#the only bright spot of this season but my god how bright they were

[safetybuzz]

slafkovsky: "i've wanted to play with caufield and suzuki since the moment i was drafted."

[barcaatthemoon]

should be me || leah williamson x reader ||

leah gets jealous when the team tease you about the obvious thing going on between you and rachel daly.

you sat silently in your cubby, ignoring the looks of your teammates. this game against aston villa wasn't overly important, no more than any others you'd played this season. still, you were incredibly nervous about it. your captains were all picking up on it, but they had different approaches for trying to help you.

leah tried to comfort you the best that she could, but it was little more than an awkward shoulder pat and reassuring comment. kim was much more motherly in her attempts to calm you down a bit. however, it was unfortunately katie who was the most effective with her knowing and teasing comments.

"are you excited to see your little girlfriend?" katie asked as she nudged you with her elbow. both you and leah snapped your heads towards katie to glare at her. leah's glare was all anger, but yours was annoyance. "she's been asking a lot about you. i think you've really got a chance."

"whatever," you huffed. truthfully, you would have been more than happy going out with rachel. however, there was a slight problem. she wasn't leah. nobody else was leah, and that was why all of your dates led to absolutely nothing. you wanted to be with leah, but leah didn't want to be with you.

"seriously, she's interested," katie told you.

"drop it mccabe," leah grumbled. katie put her hands up in surrender, muttering about how she only wanted to help her friends. katie didn't understand why leah always got so upset whenever arsenal played aston villa. leah and rachel were friends, at least they were until the teams met up. leah was friendlier with her national teammates who played for chelsea than she was with rachel. "you good?"

"i'm fine leah," you promised her. she smiled as she ruffled your hair a bit. you groaned as you tried to fix your hair again. you were just finishing up whenever kim called everybody to huddle up for a quick pre-game pep talk. you knew that arsenal had this game in the bag, but you still appreciated the little boost to everybody's confidence.

"quick hug before we become sworn enemies?" rachel asked. you hadn't expected to see her waiting for you as the team shuffled out of the locker room. admittedly, you had been a bit eager as you launched yourself into her arms. behind you, leah scoffed as she walked past the two of you. "i'd tell you good luck, but my mates would kill me."

"we don't need it anyway." you gave rachel a cheeky smile before you joined your team. the girls all started to tease you a bit as you found your mascot and spot in line. you knew that you had done it to yourself, but their words still made your cheeks burn bright red with embarrassment.

…

arsenal's win over aston villa was unsurprising. you hadn't scored any goals, but your two assists brought you all the pride you could handle. usually, you found yourself right by leah's side after games like this, but katie was excitedly pushing you away from the team. you were about to question her whenever she directed you towards a downtrodden rachel daly.

"go on, give her something to smile about," katie told you. she gave you a good shove, which leah missed. all the blonde saw was you walking over and sitting next to rachel. the two of you sat on the pitch for nearly 10 minutes together before you got up to take a shower.

you liked longer showers, but a good amount of the hot water had been used up. you walked back into the locker room to the stares of your teammates. this time, instead of katie starting the teasing, it was steph and caitlin. even kim joined in, which was when leah finally lost her cool.

"for the love of god, will you lot stop talking about rachel? i am sick and tired of hearing her name! we get it, she's into (y/n) and maybe (y/n)'s into her too!" leah shouted. you flinched as she stormed out of the locker room, slamming the door behind her.

"what the hell was that about?" katie asked as she glanced over towards you. in all honesty, you had no idea what leah was on about. she had never been a big fan of the jokes, but it had never seemed like something that would result in such an outburst.

"(y/n), honey, i think you should talk to leah," kim told you. she placed her hand on the small of your back as she guided you onto your feet. you didn't know why, but you were incredibly nervous as you looked for leah. she wasn't mad at you, but there was a chance that she'd blow up on you too. you didn't want to smother her, but the team had decided that you were the best person to find out what was wrong.

"leah?" you called out as you found her in an empty trainer's room. "can i sit with you?"

"surprised you're not off comforting your little girlfriend," leah grumbled. you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion as you stared at her. at the look of confusion on your face, leah suddenly felt a bit guilty. it wasn't you who had been making all the jokes after all. if anything, you were the most innocent in the whole situation. you didn't seem to understand the situation, unlike kim and alessia, who definitely knew all about leah's feelings.

"i don't have a girlfriend. rachel and i are just friends, leah. we grew up in the same neighborhood, we're like sisters," you told her. leah had heard it a million times before, just like most of the team had. "why does it bother you so much whenever they talk about rachel? you two are friends."

"it's not just rachel, it's you and rachel that bother me. this is embarrassing to say out loud, but i get jealous," leah admitted. you didn't understand what leah could possibly have to be jealous about. the two of you weren't dating, and even if you had been, you never ever would have hooked up with rachel. you meant it whenever you said that she was like your sister.

"i'm not yours, so why are you so jealous?" you asked, a teasing lilt to your voice. leah caught onto it, and instead of getting defensive, she decided to play along. if you wanted her to stop, you were more than comfortable telling her so.

"because maybe, i think that you should be mine," leah said. she grabbed onto your jaw and leaned in close enough for you to feel her breath against your lips.

"don't play with me like this," you warned her.

"i'm not playing love," leah told you. you swallowed as your eyes flicked down to her lips. leah caught your gaze and took the hint. she didn't waste any time in teasing you, opting to press her lips against yours instead. you kissed leah back, opening your mouth just enough for the tip of her tongue to dip into your mouth. leah's hands moved to the back of your head as she pulled you even closer.

"take me home." you had been reluctant to break the kiss, but if things had gone any further, you wouldn't have been able to stop yourself. leah seemed to understand that, sighing as she got off of the table.

"not tonight, not yet. i want to do better than that for you. i'll pick you up tomorrow morning for coffee and breakfast. we can see how things go from there, okay?" leah offered.

"i never thought i'd see the day leah williamson turned away such a willing bedmate," you teased.

"trust me, it's not easy by any means, but you deserve better," leah said. you pressed a kiss to both of her cheeks before you leaned in for a final one to her lips. this kiss was softer and sweeter than the one you had just shared, neither one of you pressing too far in any direction. "i'll miss you."

"i never thought you could be such a sap, it's cute."

[ashtheketchum]

● Lovely night ●

Daryl Dixon X FEM.Reader

Era: Season 5, Alexandria

Summary: You and Daryl spend a passionate night together in bed.

Warnings: +18 CONTENT, FEM.Reader, unprotected sex, passionate sex, oral (m/f), missionary, it starts right away, nicknames (Like Good girl or darling), slight praise kink

Words: 2.8k

Masterlist!

__________________________________

PoV (Y/N):

Today was a very relaxed day in Alexandria. The walkers were unusually quiet, no vendors from the other communities and no events. It was a very quiet day, something we don't get very often these days. And because of this quiet day, my friend, Daryl, and I also had the evening to ourselves. We decided to spend this evening together. Quality time. Carol even left us alone in the house so we could really rest. We didn't want to do much, something relaxing. So we decided to have a nice dinner and just cuddle a bit. Or maybe something else…

Dinner came to an end very quickly and we went straight to dessert. After less than a few seconds I was already completely naked in our bed. "Oh god, Daryl…~!" I lay in our shared bed, moaning loudly, with Daryl between my legs. A tingling sensation ran through my entire body as he sucked on my clit. Daryl's rough hands stroked my thighs gently and he held them still on his shoulders. Although he had made it clear to me many times that it didn't bother him if I "crushed" his head with my thighs, he wanted me to stay still. But how the hell was I supposed to lie still when the man of my dreams let me see heaven with only his tongue?

I ran my fingers through his long hair, sometimes gently pulling it or gently scratching his head. When I scratched his head, he always purred quietly. It would make me giggle if the vibration of his tongue wouldn't make me moan. Sometimes he would growl quietly and it would give me goosebumps. The longer his hair got, the more sensitive his scalp became. That's how it always seemed to me anyway. "Ya feel good?" He asked quietly. Did I feel good? Did he even have the right to ask me something like that while he slowly inserted one of his fingers into me and hit my magic spot directly? But I nodded quickly and whimpered loudly. "Yes…! God, you're making me feel so good, Daryl~…" I then answered him. Daryl loved it when I praised him. He liked that he made me feel good and I would tell him every day if I could.

While his finger kept grazing my magic spot, I arched my back and gently pulled on his hair. He slightly curled his finger while he gently nibbled on my clit. This made me twitch slightly and a pleasant shiver ran down my back. Moaning loudly, I stared up at the ceiling before slowly closing my eyes and surrendering to his touch. Every now and then he swapped his finger for his tongue. His finger massaged my clit in circular movements while his tongue sank into me. Every time he growled, a stronger shiver came over me and I moaned his name loudly. "Oh Daryl~! Fuck, I'm gonna cum!" I moaned loudly. A huge knot was building up in my abdomen and it threatened to burst at any second. Trembling, I looked down at Daryl, who gently kissed my clit before this time sinking two fingers into me and rubbing them provocatively against my magic spot. His tongue quickly licked my clit, sometimes nibbling gently.

"D-daryl~…!" "Cum for me~… come on, darlin'~…" He murmured softly against my pussy. Whining, I pressed his face closer to my pussy and I came around his fingers. My whole body was shaking, my breathing was fast and unrhythmic and my head was spinning. While I slowly relaxed, Daryl kissed my clit and my inner thighs, moving his fingers a little inside me so that I could slowly ride out my orgasm. When he then pulled his fingers out, he licked them clean as well, a loud growl escaping him as he tasted me. "Ya taste like heaven~…" His words made me blush heavily, if my face wasn't already bright red.

Daryl slowly kissed up my naked body and I felt his bulge rubbing against my thigh. While Daryl kissed my neck and gave me little love bites, I let my hand wander over his still-clothed body until I finally touched his pants. I carefully undid his belt and then pulled his pants down a little, his hard member immediately jumped against his abdomen. "Fuck, darlin'~…" Daryl trembled slightly as my fingertip rubbed against his tip. I could immediately feel his precum and I began to spread it on his shaft. Daryl moved his hips slightly against my hand, his breathing became faster and I felt that he was kissing me less and less. God, he must have really missed all of this.

"Lay down~…" I whispered quietly against his ear. Daryl grumbled briefly in agreement before he lay down on his back next to me. I started to kiss his neck, going deeper and deeper. When I felt his shirt, I looked up at him questioningly. Would it be okay if I took off his shirt? And Daryl nodded before sitting up slightly and slowly taking it off. He immediately lay down again, having thrown his shirt in some corner. "You're so beautiful…" I whispered quietly, which only made him scoff quietly. "'m no' beautiful…" His words made me look a little angry, and I gently bit his skin. He immediately gasped in shock before growling quietly at me. "Stop talking shit, Dixon… you're beautiful… everything on you is beautiful…" I whispered as I started to kiss his chest. I kissed every inch, every scar and his little tattoo above his left nipple. Daryl sighed and moaned softly at my kisses as I went deeper and deeper. I gently kissed his thighs before kissing up his shaft. I pulled his pants down to his knees so I could get better access to his cock. A soft moan immediately escaped the archer and I continued. I slowly licked his tip, his precum immediately spreading on my tongue.

Daryl put one of his hands on my head, which made me look up. He was leaning on his elbow and was looking deep into my eyes. His blue eyes were dark, full of passion, lust and hunger. I hummed quietly in amusement and spat on his shaft before spreading my saliva on his shaft. "Yar a tease, ya know tha´?" "I´m sorry, baby… I´ll do it right, now… lay down and enjoy~." I then purred quietly and took his cock in my mouth. I wrapped my fingers around the area that I couldn't get in my mouth. First I moved my head slowly, my fingers moved with my head and Daryl exhaled loudly. Slowly he closed his eyes and lay down again, relaxed and breathing heavily. I closed my eyes too and sucked greedily on his cock. "Fuck~… yar so good~…" My lover murmured softly, his fingers stroking my head. Humoring softly, I swirled my tongue around his tip and my fingers applied a little pressure to his base. I felt his cock pulsing and twitching in my mouth.

I hollowed my cheeks around his shaft as I moved my head faster on him. Daryl moaned a little louder now, pressing his head harder and deeper into the pillow. His breathing became more and more jerky, while he also growled quietly from time to time. His hand, which was stroking my head, moved my head slightly. He controlled my pace and my movements and I enjoyed it very much. "Such a good girl~…" His words made me tremble and I moved my head even faster around him. Loud moaning, slurping and swallowing noises could be heard, along with his quiet growling and his rapid breathing. "Fuck~…! Stop~…" And with these words he pulled me away from him. A thread of saliva still connected me to his cock, but it broke relatively quickly. My lips were a little swollen and looked a little thicker as I looked at him hungrily and passionately.

"Can' cum now~… have ta fuck ya first~…" He then growled quietly and in the next second I was lying under him again. My legs were spread wide and I felt his wet, hard member on my pussy and my inner thigh We kissed passionately, our hands touched each other's bodies and we rubbed our bodies together. A loud sigh escaped me as he rolled his hips against mine, his shaft rubbed between my folds. "'re we impatien' now?" He asked quietly against my lips. Another moan escaped my lips as he rubbed his tip against my clit. My hands wandered from his broad shoulders to his broad back and I moved my pelvis against him. "Yeah~… I want you, Daryl~…" I whispered quietly, almost desperately. But Daryl grinned slightly and nodded before sitting up a little.

I wrapped my legs loosely around his waist while Daryl positioned himself. He had one hand on my waist, the other holding his shaft before he looked at me. His blue eyes sparkled slightly, but they also looked at me questioningly, asking if I was ready for him and his cock. I immediately nodded at his look. We had had sex several times before, but that was back in prison. So quite a while ago. When Daryl saw that I was ready, he slowly pushed himself into me. He leaned over me, supporting his arm next to my head while his other hand still held my waist. His large and thick shaft stretched my inner walls completely and I moaned his name loudly. With my eyes closed and my mouth wide open, I laid my head back and pressed my fingernails into his back. “Fuck, yar tigh´~…” Daryl growled softly in my ear.

"Oh Daryl~…!" I felt him twitching violently inside me and how quickly his chest rose and fell. I immediately pressed his strong chest against my soft breasts so I could feel his heartbeat better. It was beating just as fast as my heartbeat and I wrapped my legs tighter around his waist. As soon as he was finally completely buried in my pussy, he kissed me briefly before resting both his arms next to my head. My hands wandered over his broad back as he slowly started to move. Daryl moved his hips slowly and passionately, burying his face in my shoulder. I moaned softly against his skin, my hands stroked his back gently and I closed my eyes.

The bed beneath us squeaked softly and the blanket rustled a little with our movements. Daryl started kissing my shoulder and moved a little faster. He moved his hips faster and every time our skin touched, we could hear it loud and clearly. Soft growls and gasps escaped my lover as his hands gripped the pillow tighter. Our hearts beat together at a fast pace. "God, ya feel so good~…" Daryl moaned softly against my skin. He gave me goosebumps and I moaned his name loudly. God, I just had to see his face! So I let one hand wander to his head and I gently tugged on his hair to show him to look at me. Luckily, Daryl understood too and leaned away a little so he could look at my face. While he looked deep into my eyes, he lifted my hips a little and he moved a little harder against me. "I love you~…!" I moaned loudly, my insides tightening around him even more. Daryl growled loudly before slamming his lips hard against mine and pulling me into a hot, passionate kiss.

Our tongues danced wildly with each other, exploring each other's mouths and sometimes I sucked on the tip of his tongue. The room was filled with smacking, whimpering, moaning and kissing noises, sometimes you could hear the bed squeaking. Our kiss became sloppier and sloppier, some saliva ran down my chin and I pulled his hair a little harder. This always made Daryl moan quietly. But when Daryl stopped his movements, I broke away from our hot kiss. I took a deep breath, my head was spinning and my lips felt more swollen. Daryl's lips were also slightly swollen and pink, just like his cheeks. "Daryl~…? Why did you stop?" I asked, out of breath. For a moment I thought that something was wrong, that he wanted to stop, but when he pushed me down with one hand on my shoulder and suddenly started moving again, I gasped in shock.

Daryl kept changing his pace, one second he would move slowly and the next second he would move very quickly. These variations made my eyes roll back in my head and I clung to his strong arms. Even though I wasn't looking at Daryl, I could feel him staring at my breasts, which were bouncing with his movements. A loud growl escaped his lips before he leaned down and took my right nipple into his mouth. "God, yar so beautiful~…" He moaned softly against my skin while his tongue moved fast around my nipple. This caused me to arch my back, pushing my breasts closer to his face. "Fuck, Daryl~…!" I kept moaning out soft curse words or his name, as if those were the only words I knew at the time.

