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idkthisisjustforfanfic · 3 years

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that makes four.

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PART 2

The first days of Harry staying at your house were overshadowed by Maeve’s 5th grade spelling bee victory. The fake gold medal was a mainstay around her neck for a new nights at the dinner table until she eventually forgot about it.

Luckily enough, neither of your daughters seemed to be thrown too off kilter by his presence. Maeve was just young enough to not know much about who Harry was or the band he’d been in--though she was ready and willing to brag about having a celebrity around.

CeCe--in true sibling rivalry fashion--decided to draw her own medal with crayons and ask you to cut it out so she could wear it around the house. If Maeve gets one, so do I.

With potholders on and the oven door open, you apologized. “I can’t right now, honey--give mommy a few minutes and I’ll help you.”

Harry materialized at the bottom of the stairs, eyebrows raised when he said: “What do you need, CeCe?”

“I have to cut this out!” She said excitedly, running over to the drawer where the scissors were kept. She whipped them out and turned around quickly, Harry’s eyes bulging out of his head when he hurried over to grab them from her.

“I’ll cut, you watch,” he laughed, exchanging a look with you when CeCe climbed up to sit at the island. She hummed in agreement, handed over the paper and watched as he lined it up to start snipping.

“CeCe,” he said her name inquisitively. “Is CeCe short for anything?”

“Cecilia Rose L/N,” she smiled. “Pretty, right?”

“Very pretty,” he smiled. “Same last name as your mum.”

The last part of his sentence was a statement, a quick glance in your direction when you turned off the oven and shouted towards the stairs. “Maeve! Dinner’s ready!”

Your call went unanswered into the big house--you had no clue where she was or if she’d heard you. When Harry finished cutting out the paper medal, he handed it to CeCe who beamed with pride and put it around her neck.

Hands on your hips, “CeCe, will you please find your sister and tell her dinner is ready?”

She took one big breath and then screamed, “MAEVE!”

Both you and Harry flinched at the noise but laughed. She held onto Harry’s arm when she hopped down from the stool, shaking her head in disappointment. “Good god that girl,” she huffed, heading to climb the stairs when she yelled again: Maeve!!!! Dinner!!!!

“She’s a handful tonight,” you said, almost feeling guilty as her footsteps stomped on the floor overhead. “Thank you for that, though,” you said, motioning to the scissors in his hand. “Want a glass of wine?”

“S’not against the rules?” He teased.

When you shot him a look, he smirked and let out a laugh. “I’ll gladly take one. It’s fine, though. She was ready to stab someone flinging the scissors around like that.”

“They just had scissor safety in art class not too long ago.” You told him, pulling the cork from an already open bottle of red. “Sometimes I think she barely listens to anyone--she just does her own thing.”

“Not the worst way to be,” he smiled, picked up the glass when you slid it over on the granite. An awkward beat when he took a sip, smiled in your direction when you did the same. You could hear Maeve and CeCe fighting upstairs, offered him another guilty smile, but then he asked: “do you plan on changing your name?”

“My last name?”

“Yeah--L/N is your married name, right?”

It felt a bit nosy, a bit intrusive for the fourth night he was sleeping under your roof. You shrugged your shoulders casually, unsure how to answer. “Just haven’t gotten to it.”

He’d been quiet so far, out most of the day once the girls were gone for school and he’d return before dinner. Kept to himself--or at least out of the way--and was always helpful when he could be. Bringing groceries in? He carried a few. Needed a hand with clearing plates after dinner? He would gladly help.

Maeve and CeCe came rushing downstairs and were more willing to do the gratitude thing than they usually were, forks in hand when Maeve turned to you. “Oh, by the way, Auntie Shelli is taking us out for dinner tomorrow night.”

“She is?” You smiled at Maeve. “I haven’t heard about that.”

“She promised last week, she said Friday.”

“Okay, well I can check with her.”

“Are you doing anything tomorrow night?” Maeve asked.

“Not a thing,” you said, shaking your head. You’d been looking forward to it all week--maybe a bath and a glass of wine, maybe even a movie if you were feeling adventurous. Zoey was typically after you to do something: dinner, come hold Benny for an hour while she took a shower. You were totally up for helping a friend, but it’d been a minute since you had some me-time and if Jeff’s mom had already offered to babysit, you weren’t going to say no.

CeCe turned to Harry excitedly. “What are you doing tomorrow night? Are you coming to dinner?”

He smiled in her direction but shook his head. “I’m actually going over to a friend’s house.”

“What friend?”

“CeCe,” you laughed, embarrassed by her prying. “He doesn’t have to run everything by you, you know.”

“I know,” she said simply as she shrugged her shoulders innocently. “Just thought maybe it was one of my friends. I don’t know if we have the same friends.”

Harry laughed at this and smiled when you rolled your eyes. “I don’t think you know her.”

You watched Harry for a second, wondered if it was a girlfriend or something of the sort--Jeff hadn’t mentioned anything like that. Why couldn’t he stay there, with that friend?

“Well you should come with us and Auntie Shelli one day,” Maeve said. “We usually get ice cream and she lets us get a bunch of toppings and she doesn’t even care if we’ve had dinner yet.”

You let out a short laugh, the details of their time with family members always slipped out when you least expected it. “He’s busy, girls, remember?”

Harry shrugged, “we could get ice cream soon.”

You looked up at him, forked into a bite of dinner and said quietly: you don’t have to.

He didn’t--Harry didn’t owe you or your daughters anything except common decency and kindness. Helping you clean up after dinner or bring in the groceries was enough of a repayment for a guest room and his own bathroom.

“Maybe next week?” He ignored your comment and smiled at the girls.

“Next week!” CeCe chirped back, brushing her hair out of her face with a grin.

You figured they’d forget--swept up by the excitement of something else by the time next week rolled around and Harry would be off the hook. You smiled in his direction, apologetically and pleading, but it wasn’t until the next night that you realized he was serious.

Jeff’s mom had picked Maeve and CeCe up, you had just poured a glass of wine and went to sit in your office to go over any unread emails when he knocked on the door.

“Hey,” he offered a smile, leaned against the wall and put his hands in his pockets.

“Hi,” you turned to see him, unsure what he wanted or why he was popping in. “What’s up?”

“Uh, just wanted to let you know that my plans fell through--so, I’m just gonna be home--here I mean.”

His correction was quick, a subtle misstep through words.

You pressed your lips into a thin line, nodded slowly as you took in the information. He’d be here--in your house and just hanging out. While you had planned for a quiet night, having one other person somewhere in the house wouldn’t kill you, right? Maybe he’d lock himself away in his room and leave you to your emails, then you’d slip upstairs and end the night with a bath before your children returned with a sugar high and stories for days.

“Okay,” you said. A pause when he nodded, looked at you and then down to the floor.

“Do you want to have a drink?”

“I’ve got one,” you lifted your glass and then faltered. “Oh, together--sure, yeah.”

He held back a laugh, motioned for you to lead the way once you stood up from your desk. He trailed you back through the living room and into the kitchen, got himself a wine glass when you found the bottle you’d already started on the counter.

Was this weird? You couldn’t tell. The house was quiet and for a moment it felt like neither of you knew what to say when the only sound was the cork coming out of the bottle.

“I can venmo you for groceries, too, since m’drinking your wine.” He lifted it and poured, you watched the liquid rise in the glass until he looked up at you, waiting for a reply.

“No, it’s fine.”

“M’eating your food, drinking your wine, sleeping in your house,” he let out a laugh but put the stopper back in. “I feel like I could at least pay you back for some--” he looked down at the bottle and studied the label, “cabernet.”

You pulled out a barstool and sat, a sigh when you waved him off. “S’fine--I’m still making my way through the sorry your dad died and sorry your husband left you bottles.”

His lips pulled up at the side when yours did too. “Where do they make those grapes?”

“Somewhere far away from here,” you nodded, a long sip from your own glass when he moved to sit beside you.

“So how much did Jeff have to beg you to let me stay here?”

You looked over at him, hesitant to admit your own reluctance. You knew he and Jeff were close--you’d long been hearing stories about their nights out or big wins as a team. You’d even been invited to the release party for Harry’s first solo album, but you couldn’t find a babysitter and back then your ex couldn’t be bothered.

“I got a few pleading text messages after he first brought it up,” you smiled.

He laughed and nodded. “Well, it’s a big help. My house is over in Malibu but s’not ready yet--the only guestroom in Jeff’s house shares a wall with the master and something about that felt...weird.”

You narrowed your eyes at him playfully. “You didn’t want to hear Jeff and random women hooking up?”

“Not in the slightest,” he shook his head and bit back a smile. “Figured I’d stay with his parents for a bit but then Irv and Shelli told me they loved me but their rules are strict: their children, grandchildren, and your children. Those are their only guests.”

You nodded, it wasn’t news to you. “One time my dad stayed over after a party and Irv almost hit him with a golf club in the morning because he’d forgotten who was on the couch.”

“Yeah, so, sounds like a good idea that I’m here.” Quiet again when he moved the glass around, then he said: “you know, I would be happy to take them to ice cream or something one night--give you a minute to yourself.”

You smiled, the offer was sweet and apparently he had no idea that he’d just ruined your one chance this week to have that. “You really don’t have to--I’m sorry that they’re so...fascinated by you.”

“No, they’re great, very sweet. Maybe I can tag along when Jeff watches them next and learn the ropes.”

You nodded, reassured by his understanding that watching them would take skill. “There’s a lot to learn, they can be quite the handful sometimes.”

“Yeah?” he tilted his head. “Tell me more about them.”

The way he looked at you stirred a feeling in your chest that you couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was just the fact that he seemed interested enough to ask about them, he already seemed more invested than their father had been over the last year. You also would never turn down an opportunity to humble-brag about the tiny humans you'd created.

“Well, Maeve is pretty straight-edge. She’s always cared a lot about school and she likes it--which is weird, cause she didn’t get that from me and she definitely didn’t get it from my ex-husband. Like, she actually gets excited to come home and do her homework.”

He laughed, sipped from his glass and said: “Right, I’m sure she didn’t get her drive and determination from her mother who started her own successful business.”

You brushed off the compliment with a roll of your eyes and a laugh. “The weird preteen-angst thing is new, though. I have no idea if that’s because of losing my dad or losing hers,” you picked at a thread on your sleeve.

He was quiet for a moment, like he didn’t know what to say to that.

“And CeCe,” you saved him the trouble, “she’s a fireball. She is so strong-willed it actually makes me nervous about when she’s a teenager. She might actually drive to Vegas and get married or something. It’s just her world and we’re living in it.”

His dimples appeared on his cheeks when you shrugged. “Well, you’ve clearly done something right with them. Jeff's always loved being an uncle."

“I appreciate that,” you said honestly, a pause before you admitted: “My ex was never that hands on.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Is that why things ended?”

You let out a short laugh, again unsure if you were sharing too much. Would you wake up and regret the fact that you'd poured a glass of wine, and apparently your deepest secrets, all out on display?

“That, along with the fact that he was cheating on me for a good 18 months, I think.”

“Wow,” he nodded slowly, his lips pushed out in thought when he dropped your gaze. “What a dick.”

“Yeah, better I found out now than later on, I guess.”

“So that and losing your dad this year--”

“Yeah it’s been shitty,” you cut him off, another sip of your wine to avoid having to say more. He looked at your glass, now nearing empty, and reached for the bottle.

“Then you definitely deserve another one of these,” he laughed, fingers pulling the cork out again. “No wonder you got so many sympathy wine bottles.”

He poured himself another too, eventually he followed you into your dad’s old office when he asked what hid behind the mystery door on the first floor.

It was the only room you hadn’t redone yet, something about keeping his records on the book shelves and his papers on the desk felt like it kept him here. He’d chosen the green for the walls and you apologized when Harry’s eyebrows shot up at the sight.

“Great man,” you nodded, turning on a light switch, “terrible decorating taste.”

Harry nodded slowly, wine glass still in hand and a smirk fighting it’s way onto his face. “S’a bright color, yeah.”

He let out a laugh when he made eye contact with you, a disapproving look on your face when you walked over to the desk. “All these strewn about--probably some important information about you over here somewhere.”

He came over and lifted a paper. “Harry Styles is one of the most thoughtful, caring, and funny people I know.”

“Really?” You tugged at his arm to get a better view of the paper. Your dad’s handwriting was almost illegible, a date scribbled on top and another few words halfway down the small notebook page, nothing about Harry and nothing that seemed all that important.

“I hope that’s what he thought of me,” Harry smiled, his eyes flickered to where you still had a grip around his wrist. “Your nails are digging into me.”

“Sorry,” you pulled back immediately. “Sometimes I have to grab CeCe like that in the store or she runs off.”

He kept your gaze for a second, but it felt uncomfortable and made you nervous, so you cleared your throat. “Feel free to come in here and use this stuff,” you motioned over to the piano and the guitars he had in stands. “No one uses it, so--it’d be good for it to get played.”

“You don’t play anything?”

You shook your head. “No--he’d started to teach me guitar when I was young but then my mom died, just never picked it up again.”

You were thirteen when it happened, a car accident on the 405 and you didn’t go to school for weeks. Your dad had always been your main support--they divorced when you were ten--but after that you grew even closer, which is why losing him was so hard. He’d been a friend and a parent and the best grandfather who helped pick up the pieces when things with Luke started to crumble.

Harry was quiet, a simple nod when he went over to the piano and sat. You felt the need to shift the topic of conversation to something less depressing than the unfortunate events of your life.

“Are you writing a lot for the album still?”

“Yeah--we’ve got a few things written that might end up on it, but, mostly just experimenting with some new sounds.”

He pressed a chord down on the piano and looked up at you. “How do Maeve and CeCe seem to be handling it all?”

“Which part?”

“Both.”

You shrugged. “They’ve asked a lot about where their father is and why he hasn’t visited. And they understand that their grandpa is gone, but they’re sad, I think. CeCe’s had more nightmares than usual.”

He smiled a little. “And how are you doing with all of it?”

You let out a tiny laugh, mostly out of discomfort with the sudden seriousness in his voice and the way he already pulled more out of you than you’d planned. “I’m fine.”

He lifted his brows but played another progression of chords. “Wouldn’t blame you if you’re not.”

You took a sip of the cabernet and watched as he hummed along to whatever he played. When he looked up at you and waited for a reply, you smiled. “Some days I want to pull my hair out and others I need a good glass of wine. I kind of oscillate between those two lately.”

“Well, I’m always happy to split a bottle with you.”

You nodded, tried to fight the smile on your face when he laughed but then gave in. “Good.”

You woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache from the third and unexpected glass of wine. The girls were home by 9pm and unfortunately for you, the weekend was busy with play dates and birthday parties and grocery shopping.

Monday had you back in the office and recounting the first week to Tristan over an iced latte and a breakfast sandwich you’d grabbed after school drop off. Now it was cold and you were approaching the mid-day slump you were all too familiar with.

“I just can’t believe you’re alive still, to be honest. You know--seeing as you thought he’d be a serial killer or something.”

You looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t think he was a serial killer.”

“Just a pedophile?”

“Alright,” you waved him off. “I can admit that it’s been fine--good, even. It’s only been a week, though.”

“Right,” he shrugged. “Halfway there. Maybe week two is when he goes crazy.”

You ignored the teasing from your friend and looked back to your computer. “Do you know if Kailee ordered the new bottles for the matcha face mask?”

“Yesterday afternoon,” he nodded. “And we also got the labels in for them as well. They ship off to the packaging plant on Tuesday.”

“Good, and numbers are up from last quarter which is really good. The meeting with the investors should go well.”

“Yeah, I mean, our entire profit has doubled since this time last year,” he smiled in your direction, a subtle reminder that the late night emails on top of the worst year ever had already proven to be worth it. “You should be very proud.”

“I am,” you admitted. “Of us. All of us.”

“Yes, what kind of boss would you be if you took all of the credit?” He teased.

“A bad one, but I’m also the type of boss that leaves at lunch time to go home and change since I have a meeting this afternoon that I forgot all about.”

He looked you up and down when you stood.

“It’s with people from Anthropologie about carrying some of our products in store--so I don’t think I can wear athleisure.”

He laughed and kept typing. “Fair enough. See you at 2pm, though, for the website meeting?”

“Yes,” you promised as you grabbed your keys. “Please don’t let the place burn down while I’m gone.”

“Might throw the match myself,” he waved you off, a laugh at his own joke when you headed for the elevator.

You were proud of the company you’d built and the office you’d been able to purchase two years back, but you were more proud of the energy that buzzed through the halls and the people who made work feel less like work and more like the adventure of a lifetime. You tried to be the cool boss who brought enough coffee for everyone, gave good time off but still expected hard work and drive to be the core of the business.

It took a while to settle into the role, though. At first you were sure you’d be seen as a spoiled rich kid who got a loan from her father to start a company--but it only took one year to repay him when you started getting placements in health food markets across LA. When Kourtney Kardashian posted something about your raspberry toner, the rest was history.

You’d always been passionate about making people feel good about themselves and focused your entire brand on building people up, not tearing them down. The world had enough of that as a mother of two daughters, you hoped it’d be something that would change that narrative, at least for them.

The drive home was quick and the sun was shining, which put a pep in your step as you hopped out of the car in the driveway and headed for the side door.

Harry’s car was still here--you’d left earlier than usual but didn’t expect him to be home. If anything, you figured he’d left shortly after you and planned on staying late in the studio. Jeff had mentioned something about laying down new tracks.

“Hello?” You called into the kitchen and looked around, he wasn’t in the living room or out by the pool. You found a laundry basket at the top of the second floor and figured that maybe someone had picked him up, but the sound of muffled singing pulled you down the hall and closer to his guest room.

The door was cracked only a bit, the sun streamed in from the windows and you could hear the running water of the shower. It was wrong, maybe, but you pushed the door open and stepped inside, smiled to yourself at the fact that he was singing a Carole King song that your dad used to play on repeat when you were a kid.

The room was clean--you hadn’t been in it since you’d pointed out the linen closet in the bathroom and showed him how to use the TV remote. His bed was made--maybe not the way you would have made it but the throw pillows were arranged in a way that showed he tried.

A buzzing on the dresser pulled your attention away from the bed. His phone, a message from someone named Bria Whitmore. Another message, then a third. You took a step closer--who on earth was texting him this much without a reply? A girlfriend? Someone he probably slept with or something of the sort.

“Hi,” his voice pulled your head around quickly and sent your heartbeat through the roof.

“Jesus, hi--sorry--I was just--”

He was in a towel, the fabric wrapped loosely around his waist and hair was slicked back from the water. You looked away from the tattoos that littered his skin and looked down at the laundry basket.

“I was just seeing if you had any laundry you needed me to do?”

It was clean, but he didn’t need to know that.

“M’good,” he smiled like he didn’t believe you. “Why are you home?”

“Had to change--forgot about a meeting,” you let out a laugh and tried to slow your pulse. “Figured the pilates mom look wasn’t the right vibe.”

He nodded, moved around you in the center of the room to pull out a t-shirt from a drawer. You saw him look down at the cell phone you’d been eyeing.

“Your phone went off,” you admitted, the laundry basket still pressed up against your hip.

“Yeah?” He smirked over his shoulder.

“I was just making sure it wasn’t an emergency--I wasn’t, like, snooping.”

A dimple appeared on his left cheek again, he tugged the fabric over his head and then shook out his hair.

“S’not an emergency,” he said. “Just a friend.”

You didn’t know if that was code. Were twenty-somethings calling their booty-calls friends now? You figured you’d ask Tristan later.

“Why are you home?” You tossed the question back at him.

“Schedule changed--went for a run after breakfast and now just, showering, y’know,” he looked down at the towel that separated you from an even more awkward moment.

“Right, sorry, I...am leaving,” you pointed to the door. “Changing, back to the office, home tonight.”

“Sounds good,” he smiled. “Figured I could make dinner, if you wanted. I make a mean chicken taco.”

You took a few steps backwards to the door. “You cook?”

“I do,” he smiled. “Hard to believe?”

“No,” you shook your head. “That would be great--if you want, but you don’t have to.”

“I’d love to,” he nodded. “I’ll see you tonight, Y/N.”

“With more clothes,” you smiled, immediately regretting the bad joke and the attention it drew to the stuffy air and the butterflies in your stomach.

“Definitely more clothes.”

You made a face at yourself once the door was shut, idiot. At least you hadn’t accidentally seen a picture of someone’s boobs. You were sure he got plenty of those.

You pushed the thought out of your head and thankfully Harry didn’t smirk at you too much when Jeff came to pick up the girls for ice cream the next afternoon. They hadn’t forgotten, but luckily Jeff had offered to take them out one night and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Harry to tag along. That way he could stay true to his word and the girls would stop pestering him every time he popped down to the kitchen.

Zoey had been begging to bring the baby over to get out of the house, and now she was sitting in the other room with Benny on a play mat on the floor. Maeve, CeCe, Jeff and Harry stood in a line, eagerly awaiting the green light to pile into Jeff’s car.

“Okay, so Uncle Jeff can text me if you need anything, see you around 7pm?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jeff said, a salute in your direction that pulled a giggle from both of your daughters.

They’d been fighting more lately, CeCe tried to take the medal from Maeve’s room one night over the weekend and suddenly it was like world war three. You were shocked that they’d gotten it together enough to spend some time in each other's presence, even with Uncle Jeff chaperoning, but you were eager for the quiet and hopeful the screaming matches wouldn’t return once the ice cream and dinner date was finished.

“Love you, be nice to each other, okay?” You leaned down and used both hands to hold CeCe’s head in place when you planted a kiss on her forehead, then Maeve. A hug for Jeff, “only one ice cream cone this time.”

He laughed but obliged, you moved down the line to Harry, an awkward nod in his direction when you realized that whatever type of acquaintanceship had slowly started to bloom between the two of you was hardly grounds for a kiss on the forehead or even a hug.

He apparently sensed this too, a playful smile on his face when he lifted his brows. “No farewell for me?”

Jeff let out a quick laugh but Maeve and CeCe took off for the car, racing to see who could get out the front door fastest. “Alright, don’t kill each other,” you reminded again, waved them all off with an embarrassed smirk and then watched as Harry helped CeCe buckle into her booster seat.

“So,” Zoey appeared beside you, Benny in her arms as she looked out the window. “Seems like things are going well.”

“Yeah,” you shrugged casually. “He’s been nice.”

“He seems friendly,” she wiggled her brows when she met your gaze. “Flirty friendly.”

“Just friendly,” you laughed and headed for the kitchen to pour yourself a drink. It might have only been Tuesday, but the week promised to be a busy one. You wiped up a runaway drip of wine on the rim, fully aware the words about to leave your mouth would push Zoey into gear. “But I did see him shirtless yesterday.”

“That sounds amazing,” she shifted Benny in her arms, eagerness in her voice. “How was it?”

“I mean--he also caught me snooping in his room, sort of.”

“Sort of?”

You tried to downplay it. “I came home from work in the middle of the day to change and I heard him in the shower--which is weird cause I didn’t think he’d be home.”

“So you went in there?”

“Not the bathroom--I just peeked into his room and noticed it was really clean. Which is weird, right? He’s a kid!”

“He’s not a kid,” she rolled her eyes at you. “Your kids are kids. He’s twenty-four. I looked it up.”

Your eyes were wide when you turned to head for the couch. “You looked it up?”

“I was curious! He’s a celebrity living in your house and he’s very attractive and you have been harping on his age.”

“Because it felt weird at first.”

“And it doesn’t now?” Her tone was hopeful when she laid Benny back on his play mat and kneeled beside him.

You took a gulp from your wine glass. “Less weird, but only because he’s mature. He’s helpful around the house--he cooked dinner the other night--and he’s good with the girls.”

The corner of her mouth pulled towards the ceiling, arched eyebrows when she clarified. “He’s good with the girls?”

“He’s just nice to them--I was worried that they’d annoy him. I mean, I doubt that he was excited to hear that two of his roommates were six and ten.”

“Okay--but why did you see him shirtless?”

Right--she’d gotten you off track. “Because...I went in his room and then saw his phone buzzing and then he came out and caught me looking at his phone.”

“You were looking through his phone?!”

“No! Not the actual texts, just to see who was blowing it up. I only looked at the lock screen.”

“Was he annoyed?”

“No,” you shrugged, shame laced through your voice. “He was casual. But then he put his shirt on and I left him alone and went back to work.”

“So there’s sexual tension,” she shimmied her shoulders and pulled a laugh from you, she nuzzled down into Benny’s face but then gave him a pacifier.

“No.”

This brought her gaze back to you, more serious now. “Y/N, you are not a creep if you admit that you find him attractive.”

“I can admit that he’s handsome,” you chose a new word that felt more detached. “But who cares? He’s literally just a house guest. A friend of a friend.”

“Right, but he was just flirting with you like there’s no tomorrow.”

“No he wasn’t,” you denied her accusation. When she stared at you expectantly, you took a loud sip and let the obnoxious noise ring through the now empty house as if it would preclude you from saying any more.

“You truly, seriously, one-hundred percent haven’t noticed any type of flirting?”

You averted your eyes for a second, ready to dismiss her question and tell her she was crazy. There was nothing going on between the two of you.

But then you thought on it, thought about the way he asked about Maeve and CeCe and remembered the way your stomach seemed to twist itself in knots when he smirked at you and when the dimples appeared on his cheeks.

“The look on your face is enough of an answer,” Zoey teased, bouncing side to side when Benny made a noise. “Isn’t that right, Benny Boo? Someone has a crush.”

“There’s no crush here--he’s just,” a shrug of your shoulders when you didn’t know what words to use. You didn’t want to add fuel to her fire and you certainly didn’t want to give her any more of a reason to keep bringing this topic up.

“Dreamy? Beautiful? The perfect rebound post-divorce?”

A flutter of your eyelids in annoyance when you stood to head for the kitchen. “No,” you said, making a face in her direction. “He’s just cute.”

“So cute!” She followed behind and egged you on. “A crush is perfectly harmless, a little bedtime rendezvous is totally not a big deal.”

“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves, here, okay?”

“Oh come on,” she laughed. “You mean to tell me you haven’t already thought about if he’s good in bed?”

She came to sit next to you at the island, folding her legs beneath her. When you sipped at your wine and tried to hide a smirk, her face lit up. “I knew it, I knew it! I don’t blame you, at all, by the way. He’s gorgeous.”

“I’m just horny, number one,” you admitted, leaning forward to rest your elbow on the granite counter. “And seeing a man actually be good with kids is a breath of fresh air.”

“Yeah, Luke didn’t set the bar high with that one.”

“Absolutely not.”

A pause of silence when evening air blew through the open doors to the patio. There was music audible through the trees, wafting in from the backyard of your neighbors.

“I think you should fuck him.”

“What?!” You turned towards her quickly, your voice quieter when she smirked and looked over at you. “Are you out of your mind?”

“You have a ridiculously attractive man living in your house and he hangs out with your kids and now he’s starting to cook? It’s like a lifetime movie waiting to happen.”

“That doesn’t mean I should have sex with him!”

“Do you want to have sex with him?”

You were quiet for a second, kept her gaze but then rolled your eyes and shook your head. “I’ve had a bad year,” you made an excuse for the pulsing in your veins whenever you were alone with him. Nothing more, nothing less.

“When does he leave again?”

“I don’t know--at the end of the week, I guess. It’s not happening, so don’t get any ideas.”

“Alright,” she seemed to relent, “You do you. I just think you deserve a little feel good time.”

“That sounds gross,” you wrinkled your nose, pulling a laugh out of her.

She was able to change the topic, told you all about the way Benny was getting better at lifting his own head and he was screaming a lot less when she put him down for some tummy time. Your phone dinged, though, signalling a new text just when you were about to pull out leftovers and heat them up.

She watched when you opened it, got excited when you smirked at the screen.

“Who is it?”

You almost didn’t want to show her, but you knew she’d pry it out of your hands with force if you didn’t share. You flipped it around, watched as a smile spread across her face.

A picture of Harry and CeCe, both with sunglasses on as they ate their ice cream. Maeve and Jeff were in the background, the line at the ice cream shop down the street wasn’t too long. You were kind of surprised he was willing to go with them, wouldn't it create a buzz in the headlines?

Zoey gave you a knowing look.

“It’s just sweet.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know,” you smiled a little at first, but the happiness faded from your face when you pulled yourself back to reality. “I feel stupid thinking that he’s flirting with me. He could be with a supermodel if he wanted to. One with perky boobs and who’s, like, twenty. Not someone who’s old enough to be his mom.”

“You are seven years older than him,” she made a disgusted face. “You could have been, like, his babysitter, not his mom.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”

“You’re being stupid about this!”

You paused with tupperware in your hands, turned around slowly. “I am not being dumb about not having casual sex with the popstar boyband kid living under my roof. I think not having sex with him is objectively the responsible thing to do here.”

“Why do you always have to be so responsible, though? You have been doing that forever, okay? You’re the business owner mom who’s always been incredibly family-oriented.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, not in the slightest! But you’re more than just a mom.”

You bit at your cheek and dropped her gaze, put the tupperware down from exhaustion. “I just want my children to have a normal life. I only had one parent and I thought they were going to have two and now that ship has sailed.”

She nodded sympathetically. “But that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong! You never relaxing and having a good time will only teach them bad work-life balance.”

You rolled your eyes at her comment, tried to fight the smile when she waited for you to fold. “I love you,” she said. “I want you to get laid or have a drink or let your hair down once in a while.”

You held up the wine in her face. “Already halfway there.”

She reached for the bottle of wine and shoved it towards you with skeptical eyes. “Try harder.”

You let out a laugh and took another sip once it was refilled, pushed plates into the microwave and sat there with her until Jeff’s car pulled back into the driveway and the girls came tumbling back into the house.

“Mom, Harry said he could teach me how to play guitar,” Maeve grinned up at you, an affectionate hug caught you by surprise, but so did her words.

“He did, did he?” You eyed Harry as he walked in with Jeff by his side, sunglasses still on his face despite the sun lingering just above the horizon.

“We’ll start a band,” Harry nodded in her direction, kept his eyes shielded as CeCe ran into the backyard with a noise of excitement.

“And Uncle Jeff said he’ll sing.”

“You’ll definitely get far, then,” you teased, pulling an offended look from your childhood friend. “He’s obviously the best singer in the house.”

Harry nodded in playful agreement. “Could put me out of a job any day.”

“Maeve!” CeCe called suddenly, pulling everyone’s attention to the backyard. “Come play squishball!”

Harry looked down at Maeve and she looked up at him, you were unaware of whatever unspoken communication was transpiring between them. “Should we?” He asked.

“Definitely,” she giggled, hands on her hips.

Zoey was also confused, but she watched as Maeve and Harry headed for the patio. Harry finally took his sunglasses off, handed them to your older daughter before he spoke. “CeCe, we need to have a meeting.”

“A meeting?” She asked, she groaned in disappointment but walked back towards the house, bat dragging on the grass behind her. Jeff laughed and folded his arms over his chest, unaware of whatever deal had already been struck between them.

“You two are both really great at squishball,” Harry admitted, his voice suddenly more serious than before. “But I think we need to up the stakes.”

“Up the stakes?” You could tell by the look on CeCe’s face that she had no clue what that meant.

“Winner of this game gets the medal I won from the spelling bee,” Maeve explained.

You were about to protest, head outside and discourage any type of betting or gambling or whatever the backyard made up game was leading towards, but Harry went on to explain the rules. “CeCe gets a head start running bases, just because of her tiny legs.”

Maeve nodded, “and she gets a free home run to start off.”

CeCe smiled wide and put her hands on her hips, pulling a laugh from Harry as she copied her older sister. “I like the sound of that,” she said. A sure-fire way to make her win, you realized. But what was in that for Maeve? How had your previously grumpy pre-teen become a team player in a matter of hours?

It wasn’t long before Zoey gathered up her things and put Benny in the backseat, giggling and excited yells floated in from the backyard when you hugged her goodbye. Jeff stayed past sunset and offered an excited high five when CeCe won, completely unaware at how easy they’d made it for her.

But he soon left, too, you climbed the stairs behind your two little athletes, got them washed up and in bed before it was 9pm--not bad for a weeknight. You were sure Harry would have retreated to his room, too, but he was sat by the fire pit on the patio, a near empty glass of wine in his hand when you came back out.

“Care to explain?” you leaned against the doorframe and smiled. He adjusted in his seat but shrugged his shoulders when you admitted: “I never thought I would hear the end of it with that stupid medal.”

There was a confident look on his face when he met your eyes in the glow of the fire pit. “Figured I can teach her a few chords on guitar and that would take her mind off of taunting CeCe.”

It was smart, you nodded slowly and watched him. Give Maeve something that would get her really excited, but only if she’d give up something else. Bargaining--a classic parenting trick. You eyed Harry with a level of skepticism.

“How are you so good with them?”

He smiled at that, apparently flattered by the compliment. “They’re good kids,” he said simply.

“I’m aware,” you laughed, “but you don’t have to spend so much time with them.”

“I like it,” he shrugged. “It’s kind of nice to be around a family, you know?”

The words pulled emotion to your chest. Did you really look like a family to him? No husband, no grandfather, two irreplaceable roles and now you were trying to fill all of them just to keep your kids afloat.

“And besides,” he stood from his chair and grabbed the now empty glass before he came closer to you. “Something about being here just feels right.”

You looked up at him, felt the same rush of heat to your cheeks but hoped you were safe in the cover of night. He smirked, like he knew what he was doing to you but was too much of a gentleman to call you out. Hesitation when you felt some type of magnetic force between you, the distance simultaneously felt like inches and miles.

You smiled softly, embarrassed by the way your pulse picked up and the thoughts that flew through your head. What would happen if I, does he ever think about, am I crazy if I want to?

He brushed past you and walked to the sink, placing the wine glass down quietly before he turned to face you once more. “Is it as bad as you thought?”

Confusion, you wiped your sweaty palms on your pants. “Sorry?”

“Having me here,” he motioned around, the dimple on his left cheek was visible even in the dim light. You rolled your eyes, dropped his gaze for a second when he let out a quiet laugh. “I hope that it’s only as miserable as you thought--m’just aiming for not worse than expected at this point.”

You turned to face him and put your hands on the granite, thankful for the fact that the island was now between you, the ticking of a clock on the wall kept time when you tried to piece your words together carefully.

Was he flirting with you? A similar to question to that he'd asked only a few nights earlier, this time with more of a smirk on his face and a lilt in his voice that made sent a shiver down your spine.

“It’s better,” you admitted with a nod and a teasing smile. “But don’t tell Jeff that.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, held your gaze and then nodded. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

There was silence for a second, you almost offered to pour him another glass of wine but then he said: “Only a few more days, though.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, the fantasy shattered on the floor between you. “How’s the house coming?”

He winced, a quiet laugh when he shook his head. “Everything’s been pushed out a few weeks, actually. But--it’s fine, I’m probably just going to stay with a friend or something, you know, don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

You brought your lips into a thin line, unsure if what you were about to offer was appropriate or weird or just plain awkward.

“Oh...well, I mean, if you want to stay here longer, you can.”

His mouth pulled up on the side, he brought his gaze back to you and shifted his weight on his feet. “Yeah? You don’t mind?”

You shrugged, again hoping to play it cool or not come off too eager. “If that would be helpful,” you trailed off.

“Yeah, very helpful.”

“Cool.”

“Cool,” he nodded, pulling another smirk from you.

A few more weeks, tops.

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talesofnovembria · 3 years

Note

Dear Salena,

Hello sis, it's mono. How have you been? Have you been eating well? Exercising? I'm not going to hound you, but you know that my worrying is how I show care. I know you've been watching over Arthur, so please make the time to care for yourself, okay?

I've been thinking of you a lot. It's been weird being away from you and not seeing you as often as I used to. I keep thinking of the times we hung out and say together, and I miss it a lot. It's not like we can't do that again just because I moved out. But- you know how I am sometimes. I still wish we could do things together, such as sparring. I think Arthur got it in my head. We were looking at the knives you gave me and he mentioned how the two of us used to knife fight when we were young. He's offered to teach me a little more involving knife welding. So perhaps when we meet again I can show you what I've learned.

I also was thinking of you meeting my family! I told the girls about you being a wolf and they went buckwild. They tried to draw you a few times but none of them got you right. I also drew you! It's in the envelop. I hope you like it! I'm sure one you meet them they'll be obsessed with you, so be careful or else they'll tackle you - or try to.

Vivi also wants to meet you. She got very interested in lycanthropia afterwards and she's been talking to me nonstop. I bet she'll be writing an encyclopedia by the time you come and visit.

I hope I can see you soon, I love you dearly Salena and I hope you and Arthur are safe.

With love,

Mono

Under the letter is a small box of chicken and meatballs. In the envelop is several drawings of- maybe Salena. Crayon dogs and gray women with tall ears and a bushy trail, and then one drawing of an anime Salena that is much closer to her actual appearance... with giant cute eyes and flowing hair

She had been surprised to see the small package appear at Arthur's apartment when she stepped out to gather his mail, and addressed to her as well. It had to be from someone who knew she was staying here. It sat on the table among several stacks of paperwork, at least until after she had gotten lunch started. She could read the letter while that was cooking.

Once she had taken a seat at the table, she used her claw to open the letter, reading over it. Her fingers brushed along his words at some parts, a small smile coming to her face. Meeting his family huh?

Her eyes soon moved to the contents of the small package that came with the letter. Typical of Lewis to send her something to eat. Well, that meant she would have something for herself if Arthur was still resting. The drawings made her smile grow ever so slightly, especially the more child-like ones. She'd have to find a good place for them in her room back home.

Salena stood up, placing the chicken and meatballs in Arthur's fridge, checking on the food before getting a sheet of paper. She sat back down, hand reaching over for the feather pen she had. Her smile from before hadn't faded, even as she began to write.

Lewis,

It's nice to hear from you, and that you seem to be settling well back in your world. Thank you for the gifts that came with your letter. You needn't worry about me. Even when bedridden, Arthur cares more about others than himself. He's making sure I am taking as much care for myself as I am for him.

How interesting to know that your Arthur would know how to use knives. Most I've come across would not be so bold. I certainly hope you are not using the knives I made for you as practice. Those are meant to be used for cooking, not combat. They're built differently for a reason. As for Vivi, it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've spoken of myself to one of her. I'm sure I could do another.

The girls hmm? You said they were younger if I recalled, and I could guess based on their drawings. I have... always had a soft spot for children. Perhaps sometime we could arrange a visit. I am already on thin ice for being here with Arthur, and with the potential of having a certain someone who's not very fond of me staying here as well? Well, let's just say I don't trust Arthur to be alone with him for too long. Not as he is now anyways. I've got plenty of things I can show your sisters.

Rest assured, I'll make sure Arthur stays safe while he recovers. I look forward to the next time I'll be able to see you again. Don't stop sending letters.

Salena

She set the pen down, giving a whistle with her teeth. A raven tapped along the window, leaving Salena to open it so he could enter. The bird hopped onto her arm, her guiding him over to the table. She carefully rolled up the letter, using a gentle string of fabric to tie it to the bird's leg. She held her arm out of the open window, "Make sure Lewis gets that, Muninn. The raven nodded before taking off, leaving her to watch as the black faded among the clouds.

After a moment, she closed the window, returning to the kitchen to finish their lunch.

