#steve: .. weathers nice today huh ?

[ickypuppi3]

steve: you see tommy h got that new shirt? makes him look like a [remembers billy is standing right beside him who steve recently found out is gay and they’re at that stage of ‘just friends’ even though steve keeps getting jealous whenever anyone looks at billy but there’s tunnels full of monsters beneath their feet so he can’t really think about that right now] guy with a new shirt. straight, obviously. ‘cause, like—

billy: jesus fuck just say it

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two Three four

Steve’s eating a bowl of cereal, squinting in the morning light. He’s barefoot, wearing nothing but sleep shorts, and is considering going back to bed. He shouldn’t though; he has to be on time today.

Since the mall burned down, Scoops Ahoy is, annoyingly, no more. Robin thinks she has something though, some guy at Family Video who probably has the hots for her or something. Doesn’t matter though, Steve doesn’t really care what this Keith guys motivation is as long as it results in gainful employment for the both of them.

He really should shower.

Steve can see the pool from here, so he’s in a prime position to watch as Eddie pulls himself out of the water and makes his way to the back door.

This is the second time Eddie has come into the house, if you don’t count the emergency temporary over nighter in the bath tub. Well, it’s the second time Eddie has brought himself into the house, at least.

He waits patiently at the back door, like a cat waiting to be let in, and Steve opens the door for him, cereal bowl still balanced in the other hand.

He holds himself in that same way, flat of his tail curled up beneath him, giving him a little height, and he sits himself uncertainly in the middle of the kitchen floor, “hi Eddie.”

“Stee. Buddidy”

Steve gets him some celery from the bottom of the fridge and gives him the whole thing. They stand, and sit, together in comfortable silence, crunching their way through their respective breakfasts.

Steve watches as Eddie cautiously makes his way to the fridge once he’s done, looking to Steve with his his hand on the door, a question on his face, Steve nods, “yeah.”

Eddie opens the door, and Steve watches as he explores, carefully moving jars and condiments and stuff around, glass clinking quietly, before he opens the drawer at the bottom and pulls out a pear, carefully closing the drawer and door again after. He eats the whole thing, stalk, core, seeds, everything.

Steve washes up his dish, checking the time, “want to watch some TV?”

Eddie cocks his head, but follows Steve into the lounge. He sits, looking around, feeling the carpet under his hands, running his nails carefully through the pile until the TV catches his attention.

He moves closer. And then closer again, making Steve laugh when he taps a nail on the curved glass of the screen.

“I’m going to go shower, you shouldn't sit so close, it’s bad for your eyes.”

Robin does her make up in the car on the way over to Family Video, “how’s Eddie?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking, it really means a lot to me, how much you care about my well being.”

She sighs through her nose and rolls her eyes, and Steve tuts at her.

“He came in the house this morning, I left him watching TV.”

“Huh. I mean normally I would say it’ll rot his brain but, something for him to do would be good, right?”

“Yeah. And if I’m getting a job, we should try and teach him to use the walkie’s at least. In case there’s like an emergency or something.”

“A fruit and veg related emergency.”

“Yeah, kind of. We really need to figure out what to do with him, he can’t just sit in my pool forever.”

She hums in agreement.

It’s just starting to rain when Steve gets home, the first break in the nearly two weeks of sunny weather they’ve been having.

Probably won’t be sharing a beer with Eddie tonight then. Well, Steve hasn’t really been sharing, he’s been letting Eddie steal the last third of a bottle, which isn’t really the same thing.

Eddie’s actually sitting on on the couch when Steve gets in, which surprises him momentarily. There’s an empty container on the cushion next to him, Steve figures he found the grapes.

“Hey.”

Eddie turns to see him, smiling, clearly pleased to see him, which is a nice change of pace. Sure he knows Robin loves him, but she’s never actually openly really happy to see him unless she’s, like, drunk or high. And the kids. Steve knows they must at least kind of like him, but they’re all just little shits. Having someone to come home to who is genuinely pleased to see him is a really nice change of pace.

“It just started raining.”

“Raiiniing.”

“Yeah,” Steve points at the window, “uhm, wet. Uhm. Sky wet.”

“Et.”

“Yeah.”

Eddie’s eyes widen suddenly, scrabbling off the couch in clear panic, “Et! Et!”

“Yeah Buddy, what’s wrong-”

Eddie’s frantically slithering across the lounge carpet with what is a truly amazing turn of speed considering his anatomy, “et inied! Book! NO! NO!”

“Oh, shit! Your book,” Steve hops over Eddie’s tail, making it to the door and then sprinting across the grass, grabbing the book and bringing it back.

Eddie’s sitting in the door way, hands clasped together, watching anxiously, “it’s not so bad, just a little damp.” Steve holds the book out to show him where drops of rain have speckled the pages, “it’s not bad.”

“Not bad. Good,” but he’s still frowning, clearly concerned where the paper is discolored by the water.

“Wait,” Eddie does as he’s told as Steve runs upstairs for the hair dryer, plugging it in in the lounge and sitting on the floor, Eddie joining him with the book. “Here, feel,” he turns it on, pointing it Eddie’s way.

Eddie sticks his fingers towards it, and then pulls the back, startled. Then he does it again before watching Steve dry the pages of the book, “dry. Et inied.”

“That’s right buddy.”

“Stee Edidie budidy.”

“That’s right. Yeah.”

Eddie sits next to Steve watching nervously as Steve gets the final pages dried off, and Steve hands the book back.

Eddie grins, “thanks Birdidie,” and then darts forward to press his lips to Steve’s cheek. It's just a press, not a real kiss.

“Oh,” and then Steve chuckles when he realizes what’s happened, the behavior that Eddie's seen and is now mimicking, “no. Uhm. Thank you Steve.”

Eddie cocks his head.

“Wait, wait,” Steve takes the hair dryer with him, heading up the stairs again, and this time coming back with a handful of Polaroids, he shuffles them into a neat stack, sitting next to Eddie on the floor. “Right, this is Robin. Birdie.”

“Thanks Birdidie.”

“Yeah, that’s right, that’s Birdie, now,” Steve shuffles through, “Max,” he says pointing, “and El.”

“El. Max.”

It’s thirty minutes and two pears later, but Eddie seems to be able to identify everyone reliably from their photographs, “no, Dustin.”

“Dust bin,” Eddie replies, confidently.

“You know what, sure, dust bin. Let’s go with that. Kind of suits him, actually.”

Steve’s drinking his evening beer. The weather much better again today, but the evenings are drawing in, and the sun set has almost taken Steve by surprise with how early it’s painting the sky pink. Summer’s coming to a close. Which brings some urgency to the question; what are they going to do with Eddie? The pool isn’t heated, and it usually gets drained and covered for the winter months. It’ll definitely freeze over at some point if they leave it open like this, and there’s no way Eddie could survive that, could he?

Steve doesn’t know. There’s just too much they don’t know about Eddie.

Steve’s got his first shift at Family Video tomorrow, a closing shift with the manager, Keith. Apparently he wants to show Steve the ropes when it comes to shutting down the store; Steve figures just from that that he’s going to be stuck with more than his fair share of late shifts.

He wonders if Eddie’s going to miss his evening beer. He really should teach Eddie to use a walkie. Tomorrow, he decides, will be as good a time as any. Tomorrow morning, and then Steve can leave one with Eddie and take one to work with him.

At least he knows Eddie can get into the house if he really has to, if he gets hungry or whatever. He really could do with some sort of cover out here though. Some where to leave his book in case of the rain. Maybe put a couple of towels in there, some food in the cool box when Steve’s out, the walkie, that sort of stuff.

Eddie swims over, pushing his floating toy bucket along ahead of him in the water. There are things in it tonight, which is a first. Eddie puts his bucket on the side of the pool before pulling himself out to sit beside Steve.

He pulls something out of his bucket to show to Steve, “oh, it’s a pine cone. Hold on.” Steve puts his beer down to grab the encyclopedia, and Eddie duly swipes it. Steve flicks through the book wile Eddie sips the beer, “look, this is a tree.”

“Tee.”

“Tree.”

“Trrreeee.”

“Yeah, it’s a seed for a tree,” Steve shows Eddie the series of pictures, how the seed underground grows a little shoot that grows, eventually, into a tree.

Eddie fetches something else from his bucket, showing Steve, “trree?”

“Leaf,” Steve points at the leaf in Eddie’s hand, then, “tree,” as he points to the tree line at the bottom edge of the yard.

Eddie’s frowning at the page in the book, but he does nod, so Steve doesn’t push it any further.

“Steve do you know how early it is.”

“I know, but I don’t care, do you still have that tent you were playing around with last summer?”

“Camping, Steve, I went camping with-what do you want it for, anyway?”

“It’s for Eddie.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dustin’s tone changes to immediately helpful, “yeah, do you want to come and get it? I’m pretty sure I still have it-MAAAAA! MAAAAAAA DO YOU KNOW-”

Steve pulls the receiver away from his head while Dustin's hollering at his poor mother.

“Yeah, we know where it is, you coming now?”

Eddie’s holding a piece of plastic tubing, looking concerned, and watching Steve struggle with the worlds smallest two man tent, “it’s okay, I got this.”

Eddie tilts his head one way and then the other, like a curious bird, as Steve struggles. It takes a couple of failed attempts, not helped by the fact that Dustin couldn’t find the instructions, but it doesn’t take that long before the tent is ready. Steve sets it on the grass, the doorway edge butted up against the tiles that surround the pool edge. Steve fixes the guy ropes using metal tent pegs driven into the lawn. It’s not hugely spacious inside, just big enough to accommodate two medium sized dudes when lying down, just as long as those two medium sized dudes are super comfortable with each other, then it’s fine.

Steve goes backward and forward, lining the bottom with a couple of sleeping mats he also borrowed from Dustin, and then putting in a couple of towels, Eddie’s book, and rescuing the Rubik's cube and slinkie from where they've lain, ignored, on the side of the pool, “there, what do you think?”

Eddie moves closer, cautiously looking inside before looking back to Steve, “yeah, good. Go in, it's okay,” Steve nods and smiles and generally tries to be encouraging.

Eddie goes inside before turning to look out, sitting on his tail.

Steve sits in the doorway, “it’ll keep your book dry.”

Eddie ponders that a moment, touching his book, before looking up. He carefully touches the inside of the tent roof, “et inied?”

“Yeah buddy, that’s right. Good.”

Part six

[livwritesstuff]

Steve closed down his computer after his last therapy session of the day (it was a short day – it’s only three in the afternoon), and swiveled around in his chair to look out the window onto his backyard.

It’s nice out. He could go for a walk around the neighborhood or putter around the yard for a while –  probably one of the last opportunities before the fall weather starts to turn on them.

He knows he isn’t going to do either of those things though. Instead, he’s gonna sit around keeping one eye on his phone because he knows his oldest daughter Moe’s course schedule and he knows she’s about to be heading to her next class which means she’s probably going to be calling him just like she’d done two other times today.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, Steve’s phone started to ring with a call from Moe.

“Hey,” he said as he answered the call.

“Hi Pop,” she replied, her voice coming through the phone a little crackly, broken up by the sound of wind and city traffic around her.

“You on your way to class?”

“Uh-huh. That chem for engineers course – Pop, you wouldn’t believe the shit that rats get up to in this city. It’s crazy. I literally just saw a massive one dragging a whole bag of those little…you know…the red cheese – well, the cheese isn’t red, it’s just–”

“Babybels,” Steve finishes for her.

“Yeah, those! Pop – an entire bag of Babybel cheese being dragged down the street by a rat," Moe exclaims before immediately heading down another tangent.

Two months into Moe’s freshman year of college, Steve thinks she might be a little bit lonely.

She’s always been independent (sometimes to a scary extent, if he’s honest) and she’d handled most of the transition like a champ, but that kind of independence has its ups and downs, and Moe’s never been all that great at the social stuff. Unlike her sisters, she hadn’t had a big group of friends in high school, just a few good ones that she’d made early on in school and stuck with until graduation.

Now, he thinks she might be having some trouble with the whole making new friends piece of moving to a brand new city (goddamn New York City, because these kids won’t let him see a second of peace, and even though he trusts Moe and knows she can take care of herself, Steve still isn’t really in a place yet where he can sleep easy knowing she’s out there on her own).

He knows that Moe will find her people just like he had done years ago. In the meantime, she's been fulfilling that human need for social interaction through lots of calls with him and Eddie (and he'd once even caught Moe and Robbie on a video call together, which he's pretty sure had never happened before).

Steve’s not gonna complain. He’d pretty much drop anything to talk to his kids.

After a few minutes, the background noise coming from Moe's side of the call fades away.

"Okay, I have to go," Moe says, "I might call you later."

"I'm around," Steve replies, because for her (for all his kids), he'll always be.

"'Kay. Love you Pop."

"I love you too."

He waits a beat for Moe to end the call and when she does, he gets up, sticks his phone in his back pocket so he'll know when it rings again, and goes on with his day.

[reputationmunson]

Crossing Lines | S.H x fem!reader

part one | part two | part three | part 4

series summary: steve isn’t your biggest fan, so why does he ask you to be his date to a wedding? | enemies to lovers, fake dating

chapter summary: a day at the lake with the Harringtons followed by a night out

content: steve and reader arguing (what’s new), drinking, swearing, these two idiots being in love, she/her pronouns, use of y/n

word count: 3.3k

_

You wake up with a wine-induced headache and you look over to see the spot next to you empty.

Yeah, you and Steve kissed last night, but so what? It didn’t mean anything. It was simply all part of the plan to be a more convincing couple. It would be weird if you guys didn’t share a quick peck every now and then if you were so ‘in love’ like you claimed to be, right?

You quickly shake it off and leave the bedroom to find out where Steve went. You’re half expecting to find a note that says ‘hey that kiss made me wanna flee the country. see you never’

Instead, you see Steve sitting on the front porch in one of the rocking chairs, taking in the scenery.

“Good morning” you say and sit down in the chair next to him. He doesn’t say anything, just gives you a nod instead. You refuse to let it be awkward. The weekend has only begun and there’s no way you’re going to let a dumb kiss that meant absolutely nothing make everything weirder than it already is.

“Remember when we kissed last?” you try to lighten the mood. “Do we really have to talk about that? It’s been bugging me all morning”

“Oh, so you’ve been thinking about me all morning, huh?” you tease and he lets out an irritated sigh “do you not know how to be serious about anything?”

“What's there to be serious about? We kissed, for scientific reasons I might add, and it doesn’t have to be weird.” you shrug like it’s no big deal. Except it is a big deal, to Steve, at least. The kiss wasn’t terrible, he might’ve even liked it and he doesn’t want to be dramatic, but that might be the worst thing that’s ever happened. “It is weird though, isn't it?”

“Why? because you liked it?” you ask, expecting him to immediately deny it, but he doesn’t. “Steve? you liked it, didn’t you?” you boast. “No! no, I didn't like it. It was just really stupid and I think it’s insane that you don’t regret it”

“Oh my god, Steve. It was a kiss! You didn’t even hesitate, you practically jumped at the opportunity! then, you initiated the second one!” you proclaim. “Jumped? You were the one making that face!” he argues and you scoff “Face? What face? I was not making a face!” you insist and his eyes roll. “Oh, you so were. You were all like ‘Steve, please kiss me! I’ll even pout my lips and bat my eyelashes at you’” he attempts to make the look that you were allegedly making last night.

“Are you admitting that you think I’m irresistible?” you smirk at him and the triumphant look on his face immediately disappears. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” he says, avoiding an answer to your question. “Yeah, okay, but you still think I’m irresistible” you chaff and he stands up. “You’re about as irresistible as a bed of nails that got set on fire. Now, if you’re done arguing with me, we gotta get ready”

“Ready for what?” you question “There’s a private beach around here and my family wants to go in about an hour” he tells you as you follow him inside. “An hour?! Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” you chastise. “Because you were too busy drooling on your pillow this morning and no, you don’t have time to yell at me because you’re gonna need all the time you can get to look decent before we leave”

_

Apart from the human embodiment of stepping on a piece of gum in a new pair of shoes that is Steve Harrington, today was a lovely day. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze that balanced perfectly with the weather, making the heat more bearable. The beach was nice, too. It was secluded and Steve’s family were the only people here. Now, if only you could find a way to leave Steve stranded that would make this day even better.

“You finally made it! We were starting to worry!” Steve’s mom, Joanne, greets you. “Sorry about that, Steve forgot to tell me about it last night so I got a late start getting ready” you explain.

“That’s Steve for you. Communication and time-management skills shouldn’t go on his resume if he ever decides to get a real job” His dad chimes in and you can’t help but feel a little bad. “Oh, no, he’s usually always great when it comes to that. We just all have our off days” you defend him and Steve gives you a slight smile as a way to thank you.

“Exactly, George, give Steve a break. I know it’s a little early, but I brought some wine if you’d like some, y/n. It is a vacation after all.” Steve’s mom seems to drink a lot of wine, but if you were married to someone as condescending as George, you would too. “I’d love a glass, thank you”

You sit with Joanne on a blanket while Steve goes over to join his cousins. She pours you a hefty glass of wine and you decide she’s your favorite Harrington.

“How are you two enjoying the house? I know it’s a little small, but we wanted you to be close to us” Their definition of ‘small’ is much different than yours. “It’s perfect, thank you, again. Steve and I had our coffee this morning while admiring the view” okay, you didn’t have coffee, you had a little disagreement, but you were still admiring the view.

“Steve seems absolutely smitten with you. I know I have my faults as a mother, but I still have my instincts and they tell me that maybe in a few years we’ll have another wedding to put on our calendars”

“Oh, I um-”

Before you can get a response out, Steve comes out of nowhere and you don’t think you’ve ever been more grateful for his presence. “We've been challenged to a game of chicken. best two outta three, you in?”

“hm, I don’t know. Do you have to be my partner? I would like to win” you tease. “yes, because it’s couple versus couple and you know you can’t win without me. c’mon” he offers his hand to help pull you up off the ground.

When you pull off your bathing suit cover up, Steve knows he should look away. He shouldn’t care that the one-piece you’re wearing in the god awful shade of your signature color, hugs your body perfectly. His eyes definitely shouldn’t briefly flick down to your ass when you bend over to set the coverup on the blanket, but they do.

“Ready?” you ask, pulling him out of whatever weird trance he was just in. “y-yeah. let’s go”

“What did my mom say? you looked a little freaked out back there” he asks once she’s out of earshot. “something about you being just so head over heels for me and how we’re going to be married in a few years” you let out a sigh like it’s something to brush over. “Don’t listen to her, she’s drinking too much wine. Something you guys seem to have in common”

“how else am i supposed to cope with being your lover”

“gross. don’t say that” he whines and you laugh at him as you always do.