While Daryl moved more slowly and firmly again, I wrapped my legs tighter around his hips and moved my hips against his. It felt more intense for Daryl when I moved towards him. The archer immediately moaned a little louder and moved a little faster against me. His breathing got faster and faster, he gently nibbled on my right nipple before taking my left nipple into his mouth and sucking on it. In my pussy I felt his cock twitching and pulsing strongly inside me, Daryl was probably getting closer and closer to his orgasm. But it was no different for me. The knot was building up again in my abdomen and my breathing was getting faster and faster. "Fuck, Daryl~…! I'm gonna cum!" I moaned loudly. Daryl just growled quietly, my nipple was still in his mouth. Then he let go of my nipple and looked down between our bodies, where we were connected. His hand went to my clit and he started massaging it in quick movements. I immediately dug my nails into his shoulders, a loud whimper escaping my lips. "Cum for me, darlin'~…" His voice made me moan loudly and I came around his shaft.

The knot inside me burst and a huge wave rolled over me. "Ahhh, Daryl~! Oh fuck~!" My legs were shaking violently, my whole body was shaking non-stop and I was breathing faster and faster. I felt my secretion spread across my inner thighs and also covering Daryl's cock. And even though I had come, Daryl continued to move, but his movements became more and more sloppy and unrhythmic. "Fuck~…! 'm gonna cum~!" Moaning loudly, he pressed his lips to mine again and the next moment I felt him shooting his hot sperm into me. Moaning loudly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his hungry kiss. We stayed like that for a long time, Daryl still deep inside me, our bodies pressed together and our heartbeat slowly calming down. Daryl moved a little more until he was lying completely still on top of me, our hips pressed tightly together.

"I love ya~…" Daryl then whispered softly against my lips. Smiling, I kissed him gently again before I relaxed and let go of him and took a deep breath. Daryl then slowly pulled out of me, a long sigh escaping him. His body trembled violently as he looked between my legs. His sperm slowly flowed out of me, a loud rumble sounded and made his chest shake briefly. "Tha' was amaizin'…" "Yeah~… it really was…" I then agreed quietly, a gentle smile crept onto my lips.

Our bedroom smelled like sex and sweat, a pleasant smell that I had even missed a little.

After staring at me for a while, Daryl got up to bring a wet towel and clean me up. As soon as he had cleaned my inner thighs and pussy, he kissed my stomach gently and threw the towel into a corner. Then he crawled up to me and pulled me against his chest. He immediately inhaled my scent, his strong arms wrapped tightly around my waist. "I love you, Daryl… good night…" I yawned quietly and closed my eyes. I also wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled slightly. "Goodnigh'… 'love ya too." I heard him whisper quietly before we both fell asleep.

[seungbinbin]

meet ugly - hyung line ver.

not every couple has a fairytale start !!

a/n: first headcanons ! idk if i like this format but i thought i could try <3 lmk what u think ! i was also sleep deprived and delirious writing this but i think it’s a little funny heh

warnings: curse words, very ridiculous writing, mentions of food, gn reader ! (lmk if i missed anything!!)

bang chan

you found out there was a new neighbor on your floor

and you were just so excited to make a new friend

plus you heard the lady from the leasing office saying he was really cute 🫣

so you decided to be nice and bake him some muffins for breakfast <33333

what you didn’t know was that your neighbor stayed up until 4am producing a new song

so when you knocked on his door at 8am, bright and early, interrupting his much needed sleep…yeah, he wasn’t very happy

“what do you want? 😒”

oh 😟

you just hand him the muffins, mumble a quick sorry and RUN

he only realizes how rude he was after he wakes up a second time, hours later, seeing the HOMEMADE muffins sitting on his counter with a little note

“welcome neighbor !!!! :)))”

oh my fucking god 😭 he just HAS to apologize

when he finds you (literally knocks on every door on your floor) he says he’s so very sorry and he’s speaking so fast it makes you giggle

“it’s okay, breathe!”

and he decides right then and there that he’ll make it up to you by taking you out for coffee 😋

lee know

studying at a coffee shop was the best thing ever for you

it made it easier to concentrate on your work, it smelled delicious, and the baristas knew you so they always gave you a little cake pop for free <3

you had been hard at work for hours :( poor baby, midterm season is ROUGH

deciding to take a break to rest your eyes from looking at your screen, and your hands from writing, you took a look around and spotted the most beautiful man you had ever seen in your entire life: lee minho !

his hands were full and he looked very annoyed and you thought "woah that's so much coffee!"

what you didn't know is that he had lost the rock, paper, scissors game for coffee duty <///3

and now he was a little (very) irritated carrying 8 cups of coffee

trying to balance 8 large iced americanos was kind of hard, especially in a crowded coffee shop in the middle of lunch rush

but he had everything under control !

until someone bumped into him while he walked past your table

suddenly there was coffee everywhere; on his shirt, on his face and hair, on your face and hair...and all over your table

thankfully, you had managed to pull your laptop away from the disaster before any coffee got on it

however...your review was all wet and messed up

your 6 page, hand-written review you had been working on for the past 4 hours

"holy shit, i'm so sorry-"

and then you were crying 🧍🏻‍♀️ he didn't know what to do

when you explained everything, he offered to rewrite the review for you 🥹

he took the soggy papers with him, then asked for your number (just to ask what he should write and give you the review, totally not because you were the cutest ever! )

changbin

changbin was having an off-day at the gym

he had been trying to beat his last pr but something felt…off

maybe he pulled a muscle while practicing choreography, or his new pre-workout never kicked in

whatever it was, his mind-muscle connection was off and it was beginning to frustrate him

he was so stiff and crampy and ready to go home after his barely-successful arm day >:(

he was angrily typing on his phone with one hand, complaining about his day to chan and holding a 40 pound dumbbell on the other

definitely not watching where he was going !

he walked right into a bench and hit his shin very hard ! ouchie !

which made him lose his grip on the dumbbell and he dropped it

…right on your foot 🥴

“OW, FUCK!”

“oh NO, ARE YOU HURT!?”

“OF COURSE I AM, YOU ASSHOLE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!”

please don’t yell at him he didn’t mean to ! he tears up when he sees you start to cry in pain :(

so he apologizes (and keeps doing so as he carries you to his car so he can drive you to the hospital)

when you told him your roommates were out of town and you weren’t from the area, he offered to stay with you :(

and also offered to pay for any medical expenses

oh he just felt so bad 😞

but it’s okay! the doctor said it was a minor fracture that should heal up in no time !

and like…changbin made you laugh the entire time and he’s so kind and nice and pretty and buff…

perhaps you could forgive him for shattering your big toe! but just this once !

hyunjin

you just wanted a nice, peaceful day at the park

the weather was perfect for a picnic and a book and you just had to take the opportunity

a lot of other people had the same idea to visit the local park

hyunjin included! he wanted kkami to get some fresh air and to stretch his legs from being holed up in his art studio all day

everything was going perfectly fine

and then kkami managed to get out of his leash

chaos ensued; everyone could hear his dramatic ass screaming and chasing his little dog 😭

surprise! kkami ended up at your picnic bc he wanted to eat your snacks

“hello, sweet boy!”

he was so friendly, everything was going so well! you even offered him a strawberry

and then he peed on your book

and bit your finger 🧍🏻‍♀️

hyunjin gets there 30 seconds too late and now he has to apologize for kkami and his chihuahua-ness

“oh my fucking god, i’m so sorry, i don’t know why he would do that! are you okay!?”

yes you are…there’s a beautiful man right in front of you holding your hand and checking on you ‼️

there’s still dog pee on your book tho

“there’s a bookstore near by, can i buy you another copy?”

so cute <3 thank u kkami

[jrswritings]

Tingles and Giggles - Chapter Eight - Tyler Owens x Reader

Get caught up with Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, and Chapter Seven! Masterlist :)

Chapter Eight - Carried Away

On your way back to Prairie Winds most of the ride was silent, filled with the tunes of country music. Tyler held your hand in his and rubbed your knuckles with his thumb the whole time. Even though a couple of your favorite songs played on the radio, your mind was off in la-la land. Thinking about what a future with not only Tyler but with the Tornado Wranglers looked like. 

From what you had observed before, it was like being famous and being spotted out somewhere. Being surrounded by people reaching and trying to just touch you to then not wash that part of their body for as long as possible because you touched it. You never understood why, as you just viewed it as unsanitary. You could understand getting a picture with them or having them sign something that wasn’t a body part, but anything beyond that was unthinkable for you. 

“Whatcha thinking about over there, gorgeous?” Tyler asked, squeezing your hand. 

“Oh you know, things,” you said, looking over at him with a small smile. 

“Well when you solve all of the problems of the world, let me know,” he said, “I’ll be waitin’ for ya.” 

You giggled softly, leaning your head back and looking out the passenger window. The only problem in the world you were concerned about currently was what your life was going to be with the Storm Riders practically disbanding. You grabbed your phone from the back seat and started typing a text to the Storm Riders chat. 

“Hey, Ty?” You asked softly, staring at your phone. 

“Yeah, baby?” He said, slowing down and putting his right turn signal on. 

“Are you sure me and the two kids on my team can join the Wranglers?” You asked softly. 

“The more the merrier,” he said, looking over and giving you a reassuring smile. 

“Okay,” you said, pulling your other hand away from Tyler’s slowly so you could type faster and more accurately. 

‘Hey Team. It has recently been brought to my attention that Willow, Jade, and Tristan will no longer be with the Storm Riders, effective immediately. I’ve spent the morning with Tyler from the Tornado Wranglers and I will be joining them for the next season. He offered to take Finn and Asher onto his team if they were willing. My mind is set on joining as chasing has become my full-time passion. Without having a scientist, an extra camera operator, and someone to watch the weather besides myself, I don’t see the Storm Riders being able to chase safely. If anyone has any further questions, I will be available to talk in the morning.’ 

“You can put me down for joining the Wranglers,” you said, putting your phone in the cup holder and grabbing Tyler’s hand gently. 

“R-Really?” He asked, stuttering. 

“Why do you sound nervous about it?” You asked, “Yes.” 

“I guess I didn’t expect you to drop your team so quickly,” He said, looking over at you. 

“Well, without half the team I knew we wouldn’t be able to chase safely,” you said, “And I couldn’t risk Finn or Asher’s lives not having the science behind the storms.” 

“What about your own?” He asked, bringing your hand up and kissing the back of it. 

“If I die chasing, then I died doing something I loved,” you said nonchalantly, “My parents know where I stand on my afterlife process and they agree with it. They know I’m stubborn enough to where I won’t stop chasing just because it could kill me.” 

“God damn,” he mumbled softly against the back of your hand.

“What?” You asked, looking at him.

“Call me forward, but I fall more in love with you the longer we’re together,” he said, “And there’s still so much I don’t know ‘bout you.” 

You didn’t even have to look as you could feel your cheeks turning a bright red. How could someone be so egotistical at one point and then so mushy-gushy at another? If storm chasing didn’t pan out, he could easily become an actor and win Oscars or something.

“Either you blush easy, or I really get you goin’,” he chuckled, “Before you get more flustered trying to reply know it’s okay.” 

You glanced over at the clock, 3:12 pm. You had barely spent eight hours with him and he already knew more about you than you had originally thought. 

“I don’t appreciate that you know so much about me yet I feel like I barely know you,” you said, looking at him from over the top of your sunglasses. 

“What do you wanna know, baby girl?” He asked, turning onto a dirt road. 

“Everything and anything,” you said, turning in your seat to face him. 

“Well, I’m sure I’m head over heels for you. I went to the University of Arkansas for meteorology but never finished. My first love of tornadoes came when I was with my aunt and while I was scared, I fell in love with it,” he said, finding a spot with a few trees and a tiny shack. 

“What’s this place?” You asked, figuring you had time to dig more out of him. 

“It’s technically my aunt’s cabin, but she lets me use it whenever,” he said, throwing the truck in park and killing the engine. 

“Is this where you always disappear to?” You asked

“Usually, we’re only a half hour away from Prairie Winds,” he said, getting out and coming to your side of the truck. 

“There isn’t much here, what do you come here for?” You asked, hopping out of the truck once he opened the door for you. 

“To give my mind a chance to think since Boone never shuts up,” he joked, shutting your door and walking up to the small porch. 

You glanced around the area, it was wide open beside a small group of trees with a fire pit in the middle of it, a huge stack of firewood piled between two of the trees. 

“I usually come here to think about life, aside from chasing,” he said, finding the key on his key ring. 

“What about the Black Mesa?” You asked. 

“That’s for the storm-chasing side of my brain,” he said, pushing the door open, “This is the family man side of me and the side that will eventually be left when the chasin’ side can’t keep up.” 

“There’s a family man side to you, too?” You asked, following him through the doorway. 

“Yes, there is, sweetheart,” he sighed, opening the small fridge in the corner and taking out a beer, “I know you prefer whiskey, but you want one?” 

“If that’s all you have,” you said, taking the beer bottle from him and twisting the top off. 

“We can sit in here and relax until it cools off enough for a fire,” he said, walking over to the radio and turning the dial slightly. Mostly static came through until you could barely hear the start of George Strait’s ‘Carried Away.’ 

You smiled slightly, knowing George was your parent's favorite country artist as they would always dance in the kitchen to his music. While you remembered watching them together when you were younger, you felt Tyler grab your hand and pull you close to him. 

“Can we try this again without me being buzzed?” He asked, setting his bottle down. 

“I suppose we could,” you said, setting yours down and flattening your shirt slightly from being scrunched up in the truck. 

He wrapped his arm around your waist, holding your right hand in his left. You slid your left hand up to his bicep and gave it a light squeeze. 

“I don’t take my whiskey to extremes,” George sang over the radio, “Don’t believe in chasin’ crazy dreams.” 

While swaying your hips together as if you’d done it all your life, Tyler rested his forehead on yours and hummed along softly. 

“My feet are planted firmly on the ground,” George sang, “But darlin’ when you come around.” 

You pulled your forehead away from his and looked into his eyes which were full of love and happiness. This made your insides warm up and soothe your thoughts that were going a million miles per hour. 

“I get carried away by the look by the light in your eyes. Before I even realize the ride I’m on, baby, I’m long gone,” Tyler softly sang while looking down at you, “I get carried away, nothing matters but being with you. Like a feather flying high up in the sky on a windy day, I get carried away.” 

He leaned closer to you, your noses rubbing together gently. 

“Can I kiss you?” He asked softly, his lips brushing against yours.

Want more? Here's Chapter Nine!

Taglist: @fanboyswhore9 @faith719

[spideyanakin]

10 Things I Hate About you - Chapter 5

Eddie Munson x Harrington!reader

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

warnings - way too much fluff, ties in with season 1 (rip Barb), talks about Eddie's past (so trigger warning?), lotr references, one lil suggestive moment, angst if you squint

word count - 14.5k

Proof read by the amazing @inknopewetrust

series masterlist 🌻

the playlist

There was not a time in your life where you once believed you would feel like a main character in one of those cheesy romantic comedies your mom liked to watch on Friday nights.

Never did you think you would close the door to your house with a dumb smile plastered across your lips and a lovesick sigh would proceed to tumble from your body as your bag slid from your shoulder to find its spot beside the umbrella rack. You bit your lip, leaning against the white wood of your entry door in a daze.

Never did you think that the warm fuzzy feeling the young female lead always described would be coursing through your veins, astonished in the best of ways when the images of today flashed through your mind. Was this how Juliet felt when she first met Romeo at that masked ball? You felt dizzy; light and floating at the same time. Your fingers traveled by themselves to your lips as the ghost of his own haunted your thoughts. 

What had just happened? 

Eddie fucking Munson. 

That's not what, but who. 

The crazy metalhead who turned out to be the most amazing person you had ever set your eyes on. The one who would play torturous games of tags with teachers and spend half of his life getting detentions he never stepped foot in. 

That boy had come into your life like a hurricane. Ravaging every single one of your well thought out plans and everything you had seemed to set your mind on only to leave everything in the dust to be swept away with the wind. It only left you to become helplessly and hopelessly submerged by his existence.

"Y/n?" Your mom's wavering voice came from the kitchen, "Darling, is that you?" You could hear her footsteps on the colored carpet coming toward the entryway. 

"Yeah, mom, it's me." 

"Oh my God! Where were you?" She sighed out, voice cracking in relief.

"Out?" You said, nonchalantly as if you did it often and it wasn’t unusual. Slipping your shoes beside the door, you wiggled your socked feet out and kicked your shoes perfectly against the wall before walking the few steps towards the kitchen archway.

She was already halfway to you. Half of her hair stuck in bright pink and yellow hot rollers, her pink cotton shirt falling off one shoulder and worry creases marked between her eyebrows.  Her makeup done up and her eyes in a personified version of panic. 

Behind her, Steve sat on the counter with an unbothered gaze and a glass of orange juice between his fingers. He was fixing a strand of hair falling on his forehead before he took a sip of his juice. You noticed your father next to him, facing you with a stern look in his eyes. He was well dressed in his best polo and white dress pants. 

It was obvious your parents were getting ready to go somewhere and you were a stickler in their evening plans.

"Never do this to us again," your mother took a bated breath before continuing on. Her shaking hands reach for you to wrap her arms around your shoulders.