#bitch in armor: salena #answer #goopy brother: lewis #long post #event: extended stay #((Mention of possible reverb))#((Since it's not played out))

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babysizedfics · 3 years

Text

Pink Crayons and Pinky Promises - Part 1

Summary: Being a super cool big brother is hard work sometimes. Especially when you don’t feel as big as usual, Vee doesn’t feel as little as usual, you parents are asleep, your baby sister’s pullup needs changing, you both need breakfast, you don’t know where crayons come from, and you miss your Mommy. But Mommy always calls Roman a clever little boy, so he’s gonna try to deal with all that stuff anyway! That can’t be too hard, right?

Word count: 4.9k

Take me to part 2! (There’s another link at the end of this part!)

Also on AO3!

oOo

The carpet brushed against Roman’s feet as he dragged them back and forth, over and over again. He smiled and wiggled on his butt a little where he was sitting on the floor. Then he rubbed his feet over the carpet again. Back and forth. Back and forth, really fast!

Daddy called them happy feet, and Mommy said it was stimming. Roman didn’t really care what it was called. He just liked doing it! It made his chest less stuffy and his fingers less tingly. He liked doing it when he felt bored, or when he felt bubbly, or sometimes when he felt weird.

This morning was kind of weird. Last night Mommy didn’t feel good and Daddy had to look after him while Nana came to their house to look after Vee. That was okay though because Roman was a super big brother and helped look after the baby! He was really helpful and at bedtime he even let Vee sleep in his bed because she didn’t like sleeping alone. Daddy and Mommy were gonna be so proud when they found out what a responsible big brother Roman was!

But since Roman woke up this morning, he didn’t feel that big anymore. Vee was still asleep in Roman’s bed and Mommy and Daddy were still asleep in Mommy’s bed and Nana must have gone back to his house after Roman and Vee fell asleep. So that meant Roman was all alone right now.

Roman was never really on his own, except if he was awake way past bedtime or when he really wanted to be and yelled at everyone to leave him alone… But right now he didn’t want to be alone! He wanted Mommy to play with him and Daddy to call him nice names and Vee to copy him and laugh when he did something funny.

It wasn’t a good idea to wake anyone up, though, so Roman decided to make the most of his time alone! He played his car game, like, five times already. He put coffee in his sippy cup and finished it. And since he didn’t have his parents around to tell him not to, he even snuck his toothbrush out of the bathroom to chew it!

Exactly why Roman wasn’t allowed to chew his toothbrush was completely lost on him. It was like he was brushing his teeth extra! And it tasted good and felt nice in his mouth and when he grinded his teeth on the bristly bits it made a really cool crunchy sound that filled his ears and made him rub his feet on the carpet even faster! Mommy and Daddy clearly just didn’t understand fun when they saw it. Roman thought he was a genius to discover how nice it was to chew his toothbrush. So he wouldn’t be ashamed of it anymore! If anyone asked him about it he would just tell them to mind their own business!

“Wo, what are you eatin’?” a small voice asked.

Roman yanked the toothbrush out of his mouth and let it fall inside his sleeve. It left a yucky wet trail on his wrist and it made his face scrunch up a little, but Roman quickly shook the feeling off and looked over at the bed.

Vee was sitting up against the headboard and rubbing her eyes tiredly. “We’re not allowed lollipops without asking Daddy or Mummy first.”

Good, Vee didn’t realise it was Roman’s toothbrush. And fae sounded half little going by faer voice and what fae called Patton and Logan! Fae was way easier to argue with when fae was only half little. (Mostly because fae actually understood what he was saying.)

“Yeah, well Daddy and Mommy aren’t awake yet, so.” Roman stuck his tongue out at his sister.

“Hey!” Vee whined and her lip stuck out. She kind of looked like she would cry. Roman really hoped she didn’t or he might be in trouble. Luckily she only said: “I’m gonna tell Daddy you eated sweets without asking and sticked your tongue out at me!”

Ugh, what a tattletale. Apparently Roman had no choice.

He rolled his eyes and pulled the toothbrush out from his sleeve. “Fine, I wasn’t eating candy, look.” Despite his greatest efforts, Roman’s cheeks grew warm when he showed Vee his chewed up toothbrush. He bit his lip and asked her quietly, “You won’t tell Mommy or Daddy, right?”

Vee’s eyes darted to the door, her lips twisted, then her gaze flitted back to Roman. She looked undecided.

“I promise I won’t let you get in trouble for it,” Roman quickly added. But Vee still looked a little anxious, so Roman kept going: “A-and I can cut up some watermelon for breakfast!”

A big smile broke out on Vee’s face, then it went blurry. She was bouncing up and down on her butt and squealing.

Roman knew that would do it! He laughed and rubbed his feet quickly on the carpet. This was fun! “Deal, Vee-Vee?”

Vee bounced up from the bed and tiptoed over to Roman’s spot on the carpet quickly. She dropped to sit on the floor next to him and nodded with a big smile. “Okay, deal!” Her eyes wandered over the toys on the carpet.

“Did you wanna play with me?” Roman asked, his tummy bubbling with excitement. Vee was hardly ever big enough to play with him! This was the best morning ever!

Vee nodded, but her smile dropped a little after looking at Roman’s cars. Then she pulled her thumb up to her mouth. “Um, yeah… But I’m not allowed to play cars, am I? You said I get it wo-w-wo—” She paused and frowned at herself, looking like she was thinking super hard. “I get it… wong.”

“Good job, Vee,” Roman whispered with a smile that was quickly returned. (Daddy said it was good to make Vee feel good when she tried to make her voice work better, even if she didn’t always get the words right.) “And you don’t get it wrong but…” Roman looked at his cars—his absolute favourite toys that had to be played with in a really specific, special way—and bit his lip again. “Um, but I bet we can play another fun game without my cars!”

That made Vee smile again, so Roman thought that must have been a very clever idea. He was full of those!

“Cool!” he yelled a bit too loudly, because it made Vee startle. But then fae giggled and whispered “cool” back so Roman didn’t worry too much. “F-then we—we can—we—” Roman swallowed some spit before continuing, “We—we can play, um, um… the Knight and Princess game!”

Vee’s pink-painted fingernail went between faer teeth. “Okay, um, can we play it without the dwagons and evil wizard though?”

What a silly question! “Vee,” Roman chuckled and shook his head. “Of course we can’t!”

“Oh…” Vee slipped her finger between her lips and sucked it like a baby.

“A eminent of danger is essential to the Knight and Princess game,” Roman explained (even though it was really obvious). “If there weren’t any dragons or evil wizards then I wouldn’t have anything to save you from!”

Vee’s pigtails bounced and swished when she cocked her head to the side. “W-w-what’s a ‘emimenp’?”

What a silly question! “Eminent! It’s a big kid word, it means…” Roman blinked. Mommy used the word a few days ago and Roman asked what it meant and tried really hard to remember so he could use it around Mommy to make him proud. But he couldn’t really remember what Mommy told him it meant, he just remembered Mommy calling him a smart little boy for asking questions. It would be cool if Mommy was here to call him smart now…

Roman nibbled his toothbrush then spoke around it quietly, “It means, like, a thing.”

It made Roman feel a bit better to see his little sister nodding with big eyes. “That’s a weally big word,” she breathed, clearly impressed.

There was that nice bubbly feeling in his tummy again and Roman sat taller.

Then Vee kept talking. “Um, but I weally don’t wanna play it with the baddies…”

“How come?” Roman complained, slouching in his seat. That was no fun!

Vee wiggled and instead of looking next to Roman’s face, her eyes dropped to her lap. Her cheeks went the same colour as her nails. “W-w-w-well, w-w—” she shook her head quickly and changed her voice to a whisper. “It’s just—It’s a bit scawy. And Mummy isn’t here to make it less scawy?” Vee’s voice went high and squeaky at the end. Then she pulled one of her pigtails forward and hided behind it.

Sometimes Roman forgot how much of a crybaby Vee could be. It got kind of annoying when he just wanted to play but Vee started crying and Daddy or Mommy or Nana told him off because it was ‘too loud’ or ‘too scary’ or ‘too much of a safety hazard’. Then again, Vee getting scared all the time just meant Roman got to be a cool, strong, protective big brother all the time. So it wasn’t all bad.

“Okay, we don’t have to play that one!” he quickly reassured her like a good big brother. He even put down his toothbrush and holded her hand and she squeezed his fingers! “We could play Tag or Mermaids,” (but maybe without the sharks) “or Pooh cards or Hide ‘n’ Seek or—”

Oh no! Roman’s empty hand flew up to his mouth and he stopped talking. But it was too late.

There were already shiny tears in Vee’s eyes. Fae pulled faer hand out of Roman’s to hug faer knees to faer chest.

“I’m sorry, I-I-I forgot!” Roman quickly whispered. He felt really, really bad. It was super important to not mention Hide and Seek to Vee, Mommy and Daddy said. It always made her sad because of what happened last time. “It’s okay, baby, we never ever have to play that one ever again, I promise!”

Vee whimpered. Then she lifted her little finger in between their faces. It was kinda shaky. “Pinky pwomise?” she whispered really quiet.

Roman wrapped his bigger pinky around Vee’s smaller one. “Pinky promise,” he said very seriously. Pinky promises were no joke.

Then there was a loud growl that made Vee gasp. Faer pinky squeezed Roman’s so tight it kinda hurt. But then fae let go a little and looked down at faer tummy. It growled again.

Roman burst into laughter, and it was quickly followed by Vee’s giggles.

“I’m hungry too,” he said, mainly to help Vee not feel embarrassed. “Let’s go have breakfast!”

“But, um, I thought we were gonna play somethin’?”

That was a good point… Luckily, Roman was really creative and clever! “We can play while we eat! I think I left my colouring stuff downstairs yesterday.”

“Okay!” Vee squeaked. Then she rolled on her tummy and crawled to the bed, using the bedpost to help pull herself up from the floor. The rustly pink bit of her pullup poked out from the back of her pyjama pants as she stood.

“Oh!” Roman remembered a very important thing, then grabbed his toothbrush and stood up too so he didn’t feel smaller than Vee. Daddy and Mommy usually checked the very important thing, but they weren’t here which meant Roman had to be a good big brother and help his baby sister! So he asked the very important thing: “Is your pullup wet?”

But it didn’t seem like it helped much. It just made Vee pout and pull the front of her pyjama shirt down. Kinda like if she was trying to hide her pullup. But that was silly! It wasn’t like Roman had x-ray vision to see through her pyjamas!

“I’m not gonna laugh or anything,” Roman promised, then repeated softer, “Is it wet?”

It took a few seconds for Vee to nod silently. Her cheeks were super pink.

“Okay, then you can go change your pullup while I put my cars away!”

“No!”

Roman’s mouth dropped open a little. Vee never did that! He looked down at faer grumpy face and frowned. “Vee, Daddy always gets you a new pullup if it’s wet, but he’s still asleep. And you don’t like me being there when you get a diaper change, right?”

Vee looked even grumpier just hearing it.

Just like Roman thought! He nodded to himself. “So then I can’t help you either. You gotta get a new one yourself.”

Vee’s pigtails bounced really fast this time because she was shaking her head lots.

The light, bubbly feeling in Roman’s chest was now a hard, squeezy feeling. This was way harder than it looked when Daddy did it. He didn’t really know what to do when his little sister didn’t listen to him.

“But…” Roman gripped his toothbrush handle tightly, then started chewing the bristly bit again. It made his voice kinda muffled, but he was still a big boy and could talk good. “But Daddy always—”

“No,” Vee whined, “I don’t wanna!” Faer thumb went in faer mouth and fae sucked it like a baby. “Don’ wanna, d-don’ wanna.” Faer voice was all high-pitched and wobbly… like fae was gonna cry.

“Okay! Okay, that’s cool!” Roman blurted, yanking his toothbrush from his mouth so fast it scratched his gums. He licked the scratch then carried on before Vee got any closer to tears, “You don’t hafta change your pullup. Don’t cry, baby.”

Vee pulled her thumb out of her lips and hid it behind her back. “I’m not a baby wight now…”

Roman nodded even though Vee was kind of always a baby. Gotta keep the baby happy. “Okay, you don’t hafta be a baby either.”

Even though it didn’t feel like Roman handled that very well, at least Vee didn’t look like she was gonna start blubbering anymore. He didn’t like dealing with Vee when she was crying.

Then Roman thinked really hard to himself for a moment (as clever boys do). He had stopped Vee from crying this time, but Vee always cried even more when she wet herself. And Roman didn’t like it when the carpet or the couch got wet, especially when their parents weren’t there. Roman was only a little boy, he didn’t know how to clean Vee’s accidents! So…

“But you gotta pinky promise you won’t have a accident ‘til Daddy changes your pullup.”

Vee nodded really hard and wriggled her pinky around Roman’s. “Pinky pwomise, no accidents!”

There, all fixed! Now they could just have fun!

oOo

Being little without Mommy or Daddy was fun, but it was also really tricky. Of course, if you’re a clever little boy like Roman that gives you an advantage. But it was still tricky, even for him!

There was lots of stuff he had to remember. Like when they got Vee’s spare paci from Roman’s drawer, Roman had to check if the sucky bit of the paci had fluff on it before Vee put it in her mouth. But that was easy!

And then they had to go downstairs, except they weren’t allowed to walk on the stairs when they were little and alone. That’s what Mommy and Daddy always reminded him. So Roman had the genius idea to slide down the stairs on their butts! He made sure to hold Vee’s hand the whole time—not because he was scared of falling or anything! Just because that’s what big brothers do. And to be an extra amazing big brother, Roman even let Vee hold his hand after they were off the stairs.

Making breakfast was definitely a grownup job, but Roman tried his hardest with that too. He was really careful pouring oat milk into both of their sippy cups and screwed the lids on super tight with Vee’s help holding them. It was hard ‘cause they were still holding hands. They spilled a small puddle of milk on the countertop but Vee slurped it up real quick, like a vacuum!

And when Roman poured the Cap’n Crunch into their divider plates (Roman’s being a cool, blue Spongebob Squarepants one and Vee’s being a babyish, pink Hello Kitty one) he only dropped 14 pieces of cereal on the floor! He counted them all by himself. Then he left them there so that later he could prove to Mommy that he counted them right. Plus he didn’t wanna touch icky floor food! (He didn’t let Vee suck up those like a vacuum even though fae really wanted to. Silly baby!)

The most tricky bit was when he cut the watermelon. There was no situation Roman could think of where he would be allowed to use a knife when he was little, so he just stopped being little for a few minutes to use the knife then carry everything (including Vee) into the living room.

But now he was little again! Him and Vee were colouring pretty pictures for Mommy to help him feel better and they both had yummy melon and cereal and milk. They were having lots of fun and it was all because of how clever and responsible Roman was!

“Wow boo bay pink ob cwayom aim?”

Roman leaned up from where he was lying on his tummy and propped himself on his elbows to look at Vee. “Whadja say, Fee-Fee?” he asked around his toothbrush, giggling when it made his voice sound funny.

The paci that was bobbing in Vee’s mouth suddenly shot out of her mouth. It dropped to her lap with a long trail of drool.

“Eww!” Roman laughed. It made the scratch on his gums hurt, so he licked it again. “Why’d you spit it out?!”

Vee smiled, faer lip shiny with spit. “I had to get it out weally fast!” fae squeaked and wiggled on her butt. Then faer smile went away a bit and fae pulled her shirt down and stopped wiggling. “Um, I said h-how do they think of cwayon names?” fae asked quieter.

This kinda thing happened all the time. Since Roman was bigger and older and cleverer than his baby sister, she asked him lots of questions. But sometimes Roman didn’t know the answers… so he just thought up ones instead! It was fun, but only if Daddy and Mommy weren’t around to say he was wrong. It wasn’t about being right, it was about being creative!

And about tricking his silly baby sister.

Roman picked up the crayon he had been using on his drawing and inspected the label. ‘Forest Green’.

Really quickly—so that Vee didn’t think he was lying or anything—Roman thought of an answer: “They name them after wherever they find them growing.”

Apparently that wasn’t a good enough answer for Vee. Her eyebrows went down and she said, “Nu uh, cwayons don’t g-gw-w-gw—” She shook her head to stop the stutter and tried again. “Cwayons don’t come on twees!”

“Well duh,” Roman rolled his eyes. “Not all of them at least. Otherwise they would all be named after trees. Crayons can show up anywhere.”

Vee’s eyes went wide and a giggle bubbled up in Roman’s chest, but he kept it there. It was cool to be smart. But it was even cooler to pretend you didn’t care about how smart you are—like Mommy! So Roman didn't pay attention to Vee’s reaction and just kept colouring and humming a song he heard in one of his cartoons.

“Anywhere?” Vee whispered after a bit.

Roman’s legs kicked and wriggled in the air behind him, but he kept looking at his drawing. Keeping it cool. “Yeah, Vee, didn’t you know that already?”

It went quiet for a while after that. The green crayon was making nice scratchy sounds as Roman coloured and his toothbrush was making nice crunchy sounds in his mouth. His gums were kinda hurting now, but he still wanted to chew his toothbrush so he just ignored it.

He nearly forgot what they were talking about before. That was until Vee tugged on his sleeve and Roman looked over at her.

“Where did they find this one?” Vee asked, shoving one of the pink crayons right under Roman’s nose. Her other hand tugged nervously at her pyjama shirt and her knees wiggled where she was sitting criss-cross-applesauce. She was looking at him like he was the cleverest person in the world, waiting for his answer.

A big smile stretched Roman’s lips (so big he had to take his toothbrush out!) and he grabbed the crayon quickly. He couldn’t keep Vee waiting, fae was depending on him!

He carefully read the label—’Jazzberry Jam’—then offered his wisdom. “Oh, that one’s easy. They found it in a jam jar.”

Vee’s mouth went in a little circle shape. “Ooh, like Mummy’s jam?”

“Yeah, exactly!”

“Wow!” Vee pulled the crayon close to her chest, kinda hugging it. “Does that mean it tastes like jam too?”

Roman’s throat felt tight because he wanted to laugh so bad. Keep it cool! “Why don’t you taste it and see?”

Even though Roman literally just told Vee to do it, he was still pretty surprised when Vee stuck out her tongue and dragged the crayon across it.

“What did it taste like?” he whispered with wide eyes. It was kind of exciting to think it might of tasted like jam!

Vee licked her lips and clicked her tongue. Then she pouted. “Jus’ like cwayon.”

“Aw, I thought it—uh, y-yeah, I knew it wouldn’t taste like jam,” Roman said, trying not to sound too disappointed. He shrugged his shoulders at Vee. “You need to check, y’know?”

Vee nodded solemnly. Then she hummed and started rifling through the other crayons she had left all over her scribbly paper.

“Mmm, what about… this one?”

Again, Roman accepted the crayon Vee held out to him and read the label. “Do you know what a carnation is?”

“Thas what Daddy gwows in the garden!”

“Yeah, so they found this crayon in one of Daddy’s flowers!”

“How d’you know that?”

“‘Cause it’s called Carnation Pink.”

“But how d’you know what it’s called?”

Roman sighed and pushed himself up from lying on the carpet. It was making his tummy hurt anyway. He swung his legs under him so he sat criss-cross-applesauce, and held the crayon up to Vee’s face.

“It says it on the label, see?”

Small, sticky fingers pulled Roman’s hand so close to Vee’s face that she went cross-eyed.

“Yuck, yuck,” Roman gasped and quickly pushed Vee’s hands off of his. He dropped the crayon on the floor and dragged his hand all over his pyjama shirt. The sticky melon juice made him feel gross! It made his head go jumbly and his fingers feel jittery. He whimpered and kicked his feet on the floor to try to shake off the ickies. “Vee, don’t get yucky stuff on me!” he whined.

Vee looked down at her hands confused. Then she giggled and held her palms up to Roman’s face. “Melon juice isn’t yucky!”

“It is! I don’t like it!” Roman cried, and didn’t like how his voice cracked. Tears suddenly made his eyes hot and burny, and he scrambled away from his baby sister.

Once he was a safe distance from the yucky, sticky melon juice, he hid his eyes behind his arm and squinted them tight real hard. One big, shaky breath. Another big, shaky breath. One more big, deep, steady breath. The tears were gone.

“Wo-Wo?”

After making sure he definitely wasn’t gonna cry like a baby anymore, Roman slowly looked over his arm to his sister.

Vee was hugging faer knees to faer chest and looking kinda scared. Fae pulled faer thumb out of faer mouth and whispered, “Weally sowwy for touchin’ you… Didn’t wanna make you cwy.”

“Am not!” Roman yelled, a bit too fast and a bit too loud and a bit too squeaky. His cheeks went hot. Then he tried to sound bigger and cooler. “I was—I was just focussin’ really hard.”

“Fucksin?”

Roman snorted loudly then hurriedly slapped his hand over his mouth. That made him feel a lot better already.

“Y-yeah, Vee,” he giggled, really hoping she used that word around Daddy later. That would be the funniest thing ever! “Yeah, I was ‘fucksin’ on, um… on the crayons!” He scooched back over to Vee. “I gotta focus real hard so I can read their names!”

“Weadin’?”

“Yeah, Vee, reading!”

That word made Vee really excited for some reason. Her hands started flapping and she squealed. “You a-a-a clever big kid!” she cheered excitedly and wiggled on her butt to sit closer next to Roman.

Roman’s chest went light and bubbly again! “Mhm, I’m a clever big kid ‘cause I can read!” He wanted to hold his little sister’s hand again, but it was yucky. So he put his arm around her and she put her head on his shoulder.

“A-a-a-a-am… A-a-a-a—” Vee cut herself off and growled a little. It was super small and soft though, like a kitten.

“You wanna try starting with a different word?”

Vee’s head nodded against him. “M-m-maybe I can wead too!”

Roman giggled. That was a silly idea! “Vee, you’re only a baby. Babies can’t read!”

“Not a baby wight now!” Vee looked up at Roman with her thumb between her lips and big pout.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Roman said, unconvinced. Then he frowned. “Hey, you’re not allowed to suck your thumb. Do you want your paci?”

Vee nodded but didn’t move or look any less grumpy, so Roman reached over and got it for her.

“There you go, baby,” Roman said when he pushed the sucky bit in Vee’s mouth. It made him giggle because she didn’t even realise he called her a baby.

“Fankoo,” Vee garbled around the paci.

Roman smiled. She was definitely a baby. But if she wanted to try reading then Roman could still be a good big brother and help her!

Luckily, the crayon Roman picked up from the carpet wasn’t sticky. He held it in front of Vee’s eyes again like the last one. “Okay, see there?” He pointed at the label. “It has letters on it, and that’s the name of the crayon! You just gotta read it out, then I can tell you where they found it.”

Vee took the crayon (gently this time) with a little hum.

“Can you tell me what it says, Titch?”

After a while of squinting at it, Vee tried to sound it out quietly. “M-m-mm… Ma… Mama?”

That didn’t sound right.

“Can I see?” Roman held his hand out for the crayon.

Vee gave it to him then suckled faer paci real fast, staring at him. Waiting.

Roman read the label and blushed. “Um, you were close,” he giggled nervously. “It, um… It actually says ‘melon’.”

The paci made a pop sound when Vee pulled it out from her lips. “Wait, weally?”

“Yeah…” Roman smiled at his sister sheepishly. Then they both burst into giggles. How funny!

“Like our one!” Vee squealed.

The carpet went brush, brush, brush on Roman’s feet as he laughed. Nothing seemed so bad anymore! He barely even remembered why he was crying!

“I, um, I-I-I finished all my melon!” Roman bragged with a proud smile.

It was true! He was a big boy and he eated all his food and Daddy always told him how good that was. Which meant when he showed his empty plate to his caregivers later, they would definitely tell him how clever and well-behaved he was!

But Vee was only small, and that meant she had a smaller tummy. Roman could see Vee finished all her milk—that was her favourite—but there was still some melon and lots of cereal left on her plate. If Roman was gonna get told how good he was for eating his breakfast, he didn’t want Vee to miss out on it and be jealous!

“Vee-Vee, you gotta eat all yours too.”

Vee looked down at her plate, then back up at Roman with a pout. “All of it?” she whined.

Roman shrugged. He really didn’t care that much. “I dunno, just eat some.”

That cheered Vee up and she instantly smiled and reached for the food. Then her hand froze in mid-air.

“Wait…” She fidgeted with her pyjamas again. “Did you find any cwayons when you cut up the m-melon?”

Roman’s lips trembled with the effort not to laugh. He couldn’t let Vee think he was making fun of her.

“Nah, there weren’t any, I checked.” It made Vee’s shoulders relax… So Roman kept going, just ‘cause it was really fun. “They’re pretty rare actually—kinda like pearls in oysters. That’s why you probably haven’t seen any crayons growing in the wild before.”

Every word Roman said made Vee nod more strongly. “That makes sense,” she muttered, giving a final firm nod before grabbing a cube of watermelon without hesitation. With her bare fingers.

“Don’t you wanna use your baby fork?” Roman suggested with a grimace. It made Roman shiver just to look at the melon juice dripping all over Vee’s hands. He scooched further away from her.

Apparently Vee hadn’t heard Roman—or she just wanted to show him her answer instead of telling him. She squashed the melon against her mouth with her hand and held it there while she sucked it, looking at Roman with wide, innocent eyes. There was probably melon juice all over her face now. Gross!

“Okay, fine,” Roman sighed, picking his toothbrush back up and chewing it as he went back to his drawing. “Just don’t touch me or my drawing.”

oOo

Continues immediately in part 2! I just broke it up for readability and to give you a good place to take a break, get some water, go to the bathroom, and maybe even come back tomorrow if it's late for you and you're sleepy! The second chapter is a little longer and it will still be here when you're rested up <3

Take me to part 2!

Also on AO3!

Reblogs, comments, and asks are very appreciated! <3

#pink crayons and pinky promises #little/big series fics #little/big series #agere roman #agedre roman #little roman #agere virgil #little virgil #nana janus #cg janus #ts agere #ts agere fic #sanders sides agere

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sylvanfreckles · 4 years

Text

Eye of the Beholder

Fandom: Supernatural

Summary: Sam encourages Cas to try to express himself by taking up drawing. It seems to be a lost cause...until Castiel tries to draw Sam’s soul.

(Something warm and soft and hopeful after FebuWhump)

* * *

Sam leaned against the low wall surrounding the picnic area park and let his head tip back to catch the warmth from the sun. They'd hit this town to check on rumors of a demonic possession at the local college, only to find Claire and Kaia had beat them here and pretty much had the whole thing taken care of. Now, he was enjoying just keeping an ear on the banter as Dean checked over the girls' gear and Jack chattered enthusiastically about the old fantasy novels he'd found on one of the rooms at the bunker (apparently Kaia had heard of the author and they were bonding, much to Claire's amusement).

A hint of movement at his side had him cracking one eye open to see Cas settle into a similar posture. Watching Dean and the kids with a fond look on his face, Cas caught Sam's eye with a smile. “He's good at that.”

“Dean's always been good with kids,” Sam agreed. “Probably because he still acts like he's twelve.”

Cas gave a very un-angelic snort, and Sam shifted around enough to watch the angel now. He couldn't remember when life had been this peaceful before. There were hunts still, sure, but it finally seemed like there wasn't some big bad pulling the strings behind it all. He couldn't remember a time in his life that had been like this—just the routine of the hunt and home, with their own network of friends and family.

It took him a moment to realize Cas's attention wasn't on the others anymore. The angel was looking out across the park at a mural painted on higher wall that ran around the park's perimeter. He was pretty it was a memorial to the town's history as part of the underground railroad, based on what he'd learned before they got here.

“I think the high school kids work on that every year,” Sam commented, nudging Cas with his shoulder. “When I was researching the town I found an article that said it was one of their graduating projects, and every year a group of students repairs and restores the mural.”

Cas shook his head and looked back at Sam. “Humanity's capacity for creation will always amaze me.”

Sam blinked. He hadn't...thought about it like that. Dean had always said Cas was just a weird little nerd, but was that why he always seemed to stop when he saw a statue, or a carving, or a painting? That it wasn't a type of art he preferred, but he was appreciating the human act of creating art?

“Have you ever tried?” Sam asked, trying to be casual about it. “Making something, I mean.”

The look Cas shot him was quick, but Sam thought his friend looked grieved. “Angels weren't made to create. We can only replicate.”

Sam started to protest, but hesitated. Zachariah's Beautiful Room...he'd offered Dean things from Dean's past, not some idealized thing he'd want. Gabriel had pulled from human television to make his TV world. Even Lucifer, in creating Jack, had used a human body to impregnate a human, not some celestial act of creation.

“Have you ever tried?” he repeated.

Cas pushed away from the wall. “There's enough in this world to admire,” he replied, though he wouldn't meet Sam's eyes and his shoulders remained tense. “You don't need my...'pitiful scratchings'.”

* * *

Cas's words twisted through Sam's head as he followed the others through the small downtown area back toward the hotel. Had Cas ever tried to make something around them? Had one of them said something like that? Or was this some distant event from heaven, some other angel stomping out any fraction of individuality?

He pulled up as they passed a small, disorganized craft store. “Hey, go ahead without me,” Sam called when Dean turned around. “We need a couple things.”

Sam waited until the others turned away, giving Jack a reassuring nod and smile, before pushing the door open and slipping inside the store. It was cramped inside, with shelves and bins overflowing, and the smell of cinnamon and beeswax filling the air. It wasn't completely a lie...they always needed things like natural pigments and scraps of leather for hex bags, and some places sold essential oils or crystals he liked to keep on hand for emergencies.

It just wasn't why he was here now. He squeezed past a rack of wooden beads and nearly knocked a dressmaker's mannequin over, but finally found the drawing section. The sketchbooks were easy enough to sort through—he grabbed a large one with a dark cover that had an elastic band to keep it closed when not in use. The pages were about the size of a standard sheet of printer paper, so it was big enough for Cas to have lots of room to experiment on each page but small enough to travel with him. The drawing supplies, though, were a little harder.

Sam stared at the selection of pencils, paints, and markers. If Cas had truly never tried something like this before, where could he even begin? Would he want something like colored pencils, that would have a smooth texture on the page but need to be kept sharpened? Or paints, which might be easier to blend and shade but wouldn't be portable? Or start with the very basics and get a box of crayons and hope Cas didn't think it was too childish?

A long, flat box at the end of the shelf caught his eye. Pastels. He had a flash of memory of one of Jess's friends in college who worked with pastels, the way their hands swept over the canvas to leave bright ribbons of color and then darted back to smooth and shade. Sam could suddenly imagine Cas, pastel stick in hand, a smear of pigment on his chin, brow furrowed in concentration as he filled a canvas with bright color.

He bought the sketchbook and pastels plus some silver charms to make a stronger protection hex bag for Claire's car, to make it seem like the drawing supplies had been a spur-of-the-moment thing. By the time he got back to the hotel Dean had already ordered pizza, while Kaia and Jack had Claire sandwiched between them on the couch as they tried to convince her to watch an old fantasy movie with them (Sam was on their side, Willow was awesome). Cas looked up from picking at the label on his beer bottle when Sam walked up to the table, eyes widening further in surprise when Sam set the bag from the craft store down in front of him and presented the drawing supplies with a flourish.

“I thought you might like to try,” Sam explained as he pulled out a chair and sat down next to Cas at the room's little table. “I mean, I'd kind of be interested in seeing an angel's...uh...'pitiful scratchings', you know?”

Cas hesitantly ran the tips of his fingers over the dark cover of the sketchbook. “Sam...”

“Just try?” he suggested. He scooted closer so that his shoulder brushed Cas's, knowing the physical contact helped when the angel was dealing with something new or difficult. “No one's gonna laugh if you can't do it. Well, maybe Dean, but he's an ass.”

“I heard that!” Dean shouted. As far as Sam could tell, his brother was completely focused on something on his phone. That was obviously just an automatic response.

The angel was quiet. Then, slowly, he tugged the pastels out of the bag and lifted the lid of the box. The colors almost seemed to glow under the room's overhead light, and Cas gently brushed the bright gold stick with the tip of one finger. “I'll try.”

“Good,” Sam bumped Cas's shoulder with his own, then leaned a little more closely against him, grounding him. “I can't wait.”

* * *

Sam bit his lip as he flipped through the first few pages of Cas's sketchbook. The angel leaned against the table almost despondently, arms folded across his chest and head tipped forward so that Sam couldn't see his eyes.

“These are good,” Sam said, trying to sound encouraging. “I mean, they look just like the, uh, things you were sketching. That's...that's good.”

Technically speaking, the sketches were good. There was a vase of wild flowers Kaia had put on the kitchen table the second day of her and Claire's visit. The bust of one of the old Men of Letters. Jack's profile as he read from a large leather-bound book. They were perfect and lifelike and exact, yet somehow...empty.

Cas took the sketchbook out of his hands and gently folded it closed. “Angels weren't given the breath of life,” he said, his voice quiet in the stillness of the library. “We can't...we can't create, Sam. All I can do is copy. These are copies of life.”

Sam winced. “Maybe you just need some practice. I mean, this is your first time, right? Nobody's perfect their first time.”

His friend's smile was sad when Cas finally looked up at him. “I feel no inspiration, Sam. I look at the world and nothing calls to me. The flowers and Jack...I chose those because I knew that was what a human might choose. I could have just as easily chosen the scalpels in the infirmary, or the backseat of the Impala, or every doorknob in the bunker. There's no...it's not creation, Sam. They're just copies of life.”

With a sigh, Sam ran one hand through his hair. “Cas, a lot of artists struggle with that. Maybe you just haven't found the right thing yet. With some more time I bet you could find the, the soul of a vase of flowers, or whatever.”

Cas grunted. “Flowers don't have a soul.”

“You know what I mean. Artists, they...they capture a part of themselves in the world around them. Their art reflects their own soul, you know?”

“I don't have a soul either, Sam.”

“You know what I mean.” Exasperated, Sam took a few steps away, then paced back again. “When you look at something that kind of pulls at your heart, you can make something that has a bit of your soul in it, you know? It's what humans have done for thousands of years, even longer.”

Cas let out a mournful sigh and rubbed one hand over his eyes. “If you could see your own soul you might understand,” he said wearily. “Compared to that even an angel's true form is inadequate.”

Sam huffed out a breath. He'd just wanted Cas to have a new experience, maybe find a hobby that could bring him joy. He hadn't meant to start some kind of identity crisis. Then his friend's words caught up to him. “Wait...Cas, are you saying you can see my soul?”

His friend gave him a flat look. “I am still an angel.”

“No, no, I mean...you can see my soul?”

“Of course, Sam.”

Heart pounding, Sam spread his arms out. “Then draw that!”

Cas stared at him for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “Why would you want to see something like that?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to see it!” Sam turned in a full circle before grabbing one of the library chairs and dragging it in front of Cas. “Is this good? Or, wait, do you need better light?” His soul through the eyes of an angel...who wouldn't want to see that?

There was still hesitation in Cas's movements as he slowly picked up his sketchbook and lifted the cover off the box of pastels. “You're sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Cas flipped to a clean page and stared over the top of the sketchbook at Sam. Sam waited, eyebrows raised expectantly.

“Do you need me to do something?” he asked, when Cas made no move to start drawing.

Cas frowned, then reached in the box for a pastel. “Just talk. About one of your passions.”

A passion...okay, Sam could do that. Like Dean had always said, he was a huge nerd. “Oh, I found that book about cuneiform we were talking about,” he said, sitting up a little straighter. “You were right, the author was completely ignorant of the language schism toward the end of the Bronze Age....”

He talked on and on while Cas drew. The angel glanced up at him from time to time, a little smile brightening his face. It was almost exactly the image Sam had conjured in the craft store...Cas with a smear of pigment on his chin, bright colors filling the page in front of him. As he drew the angel seemed to relax, the perpetual slump of his shoulders easing back, the worry lines in his forehead smoothing out.

Sam could have pumped his fist in victory. He knew this had been a good idea.

Then Cas set the pastels down and hesitantly pulled the lid over the box. He seemed unsure of himself again, tipping the picture up to makes sure Sam couldn't see it.

“Is it done?” Sam asked. “Can I see?”

For a moment he was afraid Cas would refuse, then the angel slowly turned the sketchbook around.

Sam had seen human souls before...or at least he thought he had. They'd been wispy balls of bluish light, nothing too amazing. This was...this was something else.

The page was a riot of colors. Sweeping and dazzling, greens and blues with threads of red twisting through them, all turning back in on themselves over and over. There were jagged cracks in the swirling shapes, but they'd been filled in with a golden color so vivid he almost brushed his finger over the page to see if it felt warm.

“In some cultures,” Cas's voice was quiet as he explained, “when an item is broken they mend it with gold, so it is more beautiful and valuable because of the cracks.”

Sam drew in a breath. “This is how you see my soul?” The cracks...memories of Lucifer and the Cage, everything they'd lost, the darkness he'd hidden for so long...Cas saw them mended in gold?

“Oh, Sam,” Cas's hand was warm on his shoulder and he looked up, surprised to see tears in his friend's eyes. “This is you.”

He swallowed and looked back down. There was so much...so much hope. Despite it being almost incomprehensible swirls of color on paper, he could feel the hope and faith and trust nearly radiating off the page. Was this...was this really what Cas saw in him?

“Whoa, am I interrupting something?”

Sam pulled back, scrubbing a sleeve over his face. He hadn't even heard Dean coming. “We were just,” he tried to explain, gesturing at the page.

Dean was staring, tilting his head to one side. “Okay, man, call me crazy, but why does this look like Sammy?”

He let out a shaky laugh and ran his hands through his hair. “That's my soul, man.”

“You drew this, Cas?” Dean was leaning in even closer. “Ha, yeah, there's the little part that died when I told you Santa wasn't real. It really is your soul.”

Sam couldn't help but smile at his brother's antics and looked up to meet Cas's eyes. “Can I have this?”

“No way,” Dean interrupted, putting his hand on Cas's wrist.

“Dean, it's my soul.”

“Yeah. We're framing it,” Dean took a step back and held his hands up, like he was envisioning the drawing in a frame. “This is going next to the family pictures, Sammy.”

“We don't have family pictures, Dean.”

“We do now,” Dean clapped Cas on the shoulder. “You should do Jack next. I'll get 'im.”

“Wait,” Sam lunged after his brother. “What about you?”

“Not happening,” Dean replied, easily twisting away from Sam's hand. “Let me go get the kid.”

* * *

Jack, predictably, was thrilled. He sat in front of his adopted father, eyes bright, as he talked about his first memories of Castiel. Sam stood behind Cas's shoulder and watched the picture take shape—all interlocking golden halos bursting out of a dark shadow, radiating a light that was somehow yellow and blue at the same time that banished that darkness away. It was peace. It was strength. It was family.

It was Jack.

Claire and Kaia were next, crowding together into one of the big armchairs with their fingers intertwined. Sam had been expecting some kind of double drawing, maybe two pages side-by-side, but the drawing Cas produced was somehow Claire, somehow Kaia, and somehow a blend of the two of them that went beyond anything the human eye could see.

“That's what it looks like to be soulmates,” Cas explained when Sam asked.

When they went back to Jody's house with the girls, Jody sat for a drawing. Her soul was all graceful arcs swooping around a central, solid core. Sam could almost feel it extending beyond the page, pulling them all together around the woman who had chosen to care for the motherless.

