “Whatever John Arryn knew and didn’t know died with him. And Robert will choose a new Hand of the King someone to do his bidding while he’s off fucking boars and hunting whores, or is it the other way around?”

I giggled looking up into his eyes with a smile gracing my lips. “Jaime.”

“There’s my princess’s smile.” He chuckled, nuzzling his nose against my own. I raised my hand hitting him lightly across the cheek where he sent me a smirk turning his face back towards me.

“You know I hate you calling me by my title, Lannister.”

Jaime didn’t drop his smirk touching my nose with his a second time. “My princess.”

“What did I just tell you!” I made my hands into fists punching his chest thankful that he had removed his armor so I didn’t injure myself. Which left him in his light gold tunic and trousers with black boots.

Jaime allowed me to punch him lightly for a few seconds before he snagged my left wrist twirling me around where my back was to his front. “Vaella, I swear to you I won't let anything bad happen to you.”

“Mmm - you can't guarantee that.” I held back a moan when he kissed my neck lightly.

He nuzzles my hair vowing to me. “Yes I can. I did so after I had to murder your father and I will continue to do so.”

“But what if someone figures us out?”

He spun me around resting his right hand to my cheek. “No one will find out and if they do I'll be there to protect you. One day it'll be just you and me with no one coming to kill us.”

“Thank you, Jaime.” Wrapping my arms around his neck I buried my face underneath his chin and he buried his face in the crook of my neck doing the best he could to keep me safe.

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pinkyqil · 6 months

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Hidden secrets Masterlist

Arìanną putellas-hermoso

• Hidden secrets summary

• Good news-Bad news

your mami's find out about you but that good news comes along with bad news coming soon

• Step by Step

Jenni and alexia navigating becoming news parents together.

• sickness

alexia going through all stages of begin pregnant.

• struggle

alexia struggles with finding herself

• everything going to be alright

-> coming soon

• Reveal

-> a lil gender reval done by alba and Eli for ale and jen just some cute and wholesome moments happening coming soon

• Too much is never enough

Alexia and jenni go baby shopping and it happens to be the most chaotic between the both of them

• amazing mother

-> coming soon

te amo

-> coming soon

Hidden secrets aesthetics

1.Into the moment alexia y jenni stepping into motherhood~

2.into the moment alexia y jenni gender reveal

3.comming soon

#masterlist #hidden secrets by pinkyqil #woso masterlist #alexia x jenni #jenni hermoso imagine #alexia putellas imagine #woso imagine

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m1d-45 · 1 year

Note

i need MISERY and SADNESS and ANGST !

reader absolutely sobbing to bird xiao. i mean fucking wailing, man.

our birdie was going about his usual business, peeping around, looking for any possible dangers, maybe bring back a nice acorn. once he’s done, he’ll fly back to us, glad to report — (chirp a few times) — that the area is safe.

but instead of finding you eagerly awaiting him with an outstretched hand, he finds you curled in on yourself, stifling sobs.

he lands on the ground in front of you, worriedly hopping past the squirrels and deer nudging various forest tributes to you. he peeps once, but you don’t respond. he peeps a second time, and this warrants an answer.

you weakly unfurl yourself, willing your head upwards.

xiao now notices the state of your clothes. tattered, dirty, and dampened with what he hopes is just a peculiar blue juice.

he then meets a pair of reddened, glossy eyes. your cheek was scratched, and your now visible hands badly scraped. he chirps in concern, flapping his wings and hopping closer to your face.

that same face scrunches once again, as you curl your head back into your knees. as another sob escapes, you only wordlessly produce a few almonds from your pocket. you only whimpered an apology as a deer laid at your feet.

the almonds were not what he wanted. he did not need an apology for- what? a lack of attention? no, none of that. he only wanted you to be happy. how had he failed you again? he was a disgrace to the adepti, he was surely deserving of avid punishment. perhaps the loss of a finger would serve well. or two, after all, he had been too selfish and ignorant to save you. why was he even aIive? why was he ever even born? such a faiIure should never have been —

his inner monologue was cut off by an offering of a hand instead. you shakily nudged him with your index finger, making him release a squeak.

“hey.. i said i’m fine, right? please eat. you’re always so hungry.”

you sniffled.

“i can find some plants, and-“

but the sobs only continued.

“and fix it..”

your hand went limp as your cries shook your body. you didn’t even bother to weep silently anymore.

the squirrels chittered, the approaching raccoon held a rock in its small hands as an offering. a deer sniffed your head as you curled into fetal position again.

“i didn’t want this- i- i didn’t want to—”

i was just having fun, why did- how did it come this far?-”

a rabbit hopped closer.

“i want to go home. i miss my mom, i miss my dad, i miss their hugs-”

the deer at your feet nudged your leg.

“why can’t i just die aIready?”

xiao squealed, flapping his little wings furiously. he chirped and chirped, trying to bring you back to your senses.

he’d seen this thing time and time again- the form taken by relinquishment. once the thought was spoken, it could only end in misfortune.

he knew this was only a psychological effect, of course. to lose a battle when a small part of you wants to. to become careless and fall asleep on a thinly frozen lake. or, to intentionally cause one’s own end.

but that would not stop him from bringing you charms of good fortune in the following days. talisman to ward off draining spirits, necklaces and bracelets he personally imbued with evil-vanquishing power.

it did not stop him from distancing himself from you, in fear his karmic binds had effected you. that they were having the same effect on you as his siblings- as himself.

he had to protect you.

it was his duty.

-owl anon RAAAHH

i’m sorry this got so long, my thumbs go *taptaptaptap* on my keyboard while i just watch

oh…. you get it.

(under the readmore because my fingers tend to go)

xiao blessing small pebbles with adeptal energy, ignoring how it stings his hands as he wraps it in a leaf. as the one enchanting the stone, he’s granted a small amount of grace, but protection charms always tended to hiss at his karma.

he picks it up with his claws, flapping up and into the skies of liyue. he always brings you small gifts, and he knows you keep them, at least for a little while. he’s not sure if the magic is absorbed into you, if it fades, or if you simply lose them—some small part of him is satisfied at the image of mountain shaper being repelled by a simple stone—but he brings them to you faithfully. you always greet him the same way, and anticipation begins to bubbles under his skin at the thought.

he loves seeing you.