"O-ok?"

"Where were you?"

"I told you she was out with her boyfriend!" Steve smirked in between two sips. You glared at him from behind your mother’s shoulder before pulling away.

"I was out with a friend," you corrected. A friend which you had just kissed. But none of that mattered by the way your mother kept her hands on your shoulders and that crease between her brows only deepened, fighting the urge to fall into the panic that had been brewing for hours.

"What happened?" You scanned your mother's face, attempting to clarify the situation.

"You didn't come home after class and with that Byers boy disappearing–"

"Mom,” you interjected. “I'm fine."

"But you could have not been! We don't know what happened to Joyce’s boy and if someone’s out there snatching up–" 

"Mom,” you stressed again. “I was with someone. Nothing could have happened to me." 

And she frowned as your words sunk in, sighing and gripping your shoulder tighter and tighter until all of her weight was on you and the pressure was enough to make a bone ache. It was the worry of a mother.

"I was worried sick."

"I'm fine. Trust me,” you nodded, slipping out of her arms to go grab a glass of orange juice for yourself.

“Why is your hair wet?” Steve narrowed his eyes on you. He was poking around for insights on his plan and hoping that your parents would see you were up to something. 

“We went paintballing and I took a shower.”

“What do you mean ‘we?’” Your father raised an eyebrow.

“Her and her boyfriend,” Steve sang. 

“Boyfriend?”

“Well…it’s not like we’ve labeled anything–”

“I KNEW IT!” Steve pointed his finger at you.

“Steve-”

“Well, I’m glad you're home safe,” your father continued, too tired to go further into this conversation. “Both of our kids are home safe… Now, shall we finish getting ready? We also have our suitcases to prepare for tomorrow,” he turned his attention to your mother.

“Where are you guys going tonight?”

“Enzo’s.”

“Ah ok,” you nodded before opening the cupboard and grabbing the first glass that fell between your fingers; an old mustard glass from when you were a kid. The white cat from Disney’s Aristocats was painted on it. You took a short glance at it only to notice the tail was starting to fade off from the amount of times you’d used and washed it. “I might be going to the search.”

“Search?”

“The search for Will Byers. Half of the town is going,” you placed the glass on the counter before reaching for the orange juice carton next to Steve.

"Is that ‘boyfriend’ of yours coming with you?" Your father further questioned. 

"Nope," you shook your head, hoping your smile would be enough to shove the subject away. 

"I don’t like you going alone."

"As I said, there's a whole party going. Chief Hopper included."

Your father thought for a second, pursing his lips before nodding. “Don’t come home too late.”

“Sure, yeah, of course.”

"Well,” Steve slipped off the counter and winked at you as he turned to put his glass in the sink. “I’m going to Nancy’s to study.” 

"You're going to who's?" The surprise in your father’s voice was evident.

"Steve’s new love interest," you took a sip, excited to see the arguments your brother would throw at your dad.

“Potential new love interest!” He corrected you.

"Steve-"

"You said I could date when she does!" He raised his hands in innocence before slithering his way out of the room like a cheeky cat who had just captured the mouse. "Rules are rules, Dad."

“I don’t have time for this,” your father pinched the bridge of his nose and gave you one last look as if to tell you 'be safe' before turning around on his heels and exiting the kitchen, your mother following behind with not another word spoken.

~

“Rumor is,” Tommy beamed as he approached Carol and Steve, wrapping an arm around her shoulder–a large smirk plastered on his face, “the Freak and your sister are dating.” 

“I KNEW IT!” Steve threw his fist in the air in victory. “She came back home late yesterday after a totally not date with him.” Steve chewed on his bubble gum as he spoke, excitement rising in his chest at the idea. Everything was finally going according to plan, he grinned, looking around the bright hallway for any signs of you. He unfortunately didn’t spot you in the multitude of heads bopping around the corridor and turned his attention back to his friends.

“How’d you know?”

“People spotted them together in the hallway this morning before class. They kissed apparently.”

“This is actually going well,” Carol chuckled. “Who would have thought?” 

“Not me,” Tommy laughed.

“Damn,” Steve scoffed in surprise. He hadn’t expected for the plan to go that well, but He sure as shit could finally go out with Nancy now and that was all that mattered. 

On the other end of the hallway, hidden by the sea of students, Eddie had been waiting for you. Leaning on the wall by the door to Mrs. Click’s class, ee was toying with the chain attached to his jeans as he blankly stared at the little window opening. He could spot Mrs. Click bright red curls poking atop her head as she moved around the board. Eddie could almost hear the loud thud of her giant ruler colliding with whatever she had written on the board, continuing to go on about whatever country she had been rambling about. He thought this would forever be a trauma sound; anchored into his mind, doomed to haunt him every time he saw a world map. 

Finally, after what felt like a hellish eternity, the door opened and there you were: angelic as ever as you fixed your grip on your bag and pulled your walkman out of your back pocket. 

Eddie pushed himself off of the wall. He met your gaze as he got closer and wished he could permanently tattoo in his brain the smile that lit your features when you spotted him. His whole being buzzed with happiness as you strutted over and gave his cheek a peck. Eddie hummed in appreciation before you wrapped arm around his waist and his fell over your shoulder. 

It quickly became obvious that the onslaught of students would make walking like a pair more difficult. So as fast as your limbs had found purchase on the other, they left and returned to their homes at the sides of your bodies. 

“What tape did you bring today?” He asked, bumping his shoulder into yours instead.

“Rebel Yell.” 

“Of course you listen to Billy Idol,” he chuckled.

“And of course you wouldn’t,” you gave him your best smile. “Let me guess, it isn't metal enough for you?”

“Bullseye” Eddie pretended to throw a dart, a popping sound emitting from his lips as he let the imaginary dart go and it hit the red center. 

“Well, I like Billy Idol very much,” you placed the walkman back in your pocket with the headphones now resting safely on your shoulders. 

"How was the search?" Eddie changed the subject but instantly felt the shift in the conversation. You frowned before answering. He shouldn’t have asked. He should have listened to the gossip of the table beside him at lunch but he couldn’t help it. He was just as invested as everyone else. 

"Led absolutely nowhere," you sighed. You allowed yourself to melt closer to him as you held your notebooks tighter against your chest. "I just hope nothing bad has happened to him. He’s a good, quiet kid.”

Eddie came to a halt in the hallway and made you stop with him. He turned you around so you’d face him, taking your free hand in his. 

"Hey, look, I'm sure he's going to be alright," he took a breath and rubbed your knuckles with his thumb. "Plus they're continuing the search today, they have to find him. This is a small town, and nothing bad ever happens in Hawkins."

"Yeah," you nodded, “I guess you’re right,” you did your best to try and sound hopeful, but the pit at the bottom of your stomach wouldn't budge. You looked up from your red history notebook to find Eddie’s bright eyes staring right back–making you feel just a little bit better.

"C'mon," Eddie nudged you, keeping his hand locked in yours. “Let’s get to class.”

You sighed as you continued your walk through the hall. You were so caught up in the multitude of possibilities as to where Will Byers could be that you didn't think twice about the way Eddie was holding your hand.

In the meantime, Eddie couldn't believe that his fingers were intertwined with yours in the middle of the fucking Hawkins High hallway. He couldn't believe that he was walking with the girl of his dreams by his side and that she was not giving a care in the world about the lingering eyes and odd stares. Eddie had tried to convince himself that this morning had all been a dream. That you hadn’t jumped to hug him the second you met his eyes that morning or that you hadn’t pecked his lips before rushing off into Mr. Davis’ classroom. But the fact that your hand was indeed securely locked in his own made him know this was very much real.

He could hear the patter of his heart climbing up to his ears just thinking about it all.

But the dreamy reality quickly crushed when he spotted Steve's fluffy head of hair. He suddenly remembered that two weeks ago he wasn't even sure of your name. That not even two weeks ago he hadn’t had a clue that you were this amazing girl of his dreams that would make him feel this way. Two weeks ago he would have laughed at the face of anyone that would tell him he was on the road to falling in love. That he was practically sure he had met his soulmate and was utterly captivated in a two-week time frame which seemed so ridiculous. 

The closer the both of you became to Steve, the more he wanted to throw up.

"Oh my God," your voice brought him back.

"What?"

"I cannot believe Steve got his grip on Nancy so quickly," you squeezed his hand tighter and Eddie did too. Perhaps the fear of losing you had iced his veins because the words that left your lips felt too real. Of course Steve would be seen with Nancy. It was the entire point as to why he had paid Eddie in the first place. Now that he had the girl, it felt too likely that Steve would drop the deal and Eddie could try and see how he would go from there.

"What do you mean?" He played dumb.

"Well, now that I've been hanging out with you more, Steve is using this as a ‘get out of jail free’ card."

"Ah,"

"A party?" you heard Nancy squeak. "But it's Wednesday."

"C'mon it will be just a small gathering," Steve gave her a dazzling smile. 

"Well, look who it is!" Tommy Hagen cheered with a bright smirk and you closed your eyes in despair. Of course they had to call you. Carol leaned into Tommy’s shoulder as she eyed you and Eddie up and down, a sly smirk on her lips at the sight.

The hair on Eddie's arm spiked as Tommy's voice traveled up to his ears. He straightened himself up, bracing for the snarky remarks or comments that always came out of his mouth.

Steve turned around at the distraction. And rather than jeer like Carol and Tommy, he was rather happy to be met with yours and Eddie's faces. He was beaming an even brighter smile when he saw your intertwined hands but you quickly slipped yours out of Eddie's before he or his dumb friends could even think of commenting.

Eddie felt his heart plummet back to his shoes at the security that left him. 

"Y/n, you should invite Eddie," Steve pointed to Eddie as if to say ‘this is Eddie, this is who I am referring to’.

"Invite him to what?"

"Our party! Tonight!"

"Party?” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Steve, you can’t just throw a party just because Mom and Dad are gone. What about-"

"-It’s just a small gathering. Just us seven."

"Steve-"

"Eddie, you coming?" Steve cut you off before you could say anything.

Eddie’s eyes widened. He looked confused, scared, in the slightest. He was never invited to the small gatherings of popular kids. He had no idea what it would even be. And in the small gatherings he would do with his friends, they played D and D and smoked and listened to records or tested new music. They had a reason to meet up, something to discuss.  

"Um, yeah… sure?" He side eyed you, and you stared daggers back. He could tell this was annoying you more than you were leading on.

"Good," Steve clapped his hands.

"Oh and bring some stuff," Tommy smirked before patting Eddie's shoulder, Eddie tensing up at the touch.

"Alright," he awkwardly chuckled back, finding your gaze to seek any kind of help you could get from you.

"This is going to be amazing," Tommy rubbed his hands together, grinning from ear to ear, as if he could boss Eddie around and use him just to get some free drugs. 

"No, it’s not,” your tone may have been a bit too dry because every head turned towards you. You gave an uneasy look to Eddie before swallowing and continuing with the rest of your sentence. “because he is not going to bring anything, and we're not coming to this stupid party," you pinched the bridge of your nose, "Steve–can you please just leave us alone for five seconds."

"Never," he almost looked offended upon the request, putting a dramatic hand across his chest. “Y/n, you're my sister. It’s my job to annoy you.”

A beat fell upon the group. Steve rolled his eyes and crossed his arms around his chest while you huffed. Sibling banter hanging thickly through the air and no one really knowing how to make it go away. Everyone knew both of the Harrington siblings were headstrong, each more stubborn than the other.

It was an entrancing silence only either of you could break. Your eyes drifting towards Barb, she was looking at Nancy uneasily as she fixed her grip on her pink spiral notebook.

"You two are coming?" You questioned, your soft words slithering through the tension and making it evaporate into a mere memory.

"Yes!" Nancy beamed shyly. Barb looked as though she wanted to melt from the spotlight behind her and become one with the squeaky white hallway floors.

Nancy was about to continue, speak to something else but Tommy abruptly cut her off. "My god that's depressing," Everyone’s curiosity took the better of them and followed Tommy’s gaze towards whatever he was looking at behind Nancy. 

Johnathan Byers.

The Byers boy was awkwardly standing, a grim look on his face as he pinned a missing persons poster of his little brother on the board amongst the collection of theater posters and recruiting sheets of random clubs and sports teams.

You and Nancy looked at each other. Her sympathy bled from her hands. She was a good person and somewhere, you’d like to believe you were too even in your stubbornness. 

"We should go and say something," she said hesitantly but steadfastly to do so. 

"I don't think he speaks," Carol raised an eyebrow.

"I bet he killed him," Tommy snickered.

It made you sick. Jonathan’s pain was evident. You saw it in Dustin, you saw it in the boys he had grown so close with… Surely Mike had been upset in the Wheeler house which made Nancy more attune as well. But the fact that Tommy could assume such a thing about a boy, barely a man and no older than the lot of you, made you sick. 

And you wished you hadn’t dropped Eddie’s hand for the sake of comfort. 

~

Will Byers.

If there was a level of sweetness to rank the young boys of Hawkins, Indiana, Dustin would reign supreme but Will Byers would always be fighting for that spo. You figured that if he had disappeared into thin air and most of the town didn’t even think to care. Surely enough that assumption came true. Instead, you had people like Steve who only cared about making out with a pretty girl and throwing a dumb party on a school night and girls like Tammy Thompson who were too busy handing out neon pink flyers for the Spring Fling. 

All the while people like Joyce and Johnathan Byers were being ridiculed for caring about their smallest joy disappearing. 

It all seemed ridiculous. 

Ridiculous that not only Steve and his dumb friends, but most of Hawkins, were only thinking about themselves and what mattered in their lives. If it was a kid from the right side of the tracks, some neighborhood like Nancy lived in, everyone would be looking. There would be vigils and strange prayer groups in hopes that the kid would return. 

It made the grip you had on your bag tighter, knuckles going white as your nails dug into your palm. 

You truly hoped he was ok. 

Because if he wasn’t, you didn't know how you could handle seeing Dustin grieve for his closest friend or how you would be able to compose yourself from the pain. 

Those thoughts of Jonathan and where Will may be plagued you for the rest of the day. At your locker, you had been lost in a train of thought. The idea of Dustin being sad and the town forgetting a kind kid made your mind swirl. 

"Boo!" Two hands were draped over your shoulder, making you jolt out of your thoughts and your heart beat out of your chest. You only relaxed when a familiar laughter echoed behind you, turning around to be met with Eddie's mischevious grin.

"You have to stop doing that!" You playfully slapped his shoulder in return.

"Doing what?"

"Scaring me like this!"

"Come on,” he careened, “you love it and you know it’s fun.”

"Not for me," you bumped your shoulder into his as he had done that morning. This time, Eddie slung his arm around your shoulder and walked with you towards the parking lot. 

A rainbow of cars were parked as always; jocks at the wheels of their brand new convertibles while girls sat at the back, swooning over their million dollar smiles. It was the same every day and would always be the same every year. For god knows how long, the same archetypes would run the halls of Hawkins High and the same things would happen over and over again for generations to come. The same crown prince would date the crowned princess while bullying the misfits.

You wondered if the embroiled, eternal circle of Hell would ever come to an end.

"What are you going to do before the... small gathering?" Eddie’s voice felt relaxing amongst the crowd.

"I need to drop off Dustin at his friend's place and then homework, probably. If Steve allows me some peace. How about you?"

"Walk home… then attempt to read Romeo and Juliet."

"Oh my god! Is Eddie Munson finally going to do this homework!? Oh my god, even better, am I rubbing off on you?”

"Maybe," he smirked.

"Also, why walk?"

"Van's at the garage, problem with the gear shift. I brought it in last night."

"Oh,"

"Yeah, but I mean it's not that far, anyways."

"I could drop you off." 

"You don't have to."

"C'mon! Like this, I can hang out with you and we can work together! I don't think I can stand being in the house alone with Steve right now," you pouted, hooking onto the hopes of being as far from Steve for as long as you possibly could.

"Alright," he smirked. "I'll let you bring me home."

"Good. As long as you don't mind that we bring Dustin home first," you slipped the key into your car door and opened it in a swift move, slipping your bag into the back seat.

"I don't mind at all. He seems cool."

"He is. It's not usually one of my babysitting days but his mom wants to make sure he gets home safe with the disappearance of his friend." 

As if on cue, you heard Dustin's voice calling, screaming, your name in his usual enthusiastic tone and closing you into his traditional bear hug.

"How's my favorite troublemaker going?" you huffed, wrapping your arms around him.

"Doin' good," he mumbled against you. He wasn’t doing good, you knew that. 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah."

"Alright," you nodded and pulled away from his embrace. "I'm dropping you off at Mike's, right?” Dustin nodded his head. 

“Also, is it alright if my friend tags along?” You lifted your gaze to stare at Eddie who was awkwardly leaning on your car behind Dustin.

Dustin’s brow scrunched in confusion before following your gaze; his eyes lighting up when he came face to face with the metal head he couldn’t stop babbling about to his friends. He had heard a rumor of a D & D club at the high school he just couldn’t wait to join.