There were others, as hunters checked in at the bunker or they met them in the field. Eileen's soul was a fury of purple and silver, sharp with the kind of love that dove into battle with sword held high. Bobby's was a blend of muted shades that spoke to the loss the older hunter had experienced, and his determination to carry on.

Sam was dropping a new sketchbook in Cas's room one day, a few weeks later, when he spotted a few loose papers that had fallen out of the old one. Meaning just to pick them up and shuffle them back in, he was startled to find he had a picture of Dean's soul in his hands.

It couldn't be anything else. While Sam's had had cracks mended with brilliant gold, Dean's looked like it had been broken and pushed in on itself over and over, more like overlapping plates of ice from a lake that had been melted and refrozen. There were layers and sharp edges, and a few twisting shadows of darkness that lingered in odd corners.

But it was warm. Despite the cracks and the broken parts...despite the trauma and ache and pain it was good. It was the soul of a man who loved so completely he would—and had—lay down his life for his family.

He heard a shuffle from the doorway, and turned to see Cas was standing there, staring at the paper in his hands with something like guilt on his face. “Sam, I...”

“When did you draw this?” Sam asked in a whisper. “He kept saying he didn't want you to do it.”

Cas hesitated, then approached close enough to gently take the drawing from Sam's hands. “It was from memory. Dean and I have always had a connection, since I pulled him from Hell.”

Sam almost laughed. “A more profound bond?” he teased. Cas's lips twitched in a smile and he nodded. “We should hang it up with the others.”

Shaking his head, Cas frowned down at the drawing. “He keeps saying no one would want to see it.”

“Well, he's wrong,” Sam looped an arm around Cas's shoulders. “Come on, I know where he stashed the extra frames.”

#supernatural #fic #sam winchester #castiel #dean winchester #jack kline #claire novak #kaia nieves #fluff #angst #souls #headcanon #artist castiel #sam is a good friend

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silver-starlight-99 · 3 years

Text

Monsters at Work: The Jokester Generation Part Three: Life on the Other Side

There are many parents who’d call their child a miracle. For Liam and Noelle Rae however, they’d come to use that term in a somewhat literal sense. On the night when Mary Susanna Rae came into the world, her introduction wasn’t without… complications. The newborn’s breathing was irregular, her lips and fingers were a chilling blue hue, and she came out gasping instead of crying. The girl was showing signs of respiratory distress, and for the first-time parents, they were in a state of panic fearing their little girl wouldn’t make it through the night. Thankfully, doctors were able to get the newborn to an incubator at lightning speed. And, within a few days, little Mary Rae was stable enough to be returned to her exhausted, but overjoyed parents. She’d need to return a few more times to the hospital, to ensure things were running smoothly. But otherwise, the Raes were cleared to bring their daughter home.

Besides that little scare, little Mary Rae had a rather average infancy, with parents more than eager to smother their daughter in love and as many gifts they could buy. While Liam’s job as an insurance agent didn’t mean the family was rolling in money, he was more than willing to splurge where he could on his little miracle. And, to be fair, the mountain of baby toys, clothes and food they’d received as gifts from friends and extended family members meant the new parents didn’t have to worry as much about supplies for the first couple of months. In spite of all this love and support, there was always a twinge of fear in their hearts, one that had never fully gone away since their daughter’s rocky introduction to the world. While the hospital check-ins were completed, and the two were assured that there should be no further problems with Mary, it’s hard not to shake the fear of something going wrong with their little girl, something spontaneous, something they couldn’t prepare for. For Noelle Rae, this would occasionally lead her to spend nights in her daughter's room, wanting to be sure she could jump in the second something seemed off with her baby’s breathing. But as long as they kept her close and cared for, their fears would slowly start to wane.

By the time Mary was two, the Raes’ worries were nearly dissipated. Which was good, because this high-energy little lady was more than enough to keep them busy without anxiety about her breathing. The toddler would insist on chasing every cat or dog that she came across in hopes of petting it. She’d sing and dance herself to exhaustion with zero prompting. She’d given her parents more than their share of heart attacks during games of hide-and-seek where she accidentally led them to believe she’d escaped the house. Childproof locks in the Rae household were a must. Thankfully, it appeared Mary also inherited her mother’s artistic drive. If someone needed to keep her in place, just put some paper and a box of crayons in front of her and she’d stay still for a solid hour, perfecting each of her masterpieces. Sure, there were nights where Mary would insist on sleeping in their room. But hey, what kid didn’t go through a phase where they were terrified of a monster hiding under the bed or in the closet? As long as Noelle and Liam were able to be there for their girl, there was nothing they couldn’t handle… right?

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It was an early Autumn morning when Liam Rae heard his wife’s cries. He rushed out of his room to find her frantically scrounging in a closet. According to Noelle, when she’d left to wake their daughter, she was nowhere to be seen. This wasn’t the first time little Mary had gotten up early to try and coax one of her parents into a game of hide-and-seek, so she wasn’t immediately worried. Of course, most games didn’t take over an hour with no sign of the toddler. Starting to worry, Noelle began calling out to Mary, then outright ordering her to come out of her hiding spot. With no daughter to be seen or heard, she began to check the closets and locked rooms, almost hopeful she’d accidentally forgot to lock a room and her baby was just snoring away somewhere. Soon, Liam joined in the search, with both parents entering a state of panic. By the time they’d turned their home inside out, no Mary in sight, and they triple-checked the front and back doors to ensure she couldn’t have gotten out of the house, they finally called the cops.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, a horrible, exhausting blur. Hours were spent in questioning with the police, along with calls out to every neighbor they knew, asking if any of them had seen their daughter that morning, or any suspicious people near the house. The police weren’t able to find any signs of forced entry. And upon re-examination with the parents, with the exception of a few missing blankets and toys, there was nothing that could be considered unusual about Mary’s room. It was as though the toddler had vanished into thin air. Leaving the Raes on the verge of a breakdown. After the initial interviews and investigations were completed, the parents were told it would take a few hours to finalize the missing-child report, leaving them to mull over the day’s events before the police could begin broadening their search. Despite the assurances and messages of support from their neighbors, it wasn’t enough to keep away the air of despair that followed the parents the rest of the day. After almost losing their little girl when she was born, they were facing a potential future where they may never see her again. And once again, there was nothing they could do. It gave Noelle flashbacks to Mary’s birth, the doctors rushing the newborn to get proper treatment. While the exhausted mother was in a state of delirium from the medications taken to help alleviate the pain, and confused terror as to why she couldn’t hold her daughter.

That following night was especially difficult for the couple, just trying to be there for each other as they cried themselves to sleep.

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So imagine the shock they felt when Mary popped out of her room the following morning, right the f*ck outta nowhere, asking for a snack. What started as shock shifted to jubilation as Noelle and Liam held their daughter tight, checking her over for injuries through tear-filled eyes. Mary herself seemed fine, with no noticeable scratches or scars, not even a tear in her pajamas. But it’s clear something has happened to her. Her hair is disheveled and in need of brushing. There’s a distinct smell on the toddler, but one her parents can’t discern. She’s missing a sock. And still, the parents can’t find the missing blanket and toys. None of this makes any sense. But in the moment, their miracle is alive and safe, and they’re more than happy to revel in this moment of peace.

“And yes sweetie, Daddy will get you some Cheerios, just let us have this.”

Things however got a bit more complicated when it came to explaining things to the police. The Raes thought the missing toys should’ve been enough to prove that something was in their home and took their daughter. But as the police repeatedly explained, there wasn’t enough evidence to send an APB on someone who, for all intents and purposes, appeared and disappeared out of thin air.

Of course, evidence or not, this event had some crazy ramifications for the people of this quiet neighborhood. There were many families with young children that were suddenly fearful that someone could come for their own, and they’d be powerless to stop them. A lot of households were investing in extra locks and security systems. A Neighborhood Watch was established, but all it really seemed to do was stir up further anxiety and paranoia within the adults. There were those who believed the Raes fabricated the whole kidnapping in a sick ploy for attention. There were petty people who were using the situation as a means to place suspicion on neighbors they didn’t like. A curfew was attempted, but that just made the teens in the area grow restless, many sneaking out in defiance and putting further stress on the parents. What seemed like a quiet, easy-going suburbia was slowly devolving into one of suspicion and anxiety, with everyone trying to find someone they can put the blame on. Things only got worse when one Gabriella Harlin, through a long line of accusations, was discovered to have been laundering money from her job to pay for her family's many extravagances.

Some families were driven to move out because of the harassment they were facing on a daily basis. Time and time again the police were called in to deal with reports of vandalism. Eventually, even the local news caught wind of the chaos and began to ask people for interviews, the Raes especially since they were the ones considered to be the start of the whole situation. It would be months before the chaos would eventually die down, but enough damage was done that after the dust settled, things on Langdale Avenue were never the same. No matter how bad things seemed outside their home, Noelle and Liam Rae were facing something far more distressing inside.

Despite what the police had chosen to believe, something happened to little Mary Rae, and her parents were left to try and comfort their child in the aftermath of whatever she'd been through. No longer was the toddler crawling into their bed whenever she was having a bad night, now her mom and dad were finding her curled up in her closet, eyes with a tinge of red as though she’d been crying. Before, Mary would do the occasional doodle of a strangely-colored creature, but now she exclusively drew monsters and weird mish-mashes of animals. And some of them were… rather disturbing; Mary being chased by a giant spider-crab (Waternoose.) A green beach ball thing with horns screaming in pain (basically 80% of her interactions with Mike.) A purple salamander being beaten with a bat (Randall.) And most distressingly, a blue and purple bear-like monster called Kitty is being choked to death by long purple arms (Randall as he was trying to kill Sully before Mike stepped in with that snowball.) How do they know the monster’s name is Kitty? Because that’s the name she’s been repeating for the last few weeks, always asking where they were? The Raes were quick to make the connection between this strange creature and the girl’s disappearance, but there’s still so much of the full picture they didn’t know.

So yeah, between trying to take care of their daughter and having their neighbors and the local news going nuts outside their home, Liam and Noelle had their hands full for a few months. There was a very serious consideration to move to a new city, even if it meant money would be tight. But one of the things that held them back on this decision, once again, was their daughter. Despite her new habits and her occasional bouts of moodiness, Mary always seemed the most comfortable in her room. Something about the familiarity always seemed to soothe the girl. And Liam and Noelle could tell that in this period of madness, this little room of calm was something their kid needed more than ever. So they agreed to wait things out, but also thought it best to let Mary have some playdates with some of her cousins outside of town, so they could all enjoy a few hours of calm away from the chaos.

Thankfully, things eventually died down. Sure, things were still strained between neighbors, but by then, everyone’s name had been dragged through the mud at some point. So everyone that was left was willing to let bygones be bygones, just to try and return to some level of normalcy. Little Mary had become a bit more introverted since her return, but with time and care from her family, she would soon regain her old chipper attitude, even if she’d become wary around new people. But hey, after everything she’d seen her neighbors put themselves through, the Raes weren’t surprised that their daughter wasn’t as trusting around unfamiliar adults.

In the end, everyone wanted to put this whole affair behind them, and the Raes were more than happy to do so. When asked, Liam and Noelle would usually be as vague as possible in regards to Mary’s disappearance and the explosive aftermath of their neighborhood. To be fair, with as little unbelievable evidence as there was, it wasn’t too hard for either of them to skim over the details. And as their daughter’s attitude began to improve, the Raes also did their best to put her distressing past behind them. Afterall, no matter how much they may have yearned for an answer, little Mary simply wasn’t able to explain, and in a few years, it was likely the whole terrible affair would become a faded memory in the child’s mind. But Liam, always the one to try and think ahead, decided to hold on to some of Mary’s stranger doodles, while he and Noelle usually disposed of the others. Who knows? Maybe once their daughter was old enough to form sentences, something in her old drawings would be enough to spark a memory of what truly happened. But that was no longer important. What was important was that their daughter, their miracle, was alive and safe. And this time, with God as their witness, she was going to have as normal and loving a life as Liam and Noelle Rae could possibly provide, weirdness be damned! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uh… hi

Ok, just a reminder, I was two when everything happened. So if you’re expecting a detailed account of my first time in Monstropolis, I’m probably not the person you want to hear from. Mike and Sully could probably do a better job at explaining how everything went down. But yeah, outside of a few nightmares, everything else just kinda turned into a blur for me. But what I do remember, after coming back home, was being sad. I love Kitty. I spent plenty of nights by my closet just wishing he’d come back, only to wake up without seeing him. It hurt.

And outside of that… I guess I was still causing trouble back then. Because my little disappearing act apparently caused the whole neighborhood to turn on itself. I know my parents and a lot of the older people there don’t want to talk about it, but come on; the local news was so desperate for a spicy story when they heard about people starting to throw dog sh*t at each other's doors, reporters were on us like a toddler to a stray piece of candy. I don’t remember much of it myself, but… you know that old Twilight Zone episode where the whole neighborhood goes batsh*t because they think one of them is an alien that’s messing with the power?

(Yeah, that's it!)

I like to think the whole affair was like that. I guess it makes me feel better about my part in everything. It’s easier to think things on Langdale Avenue went to sh*t because adults are a bunch of paranoid idiots, instead of blaming myself for getting lost in the first place. Maybe this is why mom and dad don’t like talking about it.

Anywho…

Ok, I told you I don’t remember much of what happened back then, right? Well, I definitely remember the day Sully came back.

I was about four and a half. It was a bit before I had to go to bed, so I was just playing with my toys. And suddenly, I heard my closet door creaking open. And who should pop out? James P. Sullivan himself. I remember giving him the biggest, tightest hug I could. And it felt so good to feel him hug me back. He pulled me through his side of the doorway, and I was a little surprised I wasn’t seeing the same scream floor I’d emerged from the first time. I didn’t really care about that at the moment, I was just happy to see Kitty again.

And… I guess that kind of became the new routine for us. Every other night when it was late, we’d just spend time with each other. It took some time for us to coordinate things to find a good time to meet. While time seems to pass at the same rate on both ends, I think my world’s a couple of hours behind that of the Monster world. But once we nailed down 11 O’clock as the best meeting time, me and Sully would hang out at least once a week. Sometimes I’d just show him some of my drawings, or just talk about whatever dumb thought came into my brain that day. Other times I’d bring in some toys from my room and we’d just play. Sully usually just went along with whatever I wanted to do, but he says he was fine with that.

Mike on the other hand, he was a bit harder to connect with at the start. We didn’t hang out as much as me and Sully, but when we did, it usually amounted to him showing off the stuff in his room. The door station was in his room after all. But that wound up being pretty fun too. I think it might’ve been here where my interest in baseball started. And let’s face it, Mike likes to put on a tough-guy attitude, but he’s a sweetheart deep down. There was this one night where I was having trouble sleeping, I don’t remember why, and he just sang me this lullaby he came up with on the spot.

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And then, a little while later, Celia started popping by for our visits. The three of them decided to form a … I think the word for it is a throuple? Whatever the term, they were spending a lot more time together, so it makes sense that Sully would want us to officially meet. Things were kinda awkward at first; she might’ve known kids weren’t actually toxic, but it must’ve been weird either way to be so close to a human. But with Sully helping along with introductions, we wound up getting along pretty well. Mike even taught me how to braid her hair without, you know, accidentally choking her hair.

Since then, my nightly visits were becoming a regular part of my life, and one I looked forward to. They never lasted longer than about 10 minutes at a time, but I cherished them. Apparently since they had to steal the Scream cans to power the door station, they always had to conserve energy. Despite that, I couldn’t help but see these monsters as just another part of my family. Something that was getting progressively harder to explain as I was getting older. When a kid’s four or five, it isn’t too weird to hear them talk about strange beings as though they were real people; what kid didn’t have an imaginary friend phase? When you ask a kid to draw a picture of their family, you don’t really question the weirdly-colored creatures holding the little girl’s hand; she’s just being creative.

It’s when I got older that things started getting complicated.

By the time I was in… I think second grade? Yeah, by then I was catching on that I needed to start keeping things to myself. My parents were telling me, in the kindest way they could, that I was starting to get too old for imaginary friends. To be fair, I think a part of that was because I had gotten into 3 fights by then with other kids because they were telling me my monster family couldn’t be real. I’m not sure what got me to react so violently, and I don’t think that instinct ever went away. I just got better at hiding it around other people.

(...where was I going with this?)

(No I wasn’t!)

(No it wouldn’t! So f*ck off and let me tell my own d*mn story!)

<Alright, geez>

Ok, so, I was starting to act out, and I was finally catching on that others weren’t believing my monster story. Between all that stuff and what went down when I was 2, it was getting hard for a lot of the other parents to feel comfortable with me around their kids. The term “problem child” started getting thrown around, and that just made me more frustrated. Which made me more reliant on my time with Sully, which made me more frustrated that it just wasn’t safe for me to tell anyone the truth.

As I got older, it felt like I was seeing the Monster world less and less. Sully had big plans for his world, and they were taking up more and more of his time. By the time I was in fifth grade, we were meeting maybe once a month. It meant we had more time to talk, but it also felt like so much had to get crammed into the time we had. Me getting onto the baseball team. Mike and Celia tying the knot. Getting my first real friend. Sully meeting up with some kinda monster group for his plans to make Laugh power a thing. Saying goodbye before I spent my first summer away from home. Mike and Sully tying the knot, kinda. It was an unofficial ceremony where they just kinda shared vows and had a lot of cake from some fancy bakery. I actually got to attend that, since they were doing it in Mike’s room.

And… I’m not sure what else to say. Things pretty much kept on like that through high school, and even beyond that. Keeping this secret, it hasn’t been easy, But I can’t imagine a life without my family, all of it.

<… Uh, you’re kinda leaving out a lot of backstory stuff>

(I guess. But they’re not reading this to hear my entire life story)

(OKAY! That’s a little more than they need to know… I think. Who’s even reading this?)

(God, I gotta deal with enough people looking down on me back home. I don’t need a bunch of people online trying to dissect every little detail of my life. Are we done here?)

-Boo grinding her teeth in aggravation-

(…

Thanks Zowie. So… are we done here?)

<Yeah, I think we’ve done enough to leave ‘em hooked for the next chapter>

(And how much longer ‘till I actually get to be in this AU thing?)

<Uh, I don’t know. Silver says it might be another chapter of background stuff before we get things rolling with the real story. And then she still needs time to properly introduce Tylor>

…

(Oh God. Stay tuned folks, looks like it’s gonna be a while

Wait… I thought I was the protagonist of The Jokester Generation, who the f*ck is Tylor?)

#monsters at work #monsters inc #monsters at work: the jokester generation #au #fanfic #video #song #lengthy post #Youtube

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kibybun · 4 years

Text

Yandere Hawks and Little reader

Tw: Yandere, stalking, kidnapping, mind break, abuse, non-con/rape, generally gross themes, necrophilia, pedophilia

Enjoy!

🧸You and everyone you were around saw you as very mature, and you didnt see anything wrong with that. It allowed you to keep things organized, get things done, and handle things logically.

🧸Many actually admired you for how mature you were. Even Hawks.

🧸When Hawks first met you, it was so formal. He saw you as the most attractive person he's ever met but the way you walked and talked was annoying. He hated formalities.

🧸After seeing you, he instantly flicks to your side. He throws on a flirty facade and tries to get to know you.

🧸You brush off all his comments and simply brush him off. You were here to do business, not entertain this man child.

🧸He was already upset that you were so formal so you ignoring him only made him more upset.

🧸He follows you untill you make it to his boss. The head of the Hero Commission. He was mortified that you would go and talk to him.

🧸He tries to deter you but stops as he sees you start to get angry. It was hard to see through your normally calm demeanor but the way your eyebrows knitted and how you crossed your arms gave you away.

🧸You disappear into the office and Hawks waits. You were tiresome with your formality but he was determined to get you to play with him.

🧸The door opens and you walk out, not bothering to give the pro hero a second glance.

🧸Just as he was about to chase you, he was called into the office. There it was explained to him that you world with another hero and you were here to form a contract with them.

🧸Hawks asks which hero, surprised to hear it was a low time hero. Nonetheless he agrees. Anything to see you again.

🧸Over the next few days you show up around the office. He chases you like a puppy but you just ignore him.

🧸Not liking being ignored by you, he starts following you outside of the office. Watching you on your days off and through different windows of your home.

🧸He even started leaving gifts.

🧸Little teddy bears and candies to, hopefully, bring out your inner child. Sadly you just throw those away. You had no use for them.

🧸Slowly, his flirting at work has become more aggressive. Instead of sweet compliments you receive harsh slaps on the ass and disturbing comments.

🧸Keeping your formal act, you give him a disappointed look and walk off to later report his actions. Little did you know that this only upset him more. He only did it to get you mad, to show you weren't a robot.

🧸To him you were just a boring adult he adored. He planned on making you more exciting.

🧸Soon, you started seeing Hawks less and less. You simply thought he learned his lesson but you knew that wasnt the case. He was up to something.

🧸It had also become evident that Hawks was skipping work. Many started to panic, trying to cover up his sudden disappearance but after a week or so, he magically appears. Blowing off the whole situation.

🧸You were naturally annoyed but disregarded it. You had other things to do.

🧸Today you were gathering your stuff in preparation to take your winter vacation. You were so excited, you even tickets to fly somewhere to relax. You had even told your boss about the cross country vacation and he understood that you might be a day or two late.

🧸You grab the last of your things and make your way out of the office, only to be stopped by Hawks.

🧸You try to push past but he stands strong. You ask what he wants and he says he wants to take you for a coffee or a snack. You ask why and he says it's his way of apologizing for what he did.

🧸You sigh but accept, you could use a coffee before you pack.

🧸He happily leads you through the town as the the sun sets. You follow with caution due to the streets being near empty.

🧸He takes sharp turns down odd alleys and side streets. Whenever you ask where you are or how far away you are and only says, "We're almost there."

🧸Finally the two of you make it some weird abandoned street filled with empty shops and apartments.

🧸You've had enough of this little spooky game of his. You demand to know where you are and that he takes you back.

🧸He tsks and walks closer to you. Telling you that he likes you better when you aren't so adult-ish. Then, everything went black.

🧸You wake you in a incredibly soft bed with fluffy blankets and many stuffed animals. Everything is colored with soft pastel colors and everything looks so soft. The one thing that stands out most is the fact that the bed has bars around it, much like a crib. It also included a mobile dangling above your head.

🧸You try to sit up but cant due to the fact that your hands and feet were bound together tightly by a ribbon. Your arms were tied behind your back, ribbons starting at your elbows ending tightly at your wrists. There were two sets of ribbons on your legs. One starting at the top of your thighs and ending at your knees. The second ribbon starts at the top of your knees and ends at your ankles

🧸You also notice your clothes had changed. You were now wearing a big oversized and fluffy sweater and thigh high socks that match. You also got a tiny glimpse of the teddy bear patterned underwear that you were put in.

🧸You freeze as you hear footsteps. Looking around you find the door and watch it open, only to be mortified that it was Hawks.

🧸He carefully walks towards you cooing about how precious you look. He even tried to caress your face but you jerk away. He didnt like that.

🧸He turns violent and grabs your face, nails digging into your skin. He begins to tell you that if you keep acting like an adult he'll punish you.

🧸But you didnt know how he wanted you to act.

🧸You start to shake as you try and break free from his grasp. He scowls and throws you out of the make shift crib.

🧸Due to your body being tied you weren't able to brace yourself for the fall. You hear a snap as pain builds from one of your fingers.

🧸You begin to whimper but hold back the tears. Hawks didnt like that. He comes up and crouches in front of you. He says it's good for little girls to cru and that he'll be there for you.

🧸You look at him confused but once he sees that you're not crying he gets closer. He reaches behind you and grabs your hands. He starts to gently squeeze but you refuse to cry. Slowly, the pressure starts to build, causing you to scream but not yet cry. He gets tired of this and suddenly grips your hand with all his strength. You feel your bones grind against the others.

🧸You seem to be at a lose for sound as tears trickled down your face. Hawks let's go and holds you close, whispering sweet nothings into your ear and petting your hair.

🧸You cry so hard you pass out. Not before hearing him say, "Daddy's got you."

🧸From there on the cycle continues. From the beginning it's very obvious he wants you to act like a child. He set you up in a child like room, gave you child like portions of food, spoke to you like a child, and took care of you like a child.

🧸If you didnt act to his liking he'd punish you, sometimes he'd know when you're faking too.

🧸His punishments consisted of insults and degrading you, physically hurting with bruises, cuts, etc., raping you, and locking you up for days in end.

🧸For months this went on, you getting punished and not understanding how to behave like he wanted. Until, one day, something clicked while stuck in isolation.

🧸Everything had a innocent blur to it. You little stuffy had a name and was your cowboy space partner. Suddenly you had a hatred for pants and vegetables. You wanted to scribble on the walls with crayon and wanted pillow forts. Suddenly you were terrified of the dark and miss you daddy.

🧸You cries start soft and grow into wailing as you call out to Hawks, but instead of saying Hawks you said daddy.

🧸His intrest was fully peaked as he ran to you. Once he opened the door you beamed happily and started to crawl to him since you were still tied up.

🧸He untied you and spins you around. He did it. He got your pure childhood innocents to shine.

🧸From then on a new routine started. Hawks became your caregiver, or daddy for you, and happily took care of you. He clothed you, bathed you and bathed with you, fed you, played with you, and slept with you. Both intimately and innocently even though your mind was trapped in the state of a young child.

🧸Hawks loved the life he started with you so dearly but, after years of this, it tends to get redundant.

🧸You only ever want to play the same games, eat the same food, wear the same thing, say the same things, do the same things.

🧸Somehow, your mind has trapped you into this loop. Whenever Keigo broke this loop you had a mental breakdown.

🧸He still loved you with all his heart but he couldn't handle repeating his days over and over and over and over and over again.

🧸While you slept that night, Hawks carried you as he flew. He flew to some secluded area you always talked about. Once he landed, he set you down and watched you for a moment.

🧸You were his precious angel. He made sure you were.

🧸He started to cry as he gently woke you up. You rub your eyes confused and instantly start to comfort your daddy.

🧸He holds you tight and tells you he loves you. You hold him close, still confused, and gasp as something sharp pierced your back.

🧸Hawks starts to sob as he feels your blood drip from his feather that stabbed you and as he feels your arms start to go limp around him.

🧸He pulls away to look at you one last time. That's when he sees the innocents drain from your eyes as betrayal sets in. Your last words where "D-daddy?" as you frantically tried to understand what you did.

🧸But everything turns dark and Hawks leaves that husk of love behind.

🧸Hawks surprisingly moved on fast. After a month or two he had found someone else. They had the same formal attitude to everything and still didnt give him the time of day.

🧸Perhaps he liked that about all of them.

🧸He set it up just like he did before. Flirting, the report, time of silence, the lure of an apology, and the torture.

🧸This time it was easier to break their mind but they weren't the same type of innocent you were. They didnt cling to every word he said like you did. They didnt play space cowboys like you did. They didnt hold onto him as he holds them close and loves them like you did.

🧸You were the best he had ever had and will ever have.

🧸Hawks takes his new play thing to a place they enjoy and ends their life there. He didnt hold them close or cry for them like he did you.

🧸He goes back to where he left you and finds you laying there, all rotting and decaying.

🧸He smiles a bittersweet smile and picks you up, not caring about the smell. He can swear he hears you call out to him as he makes his way back. He only holds you closer and promises that he'll never leave you again.

🧸Once home, he washes you. Getting all the dirt and maggots off but being sure to leave as much skin as possible on your body.

🧸After that he puts on your favorite movie and builds you a pillow fort. He can hear you speaking so he speaks back. It was your usual conversation but it was greatly missed by him.

🧸After he puts on a second movie, Hawks snuggles closer to you. His hand trailing up your partly missing thigh and into your underwear. He can feel your body aching for him so, he takes you.

🧸This time he was extra gentle to be sure your bones dont break but he feels your body calling out for him, wanting something more passionate. So, he delivers.

🧸He thrusts into you harder and faster, feeling you clutch onto him tighter and when he finishes he hears a snap.

🧸It was you leg.

🧸He flops next to you and pulls you close, lightly laughing at the situation. He promises to fix it in the morning.

🧸He kisses you goodnight and holds you close, never letting you leave.

Kiby~💚

#bnha fanfiction #bnha headcanons #bnha hawks #bnha #my hero academia #my hero x reader #my hero academia keigo takami #hawks x reader #yandere hawks #hawks #mha hawks #hawks x you #bnha keigo #keigo x reader #mha keigo takami #keigo tamaki #yandere keigo #yandere x reader #yandere

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bittybattybunny · 4 years

Photo

Day 13!!! Fairytale!!!

Today i went for a storybook style since instead of a fairy tale au instead the two are discussing Fairy tales and why a certain wolf doesn’t seem to ‘fall’ for the Prince like in the books and she points out she’s a wolf not a princess

Plus a Bonus doodle from post discussion

Ficletttt timeeeee it’s a lil long sooo read more

“Hrm.” the ghost frowned as he set the book back on the shelf.

“Something bothering you?” Eclipse tilted her head as she leaned around the shelf startling him.

He gasped with her sudden appearance and gripped his chest with a heavy sigh, “Don’t do that! I could have… well no but. Don’t spook me.”

She giggled as she hopped down from the ledge and looked at the book he put back, “Ah!” she lit up with excitement, “Fairy tales!”

He turned a light yellow, “yeah. I was reading to the minions again.” he rubbed his ‘neck’ with a huff, “Just was thinking about some things while I did.”

“Oh?” she flipped through it with a small smile, fangs peeking from her lips.

He stared at her and shook his head as he felt himself almost shift to human form as he stared. He chuckled, “yeha just. Um. Prince has been rather… confused lately. So I thought fairy tales may have answers because they often have a Prince.” he scowled, “and just. You know a Prince with a prince problem and all that.. Stupid stuff.”

“Fiction and reality rarely correlate like that.” she pointed out as she looked up from the book, “What’s wrong, if you can talk about it? He doesn’t talk to me much about things he’s worried about, just gives me flowery words and is s-u-p-e-r touchy.” she laughed. She paused in thought, “Well no we do talk sometimes but. Most of the time he’s just trying so hard to be that stereotypical prince…”

He turned yellow and looked away, “To be honest… it’s you.” he mumbled.

She frowned and pointed to herself, “me? What’s the matter? How should I change? Did I make him upset?” she sighed, “sorry.”

“N-No you shouldn’t change! You’re… adequate as you are. Best assistant I’ve ever had. You didn’t make HIM upset. Far from it.. Just. Confusion.” he huffed, “Just. I guess he’s so confused about the fact you don’t fall for those words. Or the whole… Prince thing.”

The ghost sighed as he thought about it, “In books and his past, normally people just.. Fell for the prince for being a prince. With his flowery poems and kindness. He likes you. A lot. And last time he was with someone she loved the Prince thing...”

“And look where that got them...I told him when we met I like someone else.” she hummed as she went back to the book and sat on the wall as she did. She brushed her hair from her face as she read the worn pages, “I’m not going to simply fall for someone else when I’ve liked the same person for a few years. Prince or not. I’m not a princess.” she gave him a small smirk but he was looking away.

She sighed and laid back on the stone, holding the book to her chest, “If he thinks a fairy tale is what I’m after he’s wrong.” she waved a hand, “I don’t care about that. I CAN’T care about that.”

“Y-You don’t?” he frowned slithering over to stand above her, “Then what is it you care about….ah…” he turned yellow as she reached up, rubbing her hands over his ‘cheeks’ with a soft smile. He smiled back and put his hands over hers.

“I just like who I like for who he is and the time we’ve spent. That’s all. Nothing fancy. No flowery words, no false pretenses. Just a little snarky, a little mean, a lot kind.” she snickered before gasping as she was scooped up.

“Snatcher!” she laughed as she was held in his arms and he picked the book up and sat in her spot.

She gave a heavy sigh as she leaned against him, “Besides…”

“Besides?” he repeated.

“I’m not a princess like the books.” she pointed out, “In fairy tales. The prince always falls for a princess…”

“Ah… Not always. Sometimes she came from a poorer birth but…” he ran over the fairy tales he knew by heart, “Ah…”

“Exactly. I’m not a princess, I’m far from it.” she played with a curl of his fur.

“I could argue but I won’t.” he teased making her chuckle.

“I’m a wolf Snatcher. I’m not a princess. So you can tell Prince that. I… I am as far from a princess as he’ll ever get…” she gripped at her scarf with a sad smile, “So a fairy tale… it’s not possible… the wolf always loses. So if he thinks I want a fairy tale. He’s dead wrong. I don’t.. I’d love to be a princess but I will never be. I’m the wolf with claws and fangs. Who dances with the dead.”

He frowned and shifted, nuzzling her face, “You’re talking to an undead law school drop out who eats souls. I don’t think that’s an issue he’s got.”

“Indeed!” she gave a smile as she rested in his fur, “I don’t want a fairy tale and I won’t fall for a prince just because of his title. Titles don’t mean much to me.” she teased looking at him as he turned yellow, “And know I’m the big bad wolf of Subcon Woods.” she bared her fangs making him laugh loudly.

“Eclipse. Thank you.” he smiled softly and nuzzled against her, “I’ll… let prince know if that’s fine. I’m sure that will help his confusion.” he chuckled, “A big idiotic, kind-hearted wolf.”

She watched his face glow and felt her cheeks go warm. She laid against him with a small smile, eyes drifting to the fairy tale book. She gripped at her scarf, “Anytime…”

-------

“SNATCHER!” Hat laughed as the ghost jumped in his chair.

He gave a sharp scowl, “What?”

“What’s up with Eclipse?” She crawled on the arm, tumbling into his lap as he caught her.

“Ah… I don’t know. Why? What’s she doing?” He looked at her worried.

“She just seems… down? Like she’s smiling but…” hat frowned, “Did you do something weird as ‘Prince’ again?” she narrowed her eyes.

“I didn’t. I haven’t even taken my human look today.” he leaned on his arm and gasped, “ah… our conversation earlier… I wonder if it...upset her….”

“What did you do.” Hat sneered as he sighed.

“We were talking about… Fairy tales and princes and stuff…”

“Wow. Subtle.” She snickered as he shoved against her face.

“Keep it up I have more death wishes if you want brat.”

“Bring it old man!” she cackled and wrapped her arms around his hand, “So why’d she get sad?”

He lifted the kid up as he thought about it. Running over her words he gasped, “She’s being negative again! Dammit I didn’t catch her this time!” he fumed, “She hid it so well with the conversation and I was so wrapped up in myself!”

“Shocker.” Hat kid frowned, “So what happened?”

“Well i was… to be blunt reading fairy tale books to see if I was doing something wrong making her fall for Prince instead of…” he gestured at himself.

“Riiiighhhtt. You could just. Tell her the truth.” She leaned on her hands as she laid on his head.

“That defeats the purpose of this...act…” he turned light yellow, “She SHOULDN’T love a dead soul stealer…”

“You realize you’re still a dead soul stealer even as prince right?” She pointed out.

“That’s not important, she doesn’t know that!” he argued, “But point is we were talking and she.. Got hung up on she’s not a princess… She’s a wolf. And the wolf always loses…” he recalled her phrasing with a scowl.

“She could be a wolf princess. I watched a movie like that! She was wicked strong and pretty! Like Eclipse!” Hat beamed, “I have an idea! I need scissors, glue, paper, glitter and crayons!”

He moved her down as he slithered to get her craft supplies from the shelf, “I’ll do the scissor work kiddo. I don’t need you bleeding in my house.”

“Righhhttt says the guy who keeps killing me.” She rolled her eyes as she went to sit at the table and began her master plan.

“What are you doing?” He watched as she colored and slathered glitter down, “Ah!” He saw the shape and gave a small smirk.

“You’ll need to take your prince noodle form. I think it’ll work.” She grinned handing it to him, “Cut please!”

“Alright.” he shifted down as he held the scissors humming as he cut the crown out and taped it in a circle, “Good work. Looks decent. Sloppy but you’re what 6?”

“I’m 8 but go on.” She snickered as she raised her arms, “Carry me! I wanna help give her it!”

He chuckled, “Fine only because you made it. Where did you see her last?”

“Putting up spider lures in the west area.” She snickered as he flew out of the treehouse.

It didn’t take long for them to find Eclipse as she stood high up on the nearly invisible branches, the gentle chiming noise heard with each step.

“Eclipse!” Hat kid shouted up causing her to look down. She waved and jumped, landing in front of them.

“Hey Kiddo! Prince.” She nodded to the man who gave a soft smile, “What’s up?” she clapped some dust off her gloves.

“We made you something!” Hat grinned, “Snatcher helped us!”

“Oh?” she looked between them confused as the man set the paper crown on her head. She turned bright red, “W-what are you D-Doing?!” She gasped as he kissed her cheek.

“Sometimes. Fairy tales can be rewritten.” he admitted, “And the wolf can be the princess.”

She felt her whole face grow hot as she stammered, unable to get any words out.

Snatcher grinned, it was the first time he was able to get that sort of reaction from her while he was Prince. He set the little girl down to catch Eclipse as she started to trip backwards in her red faced stupor. She stared up at him as he held her back and smiled at her. She covered her face with her hands ashamed.

Hat pulled her camera out to snap a photo and grinned, she couldn’t wait to tell Bow their plan was working.

#RuClipse Month 2020 #ahit snatcher #ahit fan character #ahit hat kid #ahit prince #Prince Arulius #Eclipse Guardian #ahit au #themoonguardianandthelostprince #ahit #a hat in time #digital #colors #finished #me avoids lining so hard she does a lineless one instead #I wanted to kinda show how Hat and Snatcher interact in this au since they have a fun dynamic

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nialledfromfics · 4 years

Text

The Dating Game | Chapter Two

Nearly a week had gone by since her catastrophe of a first date with Puke Boy and Joey woke up the following Friday morning, bright and early, to get ready for work. She attempted to stretch her legs out under the warmth of her weighted blanket as her phone alarm blared from her bedside table, but a little bump at the end of her bed hindered her from moving. Twisting her upper body to tap off her alarm, Joey eased herself up and used her toes to gently nudge at the warm bundle that rested by her feet. With a tiny furry head popping up from the protective curl of its body, Joey smiled and reached down to ruffle her fingers over the dogs’ head. “Morning, Sadie,” she yawned out, flipping the covers off her bare legs and forcing herself out of bed. “Time to get up!”

The brown long haired Dachshund hopped right up as Joey pushed to her feet, Sadie jumping onto the floor to follow the young woman into the bathroom. After a quick shower and taking Sadie on her morning walk, Joey grabbed her travel mug filled with coffee from the kitchen counter and the overstuffed ‘#1 teacher’ tote bag that was hanging on the back of a chair, and headed into work.

She was met by her best friend, and fellow teacher, Alexis and her son, Lincoln, the moment she stepped foot into her empty classroom. “Morning, Lincoln,” Joey greeted her student as she flipped on the classroom lights.

Lincoln slumped over to his cubby to put his book bag away. “Mornin’, Ms. Parker.”

She smiled at the fair-haired little boy before turning to her best friend. “Hey you,” she greeted, setting her bag and hot coffee down on her desk.

Alexis shuffled two large tote bags on her shoulder. “I forgot my coffee this morning,” she whined, wringing her hands up through her dirty blonde hair as she attempted to pull it back out of her way and in a low ponytail.

Joey chuckled, and nodded to the travel mug on her desk. “You can take mine if you want.”