…but not like this.

your tree is more crowded than usual, various small wildlife surrounding you. nothing big, nothing threatening—the deer hesitate at the treeline, huffing and pawing at the ground—but worrying for certain.

he gives his same warning cry he always does, but you don’t step out to greet him. he has to duck beneath the leaves, and he sees you… crying.

he freezes, dropping a few inches in his shock, but quickly recovers.

(he can’t hesitate. he can’t pause. there’s no time for his own problems when you are in pain-)

he lands on your arm, bumping his head to yours and giving you a small chirp.

(please be okay. please be okay. please let the teal grass around you be lighting, or his bird eyes. please.)

another bump. another chirp. he reaches and pulls a leaf from your hair, turning to drop it away, and when he looks back you managed to lift your head.

he can’t stop the way he jumps, flapping to regain his balance at the smear of blue across your face.

“oh… hello there, little friend.”

he can’t even bring himself to be as happy as he normally is at your voice.

you take the wrapped rock from your claws, both you and the leaf unfurling. the blue stone glitters, and you smile slightly. from his new perch on your wrist and your shift in posture, he can’t help but notice more and more tragic details about you.

a slash across your waist, the cloth of your shirt clinging to your skin. the dirt across your skin, the tracks of tears down your cheeks.

“th-“ you cough, and the stone in your hand pulses outside of your view. “thank you, pretty bird.”

some part of him hopes that the stone brings you some joy. that you can absorb some of his magic- hell, he’d enchant it again if he needed to, expending every drop of energy he had of it meant you didn’t have to cry.

but not even the beauty of the earth can mend the tragedy of betrayal.

if anything, you cry more, curling up again in an attempt to hide from the world that wanted you dead. concerned cheeps slip from his beak as easily as the rabbits and birds around you hop closer. none dare to get as close as he, but acorns and river stones and pushed towards you, a ring of offerings surrounding their god.

“sorry,” you stutter, your voice choked, and he wonders why you’re apologizing. “i- i still-“ another sob. xiao feels like crying himself.

(he has no right to be distraught. not when he’s the blade you fear)

“here,” you manage, offering up a shaking handful of crushed almonds. you still have him your food, you still went through the strain and effort of crushing them so he could eat them in this form- even after the adepti had injured you, you still found it in yourself to help him?

(you didn’t know he was an adeptus. he was still lying to you. he hasn’t even taken any serious action, he couldn’t even try and help you when you still helped and cooed over and loved him-)

“do- do you-“ your voice hitched and broke, and he chirped, hopping up your arm. how he wished he could comfort you properly. how he wished he wasn’t a coward, that he could do more. “i know it isn’t enough, i-“ fresh tears welled in your eyes, and he had the feeling the pain ran deeper than your skin. “i’m sorry.”

you were sorry? why? he didn’t need an apology, he- if anything he should apologize. you deserved his offerings and apologies, you deserved his effort- and he couldn’t even give you that. he couldn’t even do what he was meant to, he wasted air with every breath, he spent his time protecting the citizens that hurt you. you shouldn’t be giving you his food, he should be giving you his blade, his armor, his mask, his- his faith.

he didn’t deserve to cry. but when he took a look at his own actions, he couldn’t help but think that he should be the one with blood on his skin, with ragged clothes and heaving breaths.

(he should be dead for what he allowed to happen to you.)

“please eat,” you sobbed, nudging him with the hand holding the almonds. “i can- i’m- you can trust me.”

(you shouldn’t trust him.)

“please…”

he hated seeing you cry. he hated hearing your sobs and knowing he was indirectly part of the cause. he hated that he was too much of a coward to take any serious action, he hated that he still stood besides your enemies, he hated that some of your blood fell on his hands, hated that every ounce of strength he had was one that you didn’t, and it was his fault. at least partially.

(entirely.)

your cries took words, pleads to the wildlife for a world they didn’t know, people and names you begged to carry you from your position.

“i just wanted to have fun.” you should be. you should be dressed in gold with jewelry of silver, you should be smiling and dancing with the ones you had blessed, traveling nations not as a fugitive, but as a god. “i never meant to come here. i never meant to be a problem.”

he hates that he knows you’d be safer in your previous world. he hates it. he hates it. he hates the adepti, he hates the millelith, the knights, the matra, he hates every blade that dared to cross your skin.

(he hates himself. he hates that he’s never done enough. he hates that he’s still so much of a coward he can’t take any action, not even against himself. he should turn his spear on himself, for allowing such heresy.)

you sniffled, harshly wiping at your eyes.

“god, why can’t i just die?”

ice frosted xiao’s veins.

he would understand if you were angry. he would understand if your tears were of frustration, if you beat at the ground instead of your aggressor’s bones, if you wanted to shout and take out your anger on the sky. he’d offer himself for your wrath—at least then he could finally be of service—but for you to wish to offer your life?

for you to be convinced that the death of a god was the only solution for the falsehood of another…

how long had this thought been in your head? how long had you offhandedly thought of letting yourself be captured, be slain, of giving up what you had blessed upon so many? how many times had you debating letting a wound get worse, of allowing infection to rid you of the thorns of this world?

xiao hopped up your arm, cooing sadly and curling into your neck.

he wished he could do more. he wished that he could hold you with human arms, he wished he could give you faith in your own creations, he wished he could whisk you away and take on the world himself, that he could fight on your behalf, that you would remain safe and if anything, he would be the one to die.

“don’t cry,” you said shakily, awkwardly reaching to pet over his wings.

how could he not, when his god had forsaken everything, including themself?