 "You're coming with us!?"

"Yeah," Eddie smiled back, a certain ego boost rising in his chest caused by the stars of admiration apparent in the young boy’s eyes.

"Awesome," Dustin breathed out, as if this was the best news since he read about the announcement of the new Zelda game. You blinked as you registered Dustin's enthusiasm. Somehow, Dustin's best friend was missing but all he could think about was how he was going to be in the same car as his new idol; Eddie Munson.

Dustin waited until everyone was settled; seatbelts fastened and car doors secured shut before popping the question that had been dancing on his lips the second he placed his butt onto your back seat. "So… are you two dating now?"

There was an awkward pause. Eddie looked at you like a deer in headlights, blush creeping on both your cheeks.

You didn't know how to reply. Eddie had made it clear he wanted to go out with you.

You had been acting strangely like a couple for the past few hours. Holding hands in the hallway, stolen kisses in between classes. Your heart beated faster than your thoughts and words escaped you without thinking twice.

"Yeah, kind of," a short smile creeping on your lips as you looked at Eddie for confirmation.

Eddie knew he shouldn’t have felt this relieved when the words left your lips. He had wanted that answer from you with every fiber in his bodyvbut he knew very well this wasn't supposed to be real. This was supposed to never go further than a few planned dates so that Steve could go on dates of his own.

But dammit did he want this to be real. He felt angry and nauseous at the same time, almost close to agony at the mere thought that this had all started around a stupid deal. 

He was beating himself up for not finding you sooner himself.

He knew he had to find a way. 

"OH MY GOD! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!!" Eddie’s sulking was quickly shattered by Dustin’s piercing shriek and excited bounces. For a second he was scared the kid was going to hit his head on your car’s beige ceiling yet he seemed to have his bouncing up and down perfectly under control. 

"Dustin-"

"I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS," Eddie smiled a bit at the boy's adoration. He knew this kid was a keeper. A heart of gold to be paired with an amazing mind. He just hoped that once he reached high school, he wouldn’t let people like Steve or Tommy Hagan crush all his hopes and dreams in a single sentence.

Eddie wouldn’t be there to protect this kid. He wouldn’t be there to protect his friends and guide them in the adventure that was high school… he’d go on to bigger and better things and maybe, if life didn’t work out like he’d plan and he still stuck in this hellhole of a town, he’d cross paths with Dustin if he ever needed repairs to his potential future car.

"You two are like perfect for each other!" Dustin continued his happy rambles. 

"Really?" Eddie raised an eyebrow, a grin painted over his features as he turned to meet the kid’s eyes.

"Yeah!" He furiously nodded. "Y/n, I'm so glad you listened to me!"

"Dustin! Please–” you tried to stop the fountain of words that Dustin could spew be when he got overly excited.

"What's that now?" Eddie changed his gaze to you like a curious cat pulling on a string until he unraveled all the yarn laid out in front of him.

"Dustin said we should date–"

"I said you two should date!" The two sentences came out like music, mixing together to echo in the car and scramble together.

Eddie grinned from ear to ear, clicking his tongue as he leaned back against the leather seat, "talking about me behind my back I see."

"Only good things, I promise."

"Well, I'm so glad you finally have a boyfriend. Steve will finally stop bugging you." Dustin huffed, making you giggle.

“Hopefully,” you glanced at Eddie who tried to swallow the lump in his throat at the mention of your brother.

You quickly brought your stare back to the road, blushing when you remembered the use of the word boyfriend. It's not like you had labeled anything yet and Dustin was coming in like a hurricane, ready to pull out every potential seed that he found if that meant you got to be happy and prove a point to Steve. Trying so hard to be your mini wingman, even if it meant he had to annoy or embarrass you in the process. You loved him to bits and knew this was all coming from a place of love, however you were desperate to change the subject.

Whatever was happening with Eddie was too fresh and not something to discuss with a twelve year old. You rummaged your brain for anything to ask Dustin, but everything that came to mind was going to potentially remind him of Will.

"Do you listen to metal?" Eddie’s voice made you release the breath you didn’t know you were holding. Once again, your savior. 

"I tried to get him to but he says he never has the time to listen to the tapes I give him," you answered for Dustin.

"That's not true!"

"It is true Dustin! When I give you a tape, I miss my tape, so I ask for it back, and it turns out you didn't even listen to it!"

"Ok, fair enough. But I like what you put in the car when you pick me up. Especially the one band that's like… sabertooth something."

Sabertooth something. He absolutely has not, never in his life, listened to a tape you have given him. 

"Black Sabbath?" Eddie questioned. You didn’t know how Eddie even made that connection when you didn’t.

"Yeah! That one!"

"Oh my god, the kid has taste."

Before Dustin could answer, the car came to a stop. You thought you almost heard a whine leave Dustin’s lips when he spotted Mike's house from the passenger window.

“I don’t want to go,” Dustin melted in his seat. “Can I stay with you and Eddie?”

“Dustin, as much as I love you, Mike is waiting for you,” Dustin groaned, making slow moves to unbuckle his seat belt. “Don’t you have a campaign to do?”

“Yeah, yeah…” he mumbled, not giving you a full answer. He was elusive. At this time on any normal day, he’d catch you up on the progress of the campaign and complain about how Lucas or Mike were playing. Dustin said nothing. He just looked at the house in slight concern. Maybe for Will, maybe for something else.

A part of him just wanted to stay with Eddie and yourself. He wanted to know everything about Eddie Munson and find out if the rumors the 8th graders spoke of the Witch King were true. Eddie didn’t even seem like a villain. He didn’t seem like the freak everyone at the malt shop said or the scary metal head the people at the pool gossiped about. 

"Can we hang out with Eddie more often?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we can," you let out a breathy laugh at his expression. "Now go! Mike is waiting for you and don't forget to call your mom! She's going to be worried sick."

"Yeah, yeah," he whined again as he put  his bag on and opened the door. "I'll leave you and your boyfriend alone," he rolled his eyes and swung the door to a close.

"Bye, Dustin!" You waved your hand and he did the same before taking fast steps toward Mike's house.

Silence fell in the car as you watched Dustin waddle his way over to the white door of Mike’s home. His curly hair bounced as he did. He rang the bell and waited, turning around to meet your gaze and giving you his best toothless smile. You waved a last time before the door swung open behind him to reveal Mrs. Wheeler–well dressed as always. She rushed Dustin in, not noticing your car before closing the door which made her and Dustin disappear behind the perfect suburban house.

Neither of you wanted to be the one to break the silence. 

Dustin's happiness still hanging in the air, both your cheeks hurting from his contagious smile. It was far from uncomfortable, sitting in a car with a giddy smile on your lips and Eddie Munson by your side.

"Boyfriend, hm?" Eddie smiled to himself.

"What?" You turned your head to face him, only to see that he was already staring at you.

"He called me your boyfriend."

"Oh yeah..." you felt the heat rise as the word sunk in.

"I like how that sounds, to be honest." Eddie hated himself for speaking. Digging himself a bigger hole than the one he was already trapped in. Yet everything felt so right.

"I kind of do too," you played with the sleeve of your sweater.

Eddie stayed frozen for a moment, contemplating his next move. His gaze was burning on you as he watched your shy demeanor. He was sure you were going to undo the seams of your sleeve by tugging so hard on the loose string, he could see the turmoil of thoughts reflecting on your features and hard focus on anything that wasn’t him. Trying to find an escape.

Eddie stopped you, grabbing your hand in his, the movement making you look up.

He gave you his sweetest smile, making your heart leap in your chest, feeling him lean in. Left hand coming up to cup your jaw, thumb grazing over the soft skin of your cheek that was burning from his touch. Not a doubt clouded Eddie's mind as he leaned in to kiss you. Not a single ounce of regret flooded him as his lips moved in sync with yours, his hand holding yours tighter.

He would find a way out of this mess he put himself in.

He had too. 

If not for his own sanity, than for yours.

~

"Is that a Millennium Falcon keychain?" You noticed as Eddie's keys clinked together when he held them up to the door, sliding it into the keyhole.

"Yeah," Eddie chuckled. "You didn't notice it last time?"

"Sadly not," you smiled as he opened the door, waiting for you to get in before he did. He closed it behind you, dropping the keys in the fish shaped key bowl on the counter by the door and sloppily removing his shoes, messily tucking them under said counter. 

You removed your own shoes, dropping your bag next to them before following him further towards the kitchen area.

"Do you want anything to drink? Soda, water?" Eddie opened a wooden cupboard, grabbing two tinted blue glasses and placing them on the counter behind him. 

"Water, please," you spoke, admiring as Eddie grabbed one of the two glasses, filling it with water from the tap before handing it to you first. 

"Here's your water, my lady."

"Thank you very much," you winked, taking a sip before looking over to your backpack. "So, we've got some Shakespeare to read and I have history questions to do."

"I'm afraid so..." He looked at you, defeat evident in his eyes.

"It will be alright!” You cheered, “where do you want to work?"

"In my room?"

"Is this a pretext of getting me in your bed, Munson?" you raised an eyebrow and Eddie froze on the spot. The wheels in his brain coming to a stop as you stared back at him with a cheeky smile. "I'm kidding," you chuckled at the look on his face. "Working in your room is perfect."

"Alright," he gave you a nervous chuckle before opening another cupboard and finding a pack of already opened cookies, placing them on the counter between the two of you.

"Can I ask you a question?" Eddie wondered as he grabbed a cookie from the bottom of the plastic package and handed it to you.

You took the cookie, raising an eyebrow before answering, "go ahead."

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" 

"Handle a brother like Steve," you chuckled at the question. 

“I just don’t,” you took a bite of the cookie Eddie had handed you. “You saw what happened Friday. I survive with a brother like Steve, because I genuinely know I cannot do anything to change him.”

"Fair enough," he grabbed another cookie from the pack, taking a bite out of it before dropping it on the counter and turning to the fridge.

"My turn to ask a question,"

"Go ahead," he answered as he grabbed a carton of milk. Closing the fridge before turning back towards you.

"Where were you for a month last fall? Not jail, I hope?" 

Christ. He couldn’t believe you knew he was gone for so long. He didn’t imagine anyone except his five friends knowing he wasn’t there. 

"Why, you’re scared your new boyfriend has a criminal record?" He raised a challenging eyebrow, the word boyfriend still making butterflies flutter in your stomach.

"No," you rolled your eyes, watching as Eddie poured himself the milk in his still empty glass. He pointed the carton towards you in a silent question, you nodded, chugging the last of your water down before sliding him the glass. "Couldn't care less, honestly. Just curious, people say so many different things…” You trailed on with a cheeky smile, “jail, short-lived porn star career, cult leader, the list goes on. Forgive me for being curious."

"Definitely none of those," he snorted at your list, dipping his half eaten cookie in the milk and taking a large bite. He waited until he finished chewing and swallowed before answering.

 "I was with um, I was visiting my dad while he was on his deathbed."

"Oh," you looked down at your own glass of milk, you seriously didn't mean to open this can of worms. You had never heard a mention of Eddie’s parents and you seriously didn’t mean to intrude in on something that seemed so private to him.

"Hated every minute, to be honest."

"That bad?" You looked back up.

"Well, you know I didn't always live in the trailer park with my uncle," he wiped the cookie crumbs from his fingers on the side of his jeans before leaning closer to you agasin't the counter, "I use to be in an alright apartment, with both my parents," he reached for your free hand, still splayed on the countertop, "of course, I didn't know we were squatters back then, but then my mom died when I was 8 and my dad left, leaving me here with Wayne." 

"That must have sucked," you let him play with your fingers, a pause settling in before you lifted your gaze and made eye contact with him. It was not an uncomfortable one, almost peaceful as his words hung in the air. 

"Yeah," he made a funny face, "he left and ended up meeting this bimbo who I guess managed to put him on the right track. Made him a new family and shit," that took all the words out of you.

"So yeah, I wasn't in jail, or attempting a porn star career; although I might have preferred to be doing that,” he chuckled. “I was visiting him and his new perfect cookie-cutter family. It was a fiasco," he chuckled to himself. "His new wife didn't want to introduce me to her kids as their brother so I was always baptized as Wayne's kid, their freaky cousin from bum-fuck-nowhere, Indiana. She was throwing daggers at me half the time and I spent most of my days at the neighboring mini golf getting high with the manager."

"You did what?" You smiled at the absurdity.

He matched your smile, "he kept playing Metallica and Ozzy, I had to befriend him. Freaks with freaks, am I right?"

"Yeah," you squeezed his hand, "freaks with freaks."

You didn't know how the air felt so light after what Eddie had dropped on you. Maybe it was the matching look in each of your gazes, or how normal this all felt. A pause lingered in the air. You could tell Eddie had processed this whole crazy situation he had been in. You thought it was a shame he'd probably have to redo a year because of that. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it meant you'd do your Senior year with him by your side.

This brought you back to your purpose of being here with Eddie.

"Maybe we should get to work," you patted his hand.

"Yeah,"

~

"I cannot do this," Eddie huffed, dropping his book on his lap. You watched as the book opened itself like an accordion and fell open on his bed. Eddie roughly leaned his head against his wall, groaning when his head collided against the hard material. 

"What's wrong?" you peaked from your history book.

"This is barely English," he lifted Romeo and Juliet up from his lap and held it by two fingers like it was a dead animal.

"You can read all of Tolkein's work but not Romeo and Juliet?"

"That's different. Tolkein's English is way smoother to read."

"Hm," you smiled, bringing your attention back to the paragraph on the Russian Revolution you were previously reading. Something about the murder of the Romanovs and the supposed victories that followed for the Bolsehviks. "You’ve already read it haven’t you?"

"Yes, but a long time ago. I’m taking my time rereading it," you flipped to the next page, hoping the chapter on the first world war would end there but your eyes fell upon yet another two page section about the consequences of the war on the world. Your eyes quickly danced across a paragraph detailing the problems soldiers faced. You sighed, lazily taping Eddie’s beige carpet with the pink eraser on the back of your pencil. 

"Ugh, I don’t know how you do it." Eddie spoke again after a long beat of silence, a new minute of him trying to focus as much of his strength as he could to make sense of the scrambled letters in his hands. He dropped the book again, and flopped to the side like a dead fish. Letting his head and one of his arms drop by the side of his bed. Staring at you now upside down.

"Dramatic much?"

He groaned in response.

You looked up to him from your place on the floor, giving him a silent laugh as you took in his state. His eyes were closed as another dramatic groan escaped his lips, hands flying on his face in desperation. You bit the eraser at the end of your pencil, contemplating your next move.

"Alright, I’ll help you," you closed your textbook and shuffled to stand up, shaking the soreness out of your legs. Eddie mumbled something barely audible when he heard you move.

You picked the book from the spot it had been thrown and flipped through the pages until ACT 2 was written in bold across the white paper.

"Move aside,” you nudged him, making him roll over so he was correctly placed against his pillow, leaving room for you. You climbed on the bed and moved until you were resting against his side, head cosied up on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Eddie mumbled as he wrapped his hand around your waist, mindlessly starting to draw circles on your exposed skin.

"Reading it to you,"

"You don't have to,"

"I know, but I want to. Like this, I'm rereading it and learning too," Eddie blinked as he stared at the top of your head, intently watching as you cleared your throat.

“Act 2, Scene 2. In Capulet's garden, Romeo enters.” 

“Romeo: But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief,” Eddie felt his breath catch in his throat. When you spoke the words, Eddie could comprehend every meaning behind it, and his mind, against his own will, twisted the meanings to relate them to you. Was he doomed to feel like Romeo?

“Juliet appears at the window,” you continued, and Eddie felt himself squeeze the side of your arm in realization. “Romeo: It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she was! She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?” You sighed, expecting any comments from your usually talkative boyfriend, but nothing. You looked up to be met with eyes full of thoughts. 

“All ok up there?”

“Y- yeah,” he breathed, “you make it easy to understand.”

“Hm,” you giggled, cheeks warming up at the feeling of Eddie’s hand on your arm and his lips close to your ear. “Really?” 

He kissed your temple as a reply.

He meant every word. 

Not only does hearing you reading make the words clear in his mind, organizing themselves like the perfect melody Shakespeare meant it to be. But the words resonated with something stronger in him. As if the feelings Romeo was crying out were ripped straight out of his chest and burned into the pages you were holding.

You were holding in your hands what his heart was yearning to scream.

~

“I hate this,” you looked at Tommy’s car from the windshield. You could hear the music playing from the garden and Tommy Hagan’s laughter and to top it off, Steve’s faint voice as he rambled on about whatever had annoyed him that day. 

“It will be alright, I promise,” Eddie offered, grazing your arm with his finger tips in an attempt to bring you some comfort, however, perhaps he was the one who needed it that evening.

He could hear the splash of your pool from the other side of the house, and it made him feel as though he was walking straight through a shark tank. Swimming straight for the enemy that could sense the smallest drop of blood; the smallest crack in his armor.