“Oh please, no. I’ll just have to live off the bad excuse for coffee that’s in the teachers lounge this morning,” she said with an eye roll, “wouldn’t be a normal crappy morning without it!”

Pushing out another laugh, Joey turned to the whiteboard behind her and picked up a marker, writing out the date and the topic for the day: Rhyming Words. “So,” her fidgety friend continued as a few of the other faculty members began to noisily fill the hallways, “what are your plans for this weekend? Another hot date with Puke Boy?”

Alexis had a very sarcastic tone with that last bit and Joey peeked over at her, noticing the smirk on her face. “Funny,” she commented before going back to her board and marking down the days’ forecast. “Actually I do have another date tomorrow night. But with a new guy.”

A playful gasp came from her blonde friend. “Ooh do tell.”

Setting the marker down, Joey spun back around to face her desk and began pulling some graded papers out of her tote bag. “I really don’t know much about him, to be honest,” she started, glancing up at Alexis. “His name is Omar. He’s tall, from what he says, he’s an exec at some kind of tech company and he drives a Maserati. That’s pretty much all he told me.”

“Interesting,” Alexis mumbled with narrowed eyes. “Where are you guys going?”

“To that...music festival in Santa Monica? I forgot the name of it.”

“Rhythm and Lights?”

Joey’s eyes went big and she pointed at her friend. “Yes, that’s it. We’re meeting there at five.”

“Hmm,” Alexis hummed out, her mouth turned down at the corners, “that should be fun. At least if he gets drunk and throws up, ya’ll will already be outside.”

Joey let out a long sigh, slightly cocking her jaw to the side in agitation. “I’m never gonna live that down, am I?”

“Nope,” her friend said with a satisfied giggle.

Joey shook her head and went to grab the containers of crayons out of the utility closet just as a few of her students started to trickle into the classroom. “Alright, I guess I better get over to my own room or those fifth graders will have my head!” Alexis joked, stepping over to Lincoln to give him a kiss goodbye. “Have a good day, buddy.”

“See ya at lunch, Lex,” Joey called out as her friend began to walk out of the classroom.

“Yup!”

•

“Omar, right?”

He hadn’t lied, he was tall. Like six foot, four tall. And his arms were massive. He was respectively handsome, dark eyes and dark hair and he immediately hugged Joey when she met him outside of the festival grounds. That took her by surprise for a split second, but as they began walking through the front gates and his hand slipped to sit at her way lower back, it became clear that he was a touchy feely kinda guy. Really touchy feely.

It also became clear that Omar was very confident. Almost too confident for her liking and had a bit of a wandering eye from the few glances she caught him taking when a group of girls would walk past them. But Joey decided to roll with it and let herself have some fun. The music was blaring and he was a good dancer, and he did make her laugh a few times.

“This was a really great idea!” Joey shouted to Omar, assuming he could hear her over the thumping music from the band that was on stage.

“Huh?”

Apparently he couldn’t. Joey moved herself closer to him, Omar taking what he thought was a hint and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. “Oh…” Joey stuttered out, as she felt both his hands start to slip down her backside. She contemplated kicking him in the shin and running away, but that seemed a bit too dramatic, so Joey, once again, decided to just go with it. He seemed harmless. She hung her arms up around his shoulders, following his rhythm as they began to dance. “This is fun!” she told him, hoping he would hear her this time.

Omar smiled and nodded his head before burying his face down against her neck. Joey’s eyes went big as his mouth latched onto the side of her throat and she nearly choked on her breath when his fingers dug harshly into the bottom curve of her ass. Pushing back slightly, Omar lifted his head with a crinkled brow and Joey smiled big at him, not wanting to make the situation any more weird that it had already gotten. “I’m gonna go get us some more drinks, okay? You want?”

“Sure...a beer is good.”

“Cool, I’ll be right back!”

Spinning on her heels, Joey rolled her eyes and carefully weaved around the crowds to make her way back towards the tented bar at the other side of the grounds. She waited in the long line for at least fifteen minutes, brushing tiny strands of her red hair off her face that had fallen from her high ponytail and stuck to her sweaty skin. She was sure she was looking quite ravishing. If the drops of sweat sliding down the middle of her back, the mud covering her black boots and the spilt beer on her jean shorts were any indication.

After placing her order, one beer and one large mojito, she moved over to the side a bit to wait with the other customers as the busy bartenders prepared the drinks. Joey pulled out her phone and tried to check her email but she was barely getting any service and refreshing the app wasn’t working. She was beyond frustrated at that point. “C’mon, you stupid piece of shit–”

“Joey?”

The vaguely familiar and mesmerizing voice stalled her mid sentence and Joey peeked over to her right. There was no mistaking those gorgeous baby blues, it was him. Again. “Niall?” she blurted out, almost not believing it herself, “Oh my God, hi!”

He tipped his head down slightly in a half smile. “How are ya?”

“I’m good,” Joey said, stuffing her phone into her back pocket and turning her shoulders slightly to face Niall. “Wow, this is so crazy running into you here, how are you?”

A chuckle slipped past his lips and Joey’s eyes caught him as he messily combed his fingers through the front of his hair. It looked even softer than the last time she had seen him. “I’m alright. How, um...how was your date last week?”

Joey pulled in a deep breath. “Well...he ended up getting super drunk, threw up on my leg at the restaurant and I had to call him a Lyft home before we even finished dinner, so...not super great.”

“Jesus.”

“I know,” she laughed, shaking her head as she shyly looked down at the toes of her boots. “He was also weirdly obsessed with his cat? Most definitely dodged a bullet there.”

Niall tossed his head back in a low laugh, his eyes pinching shut as the sound rumbled in his chest. Joey bit at her lip as she watched him, her stare locked on the base of his neck. He had a really, really nice looking neck. She couldn’t help but let her eyes slide down just a bit further, Niall’s white tank that nestled under his open short sleeve button up perfectly showed off just the right amount of his dark chest hair. There was no denying how sexy he looked. Shaking her head out of her insane thoughts, she quickly glanced around her, hoping no one had seen the drool that was uncontrollably pooling at the corner of her mouth.

“Are ya here with friends or...?”

Joey shot her attention back to Niall as his question hung idly in the air. She licked across her lips. “Actually...I’m here on another first date.”

“Oh,” Niall said, his brows raising, “uh...how’s it goin’ so far?”

“Well, he wasn’t late...so that’s a start.” They both chuckled and Joey leaned her hip against the side of the makeshift bar. “Are you here with friends?”

“Yeah,” he said, Niall tipping his chin up as he began to shoot his stare through the crowds of people, “they’re over...there somewhere.” Joey followed the wave of his finger, taking note that he was on the completely opposite side of the stage than her and her date. “It was my turn to get the drinks.”

Joey slowly brought her gaze back to his. “Enjoyin’ the festival so far?” he then asked her.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool!” she replied with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulder, “I like seeing bands that I’ve never heard of before. I was kinda hoping my favorite band would be in the line up but...I never have that kind of luck.”

“Who’s your favorite band?”

“The Wildflowers?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of them.”

“They’re great, this...indie chick band with fiddles,” Joey added with a chuckle, “I’ve actually never seen them live. They play a lot of those small underground shows that are, like, super hard to get into. Never been lucky enough to get tickets.”

Niall narrowed his stare and a tiny smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I could get ya tickets.”

“What?” Joey choked out, her light brown eyes going wide. “Are you serious?”

He threw her a nod. “Yeh, I can get pretty much anythin’ through my label. Ask and you shall receive,” he told her with a giggle. “Why don’t I, um, get your number and see what I can do and hit ya up when I get me hands on some tickets.”

Joey could barely believe what she was hearing. His words floated around in her head like vivid daydream before Niall covered his mouth in a stifled laugh. She was sure the look on her face was nothing less than embarrassing. But tickets? To the Wildflowers? Her parted lips creased into a huge smile and Joey rubbed her palms down the sides of her face in excitement. “Oh my God, that would be...holy shit, that would be so fucking incredible.”

Niall grabbed his phone from his front pocket and Joey took a step closer to him, both their heads tilted down as he typed her number in. Joey also couldn’t help but take a nice deep inhale, confirming to herself from the last time, that he still smelled damn good. Niall, on the other hand, was rendered numb with how close she was to him. The tiniest whiff of her shampoo tingled his nose as her ponytail slid down between their faces and the barely-there scent radiating off of her exposed dewy skin made his mouth water. It was intoxicating.

Peeking up at her through the tops of his eyes when he finished, Joey caught his stare for a moment before she realized just how close their proximity was–so close that her chest was nearly touching his bicep–and she quickly took a step back.

She cleared her throat. “Thank you so much.”

Slipping his phone back into his pocket just as one of the bartenders set Joey’s drinks in front of her, Niall softly smiled. “ ‘course, love, no worries.”

“Okay, well,” Joey started, picking up the two plastic cups, “I guess I should get back to my date. Hopefully he doesn’t get too drunk and puke all over me.”

Niall breathed out a laugh. “That would not be very fun.”

“Not really, no,” Joey smiled. “It was really good seeing you again, Niall.”

He faintly nodded his head and licked across his lips. “It was good seeing you too, Joey.”

Turning away from him, Joey started to walk through the large crowd towards her date, taking one last second to look back over her shoulder at Niall. She caught his gaze, still stuck on her as he shoved his hands down into the front pockets of his striped shorts. Joey smiled big at him, something she couldn’t seem to help when she was around him and he smiled right back, and just as big.

•

Joey woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, her face plastered against a pillow and in a room that she had never seen before in her life. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she pushed the mess of hair off the side of her face and slowly began to roll herself over. She then realized she was completely naked, in someone else's bed. A muted groan fell from her lips and she heard a soft ‘hey baby’ come from next to her.

Turning her head, she was about to reply when she noticed that Omar, her date from the night before, was laying naked next to her, talking on his cellphone. Joey’s brow wrinkled, her mouth falling open as she sat up and bunched the grey sheet up around her bare chest.

“We still on for tonight, baby?” he continued into the phone, apparently not even aware that Joey had awoken. “Good, good. Missed you last night. Can’t wait to see you.”

Shaking her head with a look of pure disbelief written across her face, Joey muttered a low ‘oh hell no’ before scrambling out of his bed and grabbing her clothes that were sprinkled all over the floor. She didn’t say a single word to him in the process, hurrying out of his room as she tugged each piece of her clothing on. Shoving her feet down into her boots, she snatched her bag from the couch and ordered herself a Lyft, not even bothering to look back as she quickly left his apartment.

Joey sat quietly staring out of the backseat window on her ride home, part of her not even sure what happened the previous night, the other part of her not wanting to believe it. The skin on her bottom lip was nearly bitten off, her fingers twisting in her lap and she closed her eyes for a second, hoping it would settle the intense thumping that she was feeling against her temples. After about ten minutes, she pulled out her phone and dialed Alexis, knowing she would be the only other person awake at 9am on a Sunday morning.

It only rang twice before Alexis answered. “Jo?”

“I fucking slept with him.”

It was quiet for a moment on the other end. “...the guy from last night?”

Joey rested her head back on the seat, her hazelnut eyes watching the palm trees flash by as they drove. “I can’t believe I decided to waste my revirginized vagina on him.”

A cackling laugh belted out from the other end of the line. “Where are you?”

“On my way home.”

“How far away?”

Joey lifted her pounding head to peer around as the car slowed to a stop at a light. “Um...I dunno, fifteen minutes, maybe?”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

•

Joey was able to get back to her apartment, take a shower and some much needed aspirin, and take Sadie for a walk all before Alexis even showed up. Not unusual for her. Alexis was a great friend, her and Joey had met a couple years prior when Joey got her teaching job at Midlawn Elementary School. She was the first one to strike up a conversation with Joey, and they immediately hit it off. She was fun, a bit loud and spontaneous but was the most caring person Joey had ever known.

Answering the door, Joey let her best friend in and Sadie went ballistic, hopping up and down and barking nonstop. Alexis attempted to bend down and pet the dog, hoping to calm her, but Sadie skitted away from her touch, barking even louder.

“Sadie, knock it off!” Joey yelled, having no patience for her antics at the moment. She gently pushed the dog away with the side of her foot and the dog quieted down and scurried into the other room.

“After all these years, your dog still doesn’t like me,” Alexis commented, tossing her purse down on Joey’s table as they both shuffled into the living room.

Joey laughed. “She doesn’t like anyone, Lex. At all. You’re not special.”

“Ha, Ha,” her friend retorted with an eye roll, both girls plopping down on the sofa.

“Where’s Lincoln?” Joey asked.

“With his dad.”

“Oh. I forgot it was his weekend.”

Tucking her leg up on the couch, Alexis turned her body towards Joey and reached out to tap her knee. “So...c’mon, spill.”

“There’s nothing to spill,” Joey started, slumping back into the sofa with a huff. “I just...gah, I dunno. I mean, he was cool, I guess. A bit handsy but once I had enough alcohol in my system, I didn’t really mind it. We danced a bit, he made me laugh a little and we just ended up back at his place. But honestly, I’m never doing that again. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”

“Well…” Alexis said with a snort, “to put it bluntly, you were thinking you hadn’t gotten laid in two years, Jo.”

Joey dropped her face in her hands with a groan. “But he was so douchy, Lex. Especially this morning.” She lifted her face and scratched across her forehead. “He was already making plans to see some other chick tonight. While I was lying there in bed next to him!”

“Ew,” her friend commented, pulling her face in. “was it even good?”

Joey shrugged. “It was alright, I guess. He didn’t get me off but...what’s new.”

“Humph,” Alexis pushed out, crossing her arms over her chest, “yeah, tell me about it. Most men these days can’t. But you were at least careful, right? You don’t wanna end up like me, getting pregnant by a guy you barely know.”

“Lex, you got a beautiful little boy out of it.”

Alexis rolled her eyes. “I know that, but still...better to be safe than sorry.” She raised her brows at Joey.

Carding her fingers up through her damp hair, Joey tossed it up into a loose bun and let out a knowing sigh. “Yes, mom, I was careful.”

Alexis grabbed a throw pillow from behind her and threw it at Joey, hitting her right in the side of her face. The red-haired girl giggled. “Oh..oh my God, I totally forgot to tell you,” Joey exclaimed after chucking the pillow back at her friend. “Guess who I ran into last night at the festival?”

“Who?”

“Niall.”

“Niall?”

Joey furrowed her brows. “Ni-...oh fuck, did I not tell you?” she said, realizing that she had yet to tell anyone that she had met Niall at all. She watched her best friend's brown eyes go big in curiosity and Joey eagerly scraped her teeth across her bottom lip. “Okay, so listen, the other week when I went out with Puke Boy, well, he was, like, super late and I was waiting for him up at the bar, having a drink or whatever, right, and someone said something to me and when I looked over...it was Niall fucking Horan.”

With her mouth falling open, Alexis stared intently at her best friend. “Stop it.”

“I’m serious,” Joey continued, “we got to talking, he bought me a drink and shit and, I dunno, it was just, like...really chill. He was totally cool. To the point that I almost forgot he was famous. Anyway, he was there last night at the festival too! We ran into each other, oddly enough, getting drinks at the tent bar.”

“That’s fucking crazy!”

Joey chuckled. “Right? That’s what I told him!”

“So… are you guys gonna hang out or something?” Alexis pried.

“Well..no,” Joey said with a shake of her head, “I mean, we talked while waiting for our drinks, but he did get my number.”

Alexis squealed. “No, he didn’t!”

“He did!” Joey explained. “We were talking about the Wildflowers and I mentioned that I had never seen them live before and he said he could get me tickets and...asked me for my number.”

“And you just...gave it to him?”

Tossing her head back, the young woman laughed. “Why not? I’m literally going out on blind dates with random guys from Tinder. At least everyone knows who Niall is and he’s not, like, some creep.”

Alexis chewed at her bottom lip, wanting as much tidbits from her friend as she could get. “‘So are you guys gonna go out then?”

A loud snort came from Joey. “You’re joking, right, Lex? Like he would ever in a million years go out with me. No,” she said, peeking down at her lap and shaking her head, “he was only gonna let me know when he could get some tickets, that’s all.”

“Sure,” Alexis said with a narrow stare, drawing out the word.

“Believe me, it would be a cold day in hell before Niall Horan ever asked me out on a date,” Joey said with a chuckle, “But I dunno, besides being crazy fucking hot, he was just really chill, you know? Really easy to talk to. I could definitely see us being friends.”

Alexis bowed over in a full belly laugh. “Okay, Jo,” she said between breaths, not for one second believing her best friends intentions, “whatever you say.”

“I’m serious,” Joey told her, playfully pushing the front of her shoulder, “Besides, there’s no point to even entertain the absurd idea that we would date, ‘cause...I’m literally never having sex again, remember?”

They were both rolled over in laughter at that point, almost in tears when the sound of a text coming through to Joey’s phone dinged loudly through the apartment. Hopping up off the couch, Joey wiped the wetness of laughter from under her eyes and gathered her breath as she stepped over to the kitchen counter to pick up her phone. It was a number she didn’t recognize, but the text itself told her immediately who it was.

“Well…” she said, holding the phone up towards Alexis as she bit off a smile, “speak of the devil. It’s him.”

#niall #niall horan #niall fic #niall fanfic #niall smut #niall ou #slowburn #tdg #chap 2 #quite like this chapter!!#a bit more background for Joey and #we meet a couple more vital characters too :)#really hope you guys enjoy!#please take a min to read #SHARE!!!#and let me know what you think #thankssssss

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min-meowmeow · 5 years

Text

The Fairy Shirt

History Teacher Taehyung x English Teacher Reader

Fluff/Angst if you squint

Word Count: 9,514

Synopsis: Taehyung has been a massive flirt for as long as you've known him, but what happens when he finally drops the facade?

Reader is mad thirsty for Kim Taehyung and will deny it for the rest of their life.

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"I don't understand," Taehyung muttered through a disgruntled swipe of his hand through the blue cardigan adorning his chest, "how students get glitter on everything!" He switched hands, left taking over for right while right fumbled under the sticky grip of the sparkly decoration. "We haven't even used glitter!"

You scraped the contents of your T.V. dinner —now turned lunch— into your awaiting mouth that then pressed into an unsatisfied frown. "They're fifth graders. Their blood is made of glitter."

"Well can they keep it to themselves." He rubbed exasperatedly against his sweater and yet, somehow, only more glitter stuck. The contained screech was just barely silenced by the grit of his perfectly white teeth.

The only other teacher in the lounge, Mrs. Lee, peered over the district's newly issued community magazine with a sour pout directed at the irritated 5th grade History teacher, but if Taehyung knew, he didn't particularly care. Her eyes followed him until his sullen figure fell into the 80s deco couch positioned just behind the small break room table you had taken residence in when the glorious lunchtime bell had rung not fifteen minutes ago. She only dropped her gaze when he dropped his head along the back of the couch, face disgruntled and glasses askew.

"This is the third sweater this week," he grumbled.

You peered over your shoulder to find the despondent man pathetically pouting with eyes delicately closed against the filtering of the sun through the turn of the century blinds covering the windows. A shimmer fluttered along the blue of his sweater with every breath that passed through his ridiculously sturdy chest while the scent of barely contained crayon wafted from the dredges of his clothing masking his usual scent of pine and coffee. “Did you, by chance, have Katie color anything today with her glitter crayons?”

One sullen eye popped open.

“Goddamnit, Katie,” he cursed.

Mrs. Lee’s head popped up again from her magazine, glare placed just above the rim of her glasses absolutely piercing into Taehyung who continued to ignore her. You, however, did catch her stare and decided to intervene before she tore through his precious blue sweater. Nonchalantly, you rose from your chair and dumped your leftover tray into the nearby trash bin before returning to extend a hand towards Taehyung.

“Come on, I have a lint roller in my room,” you offered in place of an explanation for your outstretched hand.

He eyed it then eyed you suspiciously, but not really. Taehyung had been glued to your side as diligently as unwanted glitter since the day you both started at the elementary school, so you knew any cantankerous reactions from him were simply for show. The gentle way his fingers delicately, almost fragile, wrapped around the expanse of your wrist proved this to be fact. It also accelerated your heart stupidly fast as if you were one of those love-struck kids you often shook your head at when they passed notes between them in class, but that was neither here nor there.

You pulled him to a stand and begrudgingly released your hold from around his skin before Mrs. Lee caught you lingering. Tae said nothing, rather simply proceeded to follow you out of the lounge where Mrs. Lee sighed loudly. Tae’s chuckle quickly drowned her out.

“She hates me,” he grinned beside you.

“She hates anyone who wasn’t alive when the dinosaurs roamed,” you quipped in return.

A loud chortle was this time forced from the confines of Taehyung’s chest that startled you only enough to jump slightly. Thankfully, no one else occupied the hallways that led back to your adjoining classrooms, the fifth grade hall empty save for the two of you and one stray janitor, so you were the only one surprised by his outburst.

You turned to him and caught his own cheerful gaze peering ahead, no sign of the annoyed man you had rescued from being told off by Mrs. Lee.

“Was it that funny?” you questioned.

He chuckled lowly this time, his lips pulled into an amused boxy smile. “Tyrannosaurus Lee.”

Your classroom door swung open easily when your key slid into the ancient lock revealing a mess of literature posters that you thought were hilarious, but your students begged to differ. Taehyung released a whistle of surprise at the bags of paper mache flowers and butterflies lying around your classroom in messy bundles of Spring Festival preparations. You ignored it all, stepping over a large flower stem your students were still in the process of finishing. Taehyung followed you inside but side-stepped over the decorations before stopping at your desk when you reached it with a sigh.

“I never get tired of seeing Shakespeare in MC Hammer pants,” he joked with a point behind you where the bard sat laminated in poster form.

“It’s what he would have wanted.”

A low mumble of affirmation followed Tae as he turned to peer across your vacant yet messy classroom while you began the search for the lint roller in the most logical place: your purse. Pushing aside your make-up bag, your wallet, a year old granola bar, and other miscellaneous snacks, you returned nothing in the way of a bright blue lint roller. Your nose scrunched at the center, mouth pulling in a sour pout.

“Please tell me you didn’t pay for all of this yourself?” Tae’s voice came as a distraction pulling your attention to where he stood next to the largest bag filled with miscellaneous spring bugs. His expression matched your disgruntled one.

You gave a deep sigh with a roll of your eyes. “Yep.”

“Why?”

“There wasn’t room in the budget this year for the Spring Festival, so we had to make due if we wanted to keep it,” you explained, turning to dig through your messy drawers for the sought after lint roller.

He made a weird, confused noise from across the room. “I thought parents were donating?”

“Wasn’t enough for decorations.” You closed one drawer a little harder than you intended before opening another. “We tried asking Principal Do for a little money, but he wouldn't budge. Said it wasn't a priority.”

Taehyung released a bitter laugh, knowing exactly what you meant. Every excuse you had both received from the administration had something to do with the fabled budget. There was never enough money to replace Taehyung's ancient and faulty overhead projector, but Mr. Won down the hall could get a brand new smart board for his Math class that he never uses. You had to carry the burden of your school’s yearly Spring Festival while the boy’s basketball team could have an end of the year party on the school’s dime. You were almost certain “the budget” was code for “go fuck yourself.”

“Ah, here it is!” You called triumphantly with the blue handle tucked securely in between your fingers.

Tae smiled gratefully as you extended it to him, taking it gingerly in his hand. He struggled a little bit in between rolls of the sticky substance along the fabric of his sweater, especially when he had to rip off a new clean sheet to pick up the remaining specks of glitter, but by the time Tae was done, he looked as clean as ever.

A sigh fluttered out from his rosy lips, expression at ease. “What would I do without you?”

“Walk around all day looking like a fairy,” you snorted.

“I’d accept looking like a fairy if I could commit to the aesthetic, but this,” he waved his hands over the cardigan once more, “ this is not suitable.”

“That may not be, but I’ve seen the majority of your wardrobe. You definitely have pieces in there that’ll work.”

He dropped the lint roller back on your desk. “Any suggestions?”

Your gaze held his in contempt with an unamused frown pulling the corners of your lips low. Tae, on the other hand, beamed at you with a trickster’s glint in his brown eyes. “That white button up with the green collar”

“The one with the flowers and butterflies?”

“That’s the one.”

“How is that appropriate for fairies?”

“Throw some glitter on there, you’ll be golden.”

“Nice to know you think about my clothes often.” He tilted his head to one side, brush of bangs sweeping across his tan forehead to deliver the most sultry stare you had ever received from him.

You grabbed the lint roller off your desk, twisting the handle under fidgeting hands. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

Taehyung leaned against your desk, hip pressed to the edge drawing your attention to the sly slant of his grin. His eyes softened around the edges when your gaze held strong with his. “Do you need help with the Spring Festival?”

“It’s almost done.” You shrugged.

“At least let me help set up, then.”

You tapped your foot against the edge of your desk opposite of Taehyung, your mouth twisted to one side in thought. On the one hand, you were touched that he offered to help when he didn’t have to, but on the other, you didn’t want to burden him with a project he didn’t sign up for just because you wanted an extra hand and maybe some eye candy to get through the grueling afternoon set up. Besides, you knew you wouldn’t be the only one ogling the vivacious redhead.

“You’ll just distract the PTA moms.”

The roll of his eyes was almost audible.

“Don’t avoid this by making jokes,” he whined, “That’s my job.”

“It’s fine.” You spun your swivel chair in a circle until it came to a stop facing him.

“If you deny me, I’ll stay anyway and really distract the PTA moms.”

“Why?” It was your turn to whine.

Taehyung gave you a chuckle. “So at least you’ll have someone to walk you to your car at night.”

A heat began to rise on the tips of your ears with the stutter of your heart at his words. Taehyung was an incredible flirt, but sometimes, when he dropped the flirtatious exterior and became genuine— even thoughtful—with you, it was just too much for your poor little heart. You felt that he sometimes acted that way to disarm you, perplex you, because he found it funny to see you stutter at his words or blush furiously at his small touches. At times you wished he would stop, but the majority of the time you wished he would go further than simple touches or the tame offer of walking you to your car.

“Teacher Kim? What’re you doing in here?” Ten year old confusion startled the both of you to turn to the door where you found a student you both dealt with standing just outside the threshold of your classroom. She peered at the two of you, a small crease appearing under her straight bangs that dangled over her suspicious gaze.

“Talking about fairies,” Taehyung winked conspiratorially at you.

The ring of the bell tore your gaze from Taehyung back to the entrance of your classroom. Vivi, to her credit, looked as confused as you suspected anyone would, but she simply shrugged and proceeded to her seat. A chorus of excited voices proceeding down the hall finally forced Tae to give you one last smile before exiting the room with another deliciously delivered “thank you.”

---------

Pastel colored streamers already dangled from constructed booths and systematically placed tables around the fake wood floor that creaked beneath your feet as you entered the school gymnasium with a huge chunk of wood balanced precariously along your toes. A small speaker somewhere among the mess played some generic pop song through the echoing walls, all of the committee members along with volunteers sorting and hanging the decorations that had been made by numerous classrooms and students. Your eyes scanned over the mess, a slippery anxiety slowly crawling it’s way up your esophagus.

You hated being on the Festival committee.

“Why is paper mache so heavy?” Taehyung complained from beside you, the three large bags of the decorations trailed behind him along with the legs of a step stool latched onto his shoulder until he came to a stop at your side, exhausted exhale passing through plump lips.

“I think it’s the glue,” you muttered.

He hummed as his eyes gave a cursory glance around the crowded floor with an indifferent expression. However, you could see that a lot more eyes were on you now that he stood beside you, a lot of thirsty, hungry eyes that were devouring him where he stood. Like with Mrs. Lee, you knew he was ignoring it, but you couldn’t.

“Come on, you’re already distracting them,” you grumbled, leading Taehyung away from the door to a small corner of the gym where no decorations lay.

At your last meeting, you had divided up the gym into game sections where everyone from the committee would set up their game and help run it during the event. You had gotten the bug toss, a run of the mill carnival ball toss game where participants had five chances to stack up as many points as they could by throwing a bug shaped ball into five openings on a board painted to look like a grassy field with a ladybug on the side. Your third period class had happily painted the board instead of learning the thrilling parts of speech, but you got to torture them with it another day anyway, so it didn’t really matter to you.

You propped the board up against the wall in a huff, your arms not long enough to properly carry such a large piece of wood, but you had been damned to let Taehyung do all of the heavy lifting. He had offered, oh how he offered, to carry literally everything from your room and had almost succeeded had it not been for his own hubris and a rather comical arm cramp. That’s when you had won and were allowed to carry at least one thing. You were sure he assumed you’d go for one of the bags, but you decided to challenge him instead. Your arms hated you for it, but your pride gloated.

He dropped the bags next to you then stood back to look over everything now on the floor. It was going to be a long afternoon.

“Where do we start, boss?” he asked, hands already ripping open the bag closest to him with glee.

You opted to open another bag, the one with the giant flowers and fake grass, and shrugged. “We just gotta make it look nice. Coherent.”

“Can do,” he grumbled.

Pulling out the paper grass first, you laid it out on the floor in a heap of pieces before taking a seat facing the wall where you were planning on taping them. The pieces were numbered, something your second period class had decided to do since the color of grass apparently went in a sequence of dark green to slightly lighter green, but you didn’t complain once you started sorting it. You found it odd how meticulous they had been, their pride exuding from their little faces when they approached you with the pile of colored paper. At least they had something to be proud of, you thought, as you began taping section by section along the glossy paint of the gym wall.

You noticed Taehyung take his position on the other side of the board with bug cut outs in hand, but no tape. You hadn’t thought far enough to grab two rolls of the gorilla tape, so you slid your only one over to him until it hit his foot quietly. He looked down, a goofy smile appearing across his face as he went to pick it up.

“We’ll have to go get more eventually,” he remarked as he ripped off pieces of the sticky fastener, alternating between sticking one piece of it on the board by his side then handing another piece for you to use.

You flattened your hand along the newly secured blades. “We’ll deal with that when we run out.”

Taehyung hummed, one vibrantly colored butterfly being pressed into the wall with the help of four pieces of tape. You both worked in quiet unity as you dealt with the lower section while Taehyung went for the higher stuff. You had to admit, it was rather peaceful having Taehyung with you, his presence making you feel less overwhelmed than you would have been had he not insisted on helping you.

As you worked, you continuously stole glances up at him as he moved back and forth between the bag of decorations and the wall. He had changed into sweats and a plain black t-shirt after the last of your wonderful students had left the building, the blue cardigan from earlier discarded into a gym bag he kept in his car for his work out days.

The shirt was loose, but hung over his frame so exquisitely that you could make out the working muscles in his back, the bulge of his biceps when he raised a paper mache lady bug up to the wall, and every once in a while, the dip of his collar bones when he bent down to retrieve more decorations. His sweats, while laced at his hips, showcased the curve of his ass so much better than any of the other pants he owned. You suddenly could really relate with those sexually repressed PTA moms.

“Like the view?” Taehyung asked without turning to you, but his voice was enough to snap you out of your reverie.

You turned back down to your work, hands securing an already secure piece of grass. “I’m just checking to make sure you’re doing it right.”

“Right.” Taehyung nodded, unconvinced. “Or maybe you’re cataloging this outfit since you’ve never seen it before, you know, because you always ignore my invitations to work out with me.”

You pushed yourself to stand once the final piece of grass was on your side of the wall. Next was going past the board and over to Taehyung’s side. “The only exercise I do is chasing my cat when he tries to steal student homework.”

You eyed the area by his legs, understanding that if he continued to work on the same side, you would end up being pressed between him and the wall. You decided to brush him away instead, ensuring that he was a few feet behind you before plopping back down on the floor.

“Your cat eats their homework?”

You pulled a few pieces of grass towards you. “I’ve had to write a few apology notes to parents.”

“That must have gone over well.”

“My cat’s an asshole.”

Taehyung crouched down next to you, the remaining pieces of grass firmly held in his palm along with all of the tape you had saved for the job. You gave him a confused pout that made him laugh, his body so astronomically close you could feel the vibrations from the action. “I can do these. Start putting up decorations on your side of the wall.”

Your pout revealed itself unallowed, but you pushed yourself to stand even if it was just to give yourself some space from the gorgeous man. He immediately took the seat you vacated with a grin and a wink up to you. Chills found their way up your spine as they often did when Tae looked at you like that and you found yourself cowering in awkward attention. “Th...the colors are numbered. Students made sure of it.”

The cocky grin fell to an endeared smile. “I know, fairy.”

If you turned any redder, you were sure you would wind up looking like the streamers adorning the first grade booth in the corner of the gym.

Your mouth set into a thin line that you attempted to turn into a smile, but thankfully Tae only winked and turned down to the task at hand instead of saying anything else. Without his attention, you felt it a little easier to breathe.

Focusing on your own task, you began dragging out the large flowers and bug cut outs left in the plastic bag you had chosen as yours. Your students had the most fun making the flowers, especially when it came to construct the paper mache stem to attach to the large flower heads they made out of many, many pieces of construction paper. More than a few of them had stuck the gooey pieces of newspaper to their friends instead of the flowers, but no injuries were incurred so you didn’t really care that much as long as it got done.

You settled the step stool firmly against the wall with one hand occupied with a bundle of cut out bugs. You then grabbed the tape and climbed up until you stood higher than the edge of the board settled between you and Taehyung. Your gaze fell down to him for half a second and that's when you noticed not so subtly that you stood at the perfect vantage point to gaze down Taehyung’s loose shirt like a pervy gawker at a Hooters. Cheeks sparked in rosy flames just in time for you to turn away before he noticed your reaction to the skin visible past the neckline of his shirt. It was his choice to wear such a loose shirt, you justified, unable to stop your mind from wondering what lay just beneath the dip of his collarbones.

Butterflies soared in your stomach along with shame at the mental image your mind produced for you. Obviously, you thought Taehyung was handsome and, obviously, you had maybe fantasized about him once or twice, but you couldn't understand why you were so thirsty for him now of all days. Maybe the slimy energy from the PTA moms was rubbing off on you.

Shaking your head of the thought, focus and attention turned back to the bug cut outs you were supposed to be taping to the wall. Quietly you cut off three pieces of tape then let the core slide down your arm until it settled against your elbow. Your fingers tentatively stuck two bugs haphazardly along the wall to give the appearance that they were flying with the other remaining cut outs flattened in the press of your thighs.

"Think I could get some more tape?" Taehyung pulled your attention from your work to find him with a hand extended up towards you.

You were dazzled for a minute by the look of his deep, brown eyes gazing up at you expectantly, but you quickly came back to your senses when he began to get up.

“Yeah sorry. Here--”

The heel of your right foot met air on your way off the step-stool finding you toppling backwards unexpectedly. Your heart shot up into your throat as the same step stool screeched against the polished wood and you didn’t even have a chance to try to save yourself by the time you met a softer surface than the floor. One that smelled suspiciously like pine needles and coffee.

Eyes grew wide when you realized who you were pressed against just in time for him to settle you on your own two feet, then turning you to face a very concerned expression on Taehyung's face.

“Are you ok?” he questioned, hands roaming over your arms, waist, and back in search of an injury.

The sensation of his hands on you jarred you enough to brush him off. “I’m fine.”

He ignored your complaints, instead holding your head firmly between his two palms, his bright brown eyes boring holes into your own through the sheen of his round glasses. You were so enthralled with his intense gaze, you didn’t notice his fingers until they flicked you across the forehead. “Watch where you step next time.”

Your response came in a grumbled “ow” that he only caught because he was still ridiculously close to you, but that was fixed when you pushed him away in retaliation, panicked eyes looking for the roll of sticky substance he had wanted only to find it a slight distance away.

“Can you help me get the tape? Please?”

He only shook his head, his hands brushing over your hair one more time before his footsteps squeaked their way along the wood floor to retrieve what you had accidentally dropped. You inhaled as many gulps of air as you could, heart jack hammering away in your frantic chest.

Taehyung returned a moment later, hand offering the roll of treacherous tape. “Here. I---”

“Mr. Kim? What’re you doing here?”

Both you and Taehyung turned to find the expensively beautiful mom of glitter enthusiast Katie Benton standing with hands perched on her hips and a Pan Am smile on her red painted lips.

Taehyung scratched the back of his neck. “Just helping out, Mrs. Benton”

“Oh, wonderful! If you don’t mind, I can’t seem to reach high enough to place this hook. Can you help me?” she asked with a perky grin.

“Sure thing." He nodded then turned to you, the roll of tape being tossed to your unexpected form. “I’ll be right back.”

You began scratching at the loose piece of tape, eyes focused heavily on his too charming smile. “Distraction.”

You watched him walk away with one last wink in your direction before he was engulfed by a throng of overly peppy suburban moms. They crowded around him like bottom feeders to a carcass laughing and placing perfectly manicured hands all over his shoulders and arms. Taehyung, for his part, mostly laughed as she strategically shrugged off one claw for another, but he never told them no. You believed he secretly liked it and no matter how much he denied it, and you were certain you would never believe otherwise.

Turning back to the pile of paper bugs and plants strewn around your feet, you gave a hefty huff of breath through your parted lips suddenly finding the work just a bit overwhelming without Taehyung by your side, but you knew it had to get done. You grumbled once more after Mrs. Benton and her hoard of middle aged Desperate Housewives before tucking in your resolve and getting to work.

--------

You couldn’t say you were particularly proud of the way your booth turned out—paper bugs unevenly placed on the wall, board propped up against two buckets filled with miscellaneous gym supplies, flowers crumpled and one halfway broken from your inability to stop them from falling—but given the lack of help and your overly exhausted body, it would have to make due.

Taehyung never returned to your booth after he got whisked away by Mrs. Benton, the poor man being passed around to many different booths depending on the lie the moms told to get him there. You watched it happen between your own tasks, begrudgingly muttering under your breath how nice it must be to be rich and shameless. However, you hadn't taken a look in quite a while and you weren't entirely sure if Taehyung was even still around. The thought hurt your heart a little bit, mostly because he had offered to walk you to your car at the end of the night, but you figured it was for the best.

After cleaning up your area as best you could, you wiped sweat and residue from the paper mache off on your already dirtied jeans glad that you would now be able to go home. Sweat dribbled it's way from your hairline as you gathered your things and you went to wipe it off when you turned and found Taehyung sauntering over to you. You would be lying if you said your heart didn't skip many beats, but you sure as hell wouldn't admit it, either.

"Finished already?" He asked and you only nodded, tucking the strap of your satchel bag across your chest. He threw a sturdy arm around your shoulders in response. "Let's get out of here, then. I'm tired of being their mule."

You laughed despite yourself, already making your way to the entrance of the gym. "You can be an ass sometimes."

"Are you saying that because I abandoned you?"

"Maybe."

"I'll make it up to you, fairy," he muttered. Unsure if you were supposed to respond, you ignored the statement.

Walking together through the gym and out into the almost empty parking lot was a quiet affair that found neither of you really wanting to break the silence. Tae still had his arm around you, the weight of it more comforting than you would care to admit, and you found yourself wishing it could stay wrapped around you forever.

You could imagine how secure you would feel lying under his arm at night snuggled deep into the blankets with Taehyung slotted behind you. His body perfectly fit against yours like two puzzle pieces meant to lay side by side with the delectable smell of his cologne mixed with the scent that was so undeniably Taehyung enveloping you. You could almost imagine how that warmth could change to a searing heat as he held himself above you, his same arms caging you in between his body and the mattress beneath you.