“this water is freezing!” you squeal as the water comes to the shore. “hm, really? how freezing?” he asks with a tone that sounds like he has a plan. “that’s a dumb q-” before you can finish your insult, Steve lunges at you and his arms wrap around your waist and he drags you deeper into the water.

“Steve! let me go!” you screech. “if you insist” he replies before dunking you into the water. You get a hold of him and pull him down with you. There’s no way you were going down without a fight.

You both emerge from the cold water, laughing and neither of you have a look of anger on your faces. Which is strange because usually just the sound of each breathing is enough to set either of you off, but you rarely ever see him have fun. It’s kind of nice to see him let loose even if that means being submerged in frigid water.

“If you lovebirds are done, we’re ready to take you down now” his cousin shouts and you both quickly retrieve your touch from one another. “you think you’re gonna be alright with my legs on your shoulders?” you ask him, not meaning for it to intend to sound as dirty as it came out and his cheeks turn pink. “my god, Steve, stop being a perv and squat down. We are not losing this game”

Steve crouches down so you can sit on top of his shoulders. He hands grip your thighs to steady you and you thread your fingers through his hair to keep your balance. He notices that your thighs are soft and smooth. It’s probably from the lotion that you constantly put on ‘cause you smell nice too. He hopes this game is over as soon as possible.

As the ‘battle’ starts, his grip on your thighs tighten, but you don’t have time to focus on the way it’s making you feel when you’re worried about trying to take down the other team.

You win surprisingly fast. Steve was expecting an immediate takedown that resulted in your flying off of his shoulders. Actually, it was more like hoping than expecting. You’re unexpectedly competitive. Steve figured since you’re so sweet and shy (other people’s words, definitely not Steve’s), that you’d go done in a split second, but you stuck to your guns. He’s decently impressed.

“I’m gonna take a walk to dry off. do you wanna join me?” he asks once you’re out of the water. “yeah that sounds nice”

As you walk, your arm wraps around his and he accepts it without question. “I’m gonna say something but don’t let it swell your ego any more than it already is” he starts and you refrain from a sarcastic comment. “I'm having fun with you today and I guess it’s not totally awful that you’re here”

“Should we get you to a hospital? I think there’s a blood-sucking leech in your brain”

“yeah, i think so too” he looks over at you and sees you're already looking at him. The sunshine really does something to his eyes and makes the freckles on his face more noticeable, you could almost connect them like a constellation. Maybe there’s a blood-sucking leech in your brain too.

“I'm having a good time too. Ya know, despite having to constantly be around you” you joke and he chuckles. “well lucky for you, the guys and I are going out to some bar so you’ll have the place to yourself for a while”

“thank god. i’m going to need some time to recover from being nice to you”

“you and me both, y/n. you and me both”

_

With Steve being gone, you had planned a relaxing evening. There was a little general store not far from the house and you’d gotten all the necessities; snacks, a face mask, and some stuff for a bubble bath. You’re about to start a bath when you hear a knock at the door and you pray that Steve isn’t back already.

“Hi!” One of the Harrington wives, Mary, greets you when you open the door. “Hi! Steve isn’t here-”

“Oh, I know. I’m here for you! Are you still getting ready?” She asks when she notices your robe and face mask. “Getting ready for what?” you question. “We’re meeting the guys at the bar! Didn’t Steve tell you?”

“Y-yeah, he did. I just thought it was a pity invite” you lie. “I don’t really have anything to wear for a night out”

“Honey, let me tell you something that I wish someone told me when I first joined this family; never travel without your favorite little black dress when you take a trip with the Harringtons. Especially us young ones. Those boys always go out”

“I don’t have a little black dress. '' You mumble, a little embarrassed. “Lucky for you, I always bring an extra. Here, try it on!” she hands you a dress from her bag along with a pair of black heels to match. Steve is definitely going to make fun of you for this.

You were expecting to feel out of place in this dress, but honestly, you look hot. The dress is a spaghetti strap with a simple square neckline and it’s shorter than what your choice might’ve been, but it’s stunning.

“Oh my gosh, you look incredible! Steve won’t be able to keep his hands off you” she squeals.“I don’t know about that…” you mutter. “Please. I see the way he looks at you and once he sees you in this dress he’s going to lose it”

People keep talking about the way Steve ‘looks’ at you and you’re starting to think they’re just saying it to say it. How can they confuse his looks of dislike and revulsion with love? No wonder Steve thinks his family is crazy

“Alright, I brought us some drinks and they aren’t going to drink themselves. Let’s get to it!”

_

“Hi, boys. Miss us?” Mary announces once you all approach the half-circle booth the boys are sat at. Steve does a double take when he sees you. Not only was he not expecting to see you here, he definitely wasn’t expecting to see you in that dress.

“Hi, Stevie” you say in a sing-song voice. There’s no denying you’re already a little tispy. Your eyes are glassy and you have a loopy grin on your face. “Hi, babe. I thought you were staying in tonight?”

“I was going too but I just missed you. I hope it’s okay I’m here”

“Oh, it’s fine” One of the men interjects. “Steve’s been talking about you all night”

“I have not. They’ve been asking about you and I’ve been answering questions” he explains. “And what have you been saying, Stevie?” you wonder. “He was just telling us-”

“Alright, that’s enough. How about you grab a chair and sit down, yeah?” You look around to try and find an empty chair but with the bar being crowded, there aren’t any available. “Just sit on Steve’s lap! None of us are prudes, clearly” Mary says and you look at Steve with hesitance. “Yeah, that’s fine. Just hop on” hop on? he repeats in his head. He can’t believe he just said that.

You sit on his lap like it’s something you’ve done a million times before. Your arm wraps around his shoulders while his arm wraps around your waist. Once you’re seated comfortably, his hand comes to rest on your thigh, a little too close for comfort. Your breath hitches slightly and you hope Steve didn’t notice. He did notice, and he’s planning on using this against you later.

Steve can’t focus on any of the conversations happening because the only thing on his mind is the fact that he doesn’t entirely hate your closeness. He blames it on the alcohol coursing through his veins. You look rather pretty tonight and you smell so good that it’s more intoxicating than the drink in his glass.

He absentmindedly begins to rub your thigh and you let out a small gasp, causing him to smirk. “Sorry. Just keeping up appearances” he whispers in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. “It’s fine” you whisper back.

Except, it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t that his touch was making you uncomfortable, it was the complete opposite and that was the problem. You felt yourself melting into his touch and craving it every time his hand left your thigh so he could take a sip of his drink.

You feel like you should regret not staying back at the house, but you don’t. Not even a little bit.

_

“You have to turn the key to the right, Steeevvvee” you drunkenly whine as Steve tries to unlock the front door. “I am turning it to the right” he whines back, mocking your tone. “That’s the left” you point out. “You try it then” he challenges. “Watch and learn, pretty boy”

The key doesn’t budge. You turn it left, you turn it right and nothin’. “Watch and learn. I’m soooo much smarter than Steve” he mimics you as you drop the key on the porch. “It’s broken! What’re we gonna do?” you pout, standing close enough that your chest is flush with his. “Follow me”

You follow Steve to a window that’s slightly open a little higher up than other windows. “I can’t climb through that window in a dress!” you exclaim. “Well, you can’t lift me, so up ya go”

“That is so sexist”

“I know, I’m the worst, blah blah blah. C’mon, let’go” Steve hooks his hands together for you to use as a step. You grip his shoulders and once you're balanced, you’re able to grab the window frame. “I need more of a boost” you tell him. “This is all the boost I got”

“Then throw me!”

“Are you insane? I’m not gonna throw you!”

“We’ll sleep outside, then”

“I have an idea, but don’t punch me! I’m gonna have to touch your butt” he giggles like a four-year-old when he says ‘butt’, making you giggle too. “Lucky you, then. Try not to bust in your pants, okay”

“You sure are confident when you’re drunk. Okay, on three” Steve counts to three and pushes you as much as he can until you’re able to pull yourself through the window. “I’m in!”

“Yeah, I see that. Go unlock the door” he says and you shake your head. “Oh, no no no. If I had to do this, so do you. It’s fun!”

“Why do you have to make everything difficult?”

“Scared you can’t do it?” you taunt. “What was that you said earlier? Watch and learn?”

Steve starts to climb the house and you can’t help but laugh at how many times he slips. Once he’s almost made it, you grab his hand and pull him into the house causing him to topple you to the ground and throwing you both into a fit of giggles.

“Alright, I admit that was fun” he says, a bit breathless. “I know. I’m full of great ideas”

You both stand up and flop onto the bed. “I’m ready to go to sleeo” Steve says with a yawn and closes his eyes. “Noooo, you can’t sleep in those clothes. That’s so uncomfy”

“I can’t move” he grumbles. You move to stand at the foot of the bed and reach your arms out to him. “Get up. Just grab my hands” he lazily grabs your hands and you let out a groan as you pull him up. “Hey, I’m not that heavy” he laughs. “If you say so”

Neither of you have moved from where you’re standing. Your hands are still holding his and his face is close to yours that you could count his eyelashes. “You look really pretty tonight” he whispers like he’s afraid you’ll hear him. “You don’t have to say that. No one’s around”

“And if I said I wanted to kiss you… what would you say to that?” his hand comes up to cradle your cheek and you lean into his touch.

“I’d say it’s a bad idea” you slightly lean in “I know” he leans in closer.

“We hate each other”

“We do”

“And we really shouldn’t kiss ‘cause I don’t think I’ll be able to stop”

“Okay” His nose brushes yours, but his lips press against your cheek instead. This is the one time you wish he wouldn’t listen to you.

“I wouldn’t be able to stop either” Steve confesses before going to get changed in the bathroom, leaving you to feel more confused than you’ve ever felt.

Fuck.

_

taglist: @nix-rose-q @eternallyvenus @freezaz123 @whisperingwillowxox @buckysmetalhand @clincallyonline17 @x-theolivia @realsuper-dark @eddiesguitarskills @megxplryxb @alicetweven @calmoistorm @impossibelle @k-k0129

(for some reason there were a few blogs that i wasn’t able to tag:( i apologize!)

[xcaptain-winterx]

Gingerbread cookies

football player!Bucky Barnes x reader

summary: Your helpful football player decorates the gingerbread cookies for you while you sleep. Only problem is that your boyfriend has a better idea.

warnings: fluff, Bucky being a good boyfriend, Bucky being a horny boyfriend, cum, nsfw 18+, Alpine, pussy eating

a/n: English is not my first language, meaning you will probably find a lot of misspelling etc.. This is a fic for “Vee's holly jolly challenge” @sstan-hoe with the prompt “Before we go out…pull up that skirt real quick, baby”. Hope you like it and I hope you all have a great Christmas❤️🎄

Main Masterlist Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Bucky is walking out of the changing room, pulling his jacket tighter around him as the cold wind slaps him. He was supposed to have football practice until 5pm, but the sudden change of weather made them end earlier today. This decision was good because 10 minutes later the wind got brutal. Bucky makes his way back to his apartment, wanting to be back in the warmth as soon as possible. His phone starts to ring midway through his walk back home and he struggles for a second to get his phone out before finally managing to pull his phone out of the deeps of his pocket. A smile spreads out on his face as he sees that you are calling him.

“Hey, doll” Bucky says happily.

“Hey, baby” you say, sounding equally as happy. “I already assumed practice was going to end earlier today. How was it?”.

“It was good. I beat Steve today” he says proudly, remembering how defeated Steve looked as his best friend threw him across the field.

“Wow, that’s amazing, baby! Guess you deserve something special then, huh?”. Bucky bites his lap as he thinks about what you gave him last time you were proud of him, or more like what you did.

“I will be home in two minutes” Bucky says, speed walking down the streets and taking a shortcut. Just as Bucky is about to bring up a wish, including you in only his jersey, a noise in the background gathers his attention.

“What is that, doll?”.

“So” you begin “I actually called you because I wanted to ask you if you could make a quick stop at the supermarket and get some frosting”.

“Sure” Bucky immediately says and walks back in the other direction. “For what?”.

“Today is Yelena’s birthday and I want to make gingerbread cookies, but I ran out of frosting halfway. I still need to decorate twenty more cookies”. Bucky remembers the party. How couldn’t he? The whole football team is going and many more. Yelena and you know each other since you were about five and went together to the same schools. Meanwhile her sister Natasha was in Russia for some years.

“I thought we had enough frosting” Bucky says, remembering how went grocery shopping last week and even got more frosting than necessary.

“I thought so too, but we used quite a lot of frosting last night as we drunkenly built our gingerbread house” you say, while putting the last dozen of cookies in the oven.

Your parents came by yesterday morning before flying to England for the holidays and gifted you two some wine as an early Christmas present. Of course you two had to taste it, so you put on some nice music while Bucky lit the fireplace and then cuddled up to on the couch and opened the bottle. In no time the bottle was empty and you two dancing to Christmas music before Bucky had the brilliant idea to build a gingerbread house together, remembering you two bought a set. After some failed attempts to put it together, you two finally managed to do it and were able to decorate it. At that point, you still had enough frosting, but you wanted to do more decorations, so you took some of the frosting what was meant for the cookies.

In the end, you didn’t even use the frosting for decorating. Well, not for decorating a gingerbread house. Bucky thought it would be fun to decorate your body on the table and slowly lick the sweet scream off your body.

But the gingerbread house still looks good.

Bucky smiles back at the memory, remembering how much you two had and not only in the dirty kind.

“And now you want your lovely boyfriend to bring you some more frosting? Don’t you think you already have enough cookies?”

“Well, my lovely boyfriend, I think you can never have enough cookies and I may even spare you some if you get me some frosting” you say sweetly, secretly knowing you already got him wrapped around your fingers.

Bucky acts like he’s thinking for a second before replying. “Ok, but I want you to decorate MY cookies, especially for me. I want to take them with me to practice and rub under the boy’s noses that my girlfriend makes me cookies with personal messages”.

“You just want one that says ‘best dick’ or ‘careful big thing in pants alert’” you say laughing, imagining how he will show those cookies to Steve and Sam.

“You know me so good, doll” he says, smiling into his phone. “Alright, I will get you something, so you can finish decorating your cookies”.

“I love you, baby. Thank you so much. I will make you some hot chocolate, so you have something warm when you come home”.

“You are too good to me, doll. I love you” he says before saying goodbye. A wide grin appears on his face, while hanging up and putting his phone away. Instead of continuing his way to the supermarket, he turns around again and walks to their apartment.

Bucky wipes his snowy shoes on the doormat. He was almost home as it started snowing hard. Good, that the birthday party is inside.

He unlocks the door, and immediately a wave of warmness and the smell of fresh gingerbread hits him. He steps inside and is immediately greeted by your arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. Bucky kisses you back, dropping his bag to lift you up, but before he can, you pull away from him.

“I’m so happy to see you, baby. Did you bring the frosting? The cookies are almost done” you run back to the kitchen, leaving him at the door. A soft white fur ball comes out of the bedroom upon hearing the front door open.

“Hey, Alpine” Bucky says as his little baby purrs against his legs, “I missed you too, girl”. He picks her up after removing his shoes, jacket and letting his bag drop on the small bench in the entryway. In the kitchen, he sees how productive you have been. On the counter are two batches with finished cookies, two with unfinished ones, and another batch is in the oven.

“Doll, how about you rest a bit and then get ready for the party while I finish the cookies? You need some rest” he walks closer, seeing how tired you are.

“But the cookies-“.

“I will get them out when they are done and put the frosting on them” Bucky says, giving you Alpine, who happily snuggles closer into the arms of her favorite human.

“James, you don’t have to do that. You just came home from practice and I already made you get the frosting. You don’t need to do more” you say as he leads you to your bedroom. Alpine jumps out of your arms as Bucky pulls back the blanket for you to lie down. She stretches before getting comfortable again in the warm bed she slept in before Bucky arrived. Alpine meows, waiting for you to join her.

Bucky picks you up bridal style, making you laugh. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I made the love of my life overwork herself while I’m still full of energy” he says, laying you down on the bed and pulling the blanket tightly over you. Bucky chuckles as Alpine pops her head out from under the blanket.

“I love you, you know” you say and snuggle more into the warmth of the blanket.

“I know” Bucky grins before giving you a kiss, while murmuring a soft good night against your lips. He closes the door after walking out.

Once outside, he fist bumps the air. He can finally start with his plan. Bucky waits till the cookies are out of the oven before getting a big bowl and walking with it to the bathroom. A big grin is on his face as he closes the door.

“Merry fucking Christmas, doll”.

After you wake up and cuddled Alpine for another five minutes because your little baby wouldn’t stop complaining, you start to get ready for the party. Fixing your makeup in the mirror, you spot Alpine scratching the closed door. With a sigh, you walk over to her.

“No no no, baby. No, scratching the door!” you say and open the door, making her dash out and into the kitchen. You walk out after her, spotting your boyfriend leaning on the counter. Bucky lets out a hey as Alpine scratches his sweatpants and pushes her away with his foot.

When he turns his head around, he sees you standing there in a red dress. “Well, hello there, doll. Don’t you look pretty” he says, not moving from his spot, but giving you flirty smirk. You blush at his comment and walk over to him, noticing all the cookies decorated, though it’s a bit messy, and the frosting looks a bit too thin.

“Thank you for decorating them” you kiss his cheek “They look amazing”. It’s not a lie. You think they are pretty, even if they aren’t decorated the best.

Bucky smiles before he reaches for a cookie and holds it up to you, grinning. “Want a taste?”.

You nod and open your mouth for Bucky to put it in your mouth. You then take a big bite out of the cookie, not seeing how Bucky bites his lip.

The cookie doesn’t taste like you thought it would. Instead of being fully sweet, it’s more salty. At first, you think you added salt instead of sugar before you realize that it’s not the cookie that is salty. It doesn’t take a second for you to know what it is. You look at Bucky, seeing him with a seductive grin.

“You put your cum on the cookies!” you say with big eyes, staring at him with a shocked expression.

Bucky nods, looking so proud. He spent a long time in the bathroom until the bowl was full of his hot cum.

“Why?!” you ask, not believing that your boyfriend really did that. “They are for the party, baby!”

“And there are still enough. You baked so many before I even got here that had frosting on them” he replies and pulls you closer with his arm. “You said I can have some-“.

“But not so many!”

“There are still enough, doll” he kisses your cheek. “I made these extra for you”.

“Bucky, I can’t eat cum covered cookies, even if it’s yours” you say to which he only chuckles.

“You still ate this one though” he bites your neck “I know you like it”. At that, you blush and you two know he’s right. Bucky covers your neck in kisses.

“You are insane, Mr Barnes” you chuckle as Bucky purposely tickles you with his long stubbles.

“Insane in love with you” he looks in your eyes. “You know, I passed out three times for this shit. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me fall”.

You stare at him. “You passed out”.

“As I said, I’m insane in love with you”

“Aren’t you exhausted?” you ask, only now getting why he has to lean against the counter.

“A bit, but you know what I’m still able to do?”