But you made that armor ten times stronger and there was no way Eddie Munson was going to let Steve Harrington and Tommy Hagan see him bleed. 

“Hm,” your grumble brought him back to the present, watching as you aggressively grabbed your bag and slipped out of your car, Eddie trailing not far behind.

You opened the door to your house, your R2D2 keychain making music as it clinked agains’t the rest of your keys. You grabbed the right key, the biggest silver one out of the 3 that hung around the ring. You reluctantly turned the silver object in the lock, ready to meet your doom.

From the look on your face he thought you were getting ready to fight the battle of Helm’s deep. Ready to fight an endless battle against the most vile creatures of Mordor, no hopes of winning and the odds far from being in your favor.

But the Fellowship did win the Battle of Helm’s deep. 

The door opened to reveal a big but homely house. A variety of shoes stood against the entry hall wall, from Steve’s basketball sneakers to the Reeboks Eddie had seen you wear multiple times. Hagan’s Nikes were next to Carol’s Vans; and you fought the urge to throw in the trash Tommy’s bright green hoodie that hung next to your blue and yellow windbreaker.

“You can take off your shoes and hang your jacket here if you want,” you smiled, pointing to the corner filled with all the clothes of the teenagers currently in the house. You slipped your own shoes off and dropped your bag on a yellow chair by the door to the kitchen. 

You sighed as you watched Eddie remove his own shoes and shrug off his jacket.

“Ready to infiltrate the enemy?” 

“As long as you’re by my side.”

It was everything you knew it would be. A soaked from head to toe Tommy chasing Carol across your parents garden in an attempt to throw her into the pool. On one of the old white sun chairs sat an uncomfortable Barb with a glass of water dancing between her fingers. Steve shared a sunchair with Nancy who was blushing at whatever stupid joke he had whispered in her ear, and in between all of that two packs of unopened beer sat piled on the small black and green garden table.

“This looks… fun?” Eddie raised an eyebrow, watching you roll your eyes and step forward. 

You huffed, barely muttering a hello to your brother and your friends as you ripped the cardboard of one of the six packs open and grabbed two beers. You threw one to Eddie and opened yours, taking a long well needed sip, bracing for their greetings.

“Munson!” Steve cheered, standing up from his spot next to Nancy.

“Harrington,” he nodded a bit stiff as Steve roughly patted his back. “Welcome to the crib!” He chuckled and you wondered how many beers he already had from how loud he was talking. 

Tommy stopped running after his girlfriend once he spotted Eddie, a large grin plastered on his punchable face and hovered towards you.

“Eddie, my man!” Tommy cheered as though he was his new best friend, giving him a handshake before taking a step back and asking, “you got the stuff?”

“Yeah,” Eddie fished for the packet of weed in the back pocket of his jeans before throwing it in Tommy’s hand.

“Thanks man,” he winked before waltzing over to the other corner of the pool where had already prepared some rolling paper and other random tools you couldn’t see from that far. All neatly laid out on a mossy wooden block that your parents had meant to throw away weeks ago.

You laid up on one of the empty sun chairs, eyeing Eddie. You watched him fumble with his hands, awkwardly playing with the can of beer in his hands and looking for something to fiddle with. You’d learn it was a habit of his when he felt nervous. He met your gaze and you silently nudged him to come over. You folded your legs together so he had room to sit in front of you.

You placed a reassuring hand on his thigh, and Eddie placed a ring cladded hand on top of yours. You blew him a kiss before looking to your left to where Barbara and Nancy were still sitting, he intently watched as you gave Barb a short smile and took a new sip of your beer.

“Hey! want some?” Tommy placed the freshly lit blunt in front of Nancy’s face, she politely declined and Tommy shrugged, not caring to make any comments before taking a new drag for himself. He silently asked Barbara but he got the same answer, an answer he expected anyways, and turned around towards you and Eddie.

“I know you won’t say no,” he joked and Eddie tried to hand him a smile as he took the joint out of his hand and took a drag for himself. “It’s good stuff by the way,” Tommy commented as Eddie blew smoke to the side, making sure it didn’t get in your face.

“I know,” he spoke, “but you’re half ruining it by rolling it like that,” he scanned the joint in his hand, inspecting it and indeed seeing the crooked way Tommy had folded it, he almost winced as if Tommy had made damage to something greater than him. “My grandmother rolls better than this, Hagan.”

You watched in amusement as Tommy’s eyes widened in an amused shock, not expecting that comment from the drug dealer in front of him. He was sure he knew how to roll well, he’d been doing it occasionally and most of his friends never complained. 

Tommy stayed dumbfounded and couldn’t answer until the words registered. He shrugged it off, pretending Eddie made false accusations before walking over to the other side of the pool to greedily make a new one to prove to Eddie that he wasn’t as bad as he was saying.

Once Hagan was out of the way and Eddie had already taken one to many drags, you moved your hand towards him, making grabby hands at the stress relieving gold between his fingers. 

He laughed at your eagerness, letting your fingers linger as they brushed against yours to grab your last hope to stay sane tonight.

Your eyes scanned the sky, trying to enjoy the beautiful sunset that tumbled upon the tall Hawkins tree. You wished you could have been elsewhere, maybe at lovers lake, playing truth or dare with Eddie as you sipped on homemade cocktails you threw into to-go cups. 

But as the weeds seeped in and you watched the sky turn from its pink and orange colors, you thought that maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad. Especially if the weed kept tumbling and Eddie stuck by your side.

Steve stole the blunt from you after your third drag, nagging something about how you should keep some for the others. He blew smoke to the side before looking at his watch, sighing before flicking his wrist, making his watch place itself better on his wrist and looked at you, “Y/n/n, do you have any cash on you?”

“No, why?” You threw your head back on the chair to catch his face.

“Because I ordered Pizza.”

“And? You expect me to pay?”

“No, no, totally not,” his lie made you groan in annoyance, wiggling your feet out of their criss-cross position to lay them out across Eddie’s lap. “I was just wondering,” he rolled his eyes, and as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

“I have some cash, if you want?” Eddie chimed in, rubbing circles on your ankles as he eyed your brother, and could see Tommy smirking like a madman from the corner of his eye. They all knew where the cash in question was coming from and Eddie felt even more guilty from the knowing looks they were giving him.

“Nah, S’okay, keep your well earned money Munson,” he waved his hand and smirked, Eddie’s chest stinging at the comment.

His gaze went back to you. You said something he didn’t catch to Nancy, happy you had stopped paying any attention to their conversation. 

He just experienced the first shark attack; subtle but all the same painful.

Eddie knew he was playing a dangerous game by being here tonight.

“Eddie, could you help me?” Steve took a last drag of the joint and handed it back to Tommy who was probably going to finish it and light up a new  one by the time they got back with the pizza’s.

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie grabbed your ankles, lifting them up from him and back down on the hard panels of the sun chair making you instantly divert your attention back to him.

“Hey, where are you going?” 

“Helping your brother with the pizza’s, baby,” he smiled, kissing your forehead before following your brother into the house. 

You watched attentively as Eddie disappeared behind the glass door, unapologetically checking him out.

“Y/n/n, can I talk to you for a minute,” Barbara broke you out of your staring, making you blink out of whatever trance Eddie had you in.

“Yeah of course, Barb,” 

“In private?” 

“Oh, sure,” you dropped your can of beer on the floor, sliding it under your chair to minimize the chances of it getting spilled by a clumsy Tommy Hagan or Steve.

You fixed your jeans as you stood up, following Barbara down the stone path that led further down towards the forest parts of your garden.

“What’s up?” You questioned, folding your arms together, as if to shield yourself from any of her comments, and maybe from the slight wind that started blowing.

“You’ve got to be careful with Eddie.”

“Why?” You frowned, biting at your nails. “You’ve seen how he is, Eddie’s a sweetheart, Barb.”

She frowned even more than you, “yeah, but don’t you think it’s weird he’s only shown interest in you right around the time your brother got this new rule from your parents? And not only that but Steve has been acting really weirdly these past few days–”

“Barb, it’s Steve,” you cut her off, “he’s always acting weird,” you rolled her eyes and chuckled. A sharp laugh that made Barb look down to her feet. “Eddie makes me happy, okay? That’s all you need to know and that’s all that matters right now, okay?”

“Right,” the white toe of her shoe collided with a small rock on the ground, she rolled it around for what felt like a second too long before speaking again, “just think about it, please?”

“Barb, let’s get back to the party, okay?”

~

“I can’t believe you got my mutant sister to date you, man. Good job, honestly,” Steve chuckled, shaking his head as he grabbed his wallet from a wooden console in the hallway and continued his way towards the door. 

Eddie frowned at Steve’s obliviousness. He seemed to be blind to the fact that you were truly infatuated with Eddie, forgetting the part where this was all a twisted deal. This made a new kind of ache rise inside his stomach.

Did your brother really care so little about you?

Eddie’s eyes trailed from the bowl that previously sheltered Steve’s wallet, not half full with keys and other trinkets Eddie didn’t know the use of. He looked up from it and noticed the frames hanging above the furniture. A green wooden frame caught his eye, a picture of you and Steve hugging. You must have been about five and six and Eddie wondered when it all started going down between the two of you. At which point did a flip switch in Steve to become the coldhearted douchebag he was today.

“Parallel universe where we got along,” Steve joked before nudging Eddie to join him by the door. Eddie expected for Steve to open the front door but instead he opened his wallet in half and slipped out two green bills. 

“Here, as promised. That’s for tonight,” he handed Eddie a fifty, the brightest smirk plastered on his traits. He was happy, his investment was paying off. Eddie noticed the other bill was also a fifty, and he hoped he had ordered fifty dollars worth of pizza, because he thought he was going to throw up if it was another payment for another ‘task’ he’d have him do, another place he needed to take you.

“And that’s to take her to the Spring Fling,” Eddie didn’t make a move to grab the money, Steve didn’t seem to care and almost stuffed it into his hand. As if he was a vampire touching silver, Eddie felt the money burn his fingers, “and please, please convince her to go, my parents would never let me if she doesn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah I know the drill, Harrington,” the words felt bitter in his mouth. He stumbled a bit on his words, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to prepare his next words, he was ready to cut the deal off, give him the money back and pretend this deal never happened. 

But Steve opened the door before he could get a word out, and Eddie instantly recognised the delivery boy as a client of his.

A young redhead who had graduated Hawkins High a year ago, he remembered learning that he was saving for college with his job at the one Surfer Boy Pizza location Hawkins had, but Eddie also knew that he was using a crazy amount of his savings on weed, and other shit, because half of the profit he’d made in the last few months came from him alone.

“Oh! Hey, Munson!” The boy’s face lit up when he recognised his dealer, “didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Makes two of us,” Eddie offered a smile, grabbing half of the pizza boxes while Steve handed him the money and grabbed the rest of the boxes himself, “I’ll see you later.”

“Yep,” the redhead grinned and Steve bidded him goodbye before closing the door with his foot.

“Thanks for the help,” he muttered, trotting to the back of the house. Eddie watched as Steve skillfully opened the door with his elbow, and the cool spring air hit his face again.

“Pizza's here!” Everyone cheered, and the two boys dropped the boxes on the now empty sunchair that used to host you and Eddie minutes prior.

You walked up to Eddie, melting at his side as he draped an arm around your waist. 

“Did my brother annoy you?”

“No,” Eddie chuckled, a little awkwardly, his eyes darting to Steve who was circling the garden to turn on the lights.

The sky was darker now, night starting to shine in all its glory, taking it the reassurance of sunlight with it. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood though, weed had started to take over and the first beer pack had already disappeared into a pile of empty cans. 

This was going to be a long night.

~

“So, you and Eddie hmm?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it so is my business.” Steve had the biggest smile on, the smile only faltering as he took another sip of his beer, chugging the end in one go.

"Oh, but it so isn't,” you caught Eddie’s eye from the other side of the pool, he was teaching Tommy how to roll a proper joint.

You watched as Eddie smiled, a freshly rolled joint in between his fingers while Tommy was grumbling something you couldn’t understand. Eddie, shrugging before standing up, tucking the cigarette on his ear as he made his way to you. 

Tommy’s ego seemed to have calmed down and his thoughts soon caught the attention of something else. A devilish glint in his eyes as he ran across the pool and grabbed Carol by the waist, threatening to throw her in the pool. 

She screamed, a piercing scream that made almost everyone giggle–even you. 

“Stop it Tommy! Don’t!” She screamed until she was back on her two feet and you kind of wished he had thrown her in.

Steve left your side to grab a beer, piercing a hole through the bottom before opening the can and chugging it in one go. He made eye contact with you, throwing you one and you grabbed the knife closest to you to do the same. You watched as Steve slung himself across one of the lounge chairs by Nancy, trying to be as cool as possible but his poor attempts weren’t invisible. 

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Nancy raised an eyebrow and you rolled your eyes at your brother’s nonchalance.

Eddie grabbed a beer, not paying any mind to Nancy and your brother as he made his way to you. You stood up from your sunchair and Eddie almost told you to stay put. That he’d just sit on the floor next to you but your actions were faster.

You made him sit down and you didn’t hesitate one second to sit on his lap, making yourself comfortable against him, legs tangling with each other on the extension of the chair. 

“This is way more comfortable than the floor,” he whispered in your ear as his arm found its way across your waist. 

“I know right?” You brought him into the most tender kiss, the way he made you feel all soft and mushy on the inside seeping through. 

He smiled once you leaded away, smiling as you grabbed the swiss knife back from the garden table next to you and imitated your brother’s earlier actions–piercing a hole at the bottom of your can, and opening it, chugging the whole thing in one go.

“Oh, is this some kind of Harrington super power?” Eddie raised an eyebrow, making you laugh. 

“Maybe, maybe,” you laughed and Eddie did too. The sounds of laughter are contagious to each other. You bumped your forehead into the side of his head lovingly and Eddie could feel your smile against his cheek.

“Thanks for coming tonight,” you whispered. “Without you, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now. Probably planning my next murder attempt on Steve,”

“Oh, because there’s been a first one?”

“A few.” 

“Very metal of you, baby.”

“Hey, Barb, are you ok?” Nancy’s voice caught your attention, snapping you out of your bubble. 

You watched as Barb clutched her hand, blood dripping out of it.

“I’m fine,”

“Barb, you’re bleeding.”

“I said I’m fine,” she shrugged Nancy’s help off and turned to Steve. “I’ll just go, clean up,” she nodded and you stood up from your spot in Eddie’s arms, grabbing her shoulder before she could take a step further. 

“Hey Barb, I’ll go help you wrap that up. It doesn’t look good.”

“I’ll be fine Y/n/n, I don’t need your help,” she muttered, almost bumping into your shoulder before disappearing behind your back door.

“Awkward,” Tommy snicked, trying to relieve the tension. It made Carol and Steve laugh while you and Nancy shared a worried glance. This wasn’t like Barb at all. 

But the tension quickly dissipated. Tommy knew very well what to do to save the night and pushed Carol into the pool only to  jump after her. Steve did the same with Nancy and you took it as your cue to grab Eddie’s hand, making him leave his spot on your uncomfortable chair and jump with you in the pool. 

The water felt colder than you expected. You hadn’t been in the pool since September, even if you had reopened and cleaned the pool only about a week ago, and the air still held on to the bits of winter, persuading you to stay in the comfort of your bedroom instead of taking a swim.

Barb seeped out of everyone’s minds as water splashed across the space. Steve splashing Nancy but the hit also falling onto you and Eddie who tread behind her. 

The six of you fell into a loud water fight, making the concrete slabs beside of your pool sopping wet and the water even reaching the empty pizza boxes that were all cramped up in a corner by your small garden table. 

You were so enthralled in watching Nancy trying to swim away from the menace that your brother could be, that you didn’t realize Eddie was behind you, making an easy strike as he grabbed you, enveloping you in his arms and pulling you closer by the waist. You squealed before you realized it was him, your back hitting his chest. You quickly melted in his embrace as his lips hovered the shell of your ear.

He whispered something you unfortunately didn’t catch over everyone's screaming, so you turned around in his arms to ask him what it was but by the time you were face to face with him, he pulled you into a kiss and dragged you down under the water with him, taking you by surprise. You pulled away, letting out a surprised breath under water, bubbles seeping out to climb the surface, but you quickly registered the gesture, and pulled him back into the kiss. 

You were both laughing messes once you reached the surface, panting from being deprived of oxygen. Eddie pushed some wet locks out of your face, staring at you with star filled eyes. 

A certain melancholy seeped through him as he watched you in awe–mesmerized by you. Your eyelashes filled with droplets of water, and your hair going crazy. He got closer, whispering something you this time heard loud and clear.

“Where were you all my life?”

You felt yourself grabbing his shoulder; a way to anchor yourself because if you didn't, you didn’t know how you could keep your knees from buckling and keep yourself from drowning. The water might have been freezing cold, but your entire body felt like fire under his touch.