#m1d : [chats]#m1d : [secrets]#bird!xiao shenanigans #fuck t all the bird xiao stuff is now under this tag #we ball baby #owl anon #ALSO. THE COLORS IN THIS ASK. I AM GIVING YOU A KISS ON THE FOREHEAD AND TUCKING YOU INTO BED BTW.#hhrrrrrrrr me when colors #i should make a bird xiao tag. hm.#eh but they’re on the masterlist who cares

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sarahs-secrets2 · 2 years

Text

phillip graves masterlist

green is complete red is works in progress 18+ is marked

18+ contains adult themes or smut, MDNI

☆ indicates my personal favorites!

do not copy, translate or post my works elsewhere (including ai, and c.ai)

Series

She's got a boyfriend anyway... (part 1) 18+ ☆

Easily fill his shoes... (part 2) 18+ ☆

You Don't Love Him (part 1) 18+

Repeat After Me (part 2) 18+

Angst

Leaving with Somebody Else 18+ ☆

Ruined Me 18+ (Request)

It’s Not Real

I'm Doing Fine

Undo☆

It's All Temporary (Request)☆

Die for Me (Request)

How Long blurb (Request)

Before He Cheats (Request)

In the Dark (Request)

Summertime Sadness (Request)

Show Me How (Request)

Fluff

Slow Burn ☆

Cologne 18+

Colors 18+

Heart First ☆

Mine

Me & You

Morning blurb

Like a Tattoo

Obvious (Request)

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Request)

Welcome Home Commander

Suit & Tie

Late Night Talking (Request)

Whatever You Want (Request)

Sick Days

Spicy

All Mine 18+ ☆

Stargirl 18+

Tread Carefully 18+

Break up with your Girlfriend 18+ ☆

Call Out my Name 18+

We Both Know 18+

Versace on the Floor 18+ ☆

Pull Me In 18+☆

Fetish 18+ (Request)

Make You Feel Special 18+

Cowboy Casanova 18+☆

In the Mood 18+

Make Luv 18+

Wish You Were Sober 18+

I'm Yours 18+ (Request)

Like a Gold Medal 18+ blurb

Killshot 18+

She 18+ ☆☆

Like You 18+☆

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muiitoloko · 1 year

Text

MASTERLIST

• Last update: 21/08/2024

Model: Date / month / year

Follow me on AO3

1 - Fanfic serie: Jealousy

2 - Wishes

3 - Scar

4 - Girls night

5 - Doctor's Appointments

6 - Relaxation

7 - Duty and Desire

8 - The Boss

9 - Fanfic serie: Honeypot

10 - I Can See You

11 - Helper

12 - Just married

13 - Traditional vs. Unconventional

14 - Secret Messages

15 - Mission: Heatbreak - PART 1 - PART 2

16 - Kingsman Chronicles

17 - Small Steps

18 - Heart to Heart

19 - Fanfic serie: My, yours.

20 - Your Protector

21 - Loyalty

22 - "Fight for me"

23 - Pool table

24 - Gears of Passion

25 - A Voice to Soothe The Night

26 - The Dutiful Father-to-Be

27 - The Price of Pride

1 - Fantasy Frames - Harry Deane

2 - The World - Harry Deane

3 - Fanfic serie: Money - Lionel Shabandar

4 - Fanfic serie: Trust - Lionel Shabandar

5 - Skype - Lionel Shahbandar

6 - Unique experience - Lionel Shahbandar

7 - The Art of Parenting - Lionel Shahbandar

8 - Who are you? - Lionel Shahbandar

9 - Fanfic Serie: Perfume of Deceit - Lionel Shahbandar

1 - At Least one Time

2 - Oh shit!

3 - Care

4 - Experiments

5 - Fanfic Serie: Smart girl

6 - (Not) Alone

7 - Punctuality

8 - Fanfic serie: Become a great artist

9 - Fanfic serie: Wrong

10 - Fanfic serie: Like father like son

11 - Fanfic serie: The Villain

12 - Beneath the Surface

13 - Daddy's little girl

1 - Chess Game

2 - The Witch and the Judge.

3 - Fanfic serie: Love?

4 - Fanfic serie: Husband's duty

5 - Your husband, Your captor

6 - Lessons in Love - Lost scene from "Love?"

1 - Inappropriate

2 - Fanfic serie: No Reponse

1 - In the Eyes of the Beholder

2 - Stress Relief

3 - Bedroom Boundaries

1 - 11 o'clock girl

2 - Beneath the Veil

1 - Fanfic serie: Difficult woman

2 - Fanfic serie: The Promise of Tomorrow

3 - Needs

4 - The Nanny's Promise.

5 - The Arranged Alliance

1 - The Grass is Greener

2 - Anniversary Ambush

3 - In control

4 - The Sweetest Mission

5 - Fanfic serie: Beneath the Uniform

1° Alan Rickman: Not early riser

2°Alan Rickman: My Commoner

3°Alan Rickman: Typecast Hearts

4°Alan Rickman: Sun and Rain

5°Colin Firth-Alan Rickman: Co-stars

6°Blow Dry/PHIL: Styled with Love

7°Before I go to sleep/BEN: Chains of desire

8°Alan Rickman: Between Takes and Waistlines

9°Sense and Sensibility/BRANDON: You are you

10°Galaxy Quest/ALEXANDER: The stall

11°Judas Kiss/DAVID: Birthday Wishes

12°Rasputin(1996)/RASPUTIN: The Princess

13°Blow Dry/PHIL: Dirty little Secret

14°Alan Rickman: Rehearsal

15°The Barchester chronicles/SLOPE: Man of God

16°Quigley down under/ELLIOTT: My control

17° Die Hard/HANS: Diamond Shadows

18°Die Hard/HANS: Bound by Chaos

19°Quigley down under/ELLIOT: Behind the barn.

20°Die Hard/HANS: Dangerous Games

21°Alan Rickman: Unscripted Love

22°Colin Firth: Behind the Veil of Stardom.

23°Harry Potter/SNAPE: Alchemy of the Heart

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something-tofightfor · 9 months

Text

Snow and Mistletoe - Part 2

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

No Outbreak AU.