“What?” you ask him as he lets go of you.

“Before we go out…pull up that skirt real quick, baby” he says. You bite your lip as you pull the front of your dress up. A soft moan leaves your lips as Bucky steps closer and runs his finger over your soaked panties.

“All this for me?”

“Yeah” you say with a shaky voice, watching as Bucky drops to his knees and moves your panties aside.

“Oh, doll, you are completely drenched. You really seem to like those cookies” Bucky says in a cocky voice. Before you can say something, he gives your pussy a lick, making you shut up. He picks you up effortlessly and sits you down on the free counter. Before he dives his face back to your pussy, he chases after Alpine and locks her in the bedroom, receiving some scratches while doing that, whispering under his breath how he is going to cut her nails.

Once back, he lays you down and removes your panties, stuffing them in his pockets and ignoring your hey.

“For later, doll” he says before lifting your legs on his shoulders. Bucky kisses down your leg until he finally reaches your pussy. He can see your slick and can feel himself get hard again. He perhaps passed out three times, but he will always be able to get hard for you.

“It’s only fair that I make you pass out now too” he says before finally starting to eat you out.

[munsonsreputation]

Fearless

steve harrington x fem!reader

inspired by "Fearless" by Taylor Swift

word count: [5.9k] proof-read (i tried!!!)

warnings: no use of y/n, mutual pining, a lot of fluff, basically this whole thing is FLUFF GALORE!!!!!, mentions of awkward first kisses.

summary: you and steve have known each other for a little while--both playing babysitting to the kids. steve makes the first move and asks you out on a date that takes a stormy turn. despite this you and steve make the most out of your date and it leads to sparks flying and a fearless first kiss.

God, you shouldn’t be feeling this nervous. After all, Steve was the one who asked you out on a date. He made the first move, and all you had to do was make sure to be there and not get distracted by his charm and good looks—Jesus, you were already beginning to drift off into Space Harrington.

“Honey, you look beautiful, as always.” Your mother leaned up against your doorframe, bringing you back to reality as you turned to her and gave her a sincere smile.

“You don’t think it’s too much?” you asked suspectedly, looking down at your little black dress and short platform heels. It had just rained a few hours ago, and it had only begun to clear up. You had been debating on this outfit or tossing on a sweater and some shorts—but this would be a pleasant change from your usual attire.

Your mom sang, letting herself into your room and looking through the blinds to see the pavement still drenched in rain water, but the sky clearing up in this early afternoon, “I think you’ll be fine sweetie, seems to be getting a bit sunny.”

You nodded, walking over to your vanity, put on a few accessories while your mother sat on the end of your bed. Giving you encouraging looks and sweet compliments that eased your nerves a bit. She knew of Steve, given the fact that he would drop off the kids at your place when he needed to take an extra shift at Scoops on late notice.

It became a recurring theme in your short friendship that began this summer—but with fall and a new school year on the way, you and Steve’s little drop offs lessened. You’d miss each other, even when your interactions and conversations were short, you both longed for more time to get to know one another, and surprisingly enough Steve had asked you out on a date last weekend when you stopped by Scoops to pick up a tub of ice cream for you and the kids.

You clasped on your little necklace before hearing a few knocks on your front door, “be back at a decent time, please.” your mom smiled at you through the reflection of the mirror.

Nodding your head, you gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek as she watched you pick up a small purse and rush your way down the stairs. You took a deep breath, internally preparing yourself before you slowly opened it up.

There he stood.

Striped polo, blue jeans with his signature brown belt, his red Nike Cortez’s, and a bouquet of red roses in his hands.

“H-hey,” he sputtered, letting out an awkward greeting, too enraptured by your getup, only snapping out of his stupor when you finally spoke.

“Hey yourself, Steve. You look nice!”

He shook his head, finally pressing the flowers towards you, “Got these for you…you look beautiful by the way, I mean you always do, but wow…I just—sorry, if I’m being weird.”

You giggled with your teeth trapping your bottom lip, taking the flowers from his hands and giving them a whiff, “I’ll put these in a vase when I get back home.”

He nodded, watching as you placed them on the small counter at your front door before you stepped out with him.

“Weather has been all over the place today huh?” He came up with, resting a warm hand on the small of your back as he guiding your to his car.

You wanted to snort at how silly it was that he was talking to you about the weather, of all things, when there was so much that you two wanted to say to each other. Maybe he was nervous, and you were just doing a better job at concealing your own inner anxiety.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to wear this since it might come down again…hopefully it doesn’t.” You smiled up at him, his fingers wrapping around the door handle, letting you in as he nodded politely.

The quiet buzz of his car engine that was still running and music coming from the stereo system filled your ears for the quick seconds of silence before your favorite voice echoed.

“I’ve got a jacket somewhere back there if it ends up storming again,” he assured you, hands resting on the top of the door until you buckled yourself in.

“Thanks, Steve.”

You turned your head towards the backseat, as you waited for Steve to get into the drivers’. Your eyes catching a small picnic basket, along with other junk that cluttered his backseat before—

“Hey! No peeking missus,”

Your eyes were back to the front, trying to keep a guilty look on your face, but you couldn’t help but let out a laugh especially when Steve had his arms across his chest like a father.

Your chest never stopped churning with laughter, body bending over to clutch your tummy, “I’m sorry, you just look like a father when you do that.”

He chortled, shaking his head as he started up the car and began the drive to your surprise date that he had planned all by himself…ok maybe he received a little advice from Dustin and Lucas about the fall hotspots that girls love.

“The kids really miss you, y’know?” Steve looked over at you as you smiled, resting a hand over your heart.

“Haven’t seen them in over a week. I’ve just been so busy and they’re growing up and don’t want me meddling in their business anymore,” you half joked.

Steve scrunched his brow is disagreement, shaking his head, “Don’t be ridiculous, the kids love you…they’re just, you know…exploring the boundaries of—”

Your hand shot up, holding it in front of him to stop, “Ew! Please, let’s not discuss the sex lives of the children we’ve been babysitting for the last year.”

“I’m just being honest…jesus I hope they got the talk because I am way too young to—”

“Steven!”

“I’m kidding! I’m joking!”

The laughter that filled the car slowly died, but never did the feeling of warmth and affection. The two of you rarely had anytime to spend together alone, so this was definitely a little different and nerve-racking, but he never failed to make you feel comfortable and today was no different.

Your body shifted towards your left, feeling inclined to want to be close to him, despite sitting beside each other already, “So where are we headed?”

“It’s a surprise dingus,” He experimented a bit, taking his right hand off the wheel to gently probe at your side, insuring a giggle that meant you didn’t mind and he liked that.

He brought both hands back to the wheel and glanced back over at you, “I’ll give you a hint. It’s some place really pretty.”

You scoffed jokingly before responding, “Geez, guess that leaves our options limited in this small town.”

“Hey! Are you doubting my picking a date skills?”

You shook your head, smiling a bit, “Of course not, you’re Steve Harrington for godsake. I bet you know allllll the hot spots around here.”

He rolled his eyes playfully, “Yea, alright, whatever you say.”

Then he did that goddamn thing.

Running his fingers through his hair. It was such a simple action, but it always made you weak in the knees. How the strands of his dark brown hair seemed to flow perfectly through his digits and fall back into place with ease. Jesus, you just wanted to pounce on him and coat him with kisses, but instead you had to play it cool.

“Stop staring at me to distract me!”

Your eyes blinked wildly, and your bottom lip that mindlessly got caught between your teeth was released as you shook your head, pretending to not be affected by him.

“I am not staring!”

“Oh yes, you were!” He argued with an amused look on his face that let you know you had to be caught.

“You must be hallucinating, Steven.” You waved him off as he laughed lightly, making an incoherent comment about how it was more than ok, how he liked it when you stared, anyway.

The rest of the drive was filled with small talk and laughter. It felt easy. Just the way you liked it.

Soon you felt the car stop and watched Steve place his car in park.

“We—we’re at a hill?” You asked questionably, lifting your brows as you peered between Steve and the surrounding setting.

Steve turned his head towards you, smiling as he nodded his head confidently, “Yup…just trust me, ok?”

“I do.”

You didn’t hesitate to trust him at all, and when he heard those two sweet words slip from your mouth, he could feel his heart swarm warmly.

He held one of his palms out, gesturing for you to wait in your seat. And so you did. He got out of the driver’s seat, quickly opening the back door to grab some stuff, then jogging over to the passenger. Opening your door and holding his hand out graciously as you took it with ease.

The wet rain drops sprinkled over your ankles and feet slightly as you two walked through the dewy grass and up the hill until you reached the small flat area that was decorated with a red and white picnic blanket and more flowers that were picked and scatters on the fabric.

You gasped, dropping his hand as yours covered your mouth in surprise. Stepping closer to get a better view of the setup. He had gone all out of the way to plan this, and you knew that the kids must have helped somehow.

“Do you like it?” Steve’s voice was a bit nervous, and you could sense it in his worrying tone.

You turned your head back to him and nodded obviously, “Steve, are you kidding me? This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Yes!” is what Steve wanted to say, but instead, kept the celebration in his head while he smiled, taking a few steps to get closer to you. Wrapping his free hand around your shoulders to give you a warm hug.

“Here sit.” He said, pulling away and gesturing you to sit. The material beneath you, thick enough to not feel the wetness of the rain from an hour ago, but the air still lingering with a breeze that was nice.

Steve set down the picnic basket, pulling out a variety of finger foods and drinks, explaining each of them.

“I packed us some sandwiches; one has turkey, the other ham. I also picked up one of those small veggie platters from the grocery store, along with some chips. I think Dustin said that you liked Doritos and Lays, so I just got both. Oh! And then yesterday when I dropped off Lucas, his mom gave me a bag of fruits, so last night I just chopped them up and put them in tupperwares so that we could enjoy them today. If you don’t like any of these, then we can totally go to the store or somewhere else to get some—”

“Steve, it’s perfect. Everything is perfect.”

Thank god you cut his rambling off short because it seemed that he was running out of breath from talking so fast just like Robin did when she was nervous. Nevertheless, it was cute. He had put a ton of thought and consideration in this date, making sure he got you everything you liked.

“Y-yeah?” His voice cracked a bit as you giggled and nodded, reaching over to run your thumb over his fingers that rested on his knee.

“A hundred percent certain.” You guaranteed him, leaning over to peck his cheek, ignoring the worries in your head and becoming completely courageous with him.

He eased feeling the touch of your lips on his skin, even if it was only for a few seconds. He would savor that feeling and never forget it. Wrapping that moment in time up and storing it in his mind to reply over and over again.

“Let’s dig in, shall we?”

You opted for the turkey sandwich, but occasionally stealing bites of Steve’s, which he found was adorable. He didn’t mind sharing. In fact, anything that was his, he would share with you, no questions asked.

“You’re a child!” Steve snickered out with a full mouth as he watched you remove the small bits of crust that were left on your sandwich that you were almost done with.

You took the piece and chucked it at him, hitting his nose before it plopped down onto his lap, “The crust is like the worst part of a sandwich!”

“That’s something a child would say.” Steve rebutted as you rolled your eyes with no real malice behind them.

He dusted his fingers off, watching as you enjoyed your last bits of crust-free-turkey-and-swiss. He felt a sense of pride knowing you had been indulging in a lunch he made all by himself. He would have to make it for you again if you liked it this much.

Steve reached over back into the picnic basket, “I actually have another surprise.”

You began giddily clasping your hands together as he pulled out the stocky piece of the latest tech, “Holy shit! This brand new?”

He smiled as you looked at him, silently asking if you could hold it, and so he handed it to you, watching you inspect the device before checking the film slot.

“I just put a new pack in. We can take some pictures if you want?”

You nodded eagerly, peeping through the viewfinder as Steve adjusted his posture and ran a rough hand through his hair that made your heart burn and cheeks blush. You hoped that Steve couldn’t see you ogling like a school girl behind the thing or else you’d never hear the end of it.

“Cheese!” you exclaimed as he flashed you his pearly whites and the flash went off, his eyes squinting for a second before adjusting back to the normal light.

Your fingers deliberately pulled the photo out from the slot, walking on your knees towards him, leaning over as you shook the film and watched it slowly develop.

“This is so fascinating.” You murmured, eyes trained on the photo while his were stuck on your face, compelled at the way you scrunched your forehead together so that it creased as a small bit of your tongue snuck out of your mouth while you waited with anticipation.

Finally, after a few more seconds, your face lit up with an amazed grin, glancing over at Steve, who did his best to act like he too was watching the photo develop, “HA! How cool is that!”

“It’s neat, isn’t it?” Steve replied, taking the photo from you as he looked at all the details that this photo was able to capture.

You leaned against him, hovering to keep looking at the photo, “I always wanted one of these things, might need to get one this weekend.”

He turned to you, letting the photo fall carelessly onto the picnic blanket, as he placed a warm hand on your hip, “I could drive you if you want?”

“You’d do that?” You asked comically, as if Steve wouldn’t drop everything and do whatever it was that you wanted on a Saturday, even if he had made plans beforehand.

Steve nodded, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb, “course I would…now we gotta take some photos of you!”

You smirked, watching him take the camera from your hands before he stood up, walking a bit backwards as you stayed in place, standing on your knees.

“Do I look ok?” you somewhat raised your brow while you combed your fingers through your hair, attempting to get it nicely messy.

He peeped watching you through the camera lense, bopping his head, “The prettiest girl in Hawkins.”

“Steveeeee stoppppp.” You dragged out the words, an evident rose tint peeking through your blushed cheeks as he purred.

“It’s true! Now smile!”

You closed your eyes on habit, but still your smile splayed across your face as you heard the click, “You closed your eyes!”

“I know! I know! I’m sorry!” You threw your head back as he laughed, shaking his head freely.

“S’ok we can take more…c’mon give me another smile,” You nodded, changing your pose a bit before he spoke again, “Eyes open this time.”

You giggled at his certain tone, keeping your eyes open just like he asked as he counted down from three, fingers pressing the button and the flash left as quickly as it came.

“Wow, sooooo pretty.” Steve said, while he walked back over to you, showing you the picture that was still developing as you scoffed, pushing his hands away.

“You can’t even see how it turned out yet.” You crossed your arms across your chest, watching as he shrugged his shoulder.

“I don’t need to see how the picture turned out to say you’re pretty…you’re right here next to me, the prettiest girl in Hawkins.”

The warm feeling burned in your stomach, as did your cheeks. He knew how to make you feel smitten and usually you’d be embarrassed by the compliments, but it was nice, especially coming from him.

“How lucky am I that I get to be in the presence of the prettiest boy in Hawkins?”

What overcame you to give you such confidence to compliment him back? You don’t know what it was. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was just genuine courage. Whatever it was, you wanted more of it.

Steve just smiled, as wide as the one placed on your face as he lifted the camera, not bothering to look through the lense as he snapped another photo of you.

“Steve!” You giggled, reaching over to try to wrestle the camera out of his hands to take your own candid of him.

It only ended up becoming a tickle match as he poked your sides, with the camera long forgotten on the picnic blanket below you two. His fingertips chased your sides and the crease of your neck, while you wiggled beneath him in a poor attempt to get away from his tickles that never stopped. The uncontrollable laughter and shrieks in the crisp air, until you felt a wet splat on your nose.

“uh oh,” you and Steve both whispered, as he stopped his movements. The droplets becoming bigger and hitting the two of you now as the rain danced on Steve’s shirt covered back and against your bare thighs.

Yet the laughter only seemed to get boisterous with you wiggling your way out from underneath Steve as he took your hand and pulled you up with him. His freehand practically bound the blanket around everything, creating a sack that would be easier to carry.

“Let’s make a run for it!” He screeched, giving your hand a squeeze as he led the way down.

The rain came down quicker with each step that almost became a tumble down the hill a few times. He quickly opened the doors to his car, throwing in the blanket full of stuff into the backseat and reaching in for the spare jacket he had in there.

“Here, take this.” Steve flared open the material, draping it over your head and shoulders as he opened the passenger door for you, quickly getting you settled.

He shut the door and raced over to his side of the car. His arm barricading his head from the big droplets of rain that splashed against his skin before he was able to get into cover.

Your skin was dewy from the water. Thankfully, his jacket was thick enough to salvage your hair and makeup. You smiled up at him once he got into his seat. Pulling the jacket away from your head and patting it against your arms and legs where dewdrops spread.

He was chuckling to himself, flipping his visor down to get a look at his rain-soaked face. A few teeny drops floating on his eyelashes and eyebrows, and his hair was now soaked. Yet somehow it still looked perfect, falling into place with a strand curling into his forehead, laying there flawlessly.

You giggled, sitting up on your knees as you leaned forward, “Steve, let me help,” the jacket sleeve now brushed against his cheeks and eyes as the cotton collected the water.

Steve looked up at you, surprised by the touch. He watched you, lip caught between your teeth as you moved the fabric towards his hair, attempting to ring out the excess water as gently as possible without tugging on his roots.

“Better?” You proposed, finally releasing your lip from between your teeth as you looked down at him.

He smiled widely, nodding his head as he felt you fall away back into your seat where you wrapped his jacket around you tighter, creating warmth to your skin.

“Shit, here,” He hurriedly lurched forward, messing with the knobs and buttons on dash until the heater light came on, and warm air erupted from the vents, immediately making you feel a lot less cold.

You closed your eyes, appreciating the kindness of the boy beside you, before you peeked one eye open and looked at him, “Thank you, Steve.”

“No problem,” He replied, reaching over to rub your arm back and forth, gently producing more warmth under his jacket and beneath your skin.

Honestly, you were hoping that Steve couldn’t feel you shaking right now. Not because of the damn weather, but with how close he was to you. It was no different from earlier when you two were practically tickling the lives out of one another, but this was so sweet—too sweet, almost.

It was as if Steve was ticking off all the boxes for your first date expectations. First the flowers. Then the opening of the car door. Next, the whole surprise date setup. On top of that was his tooth rotting compliments. Then giving you his jacket and now doing everything he can to make you feel comfortable.

This doofus was your dream man.

You finally had it in yourself to open your eyes, watching the water slide down the windowpane with the gloom of the town settling in darker, “I don’t want today to end, just yet.”

He hummed, nodding his head in agreement, running his hand up your arm then over your jaw where it rested and gently turned your face to his, “Me neither.”

His eyes were boring into yours, and it was taking every ounce of your control not to squeal like a madwoman with the way he was delicately looking into you and how his voice was so soft.

Steve continued, brushing his thumb over your cheek slowly, “We can just drive around and talk? Does that sound ok?”

“It sounds perfect.” You smiled back, feeling grateful for Steve’s spontaneity.

The drive was hushed at first, but not the troublesome kind. Just not bothering to fill the space with words until you both were ready to. And when the both of you did begin talking about the most randomest things, you found yourself laughing more than you had in a while—your heart swelling with joy.