“Right here,” you whispered back, pressing a kiss to his cheek before resting your forehead against his.

“Why so far?” Butterflies rose to your stomach and even though the others were screeching and screaming behind you, you felt like it was only you and Eddie, holding each other in the corner of your pool.

“Hey lovebirds!” Of course, Tommy had to break the moment, sending a giant wave of water towards the two of you, making you snap out of your love spell and back to harsh reality.

~

“Here,” you grabbed one of your blue striped towels from the pool shed and handed it to Eddie.

“Thank you,” he placed it around his shoulders. He watched intently as you grabbed your own towel and started wrapping yourself around it, closing the pool shed right after. 

You gazed up, watching as Steve and Nancy went inside the house, towels of their own wrapped around their shoulders, Carol and Tommy quickly following. 

You shivered. The briskness of night setting in, reminding you this was only a random Wednesday night of April. It wasn’t a time to swim or take a dip in the pool just for kicks–It was spring as it barely emerged from a winter that you wished had morphed into the endless summer nights where the sun stayed high longer and you wouldn’t freeze the second you exited the pool.

“C’mon, let’s get you some dry clothes.”

Eddie nodded, and followed you in, noticing the way your damp hair swooshed with the wind as you walked, and the way you smiled as the warmth of the house engulfed you whole the second you stepped inside.

Eddie walked in after you, and you made sure the door was closed before wrapping your hand around his and walked further into the dim lighted room, right until you reached the brightly lit corridor.

“Hey Barb,” you frowned as you saw her, standing by your front door. “Everything ok?” 

She watched with big eyes as your hand wrapped around the white railing of the staircase, other hand wrapped around Eddie’s as he trailed behind you. 

“Yeah, yeah,” she dismissed it, watching as Eddie pressed the towel he held in his free hand against his wet curls, frowning at the redhead before him. 

Even he knew she was lying. 

“Where’s Nance?” You asked, perched up on the third step while Eddie played with the wet belt loops of your jeans, intently watching as you tried to know more of the reason behind your friend’s frown.

“Upstairs with your brother.”

“Ah,” you nodded, biting the inside of your cheek in thought. 

“I’m going to go home,” she looked down at her shoes averting yours and Eddie’s gaze as best she could.

“You sure?” You frowned again, and Eddie squeezed the side of your waist in an attempt to sooth your thoughts. “Eds and I are just going to get dry clothes and then we’ll come back downstairs. We could play Uno?” You offered, remembering when you’d pull out your Uno deck at any given chance during boring school field trips, Nancy always complaining because she was so bad at it while Barb often took the win.

You could see the hesitancy in her eyes, memories flashing before her. “Thanks, but it’s late,” she cleared her throat and fixed her glasses. 

You knew there was something else behind her voice, a sort of strain that told you ‘I don’t want to be more of a bother than I already am’. 

“Alright, well, be careful ok?” You smiled and started making your way back up the stairs, Eddie nodding to Barb before following you up. 

“Oh, and Y/n/n,” she caught your attention before you could reach the last step, waiting until you met her eyes before continuing; “please think on what I’ve told you,” your gaze softened and you had to prevent yourself from looking at Eddie, not to raise any suspicion that he was the lead subject of her words.

You had no intent on doing so, but just to give her a piece of mind you spoke, like a dance in the wind, “I will Barb, promise. Get home safely.” 

You saw her shoulders slump from the corner of your eye as you climbed the last step, before taking a left towards your room.

“Well, since Steve is occupied, I can’t ask him for anything,” you looked behind you as you opened the door to your bedroom, Eddie’s big eyes intently staring back, “but I do own oversized band tees and stole a pair of sweats from Steve two weeks ago so you could use that?” You offered and Eddie couldn’t help the laughter that tumbled out of him at the proposition.

“That would be more than perfect.”

The door of your bedroom closed behind you with a soft thud, and Eddie found himself mesmerized by how similar your bedrooms were. Posters against posters, and a huge shelf with more fantasy books than Eddie could count. His mind went back to the first time Steve sat at the Hellfire table, while Eddie read through the list of books he’d found in your room. Indeed Steve hadn’t been lying, and the list he’d read on the crumpled white paper with Harrington’s sloppy handwriting found itself manifesting on your wooden shelves. 

His eyes scanned every shelf and he found himself ogling at your Tolkein collection–all hardbacks with different colors and the recurring T symbol. Eddie had never seen such a beautiful collection of Tolkein’s work. 

“My uncle gave them to me before he died, they’re pretty cool, don’t you think?” 

“I think I’m falling in love with them,” you chuckled at his antics.

“Some of them are signed.”

“No way, can I?” He pointed towards the collections.

“Of course, Eddie. The Hobbit is signed if you want to see.”

Eddie pulled out the blue book in awe, fingers delicately dancing across the pages.  

“You should see mine,” he smirked, “ripped out front covers and dead spines. I accidently burnt the first page of the two towers because I was smoking while reading, and Oliver, so not accidentally dropped his chewed gum in the middle of my Hobbit book.”

“Why?” You raised an eyebrow at the absurdity.

“He was mad because I accidentally scratched his guitar.”

“Well, wouldn’t you be mad if he stretched your Warlock?”

“Yeah, but that’s different. His was an old guitar that didn’t ring well, he was about to get a new one, anyways,” Eddie rolled his eyes before he continued to scan your shelves. “Oh my god, is that a mini replica of the millennium falcon?” He placed the copy of your hobbit back on the shelf, and grabbed the Star Wars miniature, eyes wide like a child who discovered his new favorite toy.

“Yeah,” you smiled as you opened your cupboard, scanning the shelves for the sweat pants and shirt you had promised Eddie. You threw two oversized Metallica shirts on your bed, and found sweatpants for you before finally getting your hands on Steve’s gray sweatpants. “I got it last summer when we went to California,” you spoke, grabbing the biggest shirt out of the two and the gray pants, handing them to Eddie as he placed the small figurine back on your shelf. 

“I love it,” he kissed your cheek, thanking you for the clothes.

“Bathroom is in the corridor, first door on your left,” you pecked his lips, watching him as he scurried out of your room.

You sighed, a giddy smile on your lips as you changed into dry clothes of your own. When Eddie came back, he couldn’t keep his eyes from roaming the room. There was so much stuff he wasn’t sure where to look first. 

He saw a stuffed Chewbacca on your bed, right by where your head laid, and snatched it from the spot. He sat at the edge of your mattress, turning it to you and making Chewbacca noises.

“You know what, Chewie? I agree,” you played along and Eddie continued his Chewie noises as if the doll was speaking.

You giggled, grabbing the plushie from Eddie and scooting yourself closer, kissing him silly. 

Eddie’s hand found its place on your waist, pulling you closer but the kiss was broken by your ever growing smiles.

“You’re so silly, you know that?” You muttered, smiling like an idiot.

“And that’s why you like me so much.” 

“You’re right,” you kissed him again, lips melting with him and moving in perfect sync. It was everything your previous kisses weren’t. Passionate and burning with envy as your hand found its place in his hair, gently tugging on his curls. Eddie groaned in your mouth as you continued gently pulling onto his locks, making a moan leave your own lips.

Eddie thought he was going to go crazy. His hand traveled up your thigh, pushing you up so you sat on his lap, hungrily kissing the corner of your lips before continuing his way down your jaw.

"Come to the dance with me," Eddie mumbled against your skin, kisses trailing lower until he found the spot that made you shiver.

"What?" You half moaned from the attention he was giving you and half chuckled at the absurdity of the question.

"Come to the dance with me," his voice was more serious now, a slight pant in his breath. He stopped what he was doing and straightened up, eyes leveling with yours.

"No, no, I heard you. Why?" You pushed a strand of hair away from his eyes. “I thought you hated that kind of stuff, because I definitely do.”

"Gareth is going with a girl he really likes and he doesn't want to be the only Hellfire guy there," he half lied. Oliver was going too but you didn't need to know that, yet.

You sighed, fingers dancing across the Metallica writing on the chest of his shirt.

“Eds-”

“Think about it, please?” 

You bit your lip, looking up to meet his big chocolate eyes, peering at you almost like a lost puppy; how could you refuse him anything when he looked like that. “I’ll let you know, Eds,” you bit your lip. “No promises.”

“Alright,” he breathed out, one ringed hand reaching up to cup your face. His thumb brushed over your cheek and you felt yourself melt into his touch again. 

You leaned in, breaths mixing together until your lips brushed each others, melting back into a kiss–this time it was more desperate, he kissed you with a gentle urgency and you were already breathless in his mouth as you felt his fingers brush your bare skin under the soft material of your shirt. His hand itched to travel upwards, but the deal was still tugging at the back of his mind, like a faint melody, haunting him. 

But that melody was just a faint whisper as you repositioned yourself on his lap, now straddling him as the kisses only grew hungrier, more desperate. Desperate to get closer, to feel him against you as much as you could.

Your mind was all Eddie, and you didn’t mind one bit. 

In fact you were welcoming his ever hypnotising presence, letting you melt and engulf in everything that he was–you fitted together like pieces of a puzzle, and the words he’d spoken to you while you were enveloped in the cold water of your swimming pool resonated again through you; ‘where were you all my life?’

Where had he been all this time? Your knight in shinning black armor. You wondered if life would have been easier if he had been by your side earlier. If the nagging from Steve and the bullying from his friends would have effected you less if you had each other–if you had been there to protect one another from the jungle that was Hawkins High. 

The cold metal of his rings agains’t your waist brought you back to the present–and suddenly you knew you weren’t going to be alone in the treacherous sea of Hawkins, that you didn’t need to be scared of the sharks anymore. That you would have no more use for the walls you had spend all these years building. That you could take a break from your Heinous Bitch alter ego.

But as the moment went on, Eddie already knew where this had taken a turn–the nagging melody only grew louder, and he felt himself come back to his sense–as if waking up from the intoxicating hold you had on him. 

Suddenly, he felt guilty for the way he was touching you and pulled his hand from the soft skin of your waist as though it was burning him. His heart knew this was right, but his mind knew it was wrong–and Eddie felt himself get torn apart the more your lips danced together in perfect rhythm.

He hummed against your lips, in an attempt to wake you from the same daze that he had abruptly been ripped away from.

"We- we should stop,” the words left his lips before he could over think more than he was already constrained too. “I- I should go." He looked at your face, his own fake smile flailing at the hurt your eyes held. 

“What?” You panted, pushing yourself back so you could take a better look at him, trying to understand what made him stop his actions “Eddie-” you grabbed his shoulder, hoping it would keep him here, anchor him back to you.

But instead he offered you the poorest of excuses; “It’s getting late,” you only registered that he had moved you away from his lap and back onto the bed when you watched him stand up, and pace around to gather his things, “we have school tomorrow, remember?” 

“Since when do you care about school?” You half joked, hoping this would help Eddie give a clearer explanation to his sudden need for his departure. You watched as Eddie snorted from your truthful comment, but patiently waited for more words to fall out his mouth.

“Since I’ve got a pretty girl helping me with my homework,” he approached, hoping to ease the tension. He came over to you with a genuine smile and bopped your nose, fingers lingering on the soft skin of your cheek.

"Eddie,” you muttered, barely audible, and Eddie felt a new pang of guilt eat him up as he watched you–head falling down as you grabbed his other hand and played with his rings. “Why do every time I take a step forward you take two steps back?" 

He froze–all thoughts fleeting out of his brain, threatening to shut his system down. He knew why, but he could never tell you, he didn’t know what he should even tell you. What words he could use to not dig himself a bigger hole and discern the trust it took so long gaining.

 "You chase me around and when I finally cave in, you push me away?" Your mind flashed back to the first time you had tried to kiss him–when he had dropped you off after that damned party.

"I just-" He whispered, hoping he would find a quick way to defrost from the prison of his thought, trying to scrape at the sanity he was holding on to, trying the situation. "I want to take things slow with you," your frown only deepened. 

"Sweetheart, I really really like you, and everything is happening so fast," the second part of this sentence couldn’t be so far from the truth; hell he could marry you tomorrow and he’d be the happiest man on earth. 

He heard your sigh and was too cowardly to look at you. Fear lay heavy on his stomach the more this went on; traveling to his heart and seeping into his chest to spread all over him. Killing him softly with every passing minute. 

He wished he had called the deal off hours ago when he had the chance. Give Steve his money back before he even opened the door for the delivery man; and maybe, just maybe tonight would have been different and guilt wouldn’t be eating him up like it was now.

“Ok,” you nodded, trying to hide the small ache that had started in your own chest.

You were going to try and say something else; bid him good night and tell him you’d see him tomorrow, hoping that sleeping on this whole situation would make it better for the both of you, give you answers to his behaviorvbut a loud, unrecognizable noise screeched from the garden. 

"Did you hear that?" Eddie’s head snapped towards your window.

"Yeah,” you stood up, pushing the curtains open without a second thought. You both peered down, but saw nothing. The water of the pool was still, the lights creating shadows at the bottom and stray leaves dancing ontop the water. 

Eddie turned his head towards you, “what do you think it was?” 

“I don’t know,” you frowned, fingers dropping their grip on the soft material of your curtains once you had finished scanning the whole area visible from your small window.

You looked up to meet Eddie; not really knowing what to do with the silence dancing across the two of you. 

“You should go,” you offered a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eds.”

“Y/n,” Eddie grabbed your wrist before you could move. “I really, really, like you, you know?” He breathed out, a hint of desperation in his voice that made you smile. 

You leaned into his touch, taking a step forward, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.

“I really like you too, Eddie.”

“Good.”

“Good,” you repeated. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[interneteclipse]

"pink is nice"

pairing: Valeria Garza x fem reader

synopsis: some domestic fluff backstory on Valeria's pink nails.

word count: 1.3k

tags: domestic bliss, fluff, silly wlw brainrot

A/N: Have you ever noticed Valeria has pink nails?? I have so many headcanons about her because she's just my little silly goose. Yes, she's 100% an artist and yes she has awful seasonal depression. I also think the y/n I've made for her is a beautician who does her hair and nails. Hashtag Valeria apologist lifestyle.

"Sorry that I don't have any more colors! I thought shades of pink, yellow, green, and blue would be cute for spring." You said while Valeria looked at your relatively empty nail polish organizer. "You could go with your usual picks too."

Her brows furrowed, eyes squinted, and she stood with arms crossed, deep in thought. Never have you seen someone so decisive with nail polish– it's cute, though! The people around Valeria could never see her in such a normal state– thank god you were able to witness this. You spaced out and stared at the organizer until she snapped you out of your trance.

"Pink is nice. I think I'll go with that." She kissed your cheek and handed you the nail polish, base coat, and top coat bottles. You fixed the throw pillows on your shared bed for extra cushion, one for you and one for her. She sat beside you in her spot, putting the polish next to you and handing you a nail file.

"You think you can shape them down? I think they're a little overgrown for work." She laughed while pushing her stray hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"In your terms, they are. I hate filing them down, though... you have such pretty nail beds."

"I wouldn't be able to do my job properly with anything longer, but thank you for the compliment, amor. Sweet as always."

You jokingly groan at her response, continuing to file down her right hand. You both sat in a comfortable quietness, the occasional dog barking or car driving by being the only interruptions. Valeria darted her eyes around the room before circling her sight back to you, the floor, then to her hands. By now, you were working on her base coat. Her focus returned to you when you broke the silence.

"When we first met, I saw you as a purple gal. It's a very royal color historically– it fits you." You said, observing the bottle of hot pink nail polish beside you.

"Really?"

"Mhm. You usually don't pick bright colors, so it surprised me when you chose this. What's the switch up today?" Valeria bit the inside of her lip and looked to the side, trying to come up with an answer. If she had to be honest, it was just a pretty color– one of her favorites, too. She does understand where you're coming from, though. Her nails usually match her everyday closet, which are neutrals and some hints of blue from her jeans, so she opts for either black or shades of nude. They're colors that don't stand out too much but still make her feel pretty wearing them.

"I felt a little special. Spring is here, so it feels less dead, unlike winter. Plus, our anniversary is coming up! I'm in a good mood," She used her free hand to pet your head, not wanting to mess you up by shifting to kiss you. "I think a bright color fits how I feel right now."

 You smiled at her genuine happiness. It was rare for Valeria to come home without stress, walking in carrying her anger from a mistake her employees made or a mistake she made herself. Whenever that happens to be the case (which again, is frequent), she isolates herself immediately. Despite her line of work taking a fair amount of collaboration, she works by herself most of the time. That left a lot of speculation about what 'El Sin Nombre' was truly like, and not who Valeria Garza was under her work mindset. It amazes you that you were able to get to know her with how distant she was with the people around her. You're surprised she even wanted to date you– let alone marry you.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy, love. Speaking of our anniversary, what do you wanna do?"

"Well... I think we could both benefit from going outside. How does dinner sound? We can still cook breakfast and lunch ourselves. I know you like spending our mornings together." She giggles.

"You know me so well." You laughed, finishing the base coat, and started with the main event; the hot pink nail polish chosen by your wife.