The thought of being pressed against his naked skin came so quickly that it clashed with the real reality you faced making you want to squirm away from him, unsure why the image of you two together was suddenly rearing its ugly head when you had never let your emotions get the better of you around Taehyung. He wasn’t really doing anything different, either. Maybe you were hormonal.

Your cars came into view at the end of the third row with your smaller silver Kia looking down right pathetic next to Tae’s bulky red camaro. You had joked once that it looked like a husky pitbull revving and rolling down the asphalt every morning at 7:30 AM. He didn’t appreciate it, but you got a good laugh out of it, so you considered the joke a win.

Tae’s arm fell from your shoulder when you stopped next to your car, shimmering flecks of multicolored dots glinting off his clothes and hair from the street lamp high above you. You smiled stupidly to yourself, hand unconsciously brushing away at the annoying craft supply. “You’re full of glitter again”

Tae gave one disgruntled look down, heavy sigh puffing against your face. “Seems Mrs. Benton likes it as much as her daughter.”

You leaned away from him to press your back against your driver’s side door. “She also seems to like you quite a bit, too.”

“Gross.” His nose scrunched in the middle. “She’s married.”

“That’s not stopping her.”

“Well, she can’t have me. I’m not that kind of man.”

“That you’re not,” you grumbled, tense fingers digging into the taut muscles of your shoulder as you gave the stiff joint a roll.

Taehyung’s head tilted, confused crinkle tucking his eyebrows closer together under the fringe of bangs. Soft hands ran up and down the length of your arms, sympathetic gaze and hushed baritone voice calling you to meet his eyes. “You ok?”

“Yeah, just a long day.” Your heart stuttered.

“I’m sorry.” He frowned, only to wipe it off with one of his best cocky grins. “Hopefully I made it a little more tolerable?”

Your eyes rolled halfway to the back of their sockets.

“Yes, Taehyung, your immense help this afternoon was great.”

“I said I’m sorry!” He whined.

“I’m kidding.” You grumbled, dropping your gaze from him to stare at your awkwardly shifting feet beneath you. “It was nice having you there. Being on committees like that freak me out. It was nice not dealing with all of that nonsense by myself.”

Fingers pressed under the dip of your chin forcing your eyes back to his and you noticed that he wore a soft expression again. The change in his temperament nearly gave you whiplash this time around, but his deliciously sweet smile pulled you right into him despite the dizzy feeling overtaking you.

“Well, I’m always of service. You know that. Just ask.”

You fought the blush, but felt it rising onto your cheeks nonetheless. “Thanks, Tae.”

His fingers kept a grip on your chin absolutely refusing to let you look down or away again. Your body jittered under the glow of the parking lot's hazy light with every pass of Taehyung’s brown eyes over your facial features, focus diligent as if he were trying to find a glitch in your code that would make you disappear as soon as he discovered it. Lungs felt tight making it almost difficult to breathe, but you didn’t move. You didn’t even try to look away.

A fond grin spread over the stretch of his lips as his hands moved to encompass your cheeks comfortably between his large palms. Eyes flashed down to your lips quickly startling your lungs to a near halt. He began leaning closer, hope spiraled and warred with dread in your bloodstream.

Then gently, his eyes dusted closed just as the plush of his lips warmed the space on the edge of your lips far enough to be mistaken for a peck on the cheek but close enough to prove that wasn't the case. Your hands balled into fists, unsure if your natural instinct was to push him away or pull him closer. You settled on neither, keeping your hands, instead, close against your sides as your mind reeled.

Shocked wouldn’t even begin to cover what you felt as Taehyung pulled away leaving the sensation of his satin lips pressed into the edge of your lips. Elated, yes; blindsided , most definitely, but above all else, you felt confused. Confused because Tae had never exhibited any form of physical touch before. At least not of the kissing variety. And it made you panic. Your face must have worn your feelings plain as day, because once Taehyung opened his eyes once more, the satiated expression disappeared leaving uncertainty in its wake.

“I---” he began, but you quickly brushed his hands off of you and turned your head to look anywhere that wasn’t at him.

“Don’t worry about it. Those PTA moms must have gotten you really riled up.”

“That’s not---”

“I’m gonna head out, Tae.” You pulled open your car door with more force than you intended, propelling your body into the seat before he could stop you. “See you tomorrow?”

He stood there dumbfounded, andalusite eyes the size of the moon on his masculine face. He stuttered a few times before settling his anxious mouth down into a defeated pout. “Yeah, see you tomorrow. Drive safe.”

You hummed in response and pulled the door away from him effectively locking you inside the safety of your moderately dirty Kia. He waved you off once you pulled away and you sped away from that parking lot as fast as you could, desperate to get home and bury the events of the night deep in your subconscious until you couldn’t reach them.

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

You usually refrained from drinking a glass of wine on school nights, much less three, but the heat you still felt from your interactions with Taehyung today left you exhausted. Your mind felt numb along the edges while your vision remained only a little fuzzy. The ludicrously narrated nature documentary that played on your TV garnered a half-hearted chuckle from you every time the whiny man complained to his TV producer, but you weren't sure whether you actually found it funny because of the alcohol or just clever. If you suddenly blacked out, you wouldn’t particularly mind.

Tipping the lip of the glass into your mouth, you discovered that no wine remained in the cheap plastic. A frown presented itself on your pouty lips with a grumble following shortly after. You promised yourself only one glass, but you had broken that promise an hour ago. Now, you reached for the bottle nestled beside you on the floor, emptying the contents into the glass until the liquid almost reached the lip once more. It was the bottles turn to be empty, and you giggled as you dropped it on the ground.

The two fast buzzes from your phone dropped your smile from your lopsided lips as your eyes fell upon the glowing screen perched on your coffee table. You almost decided to ignore it, your attention falling back to the swarm of jellyfish on your T.V. screen as the narrator compared them to his vacuous coworkers, but something told you to check and see who it was.

The drunk part of you, mostly, who really wanted it to be Taehyung.

Struggling with the wine glass and your own imbalance, you reached over to the coffee table and snatched up the phone in unsteady fingers. You turned on the screen to find a text message awaiting you once you unlocked it, the name of the sender sending excited jitters down your spine.

Mr. Kim.

It was a picture.

Your eyes scanned over the photo he sent you hungrily taking in every detail you could of the man posed in front of a mirror wearing a velvety navy blue shirt over nice fitting black slacks. His hair appeared slightly tousled and a little wet from what looked to be a shower. You couldn’t help the way your mouth watered, eyes only catching the words below the picture after scanning the whole image twice.

[9:48 PM] Think I should wear this shirt tomorrow?

A crinkle formed on the bridge of your nose at the question.

[9:50 PM] You: Why are you asking me?

[9:51 PM] Mr. Kim: I was gonna wear the fairy shirt, but it’s dirty.

[9:51 PM] Mr. Kim: Help me pick out another one?

[9:53 PM] You: Why?

Suddenly your phone began buzzing in your palm with the same name of the man you did not want to speak to while inebriated flashing green across the glass screen. You hesitated in swiping to answer, but answered the call too quickly before he was sent to voicemail.

“It’s the Spring Festival tomorrow. I gotta look sparkly!” he offered in place of a simple hello, his voice sounding far too awake for someone who had to be back at work in seven hours.

“So Mrs. Benton can find you easier?” you grumbled.

“Jealous?”

“How about the rose pink button up? That’ll look good with gold glitter.”

“Nice change of subject.” You could hear the amusement in his voice being slightly rustled by what sounded like fabric being pulled over the speaker until it quieted and he gave a sigh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more today. You were right. They’re vultures.”

“You liked it.”

“I would have liked being with you way more.”

“Stop being a flirt.” You dropped your head into your available hand, his words making your drunken cheeks burn hotter than before.

“I’m being honest! I like you so much more than all those PTA moms combined.”

You wanted to ask if that’s why he kissed you, but lost the courage. “That’s just because we’re on the same team.”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Mmm, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Get some sleep. It’s gonna be another long day.”

He hung up the call before you could pester him into giving you an actual answer, leaving you sat in silence with only the company of the whiny British man on T.V. to help you make sense of your muddled thoughts.

-----

You hadn’t seen Tae all day. You weren’t avoiding him. Not necessarily. You just happened to be so busy with the Spring Festival preparation that had taken you out of your classroom before first period even began that bumping into Tae was almost impossible. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to see him. You just hadn’t had the chance. Your freakishly early arrival and blatant ducking every time Tae made an appearance had nothing to do with it, either. At least that’s what you proclaimed to an imaginary judge and jury that sat judgmentally in your brain.

Heading into the afternoon portion of the Spring Festival, you yawned. It wasn’t a pretty yawn, a delicate yawn, something akin to a dainty fawn snuggled warm in a bed of roses. No, your yawn was ghastly, wide, and tumultuous as it fell from behind your pressed palm loud enough to call the attention of your two homeroom helpers, Vivi and Luisa. They giggled when you turned from them with a five minute signal, asking them to man the station while you took a small walk to the snack table by the stage on your right. Your first order of business: nabbing some sort of bread thing.

You weren’t worried about leaving the two girls behind. After all, they were two of your favorite students, hard working and diligent, and they often made it a habit to linger by your room when they had free time. You trusted them without a doubt. And they liked you enough to stick with you for all six hours of the festival without complaint. It was a good little thing you had going.

However, it was because of their favoritism towards you, no doubt, that they picked up on your downcast demeanor that morning when they showed up to help. They asked if you were sick, and you had to contend that, no, you weren’t you were just tired. They then proceeded to tease you, asking if you were tired because you had stayed up all night with Mr. Kim. You let them live with that lie, because even that was better than the truth.

What you didn’t tell them was how viciously hungover you were from that bottle of wine the night before, the stench of the sugary liquor still stuck in your nostrils. All because of their second favorite teacher, Mr. Kim.

Gingerly, you nibbled on a piece of Graham cracker you snuck from the donations box hidden under the snack table, hoping that it would stave off the nausea you so vehemently felt. This is why you didn't drink often, you kept telling yourself, present you chastising past you for putting you in this kind of predicament. And the day before the Spring Festival, come on really? You almost wanted to go back in time and slap the wine bottle out of your past selves hand. This was cruel and unusual punishment. You felt so bad that the very idea of crawling under the snack table to stop the world from spinning seemed like a viable option.

But you didn't. Because you were an adult. And people were watching.

Instead, you cast your eyes outward over the crowd of happy children and mildly annoyed parents taking inventory of those you had met before and those you’ve never seen in your life. You could make out the teachers in the room just by body language alone and the way they all kept to the edges of the commotion with watchful eyes trained on their group of homeroom rugrats. It was then that you spotted a familiar face, the one you weren't intentionally hiding from, strolling your way through the mess of people that were currently crowding up his gym.

You noticed the handsome, young gym teacher before he noticed you, but when he did notice, a bright smile overtook his charming face as he approached you at the table, a hoard of small plastic cups filled with the sugary beverage provided by Mr. Park's homeroom nestled just behind you in your own treasure pile. Just like a magpie.

“Hey Jungkook.” You waved happily at him as he arrived, your own smile mirroring his bright one.

“Hey, Teach. How’re you doing?”

You hummed through a piece of graham cracker. “Hungover, but don’t tell anyone that.”

“Secrets safe with me.” He motioned an x over his heart, ensuring you that he wouldn’t tell anyone. It made you giggle a little bit.

Jungkook was one of your colleagues that you actually, genuinely liked as a person. He was funny in a dorky, charming way that often left you endeared to him after speaking with him for a handful of minutes. He also never took himself too seriously and was not afraid of being the butt of a joke if it meant others around him would be happy. His looks didn’t hurt either because, shit, was the man hot. That was neither here nor there though, as you actually saw him as a close friend, not a potential romantic interest.

However, not everyone crowding in the gym felt the same as you did towards the younger gym teacher. If you thought the PTA moms were being vicious with Taehyung, you had another thing coming when they locked their sights on poor, defenseless Jeon Jungkook.

“What’re you doing here?” You asked whilst you subtly eyed every thirsty mom who threw longing gazes Jungkook’s way.

He awkwardly shrugged. “You know, checking stuff out.”

“Hiding?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

You raised the half eaten Graham cracker to your mouth, nibbling on an edge like a gerbil. “Tae had the same problem last night.”

Hearing this, Jungkook's expression opened like the floods unleashed on an unsuspecting biblical village. His eyes grew wide, mouth hung ajar in bewilderment as he groaned. “Dude, they’re vultures. Like can’t they buy vibrators or something?”

“I’m sure they have plenty."

“Oh, that’s a mental image I did not want."

“You gave it to yourself,” you snickered.

He only winced.

You continued to nibble on your sweet treat as you and Jungkook fell into silence once more. Well, as silent as you could be in a room full of kids and parents all pretending they didn't mind the nauseating Baby Shark playing over the speakers. You almost wanted to ask Jungkook if he could watch your booth for a minute while you suffered in true silence somewhere else, but a figure strolling into the gym made you pause. Body growing tense as eyes cast downward to avoid him seeing you staring at him.

Jungkook, for all the good he was, bent down so his mouth was closer to your ear level. “Looks like I’m not the only one hiding.”

You flashed him a glare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did something happen with you and Mr. Kim?”

“I’m gonna feed you to the vultures.”

It was his turn to snicker as he caught sight of Mr. Kim looking around the gym, no doubt looking for you. He wasn't sure what the situation was between you two at the moment, but he knew sexual tension when he saw it and fuck was it rolling off the two of you whenever he caught you guys talking.

Jungkook watched Mr. Kim, Taehyung, seemingly attract to you like a moth to a very enticing flame and he wasted no time in b-lining straight for the pair of you when he did catch sight of you gnawing on the graham cracker. You refused to lift your head to watch him make his way over and Jungkook had half a mind to stay quiet just to see how this would play out. For amusements sake, of course.

He found it best to warn you before you punched him for not warning you. “He’s coming over. Give me a signal if you need to be rescued”

You very nearly told him to fuck off. In front of the students.

“Hey! There you are!" Taehyung's voice interrupted your angry thoughts calling your attention to him rather than the annoyingly mischievous gym teacher.

“Hey,” you muttered, enthusiasm lost on the syllable.

Taehyung didn't notice. Instead, he stretched one arm away from his body, the other tucked behind his back, as a shit eating grin plastered itself on his gorgeously tan face. “So what do you think? Fairy enough?”

“Why’s your hand behind your back?”

“Ah. See.” He cleared his throat, then swept his arm out to reveal a pretty red rose, freshly cut. “Some students felt generous enough to give me a rose they won, but with one caveat: I had to give it to you”

You could blame your reddening cheeks on the hangover, but that would be a lie. Blaming the sudden wave of nausea on the hangover would be a lie too. “What? Tae, you don’t have to it’s fi---”

“I really owe them for this, actually. Didn’t have the guts to just outright say it,” he grinned right through your stuttering response.

“Say what?”

Instead of answering, he extended a hand out to you-the hand without the rose-and shifted his grin into a charmingly shy smile you couldn’t exactly resist.

“Come take a break with me. I’m sure Jeon won’t mind watching the booth for a few minutes.”

“I---” you stammered, brain all but pudding in your cranial cavity so much so that you couldn’t even resist. All you could do was look back to a very pleased Jungkook who looked like the cat that caught the canary. “Kookie, do you mind?”

“Remember you’re still at work, please?” he winked.

“That’s not---we won’t---”

“No promises, Jeon.” Taehyung waved him off as he grasped your hand in his.

You swore you heard entertained snickering as you walked away from Jungkook, but it could also have been the beehive swarming in your ears that produced the noise. You weren’t sure. You also weren’t sure how you ended up in front of Taehyung’s classroom given that you didn’t even remember leaving the gym. You were quite surprised you made it out without any big issues, if you were being honest.

Tae unlocked the class then swiftly pulled you inside before locking the door once again, probably so no one would bother you. Your confusion only grew when you came back to yourself fully and realized that you were alone. With Taehyung. In his classroom. And he looked amazing. As always, but still. Nerves began to grow despite you trying to stop them.

“Tae, what’re we doing in here?” you turned to him in bewilderment, but he left no room for a verbal response.

Eyes grew the size of cathedral windows when you felt the soft press of his honey mint lips against your very chapped ones. Your body froze in the moment as you took it all in, the absurdity of the situation unfolding before you.

There you were, dressed in messy jeans and a rumpled t-shirt with a vicious hangover paling out your complexion. Your hair was, no doubt, a horrendous rat’s nest and your breath, no doubt, tasted of expired alcohol and graham crackers. And you were kissing Taehyung. Taehyung, the man who stole your heart slowly without you noticing. Taehyung, the man who you never would have guessed wanted you in the way you wanted him. Taehyung, the man you swore was going to be just your friend for the rest of your life. You were kissing Kim friggen Taehyung. Or rather he was kissing you. Because you couldn’t fucking move an inch with your body set to stone from anxiety alone.

You wanted to fall into a deep hole of self loathing. That is until Tae’s large hand came to press against the back of your head, his tongue giving your bottom lip a bold swipe and you were lost.

To hell with insecurities, the kiss felt damn amazing.

You weren’t bold enough to dig your fingers into the loose shirt adorning his torso, but you did allow yourself the comfort of falling into his body with every inch of your chest pressed tightly against his own. The surroundings faded the longer the kiss went on until you both forgot where you were along with the even more pressing issue of what you two were doing being absurdly inappropriate.

Because it was absurdly inappropriate. If the school principal caught you...

It seemed that thought, covered in images of the school principal firing both of you, added the cold dose of reality for you and you softly pushed Tae away until only your breaths mingled. He chased your lips desperately, yet you kept your steady palm resting along the flat plains of his chest until he was able to look at you with clear eyes.

You didn’t dare verbally ask the question that was raging in your mind, but you were shit at hiding your emotions, so you knew Tae was able to read every last word on your perplexed expression. He sighed after a few heartbeats, eyes falling for a second to the crumpled rose on the floor then rising back up to meet yours.

“I like you. A lot. So much.” He gulped, unsteady lungs pumping unsteady breaths across the expanse of your face. “I’m sorry I’m being so forward about this. I’ve tried...so hard to show you how I feel, but I could never tell if you understood. You always look at me with those damn doe eyes...I didn’t want to take a chance anymore. I like you.”

Utter sincerity dripped from his expression, yet you could do nothing but remain silent. So many emotions warred within you from elated to cautious then circled right around to fear and dread. You didn't know how to interpret all of them at once, so all you did was stare back at him like, well, a deer in the headlights. It made Taehying anxious, tongue running nervously over his bottom lip, hand clenching in a fist where it came to rest on the wall behind your head. “Please say something.”

You gulped. “Tae...we work right next to each other”

“I know.”

“If this doesn’t work out…”

“Trust me, I know.” he sighed, very nearly relieved as he rested his forehead against yours. “But, last night...when I kissed you...I knew I couldn’t get around it anymore. Vivi and Luisa just helped push me along, I guess.”

Hearing the name of your two students made you pause and pull away from him, mind working overtime to figure out when in the hell they had time to do that. “They gave you the rose?”

“Told me to just tell you I loved you already.” His laugh turned into a bewildered expression when he caught the shocked stare you gave him. “Don’t freak out. I’m not saying I do--- but totally not saying I don't ...although that’s the natural progression right? If this works out and we---”

His nervous chattering quieted with the layer of your lips against his, which was exactly what you wanted. You weren't worried of him loving you or not loving you, at least not yet. You just got him. You wanted to explore your relationship first. Just the way you never wanted to stop exploring his delicious mouth. But, when you started grinning at the thoughts of all the things you would get to do with each other, you knew you had to stop and set the record straight.

A cheesy grin spread across your mouth when you noticed how pacified he looked.

You couldn’t help but give him a single peck. “I like you too, dummy.”

He hummed. “You do?”

As an answer, you resumed where you left off absolutely living for the soft slide of your lips that worked in tandem while, unaware, somewhere out on the school grounds were scores of parents, teachers, and your boss who were all none the wiser of what was happening in the fifth grade History teacher’s classroom. It almost made you laugh with nervous excitement were it not for Taehyung's arms slipping around your waist.

He pulled you flush against his body until you could feel every firm, toned muscle under his goddamn self proclaimed fairy shirt. He was radiating a comforting heat you couldn't get enough of. You wanted to run your hands over his warm skin, slip your greedy fingers under the offensive fabric and see how it feels to have Taehyung under your fingertips. How he would squirm under you, but you refrained.

After all, you were still at work.

He pulled away from you first with a look of nervous intent in his eyes you couldn’t quite read. After a confession like the one he just gave you, you weren’t sure why he would be unsure of himself now. Yet, there he was. You softly brushed your thumb over the glistening saliva surrounding his mouth, hoping to give him a little courage.

“Wanna come over to my place tonight?”

This time, you were the one unsure. “Tae--”

“Not for that,” he laughed, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, all tenderness in his smile. “I want to make you dinner. Have an actual date with you.”

You wouldn't be able to stop the jack hammering in your chest even if you tried. And you didn't try. Because those words, this feeling, were exactly what you always wanted with Taehyung. You couldn't deny yourself any more.

“I would love to.”

#taehyung scenarios #kim taehyung scenarios #bts scenarios #taehyung fluff #kim taehyung fluff #v fluff #bts v fluff #bts v scenarios #v scenarios #bts #kim taehyung #taehyung fic #kim taehyung fic #v fic #bts v fic #fluff #angst if you squint

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cocastyle · 5 years

Text

The In-Between Chapter 8

Stranger Things x It Crossover

with some Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 14,120

Warning - just a lot of emotions😭💗also, I put one of the It Chapter 2 scenes in here for Richie so here’s the warning for that!!

A/N- so this is THE LONGEST chapter I have written for this series but it’s 100% necessary for the series. this chapter is going to show a small but very important memory of Y/N with each of the characters, each one showcasing just a little bit of how much Y/N means to them which will help show you all how much her situation affects them. since there are so many characters and flashbacks that means this chapter is super long so I apologize in advance if you think it’s too long, but I just couldn’t split it up, you know? also, I changed a scene from It Chapter 2 and basically had it happen when Y/N was around to fit the storyline, so just pretend like it happened after they defeated It in the first movie, okay? anyways, I really hope you guys like this chapter! we still have plenty of more until the end! also, all flashbacks will be in italics!

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

T H E I N - B E T W E E N

Intro The Losers’ Club The Party Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epilogue

Steve Harrington stared at the little girl in front of him, a small frown etched onto his face as he did so. It was only him and the little girl in the room, both of their parents out in the hallway conversing while Steve got left to watch the young girl and 'bond with her' as his parents had put it.

He didn't know what to think as he stared at the girl who was currently sleeping in the crib wrapped up in a small blanket. He didn't particularly like her at the moment even though she was only a baby, still unable to talk or annoy him like a regular person his age could.

No, she was five years younger than him and had only been born the week before. His parents were just really close parents with hers, so the moment his parents got the call about Y/N L/N being born, they were pulling him towards the car so that they could go visit.

Steve wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of jealous. He just didn't get how Y/N was so special and why his parents were gushing over her when they hardly paid attention to him half of the time.

"What makes you so special?" Steve softly asked as he leaned against the edge of the crib, his fist pushing against his cheek and causing his skin to scrunch up as he stared at her. He brushed his hair back with his hand and scrunched his nose up as Y/N started to move. The baby then let out a small yawn and Steve froze. Okay, so that was kind of cute.

Steve quickly shook his head, his mop of hair moving with him as he did so. He wouldn't allow himself to have those thoughts. He wouldn't let himself break when he was trying everything in his power not to like the girl that had stolen the attention of his parents away from him.

A small coo had him looking back down at the girl and his breath hitched slightly at the sight of big e/c eyes staring up at him. A huge grin appeared on her face as she looked up at him, her arm moving in a jerking motion as she squirmed. "I won't lie. You are kind of adorable," Steve muttered as he looked down at the girl. She let out a small coo and the corners of Steve's lips turned up ever so slightly.

He noticed that her blanket was staring to fall off and reached in to fix it, the small action causing Y/N to reach out and grab onto his thumb with her tiny hand. Steve instantly froze, his eyes flickering over to lock on the baby who was staring at him with wide eyes and a toothless grin. Steve's heart melted in that moment and he gently moved her arm up and down by moving his thumb that she was still latched onto. "I guess you're not that bad," Steve whispered.

As if understanding what he had said, Y/N let out a small laugh that made him smile as a giddy feeling filled the five year old's body. And it was in that moment, with the little girl staring up at him, that he realized the responsibility that he had now bestowed upon himself.

Steve lovingly rubbed the soft skin of Y/N's tiny hand before whispering, "I'm Steve. You don't have a brother right now, but. . .but I can be that for you if you want? I'll love you with all my heart and take care of you. And don't worry, I'll protect you, okay? I'll always protect you."

- - -

Lucas let out a small sigh as he looked around his first grade classroom, watching as the kids all went to sit by their friends, making sure to avoid his table entirely. He didn't know what he did that was so wrong, but no one ever seemed to want to talk to him or even sit at the same table as him.

Staring at his empty table, Lucas let out a sigh before reaching for the crayons and beginning to work on his drawing. He didn't even realize someone had walked up to his table before a small voice asked, "Can I sit here?"

Lucas almost fell out of his seat from the sudden noise and looked up with wide eyes to see a young girl standing there. She gave him a small smile and it was only then that he remembered she had asked him a question.

"Uh. . .sure. Yeah," Lucas smiled, happy that someone actually wanted to sit with him. He watched as she sat down, but his eyebrows furrowed in confusion once he saw her pull back the other chair as if someone were going to sit down.

The girl noticed his stare and slapped her forehead. "Silly me. I'm Y/N and this is my friend Frank," she said with a giggle. She then glanced at the empty seat before leaning closer to Lucas and whispering, "He's a bit shy." Lucas snickered and Y/N winked at him before pulling away and grabbing a green crayon. She began coloring and started to tell Lucas her whole life story it seemed like.

Lucas didn't mind. He actually enjoyed the girl's company, finding her quite funny and entertaining with the way she moved her hands around as she spoke. It was only when she was in the middle of telling Lucas a story about the time she broke her arm because Frank told her to try and stick a landing by jumping off a tree that her crayon broke and she fell silent.

"Shit."

The two froze at that and Lucas looked up at the girl who seemed a bit surprised that she had uttered that word. Her eyes locked with Lucas' and the two sat there for a moment before they burst into laughter, huge grins on their faces.

"I like you!" Lucas exclaimed as he pointed his crayon in her direction. He gave her a big grin before tilting his head and asking, "Want to be best friends?" Y/N returned the smile before saying, "Sure! I was getting kind of bored of Frank anyways. He likes to eat too much candy and I don't need that or the cavities in my life." She then picked up a red crayon before glancing over at the empty seat and shrugging her shoulders. “Sorry, Frank."

- - -

Dustin skipped out of school with a grin on his face as he headed towards his bike. It was the second week of second grade and Dustin loved it so far. He didn't have many friends except for a boy named Lucas, but he had slowly started becoming friends with two other boys named Mike and Will. He didn't care about not having many friends. He was just happy with life and that was all that mattered.

In that moment, Dustin was most excited about getting home to show his mother the small painting he had made for her today. It was two stick figures, one being him and one being his mother, with a small blob that he had determined was his cat Mews. He was no Picasso, but his mother wouldn't care. The fact that it was coming from him was all that mattered.

Dustin could see his bike by now and his grin widened just a little as he stopped skipping and went to run towards it. However, just when he went to step forward, the force of two hands shoving him in the back had him tumbling to the ground.

His hands scrapped against the ground as he tried to catch himself and he let out a small hiss of pain as he stilled on the ground. "Ouch," Dustin muttered, pulling himself up slightly so that he could turn and see who had just pushed him.

He let out a mental groan at the sight of Troy Walsh and his friend James Dante, the two school bullies in his grade. "Better watch where you're going, Toothless. You don't want to lose more teeth, do ya?" Troy cackled, James snickering from his side.

Dustin tried to get up, but James just shoved the boy down. Dustin let out a defeated sigh and looked up at the boys from under his hat. "I've told you before. I have cleidocranial dysplasia," he muttered, his shoulders slumping slightly as he was being bullied for a condition he couldn't control.

"Those are some big words. You sure you know what they mean?" James laughed. “You sure you do?" Dustin retorted earning glares from the boys before Troy sent a kick to his side. Dustin groaned and held onto his side while the two bullies glared at him.

"A little birdie told me you have a pretty gross trick you can do with your arm. We want you to show us, freak," Troy demanded. Dustin went to shake his head, but James kicked him hard enough to have him falling back again. "Show us!" James exclaimed.

Dustin looked up at the boys shyly before moving his arms in a weird way so that they popped. Troy and James both winced before Troy muttered, "That was disgusting. Do it again." "I don't want to," Dustin told them as he fixed the way his arms looked. Not that it hurt doing it, but the movement could feel uncomfortable at times.

"You really are a freak, aren't you?" Troy laughed before sending another kick at the boy's side. Dustin groaned and hugged his body close to himself as the boys continued to taunt and kick him. All he wanted was to go home, but the fact that he had no friends meant that he had no one who would stand up for him. So all he could do was wait until the boys were done having their fun.

"Hey, assholes!" a voice exclaimed making the kicking stop for a second as all three boys turned to see a girl in a yellow dress with her hair tied back with a yellow bow standing there with a glare on her face.

Dustin recognized her almost immediately. He had seen her hanging around Lucas quite often. The girl was Y/N L/N and her and Lucas had been best friends since the previous year. He had always wanted to try and talk to her, but she was never around Lucas when he was there and the idea of talking to a girl scared him from talking to her when she was around Lucas.

By now the kids that were outside waiting on their parents to pick them up had turned their attention over to the group and the girl who had just openly cussed in front of everyone. Some children were snickering while others were wide eyed, but no one made a move to stop them.

"I'm sorry. Were you talking to us?" Troy asked, turning his attention away from Dustin to look at Y/N in disbelief. "Well you're the only assholes here, so who else would I be talking to?" Y/N questioned. Troy and James both went to say something, but Y/N didn't even give them the time of day as she said, "Leave the boy alone."

"Who? Toothless over here?" James asked as he kicked Dustin for good measure. "No, I don't think we will," Troy told her. "Why? Because your life sucks so badly and you're so insecure that you have to make up for it by bullying others?" Y/N retorted, earning small snickers from the kids while Troy and James glared at her with red faces.

"Insecure? What makes you think we're insecure? If anything, you should be. I mean, with a rat face like yours who wouldn't be?" Troy laughed, James joining in, but Y/N only stared at them blankly, not fazed by them at all. The fact that she didn't react made the boys' laughter die down and a silence fell among the front schoolyard.

"Your words don't bother me, Walsh. Yours either, Dante. Want to know why? Cause why the hell would I listen to the two of you when you can't even take any of the quizzes in class without cheating off of others. And guess what? You still manage to fail! So why would the words of two dumbasses such as yourselves bother me?" Y/N asked, her eyebrows raised as she awaited an answer.

The laughter was getting louder by now and and Troy and James were both red faced. "I don't need to explain why you're insecure because I know you both know exactly what I'm talking about. Or do you want me to tell everyone right now just how much a pussy you two really are?" Y/N asked as she took a few steps closer to the boys.

To Dustin's surprise, they stepped back. "You bitch," James muttered. "No, you are the bitch," Y/N whispered in a dark tone. "So why don't you two stop being bitches and head home. Your mothers will be waiting for you."

Troy and James glared at the girl, but began to walk away. "You're going to pay for this, L/N!" Troy yelled after her. Y/N just rolled her eyes and flicked the boys off before turning away and looking to Dustin who was still on the ground. "You okay?" she asked as she walked over to the boy.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," Dustin said as he stared up at the girl in shock. Y/N smiled and held a hand out for the boy to take. He quickly grabbed on and she helped him into his feet before the two smiled at each other. “That was amazing," Dustin told her. "Thank you."

"Don't let them bother you. Troy and James are idiots," Y/N said. She stared at the boy for a moment before saying, "I think I've seen you with Lucas before. Lucas is like my best friend."

"Yeah, we've hung out a couple of times," Dustin told her before he held a hand out. "I'm Dustin by the way. Dustin Henderson." Y/N smiled and took his hand before shaking it. "Y/N," she said, "Y/N L/N." And that was the beginning of their friendship.

- - -

"Y/N can do it!" Wheeler exclaimed causing Y/N to blink out of her thoughts she had been having to see Wheeler, Dustin, and Lucas all staring at her. “What?" Y/N asked confused seeing as she hadn't listened to a word the boys were saying. She was too busy thinking about Will who had been missing for a couple of days now. She was really worried about him, so she had found herself drifting off into space more and more often because of how much she missed him.

"You're a girl," Dustin said causing Y/N to blink. "Wow. Nice going, Sherlock. How long did it take for you to figure that out?" Y/N asked sarcastically earning a snort from Lucas who high fived her while Dustin looked unamused.

"What we are getting at is that because you are a girl, you can help get El ready and like do her makeup and stuff," Wheeler explained. Y/N hesitated and let her eyes flicker over to the girl who had literally appeared out of no where.

Eleven was the girl the group had met in the woods the other night. She had been wearing ratty clothes, had all of her hair shaved off, and didn't seem to know many words since all of her responses were only a couple words long. Y/N still didn't entirely know the girl, but Eleven seemed nice enough and Y/N actually liked her. The fact that Eleven seemed to know how to help Will also made her more accepting of her as well.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend like you didn't just assume I know how to use makeup because I'm a girl. But I probably do know more than you three, so you guys figure out an outfit while I go do El's makeup," Y/N sighed. The boys nodded and Y/N was quick to turn and take Eleven's hand before gently pulling her towards Nancy Wheeler's bedroom where she knew she would be able to find makeup of some kind.

It took a few minutes, but the two girls were eventually sitting on Nancy's bed while Y/N did Eleven's makeup. Eleven was a shy girl and didn't like to say much, so Y/N just softly hummed as she worked, pretending not to notice the way Eleven looked at her and smiling softly when Eleven tried humming the song back.

"And done!" Y/N exclaimed once she had finished up, closing the lipstick as she leaned back to look at the girl. Y/N grinned before putting the makeup down and pulling Eleven off the bed, a small laugh escaping her lips as she brought the girl over to the mirror.

Eleven froze at the sight of herself before she hesitantly reached up and poked at her face. She was silent for a minute before whispering, "Pretty?" Y/N smiled and whispered, "You're pretty with or without the makeup, El."

Eleven smiled at that and Y/N returned it as she wrapped an arm around the girl's neck and hugged her, the two looking at their reflections. Eleven was silent again as her eyes flickered between her own reflection and Y/N's. Y/N could tell she wanted to ask something, so she didn't move as she waited for Eleven to speak.

"Friends?" Eleven finally asked, her eyes flickering to look at Y/N's through the mirror as if she were afraid to ask the question in fear of Y/N saying no. Y/N smiled and whispered, "Even better. We're best friends." Eleven smiled, obviously liking the sound of that. She found herself wrapping an arm around Y/N and hugging her just like Y/N was doing before whispering back in confirmation, "Best friends."

- - -

Playing D&D with only two people was quite hard and Y/N and Will didn't realize that until one afternoon when everyone else was busy. It didn't seem to bother either of them though since it only made the game that much more fun to figure out and Will really needed that at the moment.

It had been a couple of weeks since he had returned from the Upside Down and things hadn't been the same since before he had disappeared. Wheeler was depressed because of losing Eleven, so he had been kind of off the radar, wanting nothing more than to be alone. As for Lucas and Dustin, they talked to Will like they were walking on egg shells, so Will didn't hang out with them as much at the moment.

But Y/N was different. She knew how hard it was for Will to adjust after an experience like that, especially seeing as he couldn't even sleep without waking up screaming due to nightmares. Y/N knew Will would talk to her eventually, so she just decided to treat him like normal, joking and laughing around with him like the events that had taken place never happened. It helped both of them seeing as Y/N was also affected by the loss of Eleven.

Y/N treated Will like a normal human being and it was so comforting that he had been spending most of his days by her side, the two hanging out outside of school whenever the others couldn't and just enjoying being kids.

That's how they ended up where they were right now— in Will's living room playing D&D while Jonathan listened to music in his room. Lucas had had a doctor's appointment that day, Dustin had been grounded for accidentally setting his cat's tail on fire, and Wheeler had gone home, so Y/N had brought it upon herself to entertain Will by playing D&D.

Y/N was dressed up as a magician while Will was dressed up as a wizard and the two would break character every so often to chuckle at their outfits. Besides Will, Y/N was probably the second most enthusiastic about the game and she often took over the role of narrator when Wheeler didn't want to.

This was probably one of Will's favorite days with Y/N and he didn't know why. They were just playing a game, but maybe that's exactly why it was. There was no special treatment, no walking on egg shells. It was just the two of them, two best friends being the kids that they were.

Will watched Y/N silently, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how he had gained such a great friend like Y/N. As if sensing his stare, the girl glanced over at him, her hat tilting slightly as she did. She quickly fixed her hat and gave her friend an amused look as she raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked, the corners of her lips turning up into a smile.

"I just. . ." Will hesitated and Y/N furrowed her eyebrows. Will smiled softly before whispering, "Thank you, Y/N." He didn't have to explain what he was thanking her for. It was for her treating him normally, for playing D&D with him, for just being his friend.

Y/N was silent for a minute as she just stared at her friend, her heart warming slightly as she realized just how much she had missed him while he was gone. She smiled, "No problem, Will the Wise. Now choose your action!"

Will let out a loud laugh and neither of the kids noticed Jonathan who was watching from the doorway, happy to see his brother finally acting like himself for once. Will glanced at his friend and gave her a sly look as he picked up the dice. "Fireball."

- - -

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Y/N muttered in frustration as she flipped through the pile of records she had in the box in front of her. Letting out a groan once she had hit the back of the box, Y/N turned her body to look at Wheeler who was standing on the other end of the store.

"Wheeler, tell me some good news please!" Y/N called out, but the frown on Wheeler's face was enough of a response. "Shit," the twelve year old muttered as she hurried over to one of the boxes she had checked when they first arrived at the record shop. It was the morning before the Party's monthly karaoke night at Y/N's house and Y/N needed to get the latest Bruce Springsteen record to be able to use. Her and Wheeler always sang a song together and they were determined to sing Born in the U.S.A. However, they couldn't do that until they found the record first.

"We've checked everywhere, L/N. I don't think they have it," Wheeler said as he came to a stop beside the girl. "But how? It's still such a new album!" Y/N complained. "Exactly. They probably sold out," Wheeler told her.

"May I help you two?" a small voice asked causing the two to turn and see a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties standing at the end of the aisle. "Oh, yes!" Y/N exclaimed as she hurried over to the woman. "We're looking for the new Bruce Springsteen record but can't seem to find it."

"Oh, you two are fans of Bruce? I think we sold our last record earlier this morning," the woman told them causing Wheeler and Y/N to frown. "But I think we might have a few stragglers in the back if you two want to come and check." The twelve year olds' eyes lit up and Y/N gripped onto Wheeler's arm as the two jumped up and down in excitement. "Yes, please!" they both exclaimed.

The woman chuckled before gesturing to follow her. She brought them to the back where there were a few boxes of records laying in storage. "You two are free to look through the boxes if you would like. I'll be out front once you two are done," the woman told them before she began to walk away. "Thank you!" the two kids yelled after her before they looked to the boxes. They glanced at each other before practically breaking into a run.