His camera had found its way back into your hands, and now as the conversation went on, you couldn’t help but to snap photos of Steve mid-laugh or when he’d glace over at you from the road. You just wished that the damn thing had a video record option so that you could capture the moment and replay it over and over again.

Steve continued driving, the rain tapping softly on the windshield as he shared stories about his high school days.

“I remember one time, Tommy and I snuck into the school after hours and rearranged all the desks in the classrooms,” Steve said, grinning at the memory.

You laughed, shaking your head at his antics that were probably still somewhere in him, “You were quite the troublemaker, huh?”

Steve shrugged. “I had my moments. What about you? Did you ever get into any trouble?”

You shook your head. “No, I was always a bit of a goody two-shoes. The worst thing I ever did was get caught kissing a boy by my mom.”

Steve’s eyes widened, reaching a red light and turning to you. “Your mom was mad? How old were you?”

“Like fifteen. I was a freshman, and I had a major crush on the guy! I was getting picked up after school and my mom just had to pull up at that moment.”

You and Steve both shared a good laugh. Him trying to picture what freshman year you looked like and how horrified your mother must have looked like in the car. You knew exactly what she looked like, mouth wide open with her eyes just as big, before she rolled down the window and yelled at you to get in.

You never spoke to that boy ever again, and it was now a memory that you and your mom looked back on and laughed it today.

By now, the laughing slowly died, and the light turned green, ushering Steve to continue on the streets taking random turns until he ran out of road.

“So, what was your first kiss like?” Steve suggested, glancing over at you.

You laughed nervously, cringing at the memory of the actual kiss itself.

“It was...boring, to be honest. I was nervous and excited, but when it finally happened, there was no spark. It was just...bleh.”

Steve chuckled, tapping his fingers on the wheel, thinking about his first kiss back in eighth grade, “Yeah, I get that. My first kiss was okay, but it was kind of gross at first. The girl added tongue, and I wasn’t expecting it.”

You cringed, thankful your first kiss didn’t add tongue, but it was wet and awkward, “That does sound gross.”

“It wasn’t great,” Steve admitted. “But it got better after a few seconds.”

You cackled, throwing your head back against the leather rest. “Well, at least it got better.”

They drove in silence for a few moments; the rain continuing to tap on the windshield.

“You know, I’ve always been waiting for that spark,” you said, voice thoughtful. “Like in the movies, you know? That electric moment when you kiss someone and it’s like fireworks go off. But I’ve never had that.”

Steve nodded, thinking back to all his kisses and never really feeling that feeling with any girl he had ever been with. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve had some good kisses, but I’ve never felt that spark either.”

You shook it out of your thoughts, not wanting to even get your hopes up about kissing Steve on your first date. It probably wouldn’t happen and even if it did, you were so incredibly nervous that you wouldn’t be good at it. Sure, you had boyfriends and kisses here and there, but they weren’t the best.

Kissing was intimate, and you wanted to do good, especially if it was going to be with Steve Harrington.

Your mind was racing.

What if Steve wanted you to kiss him? What if Steve wanted to kiss you? Was he going to initiate it? Which way were you going to need to tilt your head? Should you add tongue? What if you get lipstick on his lips? Was your lips too dry?

God, your fears were echoing in your head.

“Have you ever danced in the rain?”

The question blurted out of your mouth before you could even think if it was a question worth asking. You just wanted to get those stupid thoughts out of your mind and before you knew it, here you were spurting out if Steve Harrington ever danced in a goddamn storm.

Steve thought for a moment. “Probably when I was a kid,” he said, shrugging, looking over at you, “Why do you ask?”

“I—I never have,” you admitted. “In the movies they always do it…I’ve never had the chance.”

Steve grinned, changing lanes before speaking, “Why don’t we change that?”

You watched as he turned off the main street and into an empty parking lot. All stalls were empty, and he freely parked in the middle of the lot not caring if he was in the lines or not.

You looked at him, surprised, leaning forward. “What are you doing?”

“Come on,” Steve smiled, twisting the key out of the ignition and opening his door.

You looked out the window at the pouring rain, feeling a little nervous about suggesting this, but as Steve appeared at your side to lead you out of the car, you felt a surge of excitement flowing through your veins, “Dance with me?”

Feeling the cold raindrops hit your skin. You twirled around, feeling giddy with excitement, while Steve watched with a soft smile on his lips. The rain drenching both of you from head to toe didn’t matter as you both laughed, hopping around the pavement with your arms wide open.

And then, without warning, he took your hand and pulled you close to him. Steve's hands on twisting around your waist, and instinctively your arms around his neck. You both started to sway back and forth to the rhythm of the rain, feet splashing on the ground, giggling at the absurdity of it all.

As you and Steve danced, the rain wasn’t the only that washed over you, but also a sense of joy and freedom. It was like nothing else in the world mattered except for this moment, this dance in the rain with the person you felt everything for.

As the minutes passed with your relentless dancing, the rain began to ease up little by little—dissipating into a light drizzle.

Your movements got slower and steadier, just moving back and forth in each other arms before you rested your cheek on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart.

“Thanks for this,” you whispered, feeling a little shy, but it quickly passing his arms squeezed your tighter, his chin resting on your head.

“Anytime,” Steve replied, his voice soft. “I had a great time dancing in the storm with you.”

Your breath hitched, hearing his words flow out of his mouth, knowing he was content here with you even if you both were soaked through your clothing and probably would end up with a cold by the night.

Slowly, your face left his chest, and his chin retracted from your head.

You swallowed thickly, closing your eyes, just about ready to go for it. Even Steve had closed his eyes, slotting his head to the side leaning forward, only a few more milliliters separating your lips.

You could feel his breath fanning over your skin as you moved closer. Your heart was beating out of chest, the thoughts in your mind slowly echoing again. You tried to ignore it—just go for it.

And you were so close, but the sudden crack in the sky, rumbled loudly out of nowhere causing you to move back, started.

Steve immediately grabbed your hand, leading you back to the car. “Let’s get out of here,” he declared, opening the door for you.

You felt a more than embarrassed, stuffing your face in your hands when he shut your door and jogged over to his side. You could hear him open the door and shut it, moving around in his seat to get comfy before letting out a grunt seeing your state.

He placed a warm hand on your shoulder, causing you to peek at him through your fingers before pulling them away from your face entirely.

“I’m sorry,” you said, looking down at your feet. “I—I got carried away.”

Steve repeated the action that had you melting earlier in the day. His hand coddling your jaw making you look up at him. “Don’t be sorry,” he said, smiling reassuringly. “I wanted to kiss you, too. But safety first.”

A rush of affection filled you.

He wanted to kiss you.

Steve Harrington wanted to fucking kiss you.

His hand dropped from your cheek and instead intertwined with your hands as he clicked on his seatbelt and kissed the back of your hand before he began driving. The rain was still echoing in your ears, but only lightly as the clouds ironed out and a twinge of golden hour peeked through the gloom.

Steve turned into your neighborhood after a short while, the two of you laughing as he got lost down random back roads after taking a bunch of random turns, but nevertheless he found his way.

He parked the car, sadly loosening your hands as he got out to get you. He led you to the back of his trunk, grabbing a few spare pieces of clothing to dry off with. He passed you a graphic tee, allowing you to ring out the water from your hair, and he did the same with a pair of shorts.

You finished first, leaning up against his car, and watching him with a smile on your face as he wipe the fabric up and down his arms, “Thanks again for today.”

He looked up, tossing the pieces back into the trunk and shutting it closed, “It was my pleasure, doll.”

Again, he reached for your hand, clasping it together as he walked you to your front door, a glow of the sun shimmering off your skin, glittering your eyes in the rays as he stared at you in awe.

He couldn’t even fantom the fact that he was able to score a date with the prettiest girl in Hawkins, let alone had the chance to get this close to you. For once he was thankful that through those little twerps he babysat that he was able to meet you.

“I had a great today with you…” He took your other hand, in his, squeezing both of them as he continued, “I uh—do you wanna do it again sometime? In a few days or whenever you’re free?”

Your heart skipped a beat knowing you and Steve would be seeing each other soon, “I’d love that.”

Today was a fairytale even if the weather may have changed your plans, but every raindrop was worth it if it meant you being here with Steve and another date already set for the upcoming days.

You couldn’t let this day end without showing him how you felt. Feeling a sense of boldness and knowing Steve felt the same, you undid your hands from his, wrapping it around his neck.

Before he could say anything, you leaned in and pressed your lips against his, feeling a rush of electricity shoot through your body.

Steve was taken aback for a moment, but then he melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer to him.

The spark of electricity flowed between the both of you the second your lips touched. The kiss was full of passion and emotion—like you could just lose yourself in Steve and he felt a sense of joy and wonder, as if a whole new world had just opened up to him.

You both stayed like that for a few moments, lips locked in a tender embrace, before pulling away slowly.

Steve smiled at you, his eyes sparkling with affection a contrast to his low and husky voice, “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

Today had been everything you both had ever wanted, and more.

“Then let’s not let it go.” You spoke serenely, orbs flickering up at him as he nodded with a smile, his hands splayed on your back now, pulling you closer.

Both of your eyes fluttered closed as you leaned in for another kiss, then another, and then one more for good luck—feeling fearless than ever.

A/N: all credits to taylor swift for writing this beautiful song!!!! i think fearless tv as a whole is such a steve coded album and i just had to write this!!! let me know what you think and please reblog!! any interaction is greatly appreciated!!!

taglist (if you would like to be added just leave a comment!): @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world

[exoploring]

Just Another Thing That We Don't Talk About

"The weather always fucking sucked here in Hawkins."

So now we're reduced to small-talk, huh, Eds? Steve bites the inside of his cheek to stop himself from snarking at the man on his passenger seat, who was picking on his black nail polish. Steve chances a glance at Eddie, who was looking out the other side, observing the roads of the town he left years ago for rock stardom.

"Is this any worse than New York?" Steve opts to ask instead of the snark, not sure how well-received it would be after years of stilted conversations, barely enthusiastic holoday greetings, and near radio silences even through the bonding, the shared trauma, the pain, the longing, that blissful month before Eddie left for New York.

"Ah, no. We have some bad weather where I'm from too." Ah, where he's from. Nice to hear that Steve Hawkins was never his home. Steve's grip on the steering wheel gets a little tighter as he squints to see through the rain better. Usually on rainy days it would be Robin who would drive for Steve. And usually literally anyone else would pick Eddie up from the airport. Just so happens Robin was on a business trip, and literally everyone but Steve was unavailable. Oh well, it's not as if Steve was busy today not as if Steve's heart didn't break everytime he sees Eddie.

"How's Robin? Thought she was going to pick me up." Eddie asks, still staring out the window.

"She's doing really well - more clients are coming in so she's all over America these days. She's in Cali now. She's actually going to Japan for a translator job next month so that's cool." Steve answers, already scrambling for a topic in his head to keep the conversation going because every conversation with Eddie hurts but he'd rather have this than silence and no Eddie.

Do you miss me?

Do you remember that night?

Why didn't you ask me to go with you?

"How's New York?" Steve settles for small talk, crossing out everything he wants to ask out of his mind.

"Awesome - the weather is shit. But everything's great there. Everyone's more open" Eddie answers, and asks "how's everyone?"

"Oh, great--" Steve talks about Hop, Joyce, the kids (now adults, could you believe), getting more comfortable talking about the people he loves funny how the one he loves the most makes him the most uncomfortable, though.

"And, what about you? How are you Steve?"

Steve stops at the red light. He taps an unsteady beat on the wheel, keeping his stare on the stop light. He taps, taps, taps, and feels the heat of Eddie's gaze move from the window to his tapping hands. He feels it burn, feels its heat on the ring on his finger. He feels the stare burn, lets it stay there, and whispers "just okay."

The light changes to green, and he continues driving. Through his peripheral, he catches Eddie looking at the window again, fiddling with his own ring on his finger.

Why haven't you asked me to join you?

Will you ever come back for me?

Do you even love me? Because fuck, I love you so much

Please ask me to go with you.

Just break up with me if I'm chaining you down.

I'm so tired of this.

So many thoughts are racing through Steve's head, faster than the raindrops, than the car, than the tears. But he lets the conversation stop. Lets the silence fill the car. He lets this become another thing they don't talk about.

---

Inspired by just another thing we don't talk about by Tom Odell

[eddiesprettybabygirlstevie]

Eddie and Steve sitting on they're bed, getting high and giggling as they munch on snacks, Eddie chuckles as he pins Steve to the bed, watching him squirm an his face changing to a nice shade of red, Steve swallows as he giggles " this i-isn't how to f-flirt Ed's, you g-gotten s-sweeten me up i-if you w-want this ass i-in these pants " he giggles more as he wiggles an unbuckles his belt jokingly as he blushes, Eddie smirks " oh I have to sweeten up the little slut of Hawkins here huh? " he whispers huskily into Steve's ear, he then licks the side of his face, an growls " I don't think I need to sweeten you up, since your already so sweet, you especially taste so sweet " he licks Steve again, Steve whimpers as he swallows " I u-uh well um, ew Ed's that's so g-gross " he stutters as he giggles, he pokes Eddie's cheek as he squirms, he breathes out " y-you've won D-Daddy, flattering w-works with me t-too " he unbuckles his belt fully and unzips them for Eddie as he gives Eddie his doe face, Eddie smiles " awe Princess, I've already won regardless, weather or not you would of let me in your pants, which I've already been today, but we're not doing that right now, I just wanna spend time with you before you head to work, I wanna shower you in kisses and feed you ridiculous snacks " he scoots back an pulls Steve up to where they're both sitting again, he puts a chocolate covered pretzel to Steve's lips, Steve instantly munches it an hums " mm that's good what is that " he chews, Eddie smiles " it's a chocolate covered pretzel sweetcheeks " he feeds Steve more snacks as they giggle and spend time together, Eddie showering Steve in kisses and Steve returning them as they smile widely at each other, they're definitely two hearts of a whole.

[rebelcliche-archive2]

[ SHARE ] sender, seeing that receiver is cold, wraps their jacket around them

          the  indiana  weather  was  unpredictable  and  almost  always  disappointing.  nancy  was  used  to  spring  having  wishy-washy  days,  but  the  weather  forecast  had  promised  temperatures  of  the  mid  to  high  seventies  and  a  nice  breeze.  it  was  supposed  to  be  the  perfect  kind  of  weather  for  a  picnic,  but  as  luck  would  have  it,  it  simply  wasn’t  in  the  cards.

          april  showers  bring  may  flowers…  or  something  like  that.  and  when  it  rained  in  hawkins,  it  POURED—especially  in  the  spring.  and  nancy  was  entirely  ILL-PREPARED.  chill  bumps  littered  her  arms  as  they  sat  in  steve’s  car,  watching  the  rain  splatter  against  his  windows  and  hearing  it  roar  down,  deafeningly,  on  the  roof.

          steve  had  turned  the  heat  on,  but  nancy  still  shivered.  she’d  worn  a  thin,  breathable  wrap  dress  and  hadn’t  thought  to  bring  a  jacket  with  her  in  case  of  rain  or  a  drop  in  the  weather—out  of  all  the  times  for  her  to  not  plan  for  every  last  outcome…

          “ huh ? ”  she  was  torn  from  her  thoughts  upon  feeling  something  being  draped  across  her  shoulders.  her  gaze  shot  up  and  shifted  down,  taking  in  the  sight  of  steve’s  grey  windbreaker,  and  glancing  up  at  him  afterwards.  “ steve… ”

          she  wanted  to  tell  him  that  he  should  keep  his  jacket,  but  she  knew  he’d  refuse—always  the  gentleman—and  besides  that,  he  didn’t  seem  too  phased  ( besides  the  oh  so  ENDEARING  look  on  his  face  as  he  asked  if  ‘that’  was  better )…

          shyly,  nancy  glanced  away,  eyes  tracing  over  the  floral  pattern  of  her  dress  and  regretting  her  wardrobe  choices,  as  she  nodded  lightly  and  murmured  out  a  soft,  “ yeah,  thanks… ”

          so  much  for  today  going  as  perfect  as  she’d  hoped…

[ana8swift]

summary: you and Steve are best friends, things change after time, but one thing always stayed the same.

Inspired by the song 'time after time' by Cyndi Lauper

word count: 3,571

------------------------------------------------------

"You're bad luck you know that right? My car's in repair for the second time this summer. Now, we have to walk! For forty minutes!" Steve basically yells in your ear. Like your head isn't already spinning.

"How is that my fault? Also walking is good, it's healthy!" you turn to face him and you notice how-

Summer leaves a kiss on Steve Harrington's face once again. It looks good on him. Maybe this is just the liquor talking or maybe it's something you always noticed. Steve Harrington thrives in the summer, the hot weather, the girls and dates he's been getting are just the proof of that.

Maybe he always looked this good, or maybe you never noticed anything before because you are his best friend.

"You were with me, the both times I 'crushed' my car! You are a distraction, you are also never stepping a foot near my car again" you want to laugh, you almost do , but instead you flirt. You get that way when you're drunk.

"You saying 'I'm distracting-ly beautiful' is all I'm hearing" you smirk in his direction and if it wasn't dark, you would see a pink flush on his face.

"Ha-ha you know that's not- it doesn't matter. Forty minutes! We have to walk for- he says your name as

you walk with your heals in your hand and bare feet on the freshly cut grass next to the side walk. You thank God that your allergies are over, but still you smell the flowers around you. You also smell the cheep bear from your's and Steve's breath. You think that smell will follow you forever along with his hand that's now interviewed with your fingers. You smile at the gesture and you continue to listen to his rambling.

- And do you know that girl Robin was talking about? She tried to kiss me tonight? What's with the world today? Is everyone just thinking about kissing and sex? I just want to have a nice conversation for once!" he explains.

"Maybe it's like, your lips. They looked really kissable and the girl couldn't help herself? I don't know -And also if you want to have a conversation just call Dustin up. You know he'll answer no matter what time it is. Don't go to a party with hormonal teenagers and then complain"

"You think my lips are kissable? Do you often think about my lips huh?" Now it's his turn to smirk, to charm you, to squeeze your hand.

"Shut up" you almost giggle like a little girl. Steve has that effect on you.

"Want to shut you up with a kiss?" Well he's taking it too far now, you laugh and

You drop his hand and start running. You feel like a child again. You feel a light breeze and how your short dress slowly lifts up as your feet continue to move you forward. You feel free and you remember a time when you and Steve were just kids running around and dreaming of a better world and a bright shared future.

You were around seven, when you first officially met. You always knew each other, you lived in the same neighborhood. Your parents knew each other, they attended the same parties. You wondered around a big, cold and almost empty hause. Well it wasn't empty, you could see the picture frames filled with memories but you couldn't feel the love and happiness in them. The furniture, the walls, the floor even, everything was plain, simple. You couldn't understand why this hause wasn't a home. Your young mind was confused, filled with thousand of thoughts at once as you walked up the stairs. And you suddenly saw it- a boy around your age walking out a room. On the door there was a small sign written in big blue letters STEVE. So you introduced yourself, and you spent the whole dinner sitting on the stairs, talking to a boy called Steve and promising to be each other's friend, forever.