Word Count: 6,325

Rating: M - as a whole for language and innuendo, but this chapter's mostly fluff... and maybe a lil smooch.

A/N: This is a continuation of the @pedrostories Secret Santa fic gift exchange for @burntheedges. I meant to post it yesterday but then we got caught up in family stuff ... so here we go now, and part 3 should be up later tonight.

I'm so glad you liked the first part ... and hope you like this one, too. (And to everyone else - THANK YOU for reading!)

Summary: The Chamber of Commerce Christmas celebration is the first time you and Joel will have together after admitting that there's something there.

But it turns out that that environment isn't the best for getting to know someone ... so Joel takes matters into his own - very capable - hands.

Part 1

When you left work the following Friday afternoon, you were nervous.

There was no reason to be, because yes you were going to the party with Joel, but the Chamber event was casual, and you’d likely both be pulled in fifteen different directions to talk with people, not stuck to his side all night.

Ellie and Sarah had almost shoved you out the door of your store, both girls grinning from ear to ear and promising to see you later, Sarah’s fingers wrapped tightly around the neck of the acoustic guitar she held.

The nervousness grew as you drove home, fingers tapping on the steering wheel, and then blossomed when you got into the shower, the hot water heating your skin doing absolutely nothing to calm you.

It was just Joel.

Just Joel - Sarah’s dad, the man you’d gone to high school with and spoken to occasionally throughout the years at Sarah and Ellie’s school events or little league games, the man you said hello to and carried on limited conversation with a few times a week when he came into the store.

But as you toweled off, you had to admit that he hadn’t really been just Joel for a while.

He’d morphed from a cute former classmate and the dad of your niece’s best friend into the object of a crush the more you’d gotten to interact with him, and now that something was being done about it, you weren’t sure what to think.

It was more than his good looks. There was no denying that Joel was handsome; his profile was something that you’d thought about plenty of times, as were his facial features and overall build. But Joel was also kind and capable, the man’s devotion to raising his daughter and giving her the best possible life admirable for many reasons. It’s even more than that, though, too.

Pulling on a nice pair of jeans and a new sweater, you settled down in front of your mirror to do your hair and makeup, eyeing your reflection. It was no secret that Joel was one of the most eligible bachelors in your area, with his brother Tommy not far behind.

He’d dated - casually, never letting things go on for longer than a few times out with each woman, and you’d heard good things secondhand. But he’d always seemed unattainable - more focused on Sarah and building his contracting business than on getting serious or settling down. And you couldn’t blame him.

You knew what had happened after Amanda left Joel and Sarah, and the struggle he’d gone through as a single parent. Everyone that knew him had been witness to that - including Anna and Marlene.

Until Ellie had been more permanently in your life, you’d had no reason to interact with him on a regular basis, even though Marlene had. She’d talked about him to you more than a few times throughout the years, keeping you updated. And despite the things you knew to be true about him, the bits and pieces you’d learned firsthand were even more endearing, though they made him no less mysterious.

But that night would be the first time it was the two of you actively together somewhere that had nothing to do with Ellie and Sarah, and that was what made you nervous. That was especially true after finding out that Joel was interested in you - enough to invite you to a second night out before you’d even gone to the first. “This is going to be awkward.” You sighed, using both hands to prop up your chin, studying your reflection. “And fun. This is going to be -”

You were interrupted by the ringing of your doorbell and a motion alert from your camera, the sounds startling you as your eyes drifted to the closest clock. Shit. He’s early. Heading downstairs, you opened the front door to find Joel standing on your porch, a tan jacket zipped over his broad shoulders. You froze - momentarily - and then recovered, smiling and inviting him in. “I just need to brush my teeth and put on shoes, and -”

“You look amazing.” He blinked a few times, one hand stuffed into his pocket and the other hanging loosely by his side. “Not that you usually look -” Ok, so he’s nervous too. Good to know.

“Thank you.” Tugging on the collar of the sweater with two fingers, you grinned. “I got this sweater on sale and haven’t had a chance to wear it yet. Thought tonight would be a good opportunity.” He agreed, giving you another onceover, though it didn’t feel weird the way it usually did when a man looked you up and down “Be right back. Do you want to sit down?”

“Nah, I’m good. Take your time.”

You left him standing in the hallway to go back into the bathroom and give yourself a final assessment while you brushed your teeth. It was good to know that Joel was felling off-kilter, too - and it surprisingly made you feel a little better.

With a final spritz of your perfume, you made your way back downstairs and paused long enough to watch Joel running a palm over the woodwork in your entryway, his eyes following its path. You gave yourself a few seconds to watch, trying to push down the feeling of how much you enjoyed seeing him in your house, but before you could tell him you were ready, he spoke up.

“Gorgeous work. I take it this was here when you moved in?”

“It was.” You closed the distance between you, bending down to pull a pair of boots on. “There’s more of it throughout the rest of the house. The kitchen cabinets, and there are some built-in bookcases upstairs. And then my bedroom’s got this trim that’s one of the most intricate things I’ve…” You trailed off, shaking your head. “Long story short, yes. It was all here when I moved in and it was so … charming that I didn’t want to change any of it, so I didn’t.”

He turned his head to look at you, brown eyes filled with warmth. “Good. You shouldn’t.” His smile was small but still there, and you gave him one in return. “It’s beautiful.”

“Is that why you really volunteered to come pick me up?” Head tilting to the right, you winked at him. “Wanted to get up close and personal with all the vintage wood in my house?”

“If I wanted to do that, I would’ve asked to see what’s in your bedroom.” That left you speechless - but when Joel winked at you, reaching out to take your hand, you found your words again, speaking up as his fingers slipped against yours.

“Well, you didn’t… so now you’ll never know what my answer would have been.” He swore under his breath while pulling the front door open, his grip on you tightening. One point, me.

—

The party was fun. You were enjoying mingling with everyone, but you hadn’t really seen Joel in almost an hour… and that bothered you. Not because you’d expected to be with him the whole night, but because when you looked for him, you hadn’t been able to find him anywhere.