The two were looking through the boxes within seconds and it took a few minutes before Wheeler cried out triumphantly, "I found it!" Y/N's eyes lit up and she turned to see Wheeler holding the record up in the air. She squealed before running over to the boy and hugging him in excitement. "We hit the jackpot! Hurry! Let's go buy this so we can try it out!" Y/N said.

Wheeler nodded and the two went up to the front to pay for the record. It took about twenty minutes for them to buy the record and bike all the way to Y/N's house, but it was totally worth it once they heard the familiar beat of Born in the U.S.A filling the air.

"Born down in a dead man's town. The first kick I took was when I hit the ground," Y/N sang as she pointed to Wheeler, one hand up as if she were holding a microphone. Wheeler mimicked her actions and squeezed his eyes shut as he sang along to the music with as much passion as he could, "End up like a dog that's been beat too much. 'Til you spend half your life just covering up."

The two kids grinned before singing out, "Born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A!" The two kids danced crazily around the room with their eyes shut, neither of them realizing how close they had gotten before they tripped over each other's feet and went tumbling to the ground. Y/N and Wheeler opened their eyes and the moment their eyes locked, they burst into a round of childish laughter.

This is what it was like whenever the two were together. Their friendship could be a bit odd at times, but it was about as strong as her friendship with Lucas. They were best friends and partners in crime. But even more importantly, they were karaoke partners and that night when they sang along to their favorite song would just be another win on their long list of karaoke accomplishments.

So with their laughter filling the air and five more hours until the others were supposed to come over for karaoke night, the two kids got up and spun around the room, singing their favorite song and enjoying the moment they had together.

"I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A."

- - -

"You sure this is going to work?" Max whispered as she stared at the place in front of her. Y/N glanced over at her friend and chuckled before nudging her. "Of course it will," she told her. "Besides, you're with me. They love me."

Max rolled her eyes at her friend's ego and Y/N chuckled before linking her arm with her friend, the two walking into Scoops Ahoy side by side. "Harrington!" Y/N cried out before said boy came running out of the back room.

His eyes searched frantically before he saw Y/N standing there with Max by her side at the counter. "You little shit," he breathed out. "You can't just come running in here yelling for me like that. I thought something was wrong."

"But something is wrong," Y/N told him, the boy raising an eyebrow in amusement as a response. "I'm hungry." Steve rolled his eyes, but let out a small chuckle. "You've got a problematic life I see," he joked making Max chuckle while Y/N reached across the counter to lightly punch the boy's arm. "What would you two like?"

"Can we try one of everything and then decide what we want?" Y/N asked as she put an innocent smile on her face. Steve looked at her unamused. "I know what you're trying to do-" he began, but Y/N leaned on the counter and gave him her best pleading face as she batted her eyelashes. "Please, Stevie. Please," she said.

Steve was silent for a minute before a voice behind him said, "You're screwed." The group turned to see Robin standing with a whiteboard that had Y/N's name written on one side and Steve's on the other. "I know you, Harrington, and Y/N just pulled the puppy dog eyes on you. She's going to win this round once again," Robin said as she went ahead and drew another tally mark under Y/N's name, adding it to the collection of tally marks already there.

"No one asked you. Put that thing away!" Steve exclaimed in annoyance. Robin chuckled and held her hands up in surrender before pushing the board aside. Steve rolled his eyes before turning back to Y/N and Max who were both now giving him their best puppy eyes. He let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll get you two your samples. Now go ahead and sit down," he told them.

Y/N grinned before leaning across the counter to kiss Steve's cheek. "Thanks, Steve. Love you!" she exclaimed as she turned and dragged Max away to go find a seat. "Love you too, squirt," Steve chuckled before going to get the samples for the girls.

"Holy shit. I can't believe that worked," Max muttered as the two slid into a booth. "It's Steve. He's a sucker when it comes to me," Y/N laughed. "I love him so much."

"I wish Billy was like that. Steve isn't even your real brother," Max pouted. "He might as well be," Y/N muttered. "I'm sorry about, Billy. I think he's just going through some things right now. But in the end, he's always going to love you." Max smiled softly at that and gave Y/N a thankful nod.

"I wish Eleven was here," Y/N said, trying to change the subject. "The three of us hanging out together? Think of all the mischief we could get into!" Max chuckled, "Yeah, but's she's too busy sucking faces with Mike." The two grimaced at the thought before letting out loud laughs.

"You know, I'm glad you moved here," Y/N suddenly said, the comment making Max freeze before she looked to her friend with a smile. "I don't know. I mean, I love the boys and everything, but it's nice having some friends that are girls as well." Max smiled softly, thankful that Y/N had said that especially since she had been doubting herself in the friend group recently. "Thanks, Y/N. It's a pleasure to be able to save you from the boys," Max jokingly said.

The two girls chuckled and were in the middle of laughing when Steve set their samples down before them. Their eyes instantly lit up and Steve pointed a finger at them. "Just this time, okay?" he said. "Yes, sir!" the two girls said before they mock saluted him, thus causing another round of laughter. Steve rolled his eyes with a smile on his face before he ruffled Y/N's hair and went back to working.

Max and Y/N both glanced at each other before looking to the samples before them. There were so many that they knew they wouldn't be hungry when they were done. Y/N smirked before looking up at the red head.

"First once to get a brain freeze loses."

"Oh you're so on."

- - -

"Dammit," Mike Hanlon muttered as he stared at the bags that had fallen from his bike and onto the sidewalk. Luckily nothing had spilled, but he was going to be late to meet up with his friends if he didn't get all of his shit together.

With a frown on his face, Mike set his bike up against a building before bending down to pick up the packages he had to deliver later. His grandfather had been in a good mood and allowed him to meet up with his friends before delivering the packages, so Mike could not mess this up.

Today was the day he was supposed to be meeting the girl who had become close to the Losers. From what the others had told him, she had just moved from Indiana and seemed to be pretty amazing. He hadn't had the chance to meet her yet because he was homeschooled and work had kept him busy, but he was finally getting to meet the girl today and Mike was honestly quite nervous. He wondered what she would be like especially since each of the Losers has described her in different ways.

Stan had called her a great listener while Eddie called her a kind and understanding person. Beverly had described her as the coolest chick one would ever meet and Ben had talked about how she had great taste in music. Then there was Richie who, in true Richie fashion, had called her a babe much to Bill's annoyance. And finally Bill, who was obviously crushing on the girl, had just gushed about how great of a person she was before realizing he was getting carried away and becoming embarrassed. Mike knew he was going to like the girl just from the way his friends described her, but whether she liked him or not was the nerve racking part.

Lost in his thoughts, Mike didn't even seem to realize someone was helping him pick up the packages until his head smacked into theirs. Both of them let out a groan before Mike looked up to see a girl staring at him. She gave him a small sheepish smile before saying, "Sorry, are you okay?" "No need to apologize. It was my fault," Mike quickly rushed out as he stood up, the girl following suit. The two stood there awkwardly for a moment and Mike blinked before turning and trying to put the packages back into the basket on his bike.

Noticing the struggle, the young girl who looked to be around his age chuckled and said, "Here. Let me help." Before Mike could say anything, she had reached out and taken the packages from Mike. In a matter of seconds she had the packages in the basket and was tying them in place with some string that he had tried to use, but failed to use properly.

Once she was done, the packages were so secure Mike knew they wouldn't fall. He looked to the girl surprised and she smiled before saying, "I was the newspaper girl back in my old town, so I kind of learned how to tie the huge pile of newspapers onto my bike pretty well." "Well, thanks," Mike told her, smiling softly as he did. "It's no problem really," she said. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go. I'm supposed to be meeting someone in a couple of minutes."

"Funnily enough, me too. Hopefully I see you around?" Mike suggested. The girl smiled and gave him a short nod before hopping onto her bike and pedaling away. It wasn't until she was gone that Mike realized he never got her name. Mike shrugged it off and checked his watch before muttering, "Shit." He was going to be late at this rate.

Mike quickly hoped into his home before pedaling across town and towards the quarry. Thankfully he made it with a minute to spare. However, the Losers were already there so he knew Richie was going to give him crap for not being there early.

The boy put his bike stand up before getting off his bike and running over to the cliff where the Losers were all standing there talking to someone that he couldn't quite see. It was when the others noticed him and stepped out of the way that Mike's eyes widened in disbelief.

He watched as the girl who had helped him earlier walked out, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she tilted her head at him. "Hello again. I'm guessing you're Mike, right?" she asked, the boy nodding in response. "Nice to meet you, Mike. I'm Y/N."

- - -

Richie and Y/N hadn't always been as close as they were. In fact, Richie had been a little skeptical about the girl at first, although it didn't quite show since he never allowed his true feelings to be on display for everyone to see.

So when he had invited the Losers to come to the arcade with him and Y/N had been the only one free, Richie had honestly debated on just not showing up. However, Richie wasn't that type of person and knew he would feel guilty about it for the next six months if he didn't show, so Richie made a point to go to the arcade and had even gotten there early to make sure he wasn't late when Y/N showed up.

While he waited, Richie found himself playing Streetfighter with a boy who he didn't know the name of. He didn't know how long they were playing, but both boys were laughing and kept sneaking glances at each other as they played. Richie had only felt this way around one other person, but he was still coming to terms with it, so he pushed it aside.

It was only when the game was over and the boy went to walk away that Richie realized he didn't want to boy to leave and began to panic. "Um. . ." Richie quickly grabbed a quarter and held it up for the boy to see. "How about we play again? Play some more, you know?"

The boy was silent for a minute before he glanced over his shoulder at the sound of some kid whimpering. He caught sight of Henry Bowers before turning back to Richie who, not wanting to make the boy uncomfortable, quickly added, "Only if you want to."

"Dude, why are you being weird?" the boy said making Richie furrow his eyebrows confused. "I'm not your fucking boyfriend." Richie's eyes widened. "Woah, I-I didn't-" Richie began to say, but he was cut off by Bowers appearing behind the boy with the rest of his gang.

At that moment, Y/N came rushing into the arcade looking a little frazzled. She checked her watch and muttered, "Shit." She was a couple of minutes late and she really hoped Richie was still here. She bolted into the arcade, but paused once she saw that everyone was standing still as they watched Bowers yell at Richie.

"You trying to bone my little cousin?" Bowers asked, Richie's face growing red as he stood there frozen in place not knowing what to think or what was happening. "Get the fuck out of here, faggot! Fucking move!"

Before Y/N could so much as react, Richie was running out of the arcade, the tears obviously blurring his vision as he stumbled outside. Y/N stared after her friend before hearing laughter in the air. She turned and her eyes instantly locked on Bowers who was laughing like he had just done the funniest thing in the world. She didn't know what she was doing, but she was blinded by rage and before she knew it Bowers was on the floor and she was on top of him, her fists punching him repeatedly as she screamed at him and cussed him out for what he had done to Richie.

As she did a double fist dance on Bowers' face, Richie sat outside on a bench in the park across the street from the arcade, his face in his hands as he cried. He didn't even care if anyone saw him at the moment, the idea of holding back his emotions only making him cry harder.

"Fucking Bowers!" Richie yelled out as he brought his hands up to his hair and pulled. "Fuck!" He was sobbing at this point, everything hurting so much that he didn't notice anything that was happening around him. He didn't even notice Y/N standing before him before she whispered, "Richie?"

Richie hesitated at that before he quickly wiped his tears away and looked up at the girl, her eyes already looking at him with so much concern that it made his heart ache. No one had ever looked that worried over him. He didn't know what it felt like to have someone care about him that much to be worried for him the way she was. Although hiding his emotions made it hard for anyone to ever worry about him. Anyone except for Eddie.

"Richie, are you okay?" Y/N whispered, her eyes pleading with him to tell her what was going on. She had called him Richie, not Tozier, Richie realized. For some reason, that alone was enough to make him break down a little more and he looked back down. "Of course I'm okay," Richie tried to reply in his usual upbeat tone, but him having to wipe away his own tears took away the effect.

Y/N was silent for a moment before she sat down next to the boy. Richie stared at the ground, not wanting to look her in the eyes. Y/N remained silent a little longer before she placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered again, "Richie, are you okay?" Richie broke at that, the sobs returning while Y/N quickly wrapped her arms around him causing the boy to turn and hug her back just as tight. She let him stay like that as long as he needed before the boy eventually pulled away, his eyes landing on her hands which were caked with blood.

"Well shit, what happened to you?" Richie asked with a small laugh as he wiped away his tears. “I beat the shit out of Bowers, that's what happened," Y/N explained, finally allowing Richie to connect the dots and realize that she had seen everything that had happened in the arcade.

For some reason, he found himself chuckling at that and turning his head so that he could look at her. He stared at her for a moment before suddenly blurting out, "I'm gay." Y/N glanced at the boy and Richie blushed before looking away and whispering, "Fuck. That wasn't how I wanted to say that. Fuck, Richie, you fucking loser. Holy shit, I can't believe I just- Fuck!"

Richie let out a sigh before looking at his hands. "I know you saw what happened in the arcade with Bowers, but I didn't even do anything. I didn't even know that was his cousin for starters. We were just playing Streetfighter and I asked if he wanted to play again and he started making fun of me before Bowers appeared and then you know the rest," Richie went on.

Richie was red faced by now. He had never opened up to someone like this before especially not to Eddie who he knew would never know about any of this. So telling Y/N was a big deal for him and he suddenly felt weird about having told her, the fear of rejection looming over him as he sat there. He was embarrassed.

Y/N was silent for longer than Richie would've liked, but she eventually reached out and took his hand before giving it a small squeeze and whispering, "Rich?" The boy was hesitant but let his eyes flicker over to her, the small smile she gave him making him relax a little bit. "It's okay if you're gay or straight or bi. Who you like isn't what defines you. You're still the same person. And I'm going to love you no matter what because you're still Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier," Y/N assured him.

Richie was silent for a moment as he stared at the girl in disbelief. His eyes began to well with tears and it took him a moment longer to reach out and hug the girl, the weight from finally telling someone and being accepted for who he really was being lifted off his shoulders. Y/N hugged the boy back and, once again, allowed him to hug her for as long as he needed. It was only when he pulled away that she stood up and held a hand out to him.

"Come on. I brought a bag full of quarters and I intend on using them," she told him, a small smile on her face as she stared at the boy. "What about Bowers?" Richie asked, trying not to seem like he was afraid of coming face to face with the boy once again.

"We can handle him," Y/N assured him. "Besides, he's got a shit punch anyways." Richie let out a small snort at that before reaching out and taking the girl's hand. She smiled and pulled him up onto his feet before they began to walk away from the bench.

And with that, the two went back to the arcade hand in hand, both of them happy that they now had a new best friend by their side.

- - -

Birds were Stan's favorite animals. They always had been since he was five years old and he was gifted a book on birds for his birthday. Since that day he had used that very book every Saturday, the day he would sit outside or camp out in the woods to just look at the birds and see which ones he could find.

Stan tended to go bird-watching by himself, the other Losers not particularly liking the activity. Each of them had come with him once before, but it didn't take much for Stan to notice how bored they were before he would sigh and let them leave. They always felt somewhat guilty for it—minus Richie who made some crude joke before leaving— but Stan always assured them it was okay and they would go, leaving Stan behind to bird-watch by himself once again.

But things changed one Saturday morning when Y/N decided she wanted to see what Stan spent his time doing when the others weren't around. Stan was afraid to show her seeing as she was one of his newest friends and he didn't want to scare her away.

He quite liked Y/N actually and the two had become almost as close as he was with all the other Losers. Y/N tried to divide her time up equally with everyone, but it wasn't much of a surprise that she spent just a little more time with Bill than the others. So when Y/N had asked Stan to let her tag along, the boy had been both surprised and nervous. For some reason, he really didn't want Y/N to be bored and make fun of him like the others.

To his surprise, Y/N did the exact opposite. They had been bird-watching for an hour now and Y/N hadn't lost the small sparkle in her eyes or the smile on her face as she desperately searched for the birds among the trees. Every so often she would nudge the boy and ask him what bird the one she was pointing at was and he would whisper facts to her while they stared at the bird ahead. It was the first time someone was genuinely interested and the fact warmed Stan's heart.

"Stanley," Y/N whispered before she nudged him gently, instantly knocking him out of his thoughts. "Stanley. Stanley. Stanley. Stan. Stan the Man." Stan chuckled softly before whispering back, "Yes?" Y/N glanced at the boy before pointing towards a small bird that was blue with a light yellow belly and a black stripe across its head that led away from the beak. "What's that one?" she asked softly in an attempt to not scare the bird away.

Stan turned his attention to the bird and narrowed his eyes slightly before whispering, "That bird is called a nuthatch. You know they can walk up and down a tree? They are really smart too. Some of them even use a piece of bark to help pry open other pieces of bark so that they can look for insects." "Woah," Y/N breathed out. "That's so cool."

Stan chuckled and whispered out a few more facts about the bird while they watched it walk up the tree. Eventually the bird flew away and Y/N made that same face where her lips opened up as a huge grin broke out on her face, her sparkling eyes following the bird until it had disappeared before she leaned back with a small content sigh escaping her lips.

Y/N had never realized how calming and intriguing bird-watching could be. Her life was always moving fast, so getting the chance to sit down and enjoy the world instead of running from its horrors was something she couldn't thank Stan enough for.

"Stanley?" Y/N whispered, the name falling from her lips with ease. Stan had told her plenty of times that she could call him Stan, but she still called him by his first name most of the time. He wouldn't admit it, but he secretly liked the fact that she did. "Yeah?" Stan asked, his eyes flickering over to look at her before he looked back out at the different birds that were flying around.

"Thanks for bringing me along."

Stan kind of froze at that before turning his head so that he could get a good look at her. Y/N was staring at the birds with a warm smile on her face, the sunrise hitting her face so that it glowed. Not that he would ever think of her in that way, but for a second he could see why Bill liked her so much.

"Thanks for coming with me," Stan told her, the girl sending a small smile in his direction before reaching out and squeezing his hand gently. And with that, the two turned their attention back to the birds.

Their friendship became ten times stronger that day and from then on they spent every Saturday morning in Stan's backyard watching the birds and taking a break from life.

- - -

The soft rustling of pages as he and Y/N flipped the pages of their books was all Ben could hear that Friday evening. They were in the library doing research on Hawkins since Ben found all of the events Y/N had described to be almost as interesting as Derry.

It had all started when she first told them about her life in Hawkins during the first day of school. She hadn't opened up about some of the more serious stuff until the group had become close and Ben hadn't been able to stop himself from raising his eyebrows and muttering, "Hawkins, Indiana? Well I guess I know the next place I'm going to research."

That's how the two had ended up in the library a week later, no one in the group except for the two of them wanting to go research the place. They had spent probably the last two hours in the place just flipping through different books, but nothing had popped out.

Y/N was currently reading a Russian book which Ben had questioned about, but she hadn't given him an explanation, only smiling and opening the book before beginning to read. Ben on the other hand was reading a book about Hawkins itself and hadn't found anything out of the ordinary which made the town that much more of a mystery.

Ben was just about to flip the page again when a soft humming suddenly filled his ears, the tune making him freeze as he recognized it almost instantly. His eyes flickered up to Y/N who had started to move her lips as she quietly whispered to a Kids on the Block song, one that Ben was very familiar with.

"First time was a great time. Second time was a blast. Third time I fell in love. Now I hope it lasts," Y/N whispered, not one hundred percent realizing what she was doing. Ben was quick to whisper the next lines which made the girl look up at him in shock, "I can see it in your walk. Tell 'em when you talk. See it in everything you do. Even in your thoughts.” The two grinned before whispering together, "You got the right stuff, baby. Love the way you turn me on. You got the right stuff, baby. You're the reason why I sing this song."

They didn't realize their voices were raising, each of them getting more excited about the fact that someone they knew was a huge Kids on the Block fan like them. For Y/N, the only other person she could sing with had been Wheeler, but for Ben, he had never had anyone.

"All that I needed was you. Oh girl, you're so right. And all that I wanted was you," they sang. "You made all-" Y/N said before she pointed to the boy with a grin. "My dreams come true," Ben finished. "The right stuff." "The right stuff," Y/N nodded with a small laugh. The two went to sing the next part of the song when they were suddenly hushed by the librarian. Y/N and Ben froze before turning to see that everyone in the library was looking at them and that the librarian was even glaring at them.

The two went red faced and gave the group apologetic smiles before looking back down at their books. They waited a second before glancing up at each other and chuckling softly. "The right stuff," Ben whispered making Y/N grin so big that Ben couldn't help but smile back. She nodded before reaching out and fist bumping the boy. “The right stuff."

- - -

"What are we doing here?" Beverly asked confused as she glanced over at Y/N who was smiling and practically bouncing up and down on her feet. Beverly looked at the clothing store in front of her before looking to Y/N again and raising an eyebrow.

"Back in Hawkins, two of my closest friends were Eleven and Max. We would have these girl days where we would hang out at the mall and try on clothes and just have fun. I know you haven't been in the best mood this week," Y/N began. Beverly went to deny it, but Y/N just smiled and said, "And don't deny it because Ben already told me. Anyways, I wanted to cheer you up by having a girls day and since Derry doesn't have a mall, this is the next best option."

Beverly was silent for a minute as she tried to process what Y/N was saying. Finally she let you a small sigh and gave the girl a weak smile. "Okay, but only for an hour or two," Beverly said making Y/N squeal in excitement before grabbing her arm and pulling the red head into the store. “Trust me, Bev. By the time an hour is up you're never going to want to leave," Y/N said.

"Okay," Beverly said, obviously not believing her. However, Beverly realized just how wrong she was once the two were reaching the end of their second hour of shopping. They weren't even buying anything, only trying on clothes and looking at themselves in the mirror. But somehow Y/N had made it fun.

Y/N had them both try on ridiculous outfits and they would spend forever looking the mirror at themselves as they laughed to the point where workers had to come up and ask if they were okay. Y/N had even brought a Polaroid so that they could take pictures to remember all the fun they were having and she made Beverly pretend as if she were walking down a runway while Y/N took pictures of her, the two girls bursting into giggling fits every couple of minutes.

By the time the two hours was up, Beverly never wanted to leave and the fact only made her mood dampen. Y/N noticed the sudden change in demeanor and frowned as she watched Beverly reluctantly putting the clothes away.

"Hey," Y/N whispered as she came to Beverly's side and placed a hand on the red head's shoulder. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Beverly was silent for a minute before giving the girl a small smile. "Nothing," she assured her despite them both knowing she was lying.

"No, Bev. Come on. You don't need to lie. You can tell me anything. I promise I won't judge," Y/N said. "Was it all the pictures? I'm sorry. I should've asked before I-" “No, it wasn't the pictures," Beverly assured her. "I'm glad we have the memories."

Y/N smiled and Beverly returned it before looking down at her hands sadly. "I'm just a little sad it had to end is all," Beverly explained. "I never really had friends up until I met the boys, so I've never had a girl friend to hang out with. I guess I just didn't realize what I was missing and I'm afraid for it to end. I'm sorry. It probably sounds stupid."

"No, Beverly. It's not stupid," Y/N said. "I know how you feel. Until I met Eleven and Max, my four best friends were all guys. I hadn't even realized what having another girl around would be like and I was so afraid of losing Eleven and Max because I enjoyed getting away from the boys and spending time with them. I promise you this won't be the last girl day, okay? I can only handle Richie's trashmouth for so long."

Beverly chuckled softly before looking at her friend and smiling at her. "Thanks, Y/N," she whispered. Y/N smiled back and pulled Beverly in for a hug, the gesture making Beverly freeze for a moment before she fell into Y/N's embrace and hugged her back.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today," Y/N told her. "But the fun doesn't have to end here." Beverly pulled away to look at the girl and Y/N smirked. "Ice cream?" Beverly chuckled and shook her head at her friend before saying, "I thought you'd never ask."

- - -

All Eddie could hear was his own erratic breathing as he desperately tried to reach for his inhaler which was in his fanny pack. The only problem was that his fanny pack had been torn off of him by Henry Bowers and was lying on the concrete a few feet away and Bowers wouldn't let him near it long enough for him to grab his inhaler. His chest was on fire, his throat closing off more and more every second as it felt like someone was literally sitting on his lungs. He was growing more and more panicked, so his breathing continued to get worse and worse as tears filled his eyes.

This seemed to make Henry laugh harder and that made him start shoving and kicking Eddie harder than before. Eddie mentally cursed himself for having been walking alone. He had stayed after school to have a talk with his teacher and told the others to go ahead on to the quarry where he said he would meet them. Richie had been a little reluctant to go, but had left with the other Losers, leaving Eddie by himself. Eddie thought he would've been safe from Bowers, but it seemed as if Bowers had been waiting for him because the moment he stepped out of school, Bowers was there waiting.

Another kick to the side made Eddie's wheeze grow louder. He was biting his lip as he attempted not to cry, but his asthma was bothering him to the point where he could barely function and he knew if he didn't get to his inhaler soon he would end up having a full blown asthma attack.

As if sensing his prayers, the kicking and punching stopped, allowing Eddie to crawl over to his fanny pack and grab his inhaler. He quickly took a hit before holding his breath, allowing the medicine to fill his lungs and bring him some relief. He repeated the step once more, the medicine instantly making him feel better and allowing the beating of own heart in his ears to disappear.

Eddie put the inhaler in his fanny pack before putting it back around his waist and turning to see what had happened to Bowers. To his surprise, Y/N was standing there with a bloody fist while Bowers laid on the ground holding his face. He didn't even have time to think about why Y/N was still at school before Bowers was yelling out in anger.

"You bitch! I'm going to beat the shit out of you!" Bowers yelled as he pushed himself up and went to lunge for her, but Y/N was so mad that she merely swung back before sending her fist right into Bowers nose. A loud cracking nose filled the air and Eddie winced as he looked at Bowers who had fallen onto the ground with his nose turned at a weird angle. Eddie then quickly looked to Y/N and he paled at the sight of wrist bent in the wrong direction.

"Shit," he heard her whisper before she turned and looked to the boy. Her eyes widened at the sight of Eddie and she quickly ran over to him. "Eddie, are you okay?" "I'm. . .I'm fine. Your wrist though," Eddie muttered, his face paling more as he saw the injury up close. A groan had them both looking to see Bowers starting to get up off the ground.

Y/N was quick to think and grabbed Eddie's hand with her good one before pulling him up off his feet and dragging him away from the school as the two bolted away. They didn't stop running until they knew Bowers was far behind them and even then, Eddie had to be the one to stop the girl, his eyes still trained on her wrist.

They were both breathing heavily as Eddie gently reached out and went to move Y/N's wrist. She instantly winced and Eddie began to breath frantically as he started to panic. “It's broken. Shit, it has to be broken. We have to get help. We have to get you to the hospital. Do you know where the closest hospital is? Actually I think it's a few streets down. We should probably go before your wrist gets any worse. Shit, this is my fault! Why would you do that, Y/N?" Eddie rambled.

"Eds," she said causing the boy to quiet down and look at her. She was the only one that was ever allowed to call him that, so Eddie wasn't even fazed by the nickname. "First of all, I'm going to be fine, so calm down. Second of all, it was one hundred percent worth it. Bowers was being an asshole and I wasn't about to let him continue to treat you like that. Are you okay?" Before Eddie could think properly, the girl had reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes, a gesture that made him blush because he had seen mothers do that to their own kids but he had never been on the receiving end of that kind of touch.

"I'm. . .I'm fine. My inhaler helped," Eddie explained. "But we shouldn't be worrying about me. You're the one with a broken hand." Y/N just shrugged before letting out a small chuckle and saying in excitement, "But, Eds, did you see his nose? That thing's got to be broken as well!" Eddie looked at the girl in disbelief, silently wondering how she was able to remain so calm when her hand was literally broken. Then again, Y/N L/N always had been one to surprise him.

Smiling lovingly at the girl who was not only his best friend but like a sister as well, the boy gently took her good hand before tugging her forward. "Come on, my knight in shining armor. Let's get you to the hospital and get that wrist checked out," Eddie said, feeling a little more calm now thanks to Y/N who he knew had purposefully been cracking jokes and acting like everything was okay just to keep him calm. Y/N didn't fight him that time and the two made their way to the hospital. Y/N walked out that day with Eddie by her side and a bright white cast on that day with one signature already on it. Eds.

- - -

"A shower cap?"

Stan blinked in surprise before nodding his head. "Yeah, it's supposed to help keep the spiders out of your hair," he explained as he held the shower cap out for his friend. He had made a special trip out to the pharmacy to get her one, so he really hoped she would just take it, even if she didn't use it. Y/N smiled at the boy before taking the shower cap from him, the boy instantly relaxing in response. "Thanks, Stanley," she said before she put the shower cap on and looked to the others. They were all busy either talking or doing something else, so no one was looking at her except for Stan and Bill, the later smiling at her in an almost dreamy sort of way as he too wore his shower cap.

Bill chuckled softly at the sight of her and Y/N glanced at him before making a small face causing the two to burst into a round of laughter that had the other Losers looking at them and shaking their heads at how oblivious the two teens were. The Losers all looked away, leaving Bill, Y/N, and Stan the only ones paying attention once again.

"How did I look?" she questioned, directing it more towards Bill which Stan quickly realized. Stan smirked before walking way, neither of the teens noticing because of the fact that they were too caught up with each other. "B-B-Beautiful as always," Bill whispered, a blush dusting his cheeks at his own words. Y/N instantly blushed before smiling thankfully at Bill and leaning back in the hammock she had been lying in. She had to fight Richie and Eddie for it, but Eddie gave in almost instantly because he loved making the girl happy so it had been mostly her fighting Richie over the hammock before he had eventually caved and let her have it.

Now that she had the shower cap on, Y/N was busying herself with reading a Spider-Man comic while the others all goofed off, Bill secretly sneaking glances at her every so often. It had been one of the days they spent at the quarry which meant the evening was spent in their clubhouse that Ben had built under ground, thus leading to the spider problem. However, it was already getting quite late, so the Losers were slowly beginning to leave one by one. Y/N was too lost in her comic to really notice, but that didn't stop her from calling out a goodbye every so often. As for Bill, his eyes hadn't left the girl since she put the shower cap on, the sight being just too adorable for him to look away.

Stan and Ben were the last ones to leave the clubhouse that night and they rolled their eyes at the sight of Bill staring at their best friend, his feelings so obvious that they wondered if Y/N was really as smart as she claimed to be. "Night guys," Stan called out before he began to climb up the ladder, Ben quickly following. "Bye, Ben! Bye, Stan!" Y/N called out, momentarily looking up to smile at the boys before she was back to reading her comic.

"B-B-bye, guys," Bill said as he waved at the two. They just smirked at him and waved back before disappearing into the night, not noticing the look of confusion on Bill's face as they did so. Bill didn't think too much about the smirks his friends had sent him before he let his eyes flicker back over to Y/N who was looking up from the comic and at the empty clubhouse. "Woah. When did everyone leave?" she muttered in confusion.

"A w-w-while ago," Bill chuckled as he titled his head at the girl. "M-M-Maybe if you weren't t-t-too busy reading you would've n-n-noticed." Y/N gasped in fake shock before saying, "Let me tell you, Bill Denbrough. Peter Parker is nothing to joke about." Bill chuckled and she couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight of the beautiful boy before she waved him over.

Bill was quick to walk over to her and she smiled before holding the comic out. "Peter Parker is above his time, Bill. He's smart, sarcastic, funny, and a freaking superhero! He genuinely cares about people and he is always-" Y/N began to ramble on about the superhero, but her words fell on deaf ears as Bill just stared at her in amazement.

His eyes flickered over her face and the way her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek or the way her e/c eyes would flicker between him and the comic as she excitedly talked about the superhero she loved so much. It was like he was trying to memorize every inch of her face which maybe he was. He never wanted to forget this moment, even if nothing significant was happening. Y/N just looked so beautiful, shower cap and all, and Bill couldn't stop himself from not wanting to remember every little detail of this moment. The smell of wood in the air mixing with the strawberry scent of Y/N's shampoo that swirled through the air because of how close they were. The creaking of wood and the sound of the night filling the air around them. Then there was him and Y/N, Bill kneeling down beside the hammock with one hand against his cheek while the other was holding onto Y/N's hand, something neither had noticed yet.

A small smile appeared on Bill's face as he watched the girl and she paused for a moment before staring at him with an unreadable expression. Finally, she returned the smile before grabbing onto his arm and tugging him slightly as she whispered, "Come here." Bill's face reddened a little, but he still managed to pull himself into the hammock, Y/N instantly snuggling up against him as his arm wrapped around her waist.

Y/N seemed to be unfazed by the new step of their relationship, the two having never cuddled before, let alone been this close unless it was just to hug. Instead, she was already reading the comic out loud, adding her own little comments here and there to make Bill laugh, knowing that each laugh made him rest his face against the side of hers momentarily before he pulled away to look at the comic.

Or at least she thought he was looking at the comic. But in reality, his eyes were on her. Just like they always were and like they always would be. For to him, there was no better way to spend his evening than admiring the girl that had stolen his heart since the first day he met her almost two years ago.

- - -

The basement was unusually quiet that night as the Party and the Losers all sat in Y/N's basement trying to comprehend the events that had taken place only an hour before. None of them were able to come to terms with what had happened and no one even knew what to say. The silence was one they could all feel, each of them distantly hearing Y/N's laugh or one of her sarcastic and witty comments. It was haunting almost and the group could feel themselves breaking more and more with each second that passed.

Everyone was affected by what had happened to Y/N, but they all knew Bill was affected in a deeper way than they were. While their love for Y/N was merely a platonic, more family type of love, what Bill felt for the girl was the opposite. He cared about her so much that the group could practically feel their hearts aching for him, especially when they saw him sitting blankly in the corner with a tear stained face, red eyes, and his jacket clutched in his shaking hands.

"What are we going to do?" Eddie finally whispered as he wiped at the tears on his face. All he could think about was his friend, the girl who had stood up for him and who had promised to not let anything happen to him. Eddie could only think about how he should've promised that to her as well. He should've insisted on going with her, making sure that the girl was safe and by his side. Then maybe what happened wouldn't have happened.

"We're getting her back," Steve said, all eyes falling on him as he tried to act like he was fine despite the tears that kept falling from his eyes. The tears were collecting on his chin, threatening to fall down, and Steve was quick to wipe them away with a sniff. "That's what we're fucking going to do."

"Oh, really? And how do you plan on doing that, Einstein?" Richie asked bitterly, his emotions being out of whack making him lash out. Steve narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Watch it, Trashmouth. At least I intend on saving Y/N," he replied.

Richie shot up from his spot, his red eyes focused on Steve as he glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I don't want to save her?" Richie asked. "Wouldn't be surprised," Wheeler muttered, making Richie turn his gaze on the boy. "Of course you have something to say. You always do, don't you?" Richie shot back.

Wheeler stood up from his spot, ignoring Eleven as she tried to grab him and pull him back down. "Mike," Eleven whispered, but the boy shook his head. "No, El. I'm done with this asshole," Wheeler said as he walked over to Richie. Richie was raising an eyebrow at the boy and they both crossed their arms as Wheeler came to a stop in front of him.

"Steve was right. He's actually trying to do someone to help Y/N while you're just sitting there pouting. Y/N needs our fucking help, but you can't get over yourself enough to realize it. So why don't you just shut the hell up for once, go sit back down with your little friends, and let us handle the situation," Wheeler said.

Richie scoffed in disbelief. "I'm sorry. I don't seem to remember when I asked for your opinion? Y/N's just as much my friend as she is yours and you have to be batshit crazy to believe that I don't want to go save her," Richie shot back. "Well I didn't exactly see you rushing to save her when she was trapped behind the gate," Wheeler told him. "Oh, you mean the gate that your girlfriend shut? The gate that, because it was shut, allowed for Y/N to get trapped in the fucking Upside Down? That gate?" Richie asked as he jabbed Wheeler in the chest.

"Touch me again. No, better yet. Disrespect my girl again. See what fucking happens," Wheeler growled. "Mike," Eleven sighed as she got up from her spot. She knew Y/N wouldn't want them arguing like this and it seemed that Eddie realized this too. "Guys. Calm down. We really don't need to-" Eddie began as he walked forward and began to pull Richie away, Eleven doing the same to Wheeler. However, that was when Wheeler delivered the final blow, "You don't deserve, Y/N. None of you losers do."

Eddie froze at that, his hand that was on Richie's arm immediately dropping. He turned his face to look at Wheeler and gave him an unamused look before saying, "You fucking asshole!" Eddie was about to lunge at Wheeler, but Beverly and Ben quickly pulled him back. However, the Party seemed to notice Eddie's small advance and they were all up in a flash and by Wheeler's side, the Losers doing the same for Richie and Eddie. None of them knew how it happened, but before they knew it, the once silent room was filled with arguing as both side took shots at the other.

"Y/N's life has been one hundred times better since she left Hawkins! You ever wonder why she never comes back to visit?"

"I thought the move was the worst thing to ever happen to her, but after meeting you guys I see I stand corrected!"

"Say that shit again. I dare you!"

"Y/N would leave you all in a heartbeat to come back to Hawkins and she wouldn't even look back!"

"You motherfuckers!"

It all became a blur after that, everyone from each side yelling and shoving each other as their pent up emotions poured out of them. They were all hurt and upset about Y/N and this was all they could think of doing at the moment to relieve some of the pain.

As for Bill, he was still sitting in the corner by himself. It was only when the fighting seemed to register in his brain that the boy looked up, a look of complete disbelief on his face as he clutched the jacket harder and stood up from his spot. "Hey!" Bill yelled, but the groups were too red faced and into the fight for them to notice his yelling. Bill huffed in frustration before shoving his way to the middle of the group. He pushed the sides away from each other before yelling at the top of his lungs, "Sit the fuck down!" Hearing those words coming out of the stuttering boy who had been sitting quietly in the corner had them all freeze, each of them realizing what had just happened. Reluctantly, the two groups went to sit back down, but not before glaring at the other side.

Bill scoffed as he stared at the groups and shook his head as tears filled his eyes. "A-A-Are you fucking k-k-kidding me?" he asked, finally getting all eyes to turn on him as he looked at them in disbelief. "We have a life at st-st-stake and you all are bickering like a bunch of f-f-four year o-o-olds!" Bill exclaimed, his eyes looking at the groups in disbelief. "Pull yourselves t-t-together and get up off your asses. We've got a f-f-friend to save!" Everyone's anger seemed to dissolve slightly as they watched the boy, looks of guilt flashing across some of their faces.

Bill shook his head and looked down at the ground as he tried to calm himself down. When he looked back up and began to speak, his voice was clear and strong, not a single piece of evidence of his stutter falling from his lips causing everyone to realize just how serious he was being.

"I know each of you is hurting. I know. Y/N meant a lot to all of us. But you all have to realize just who is in this room because every person in this room plays a major role in Y/N's life," Bill said. He glanced at the Party and gestured towards them. "You guys grew up with her. You helped shape her into the person she was and gave her some of the best experiences of her life. You showed her what friendship was and what family means. She knows what she does today because of you."