You spent your childhood running around Steve's big backyard, playing games, hide and seek, twenty questions and you promised to always say the truth!

"Go slow" he yells and you stop running, you fall behind and you look at him and start to laugh again. Steve thinks your laugh is his cure. He wants to fall asleep to that sound, to keep it close to his ears and heart. Steve thinks you're beautiful as you take his hand again and you start to slowly dance under the street lights. You always do that when you're drunk, you forget that Steve's you best friend and not your boyfriend. But you can't help yourself, and neither can he.

So your forty minute walk turned into a hour worth of walking. Steve didn't complain again though. Both of you stayed silent till you made it to your street, a simple 'see you tomorrow' a kiss on a cheek and a sweet smile from your lips cured Steve's heartache.

Time after time, you have waited for Steve. He was always late, late to realize that he loved you, or to get to work. You were standing behind the counter, chatting with the guy you have been seeing. You offered him free ice cream and he kindly refused. Steve was left confused, how can he refuse something that you offer, even something simple as ice cream? That guy should be grateful that you are even talking to him! He shouldn't take his chances, refusing you, 'what an idiot' Steve thinks. If Steve had the chance, he would do anything you asked him to, he would do everything for you.

"Earth to Steve Harrington. You okay buddy?" Robin asks him.

"Fine"

"What, are you jealous?" She notices the way his lips frown and she realizes, it's a simple thing really. How could she not see it before? "Oh my God, you so are jealous!"

"Shut up Robin! I'm not-

"You are not what?" you try to join in the conversation. Steve stops his words from leaving his mouth, hopping you didn't hear Robin's comment and hopping he could find the courage to say something because time moves to fast and he's staring at you, taking to long to answer, feeling as the walls around him crash and thank God for Robin's quick thinking.

"He wasn't late today! Yey, we should celebrate that, go get some ice cream samples -Oh and we should catch a movie later" Robin says as you leave for the back room to find some samples.

"By the way, I don't think that we should celebrate that Steve's not late, you know. That's kinda your job" you turn to Steve, damn you're fast. You hand him ice cream and continue. "And we shouldn't celebrate that you followed a rule for once"

"What? I always follow the rules, back in high-school they called me Steve Rules!" He jokes and everything feels allright now because you laugh at his joke. You always do, Steve just realized that too late.

In high-school, your friendship was little bit different then when you were kids or now, when you're both young adults. You were friends, sure. But in school, you never sat with him and his friends in the cafeteria, you almost never went to his parties. Instead you always waited till everyone left, and you'd always find Steve on his porch. Almost looking like he's waiting as well. And you'd sit there and talk, and you'd help him clean the empty bottles and the mess that was left behind. You never minded this routine, or that you and Steve weren't exactly the definition of friends. You knew he'd always be there for you, and you'd always be there for him. It's a known fact between you two. Because you remember a night when Steve was the only one who listened to your cries about Johnny, your first ever boyfriend.

You remember a time full of heartbreaks, late night drives, pancakes in the morning.

You were around fifteen when you had your first kiss. And you always thought that your first kiss, the most magical moment in a young girl's mind, will be shared with Steve. It wasn't. Steve had his first with Marianne when he was thirteen. It was during spin the bottle, you were there and you watched your best friend kiss the meanest girl at school. You puked before you got to your turn and Steve walked you home.

Few years later he walked you home after your break up with Johnny. He listened to your cries and comforted you with silence.

"Why would someone do something like that? I don't understand. What did I do wrong?" you wondered out loud.

"Hey you didn't do anything wrong! That guy's an asshole. He did the wrong thing, he cheated"

"Just a reminder this is not the time when you say 'I told you so', I knew he was a jerk, but still I thought he'd be different with me. God- I feel stupid" you say and Steve hates this. He hates hearing you say stuff like that. When you first started going out with Johnny, Steve thought he would be happy to see you two broken up. But now, he feel just as bad as you. He doesn't quite understand what he is feeling.

"I wasn't even planning on saying that. I really hoped to be wrong about him. And also, you are the smartest person I know, so you picked the wrong guy? Mistake made, all forgotten. You'll find someone, one day"

"Agh maybe, for now I'm done with dating. I'm going to stay alone forever. And that’s fine"

"Can I be alone with you as well?" he nervously asks.

"Of course"

You got home, but later that night, Steve called. He insisted that he couldn't fallasleep and he took you on a drive around your small town. He didn't even have a license yet, he was sixteen for God's sake but still. He tried to make you feel better. And he did, because that became your routine. Late-night drives every time life got too hard.

but Back in the present.

Steve feels lost. This is the third time now. Third challenge of escaping death and protecting the ones he loves. And fuck- you're also here now. You got dragged into Steve's nightmare. You now know the truth. All those times Steve has called you, beaten, bloody and bruised. All the times you have cleaned his wounds, after all those fights. You now realize. He wasn't fighting in a fight club, he wasn't careless and heartbroken because of Nancy. He was fighting, yeah, but he was also protecting. Protecting everyone, protecting you. And he was dealing with harder things than you could've ever imagined, but you know now. You know about darker dimensions, scary monsters, brave kids, kids with powers and you know Steve. Or you thought that you knew him. All his secrets you've kept since you were kids. Never telling a soul, a promise you've told each other over and over. Just for Steve to lie to you, all this time? Not telling you about his nightmares, about the horror he's been through.

You sit in an almost empty room- well a laboratory and you think that this place feels awfully close to Steve's hause. You don't tell him that, you never tell him that. Because he knows it, and he knows that you know that. And more importantly he knows that his home, is not the hause he grew up in, the hause with big windows, high ceilings, new furniture and picture frames. His home is you. He remembers the first time he realized that his hause is haunted.

It was Christmas, you were both around seventeen. Steve never liked the holidays. That's because his parents argued all the time and that his cousins were older and didn't include him in their stupid activities. His other realities never cared about him either. But this was the first Christmas he spent without his parents. They went to New York, or somewhere, they didn't really say where. So Steve was left alone in a hause not a home. But you noticed the light coming from Steve's room. That jerk told you he was on vacation, why was he still in his room then? When you realized what was really going on, you stayed with him. You decorated a small Christmas tree in his room and baked cookies in his kitchen. While you were cleaning up, you played twenty questions. Nostalgia was in the air, as you answered:

"No, I've never been with two guys at the same time. What kind of question is that?" you're confused but you laugh anyway at his stupid questions. "It's my turn now, where do you see yourself in five year time? Remember, when we were kids, we always used to talk about the future. But I guess it's different now"

"I guess that's true. It was easier back then. But If I think to hard about it-

"Please Steve, don't you dare think too hard. You'll have to use your brain for that. And I'm m afraid you don't have that" you tease.

- Very funny, ha-ha. I'm laughing so much right now. But I was going to say that, everything is easier with you around. And see now, you've ruined my nice compliment" he tries to sound annoyed, but he can't. You can never annoy him. No matter how hard you try.

"Ahh, come on now. You're making me look bad because I joked that you don't have a brain. But let me continue- you contain your laughter as you look into his eyes, with a serious voice you tell him the truth:

-Steve Harrington you may not be the brightest person out there, but I'm sure as hell that you have the biggest heart. You just have to let people see it"

Steve thinks if he really has a big heart as you say, you've melted it away with your words, kindness and truth.

That day you gave him his first memorable Christmas and he gave you a small present. A simple meaning, a necklace with the promise of infinity, of forever. Steve wants to go back to that memory.

But right now he's again beaten up, drugged and the only thing he wants to know is-

"Are you okay?" he asks and says your name in a whisper.

"Your the one with a bloody nose and eye, are you okay?"

'' 'm fine, and you? Robin you also there?" you can barely recognize his quiet voice, but still you answer as you look at Robin.

"I'm fine, and Robin's fine. She's fast asleep though. The drugs didn't work on her"

"Do you feel them? The drugs?" he asks.

You felt them. Like a rush through your bones, ready to confess your sins. Ready to run, because you could feel the adrenaline in your veins.

"Sure, you?"

"Yeah I guess. I hope Dustin and Erica are fine"

"Knowing them, they probably are"

"Yeah, they're probably going to come through this door any second now and save us- as Steve says that, both of you turn your head to the door, waiting. And you wait for a while, it's not seconds but more like 10 minutes as -Henderson! I knew you'd come! I fucking told you! HA! Take it you Russians!"

And you were saved, by two kids and later by Steve and you escaped a secret Russian underground base, you fought a monster, you met El and witnessed her powers. And you lost. Hopper. Billy. And five more people who died in a so-called 'fire mall' . But you still had Steve, and Robin and everyone else and you knew you'll be fine.

But still, weeks pass, days go by and you are not fine. You try to be, you try to pretend for your parents, for your family and friends all except Steve.

He's always an exception for you and you're always a distraction for him. It's a known fact between you two. That's why you're avoiding him. He's the only one who truly knows you. The only one who knows that you are not fine. The only one that can see through your lies and fake smiles.

So there he was, time after time, still standing straight behind your door, waiting for you. For the first time, he was waiting for you. He felt terrified, not knowing if you'll open the door, and even more terrified if you let him in. What will he say? What's there to say? What do you want him to say? Probably the truth. You deserve the truth. He lightly says your name, begging for you to open the door. And you hate the sound he makes, you hate to make him wait, or hurt, so you open the door.

With tears in your eyes you tell him as he walks in.

"I haven't been avoiding you because I'm mad at you for dragging you into all these crazy stuff- I'm mad because you've kept all this a secret till now. I'm your best friend, you know I would've believed you, I could've been there for you!" you sit on your bed and look into his eyes.

There are dark circles behind them, his hair is a mess and that says a lot about how he's been holding up.

"That's why I didn't tell you! I wanted to protect you, that's why I've kept it a secret. Please don't be angry at me. I can't- I can't do it when you're angry at me" he's pacing around the room. A place where he has slept over countless of times, a place he has watched change from time to time. From the dolls on the floor, to the posters on the wall. Now the curtains are covering the summer's sun and everything is darker then before, still your voice brings him back to the light.

"I'm not angry, I'm not. I promise. I'm sorry I've been distant but I just didn't know how to deal with all this"

"You come at mine- you come to me. I'll be with you as you deal with this". It's all right now. He takes a sit beside you, and looks at you. He holds his eyes on you, so you'll know, that he's saying the truth.

"Only if you promise no more secrets, and for real this time"

"I promise- actually I can't do that" he suddenly remembers the real reason he's here. And he remembers all the times and all the excuses on why he hasn't said anything before. He was a coward, a little late but finally he decides to be brave.

"What? What else have you been keeping from me oh God, Steve?- your voice changes, anger fills you up. Not for long though. You can never stay angry at Steve for too long. It's something both of you know, a little fact.

"There's one more thing, one more secret I haven't told you about. Or anyone really, but I think Robin knows. And Dustin"

-You told your secret to a middle-school kid? Dustin, really?" you sound surprised, but you are not really. You know how strong their friendship is. Dustin knows everything there is to know about Steve, and the other way around. You almost sound like you're jealous.

"Well as I said I didn't tell anyone, they just know. They know, everyone knows" his heartbeats are louder than the words he says next.

"Know what? Stop talking in code or whatever, just say it"

you almost know what he's going to say, at least you hope. For the first time in a long time you find hope. That maybe he feels the same-

"I'm in love with you" he pauses and looks away. But no- he can't look away now. He's going to be brave. He has to. "have been for a long time. I just didn't realize it" he says it and he feels like time stopped. Like the rest of the world was caught in fire and you two were the only ones left.

"Well, you should also know my secret" you keep his gaze and your hand moves closer to his.

"You have one too?" he accepts your hand. He'll accept anything you have to offer. And if he had the chance right now, he would really stop time just so he can relieve this moment with you, forever.

"Yeah, it's similar to yours. I've been in love with this boy, ever since I met him. And hell, that's like a really long time. Almost- I don't even remember how many years. I've been waiting for him to realize how I've felt, but he's little clueless, little late. But he's also very brave, some people from high-school even call him a 'hero' "

"Really? What's else?" he moves closer, his other hand finds your waist. His face only inches away from yours.

"He's also loyal, and quite pretty too. He's also my best friend" you close the gap between your faces. A quick peak on the lips and Steve feels fearless. He can die in peace now. He finally tasted heaven. You look in his eyes, hold your breath and you say it back. Clean and strong, the words echo through Steve's mind.

"I'm in love with you too"

Time really stopped. The rest of the world felt it too, they all heard it. The words became a prayer and Steve was a firm believer. Every night you reminded each other.

Because time after time, your love stayed the same.

---------------------------------------------------------

Notes: Hi, I hoped you liked reading this and also if you noticed some grammar mistakes please let me know. Have a nice dayyy, love a ♡

[itsagentromanoff]

Tony: [answers phone] Hello.

Steve: Hello, Tony, how are you doing today? I am fine. Nice weather lately, huh? Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?

Tony: Okay. Wait, who is this?

Steve: It's me, Steve.

Tony: Oh. Okay.

[whats-wild-to-you]

The Chosen One (Jay Park fiction)

Chapter 8

"How bad was it?" You spoke into the phone, keeping you eyes shut.

"Huh?"

"Drunk me. Last night." You added, preparing for the worst.

"You were fine. You're really quiet when you're drunk, did you know that?" Junwon replied quickly.

"So I didn't say or do anything inappropriate?"

"No. Don't worry!" You heard him chuckle.

*flashback*

Junwon came back only five minutes after he carried you up to your apartment. Jay and Woogie stood by his car in silence.

"Let's go! I'll give you a ride home."

"The studio is fine." Jay said.

Junwon nodded and the three men left. The 15 minute car ride to the AOMG building felt like an eternity, Woogie sat in the back checking his phone, while Jay rode shotgun, staring out the window.

"Are you okay?" Junwon broke the silence, trying to get either one of them to talk.

Immediately, Woogie inched forward. "Did Ji Won say anything to you?"

"Earlier? Nah. She passed out as soon as she laid down. Why?"

"It's just, she was really weird when I dropped by the office earlier. And she was weird with Jaebeom hyung too, right?"

"Yeah. Distant." Jay mumbled under his breath.

"I know you care about her, but you can't make her open up if she's not ready to." Junwon said to no one in particular but they all knew whose ears it was meant for. "She doesn't trust people easily, you need to be patient."

Both men nodded. When Junwon dropped them off at the AOMG building, they both looked at him expectantly.

"Don't worry, you're my brothers. This stays between us!"

*end of flashback*

Junwon hated lying to you, he should've known better than to get involved but since he did, he knew he wouldn't betray Jay.

"Good. Embarrassing myself in front of my boss is the last thing I want to do. I really need this job." You sighed in relief.

"Why does it sound like you're still in bed?"

"I'm working from home today."

"No, you're not. If I have to get over there and drag you out of bed, I will!" Junwon threatened you.

"I'm feeling a little under the weather."

"But the sun is out."

"...I don't like nice weather...?"

"Ji Won! Get out of bed and get dressed right now or I will come over!" He repeated sternly.

"Fine, fine. I'm hanging up now."

30 minutes later you arrived at work. You needed to find Steve and send him to Jay for his weekly briefing.

"Has any of you seen Steve this morning?" You walked around, asking people left and right.

They all shook their heads and slowly you became nervous. Something told you Junwon wasn't completely honest with you this morning and you dreaded facing Jay when you couldn't even remember if you did something wrong last night.

"Unnie, Soohyuk sunbae wants to see you." A younger staff member called out as she saw you walk by.

Reluctantly, you entered Soohyuk's office.

"Steve is no longer employed here." He stated dryly, without even looking up.

"Why?" You protested instinctively, even though you weren't the type of person to cause a scene.

"Ask the CEO."

You left immediately after, heading straight to Jay's office.

"You're here early. I'll be done in 15."

"Did I piss you off?" You practically yelled at him, hierarchy be damned.

"I'm sorry?"

"Am I not managing nearly everything around here? Am I not taking the workload off of you and Soohyuk oppa?"

"You are, but wh-"

"All I asked for was a little help! And I never ask for favors."

"What is this about?" Jay raised his voice, now matching your level of irritation.

"Steve! You fired Steve!"

"Wait. Nobody fired him. He quit!"

"No. Why would he?"

"Personal reasons, he said." Jay responded with a shrug.

You turned around, wanting to leave, when you heard Jay's voice again.

"Wait."

This time he sounded calm, almost pleading.

Fuck!

Slowly, you turned around to face him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at you.

"Me?"

"Sit. I need 15 minutes." He said, clearly not taking no for an answer.

And so you sat there, awkward and in total silence, while Jay was checking his artists' schedules. To say that you were uncomfortable would be an understatement.

Exactly 15 minutes later he put the papers away and looked up to meet your eyes. You weren't aware you were staring at him, mesmerized by his level of concentration.

"How are you?" His voice was laced with concern.

"Me?" You asked incredulously.

"Yes, you."

"Good." You said out of obligation.

"Really? Cause 15 minutes ago you looked like you were suffocating. Drowning in work. Is it too much?" There it was again, that concerned tone in his voice.

"No. It's fine. I'm fine."

"Okay."

"I have to tell you something." You blurted out.

"Okay."

"It's about yesterday."

"I'm listening."

"I can't shake the feeling that I said something inappropriate to you or maybe I did something inappropriate. I mean, duh, I definitely did something inappropriate, I got wasted in front of my boss for God's sake. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for anything I might have said. You know I am incredibly grateful to be working here and I will work harder from now on. Steve was great but I should be the one handling the workload, which is not too much by the way. So yeah, I just wanted to say that and apologize. I'll do my best from now on, sajangnim."

You concluded your monologue, bowing lightly and taking out your calendar to go over Jay's schedule for the week.

"Wow! You really said that to him?"

2 weeks went by before Soo Min's and your schedule allowed for a meeting between the two of you. Naturally you spent the day shopping, then sat down for some coffee.

"I just had a feeling Junwon wasn't telling me the whole truth. I just needed to clear up any misunderstandings."

"You drew a line in the sand, that's what you did!" She doubled down.

"What?"

"He likes you! That's why he offered you the job in the first place!"

"No, he felt bad for me! There's a difference. And since I'm Junwon's friend, he offered to help me out."

"Have you seen him since that day?"

"Actually, no I haven't. But I know he has a lot of things to do these days, sooo..."

"So he's not avoiding you?"

"No, and I'm not avoiding him either. He's my boss, I'm his employee and everyone knows that."

"Okay. If you say so. Hey! How much time do you have left? I wanted to go buy some fancy shoes with you. The hospital is throwing a fundraiser and everyone needs to attend."