He wasn’t sitting at any of the tables, their tops covered in checkered tablecloths and fake Christmas greenery. He wasn’t standing next to the bar, talking with any of the people that had seemingly taken up residence beside it, not wanting to stray too far from the allure of free drinks.

He wasn’t even on the side of the building that had been opened for families, a jolly looking man dressed as Santa sitting on an ornate throne with stacks of brightly colored gifts and fake snow piles surrounding it.

You were confused, to say the least, and although as you made the rounds, you attempted to look for him, it seemed to be in vain. Ellie and Sarah will be here before I find him again at this rate, and -

“Hey.” You felt him step into place next to you, reaching over to touch your elbow. “Sorry about that. Had to step outside and take a work call about the job we’re starting in January.” He spoke almost directly into your ear, and even though you didn’t acknowledge him until you’d ended the conversation you were having with the owner of the movie theater, he didn’t move away from you, either.

When you did look at him, you saw that his cheeks were pink, the tip of his nose a little red, too. “Cold out there?”

“The wind’s cold.” He shrugged, reaching up to unbutton the top button on his plaid shirt . “I’m good now.” He still had his hand on your elbow, the man’s fingers closing around it. “You done talkin’ to everyone in this place? Want to grab something to eat?”

“I am and I do, but …” Looking past him and at the food stations, you sighed. “The lines are really long, Joel.” He looked, too, and as he did, you let your attention linger on the man’s neck, finding that even in the slightly muted lighting, you could see scattered freckles on his skin. I never noticed those before. “I… um.” You cleared your throat, taking a breath. “We could go get a drink before we wait for food.”

“Yes.” He looked back at you, his smile widening. “I like the sound of that.” Joel took your hand again and the two of you walked over to join the short line at the bar, the man saying hello to a few people as you passed. “People are watching you.” He leaned over while you waited, speaking into your ear. “I can’t believe you weren’t going to come tonight.”

“Or,” you replied, turning your head toward him so that you could meet his eyes. “Or they’re looking at you, and are thankful that you graced them with your presence tonight, Mr. Bigshot Contractor.” His cheeks went pink again, and that had nothing to do with the wind. “You and Tommy are a local success story, Joel.” You stepped up to the bar, placing your order and then moving off to the side to wait. “Miller Contracting is like two jobs away from getting national attention. I’m not surprised that people are staring. You’re single, your brother’s single, your business is booming, your kid’s basically a genius… what’s not to like?”

He seemed shocked as you were handed the festive cups, but Joel was silent until you got into the food line. “Wait, before you drink…” He raised his glass, making a face as he thought. “What should we drink to?”

“Oh. Um…” Why not make it a little awkward? Tapping one finger on your lips, you hummed. “How about to the teenage girls we live with and love taking things into their own hands and making this night happen?” He snorted, tipping his glass forward to meet the rim of yours.

“To Sarah and Ellie and their meddlin’.” You drank together, both of you laughing as you lowered your glasses. “They should be getting here soon, shouldn’t they.” You nodded, scanning the room as you inched forward. “She’s been on my ass about you for months now, by the way.”

“Oh?” You turned toward him, brows raised in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. At first she was subtle, too. But then …” He shook his head, wrinkling his nose. “Right around my birthday, she got real specific.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“End of September.” He cocked his head to the side, shrugging. “But that was right in the middle of the project. I barely had time to sleep. I wasn’t even thinking about asking anyone out.” September? Hmm.

“Sarah started working for me at the beginning of September.” You sipped your drink, thinking. “I wonder if that had anything to do with it.”

“Probably.” He laughed, tipping his head back. “She started spendin’ another 20 hours a week with Ellie, and more time around you.”

“And here I thought she just got a job so she could get a discount on things for you.” You nudged him with your elbow. “Never thought she’d do it just so she could play matchmaker.”

“You did say she was pretty much a genius.” He grinned, the smile splitting his face. “But it worked, so I can’t really complain.” You didn’t know what to say to that so you stayed quiet, the two of you shuffling forward and toward the serving tables. Did it work?

You thought things were going pretty well, despite the limited amount of time that the two of you had actually spent together that night. You wondered if he felt the same, wondered if Joel was still looking forward to the following night as much as you were, or if he’d regretted preemptively inviting you for a second date. “Joel, I -”

“Oh, good!” You both turned your heads toward the new voice, a small wave of disappointment at being interrupted coursing through you. “You two are already waiting for food. Perfect.” Ellie and Sarah headed for the line, cutting through a few small groups until they were standing beside you. “How’s it going?”

“Going good, kiddo.” You nodded, looking between the girls. “Everything alright at the -”

“It’s fine.” She waved you off, rolling her eyes. “It didn’t burn down, Sarah remembered to set the alarm, and the drawer was only off by $426 dollars, so -”

“Actually, it was $427.” Sarah cut in, raising her hand to stage whisper to Ellie. “Remember?”

“You two are terrible.” You groaned, scowling at both of them. “Maybe we don’t want to let you in line with us. Maybe -”

“Too late, we’re already here.” Ellie’s grin was infectious, and even Joel laughed, using one hand to gesture for the two of them to step in front of you. Once they were in line, he moved back a half step, putting his hand against your back and letting it rest there.

It was the most intimately that he’d ever touched you, and despite reminding yourself that you needed to keep calm, you leaned back and into it, glancing over at him and catching his eye. He didn’t say anything - but he didn’t look away, either. Yeah. I think he feels the same.

—

The four of you sat and ate together - you and Joel on one side of the table and Ellie and Sarah on the other, and for the next twenty minutes, you and Joel barely spoke to each other. It wasn’t that you were silent - instead, the four of you had a conversation, Joel and Ellie going back and forth about some sci-fi thriller that was older than the girl and you and Sarah interjecting when you could.

It felt good - sitting and conversing with them for longer than a few minutes at a time outside of the shop. The Christmas music and brightly colored lights strung around the room only added to the cheerfulness of the atmosphere, as did the scent of cinnamon and spice in the air. But again, you were slightly disappointed that you and Joel weren’t getting time to yourselves. Especially after they made sure we’d come here together.