Bill then gestured towards the Losers and himself. "We're the ones who have helped her through a tough part of her life. We've protected her with our own lives and have loved her unconditionally. She's been one of our own since day one and she will be until the day she dies," he told them. Bill sighed before saying, "Look, we all care about her and she cares about each of us. We're her friends. We're her family. No one can tell any of us any different."

"That's why we're all upset because not only are we scared of losing her, but we are scared of her forgetting about us in any way. But I promise you that it's not happening for either side. She's always going to be a member of the Party and she's always going to be a part of the Losers' Club. She's like the in-between, the perfect mix of each group. She won't forget her past and she won't forget her present," Bill said as he pointed to each of the groups.

"Y/N has always put our needs in front of her own, but right now, we're going to have to put her above everything else. Each of you is going to have to push aside your differences, your egos, your selfishness, and your attitudes if you want to get Y/N back. Because the only way to get our girl back is if we work together," Bill told them, his eyes flickering over the guilty expressions of the groups as they realized Bill was right about everything he had said.

"How are we going to do that?" Richie asked softly. "Cause I'm with you, Bill. I'm just. . .I don't want to screw up and lose her. We're going to have to make sure everything is perfect and right now the major thing in our way is finding a way to get back to her."

"That's w-w-where the first part of my p-p-plan comes into play," Bill told him. He then turned to look at Eleven who was looking to the ground. As if sending his stare, the girl glanced up. "Eleven, is th-th-there any way you th-th-think you could open the g-g-gate? I meant if you were able to cl-cl-close it, shouldn't you be able t-t-to either make one or o-o-open it?"

"You want her to make a portal that goes to the Upside Down?" Wheeler asked, his tone a little hard as he became protective of his girlfriend. "I can do it," Eleven said with a nod causing Wheeler to look to her. Eleven sighed and glanced at her boyfriend. "Y/N is our friend, Mike. Don't tell me you wouldn't try anything to get back the girl who you've been friends with since the second grade." Wheeler looked down, his expression softening at Eleven's words. Eleven put a hand to the boy's cheek before whispering, "I owe it to her to try." Wheeler nodded slightly and Eleven smiled before letting her eyes flicker over to Bill. Bill gave the girl a small nod in thanks which Eleven quickly returned.

"Bill is right," Beverly called out from where she was sitting beside Ben and Stan. Everyone looked to her and she glanced up from her hands before letting her eyes flicker around the room. "Both groups have to work together. It's the only way we are going to win this thing. It's the only way we are going to get Y/N back."

Bill nodded in agreement before allowing his eyes to flicker over each of the people in the room. His gaze stopped on Steve who was looking at the boy with an unreadable expression on his face. But then Steve was giving him a small nod of approval and thanks and Bill couldn't help but smile as a small wave of relief washed over him.

"All th-th-those in favor of t-t-teaming up to save Y/N?" Bill questioned as he looked around the room. Everyone's hands shot up into the air almost instantly and Bill smiled softly before looking down at the jacket in his hands. He then looked back up and gave the group a nod.

"Let's g-g-go save our g-g-girl then, shall we?"

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romantichopelessly · 5 years

Text

Of Risks and Rewards

HI GUESS WHAT IT’S FINALLY HERE IT’S FINALLY DONE AND IT IS LONG!!!! Going to keep this intro short because its such a long fic, but thank you to @insanelycoolish for helping me come up with this plot somewhat. Thank you to @sunshineandteddybears and @lazyscouts for reading it (most of it) and upping my confidence. Y’all are treasures.

This is the sequel to my Moxiety bracelet fic, which you can read here.

---------

Virgil was happy. Really, he was.

Ever since he had confessed--or, rather, Patton had guessed in an almost embarrassing turn of events--about his affection for Patton’s hugs, things had been… well, wonderful.

Patton was always quick to offer a hug these days. In fact, after a few weeks of Virgil using his newfound knowledge that Patton loved the contact just as much as he did to ask for any sort of contact that he needed or wanted, the two had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Now, neither Virgil nor Patton ever had to ask about affectionate gestures. They came naturally.

A good morning hug, a brushed shoulder in the hallway paired with a bright smile and a shy grin, thighs pressed together on movie night, an arm wrapped around a shoulder after a long night of cartoon marathons in Patton’s room…

Really, Virgil couldn’t ask for more.

Except, the thing was, he was slowly realizing that he could.

It was weird, realizing that he had feelings for his best friend that were not strictly platonic. But it was undeniable. Every time Patton smiled at him with those bright eyes, or leaned into him subtly when they touched, or, hell, even when Patton said his name, Virgil got this deep, fluttery feeling in his stomach and heart. He was not used to anything like this at all, it certainly wasn’t anything like the cold, stinging pinch of anxiety that he often felt around others. No, this was definitely something more pleasant.

It had taken time, too. Virgil hadn’t just grown these feelings for Patton suddenly. Really, if he was being honest with himself, he had been growing slowly but steadily past the realm of platonic with Patton ever since he had begun giving him those bracelets. Somewhere between the comforting touches and over the top dad jokes, Virgil had grown feelings for his best friend that had taken root so slowly and naturally, fueled by nicknames that were becoming less and less demeaning and cookies baked with love, that by the time Virgil fully realized it, he was sure that these feelings would never go away.

It didn’t take long for Virgil to diagnose it as what it really was.

Virgil had a crush on Patton.

No. Virgil was hopelessly, completely, endlessly head over heels for Patton, and he had no idea what to do about it.

----

“So you came to me for help, eh? Understandable, really, I am a master of romance!” Roman grinned brightly, his wild gestures coming far too close to Virgil’s face for comfort.

Grumpily, Virgil swatted Roman’s flourishing hand out of his personal space with a glare. “I came to you because there’s no one else I could have gone to, nimrod.”

Roman pouted, flopping down on the pristine white couch. The two of them were in Roman’s room. Honestly, Virgil avoided the place when he could, it was far too bright for his tastes, but it wasn’t as if he had much of a choice in the matter. Roman had pulled him into the room as soon as Virgil had uttered a single word about Patton. Virgil could not even bring himself to be mad about it, because he knew that he had to do something about these rapidly developing feelings, and he really didn’t think that Logan would be a huge help in that department.

“Is that any way to treat the person you came to for romantic advice?” Roman smirked up from where he was now lounging comfortably, as if he were blissfully unaware of the dire importance of Virgil’s situation.

Virgil bristled, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. “Would you stop saying that? I didn’t- It’s not like I can tell him or anything!”

“Why not?” Virgil shot Roman a look that the prince obviously understood the exact meaning of, because he quickly continued, his voice much softer. “You can’t just bottle up your feelings, Virge. They aren’t just going to go away on their own, especially with how much time you spend with Pat. You have to actually do something about it. You have to confess!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, pulling his arms closer to himself. It was a weak facsimile of a Patton hug, but it gave him some sense of comfort nonetheless. “Oh, yeah, right, pot and kettle, much?”

Roman blinked, his face reddening as he realized what Virgil was insinuating. “That- This isn’t about that. This is about you and Patton.”

“Right,” Virgil commented sarcastically, “this is certainly nothing like how you couldn’t, and still can’t say anything to Lo-”

Roman sputtered, sitting up straight and cutting Virgil off before he could even finish his sentence. “That is not the same! This is about you and Patton and how you two were made for each other!” Virgil scoffed but didn’t say anything as Roman continued. “Virgil, trust me, okay, you’d just feel better if you said something. Plus, I’m more positive that Patton won’t reject you than I am that my hair is incapable of looking imperfect!”

Virgil chose to ignore Roman’s self inflated ego, staring down at his shoes and letting it go for once. “I… I just don’t know, Roman. He’s my best friend, and if something went wrong-”

“Nothing went wrong that time you confessed about the bracelets, right?” Virgil’s head shot up, his eyes meeting Roman’s raised eyebrows, that were far too knowing for Virgil’s liking.

“Wh- How did you know about those? I- I never told-” Virgil could feel his cheeks starting to heat up. How many of them knew? Did everyone know? Oh, god, that meant that they were talking about him behind his back. They were talking about him and Patton behind both of their backs, who knew what they thought about it all, about how pathetic it was that Virgil hadn’t been able to just ask for a hug-

Virgil’s dark train of thought was immediately halted as Roman stood, his usual grand light back in his eyes once more. “That doesn’t matter, Gothic Horrors.” Virgil’s hands clenched where they were on his biceps, but he didn’t bother saying a word about the awful nickname. “What matters is that you confessed to that, and everything turned out okay! You’re closer than ever, and this can only make you even closer!”

Virgil hesitated, what seemed like hundreds of horrible outcomes to telling Patton springing to the front of his mind. However, the determined light in his friend’s eyes was somehow so convincing that he shoved those anxious thoughts aside and buried them in the back of his mind. “If you say so…”

“Perfect! Now, thinking about those bracelets gives me an idea…”

----

Virgil stood in front of the doorway to Patton’s room for what had to be the millionth time, a small, handmade bracelet concealed once again in the pocket of his hoodie.

Roman had surprisingly been a lot of help with making a plan once Virgil had accepted that he needed one. He had quickly developed what he described to be the perfect romantic gesture, and with only a little tweaking from Virgil to make the idea manageable for himself and his anxiety, the plan had been set in motion. It only took four new bracelets for Patton and a hell of a lot of courage.

Taking a deep breath, Virgil pulled his hand out of his pocket and knocked softly on his best friend’s door. He could do this. Phase one was in motion. He could still hear Roman’s too loud encouragements ringing in his ears, and, oddly enough, it was sort of comforting.

He could do this. This was Patton. They were a dynamic duo, and nothing could change that. Patton was love and understanding. It would all be alright.

No matter what Patton thought about taking their relationship to a romantic level, neither of them would let this cause a rift between them. It simply wasn’t who they were.

The door to Patton’s room opened and Virgil pulled himself from his thoughts.

“Hey, V!” Patton’s smile was easy. Infectious. Virgil instantly felt at ease. “What’s up? I was just trying out this new coloring book Roman made me, you wanna join?”

It was a tempting offer. Virgil almost considered taking it and saving the bracelet for another day as he looked down to see the crayon stains covering Patton’s hands and traveling up and down his arms. But no. He had a mission, and he wasn’t about to chicken out now. “As fun as that sounds, I, uh… I actually had something for you.”

Patton blinked before his eyes widened, bright excitement taking over his freckled face. “Really? What is it?”

Wordlessly, Virgil pulled his hand from his hoodie pocket, dangling the new, light blue bracelet from his hand, showing off the shiny silver ‘L’ charm that was hanging from the middle of it.

Patton gasped, his hands coming together to clasp in front of his chest. “Another bracelet?!” Grinning, he reached out to touch the jewelry.

Virgil flushed, holding it out further for Patton to get a better look. He would never tire of seeing the genuine and brilliant joy grow on Patton’s face whenever Virgil gave him one of his bracelets. It was really a sight to see.

He was so busy marveling at Patton’s enthusiasm that he almost missed the question that fell from those perfect lips.

“L?” Patton tilted his head slightly in confusion. “What does that mean?”

Virgil flushed, biting the inside of his cheek as he was faced with the question that he had been dreading.

He knew that he couldn’t outright lie to Patton. For two reasons. One being that he and Patton were both, by principle, against lying. The second, of course, being that Virgil definitely did not want any unsavory characters slithering in and ruining this moment for him. Or spilling the details of his plan before it was fully executed.

Carefully, Virgil lifted the bracelet from Patton’s curious fingers and draped it over the other side’s left wrist, using the now common motion of tying the strings as a space filler while he searched for what to say.

Tying off the knot and allowing himself a few stolen moments for his fingers to linger on the soft skin of Patton’s wrist, Virgil spoke softly, slowly looking up at Patton through his bangs.

“Well... an L can stand for a lot of things. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” Shoving his hands back into his pockets, Virgil offered a tiny half smile, hoping that his nerves didn’t show.

Patton giggled, obviously pleased with the cryptic answer. “I guess that I will!”

The two stood in a comfortable silence for a few more seconds, Patton admiring his new bracelet and Virgil slowly rocking back and forth on his heels, admiring Patton. Suddenly, Patton reached forward and gripped Virgil’s arms, tugging him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, Virgil.” Patton mumbled, his face squished into the fabric covering Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil didn’t even hesitate before bringing his arms up to wrap around his friend’s midsection, burying his face in Patton’s soft blue polo.

They stood like that for a few moments, just outside of Patton’s doorway, before the two pulled apart at the same time. Patton smiled, his eyes bright behind the thick frames of his glasses. “You wanna come in and color with me? Or we could watch a movie?”

Virgil, still feeling the warmth radiating from Patton’s body, nodded instantly. He had never been able to say no to Patton’s smile, and honestly, he couldn’t think of a reason why he would ever want to, when there was a promise of Winnie the Pooh and more of Patton’s soft smiles waiting for him in that room.

----

Virgil’s next opportunity didn’t come for quite a while.

He insisted that this was merely due to circumstance. He and Patton just hadn’t been alone very often in the week and a half since he had given the K bracelet. Every time that he said that, however, Roman gave him this look. This odd, knowing, disapproving look that Virgil was really beginning to hate. He would have regretted letting Roman in on his secret had Roman himself not been the one to come up with this plan in the first place.

Deep down, Virgil knew that it was his own fear getting to him again. It seemed like Roman knew as well, if the intense, silent glaring battle that they were currently having over the dinner table was anything to go by.

Virgil didn’t get a chance to confront the creative side about it because as soon as the meal had finished, Roman stood up quickly and practically dragged Logan out of the room, blabbering about some editing that he needed done, “Right at this very moment, it really is quite urgent, Virgil can help you clean up tonight, right, Padre?”

Patton had nodded so eagerly and smiled at Virgil so proudly, as if he had been the one to offer, that Virgil didn’t have the heart to put up a fuss about it. He had let Roman and Logan leave quietly and followed Patton into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

The two of them worked in perfect harmony, silently moving past one another in perfect sync. For a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was the running water and quiet clinking of dishes against one another.

Virgil allowed himself to fully relax into the easy companionship. It would never stop being a marvel just how easy it was to simply exist with Patton.

Virgil was content, his silent argument with Roman fully forgotten by the time that he and Patton finished cleaning up the kitchen. As Patton reached out and shut off the faucet, Virgil could only smile, his still slightly wet fingers already pulling the second bracelet out of his pocket.

Obviously he carried it with him everywhere, why wouldn’t he?

Filled with an unusual burst of confidence, Virgil moved behind Patton. His best friend was still drying the final plate, and in his newfound serene bravery, Virgil wrapped his arms around Patton and began gently tying the bracelet around his wrist.

The sight of the new piece of jewelry hanging next to all of the previous bracelets that Virgil had ever given Patton--he never took them off, not a single one, it would have been comical if Virgil hadn’t been so touched by the gesture--was enough to distract Virgil from the slight stutter in Patton’s movements at the sudden closeness and unexpected action.

After lingering a second too long, Virgil forced himself to step back, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie. He was just about to open his mouth and explain when Patton set down the plate and turned to face his friend.

Patton’s expression took Virgil’s breath away. His heart stuttered in his chest as he took in the bright happiness and pure… love. There was no other way to describe such a look. And sure, Virgil was nearly positive that it was a platonic love, but it was nevertheless the most beautiful sight that he had ever seen.

“I’m guessing that you won’t tell me what the O stands for?” Patton’s grin was a bit more playful as he spoke, looking between Virgil and the bracelet, specifically the charm dangling from it.

“N-Nope.” Even with the slight hesitation, Virgil managed to lift the corner of his mouth in a small smile, popping the p at the end of the word.

Patton’s smile softened and he stepped closer. Virgil could feel his heart thumping against his ribcage.

“Well…” Patton stopped, toe to toe with Virgil, his eyes sparkling with mischief behind his thick framed glasses. “I look forward to the next bracelet, then.” In the very next moment, so quickly that Virgil didn’t even have time to react, Patton leaned up on the tips of his toes and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s cheek.

“Thank you for helping me with the clean up, Virgil. And for the bracelet. It was all very charming!” Patton’s voice was so chipper, as if nothing had even happened, as if Virgil’s world was not slowly imploding.

Virgil nodded uselessly. He could feel his cheeks flaring red beneath his foundation. He prayed that Patton wouldn’t notice. Luckily, Patton didn’t seem to as he giggled and turned on his heel, heading back towards the family room.

Virgil was left standing in the middle of the kitchen, his hand slowly coming up to cup his cheeks where Patton’s lips had been just seconds prior. The situation was just beginning to sink in when Virgil snapped out of it.

“Was that a bracelet pun?!”

----

Virgil was ashamed to admit that he chickened out at the third bracelet.

He didn’t mean to. Or, well, he certainly wasn’t a beacon of enthusiasm to hand over the bracelet that could essentially make or break his confession to Patton, but he had planned on it.

It simply… didn’t turn out that way.

Because as much as Virgil replayed that kiss on the cheek over and over and over again, letting the phantom sensation of Patton’s lips against his skin keep him up night after night, the possibility of another kiss on the cheek from his best friend was not enough to convince Virgil to continue on with the plan.

Obviously, it was a strong motivator. Part of Virgil was positive that he would do anything to feel that again. However, Virgil also knew that he would hate himself if he allowed Patton to do something so innocently intimate again before Virgil had completed his confession. It wouldn’t be fair to Patton. Just the thought of it felt… dirty. Manipulative, almost.

So, yeah, nope.

Thankfully, Virgil found the perfect out when he woke up in the very early hours that Sunday morning, a gentle weight resting against his shoulder. As Virgil turned, his eyes bleary with confusion, and saw Patton snoring softly against the fabric of his hoodie, he felt warmth blossom throughout him. His fingers tingled with the sheer overflow of emotion he felt looking down at Patton’s freckled cheek mushed against his shoulder.

Love.

That’s what this was. He had known for a while now. There was no other word for it, no way around it. He was so completely, irrevocably in love with Patton.

Virgil didn’t move a muscle for a few minutes. He sat completely still, just watching Patton breathe softly. He felt trusted. Whole.

Sure, he and Patton cuddled all the time lately, but there was something about the quiet vulnerability of this moment that hit Virgil like a freight train.

After a few minutes of silence, soaking in the moment, Virgil began to gently shift away from his best friend. Just as sunlight began to stream through the windows, Virgil was carefully and expertly maneuvering Patton so that he was lying against a pillow rather than a person.

Right as Virgil was about to turn and head upstairs--probably to scream into a pillow for ten minutes or so--his attention was diverted back to Patton by a small content noise leaving the moral side’s mouth. Virgil watched as he snuggled closer to the pillow underneath his head and felt his mouth go dry at the sight.

His eyes flickered down to Patton’s arm, where the two previous charms were glinting at him mockingly. Before he gave himself a second to overthink it, Virgil pulled the third bracelet out of his pocket.

Honestly, if Roman knew that Virgil carried all of the bracelets around constantly, his eyes would roll so far back in his head that he would finally find his brain.

Carefully, Virgil tied the white and red string around Patton’s exposed wrist. He tied it loose enough that he was sure Patton would not wake up, but he held his breath as he moved anyway, not wanting to even risk Patton waking up and seeing the shining ‘V’ charm attached to the bracelet.

It made it painfully obvious what Virgil was trying to spell, and even though he was planning on confessing soon, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that today was a good day for that sort of confrontation.

Double-knotting the string, Virgil took in the sight of the three bracelets lined up side by side.

He wondered how long it would take Patton to notice the new piece of jewelry after he woke up.

Taking one last risk--truly, there had to be something wrong with him; Virgil was supposed to be Anxiety and here he was taking risks and being bold, all in the name of his stupid heart beating for their true heart--Virgil leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to the still sleeping Patton’s forehead.

Backing away quickly, Virgil turned and practically fled the room, adrenaline still coursing through his veins and the insanely courageous action. He left so quickly that he didn’t even notice as Patton cracked an eye open, watching Virgil flee the scene with an adoring smile.

----

The fact that Patton hadn’t figured it out already was really starting to get to Virgil. He had thought that it would be easy. Honestly, he had fully expected Patton to understand after he had revealed the ‘O’ bracelet. He was no stranger to just how clever the Moral side could be. He knew that he was deceptively smart.

So why hadn’t Patton figured it out yet?

It wasn’t like there were many words that began with the letters L-O-V. In fact, there were next to none, beyond the very word that Virgil was trying to spell. The very thing that Virgil was trying to confess to.

The fact that Patton hadn’t said a single thing… It worried Virgil to no end. He had to have figured it out by now, right? There was no way that he couldn’t have, not when he had caught onto Virgil’s need for hugs after the first few gift bracelets. And he definitely hadn’t missed the third bracelet, he had even gone so far as to thank Virgil for it with a polite smile over breakfast that morning. So, really, only one option was left.

Patton was acting like he didn’t know what Virgil was trying to say because he didn’t want it.

It made sense. Smart as he was, Patton was also kind. He wasn’t like Logan, who would have caught on to Virgil immediately and answered his question in a straightforward manner. No, Patton was nice and gentle and oh-so-loving. He wouldn’t dare cut Virgil off before he got his entire plan completed, even if he was planning on shutting him down.

Honestly, in this context, Patton’s kindness seemed a bit more like cruelty to Virgil. It left him only one option: to finish his plan and give his best friend that final bracelet, the one laying on his bedside table, woven together with threads in every color of the rainbow with the small, gleaming ‘E’ charm dangling exactly in the center.

He had to do it. There was no way of backing out, even though his anxiety was practically digging in its heels at the very thought, his fear telling him stop this right now, right now before it was too late, before he ruined the best friendship he had ever had, before he showed his true feelings, his true self, and scared poor, gentle, loving Patton away.

Resolved, Virgil strode across the room and picked up the bracelet, running it between his fingers through a few moments in contemplation.

This one had to be perfect.

----

Virgil watched as Patton threw his head back in loud laughter, his eyes sparkling with mirth behind the thick frames of his glasses. Virgil couldn’t quite make out what exactly Logan had said to make the moral side laugh so hard, but whatever it was had the logical side smiling ever so slightly as well.

They were having a party of sorts. They always did after the release of a new video, Roman insisting that a celebration of his hard work was needed. Virgil used to take offense to any sort of statement like that from Roman, but he had come to learn that that was just how the prince was. The bravado was usually just that. Bravado.

So, after each new video was posted, they would all get together and celebrate. Sometimes that took the form of a simple movie night, or, after longer, more exciting videos, a full on party with loud music and lots of food. Roman liked to celebrate Thomas’s particularly strenuous works by “going out with a bang” as it were, and that was what was happening tonight.

Virgil turned his attention to the soda in the bottom of his plastic cup, swirling it around. He knew that he would have to say something tonight. He could practically feel the final bracelet burning a hole in his pocket, the weight of the plan, the secret weighing on his chest. It wasn’t fair to keep Patton in the dark any longer, especially when any day now he could catch on to what the first three bracelets meant, if he hadn’t already.

Not to mention the fact that Patton had become increasingly more affectionate lately, and the guilt of accepting all of the intimacy was going to give Virgil stomach ulcers. He knew, logically, that Patton was giving all of the affection freely, and probably enjoyed it just as much as he did, but he couldn’t shake the idea that he was somehow taking advantage of his best friend.

Even now, with Patton across the room, chatting with Logan without a care in the world, the anxiety was eating Virgil alive.

He was just about to start a round of breathing exercises when someone bumped into his shoulder.

“Heya, Virgil.”

Virgil’s head snapped upwards with a start, meeting Patton’s eyes with shock. He quickly glanced over to where he could have sworn Patton had been just moments prior, only to see an obviously drunk-tired Roman clinging onto a flushed Logan. He turned back towards Patton, trying to calm his racing heart.

“H-Hi.” Great. Fantastic. 10/10 best conversation starter.

Patton didn’t seem to mind, however, as his smile seemed to widen and he bumped his shoulder against Virgil’s once again. “Having fun?”

Virgil straightened, pulling his cup closer to himself. Was he having fun? He looked around the room again. Annoying pop music was blasting, he could see Deceit stealing cookies from the table of snacks, and Logan was still struggling under the weight of the unstable Roman.

“Yeah, I guess.” He offered, lamely. It would be more fun if he could be watching a silly movie, buried under blankets with his arm wrapped around Patton’s shoulders, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Virgil’s eyes were drawn down to the bracelets on Patton’s wrist, his heart somehow both fluttery and heavy. “Hey, do you think we could go somewhere a bit more quiet?” He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Meeting Patton’s eyes again, Virgil saw a flicker of something he couldn’t quite understand there. Instantly, he felt guilty. He shouldn’t be pulling Patton from the party. That was totally unfair. Patton deserved this time off. He was obviously having fun, even if Virgil wasn’t and he shouldn’t be pushing his wants on Patton, that was the exact opposite of this plan, he could just wait, he shouldn’t have-

“Sure.” Patton’s voice was calm. “Of course, Virge, whatever you need.” And just like that, Virgil felt his heart begin to slow, heading once again for a normal pace. Patton held no sort of disappointment or malice in his expression, only understanding and what was possibly curiosity. “Come on, we can go to my room!”

Virgil stifled a sigh of relief as he straightened up and followed Patton out of the room, the tension in his shoulders releasing as they left the shrill tones of Taylor Swift behind them. Of course, as soon as they crossed the threshold into the hallway and Patton reached behind him to clasp Virgil’s hand in his, his heart immediately began to race again.

His hands were probably sweaty. No, they were definitely sweaty.

Patton didn’t falter at the gross clammy hands as he led Virgil down the hall to his bedroom. He pushed open the door and pulled Virgil in, almost eagerly.

Maybe Patton wasn’t a huge fan of loud music either.

The door fell closed behind the two as Patton released Virgil’s hand and moved to perch on the end of his bed, patting the area beside him for Virgil to sit as well.

Virgil eyed the space warily. He wasn’t quite sure that it was the best idea to make this sort of a confession while sitting down. Because that was what he was about to do. Confess. The thought hit Virgil like a bolt of lightning, and suddenly he was definitely too restless to sit.

Feeling a lump starting to form in his throat, Virgil shook his head wordlessly, stuffing his shaking hands into the pockets of his jacket, where he could feel the bracelet waiting.

Patton’s face darkened with concern, and Virgil found that he couldn’t look at it. Patton’s room was supposed to be a safe space. It had always been a safe space. He knew that Patton would never intentionally do anything to hurt him, but seeing that expression only raised Virgil’s anxiety.

“V…? Did you… Was there something that you wanted to say?”

Virgil hummed anxiously, toying with the bracelet in his pocket. He had to get this out. Biting the inside of his cheek, Virgil began to pace. “I... I do have to tell you something, Patton.” Virgil hated how rough his voice sounded in that moment. He wished giving this last bracelet was as easy as the first three had been. All he could think about was everything that could go wrong, and he was running out of time.

“I know that this is a safe place, and I know that I’m safe with you, I always have been, and really that’s part of the problem because I don’t want anything to disrupt that ever, but here I am about to throw a wrench in this whole thing, and I-“ Suddenly, as if just realizing how much he was word vomiting, Virgil cut himself off, freezing where he stood. “Sorry.”

Virgil sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a few deep breaths before turning back to Patton, remorse in his eyes. Of course, as soon as his eyes met Patton’s, everything changed. Patton was watching him carefully, his eyes kind and full of patience. Sure, there was a bit of residual worry there, but the overwhelming message was easy to see.

Patton loved him. Nothing could change that.

Before his anxiety could get the better of him again, Virgil crossed the floor and sat on the bed beside Patton. Gently, he lifted his best friend’s wrist, and without another word, took out the bracelet and tied it on, right beside the other three.

Virgil didn’t even allow himself to breathe as he tied the bracelet into place. He didn’t dare meet Patton’s eyes as he watched the four charms finally line up, all together on Patton’s wrist, spelling out Virgil’s intentions, completely baring him for all the world--all of his world, because Patton was most definitely Virgil’s whole world--to see.

Virgil’s fingers lingered uselessly on the inside of the heart’s wrist as he waited for Patton to read the four letter word. As he waited for Patton to understand, and for the judgement to be made.

Silence reigned for a few breathless seconds. Virgil was just about to open his mouth to say something, to apologize or reassure Patton that he didn’t have to reciprocate, when a gentle, barely there exhalation left Patton’s lips.

“Oh, Virgil…”

Virgil suppressed a wince at the words but looked up nonetheless. He steeled himself for Patton’s rejection, the backs of his eyes burning with unshed tears. He could do this. He could be brave about this for Patton.

However, instead of being met by anger or pity as he would have expected, as Virgil lifted his face up, a soft pair of lips covered his own.

Automatically, Virgil’s breath hitched, his cheeks reddening as the noise from the party down the hall fell away. Virgil allowed himself to relax into the kiss, his arms coming up to wind around his best friend’s middle, just as they had for countless hugs before. Virgil kissed back slowly, tentatively, allowing Patton to lead the kiss, focusing on the press of his friend’s soft lips and the material of his bright blue polo under his fingers.

Patton kissed like he did everything. Enthusiastically and with his whole heart. Virgil melted into the touch, all of his previous anxieties flying out of his mind. He could feel the love in this kiss, and it brought tears to his eyes.

Virgil could have kissed Patton forever. Kissing Patton was just.... like.... like coming home, as cliche as it sounded. Patton was soft and warm and so, so sweet. If Virgil had been addicted to his hugs before, he knew now that he would never be able to get enough of this.

Eventually, however, they had to pull apart. Breathless, Virgil kept his eyes closed for a few more moments as Patton pulled away. He didn’t open them until he felt the soft pad of a gentle thumb brushing the tears away from his eyes, Patton’s hands cradling his face as if he were something valuable. Something loved.

Leaning into the touch, Virgil didn’t even have time to worry about the tears streaming down Patton’s face because he was blinded by the sheer radiance of the other’s smile.

“I- I had hoped,” Patton’s voice was watery and full of emotion, “from the moment you gave me the first bracelet, that you were spelling ‘love’, but I didn’t want to assume. I didn’t want to be wrong, sweetheart.”

Virgil let out a wet, sniffly chuckle, his heart light and bursting with affection for the moral side. He was positive that it was an unattractive sound, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, he was so full of happiness right then.

Patton was so beautiful at that moment. Slow tears still clinging to his long eyelashes and resting on his freckled cheeks. A soft pink blush running over the bridge of his nose. Smile wide and unbridled. Eyes bright and filled with what could only be described as adoration. Virgil was so in love that it hurt.

Like looking directly at the sun, staring at Patton right now was too much for too long, so Virgil ducked his head, allowing his bangs to fall over his eyes as a blush bloomed across his own cheeks. He didn’t move Patton’s hands, though.

“I kept waiting for you to catch on,” Virgil said, his voice low and soft, “I’ve had them all,” at this, Virgil brought his fingers up to touch the bracelets on Patton’s wrist lightly, “for weeks.”

Virgil blushed even harder, his mind replaying Patton’s words. Sweetheart. He shouldn’t love that so much. He shifted slightly, pulling Patton’s left hand back from his face to press a light kiss to his palm. “I was worried, but I’m glad I did it now.” Finally gathering the courage, Virgil peaked up through his hair, meeting Patton’s teary eyes. “I love you, Pat.”

Virgil allowed himself to watch as Patton’s face shone with unfiltered happiness, feeling so much like a man witnessing a miracle. This time, he leaned in first, meeting those perfectly soft lips with a shy but sure kiss. They fit together like two puzzle pieces, moving perfectly in sync with one another, Patton’s hands falling down to Virgil’s shoulders as he sighed happily into the kiss.

They pulled apart many seconds later. This time, Patton rested his forehead against Virgil’s, their breaths mingling between them for a few silent moments.

“I love you too, Virgil.” Patton said softly. Virgil felt one of Patton’s hands move up, his fingertips tangling in the short hairs at the nape of Virgil’s neck. “So much.” A quick kiss was pressed to the corner of his mouth. “So very very much.”

Virgil chuckled, light and giddy. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Patton hummed, kissing Virgil’s cheek. He had the insane, reckless urge to giggle at the action. “I’m really proud of you, V.”

Perplexed by what seemed to be a sudden change in topic, Virgil pulled back a bit. “What do you mean?”

Patton shrugged, his smile still kind and loving, easing some of Virgil’s immediate worries. “For telling me. I… I don’t really think I would ever have gotten the courage. No matter how many times Logan told me to just go for it, I always had some sort of excuse. I told myself that I didn’t want to overwhelm you, but I think that I was just scared. I’ve been wrong before, and I didn’t… I didn’t want to hurt this. Us.”

Virgil exhaled shakily, absolutely blown away by the confession. Patton had had the same thoughts, the same worries as him. Beautiful, sweet Patton was worried about hurting things between them.

“Well… to be fair, I only ever made this plan because Roman convinced me…” Virgil rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Patton laughed softly, the worry melting from his expression. “Speaking of, we should probably get back to that party, huh?”

Virgil glanced towards the door. He could still hear the obnoxious music blasting from the other room. “Or… We could take a few more minutes?” He suggested, face red but eyes shining with a false confidence.

Patton grinned, and Virgil felt a real confidence blossom within him at the sight. “Is there anything in party-cular that you had in mind?”

Virgil rolled his eyes at the pun but couldn’t stifle his grin as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Patton’s once again. He was content to completely miss the party in favor of staying in this room with Patton for forever. Thankfully, Patton seemed to share the sentiment, because the two did not leave the room until the tail end of the night, as the last Bruno Mars song faded, their hands clasped between them, fingers interlaced.

---------

Tag List:

I’m tagging everyone who commented on my post when I first suggested writing this!!

@pastelvirgil @paperghastly @changeling-ash @just-another-fan17 @blenderkit17 @pearls-of-patton @noahlovescoffee

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ninzied · 5 years

Text

north/south

she doesn’t cry.

a pepperony/stark family fic. spoilers for endgame.

She doesn’t cry.

Pepper knows it’s to be expected. That she doesn’t understand; that she can’t understand, that she doesn’t know how. But there’s no comfort to be found in the things that are expected, when there’s nothing expected about any of this.

She doesn’t cry. She eats the food, or she at least picks at the food, poking the grapes around on her plate, and pouting at the “weird stuff” she doesn’t like, arugula in the salad, and “the hard bread” that she ends up licking all the toppings off of.

She is her father’s daughter, through and through.

There are sliders, but they didn’t come with any cheese, so Happy swipes some cheddar off the charcuterie board, stabs a toothpick back through each one and heats them up in the microwave for her.

She asks for ketchup, and Happy looks lost for a moment until Butterfingers unearths some packets from underneath papers at Tony’s work station.

“We have no idea how long those have been there,” Pepper starts to scold them both, but the anticipation on Morgan’s face – and Happy’s, too, really, even the robot is tilting its little makeshift head at her – suffice it to say she doesn’t go anywhere with the rest of that sentence.

It wedges a small crack in her heart, but only a small one, when Morgan takes her plate of small cheeseburgers and plops herself down on the couch by the fire. Only the smallest of cracks. There isn’t much left that hasn’t already been broken.

Morgan sits and looks around her, expectant. She’s waiting for something, and Happy’s trying his best to figure out what, when Pepper gestures at the table. The mask isn’t there anymore – it’s been replaced by the food, and a very somber Nick Fury who’s deep in discussion with Miss Danvers – but this is the last place Morgan had seen her father.

And it would certainly stand to a four-year-old’s reasoning that this is the first place he’ll come looking for her again. She just has to wait long enough.

Morgan turns to Happy with her untouched plate and says, “I thought you said Daddy liked cheeseburgers too.”

Happy’s face falls, and he’s rushing forward to do damage control while Pepper – Pepper’s just trying to breathe, because it’s hard suddenly, when her chest feels like it’s turned to ice. It was ridiculous to think that she was done breaking after all.

She remembers, at least, how to take one step, then two. In fact, she makes it all the way to the bookcase before completely falling apart.

…

Their life together is on those shelves. Pictures of Morgan, mostly. First breath. First coo. First sneeze, because that was not a battle that Pepper found worth fighting with Tony. First steps, first bite of cake at each of their birthdays. Chocolate for Morgan. Red velvet for Pepper. Anything topped with a disgusting amount of sprinkles for Tony.

Then there were the drawings of them with matching shrapnel hearts that glowed, Pepper’s on a necklace, Morgan with her little bracelets. Multiplication tables that Tony had proudly framed even though all of the 3’s were written insistently backwards. Crayon portraits of dogs that Pepper always said no to.

She should have let them have a dog.

But it’s not any of these things that shatters that last piece of her left still standing.

She’s always aimed for cleanliness, but living with a child – make that two, on most days – was not exactly conducive to keeping a place tidy for long.

There are toys scattered here and there, stuffed animals and small handheld robots that were ostensibly made to help with the chores but more often than not got caught up in turf wars with the lions, not to mention one very nefarious hedgehog.

The hedgehog had been borne of a so-called math project of theirs. They’d repurposed a coconut plushy, and then proceeded to cover every inch of it with Pepper’s hot glue gun, bits of fabric, and hair – hair from Morgan’s toy trolls, her Raggedy Ann dolls, and the My Little Ponys that Bruce had sent her one year for Christmas.

They’d completed the look by jamming in colored paper clips for paws, and adding on black button eyes as an after-thought.

It looks – well, it looks like a little monster, quite frankly, but Morgan adores it, and so had Tony. He’d been beside himself with delight when she christened it “Hairy Ball” – Harry for short, at Pepper’s insistence.

…

(“I…don’t understand this, but I suppose I will have to accept it.”

“Potts, it’s the hairy ball theorem,” said Tony, with Morgan giggling away in his ear as he hoisted her higher and higher. “Simple topology. Take an even-dimensional sphere, and any continuous tangent vector field must have at least one point on the sphere where the vector equals zero.”

“I’m sure it does, Tony.”

“In essence, if you try to comb a hairy ball flat, there’s always going to be that one stubborn tuft that sticks out.”

“I see,” said Pepper, entirely humoring them. “And this is useful because…?”

“Because it’s funny,” said Morgan, kissing her hedgehog in the middle of its lumpy forehead.

“Because it’s funny,” Tony had echoed, like no other explanation mattered more than this one, and they shook their heads at each other with perfectly matching affronted expressions.)

…

Harry the hedgehog is squashed beneath a teetering bookstack, its felt-tipped nose poking out from behind a textbook on origami.

Pepper bends down as if on autopilot, straightening things and dusting down the edge of the shelf. There’s a rectangular clearing where PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART had so recently occupied space.

She sinks onto her knees for a moment, the hedgehog’s paws pressing into her fingers. One of the seams has ripped in the body of the fabric, spilling out stray wisps of cotton, and when she runs her palm over its patchwork of hair, smoothing out some of the tangles, its nose perks up as though trying to sniff at her hand.

…

(“Look, Mommy,” Morgan demonstrated for her, vigorously brushing back as much hedgehog hair as she could. “It’s sticking up here – and see, here – also here—”

“I have an idea where you can try that theory out next,” Pepper winked, much to Morgan’s slyly growing delight.

“Like…Daddy’s head?”

“No, sweetheart,” and their little girl giggled again as Tony looked at them both in mock betrayal, “not like Daddy’s head.”)

…

One of the paper clips comes loose, dangling uselessly before slipping between Pepper’s fingers. She watches it fall, blurring together with the rug at her feet.

Her shoulders shake, and then they’re only shaking harder as she folds herself up, as small and still as she can make her body so that Morgan doesn’t see her cry.

Grief surges up from every corner, so cold it burns everywhere that it touches, and just when she thinks she has nothing left it comes crashing out of all that nowhere again, drowning, drowning, if only it would just let her fucking drown.