"Cool. I have about an hour before the meeting starts, let's go!"

An hour later you entered the office building, heading straight for the elevators. Before the doors closed fully, someone put his hand in between, forcing them to open again. You immediately recognized the tattoos. But as the elevator doors opened again, you noticed he wasn't alone. There was a woman with him, tattooed, with skinny jeans and a crop top on, the outfit complementing her hourglass shape. You greeted politely as they joined you, suddenly making the spacious elevator seem extremely small. They stood behind you, the woman giggling. Though you couldn't see what was causing her to giggle like that, you had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

As soon as the elevator doors opened you bolted, heading straight for the conference room. Still, you could hear Jay tell the woman to go wait in his office and that he would be back with her shortly. Out of pure curiousness, you tried to listen in for any kissing sounds, and held yourself back from turning around when you didn't hear any.

The meeting ended sooner than expected and Jay didn't say anything at all, he was too distracted by his phone that went off every 2 minutes. You couldn't help but wonder if she was texting him or if it was actually something important.

When everyone went their separate ways, you stayed back, gathering your thoughts. The fact that Jay's behavior bothered you, confused you. In the end you told yourself it was because he behaved unprofessional and set a bad example as CEO. Determined, you made your way to his office, needing him to sign off on a purchase. After knocking, you let yourself in only to find Jay and the woman sitting next to each other on the couch, his right arm over her shoulder and his left hand on her thigh. She wouldn't stop giggling and you couldn't help but roll your eyes at the scene.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something I need you to sign."

"Would you mind coming back in an hour." He said, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Sure." You nodded, closing the door behind you.

"Come with me!" Soohyuk grabbed your arm in the hallway, dragging you back to his office.

"What did you do to piss him off like that?" He said after making sure he shut the door tight.

"What?"

"You can clearly tell he's acting out of character, that's not the Jaebeom I know and it all started when you accused him of firing Steve."

"Yes, but when he said that Steve left on his own I apologized. And that was that!"

"Did you perhaps say anything else?"

"No..."

He sighed ominously, sitting down behind his desk.

"Can I leave now?"

"Yes, of course." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Throughout the day you noticed how everyone was kinda antsy, trying not to bother Jay. You never went back to his office to ask for that signature and hours passed before the woman finally left. You could practically hear the sigh of relief coming from the rest of the staff. You needed to talk to someone about all of this and you knew exactly who to call.

***

Chapter 9

[echo-hiraeth]

Chapter 10: One of those long-sleeved dresses

Part of the “Ilicit Limerence” series

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader

Summary: The pressure is on now that the government is negotiating with Escobar. The team decides to take the edge off, but when it comes to it, Javier can’t keep calm.

Warnings: swearing, angst, explicit sexual content, unprotected sex, nudity, mentions of pregnancy symptoms, alcohol

Masterlist

Previous chapter

Next chapter

A/n: Hello sweethearts! My sincere apologies for going MIA, I had a really rough week with tonnes of deadlines, but accept this 6k plus chapter! Let me know what you think. Lots of love!

“He did what now?”, Connie questioned, brow quirked in amusement as she sipped on her wine.

You cackled along with her, fingers playing with the stem of a wine glass, which was filled with orange juice. “I’m serious, he’s surrendering his key this weekend!”

“Well would you look at that, Javier Peña settling down huh?”, she smiled, clinking her glass to yours, “I don’t know how, but you did it.”

“I’ll cheers to that, sister”, you gloated, the smile on your face just getting bigger and bigger as the night went on.

The boys were out together, leaving you and Connie alone with the baby. Olivia had been sound asleep for about an hour now and as soon as that baby monitor didn’t detect any fussy noises, it was go-time. How she got the drinks out that fast, you hadn’t a clue, but you weren’t complaining when she got out the chips as well. Seeing how you were back to work and she had a kid to take care of, you hadn’t seen one another a lot this week, but tonight you were just hanging out, catching up.

“How’s the clinic been?”

She sighed, letting her head fall back on the couch. “Sometimes I wish you would just quit and join me already. I swear they only speak in Spanish to spite me.”

You huffed out a laugh, only laughing harder as the two of you locked eyes. It was one of those moments that didn’t make sense, but was hilarious nonetheless. You clutched your stomach as a cramp threatened to come up. “Okay – okay, stop, stop, stop”, you yelped, struggling to catch your breath as you kept laughing.

Connie was wheezing at this point, doubling over as well, the rest of her red wine spilling into your lap. “Aha – shit that hurts”, she gasped, rubbing at her cheeks as they cramped up.

You took a few deep breaths, finally having stopped giggling away. In one swift motion you took the fragile glass from her hands. “Alright, alright, Murphy, you’re too drunk to keep this going.”

“Oh come oooon, it’s my house, I call last round!”, she whined, reaching for the bottle on the coffee table.

You jerked it away just in time, holding it over your head as she groaned and rolled her eyes. “Connie, I’m serious, you have a baby to take care of tomorrow, go get ready for bed.”

She pouted, dragging herself up off the couch as she slumped towards the bathroom. “You’re no fuuuun.”

Shaking your head, you walked over to the kitchen, rinsing the glasses and putting the half-empty bottle in the fridge while your friend attended to her business in the small bathroom. It was a little past midnight now, just about time for the guys to come back too, in fact they were a little late already. The three of you still had work in the morning, considering it was a Thursday night, but no-one other than you seemed to give it much thought.

Some stumbling in the general direction of the two backrooms caught your attention, drying your hands before hurrying your way over to the bathroom. Only there wasn’t anyone there. You peeked into the bedroom, seeing your friend sprawled out on top of the duvet, still fully dressed. Her husband could take care of that. She’d knocked the alarm clock over, successfully unplugging it from the wall in the process. You picked it up, putting it back into place before heading back into the kitchen. Being the good friend that you were, you filled up a glass of water and along with an aspirin, put it on her nightstand. She’d thank you in the morning.

Once back in the living room, you cleaned up the messes, stowing away the snacks in the cupboard and washing the dirty dishes in the sink. By the time you were putting everything back into its spot, clock striking past one, the door swung open. They were mid-conversation, Steve way too loud for your liking, drunk out of his mind. Well, they were married after all – you thought, thinking back of your passed out friend.

Javier seemed fine, supporting Steve as he guided him onto the couch, shooting you an annoyed glare halfway through. You rested a hand on your lower back, trying to ease the pain as you just watched the two of them, Steve’s hand grabbing towards you.

“She’s maaaad”, he noted, giving Javier a look.

You bit back a chuckle, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, instead just motioning towards the door. The other man understood, slowly nodding before throwing a balled-up blanket at his partner. “See you at the office, Murphy.”

He grabbed your coat off the hanger, opening the door as he waited for you. You pecked his cheek in passing, taking the coat from him as you put it on, the coldness in the hallway already making you shiver. “M’sorry hermosa”, he sighed slinging a warm arm around you.

“How much did you have?”, you asked, leaning your head on his shoulder as you walked down to the lobby.

“About three, I’m good to drive”, he replied, pressing a sweet kiss to the crown of your head.

 It was a difficult night, having to run to the bathroom every other half hour as either your bladder or stomach pestered you. Javier was sleeping soundly, his whiskey tending to have that effect. You’d hit him over the head if you didn’t love him as much as you did. The acid reflux was killing you, no matter how upright you sat. You were never touching orange juice again, you vowed, fuck that.

Javier woke up to you sitting up against the headboard, neck at an awkward angle as you softly snored. It was then he noticed the bucket by the bedside, empty, but still there as a precaution. He’d let you sleep a little longer, off to the kitchen to prepare a breakfast while he woke up fully. As he flipped his omelette you shuffled out of the bedroom, rubbing your eyes as you stubbed your right into the couch.

“Motherfucker”, you exclaimed, pursing your lips in pain.

He grinned from his spot in the kitchen, winking as you flipped him an early morning bird. “Sit down before you break a leg.”

You plopped down on the chair, cradling your head in your hands out of sheer misery. You were exhausted and had an excruciating pain in your neck and back, not to mention how raw your throat felt, the acid reflux having left its mark. “Would you mind grabbing a coffee at work? I-I don’t feel particularly well.”

He put two plates on the table, sitting down next to you, resting a hand on your upper back. “Should’ve woken me up”, he mumbled, keeping hand there as he started digging in.

“Wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway. Thank you for cooking”, you smiled, starting on your own plate.

The rest of the morning was slow, Javier proving to be very helpful as he rinsed your hair for you. There was nothing sexual about it, just simply wanting to ease things for you. You’d been okay for most of the week, morning sickness seemingly gone, but last night’s shenanigans got you good. On top of that your jeans didn’t button, stomach starting to protrude a bit more in your ninth week. Whether it was the exhaustion, annoyance or a culmination of everything at this point, you didn’t know, but you broke down into tears.

“Corazón?”, he asked, barging into the room, cupping your face in both hands. “What’s wrong, what happened?”

“I-I don’t know really, just my jeans don’t fit and – and”, you couldn’t speak anymore, just crying it out, keening into his touch as his thumbs swiped the salty tears away.

He let go with one hand, bringing it down to the denim, softly inching it down your legs. “Weather’s nice enough today, why don’t you wear one of those long-sleeved dresses? Casual Friday was still a thing last time I checked.”

You huffed out a breathy laugh, hiding your face in the safety of his shoulder. “God Javi, I’m such a mess. Are you sure you wanna move in with this?”, you asked half-joking.

“Stop that”, he groaned, lifting your chin to tangle his lips with yours. “You are the most gorgeous, smart, funny, beautiful, passionate and sexy woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Now put on that cute dress or I will throw you onto that bed and make sure you know just how riled up you get me.”

You kissed the corner of his mouth, smiling as you did so, stepping out of your jeans before tiptoeing over to your wardrobe. He watched you as you slipped on the dress, fishing a pair of tights from your bottom drawer. You sat on the edge of the bed, rolling up the tights before slipping a first leg onto your foot, carefully hoisting them up, being mindful not to rip them with your longer nails.

In a passing motion, Javier vowed to rip them off of you later that same day.

 In preparation of new measures, you had to sit through another couple meetings and to say they were boring, would’ve been an understatement. You and Javier sat close to one another, Steve sat on the chair between the two of you. He’d noticed you were struggling to keep up, eyes drooping as the search block just went on and on. After about an hour, a break was announced, which was much-needed. Everyone got up as you remained seated, not entirely sure of what was happening, attention span completely missing.

Steve got up as well, leaving the room to fetch some caffeinated drinks for the three of you. But Javi stayed put, scooting closer as he cautiously touched your arm. “Hey, what’s going on?”, he hovered, spinning your chair around to face him.

You stretched your arms over your head, letting out a loud yawn. “’M just sleepy.”

“I know baby, couple more hours. Why don’t you take the couch in the office during lunch?”, he suggested, leaning back in his own chair.

“Hmm, wouldn’t be fair to the two of you, really”, you sighed, standing up to stretch your legs.

He stood as well, bringing you in closer to capture your lips in short-lived kiss. “Go walk around the office for a bit, it’ll wake you up. Steve’s bringing you some of that tea.”

“Thank you Javi, you’re a hero”, you praised, dragging him down for another kiss. “Be back in ten.”

You meandered your way into the restrooms, finishing up at the sink, dunking your tingling hands under the cold water. Once dry you put your cold hands up against your neck, hoping that the temperature shock would help you out of your drowsy state. It did to a certain extent, the icy cold feel of your fingers on your warm skin making you shiver a bit.

Fuck – you craved that sweet kickstart of coffee, but even just passing by the small kitchenette, the odour was too pungent, nearly making you wretch. You nose scrunched up in revulsion, you quickened your pace, hoping to get away before any nausea could settle in. It was then you felt the familiar hot liquid tickling down your chest, letting out a yelp as it scorched your tender skin.

“Shit – are you alright ma’am?”, an unfamiliar voice sounded.

You peeled the fabric of your dress away from you, to relieve some of the heat. “That’s gonna stain”, you joked, trying to divert your attention from the burn on your skin.

“At least it’s a memorable introduction”, he chuckled, dipping his head into the kitchenette to grab a hold of the tissue box. “Stechner, Bill, I’m CIA.”

You pulled a set of tissues from the box, stuffing these between your body and dress, trying to alleviate the two, creating somewhat of a barrier. As you dabbed away you told him your name, which resulted in a raised brow. “Am I wanted or something?”, you quipped, trying to rub some of the stains out of the fabric.

“You’re partnered with Murphy and Peña, are you not?”

“That I am, speaking of which, I have a briefing to rush to”, you laughed awkwardly, the look he was giving you nothing short of unnerving.

He gave you a smirk. “I do hope we run into one another again, ma’am.”

You shivered at the comment, hastily making your way back to the conference room. They’d already picked up again, conversation in full-swing as you cracked the door open, wordlessly retaking your seat. You got some looks, no doubt because of the huge stain on your front and wide-eyes.

You certainly didn’t feel sleepy anymore. The feeling now overtaken by one of discomfort and unease as your clothes clung to you, the tissues already soaked through. Steve handed you a cup of green tea, face contorting in confusion. You made a gesture of dismissal, it clearly not being the place and time for an explanation. But the meeting was cut short as Noonan was whisked away by her assistant, clearly a matter of urgency, if not emergency.

The two men directed their attention in your direction, tilting their heads almost synchronically. “Who the fuck is Stechner and why does he hate both of you”, you demanded, clearly not amused.

“Stechner? Oh that’s all Javi. Ya see, your sweet menace of a boyfriend has had some communistic tendencies in the past”, the blonde taunted.

“Murphy. Watch your mouth”, Javier warned, throwing his friend a death-glare.

Your mouth fell open in shock and something along the lines of amusement. “You slept with a communist?”

Steve and you shared a glance, both sputtering out a string of laughter as Javier just sat there, looking up at the ceiling. “That was years ago. Now cut your bullshit, both of you. Stechner’s just an entitled asshole.”

The two of you calmed down, catching your breath as Javier grew steadily more annoyed, giving you an angry glare. “Oh come on, at least let me laugh about your hook-ups!”

Murphy clapped Javi on his back, mumbling about getting back to work as he exited the room, leaving the two of you alone once again.

“Is that why you wanna get out of that apartment, get rid of the evidence?”, you continued mocking him.

He took a few strides towards you, placing a hand on the wall beside you, towering over you. With the proximity you could feel the soft tickle of his huffs on your lips as you stared up at him. “I’m warning you, hermosa, you don’t want to go there.”

Something about his tone made it difficult for you to determine whether he was being genuine or not. For fear of aggravating him, you decided to shut up and not press on it anymore. “Lo siento cielo”, you croaked out suddenly feeling very self-aware as he brought up his other hand to rest on the opposite side of your face.

He looked you over, gaze lingering on your dress. “Mi corazón, ¿te hizo daño?“ (My heart, did he hurt you?)

Words didn’t come to you, mind overtaken by his cologne and frankly how tempting his lips looked right about now. He cleared his throat, making your eyes dart upwards. “Yeah, yeah – I mean no! No! I’m fine.”

His lips were slightly parted as he indulged in the desperate look you gave him, fingertips softly stroking your neck. “Should probably change out of that dress”, he muttered, lips ghosting over yours, “unless you need some help.”

You couldn’t help yourself as you threw yourself against him, lips painfully colliding with his in a bruising kiss. His hands found themselves on your hips, drifting towards the curve of your behind. “If you don’t stop now we’re gonna get in a lot of trouble”, you cautioned, supressing a moan as his fingers squeezed your ass.

“Cierto.. pero quítate ese vestido, estás empapada”, he groans, slipping his hands under the skirt. (True.. but you need to take that dress off, it’s soaking wet.)

You nodded fervently, pushing your hips into his, panting: “Supply closet, spare t-shirts.”

With your hand held in his, he hauled you towards said closet, making sure to be quick, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. It had to be a quickie, unless you wanted the whole office to know. So you hastily slipped the dress over your head and Javi ripped your tights down, leaving a run or four in your hose. He forcefully shoved his trousers down his hips, taking himself out of his boxers.

You sat on top of some plastic bins filled with spare supplies, legs spread as he moved to stand in between them. There was no time to be gentle, only to take the edge off. He had to lean over a bit, notching himself at your entrance before slowly pushing, bottoming out. You let out a breathy whimper, which resulted in one of his palms clasping over your mouth. His strokes grew more and more aggressive, the need to be closer to you spurring him on even more. The muffled noises you made were enticing to him, almost as if you were begging him to keep going, show you just who was to be in charge. And so he did. His pace was on the verge of brutal as he drilled into you, the metal racks behind you squeaking and rocking along in rhythm with his tempo. When you head tipped backwards and your eyes closed he knew you were close. He moved his hand to replace it with his mouth, swallowing down the sweet, filthy sounds as you hit your peak, closing your legs around him, locking him into place as he came. His lips left yours with an audible sigh, his forehead resting on your collarbone as he caught his breath.

The two of you cleaned up in the small space, stealing kisses left and right. With every sweep of his calloused fingers across your bare thighs you felt your heart flutter. But eventually, after he found you a pair of joggers that wouldn’t fall off and a t-shirt that wouldn’t be too tight you got dressed.

“How’s it look? Everything you ever hoped for?”, you joked, showing of the baggy, nonchalant outfit.

He pulled you flush against his chest, smirking before embracing you. “Muy hermosa, corazón. You head out first, I’ll bring some lunch.”

With one last peck you left the closet, trying to act as normal as possible with your ripped tights and stained dress under your arm. The post-coital lethargy mixed in with the lack of sleep soon had you struggling to stay awake again. As soon as you plopped down in your rigid desk chair you felt the familiar heaviness settle in your limbs.

“Am I really that boring?”, Steve quipped, not looking up from whatever he was reading.

You straightened up a bit, rolling your shoulders. “Sorry Murph, didn’t really sleep last night.”

“I noticed you looking a little green earlier. Take the couch, I’ll move the boxes so you can lay down”, he offered, already getting up out of his chair.

“It’s okay really, I’ll just get another cup of tea”, you ushered, knowing fully well you were expected to type a whole report by the end of the day based off of someone else’s notes.

Steve walked over to your desk, snatching the notepad out of your hands. “You’re pregnant for God’s sake, go lay down or I’ll have Noonan send you home.”

After some more bickering you’d agreed to switch tasks and that you would be reading up on previous reports and strategy proposals while he’d type the report for you. But after barely three pages your eyes just shut on their own. When Javier came back about twenty minutes later, the folder, still clutched in your hands, laid on your chest, softly rising and falling. He nodded towards his partner, gesturing for him to come grab his lunch. Meanwhile Javier sat down on the end of your couch where your feet laid, carefully placing them in his lap.

“What the fuck do you do to her?”, Steve asked jokingly.

Javier took his lunch out of the plastic bag, replying without looking up: “I dick her down.” Later he added a quiet: “like you’re supposed to.”