"It really is a nice color. It makes me forget the seasonal depression we both got out of." She said, examining the sheer first layer. She was right about the seasonal depression. You both get tired during December, then exhausted trying to start the new year correctly in January and February. It starts getting better in early March when you're finally caught up with life, and the pace quickens to prepare for spring.

"Now you have me wanting to use pink too. I might go with a lighter shade so we can still match."

After about three coats, you were finishing off Valeria's nails with a glossy top coat. She looked at her other hand which was drying to admire your work.

"Good job as always, amor! When can I not trust you with my nails? Thank you."

"It's nothing! Plus, it's been a while since you've taken some time for yourself." Valeria clicked her tongue and sighed, knowing what you were referring to.

"I know, I know. I missed being home, too." The only con to being married to her; she's rarely able to be home, especially nowadays with her bigger plans. As much as you appreciate the precious texts and phone calls while she's hours away from home, dealing with something work-related, it's hard to cope with life going on without her home. Your co-workers always see you mope around whenever Valeria is long-distance, and she's more serious than usual while operating away from home. You completed each other so perfectly– it was like tearing the sun and moon apart when you weren't together.

Every conversation you and Valeria had brought you closer; it was the reason you both took interest in each other from the start. One of the more hidden interests she had was art. She isn't into doing her own art– at least not often, but she could talk about how it impacts her for hours. You remember you were on a walk with her while admiring the street art of Las Almas after coming home.

"What made you start liking street art so much? You talk about it so passionately."

"Las Almas wouldn't be itself without the street art. I think it shows the community and the will of the people. I like it for that."

"Do you have a favorite piece?"

"Hmm... I don't think I could pick one if I tried. You're always my favorite work of art, though."

It makes you glad that she sometimes treats her trips as art tours, sending you murals in a new town she arrived in. Sometimes you think in another reality, Valeria pursued art and wouldn't be as stressed and overworked as she is now. But as long as she's happy with her life, all is fine. 

"Alright, they're dry- ah!" You got pulled into a hug while Valeria laid back on the bed, bringing you down with her. She peppered your face with kisses before deeply kissing your lips and burying her face in your neck.

"Thank you again. I love you." She said, sighing into you. You were on your sides facing each other while her arms were on your waist.

"I love you too. You're welcome, by the way." You giggled, wrapping your arms around her, enjoying her loving embrace. You stayed just like that for a minute, savoring the warmth before Valeria spoke again.

"Do you want to get snacks and watch a movie together? I call it an early anniversary celebration." She said while getting up on her elbows and giving you a wink. "I may have been able to work a little extra last month to be around you more."

"Of course, I want to." She got off your shared bed, helping you up to go pick movie snacks with her.

"Alright, let's go. This week will be just for us, I promise."

[kaciidubs]

Wrapping Master | 8 Days of SKZcember 2023

Prompt: one not knowing how to wrap a gift and the other just laughing at them out of endearment [but of course they help them out + walk them through it]

❣ Summary: Wrapping gifts isn't as easy as it looks, apparently. ❣  ❣ Word Count: 882 ❣ Warnings: Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a sprinkle of angst if you squint, use of honorifics [Noona], a singular kiss, Jeongin is really trying his best, Reader loves him through it all ❣  ❣ Female! Reader [No use of Y/N] | You/Your pronouns ❣  ❣ Additional Tags: Jeongin is referred to as Innie, Babe, and Worker Elf, Reader is referred to as Noona, Master Elf, and Baby ❣ Stray Kids Masterlist ❣ General Masterlist ❣ SKZcember 2023

It was a simple task as far as you knew; wrapping presents for your friends like the diligent little worker elf you were this holiday season - bunkering down in your living room with your favorite Christmas playlist playing on the TV while you mentally prepared yourself for folding, cutting, taping, and more folding.

That is, until your darling boyfriend came up with the brilliant idea of him helping you out in your worker elf mode, his bright smile and sparkling eyes being more than enough to win you over.

“Alright, Innie, you take those gifts, I’ll take these gifts - it doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to be wrapped, got it?”

“Got it, this is easy work, Noona, don’t worry.”

Of course you were nowhere close to worrying, watching as he rolled out the bakery themed wrapping paper - that you painstakingly searched for to match the “Mrs. Claus’ Bakery” theme of your tree - and laid the first gift in the center to measure it out.

You weren’t worried when you heard the sound of paper tearing, too occupied with wrapping your own gift to divide your attention.

You weren’t worried at all until he exclaimed that he was done, and you looked over to what you could only explain as a wrapping paper disaster in the cutest way.

The gift - that was meant for Jisung - came in a rather square box, the perfect medium for wrapping paper, yet somehow anything that could’ve been wrong was wrong; torn corners from where he pulled the paper too hard, folds creasing over to show the plain white inside of the patterned paper, you could even see where he measured too short so he cut an extra strip to tape over the exposed part of the present.

“Oh my-” You snorted out, pressing a hand to your mouth in a feigned attempt of stopping the giggles bubbling up inside of you, “Oh my god, Jeongin! It looks like it just went through a botched surgery!”

Jeongin whined, tossing his head back before picking up the poorly wrapped gift, “It’s not my fault! The stupid box wouldn’t stop moving when I was cutting, then the scissors stopped working and ripped halfway through the sheet I wanted!”

He turned it in his hands, your eyes landing on a spot where there was a very obvious tear along the front that he forgot to cover up causing your laughter to ramp up.

“Noona, it’s not that funny, come on!” Though he tried his best to sound upset, he couldn’t help the smile that grew from your breathless giggles. “Not everyone has the skills to be part of Santa’s master class of wrapping, you know.”

Reigning in your outburst, your body shook with the last rounds of giggles as you wiped the tears from your eyes. “Babe, have you ever wrapped a gift before?”

“Of course I have - just... Maybe not well, but it was wrapped, that’s all that mattered at the time, you know?” Dropping the gift to the carpet, he ran a hand through his black hair, “It’s not like I had time to work on it, and most of the gifts I do decide to get, they’re just put in bags with a ton of tissue paper.”

Your lips settled into a warm smile, tilting your head as you gazed at the man in front of you, “You know I’m laughing with you, not at you, yeah?” You knew he was trying his best, even if it ended up looking like an overexcited child who got the chance at wrapping their first present. “Come on, I’ll show you how to wrap properly - think of this as your introduction to my ‘Santa's Master Class of Wrapping’ course.”

Jeongin perked up, sitting up straight and nodding eagerly before tearing away his hard work to start anew. “Just so you know, I’m a fast learner - I’m coming for your job, master elf!”

Scoffing, you rearranged all of the supplies in preparation for your crash course, “Yeah, yeah, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, worker elf.”

With the soft tunes of Under the Mistletoe playing in the background, you walked him through the process of measuring the wrapping paper, how to cut it to get the perfect edge, and how much tape is enough for one gift.

“...then you fold the edge like this so it’s like a triangle, that way you can just tape it down at the smallest point.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, perfect!” Sitting back on your calves, you watched as he picked up the freshly wrapped present as if it were made of glass, “And there you go - a wonderfully wrapped present ready for a bow and a name tag!”

He rotated it in his hands, inspecting it with that bright, fox-like smile you knew and loved, “Okay... It wasn’t that hard.”

Humming, you leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek, “I know it wasn’t! Now, that’s one gift down, twelve more to go!”

“Easy,” he grinned, putting the name tag on the present to keep track before putting it behind him, “try to keep up, baby.”

“Don’t get too cocky, babe,” smirking, you grabbed your next gift, “I’m still the master elf, after all.”

Santa’s Master Class of Wrapping - Lesson One; Complete.

✧. ┊Tagged lovelies: @goblinracha, @having-an-internal-crisis-rn, @midnightfrog625, @anyhow-everything, @bangchanbabygirlx, @sweetracha, @j-onedrabbles, @happilydeepestwonderland, @nightimescapes, @caitlyn98s, @ch4nn13luv, @ihrtlix, @sometimesleeknows, @jeonjungkookenthusiast1997, @maximumkillshot, @y-ur--i, @acker-night, @dreamescapeswriting, @specialstay, @broken-glowsticks, @s00buwu, @dancerachaslut, @junglyric, @tinyelfperson, @jj-stay, @katsukis1wife, @inlovewithmusician, @keen-li, @armystay89, @main-character0, @vampcharxter

✧. ┊If your username is in bold italics that means tumblr won't let me tag you. If you’d like to be added to the taglist, fill out this form!

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 21 ~ Randall

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 2

✧ Word Count : 4.1k

In this chapter ~ The entire group is relieved beyond repair when Rick and the others finally return after bringing Hershel back from the small town. Although they also bring back quite the unexpected guest, leading the others into a spiral of different opinions as they figure out what to do with him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ROSE POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My eyes groggily and slowly opened the next morning, and everything that happened yesterday rushed back to me all at once. I couldn't help but smile to myself about everything that happened with Daryl, it almost didn't feel real and a part of me questioned if I dreamt it. But my smile faltered when I looked over and saw he wasn't there, up bright and early as per usual.

I sighed and sat up, quickly changing my clothes and walked out of the tent, looking out to see everyone was gathered around talking near the front of the gates, and I noticed quickly the guys still weren't back yet. Concern and worry pooled at the pit of my stomach, thinking what the hell could be taking them this long to come back. It couldn't have meant anything good, and by the looks of it, everyone was saying and voicing everything I was thinking.

I slowly began to make my way up to them upon hearing enough from a distance, the rest of them too into the conversation to even notice my sudden presence. They were going back and forth about who should go after them since Shane apparently didn't step up and go like he said he was going to. At this point to me I didn't matter who left, just someone needed to.

Listening to them argue constantly about the same thing over and over again for hours, it was starting to get under my skin. I would be more than happy to step up and take a car out to find them considering Lori couldn't even handle that. It really didn't have to be this difficult, though they couldn't seem to make up their minds about what we were supposed to do.

"Sorry I didn't wake ya up."

I jumped a bit at the sudden quiet voice coming from behind me, only turning my head over my shoulder to see Daryl smiling down at me with a certain glint in his eyes. Safe to say that it truly wasn't a dream.

A small smile made its way onto my lips as my head turned back towards the others, "Yeah, what the hell?" I quietly replied.

He scoffed, not doubt rolling his eyes, "Ya looked tired, ya needed the extra hour. Yer welcome."

"Thank you." I said, turning back around momentarily to send him a wink.

But my head whipped back around in a split second when I heard the sound of a car coming up the dirt road and heading straight towards the farm, pushing through the gates. A red and unrecognizable car pulled up onto the land, everyone squinting their eyes to try and see inside if it was the men we were talking about this very moment. But the second Rick stepped out of the driver's seat, the group collectively relaxed seeing that they were okay.

Relief washed over me quickly once I saw Glenn and Hershel step out as well, not having a single scratch on them. With so many things happening in the last few hours, I forgot how long they were actually gone. How long they were out there facing God only knows what that was keeping them from coming back all night.

Lori and Carl quickly rushed over to Rick, while Maggie ran up to her dad and practically tackled him in a hug, leaving Glenn just standing there with his hands in his pockets. I couldn't stay in place even if I wanted to, instinctively walking over towards him in a flash before I was bringing him into a tight hug as well.

"Hey." I breathed, "Are you okay?"

He only squeezed me tighter, "I'm okay." he whispered, his voice coming out more drained and tired than normal, but I believed him.

I hadn't realized how much I had missed him until he was actually here again, seemingly safe and back with everyone else. My eyes then looked back up, spotting Maggie over his shoulder with her saddened eyes looking directly at the two of us which caused me to smile and let him go. I nodded towards the woman and Glenn turned around just in time to see her crashing into his arms as she cried.

My feet took a few steps backwards, watching the couple reunite while everyone else around us made sure that all the guys were really okay, somewhat expecting an explanation. I was lost in my own mind for a moment or two, before I felt a presence next to me, turning to see Rick seeming to be doing the same thing I was.

I nudged his side, "Good to have you back."

He smiled warmly at me, "It's good to be back." he said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I smiled back up at him, before Hershel's voice suddenly called out towards the house, "Patricia, prepare everything for surgery." he spoke urgently.

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked as her eyes scanned Rick for anything serious.

He opened his mouth to respond, to try and explain himself and what happened, but T-Dog's voice cut through whatever he was trying to say, "Who the hell is that?" the man asked.

"That's Randall." Glenn muttered, gesturing back towards the car.

My eyes snapped over to him in shock, walking up closer to the vehicle to see a strange man in the backseat, a bandanna tied tightly over his eyes while his wrists were bound as well. His breathing was heavy as he stayed perfectly still against the seats, but I couldn't have been more shocked. I was absolutely blown away as to why the hell they thought it was okay to bring a stranger back here, but before I could mutter a word, I felt my arm being pulled back.

I turned and saw Daryl trying to lead me away further from the car door, wanting me far away from this guy, and I let him. I couldn't lie; I was angry. Frustrated at the fact that they thought it was perfectly okay to bring someone back here when they didn't know shit about what he was capable of. I didn't care that he was hurt, or that he needed help, we didn't know him at all and that should've been enough.

A few hours had passed and right now we were all waiting inside the house for Hershel to come back in and tell us how the surgery went. They had at least a somewhat steady head on their shoulders as they thought it was a good idea to keep him locked in the shed. But that didn't make the rest of us feel any safer.

We went back and forth about why they brought him back here for a while, and to say Shane was pissed about it would be an understatement. It was like a never-ending cycle. We would argue about it, silence, then we would start arguing again. Right now it was quiet, and I was just looking around at their faces, waiting for someone else to say something else. But based on the story that the guys told us, I think they should've left him.

Some random guys had apparently showed up to the bar Hershel was holed up at, talking to them for a while casually like they were old friends. But that didn't last long as they starting demanding to be brought back here to this farm with their group, wanting a safe place to stay. But with the way they were acting, they couldn't be trusted. Rick ended up having to kill them after they pulled out their weapons first, knowing that he would rather have them die then Hershel and Glenn.

But then their group suddenly showed up to the bar, looking around for their two missing guys. It ended up being a huge face off, shooting at each other endlessly before walkers eventually heard the bullets flying around, causing them all to flee. But there was one man that got injured, landing right down on a sharp fence as he tried to leap off of the building he was on top of. And his group left him behind, causing our guys to go and save his ass.

And now here we are.

From just the story alone, the little pieces of information, I already didn't trust him at all. Hell, none of us even knew if he was going to make it because of the severe injury on his leg. I know my thoughts were cruel for a human being, but his group sounded dangerous.

Rick sighed at the silence, speaking up after what felt like hours, "He would've bled out, if he lived that long."

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked.

Rick's response to her was cut short when we heard the back door opening, Hershel appearing into the dining room as he cleaned his hands, "I repaired his calf muscle as best as I could, but he'll probably have nerve damage." he informed.

"When he's back on his feet, we give him some supplies, take him out to the main road and send him on his way." Rick stated.

My brows furrowed in confusion, "Then why did you bring him back? If you planned on ditching him anyway in the end, why go through all the trouble?" I asked.

"Because this way it'll give him a fighting chance." Rick responded.

Shane scoffed from where he stood, "We're just gonna let him go? He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here, he's not a threat." Rick replied.

"Not a threat... how many were there? You killed three of their men, took one of them hostage, and they just ain't gonna come looking for them?" Shane asked with edge to his tone.

My leg began to bounce anxiously from under the table, somehow not even thinking of the possibility of his group finding us, or him running off back to them. Well...limping off back to them I suppose. But I was worried about Carl and Beth's safety the most out of everyone, and now Lori since she was carrying another life right along with hers. We had to be more careful about this instead of just dropping him off carelessly somewhere with the risk of him coming back.

"His group left him for dead, no one is looking." Rick started to raise his voice, arguing again.

T-Dog then stepped in, "We should still post a guard." he said matter-of-factly.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel stated.

Shane huffed as he shook his head, pushing himself off the wall to walk out of the room, "Y'know I'm just gonna go get us some flowers and candy. Look at this folks, we're back in fantasy land." he sarcastically said.

Hershel watched him walk away before stepping up right as he was about to leave the house, "You know we haven't even dealt with what you did to my barn yet." he voiced loudly, "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all. This is my farm, now I wanted you gone but Rick talked me out of it, that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor, and keep your mouth shut."

Wow, go Hershel. Shane just stood there for a moment glancing back at everyone, before sighing heavily and making his dramatic exit, slamming the door shut behind him. Hershel turned back after he was long gone and made eye contact with me. I gave him an impressed look, raising my hand to give him a subtle thumbs up, to which he smiled small in return.

"Look, we aren't going to do anything about it today, let's just cool off." Rick spoke, now finding the urge to leave right along with him.

The rest of us then started to leave without another word, slowly getting up from their chairs. I didn't want to just continue to brush this off forever, but it seemed as though everyone was done with discussing it for now with how frustrated we all became. So, I began to slowly follow everyone's lead, pushing my chair out and heading out of the room to go upstairs and check on Beth. I hadn't seen her or heard how she was doing since yesterday, and I wanted to make sure she had been doing okay since then.