The room was loud, and admittedly wasn’t the best place to get to know someone. So it’s fine. It’s fine, and … “Hey.” Joel said your name, pulling you out of your thoughts. “Do you wanna get out of here?”

Sarah stopped speaking immediately, her eyes going wide. You caught Ellie elbowing her sharply, but Joel never looked away. “And go where?” What are you …

“There’s a place down the street that’s open late.” He pointed with one finger, keeping his eyes on you. “Great coffee. Even better cake. And -”

“You’re just going to leave us here, Dad?” Sarah blinked slowly, her chin resting on one hand. “We just got here, and -”

“Y’know, after the two of you worked so damn hard to get us here together, the fact that you’d want to hang out with us is kind of surprising.” Ellie snorted, quickly disguising the sound with a cough. “Is this supposed to be a date? Or is this two people with their kids at a Christmas party?”

“A date.” Sarah stood abruptly, staring down at Joel. “Definitely a date. Come on, Ellie. Let’s go and see what’s going on in the other room.” The second girl stood a few seconds later, the smile on her face widening, though you could feel the smirk behind it. “Bye.”

They gathered their trash and beelined it away from you, leaving you and Joel alone at the table again. “Hope you don’t mind. I love my daughter, but I don’t usually make it a point to bring her on first dates.”

“So this is a date.” You leaned against one elbow, tapping a fingertip on the table. “Good to know.”

“Of course it is.” He stood, picking up his plate and glass. “And so is tomorrow.” Joel used his chin to gesture to the main doors. “I was serious about leaving, though. I’ve had about all I can take of We Wish You A Merry Christmas sung by Alvin and the goddamn Chipmunks.”

You laughed hard at that, nodding and standing with him. As the two of you headed for the main bank of trash cans, you tried to compose yourself, catching your breath. I figured he was funny, but that was really funny. You threw everything away, brushing your hands off on your pants as you turned toward the exit. “Joel, before we -”

“Shit.” He swore loudly, one hand on his hip and his gaze directed upward. “Fuckin’ mistletoe.” You looked up, too, wincing when you saw the plant hanging from the ceiling above where you stood. “Of course they put it right there.”

“It’s fine, Joel.” Your heart was thumping at the mere thought of him kissing you, but you didn’t want to expect anything. “We can just pretend we didn’t see it, and go to the …” You trailed off as he moved closer, both of his hands rising, palms settling against your arms. What is he doing? “What are -”

He leaned in, his lips set into a small smile, but instead of aiming for your mouth, Joel took a quick breath and then kissed your cheek, letting it linger. Holy shit, really? “No way in hell I’m kissin’ you for the first time next to a trash can and in front of all these damn people.”

That made you laugh again, but before Joel could pull away from you, you whispered his name and then turned your head, pressing your lips to his cheek in return. He froze, though his fingers tightened on your arms. When you stepped back, you saw shock on his face. Good. Because that’s exactly how I feel, too. “What is a good place for a first kiss, then?” You felt warm - your entire body almost tingling just from his proximity.

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” He recovered and answered quickly, squeezing one bicep before he let go and put more space between you. “Now c’mon. Let’s get out of here before someone else tries to talk to us.”

You had no problem with that request, giving Joel a single nod and then heading for the door, heart still pounding. His phrasing - wait and see - implied that he planned on actually kissing you at some point… and that was something else you had no problem with.

—

It was only a block or so to the place he’d mentioned, and the two of you walked there side by side, Joel’s arm brushing yours.

You both ordered coffee and a dessert, but before you could reach for cash to pay for yours, he set money down, telling the employee to keep the change.

It was quiet in the restaurant - most of the usual clients either already at home or down the street at the party, and that meant you had your pick of places to sit. He let you choose - and when you settled into an overstuffed armchair, Joel dropped onto the one across from you, letting out a sigh.

“I’m not used to that at all.” He gestured with one hand, pointing in the direction of the party you’d just left. “Job sites are easy. I tell people what to do, and they do it. Gettin’ contracts and meetin’ clients is easy, because they tell me what they want and I tell ‘em whether or not I can get it done.” He took a drink of his coffee, pausing. “But that? Hours of small talk and a crowd of people and all the holiday shit?”

“Not a fan of Christmas?” You leaned back in your chair, coffee mug cradled between both hands. “I know a lot of people aren’t.”

“It was hard for a while… with me an’ Sarah?” He frowned, shaking his head. “I wanted to make Christmas special for her, but when she was real little, that wasn’t … I couldn’t always do it. And it’s better now, because me an’ Tommy are actually getting work, but …” Joel looked down, focusing on the table in front of him. “It used to just be us. And I got used to that, to keepin’ to myself, focusing on work and on her and worrying about everything that came next.” When he looked back at you, his eyes were clear, resolve apparent in them. “Didn’t have time for a party like tonight, because it all had to be about her, and both of us survivin’, not small talk.”

“I’m sorry.” You took a drink, too. “I didn’t even think about …”

“Nah, it’s fine. Don’t let me ruin the night.” He cut a piece off of his cake and brought it to his lips, the fork slipping between them. Joel chewed and then smiled at you, rubbing his hand over the top of one thigh. “Like I said, it’s better now. And I’m gettin’ there when it comes to socializin’.”

“Is that why you don’t date much?” You bit the corner off of your pastry, thinking. “Because you don’t like the small talk or the getting to know someone?”

“No, I don’t date because I’m still busy. Between work and Sarah’s sports, it’s hard for me to find time to do things by myself. Bringin’ someone else into that seems unfair.” He leaned closer, shifting in his seat. “But I like this, tonight? This doesn’t bother me.” He sipped again, shrugging. “Maybe it’s because it’s with you, though.”

It blindsided you - the compliment and admission from Joel in the same sentence, said almost nonchalantly. But he’s made comments like that a few times now, and … hmm. “I like it too.” You sighed, looking around the cozy space before settling your gaze back on him. “They were surprised you wanted to leave.” He laughed, the sound low but still incredibly endearing. “In all the years I’ve known Ellie, she’s never pushed me like this with anyone before.”