When by the end of lunchbreak you were still out, Javier decided to stay put. With your legs resting in his lap he grabbed a hold of the folder on your chest, starting to intently read it. It was in that moment that Steve pulled the old polaroid camera from the bottom drawer, snapping a sneaky picture as the two of you just sat there, somehow entangled with one another wherever you were.

He put the picture in his top drawer, not wanting to interrupt your little moment as Javier rubbed small circles on your ankle, sunken in thought. Today would be the deciding day, and everyone was anxiously awaiting the government’s next move. Though they all knew in the back of their heads, that no matter the decision, it wouldn’t change shit.

It was just a little past one when the news got delivered, some fellow agent sticking their head in to tell them: Escobar’s deal was accepted. La Catedral would become a reality. Javier flung the files onto the ground, tipping his head back as he heaved a disappointed sigh. All those years of chasing, murder and devastating guilt just for Escobar to get away once again.

Steve took note of his partner’s annoyance and never related more. “We’ll get him eventually. For now, we take out the smaller guys. He might’ve won this one, but the fight ain’t over yet Peña.”

Javier rubbed his chin, the other hand still resting on your ankles as he tried to keep his cool. He just couldn’t stop thinking about everything he’d done, seeing the faces of those damn informants flash before his eyes with every blink. The shots he’d fired rang in his ears, making him gnash his teeth. His fingers wrapped around your leg in a bruising grip, only getting more and more forceful. You jolted awake, drawing for a weapon on your belt that wasn’t there, panting as you locked eyes with him. He promptly released his hold of your leg, instead moving to take a hold of your shoulders, steadying you.

“What happened?”, you asked, the scattered papers on the ground enough of an indication for you to know that there was something off.

His lips were pursed together in a thin line, eyes avoiding yours as you got up off the couch. “They agreed”, Steve explained.

Your mouth hung open a bit as you looked at your friend, crossing your arms in front of you as you gave an exasperated huff. “Of course they fucking did.”

 The two of you went home early that day, the car ride uncomfortably silent. You’d noticed the sheer rage and resentment in the way he walked. Without a word you’d taken the keys from him, climbing into the driver’s seat. He looked out of the window the entire time, not bothering to look at the road, or you for that matter. Whatever was happening in that brain of his had a vice grip on him and you weren’t sure if he’d let you help him out.

“Do you want to get some take-out?”

He whipped his head around to face you, noting the way your fingers flexed against the leather of the steering wheel. “What now?”

“F-for dinner. Do you want take-out?”, you stuttered, feeling small under his burning gaze.

A muttered “whatever” was all you were given, his eyes once again trained on the world outside of his window.

Not wanting to elongate the duration of the drive any more, you decided against it, knowing that you had some things left in the fridge. The walk up to your apartment was equally awkward and tense. But when his key didn’t immediately turn in the lock and he banged a fist against the wall, you knew what kind of a night it would be. You gently took the piece of metal from his hand, calmly unlocking the door before letting him in.

“Javi, baby, why don’t you grab a shower while I get dinner started?”, you suggested, setting down your bag by the door.

He kicked his shoes off, humming an agreement before shuffling off towards the bed- and bathroom. When you heard the shower turn on, you felt like you could finally breathe again. You’d seen him angry before, especially when dealing with sicarios first hand, but here, in private – in the comfort of the apartment, it was somewhat unsettling. You got out of the cupboards what you needed, and started washing some veggies while turning the tv on.

When he emerged from the bedroom, loose t-shirt and jeans, damp hair, you gave him a small smile. He pressed a quick kiss to your temple on his way to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer. “You smell nice”, you cooed, stepping closer to him as you reached for the glass of water.

“You’d hope so after using all of that bodywash bullshit”, he grumped.

“I’ve been reading up on those pamphlets the doctor gave me”, you started, turning your head towards him, “and it says the baby is about the size of cherry now.”

He gave you a look, shrugging his shoulders before walking off with his plate. “Not really in the mood for baby-talk.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Anything you’d like to talk about?”, you tried, sitting down on the chair across from his.

He shoved a large bite into his mouth, hunching over a bit. “Nothing.”

You stopped trying after that, just finished your plate and got started on the dishes. Javier brought you his plate and went to have a seat on the couch. You rolled your eyes, scoffing softly, clearly not amused with his antics. I he wanted to be like this about it, then you weren’t going to stick around for it. So when all of the dishes were put away, you headed towards the bedroom, not bothering to talk to him.

Stepping into the bathroom, you locked the door, putting his soaked towels in the hamper. As you cleaned up the water on the floor, you ran a bath, desperately wanting to assuage your aching spine. You wanted to talk to him about, but knew better. If he wanted to talk he’d come to you about it – right? Or was he pulling some reverse psychology shenanigans, really just wanting you to talk to him? Your head was spinning by the time you lowered yourself into the warm water, a pleasurable whine leaving your lips at the contact.

Once the water got cold you got out, wrapping yourself in the fluffy towels you laid out before slipping into some softer pyjamas. You got ready for bed, seeing how you were still exhausted and treated yourself to the “nice-smelling-expensive lotion” for once. By the time you stepped into the bedroom again, door still slightly ajar, Javier was still in the living room. Seeing how it was not even seven yet, you concluded that it would be too early to go to bed and that you could catch up on some housework first. So you emptied the hamper and headed into the kitchen, basket under your arm, trying to get to the laundry room.

Javier looked up from where he laid on the couch. He was on his fifth beer by now, but craved something stronger. He reached for the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table, his need for relief overwhelming at that point. His fingers trembled as he went to light it, closing his eyes in relief as the nicotine hit the back of his throat.

You shut the washer’s door, punching in the right controls before heading back into the kitchen. As you walked into the living space again, you noticed the plumes of smoke trickling upwards. With your hands on your hips you cleared your throat, successfully capturing his attention. “Thought we had an agreement on those?”

“It’s just one”, he groaned, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

“Take it outside then, you have a damn sunroof, balcony and shared terrace, plenty of options”, you tutted, not putting up with his attitude.

He turned around to look at you, raising a brow at you. “Will you stop bitching already? It’s just a cigarette.”

“In case you forgot, pendejo, I’m still pregnant”, you retorted, marching over to grab a hold of the pack.

He stood up, burning cigarette pursed between his lips. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?”

You yanked the balcony door open, throwing the pack over the railing. “You want your precious smokes, well go fucking get them.”

“Are you fucking crazy?”, he sneered, stepping out onto the balcony.

“I think it’s better if you go home tonight”, you said in a hushed tone.

He gave you an offended look, the smoke lingering in his breath as it fanned across your face. “Over a cigarette?”

“If you don’t want to open up to me then I can’t help you”, you explained, turning away from him.

His form towered over you as he stepped closer, chests nearly touching, a stern hand on your elbow. “Open up to you? And when exactly were you ever open with me? Because last time I checked I’m not the one signing a settlement because it’s convenient.”

“Let go of me”, you ordered, glaring into his eyes.

“You’re being unreasonable”, he pressed, grip on your arm tightening.

You tried to wiggle out, whining at the intensity of his grasp. “You’re scaring me Javier, let go”, you pleaded, voice shakier than before.

“You’re gonna listen first. You’ve been down here for two years and that’s barely anything. Compared to Murphy, to me, you’ve had it easy. Let me catch you up to speed, you haven’t killed anyone, you haven’t washed someone else’s blood off of your hands. You haven’t lost anything or anyone here. You, little miss perfect, have nothing to whine about. So when your boyfriend comes home after a rough day, let him have a drink and cigarette and maybe offer to suck him off.”

Tears had started forming in your eyes. This wasn’t the Javi you knew, even at his worst, this wasn’t the agent you were familiar with. It reminded you of that night where he showed up at your apartment, before he knew you were pregnant, when he fucked you and left. It made you feel sick.

“Who are you?”, you spat, untangling yourself from him. “I’m here for you every day, loving you, hoping to make you happy and this is what I get from you?” He didn’t say anything to that, just faced away from you. “If that is how you want things to be, then you need to leave.” Your voice started faltering, the emotion taking over. “I’ll be in my bedroom, if you want to talk whatever this out, then I suggest you join me and think about what the hell you need to say very carefully.”

His head hung low as you disappeared into the apartment, the sound of your muffled sobs stinging in his chest. He hadn’t meant for it to sound that harsh or condescending. He knew perfectly well what you had been going through both in and out of the field. Truth is, he was completely out of line and felt like a complete dick. It was a defence mechanism he had yet to get rid of. Javier wasn’t used to somebody helping him just because, that’s not the way things went here in Bogotá. There was always a catch, always something, whether it was money, power or information, there was always something.

You were his girlfriend, he knew that, he just wasn’t used to it yet. You telling him to leave the apartment – your apartment at that had angered him even more and made his reaction all the worse. He tried to take those vital deep breaths, trying to figure out a way to make it up to you. He remembered you complaining that your favourite ice cream flavour was always out in the store. So he got inside, put on his jacket and shoes and headed for the shops.

When you heard the door close, you cried into your pillow. It felt like a middle finger to the face and for a moment you thought that this could be it. This could be the time that he realised he wasn’t up for this. The following twenty minutes were the most painful ones yet. You thought you were hallucinating when the door cracked open again, shuffling out of your bedroom to see Javier standing in the doorway, plastic bag in hand.

“I – I uh, I went to get some stuff, so we can talk”, he stumbled, toeing his shoes off.

You cracked a small smile at him, beckoning for him to sit down on the couch with you. He grabbed some spoons from the kitchen before joining you. As he sat down you grabbed the tub of ice cream from the bag, eyes going wide. “Oh my God, how did you-“

“I asked them to set some aside last time we went”, he confessed, cracking the lid off for you. “Seemed like a good truce.”

You sunk the first spoon into your mouth, eyes rolling back as you moaned at the taste. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

He chuckled at the sight of you devouring the creamy goods, carefully scooting a bit closer. When you didn’t try to get away he slid an arm around you, pulling you against his chest. “Lo siento por lo de esta tarde. That was way out of line, I shouldn’t have said any of that.” (I’m sorry about earlier.)

“Shut up and try this ice cream, we’ll talk after”, you tutted, shoving a spoonful in his mouth.

The two of you ate the entire tub together, often interrupting the spoon shoving for a sweet, lingering kiss. By the time the tub was empty your legs were draped over his, head resting on one of his collarbones. He was just looking at you, tenderly caressing your cheek.

“I’ve done a lot of heinous shit just to get to Escobar.. so what happened today, it just set me off. It really shouldn’t have, I try not to let it come through when I’m with you but I slipped up.” You didn’t speak or interrupt, just let him say his piece while your softly scratched at his scalp. “I slept with those informants to get crucial information, intel that helped us a long way. But I also just slept with them to get everything out of my system. And then there was you and a month after we slept together I stopped seeing the other girls, even when they’d show up at my door. But there was this girl, a sweet girl really, that was so desperate to get out of here.. it didn’t end well and I couldn’t fucking protect her.”

“Javi, baby, look at me”, you cooed, shifting to straddle his lap. “That girl did what she thought was right, she wanted to escape. It’s not your fault, you did everything you could for her.”

He rested his head against your sternum, wrapping his arms around you to have you just that tad bit closer. “I’ve killed so many people, I’ve done so much fucked up shit.”

“Javier, you’re so much more than that. I adore you, I know you’re a good man. Good people do bad things, it’s the way things go around here. That day out in the small district, you nagging about my vest? You saved my life. And what we’ve got going on, us and this baby, it’s a good thing, something you deserve, Javier.”

He pressed a kiss to the left side of your chest, close to your heart. “You’re the one thing keeping me sane.”

“I try my best”, you chuckled.

“Stop being so amazing, I can’t take it”, he joked, kissing his way up your neck.

You grabbed a hold of his face, having him look up at you. “Javier Peña, I’m in love with you and all your quirks. But if you smoke one more cigarette in this here apartment, I will kick you out.”

Taglist: @pedritomando @peterhollandkait @ophelia-ingenue @radiowallet @phoenixhalliwell @diogodxlot @rosiefridayrogersunday @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @asta-lily @the-bottom-of-the-abyss​

[blushing-starker]

don't expect that line I previously mentioned because I'm chaotic and forgot about @starkerfestivals amazing omegaverse week since it goes hand in hand with finals and my brain only fit one of these events in my mental planner

Today's theme is heat/rut and it's slightly nff, has some sexual teasing but nothing too explicit. I'd rate this teen, is all I'm saying. I apologize for any writing mistakes, I'm finishing this at 11pm before collapsing in my bed.

Tagging @vaguekiwi cuz I mentioned this to her today

Needy little alpha

------------

Tony wakes up to a purring alpha throwing himself on top of his defenseless body with the force of a freight train driven by a drunk man on drugs. Peter's been told a thousand times before how yes, he may be as heavy as a goddamn feather, but it still aches when that super strength plops down and refuses to let the victim's lungs function adequately. But his boyfriend is a sadist who loves cuddles and making Tony suffer.

"No."

"You love my cuddles," it's true, they bring him pain and purple bruises everywhere but there's nothing quite as soothing as a content alpha kneading like a kitten at his chest, " and you know it. "

"Uh, that's false. Never said I love cuddles. I tolerate your octopus habits, there's a difference." Peter leans back with a pout and teary eyes, wobbles that God forsaken bottom lip like he always does whenever Tony denies the kid something and presents a challenge.

Nimble fingers slide up into, unfortunately, silver hair and nonononono that's unfair. He snarls, tries to infuse the air with as many displeased pheromones as possible so Peter can take a hint when nails scratch right above his nape and Tony's done. Unravels at this hobgoblin's feet and he's half way sure his soul goes out in a huff as little circles are pressed into the exact spot that causes him so much neck pain.

Peter unashamedly preens when Tony melts into their bed and starts pawing at him for more cuddles. "Say you love my cuddles and I won't leave the bed for an hour. Throw in a kiss and I'll rub your back."

He hates(loves) this kid. Hates(loves) how he sing songs as soon as the situation doesn't favour the actually responsible adult in the relationship. Hates(loves) the way Peter never misses the places that leave him sinking into fluffy pillows. Hates how, oh that's nice.

There are tiny kisses littered on a chest glowing blue, small indentations from teasing lips pressed into spread arms and cold hands.

"Ruts gotten you needy, huh, little alpha?" Not that this one was any different from all the other ruts they've shared since dating. Tony secretly adores Peter like this, extra affectionate the minute his shyness and fear of outside criticism is washed away, replaced with the need to shower his omega in love and attention. Yes, Peter has his heart 365 days of the year. Yes, he'd die for his tiny spiderling no matter what.

But this is just really nice, ok? Previous lovers were rarely alphas so this ritual of gluing their bodies together when rut came was an added benefit to being with Peter. That and the hormones he let out while happy soothed Tony to no end.

Peter nips at his finger, still a bit too early on for him to accept the nicknames. He blushes though, a pale pink highlighting a face much more lovely than the cherubs painted on the cathedrals of Rome. Jesus, he's whipped and all they've done is cuddle.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"I love your cuddles. Cherish them. Want them every day for the rest of my life. But I love you, my needy little alpha with a fantastic," there's a pillow smashed against his face.

"If you say dick, I'm climbing down to wrestle Bucky and I won't let Karen record it for your spank bank. " Oh, that's a low blow.

He relaxes, let's Peter sink into him with a startled yelp, rolls them over, sits on the kid's lap and clamps his knees around a trim waist. Peter may be Spider-Man, but he's Tony Stark and Tony Stark doesn't lose in bed.

Well. Not unless he wants to.

"You do that and you can say hello to your toy, the one I know is stashed in your old room under the bed in a comic book box, because that'll be the only thing helping you out when the rut really hits." Will Tony suffer immensely if that happens? Yes. He's a sucker for a needy Peter being ridiculously horny and possessive. Thing is, you don't threaten a man's spank bank. No sir. Everything else is fair play. His carefully organized folders of viewing material are not to be messed with.

Peter's blush is on full blast, spreads over a long neck and absolutely delicious, no. Be strong, Tony.

"You know about the toy?" It's a squeak, normal voice rocketing upwards thanks to the position Tony's ass is in and the knowledge that his secret is out. Which wasn't even a secret to begin with anyway because Tony is in love with the only genius not smart enough to erase his browser history in the lab's computer. Which Tony uses. Routinely. Every day.

"Know about it? I've seen it. You left it out once, all used up on your bed while you were showering. You remember that, don't you? We had sex in the bathroom that day. Bruised my back and everything?"

Peter furrows his brow, works a plush lip and no, look away, Tony, look away. The kid is sin and indulgence and heaven and no.

"Oh. Oh." Whenever he thinks his boy can't go any redder, Peter busts out a new shade of pink.

"Yup. So. I'm pretty sure this is what you wanted in the first place. Maybe it wasn't your intention," he stresses when Peter's already launching up and nearly throwing him off in an attempt to reassure Tony that wasn't his purpose with the cuddles, "but you certainly wouldn't have minded this outcome. And by this outcome I mean my incredible ass on top of that fantastic dick."

Peter tries to suffocate with a pillow held over his face.

"You've got two choices, kid. You threatened the spank bank. The teasing is fine, you know I love when my pretty kitty shows his claws," a hand slaps his arm, makes him grin, " But threatening such an integral part of my mental stability? Wrong move, Queens. You aren't getting any until tonight, not even so much as a French kiss will be given. Unless you let me bite a mark on that amazing neck and don't push me away when I nuzzle you in front of the team. "

Well. Now he's definitely being thrown off of Peter's lap.

He lands on the other side of the bed with a groan, is assaulted by a whining Peter intent on receiving something to further postpone the urge for sex that's sure to hit him soon enough.

An alpha, Tony's learned, will usually be very cuddly and affectionate the first few days of a rut week. Then the possessive, protective side will slowly emerge. Nests of pillows, couch cushions, blankets and favorite pieces of clothing appear on the fourth sunrise. The next morning comes with the need for relief, for intimacy and a marathon of sex that'll leave any supersoldier exhausted by the end of it. The resulting days offer comfort, an aftercare of sorts, where the alpha and their partner show a soft affection similar to the beginning. Nests are utilized and bodies soothed. It lasts, at most, a week and the majority of the population only has to take slightly increased portions of food.

That's for people without the metabolism of four grown men.

Peter needs sex, as much as possible, so the itch for urgent intimacy doesn't result in Tony tackled to the floor of the lab in the middle of an experiment every day of the week. It's like giving him nicotine patches instead of a cigarette.

So now he's whimpering, tugging on Tony's clothes just a little too hard if the ripping sound is any indication.

"...sorry, Tony..."

"It's fine, I've got more. I'm not letting this go though. The teams' seen us fuck against a wall, their opinion and respect, your worth, didn't change. So come on. Just one little mark. One. And Bucky nuzzles Steve and Sam all the time. Hell, Pepper sometimes nuzzles me when I'm stressed out. Please, baby? "

There it was; Tony's secret weapon. Peter blushed like a virgin on a wedding night whenever he used pet names, but the genius knows his boyfriend enjoys the familiarity and subtle intimacy. Felt reassured that they were a romantic couple and not a mentor fucking his protege.