…

(“That little guy can help predict the weather too, you know.”

“Oh, not that hedgehog theory again.”

“Theorem, Potts. Theorem. And hear me out – you’re looking particularly ravishing today, by the way—”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, but he kissed her neck and it made her feel so very warm all the same.

“—so Earth’s atmosphere, right? A spherical surface.” He took her face into his hands. “Let’s say there’s a storm brewing, blowing its wind east to west. There are – guaranteed – at least two spots where everything stands perfectly still. There is no wind.” Tony leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Here.” He tipped his head down to hover his mouth over hers as she smiled. “And here, too.”)

…

Pepper’s lost him so many times, but he always found his way back to her in the end. This time shouldn’t have been any different.

This time shouldn’t have been any different.

Everything’s quiet. The music has stopped, even the clinking of silverware, plates, all the small talk. Maybe she’s imagined it, but she can’t hear anything else beyond the soft raggedness of each breath as it shakes its way in and out of her body.

“Mrs. Stark?” A voice, sounding more distant than it probably is, and then a light awkward tapping on her shoulder. “I mean, Miss Potts. Mi—umm.” Peter Parker clears his throat, and she blinks, blinks, blinks until the hand he’s held out to her comes into focus. “I think you dropped this.”

She takes the paper clip, and manages a watery chuckle when Peter moves his other arm around, into her line of sight, and Morgan’s at the other end of it, holding on to his wrist. There’s a smear of ketchup on her chin, and Happy close behind her, a crumpled up napkin in hand.

“Oh, my darling girl.”

Pepper opens her arms, and Morgan climbs onto her lap, tiny hands already hard at work to wipe away the wetness on her cheeks. Her fingers dance over the smile that Pepper musters for her, and then Harry’s face pops back into view, Morgan carefully lifting him up to give Pepper a fuzzy little kiss on the nose.

“I miss Daddy.” Morgan’s voice is so small – the smallest, most powerful sound that Pepper has ever heard, but now’s not the time for her to break anymore.

“I know.” Pepper tucks her hair back, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Morgan burrows closer, the weight of her settling like a permanent warmth into Pepper’s chest. “I miss him too.”

“He’s really not coming back?” She’s cradling Harry, touching the open seamful of cotton with unsteady fingers.

“No, sweetie. But he loved you so, so much.”

Peter’s furiously rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, and Pepper beckons him over, patting the spot of rug next to them. He looks uncertain, but it doesn’t last long before he’s collapsing himself down, shoulders quaking as she puts her arm around him too.

Morgan sniffles into her neck, her whole body tightening as though trying to resist all this sadness she still doesn’t know what to do with, how to make it go away. Pepper murmurs soothing things in her hair, and then she closes her eyes, if only for a few blessed seconds, so that the world can stop spinning and just give her daughter a moment to cry.

It almost hurts, not to let herself cry with her.

“Hey, Miss Pepper?” says Peter, after a while. He’s dabbing his nose with a clean handkerchief that his Aunt May has just brought him. He points at the hedgehog, its missing paw still clutched in her hand. “What is…that?”

Morgan pipes up, before Pepper has a chance to say otherwise, “This is Hairy Ball.” The words come out a bit gargly and hoarse, but she straightens a little, looking pleased that someone is asking.

Happy coughs out a laugh into his hand. At the edge of Pepper’s vision, she sees Nick still over by the food, his one good eyebrow nearly shooting right off of his forehead.

Peter, meanwhile, looks simply floored. “As in the theorem? Cool.”

“See, Mommy?” Morgan wipes at her eyes, and graciously passes the hedgehog over for Peter’s perusal. “Daddy and I told you.”

“You most certainly did.” Pepper leans back as Morgan points out all of Harry’s features, Peter following raptly along and nodding his head at all the right moments. That crack in her chest opens just a bit wider, leaving a hitch in her breath that aches, and aches, and aches.

Her eyes are burning again.

But it’s okay, Pepper thinks, because there’s no other option. She’d made a promise to Tony that they were going to be okay. She has to believe it will look different from this, someday, but for now—

For now, they can take turns standing still.

[ao3.]

#endgame #avengers endgame #mcu #endgame spoilers #pepperony #well this is mildly terrifying

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writingismyhappytime · 5 years

Text

Marry Me (Part 8)

Ricky Horror X Reader

Warnings: Language

"Are you sure something isn't wrong with Claire?" You ask after a moment, watching as Ricky packs some boxes into the back of your car, his face creased in aggravation. "Chloe says she's sick a lot, maybe she's been going to doctors appointments."

"On the weekends? That was the third time she's put Chloe off on us when she's supposed to have her." Ricky grumbles, lifting another box into the trunk with a grimace. He shouldn't be complaining, but it's just frustrating! Usually when he gets Chloe, he has a plan, how to keep her entertained, what food to buy that she actually eats, but when Claire just springs it on him, he's completely unprepared!

"Well, the entire reason we're married is so that you could get her more, right?" You're not seeing the problem. Why is he complaining about it now when this is exactly what you wanted? "You're supposed to have your hearing next week about custody, you can say you've pretty much had her this entire time."

"True," your husband sighs as he closes the trunk heavily, leaning against it as he looks at you with a tired look on his face. He crosses his arms with a frown. "I've just not had any time to prepare for it. If Claire's sick, she needs to let me know so we can work through it. I can take Chloe more if she needs."

"Maybe she's afraid you'll take Chloe away from her, she's her daughter after all. She's good to Chloe, she's happy." you remind him, because it's the truth; Chloe is a happy child, and both of her parents clearly love her; you're not going to hate Claire simply because her relationship didn't work out with Ricky, she's still a good mother from what you can see. You know they're both going to trash the hell out of each other when they're in the courtroom, but they better not do it in front of their child.

"I never said Claire was a bad mother, she's just... difficult, sometimes. I want to see my daughter more than once a month."

"Well, you have lately," you reply, glancing up at the house Ricky shares with Ryan. He needed a few more things from his old room, so you'd offered to drive him over, it wouldn't hurt for the two of you to be seen out in public. You brush your hair behind your ears, your hands going to your hips. "I think she's mostly doing it to spoil the free time we have together, if you want my opinion. Kinda like a last-ditch effort to foil our supposed happiness."

"You think that's what it is?" Ricky rubs the back of his neck. He doesn't want to just completely villanize the mother of his child, but they're not together for a reason. She's so demanding, and everything he does is wrong, it should have ended way before they had Chloe. He tried to stay longer because of her, but it just... they couldn't get along. He wishes things were different, that they could be a happy family, but they weren't meant to be together.

"Well, I can't read her mind, but I'm guessing. Either way, we have this weekend to ourselves. What dastardly deeds do you need to do?" You glance at your watch. You took the day off so you're not working, and it's been the first one since the wedding. "Why don't we get some food?"

"Food sounds great." Ricky agrees easily, opening his door. "Italian?"

"It's like you read my mind." You smile, making sure the trunk is closed good before tossing yourself into the drivers seat. You always have this fear of it randomly opening while you're driving down the road.

"You just always want Italian, that's all," he's got you figured out after living with you for almost an entire month. You are not a morning person, you like your coffee black, and you definitely do kick in your sleep. He's not commented about the fact you always end up on his side of the bed, he kind of likes it if he's being truthful. He always liked waking up with someone beside him, there's a comfort to it, he guesses.

"Are you saying I'm predictable?"

"I'm saying you like what you like," he replies carefully, and you send him a wry look as you start the car. It had been nice to see Ryan, who'd looked kind of lonely when the two of you were leaving. He hadn't commented that he knew about your fake marriage, but you suppose that's not something you bring up casually; it just seems weird that he knows the truth, but he's still acting like nothing is different.

You and Ricky are trying to make it work, after all. He's splitting the bills with you, which is a total help financially. Your water and electricity bill has of course gone up with someone else living with you, but it evens out with the fact he cooks and you don't have too. Your refrigerator has more food in it now than it ever has, not to mention there are crayons all over your apartment, and some random princess dolls you found half-hidden in your couch cushions. Chloe had no issue moving in, that's for sure. She seems to like her room since she's kind of made it her own.

"Do you think they're still waiting for the baby announcement?" You ask after a moment as you pull out into traffic.

"Oh, probably. Has your aunt asked about it again?"

"God, yes. It's like every time we talk she's asking if we're planning on having any kids soon." You huff, irked. "I don't know how many times I've told her that we want to wait."

"I don't think I could handle another kid anyway. Chloe is such a handful." Ricky groans, propping his arm along the window, running his fingers through his hair. "Could you imagine having an infant screaming all night in that small apartment? Your neighbors would hear."

"I don't have neighbors."

"Exactly!"

"I doubt it would be that bad," you cluck, pursing your lips together as you try to decide if you can run that yellow light or not --- maybe not. "I mean, I'm not sure about the whole screaming thing, but people do it all the time."

"Sure they do, but they also don't sleep."

You do treasure your sleep. "Is it really that bad?"

"Just until they get on a schedule, and then you sort of get used to it. Claire always made Chloe stay in a different room, so she wouldn't want to sleep with us all the time."

"Oh. But Chloe has slept with us pretty much every time she's been over."

"Yeah," Ricky frowns. "At first I thought it was because it was a new place and it freaked her out, now I think she's just a mooch."

You snort in surprise, glancing at him. "A mooch?"

"Well, I mean that in like, well, nevermind." Ricky flushes. He thinks it's because Chloe likes the fact it's almost like having two parents who like each other, sleeping in the same bed because she's scared. "I guess it's because I'm letting her get away with it."

"Well, it's not like we're having sex, so there's not any concern over that." You flip your blinker a little harder than necessary. You wouldn't mind having sex, if you're being honest, but it's Ricky, and that would be weird. It's just that you've been spending so much time together now, you're so comfortable with each other. You haven't shared a kiss since your wedding, but it had been such a good kiss.

He'd surprised you.

It doesn't matter, not really. You think it's just that weird time of the month where your hormones must be off, so you just dismiss it. You've just gotten to know him so much lately you're kind of thinking of him differently, although he does have little habits that annoy you.

Talking on the phone late at night, pacing incessantly, letting Chloe get away with murder. You don't feel like you should say anything because she's not your daughter and this marriage is a sham, but he really needs to tighten the reins just a little. Is he just letting her do whatever so she wants to stay with him more often, or is he just that lenient?

She's a very good kid, but every child has their rebellious moments, and now that the little girl is settling in, you're seeing more of it. That's normal, though, right? You've never been around a lot of kids, so you don't really know what to do, but you're trying.

Ricky doesn't say anything, and you finally stop at the restaurant. You stretch your arms above your head with a sigh, leaning back into your seat. "How many times have we eat here in the past few months?"

"I'm pretty sure we have stock in there now," Ricky says as he unbuckles, reaching for the door. "Come on, I'll buy your breadsticks."

"Ah, bringing out the big bucks, are we? You really do want to get laid."

"(Y/N)," Ricky rolls his eyes, his cheeks tinging. Why is that suddenly on your mind? You're just friends. Not bringing sex into the equation is the best thing to do in this situation, it would only make everything incredibly complicated. You're supposed to get a quiet divorce after all of this is over. He wants it to go as smoothly as possible.

You chuckle, the two of you heading for the steps to the door, the staff greeting you familiarly. You're lead to the same table Ricky proposed to you at, and you notice the hostess eyeballing the diamond on your finger as she seats you, offering you menus. Yes, it's a nice ring, but it means absolutely nothing.

"Do you think this is just our table now?" You ask after a moment, not bothering to look at the food options; you know what you want. "They always seat us here."

"Well, as much as we're here, it should be." Ricky responds, sort of tired of the lasagna he always gets. He only mentioned Italian because it's your favorite, not because it's what he's wanting. He glances up at you, noticing that you're gazing out over the balcony, watching the cars go by.

Is something bothering you today? You've been sort of crabby, but he didn't wake you up early this morning, you slept in, so that's not the problem. Whatever has you in such a mood, he wishes it would pass.

"Do you want dessert?" He asks after a moment, lowering the menu. "I don't think we've tried much of those yet."

"Oh, you can pick." you reply, not sounding interested. You force a smile at the waitress as she stops by, dropping off the breadsticks and your drinks. You both place your orders, and you reach for the wine glass.

It's barely three PM and you're drinking.

"Is everything okay?" Ricky asks after a moment, crossing his arms along the tablecloth. If you didn't want to come with him today, you didn't have too, he could have driven himself. He never asked you to do anything. Is the situation starting to wear on you? Are you regretting marrying him and having Chloe around? He knows you're not used to kids, but it's not like she's there all the time, either.

"Yeah, it's fine," you reply, not about to tell him the real reason you're cranky. It'll pass, and usually if you're a little tipsy it helps. "Do you mind driving us home?"

"No." He sort of figured he would be when you ordered alcohol. He watches as you drain the glass rather than savor it, gesturing at the waitress for a refill. "But why are you drinking this early?"

"I wasn't aware I had to have a reason."

O-kay then. Ricky leans back in his seat, deciding not to ask another question before you bite his head off. You seem to like the decision, and it's a quiet dinner. Ricky mostly plays on his phone as you gaze out over the balcony, tapping your finger constantly against the glass. You don't even really enjoy the breadsticks, and finally you sigh.

"I'm sorry," you say after a moment, noticing he's barely touched his food. He's picked at it a little, and he's not said a word to you after you snapped at him. You didn't mean to get all hostile with him, it came out before you could stop it. You're just tired, it's been completely different since Chloe has actually been staying with you so often, your routine is all messed up. You know you'll have to get used to it, and you shouldn't take it out on him. "I'm just all weird today. I'll be fine when we get back to the apartment and I can take a nap."

"No, it's alright, I get it. I'm sort of imposing on you." He mutters; you were used to living alone, and now he's there all the time. It's more like the two of you are roommates, but he still feels like he's invading your space. Maybe he should spend the next couple of nights at Ryans, give you some time alone. "I can crash at Ryan's for a bit if that helps."

"No, don't do that, that would be weird." You sigh, shaking your head. You're not sure why you're in a mood, you'll just have to get over it. You don't want to be a dick to him. "He'll think I kicked you out and guilt me."

"He's not going to guilt you."

"He'll totally do it in that super passive-aggressive way that he has about him."

"Nah."

"Ricky, you know him. He'll not say a word, but you know he's judging in here." You tap your forehead, just so he knows what you mean. "He's just too nice to say it."

Ahuh.

"Why don't we get the rest of this to go?" He changes the subject as he gestures at the food. "We can finish up at the apartment. I need to run some errands in town, pick up a few things for practice tomorrow."

"Is the album coming along?"

"Pretty well. We're supposed to have some shows coming up soon where we're gonna play some of the new songs."

Oh, right, about that.

"Do I need to keep Chloe when you're doing shows and tour and stuff?" You ask after a moment, it's something you never cleared up with him. Like, is he supposed to still get his normal weekends, you just stand in instead? You kind of need to know, since you typically work Saturdays, because you're not sure what you're going to do with her. You've kept her for a few hours at a time on and off throughout the years, Ricky trusts you with her, but never for an extended time. Even now Ricky is the one mostly interacting with her while you're busy.

"Oh, uh," Ricky hasn't thought about that. He tries to think of the dates for his shows and what weekends they correspond with, but he'll have to check the studio calendar since they've not been announced yet. "I haven't thought about that, actually."

"Well, the entire point of this," you gesture vaguely between the two of you, "is so that the judge thinks there's a stable place for her when you're off touring, so don't they kind of expect me to keep her? I don't mind."

"You don't?"

"No, you know I don't. I'd just like to know ahead of time."

"I'll check the dates for the shows, see when they are," he replies, rubbing the back of his neck. He taps his fingers nervously against the table. "You sure you'll be okay with her, though?"

"It's not like we're going to go burn down houses or something, Ricky, it'll be fine. I've kept her before plenty of times."

Yeah, but not... for days.

"You know this means you'll have to pick her up from Claire, drop her off to Claire. There's cooking, and entertaining, and playing dolls." He reminds, trying to think of anything to dissuade you. It's not that he doesn't get what you're saying, but that's his kid, and he just --- well, you're his wife now, legally speaking, so he knows you should be helping take care of Chloe. It just makes him nervous, he guesses. Chloe is his responsibility, not yours, and he hates to put that off on you. You're probably one of the best friends he has at the moment, you know everything that's going on; he doesn't know where he'd be without you, or how panicked he'd be about the court date coming up. It's really important to him that he gets fair custody of his daughter, even if he's going on tour --- so yeah, pretty much you're going to have to keep her in his absence.

"Trust me, I can play some mean Princess Paulie when I want too." You reply, amused. Does he think you haven't been forced to play dolls before? "It's going to be fine, really."

God he hopes so.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ricky, seriously, it's fine," you sigh, the phone propped against your shoulder and ear as you wrestle with an incredibly tight lug nut on the wheel of a car; you've been trying for ten minutes to loosen it up, but it won't come off at all! Jesus, how tight did the previous shop put it on there? "It's just a few hours out of town, do you think I couldn't function without you before?"

"I know, but it's unexpected," Ricky stresses, his voice crackly with the distance. You know he's pacing back and forth. "It's a show in Colorado, but then I should be right back! It's just a big break for us to promote our album, and no one knew about it until now, but I hate ---."

"You're worried about Chloe? It's the middle of the week, she's at her mom's. I doubt you have to worry." You reply, straightening a little as you give the tire a frustrated kick, only to cringe in pain. He found out about it this morning, hastily shoved a ton of his things in a suitcase, packed a few guitars, and took off like his ass was on fire without too much of an explanation. "You'll be back by tonight anyway, you're not going to the moon."

Ricky huffs in your ear. "You could really sound like you missed me more."

Oh, were you supposed to? You wonder if the guys can hear your conversation, you know you're not on speaker but Ricky does leave his volume loud enough Helen Keller could hear every word. You hesitate --- maybe you should pretend you do miss him. Like, you're supposed to be in your honeymoon phase, right? You've barely been married a month.

Your eyes flick to your guys, but everyone is actually working today, and they don't notice as you slip into your office, closing the door behind you.

"Well, I do miss you." You say after a moment, hearing Ricky pause in surprise. "Every moment without you is like a piece of my soul is missing."

You know he's scowling, and you can't help but grin. Does he want a show? You'll give a show. "I miss you already, snookums. I can't wait till you get back tonight, I'll make sure to keep the bed nice and warm, heat the blankets just like how you want them. Maybe we can sip some hot cocoa, and we can play that game you like with the feather duster and the handcuffs----."

You hear a sudden cackle of laughter in the background as Ricky curses, and you laugh, knowing someone must have heard. No one's going to let the feather duster thing go, which is what you're counting on. You hope they rag him about it the entire time he's on the plane.

"Goddamnit, (Y/N)."

"So how much do you miss me now?" You tease, giggling.

"Oh, he's never going to let this go," Ricky groans, the call cutting out for several seconds before coming back. "Shit, okay, I gotta go, the plane's boarding. I'll see you tonight."

"Right-o. Have a safe flight."

You end the call, biting your lip in amusement. He's going to get you back for that, but you just couldn't help it! You're not sure who overheard, but no doubt he'll tell you all about it when he gets back. You might regret it later, but totally worth it.

You leave your phone on the desk, cracking your knuckles as you return to the car you were working on. You're getting this tire off one way or another.

~~~~~~~~~

"Yo, boss!"

"What?" You scowl as you lean up, halfway through jacking up a car so you can change the flat tire. It took you twenty minutes and two other guys, not to mention two different lug wrenches! You've never had a car be so difficult before in your life! You squint as you see one of your guys in the office, holding the corded phone in his greased hand.

"There's a call for you, some school." he says, waving the white phone at you.

"School?" You say in confusion. "Is it, like, a telemarketer?"

You never went to college, not like you could afford it, and you're not going to start now. You haven't been to high school in ages, and you can't imagine why some stupid school would be calling you. You're a half mind to tell him to just hang up, but for some reason you stand, wiping the black marks off your fingers as you start towards him.

"Take over for me," you sigh as you take the phone, and he nods, starting towards the car you were almost done with. You frown down at the phone as you close the office door behind you, immediately cutting half the garage noise down by half.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Rebecca James from Franklin Elementary School, is this (Y/N) Olson?"

Uh, right, that's you.

"Yes." You hesitate, wondering why --- oh shit! "Is Chloe okay?" You demand, a light bulb suddenly going off. Ricky said he would be putting you down as an emergency contact for the school, just in the event something ever did happen and neither of her parents answered. You never thought that day would come, Ricky's typically glued to his cellphone, but ---.

"Oh, she's just a little sick, we need someone to come pick her up from school for the day." the lady on the phone replies, sounding sympathetic."There's just a stomach bug going around and I believe she got it. I attempted to call her mother and father, but it went to voicemail."

"Oh, it's okay, I'll be right there." You reply, glancing down at yourself. "Does she need anything?"

"She should be alright, she's in the nurses office."

"Okay, thank you." You listen to the call end, grimacing.

You don't even know how to get to the elementary school! Thank god for GPS, but you better change real quick, don't want to go in there covered in tar after all. Shit, now you're going to have to leave the shop again, and you hate doing that, you feel like you've been so absent lately as it is!

You give the garage a nervous glance through your blinds before sighing.

Well, stepmomhood, right?

You sort of signed on for this.

~~~~~~~~~~

Is this the right school? You hope so. You nervously step up to the little counter, noticing the wall murals of apples and trees, little bees dancing happily around them with fingerprints all about. It smells like glue and lunch, thanks to the cafeteria being the first thing you notice when you walk in, and why is everything so tiled?

"Um, excuse me," you hesitate, peeping through the glass in front of you at the lady at the desk; why do you feel like you're looking at a bank teller? She looks up from doing... whatever it is she's doing, giving you an expectant look as her eyes flick over you; you know you look disheveled, you threw on different clothes, didn't fix your hair, and took off in a hurry. "I'm here to pick up Chloe Olson, she's sick?"

"Oh, you must be her mother. Right this way, Mrs. Olson." The lady stands before you can state that you are in fact not her mother, disappearing around the table out of your sight. You withhold a sigh as you turn, watching as she opens a glass door and urges you into a small office with fake, rubber plants and uncomfortable seating, gesturing to the right.

Oh, well, the door labeled Nurse, that must be the one. You take a few hesitant steps forward, glancing around uneasily; you don't like little kid schools, they're almost creepy with all their forced positivity and brightly dressed secretaries; is it school code they all have to wear yellow and pearls?

Who the hell can even afford pearls?

"Chloe, sweetie?" the lady knocks lightly on the nurse door before opening it. "Your mother is here to pick you up. Oh, poor thing's asleep, Rebecca, this is Mrs. Olson."

You suddenly don't want to be Mrs. Olson. Your eyes flick over to the lady rising out of those uncomfortable blue chairs every school seems to have, her eyes coming to meet yours with a smile as the other lady leaves. She gestures you inside, and you reluctantly let the door close behind you; why do you feel like you're in trouble?

"Hello, we spoke on the phone. I'm Rebecca," the nurse offers her hand, which you find is absolutely freezing.

"Er, I'm (Y/N), her dad's wife. I mean, her stepmom, I guess." You mutter, flustered. The only time you ever went to any of the office's at school was because you were in trouble for fighting or something, which you suppose is maybe why it makes you uncomfortable now. You never went to the nurse, mainly because you thought you were too tough for it as a kid --- being raised by your dad in a car shop probably didn't exactly do you much good growing up personality wise. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's napping right now," the nurse keeps her voice soft. "But she could use some rest at home, maybe some soup and medicine for her tummy. Were you able to get ahold of her parents?"

"Ricky's on a trip right now, he'll be back tonight. I don't know what Claire's doing," you sigh, your eyes flicking to Chloe when she shuffles. You step over to her when she starts to sit up, rubbing her eyes. "Hey, sweetpea, you doing okay?"

"(Y/N)?" Chloe sniffles as she sees you, and you realize she's been crying. Oh no, does she feel that bad? You're not sure if you have any medicine at home, you'll have to stop and get some for her, what does she normally take? She does look a little pale, was she able to keep anything on her stomach? Has she been throwing up? Should you take her to the doctor? You don't know anything about her insurance, you don't have her cards, you're so not prepped for this!

"Hey," you absently brush her hair out of her eyes, sitting down on the edge of the green bed like you would typically see in a doctors office. "I'm gonna take you home, okay?"

"Where's Daddy?" Chloe grimaces, and it's clear she doesn't feel well, no faking at all. She's pale, her lips are bloodless, cheeks don't have the usual pink hue. She's not really the kid to pretend to be sick, either.

"He's on a trip, so he sent me." You reply, leaning down to lift her backpack over your shoulder. Oh how cute, it's Minnie Mouse, it even has the ears on top. "We're gonna go home and get some rest , he'll be here tonight."

"Mommy?"

"I'll have to call her," you hedge, you have no idea what her mother is doing. Shouldn't she be more attentive!? You're not sure what kind of job she works or what she does, but if she noticed a call from her child's school within the last hour, she should have called by now! You have her number, Ricky made you take just in case, but you really don't want to have to call her. Ricky is going to have a coronary when he realizes the one day he goes out of town, his daughter gets sick, so you'll have to text him before his plane lands.

Chloe sighs in disappointment, but she slips off the plastic looking bed, only to suddenly whiten. The nurse lifts up a tiny bucket you hadn't noticed before, having it at the little girls lips before she even gets sick --- wow that lady is fast.

Oh dear.

"Are you sure it's just a virus?" You worry as the child spills her guts, sitting down in the floor and starting to cry big tears that tug at you. You kneel down beside her, her grubby fingers immediately curling in your t shirt as she turns her face to your chest.

"Oh, yes, it's going around right now," the nurse shrugs, as if this is something she deals with on a daily basis. She wipes gently at Chloe's lips, sighing. "Some orange juice and some sleep should help, but a visit to the doctor wouldn't hurt either."

Right.

You should really get a copy of her insurance.

She has some right?

Oh lord you better take her home.

~~~~~~~~~

The fact you had to carry Chloe from the car and up the stairs to your apartment is probably one of the toughest five minutes of your life. Not to mention she's heavy, you're apparently not that strong, but stairs --- how does Ricky make this look so easy?

The only person you've ever had to care for when they're sick is yourself, your dad never let you see him feeling bad, he always seemed so strong. But you find that it doesn't bother you too much, holding Chloe's hair back or telling her it's going to be alright as she cries and whimpers because she feels terrible. You've tried calling Claire about eight times, but she's still not answering you, maybe because she doesn't know your number?

Ricky is already having a heart attack, but his plane is supposed to have landed already, so he's on his way back to the apartment. You assured him it was just a stomach bug when you finally got through to him, that she was fine, and he has to have called her mom by now right?

It's fine if Chloe stays the night, you just don't know why Claire isn't looking for her child. Where is the woman?

"I feel so bad," Chloe sighs as you help her towel dry her hair, urging her to step on a towel so it can soak up some of the water on the tiles below. You're not sure which one of you splashed water everywhere, but it's everywhere. Even you're damp and you didn't do anything!

"I know, sweetpea, but you'll feel better tomorrow. Just keep drinking the magic pink potion, remember?" You say lightly --- it's literally off-brand Pepto bismal, it's all you had at home but at least it was in date. She didn't seem to mind the taste too much, and she didn't immediately spill her guts afterward, so at least it's in her system by now. You thought calling it a magic potion would lean her to actually drinking it than saying it was medicine, and it worked!

"Daddy will be home soon," you tell her as you finish her hair. You thought maybe a bath would make her feel better, it always does you, so at least now she's cleaned up. You threw one of Ricky's t shirts on her, so of course it's too big and almost brushes her toes, but she looks cute. It was just the first thing you saw in his room and you didn't want to rifle for her pajamas --- it almost felt like you were invading his space.

"Where is he?"

"He had a show to do out of town, but he'll be here in a few hours. His plane should already be landing soon. He'll be home before you know it." You force a smile at her as she rubs her eyes, not looking comforted. You know she would probably feel much better with her parents around, but you're doing your best --- you have no idea what you're doing, but winging it seems okay. She's really the only little kid you've been around, other than your cousins, but it's not as if you're looking after them.

Maybe you should have called your aunt and asked for some advice, she would have known what to do instantly. You wish she would figure out how to text so that you wouldn't have to call, you can never get off the phone with her.

Maybe it's because you don't call often enough?

"(Y/N)?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better," Chloe says after a moment, her eyes flicking to yours, and they look so serious! You blink at her, surprised, before forcing another smile. What are you supposed to say to that? You swear, sometimes it's like she's a little adult.

"That's what stepmoms are supposed to do, right? Take care of the kiddos." You say lightly, patting her shoulders. "I mean, I'm not like the mean one off Cinderella, I hope."

"No," Chloe gives you the slightest tilt of her pale lips. "You're really nice, I like you. I liked you before Daddy did, I think."

You snort, but she's probably right. You're pretty sure you've intimidated Ricky all these years and he was more afraid to not be friends with you than anything --- plus you work on his car for a discount, so there's that. Well, since you're married, maybe for free now? He's really getting the best deal out of this relationship.

"Why don't we take a nap and see if we feel better, hmm?" you suggest after a moment, not knowing what else to do. If she falls asleep soon, maybe you can get some stuff done around the apartment. You'll just close the door and let her snooze.

"Will you stay with me?" she asks, immediately destroying your plans. "Can we watch TV?"

"Of course." You sigh internally as she leans forward, wrapping her arms around your neck. You grimace as you lift her up, feeling the wet tips of her hair brush against your shirt; you're going to be soaked after this, aren't you? You carry her towards the couch, grabbing your blanket and tossing it over her where she snuggles at your side, letting her head rest in your lap.

"Can we watch Princess Sofia?" Chloe sniffles, and you hesitate; what the hell is that?

"Uh, sure." You lean for the remote, tapping the button for Netflix. "What's it called?"

It takes you five minutes to find the show, and you let it play, wondering what you're getting yourself in too. You've never clicked on the kids profile before, but there's a first for everything. Chloe sighs in your lap, her fingers curled against your thigh as she watches the show for a few minutes before drifting off. You've given her that medicine, and you hope it's kicking in --- she does seem a little better. Maybe some rest tonight will make her feel more like herself.

You lean your head back against the cushions, propping your feet up on the coffee table. You don't want to change the show, afraid Chloe might wake up and an episode of Game of Thrones probably isn't age-appropriate. So instead you find yourself watching the show about a commoner girl turned princess upon her mother marrying the king, and her going to princess school to be the best princess ever.

You're not sure at what point you drift off, sometime between the random three fairies helping Sofia in school and the other Disney Princesses popping in to offer guidance. You just shuffle a little when you hear your door opening, the soft thump of bags on the wooden floor and the click of the locks.

You slowly swivel your head, seeing your husband hastily starting in your direction, obviously looking for his sick child. You press a finger against your lips before pointing down at the blanket-clad little girl snoozing peacefully in your lap, and Ricky looks relieved.

Actually, he looks like he needs a shower. He's still in his concert outfit, black smeared against his skin and so thick around his eyes he looks like a pale raccoon. He'd been in a rush and hadn't been able to sit still, worried Chloe was sick; did she need to go to the ER? Should he call her pediatrician?

"Hey," he says softly as he comes to your side, squatting down so he's level with the couch, "how is she?"

"Well, we had a bath and a lot of medicine, so it's snooze time." You reply, hopefully as quietly. You don't want to wake her up, not when she's just started to rest. "She seems okay now."

"Good." Ricky looks relieved. "I'm glad you texted me, I got it before I did the voicemails."

"Did you get in touch with her mom?" You ask after a moment, seeing his brows furrow. "I tried to call her, but she probably doesn't have my number."

"She sent her boyfriend to pick Chloe up, said she was at work and couldn't leave. She called me in a panic because the school said her mother already picked her up." Ricky sounds the faintest bit amused, and your cheeks flush.

"Well. Mrs. Olson picked her up," you reply. "Not my fault they made assumptions. Is she going to pick her up?"

"In the morning, we'll let her rest tonight." Ricky replies, slowly straightening. He stretches with a sigh, and you can tell he's tired. Hopping two planes and playing a show has to be exhausting, but at least he hasn't been cleaning up vomit the last six hours.

"Take a shower, get comfy. She's gonna be out a little while." You say after a moment, giving him a smile. "I'm sure you'll know if she wakes up."

"Alright." That's a good idea. He's sweaty, smells like perfume and paint, and feels like he hasn't slept in two days. It'll be nice to get under some hot water and relax.

A few minutes later, he stands beneath the hot water, letting it rush against his skin and wash the black paint away. Claire chewed his ear off for letting you pick up Chloe, but he didn't want to tell you that.

She was frightened something happened to her daughter, but if she'd answered her phone she would have known! It's also none of her business if he does go out of town, he has no reason to tell her his every move.

It eats at him that she still tries to be so controlling of him just because they have a child, but he refuses. He wants to see his daughter more, be involved in her life, help with her birthday parties. He just wished he didn't have to be around Claire to do it.

He's thankful for you, and that you're taking all of this in stride, not even a complaint! He's changed up your entire life for his own selfish reasons, he realized... and Ryan also pointed it out earlier.

He owes you a night out or something, maybe a concert, just to show his gratitude. No one else would have done this for him.

He hesitates as there's a light knock on the door before he hears it open. Oh, uh...

"Please don't get out and be naked, but Chloe used the last towel so there's none in here." He hears you say after a moment, embarrassed. You didn't think about it until the water was already on. "I'm gonna leave them on the sink, okay?"

"Oh, uh, thanks." He says, eyes flicking to the gray and pink striped shower curtain hiding him from your sight. Your bathroom is decently sized, big enough it's okay for two people to be in comfortably, but it suddenly seems very small.

"Sure." Your eyes flick to the foggy mirror for a brief moment before away, and you quickly turn to leave before pausing. "Oh, and I already put Chloe in your room, she's sleeping like a rock."

"Thanks, (Y/N)."

Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning. Ricky hates that he wasn't there for her when she needed him, he should've been able to pick his child up and bring her home, give her medicine and comfort her. You really stepped up to the plate today, taking care of her.

He knows his music is important, it's his job and how he makes money. He has to focus on his career, he has to go on these trips for promotions. It was just a lot easier when he didn't have a kid whose mother keeps flaking on him when she knows he can't just appear on a dime.

He does worry about tours. He'll be gone for months on end, and Chloe is getting old enough now she's going to notice she hasn't seen her father in a long time. He's talked to her on the phone, but Claire always says she doesn't have time for video chat or more than five minutes.

If you get to keep Chloe, it'll be easier. It's not like you're going to tell him he can't talk to his daughter for as long as he wants, and you'd probably go the extra mile to make sure he could chat with her.

He trusts you more than anyone in the world.

~~~~~~~~

"Ricky?"

"Hmm?" He didn't realize you were still awake. He'd tried to give you time to sleep, checked on Chloe, watched some mindless TV before heading to bed. He crawled in as quietly as possible and didn't even jerk the blanket off you like you always do to him when you sleep.

"Are you worried about court coming up? It's this week right?" You say after a moment, your back to him where you rest on your side, facing the wall. He shifts slightly, pillowing his head with his arms as he stares at the ceiling.

"I've not been thinking about it too much."

Oh, you figured he'd be agonizing over it, that's his thing. He likes to work himself up into a frenzy and pace back and forth all night and unknowingly bother you.

"Do you think our marriage is actually going to help any?"

"God, I hope so. Otherwise we went through all this for nothing."

"Well, yeah, but it's not been all bad." You say after a moment, snuggling your arms around your pillow, shifting just enough that you get more of the blanket. "I don't mind having a roommate, and you're like a furnace on the colder nights, despite you have cold hands."

Ricky rolls his eyes; so you do know what you're doing! "Then why do you steal the covers away from me all the time?"

"I thought that was a requirement of being a wife." you reply in amusement, curling your legs beneath the heavy blankets, purposefully inching it away from him. "We take your covers, steal your warmth, fix your car."

Ricky snorts. "It's supposed to be the other way around. I should be able to fix your car."

"You don't even know how to change a tire."

"So? I can Youtube it."

This time, you're the one rolling your eyes. "I mean, you can, but that doesn't mean you'll do it right. Just keep to writing music, you're good at that."

"I'm good at other things!"

"Oh yeah? Name me a few." You tease, hearing the indignance in his voice. You can't help but finally move so that you can look at him, lifting up on your elbows to peer at him in the dark. You've successfully dragged the blanket off of him completely at this point, leaving him in those ridiculous blue and green sleep pants with the frogs on them that Chloe made him buy last time she was over because she also found one in her size and they could match. You thought it was adorable and took pictures.

His eyes flick over to you, just able to see your outline; he leaves the bedroom door cracked out of habit now in case Chloe wants to crawl in with the two of you, you don't seem to mind at all, and it leaves a sliver of light across the bed.

"Well, uh... You're really putting me on the spot here."

"Oh, am I?" You chuckle, propping your chin on your hand as you face him, amused. You flick his arm playfully, your gaze absently roving over his tattoos. "Come one, surely you're good at three things that aren't music."

"Coffee. I can make coffee."

"Anyone can make coffee."

"Don't you have to work in the morning?" He grumbles, starting to feel a little cold. "You need your rest."

"Are you bossing me around, Mr. Olson? This is my bed, you know, I hold the power here."

"Is that why you stole the blanket away from me? Trying to freeze me out?"

"Just asserting dominance." You reply, although you do take mercy on him and toss his half back over him. You have no idea that his cheeks are burning bright red, and that in his head the conversation is starting to take a completely different turn. He wishes you wouldn't tease him, especially not in that tone.

You stifle a yawn behind your hand, sighing. "If Claire doesn't pick Chloe up tomorrow, will you take her to the doctor if she isn't feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I will. I'll get you a copy of her insurance so that you have it." He says absently, watching as you snuggle back to your pillow, but you stay facing him; typically you sleep with your back to him all the time. "Just in case."

"Good. I mean, I think it's just a bug, she should be fine." You say, your eyes already closed. You reach out thoughtlessly, patting his shoulder. "She probably feels better knowing that you're here."

"She's been asleep since I came home."

"She probably knows it subconsciously."

Ricky doubts that. His kid sleeps like a log.

"(Y/N)?"

"Mhmm?" You sound sleepy now, he can tell you're drifting off.

"Thank you, for taking care of her today."

"That's what I'm supposed to do," you sigh, feeling his cold fingers slip through yours where they lay against his shoulder, squeezing. "I'm her stepmom, it's my job."

Yeah, but... well, you don't have too. He doesn't feel like there's a point in reiterating that the marriage is fake, and you don't have to play the part of wife so well. It'll be worse in the end when the two of you divorce, Chloe will be so confused after she's gotten used to you being around --- or maybe everything will go back to as it was before, just normal. You two will be friends, you lived as roommates for a while, you'll still be close.

His eyes rove to you where you sleep, your fingers curled loosely in his.

Really, though... he doesn't think anything will ever be the same.

Tags: @svintsandghosts @batgirl09151997 @ nokomihorror @ryansitkowskiswifey, @theoneandonlykymberlee, maelloute, musicsexandpizza69, jojomiwbvb6

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clericbyers · 5 years

Note

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

#role reversal au #RR!ST3 #byler #otp: palaric #omggggg #i love this so much oh my god #thank you for giving me the leeway to rebuild the au!!#anon #yams answers #yams writes

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