“She’s a teenager now.” Joel’s smile widened. “Knows what she can get away with. Same with Sarah. I think she’s worried about me bein’ alone next year.” He went quiet then, his expression changing, and you realized - for the first time - that even though you were dreading Ellie leaving for college the following summer, Sarah leaving Joel was probably much more difficult for him to consider.

“You won’t be alone. You’ll have Tommy.” Raising a brow, you took another bite, talking around it. “And I’m sure he’s got some plans for you.”

“You have no idea.” He groaned, swiping a hand over his face. “He’s only 5 years younger than me, but it seems like so much more sometimes.” You didn’t know Tommy too well - he’d been on the outskirts of your friend group for a while, but had drifted away when he turned 18 and enlisted - moving even further away after coming back and joining Joel on job sites. But what you did know was that were Joel was quieter and more practical, Tommy was extroverted and impulsive, more than happy to play the part of uncle and friend to Sarah - and in turn, to Ellie. “What about Ellie? Is she thinkin’ about school?”

“Yeah.” Clearing your throat, you tried to refocus. “She is. She’s nervous about it because all she’s ever known is Austin, but she’s been applying. She’s going on a couple more campus visits in the spring, too. Marlene’s got some contacts in Utah and Colorado, so she’s going up there, but…” You shrugged. “I’m not sure what she’ll choose. Maybe she’ll stay here and go to UT or TSU.”

“Hmm.” He narrowed his eyes, staring at you. “How long’s she been with you? Marlene left what, five years ago?” Nodding, you watched as he tipped his mug back, taking a long drink. “Long time. You’re gonna have a quiet house if she decides to go out of state.”

“Just me and all that fancy wood left.” Grinning, you finished your dessert and then leaned forward, reaching for your napkin. “I’m sure Sarah won’t go far, Joel. She -”

“She’s talkin’ about going out of state, too.” He closed his eyes, taking and holding a deep breath. “Funny enough, she also mentioned Colorado and Utah. I think I even heard Boston in there, but I don’t know who the fuck willingly goes to the East coast to live, so…” He shrugged. “I’ll deal with it when I have to. Can’t keep her locked up forever, right?”

“Right.” Sitting up straight, you let your gaze wander over his face, eyes lingering on his mouth and the way his lips curved upward in the barest hint of a smile. “Can I admit something to you?” He nodded, mimicking your position and leaning forward, his hands hanging between his spread knees. “I ddn’t expect us to talk so much about Ellie and Sarah tonight. I figured they’d come up, but I was looking forward to talking about you, Joel. About you and -”

“That’s what tomorrow’s for.” He rubbed his palms together, the tip of his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “I told you, we’ve got a little bit of a drive. Plenty of time to talk.” He was right, but part of you still felt that there was more opportunity that night with him, even though you knew it was almost time to go home. “What do you want to know?” Scooting forward, he pushed his plate to the side. “I’ve gotta warn you, I’m pretty boring.”

“I doubt that.” Crossing your legs at the ankle, you held up one finger. “I remember you from high school, Joel. There was nothing boring about you.”

“That was also 20 years ago.” He scoffed. “Twenty years and one kid and a hell of a lot of muscle aches ago.” You looked past him and at the clock hanging on the wall, pointing at it.

“Speaking of sleep, It’s almost 10. Do you turn into a pumpkin at any specific time?” His mouth dropped open, Joel spluttering out your name. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for keeping you out too late.”

“Smart ass.” He rolled his eyes, sighing. “No, but you said you have to work tomorrow morning, so we should probably head out.” He was right, but you didn’t want to agree. Despite the fact that the conversation had only circled the topic of the two of you, it had highlighted something very important: Joel was just as easy to talk to one on one as he was in a public setting. And that’s good. I like that. I like it a lot. “You want me to drive you home, or do you want to walk back and find Ellie an’ Sarah?”

“You.” You answered immediately, standing and gathering your mug and plate. “I’d like you to drive me back, Joel.”

Your answer didn’t seem to surprise him, and only a few minutes later, you were back in his truck, the heat on low and Joel’s jacket tossed into the back seat. “Should I get ready before you come and get me tomorrow, or can I change in the room once we get there?”

“Either’s fine. But if you’re gonna get ready at the hotel, I’ll need to come and get you a little earlier, just so we show up on time.” He sighed, putting the truck into reverse. “There’s a schedule. Dinner’s on there, and they have a toast, and -”

“Oh, so this is fancy. You weren’t joking.”

“No. I wasn’t.” He cleared his throat. “An’ they really like me. The CEO of the hotel company’s going to be there, and she could -”

“Say no more.” Reaching over, you squeezed his knee. “I’ll be ready to go when you pick me up. I promise.” He hummed in approval, pulling onto the main road. Silence filled the cab of the truck, and before you could speak and fill it, your phone vibrated at the same time his center screen lit up, a text message from Sarah sliding in from the top of it. “Oh. Interesting.”

He reached out, pressing the button to read the text, and you raised your phone, eyeing it. Ellie.

It turned out that only one of you needed to check the message, because they both said the exact same thing:

Meeting friends from school at IHOP. I’ll be home before curfew.

“They definitely didn’t plan this.” You wrinkled your nose, turning your head to look at Joel. “It’s definitely not convenient.”

“Of course not.” His hand tightened on the steering wheel, Joel’s sigh loud. “It’s pathetic, right? My seventeen year old kid’s settin’ me up on dates and telling me that she won’t be home til later than me.”

“Not pathetic, no.” You took a few seconds, trying to organize your thoughts. “I’ve only really known her for a couple months, but she’s a really thoughtful kid, Joel. It’s clear she cares about you and wants you to be happy. And,” you continued, leaning closer and dropping your voice. “If she’s anything like Ellie, the idea of accidentally seeing you with someone probably horrifies her, so -”

Joel pulled into your driveway, cutting the engine, though he kept the heat running. “Ellie caught you and some guy?” You hadn’t planned on telling the story, but since you’d brought it up, you figured you had to, groaning as you unbuckled your seatbelt.