The kid nibbles at his neck, wraps gangly limbs around a body that's always been his to take comfort in. "Just one mark? And light, I mean it, Tony, light nuzzling in front of the team. For today. Then I can get what I want?"

He snorts, can't fully comprehend how the universe paired him up with someone so intent on making Tony's joints ache and creak. "Yeah, we can have sex later, Mr Charming. Subtle as brick, that Spider-Man. Let's go get you cleaned up, make sure that rut has a hard time getting my boy under the weather."

He goes to get up. He leans forward. He cannot, in fact, leave the bed.

Peter bites with a bit more pressure, drops his hips down harder and Jesus Christ, they're never seeing the light of the kitchen if his boyfriend can't wait til it's dark.

"Or..."

"I'm an old man, I need protein before you go jumping tired bones that have to spend two hours updating your suit." Ok, so maybe he's slightly bitter and annoyed at not having enough stamina (or refractory period, for that matter) to keep up with a repressed teenage superhuman. It's not his fault Pepper keeps bringing Krispy Kreme donuts to the office meetings.

It'd be rude not to eat with the others anyway.

"You don't have to do anything." Ah, it's one of those ruts.

Tony softens, smoothes a hand down a back that could hold a plank under a five story building with ease, kisses a heated cheek.

"Needy little alpha." It's his turn to whisper and nuzzle against soft skin.

"Kind, not so little omega?" Tony laughs, presses their lips together so Peter can see what's it like to taste a smile radiating with joy and love. Slowly clicks the button on the nearest nightstand; unless someone is dying , it'll just be the two of them in the room.

(There was an incident once. Groot may have been traumatized by a situation involving superstrength, webs and the Ironette costume Tony only adored when it adorned Peter's body.)

"I do so love my needy little alpha needing me, don't I?"

His boyfriend blinks, grins at Tony as if he's just hung the moon and stars for his spiderling and ok, a little sex early in the morning isn't that bad.

"You love my cuddles too."

"Shut up and kiss me, Queens. I'm not getting any-"

They don't talk about anything too important after that.

----------

A little sex early in the morning actually is that bad when you miss a meeting with the U.N and show up smelling like sex, infatuation and, oddly enough, strawberry.

Rocket doesn't stop teasing for months.

[lilbabycee]

daybreak // steve rogers ✨

hi! i decided to make a tumblr so that i can write here too, not just on AO3 - please be nice to me i’m nervous 🥺 enjoy! xx

↳ summary: an insight into the relationship between steve rogers and his little ray of sunshine. 

↳ relationship: steve rogers x reader

↳ warnings: a lot of cute domestic fluff and some dom/sub undertones bc steve is a closet freak and that’s that

READ SUNDOWN

Steve learned from a young age not to stare directly at the sun but that was becoming an increasingly difficult task when he has a clingy little everyone seemed little to him ray of sunshine sprawled out in his bed most mornings. She carries a certain wonder about her and he is sure that she must be aware of it to some extent for in his eyes, it is impossible for somebody to entrance and captivate the people around her as much as she does without even knowing it.

She isn’t perfect - she snores - loud - and is clumsy and speaks too fast and too loud sometimes. But she can be quiet - like in her refusal to burden him on any of the days when she is feeling more akin to the color of the sky against the New York skyline outside their massive apartment windows than the sunflowers that she insists on keeping on the dining table during the whole year. Or the way she draws in on herself when she’s being heavily criticized, diamond eyes shining in a way that makes his heart freefall to his stomach. The way she can get insecure about her work despite the way people laud it. She is too hard on herself, doesn’t know when to stop even when she is dead on her feet and cries often and quick if she fails to achieve whatever her little fighting heart is set on.

But she is his. Her bright and youthful spirit chose his old and weary one, painting over the tainted black and grey with vibrant yellows and reds and greens and golds using the fine sable brushes that he has tucked away in the lower drawer of his bedside table. Years ago he had come out of the ice, but he had never truly unfrozen until she came and melted him, his own personal sunlight with her arms wrapped around his neck and with him wrapped around her little finger.

Steve had never considered himself a poet. An artist, yes, but even that was a modest affirmation. But then she came into his life, all breezy skirts and pouty lips and he knew that he would have to find a new way to articulate his feelings because he failed to find a way to express how she made him feel. Like eating cool orange slices outside in the summer, the juice running down your chin but you don’t care because the weather’s hot and you’re in love. Like stepping into a warm department store when it’s snowing, knowing full well that you won’t buy anything but it doesn’t matter because you’re warm and you’re in love. Like laying surrounded by loved ones but your arm is cramping because your cousin has been laying on it for hours, but that’s not important because they’re comfortable and you’re in love.

In love. It doesn’t seem like enough to describe what he feels for you, the way that heat blooms in his chest every time you lock eyes or how your smile makes the steady beating of his super soldier heart stutter. Even now, looking down at your sleeping form, he can’t help the boyish smile that grows on his face. His right hand rests on your waist and your head rests right over his heart, the pulsing of it lulling you to sleep the night before. His left hand comes up, thumb gently caressing the bottom lip of your wide-open mouth.

He can feel the magic buzzing in the air in moments like these, the subtle beauty of it all, the life he thought he would never have. You shift on his chest, throwing a leg over his and then settling. Steve exhales, watching the sunlight stream through the crack in the blinds and reflect off of your bare shoulder that his t-shirt has fallen off of, shrouded in the white cotton of the sheets. You were-

His thought process is interrupted by a loud snore and some quiet muttering before you bury your face deeper into his chest. A deep chuckle vibrates through his chest, causing you to shift some more and a quiet groan to escape your lips. He presses a kiss to your forehead and you half-open your eyes as he looks down at you in a way that you can only describe as reverently.

“Good mornin’, doll,” he rasps, voice deeper from sleep and it caresses your ears, making you coo.

“Hi, baby,” you whisper, blinking sleepily up at him, kissing his bare chest right over his heart. “How long have you been up?”

Steve hesitates, contemplating lying for a split second but then he remembers who he’s talking to. He needs not feel embarrassed when you’re around, your accepting nature allowing him to express himself while avoiding judgement.

“A couple of hours now,” he replies, tracing patterns on your bare shoulder absent-mindedly. He glances over at the clock - 8:44 a.m   - and exhales deeply, pushing your head deeper into his chest. You wouldn’t need to be up until around 10, because after that, Tony would surely be up to disrupt your peace with incessant teasing. Today you had offered to help Bruce in the lab with some undisclosed - but “very safe, I can assure you” - project, but that was supposed to be for early in the afternoon.

“Time really flies when you’re being a creep, huh, old man?” You tease, eyes full of mirth as you stare up at the love of your life.

He smirks, digging his fingers into your sides making you giggle and squirm on top of him.

“Watch your mouth there, young lady,” he calls you out in his captain voice, making your stomach flutter and your eyes lower in submission. He knows what that voice does to you, how it melts your resolve. His smirk only grows when he realizes how your eyes have dropped and how quiet you’ve become. “Don’t worry, baby, I know you have work to do. I won’t spank you today. You can find a way to thank me later.”

He follows his last sentence up with a wink and you giggle, always content about how soft he makes you in the morning. Later you may find the time to exhibit your bratty behaviour, but for now, everything was soft and sweet and quiet. You nuzzle your face into his neck and his hands slip down to grip your ass.

“I’m sure I will find a way later, Captain,” you mutter, yawning. His hands start to move in slow, languid circles, as both of you know that you have some time left in your little safe haven bathed in golden light and wrapped up in each other’s body heat. “What are you gonna do today, super soldier?”

He sighs, licking his lips and your eyes can’t help but follow the movement of his pink tongue peeking out between those perfectly pink lips. Instinctively, you bring a hand up to trace their outline, fully appreciating the beauty of the man that you hold captive beneath you.

His pretty blue eyes stare contemplatively at the ceiling and you notice how in this light, they look greener than they do blue. It was as if God himself poured a vat of molten gold into the ocean of his eyes, letting it sit and reflect the sun on this early morning. His cheekbones are pronounced and his jaw is strong, giving his face such a classically beautiful structure. The spun flaxen strands of his golden mane are unruly, but the time that the angels had spent slaving away and spinning it does not go unappreciated. You have a sudden urge to run your fingers through it, but instead your eyes are drawn to his moles and his freckles. They make constellations across his unblemished skin you’re jealous and reassure you that this perfect man that lays beneath you is still indeed human.

“You’re so damn pretty , baby,” you sigh, interrupting whatever response he was about to provide to your question. He smiles up at you and you return it easily, leaning down to place a soft kiss right on top of his lips. He grips your ass slightly tighter pulling you deeper into it. You make a noise of surprise that he quickly swallows, then moving his lips to nip and suck at your neck. Last night was long and he made love to you slowly and lazily, bringing you right to the edge again and again. Keeping up with his elevated libido was a constant but extremely enjoyable workout for you, one that he always found amusing.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he says once he relinquishes your lips from his hold, pecking you one more time. “But I don’t think I’m the pretty one in this relationship.”

He kisses you again before you can protest but then sits up abruptly, taking you with him and making you squeal. Your arms are still wound around his neck while your legs cling desperately onto his waist. His hands still rest on your ass and he wears a bright smile on his face.

“I don’t know about you, doll,” he starts, walking through your shared apartment towards the kitchen. You’re only wearing his t-shirt - one of the bigger ones because why are his shirts always so small - and he can’t help but admire how pretty you look in his clothing. He thinks that he wants to keep you like this forever. “But I’m a little hungry.”

You side-eye him at the potential double entendre - the abused flesh between your legs is already screaming in protest. He doesn’t look at you, but continues looking straight ahead with that naughty little fucking smile on his face, the picture of innocence.

“For food though, sweetheart, I swear it,” he finally cracks, laughing shortly while placing you on the kitchen counter. He deposits another kiss on the tip of your nose, looking at your bratty little pout causing his hand to twitch. He knows that he wouldn’t - can’t spank his best girl before breakfast - and you really are too sore from last night to go again for at least a few more hours. Because, if Steve’s being honest to himself, it never just stops at spanking.

But you’re clingy in the mornings so as soon as he turns to grab a pan from one of the cupboards, you clench your legs tighter around his waist. Turning to you once more, he raises an eyebrow and your pout only intensifies. He doesn’t do anything but kiss it once more before unwrapping your legs from his waist with those strong big ass motherfucking hands .

“What you do want for breakfast, babydoll?” He asks, successfully grabbing the pan this time. You chew on your lip, thinking hard.

“Pancakes?” You question, looking up at him for confirmation. He nods, a smile on his face.

“Go put on your music or something, baby - we can make them together.”

And that’s how you ended up dancing around the kitchen to one of the songs on your playlist, shaking your ass and singing obnoxiously loud as Steve watched you humorously, flipping a pancake here and a piece of bacon there. Soon, you both have glasses full of juice and about three dozen chocolate chip pancakes, as well as multiple pieces of bacon.

When you shove a piece of pancake into your mouth, Steve catches your eye across the jar of sunflowers on the table, light glinting off of the fork that you’re holding and the white plates adorning the table. He dwarfs his hand in yours and plays idly with your fingers.

“I love you,” he states definitively, as if he is stating his name and what color the sky is.

A mouth full of pancake, you grin at him. Quickly swallowing, you lean over the table and kiss him soundly on the lips. He tastes like orange juice and maple syrup and Steve .

“I love you too,” you reply, a small smile on your lips. His smile grows until you snort the last word, your own grin spreading.

“Dork.”

[wheeier]

fearless

Warnings: pure fluff

based off of taylor swift’s song <3

steve harrington x henderson!reader

word count: 1.6k

“this is the best celebration ever.”

—

you dressed up nicely, getting ready to hang out with your best friend, steve. he invited you to his house for a small celebration about him passing the test on english that you helped him study with. you glanced on the window, seeing the rain just stopped. droplets from the sky touching the glass, dripping down to the windowsill. you smiled to yourself-you always loved the rain. not the storm, just the rain. there's something in the rain you always love. it makes you feel calm and in peace. the way the ground seems like there's a glow off the pavement looks beautiful to you.

"y/n/n! steve's here!" you heard your mom called from downstairs who was watching a show on the television. you took your attention away from the window and headed out the room.

dustin noticed you as you went out of your bedroom, "y/n, where are you going?" he asks. "to steve's." you looked at him, giving him a small smile. "and you didn't tell me?" he asked in annoyance. "why? you already spent time with him for almost all week. it's my turn, bud. sorry." you shrugged and went downstairs, chuckling as you heard your brother curse.

you headed out of the house, grinning as you saw steve. "let's go?" he reaches for your hand and you gladly took it though you were absolutely flustered. you were glad he didn't notice. or did he?

both of you got inside his car quickly as the rain started to pour once again. steve shakes his head to dry his hair, brushing them with his fingers afterwards. a single motion of him that makes you want him more.

"someone's staring." he teases, taking you out of your trance. "shut up." you rolled your eyes as he chuckles in response.

you averted your eyes to the car window to watch the trees and houses passing by as he drives. the rain started pouring and a thought came to your mind. you always wanted to ask steve to dance in the rain, in the middle of nowhere. you always thought how romantic it looks in movies. maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad if steve gets to be your first kiss-in a very memorable way as the music plays in the car radio. in fact you would treasure that memory forever, only if it would actually happen.

you seemed to be too lost in your train of thoughts that you didn't notice that you have arrived in front of steve's house and didn't hear him ask you a question, until he lightly taps your shoulder as he calls your name.

"huh?" you turned your head to look at him, seeing his concerned eyes at you. "are you okay?"

"y-yeah. i'm..i'm okay." you gave him a nervous smile, avoiding his stare. "are you sure? you seem a little off today." he questioned, searching for your y/e/c eyes. "yeah. i was just thinking." without waiting for his response, an idea hit you. this is now or never. you thought. you looked on the radio and turned it on, 'can't fight this feeling' was playing.

steve was obviously confused and worried. when you opened the car door, he started to panic. "w-hey, w-what are you doing? y/n, it's raining! are you insane? y/n!" you ignored his protests and got out of the car, not caring about ruining your outfit. you walked towards his side of the car and opened the door, grin plastered on your face.

"come on! it's fun." you reached for his hand but he backed away a little, staring between your hand and your eyes. you rolled your eyes, smile not leaving your lips before pulling his hand, letting the rain touch his hair, and eventually his whole body. the man was blushing at this point, not sure if it's because of the cold weather or because of you.

steve stood frozen, clueless on what to do next while you're in the middle of the street, embracing the cold raindrops falling from the sky. you closed your eyes, enjoying the rain pouring down your face. it felt calming. like everything is finally in peace–for you at least.

you slowly fluttered your eyes open, only to see steve in front of you. your heart skipped a beat. he didn't say anything, a comfortable silence filling the air-despite of the rain pouring and touching the ground. he held your hand, pressing his lips on your knuckles gently. the corner of your lips turned up as he pushed some of your hair and tucked it under your ear.

his eyes were twinkling, as well as yours, particularly when he stepped closer, faces only inches away. to him you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. he remembers everything that had happened for the past years, how cool you are hitting the demodogs with a metal pole as he hits some with his nailed bat, how you kneed the russian doctor where the sun doesn't shine as much while saving him and robin-from that he already knew he fell hard. he loves everything about you. god, this man is in love with you.

and boy, so are you.

everything happened so fast, steve grabs the back of your neck, connecting his lips to yours.

you were taken aback for a second before melting into the kiss. your hands travelled to his shoulders then to his hair. you finally got to touch his luxurious locks. you smiled into the kiss at the thought of it. it felt like you were in cloud nine, everything was perfect. this was exactly how you wanted it to be. the rain. song playing on the radio. your first kiss. steve.

the kiss lasted a few more seconds before you both pulled away, catching your breaths as you smiled at each other, your arms remained around his nape while his were on your waist.

"i gotta say, it was impressive of you to not overreact about your hair getting wet." your teased. "if it isn't for you, then i would." you laughed at his words that seemed music to his ears. "dork."

cold breeze touched your skin as you ran inside his house. you both took a warm shower-seperately, him going first so he can look for clothes for you to wear as you took a shower.

you got out of the bathroom, wearing his large grey shirt and black sweatpants. he didn't notice you got out until you spoke. "hey steve, do you have a comb?" he averted his eyes from the magazine he randomly found under his bed to you. his mouth agaped at the sight of you in his clothes.

"stop looking at me like that," you chuckled as you walked towards the bed. you sat down beside him as he sets aside the magazine. he gives you the comb beside him, not tearing his eyes away from you. "thanks." you muttered before combing your hair.

steve lightly shakes his head, going back to his normal self. "i'm sorry about this by the way." you started as you placed the comb on his night stand. "sorry about?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "for ruining our celebration. we were supposed to be eating or maybe cooking right now if i didn't let you come with me in the rain." steve's expression softened as he heard your explaination.

"no, no, no, y/n. this is the best celebration ever. it's way better." he smiles at you, squeezing your hand reassuringly. "thank you." you said just above a whisper as you lied down beside him.

the rain had calmed down, but the cold weather remained as you wrap your arms around steve's waist, his arms around your back-keeping you warm. "you know i'm actually glad you did that," steve mumbled, breaking the comfortable silence. you hummed in response, looking up at him. "yeah. i wouldn't have known that you love me too and-"

you love me too.

his words echoed in your head. you shot up, eyeing him suspiciously. "what's wrong?" he asks. before you could answer, it hit him. "oh, i..no, i mean.." he struggled to get words out of his mouth meanwhile you chuckled, scooting closer back to him. he continued to stutter as you put your hands on his cheeks, "steve?"

one word made him silent.

"i love you too."

when he didn't say anything, you brought your lips to his. this time he was the one who was taken aback, before placing his hands on your nape, kissing back.

it went on for a few seconds, his hand travelling to your back as you straddled his lap and not breaking the kiss. "hey," you mumbled in between the kisses. "as much as i want this.." you placed your hands on his shoulders as he continued to shower kisses on your jaw.

"babe,"

you called, making him stop to look at you. "babe?" he repeats, somehow shocked. "what, you don't like it?" you questioned. "no, no, i was just..i didn't expect you to call me that." you both chuckled. "anyways, as i was saying, i wanna continue but i'm too tired. can we just cuddle until the rain stops?" he nodded and you got off his lap, laying your back on the bed beside him.

steve puts his arm around your shoulders, giving you more room to scoot closer to him. "i love you." you whispered while your eyes were closed. he was still not used to you saying those words, in a romantic way. his stomach would flip everytime you'd say it.

soon sleepiness took over you, steve's lips on your forehead were the last thing you remembered before drifting off.