“Not like you’re thinking, no.” You had to laugh about it, though at the time it had happened, it had been mortifying. “I went out with a guy about a year ago, and he walked me to my door when he dropped me off.” You leaned back in your seat, crossing your arms over your chest. “We were saying goodnight on the porch, and he just … went for it. I kissed him back because the date had gone reasonably well, but only a couple seconds in, I heard Ellie’s voice through the doorbell camera, and she was … less than enthusiastic.”

You didn’t expect him to laugh as hard as he did at your words. Joel actually leaned forward and covered his face with both hands, elbows resting against the steering wheel. It hadn’t been funny at the time, Ellie’s annoyance clear even through the tinny speaker, and when you’d watched the video back later that night, you’d cringed. You’d been embarrassed but laughed it off, though in the end, Ellie’s interruption had been a good thing. Your date hadn’t found the humor in the situation, and he’d stopped returning your texts a day or so afterward. No loss there.

“Bet you’ll never kiss another man on your front porch again.” He was still chuckling when he swiveled his head toward you. “Or if you do, you’ll disable the camera first.”

“No. I think Ellie learned a valuable lesson about checking the camera when she knows I’m coming home with someone.” You pointed at the door. “However, I think that if you and I were to walk up to that door right now, they’d both be watching to see if their little plan worked.”

“That might be a worse first kiss than next to a trash can and in front of a hundred people.” He sighed, tapping his palm against the wheel. You let your eyes wander over your front yard - the lights strung through the bushes and around the front windows and door, brightly colored bulbs casting a cheerful glow over everything. “But what if that wasn’t the first one?”

“What?” Turning your body in the seat so that you were angled toward him, you eyed Joel with some curiosity. How wouldn’t that be the first one? “Joel?”

“Ain’t ideal in the truck, but …” He shifted, too, unlocking his seatbelt and then leaning his elbow against the steering wheel. “Shit. I haven’t done this in a long fuckin’ time.”

He didn’t move, though - no closer, no further away; the man simply stayed put, watching you. “Was… was that you asking if I wanted you to kiss me, Joel?” You found it hard to believe that he’d be so hesitant. Any man that looked like Joel including Joel likely would have had women lining up for the opportunity, and yet there he was, parked in your driveway and waiting. “Because if it was, then yes. I’d like that.”

There was no reason to deny it. You were out with him, you were alone in his truck, and the two of you had been flirting back and forth all night. “Good.”

He said the single word and then moved closer, Joel’s arm lifting from the steering wheel, that hand rising to the side of your face so that he could tilt it back. His fingertips slid over your cheek, thumb beneath your chin - and when you heard him say your name, the sound quiet, you finally closed your eyes, leaning in.

Joel kissed you softly - the press of his lips firm but somehow reserved at the same time. And you let him - humming at the contact and reaching one hand out. It slid up the back of his arm and stopped there, his skin warm beneath the soft material of his shirt.

There was no zing of connection, no electric current that shot through your body at the touch of his lips to yours… but there was a feeling of contentment, your body unconsciously leaning in toward his while you continued to kiss him, fingers firmly holding his arm.

He didn’t pull away from you, prolonging the kiss after inhaling through his nose, and when Joel’s hand moved back, palm cradling your head, you sighed against his lips. That was an invitation for him, Joel groaning and parting his lips against yours. You felt his tongue press against them briefly, followed by light pressure as he closed both of his around your lower one, but that was as far as he took it.

Backing away, Joel took a deep breath, though he didn’t move his hand and his eyes were focused on your face, the man waiting for your response. Did that happen? Did that just … “Hey, Joel?” You took a breath and held it, your hand dropping from his arm to his thigh. “I’m glad you waited to do that.”

He visibly relaxed, his expression going from apprehensive to a wide smile. “Yeah?” You nodded, feeling his fingers tighten briefly before he let you go. “Me too. There was more you wanted to say, but before you could, he gestured to the front of your house, sighing. “It’s gettin’ late. Let me walk you in?”

As the two of you headed for the door, Joel once again put his hand on your back, staying close. Part of you wanted to invite him in; to sit with him on your couch with only the glow of the tree illuminating the room. But that’s too forward. We’ve kissed once, and Ellie will be home soon, and … “I had fun tonight, Joel.” You stopped on your porch, digging through your bag for your keys. “Thanks for asking me.”

“‘Course.” He smiled again, sticking his hands into his front pockets and leaning against the side of your house. “We good?”

“We are.” Holding up your keys, you nodded. “I’ll see you later?” He agreed, pulling his hands free and then stepping forward, sliding one arm around your waist and then the other around your shoulders. You hugged him back, turning your head so that you could get closer. If you’re watching, Ellie, I hope you’re happy. “Goodnight, Joel.” Murmuring the words, you squeezed him and then let go, meeting his eyes one more time. “Get home safe.”

He assured you he would before he turned away from you, heading back for the truck and giving you one final look at the way the material of his flannel stretched over his broad shoulders. “Shit.” You rubbed at the bridge of your nose with the hand not holding your keys, and when his lights turned on, the truck backing out of the driveway soon after, you turned away and unlocked the door.

You were halfway inside when you heard her voice, the girl’s disappointment evident even through the small speaker. “Shoulda kissed him.” I knew it.

“Aren’t you eating pancakes right now?” Leaning back so that you could look at the doorbell, you raised a brow. “Don’t you have better things to -”

“I can eat and spy on you at the same time.” She laughed and so did you, but Ellie cut you off quickly. “I’ll be home soon. We’re leaving in a few and I just have to drop Sarah off on the way.”

“I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” She didn’t reply again, and when you shut the door a few seconds later, you locked it and then sagged back against the wood, closing your eyes.

All things considered, your date with Joel had been damn near perfect … and you had another one to look forward to the following night.

---

Part 3

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