Her door was open when I approached it, causing me to slowly peek inside to see her laying down on her bed with a far off look in her eye. I stood in the doorway for a moment, before eventually pushing myself forward and taking a seat at the end of her bed. My eyebrows pulled together in obvious worry, seeing her not moving an inch as she stared up at the ceiling, not even acknowledging my presence.

"Hey hon." I greeted, managing a small smile as I gently reached over to grasp her hand. She didn't take it, but she also didn't pull away.

A few minutes ticked by silently like that, with her not saying a thing even though she was much more aware of things than she was yesterday. I could easily tell she had a lot on her mind, her mind running constantly as she didn't even feel the need to talk. I wanted her to be okay, but I also didn't want to bother her if she just wanted to be alone right now, I understood that. But I also wanted her to know that I would be right her for her if she needed me.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll come back later, yeah?" I asked.

Upon hearing me say that, her eyes slowly looked towards me, still not saying a word though she gave my hand a squeeze. That's all I needed to see to know she wanted me to come back, silently telling me without having to utter a word. I gave her hand a small squeeze in return before I slowly stood back up, leaving her alone as I shut the door a crack behind me.

I walked out of the house and towards the tent to grab my sketchbook from the bag I still had yet to unpack. I figured now would be a good time to try and finish the painting of the house since everyone else was just doing their own thing for the rest of the day, avoiding the problem that still laid in the shed. I began to work as soon as I found the same spot I had sat in only a few days ago, picking up where I left off, focusing on the small details in the house that some people might miss when they first look at it. I wanted to be able to capture it as well as I could.

Lost in thought, I didn't even hear someone walking up to me until they sat themselves down right in the space next to me. I looked over to see Glenn situating himself, waiting for him to say something, but instead he just stayed silent. My mind didn't linger on it for very long before I accepted his silent presence, going back to painting only a few seconds later.

I could easily see that he was stressed about the stranger just beyond the field, locked in the shed, worried about what the outcome would be in the end. And I understood completely that sometimes you just needed someone beside you for comfort when thinking about something stressful like this. I guess in a way, I needed him too.

Though after about an hour, we were still sitting there in silence, and I was almost done with it for the day and coming to a good place to stop. I wordlessly showed Glenn my progress and he took the sketchbook in his hands, taking his time looking over at all of the details as his eyes scanned rapidly over the paper. A smile spread onto his face that I couldn't help but beam at as he admired my work. He handed it back over to me once he was done and I just silently got up after that, placing a hand on his back as I moved around him, heading back over to Daryl and I's shared tent.

It honestly took everything in me not to tell Glenn about Daryl and I, feeling as if it was somehow wrong to keep it hidden from him. Though that statement alone just made me realize more that he truly was my best friend, because I physically couldn't keep secrets from him. But it wasn't just my privacy, it was Daryl's too. Not only that, but it was his request that we only keep it between us for now, knowing how nosy the people in this group could be. And that's what made me bite my tongue.

As I entered the small space to put everything away, I noticed that he wasn't sitting in there like I assumed he would be. My brows furrowed in confusion that I hadn't really seen him all day other than the little meeting we had in the dining room. But that only made me want to go out and find him, my boredom only growing once I was creatively burnt out for the day.

So I left the tent only seconds later, zipping it back up to close the small space before I turned around and ran right into the person suddenly standing behind me. Speak of the devil.

Daryl stood tall as he looked down at me with a soft smile, stepping back a step or two once he noticed how close he truly was.

"Hey." I breathed, "I was actually just about to come look for you."

"Weird, I was actually lookin for ya too." he smirked, "Wanted to see if you wanted to come on a hunt with me."

I felt my eyes light up a little more at the idea as I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'd love to."

His smile only grew as he nodded towards the trees, "Alright, come on."

We gathered our weapons and walked into the forest, both of us had our eyes on the ground looking for tracks. I was really hoping that we would start to see some deer tracks, and not just come back with a bunch of squirrels like always, but that was wishful thinking. We hadn't seen any type of bigger animal since we stepped foot onto Hershel's land.

"Ya ever learn how to shoot one of these?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Daryl holding up his crossbow, and I only smiled with a shake of my head, "No I haven't. I always kind of wanted to have a bow, but I never got a chance to learn or anything."

He then moved over to me and hovered the crossbow over my hands, barely brushing my fingertips against it. Right as I was about to question what he was doing, he finally placed it down in my hands, jerking down a little because of how heavy the thing actually was. Cursing under my breath, I adjusted the weapon in my hands before looking back up at him with raised brows.

"I said I didn't know how to shoot one." I clarified, "And damn no wonder your arms are huge, this thing is like a tank."

He raised his eyebrows at me in amusement, "Ya think my arms are huge?" he asked, his face flushed slightly.

My eyes narrowed at him, "Don't pretend like you're not aware. Everything you own is sleeveless."

He scoffed and just shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest when I attempted to hand the weapon right back to him, "I'll teach ya right now. Just gotta find ya a target."

I hummed, "Okay." I agreed as we began walking again, "But let's start simple, I don't want to throw my back out with this thing."

He chuckled quietly to himself, "Fair enough."

We didn't have to walk very far before we found a tree that looked to be good enough to practice on, thinner, a harder target yet something that wasn't moving. Handing the weapon back to Daryl so he could actually load the damn thing, I took it back in my hands and tried to steady myself with the extra weight. But apparently it was obvious I was having trouble.

My hands slightly shook as I tried to hold it up towards my eye to actually aim correctly, but then suddenly the weight wasn't an issue anymore. Daryl silently came up behind me as he noticed me struggle, placing his hands over mine to take some of the heaviness away as he fixed my stance. He got down to my level, his face just inches away from my neck as he tried to instruct me.

"Alright, yer gonna want to aim a bit to the right." his voice echoed by my ear.

Instant chills ran down my spine when he said that, his deep voice being the only thing I could hear other than my heart beating wildly in my chest. He was so close and that smug bastard knew exactly what he was doing. I almost wanted to kick myself for allowing him to teach me the thing he knew best, because I should've known he would've pulled something like this. Ceasing the opportunity.

But I didn't move the crossbow like he instructed, only turning my head slightly to the left to look him in the eye. Our faces were inches apart, out noses barely brushing against each other and a noticeable smirk started to grow on his face.

"So, when you said you wanted to teach me...was it so you could be this close to me?" I asked him with a tilt of my head.

His eyes flickered to my lips for a second before saying, "Nah, there's another reason."

"So, what's the reason?"

He was silent for a long moment, racking his brain for another excuse as he slowly became more flustered at the situation he put himself in. It was amusing to watch, seeing him not being able to come up with a single explanation as his mind only really wanted on thing.

"If you wanted to kiss me...all you had to do was ask." I whispered against his lips, finally closing the space between us.

The moment I felt him kiss me back, I immediately discarded the crossbow and I tossed it to the ground. My hands found the way to his neck, while his fingers hooked onto the loops of my jeans, pulling me closer. Our lips moved in sync so effortlessly, his tongue slowly pushing its way into my mouth.

He began to push me up against the tree gently and his hands made their way to my lower back, the warmth sending goosebumps rising on my skin in seconds. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I pulled back, needing air. We both were trying to catch our breath, when I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me with the same damn smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"I thought of another reason. If yer back was against the wall and ya only had a crossbow to protect yerself with, ya already know how to use it." he said matter-of-factly.

I scrunched up my nose as I thought for a moment, "Four out of ten." I rated.

He chuckled, placing his forehead against mine, "At least I tried." he muttered, "Do I get a prize for tryin?"

I laughed lightly and pulled him back in for another kiss. This one was much softer and shorter, but just as amazing nonetheless. I pulled away to glance up at his bright beautiful eyes for a moment, before he pecked my lips once more and pulled away fully. He walked back over, picking up his crossbow from where it had fallen in the leaves and looked at me expectantly.

"Still wanna learn?" he asked smugly.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes." I said before following his lead.

Then the next few hours were filled with us talking, laughing, and sharing a few kisses here and there. It was nice to be able to just be with each other like this, away from the chaos back at the farm, and away from the stranger left in the shed. I really appreciated Daryl taking me out on this hunt because it was a good distraction from just everything going on.

But to my surprise, he admitted a little later on that the whole reason he took me out here was because he knew I was stressed about the whole Randall situation, and wanted to be able to take my mind off of it for a few hours. My heart warmed almost instantly when he told me that, looking at him in almost a new light as I admired him.

What I felt for this man, I had never felt for anyone else before, and I really liked it.

~ Thanks for reading!

[xwritingdixonx]

Till Death Do Us Part | Chapter 1 |

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series masterlist

Summary: Daryl struggles to call Alexandria his new home, a bitterness lying in his heart of his late wife.

Warnings: language, slight mentions of a panic attack, mentions of grief / loss

Word Count: approx. 3.3k

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The cherry wood coffee table was littered with a messy stack of UNO cards, the last card being a bright yellow, reading the number 7. Carl paused for a second looking at the cards in his hand that he held before putting down a green 7. "No fair" Tara retorted reaching to grab a card. "I'm winning" Carl teased wearing a shit eating grin, showing off the two cards left in his hand.

Aaron had stopped by a little bit ago dropping off a deck of cards, a puzzle, and a pack of UNO cards that looked like they’d never touched a speck of dust. Carl and Noah were quick to choose UNO. Tara looking just as excited to play the game, convincing Rosita to also join.

It was only the second night in Alexandria but Rick couldn't help but smile for just a second, seeing his son playing games, laughing, making jokes. Had he not still been so on edge and his walls so built up, it could've felt normal, comfortable. The rest of the group sat around the same living room, some comfortably lounging on their sleeping bags and pillows, others on the couch, making jokes about who they were rooting for.

"You know, me and my friends used to do this"

Tara began, "we'd uh-" Tara smiled and paused for a second "have game nights, order a pizza, just talk. Like people." Tara chuckled but there was a hint of sadness to it. "Oh god i miss pizza!" Rosita joined in, attempting to tear Tara away from the sadness.

"I’d come home smelling like it every. day. Makes me sick just thinking about it" Glenn's face lit up with a smile.

Soon almost everyone in the room was sharing things they missed about the old world, things that would most likely never exist again or would be extremely difficult to achieve now.

Daryl however was perched up by the window, the cool night air flowing in once in awhile. Daryl was trying to figure out just how cold the breeze was, the colder it was, the closer Fall was, then after Fall came Winter. Out on the road Winter meant trouble, it was the hardest season to survive in the wild. But that wasn't a worry now. So Daryl didn't know why he was still worrying.

"Daryl"

Glenn's voice broke him from his thoughts, snapping his head around to look at him. "Hm?"

"What do you miss?" Glenn looked at him with pure intentions just wanting to know a bit more about the man, as did everyone else. Daryl was so closed off. Some days it felt as if he wasn't even alive before the outbreak, it was like the world ended and poof, Daryl Dixon appeared, ready to take it on. Everyone's eyes seemed to be on him now, anticipating a response. Which, to no surprise, Daryl didn't particularly like. Daryl scoffed and turned his attention back to the window, resting his head on his fist "Nothin'".

Daryl heard Glenn quietly apologize before continuing the conversation with someone else. Once again, Daryl retracted back and away from connection, sheltering himself like a turtle in a shell.

What do you miss? Daryl knew the answer, it was on the tip of his tongue. He just couldn't bare say it, couldn't let himself slip into that hole. You were a memory he had pushed so far back in his mind, it was as if you never existed in the first place. That's how he survived, forgetting you. If not, he would've fallen in that hole of depression and grief a long time ago. So instead of that, he built up walls. Built a wall of brick. Then built a wall of steel in front of that one and he allowed himself to hide behind those walls, angry and alone.

It just took one thought of you to completely blow a hole straight through those walls. Every single thing that the group listed made him think of you. Didn't matter what it was.

Tara bringing up pizza made him think about your favorite pizza spot that had $1 slices. He still remembers the day he watched you down 4 slices after a long Saturday night shift at the bar.

He thought about you when Rosita talked about missing makeup and feeling pretty. You were the prettiest thing Daryl had ever seen especially when you got all dolled up. He remembered your signature lip colors, remembered the brand, the name of them, remembered how pretty they looked on you.

"i don't get it" Daryl heard your distant laughter from the bathroom down the hall. You came walking throw the door, clipping your silver chain bracelet around your wrist. "What don't you get?" Daryl looked at the lip product in his hand, encased in silver packaging "the hell's it called black honey? ain't even black"

You shook your head at Daryl and snatched the product from his hand, taking a seat on his lap. Daryl happily wrapped his arms around your torso, resting his head on your shoulder. "Because it's-" you let out a sigh and took the cap off glancing at the dark plum tinted lip product. "Jesus i don't know D." You put the cap back on with a click, glancing at him through some of your bangs that had fallen in your eyes. " Before i forget" You left Daryl's grasp and made your way to your wooden vanity, "On your way home from the shop," You grabbed 2 small black tubes from the surface and tossed them over to Daryl. "Please please pick up those exact same shades from the store" Daryl recognized what they were immediately, flipping them around to see the name on the bottom. "Rum raisin and black cherry?" You hummed to him in response, "from Revlon?" you hummed an agreeing response again. "Good job handsome"

Daryl remembered everything that made you so uniquely you. Cherry perfume, tattoos, the silver jewelry you wore every single day. Those damn lipsticks, he never forget those ridiculous names. Your hair, god your hair. You had the most gorgeous head of hair, so full and thick. And that smile. When you smiled, your whole face smiled. You got complimented almost every single day on your appearance, not even just from Daryl, from strangers who saw just how gorgeous you were.

His chest tighten and ached, as if his heart was physically hurting. Hands clasping into fists to stop them from shaking. And his mind, spiraling. He could feel the lump in his throat form, the lump of tears, sobs. He cleared his throat and abruptly got up from his perch, racing to the front door. He couldn't stand to be in that room any longer, he felt like he was suffocating.

He sat himself down at the top of the stoop to the house and shakily tried to light a cigarette to forget about his racing mind, taking a long drag. Sitting in fresh air seemed to immediately calm him but the sadness still remained.

Daryl didn't look to see who sat beside him but he heard the creek of the wood panels and felt the presence. "What's going on?" Ricks words were low, as if he was asking him in a whisper. Daryl blew the last bit of smoke from his mouth and and flicked the cigarette away, that's when Daryl broke. The emotions he was trying so hard to push down just over poured at the question. Quiet sobs broke past Daryl's lips, hanging his head low in shame at the vulnerable state he was in.

Rick put a hand on his back to show he was there, giving him comfort through his presence. Rick didn't know what was making Daryl break but he knew he had to be there for his brother, allowing him feel whatever he needed to feel.

"I miss 'er"

Rick wasn't exactly sure what to say, he just nodded. Not once had Daryl ever brought up someone, especially not a woman. "Wanna talk bout' her?"

Daryl thought for a second, he had never been asked to talk about you. He knew he could, could talk about you till the sun rose in the East and set again in the West. But all he could say was "i'on know". He looked at Rick his eyes still glassy with tears.

Rick nodded at him again and gave him a reassuring smile.

Silence settled over the 2 men but it was comfortable, a calmness the night air provided. Daryl had calmed down, feeling slightly embarrassed at the sudden outburst of emotions. Thinking of what the rest of the group members might be thinking of him now.

Rick was lost in thought, it had just been a tiny detail but it opened up so much about Daryl as a person. He had someone, someone he cared for and they obviously weren't here. It explained some of Daryl's intense behavior at times, explained the way his anger led him, and his passion for saving people.

"What was her name?" Rick was testing the waters, seeing if there were anymore details he could get out about this now mystery woman. She could've been his girlfriend, his best friend, hell could've been his goddamn sister. The way the corner of Daryl's mouth almost turned into a smile told Rick that the waters were warm. "Y/n"

The next bit was what set Rick back, definitely not on the list of could've's.

"My uh...my wife."

Memories and nightmares had become a blur to you. At this point, they were practically under the same category. Both equally as haunting. Both equally creating a shallow feeling in your chest. Both keeping you up at night. Just like it had been tonight, the events of the previous day still haunting you. You never thought you were exactly a good person but you could at least try to justify your actions. Racking your brain for hours and nothing. Not one excuse, not one good reason for why you pulled the trigger and why so quickly? You opened your eyes, trying to not allow yourself to fall into that hole any deeper.

You had been in and out of sleep the entire night. Hearing the crickets and lightning bugs turn into  early chirp of birds in the early morning. Most of the night you'd spent laid your side watching the fire from the previous night turn from orange glowing embers to nothing but black ash and coal. The only thing exciting you at the moment was getting back to your kitchen in Alexandria.

To be able to cook whatever you wanted and not having to survive off of canned goods, beef jerky, and protein bars. You had promised everyone when you all made it back home you'd cook up a nice big dinner and you'd all sit around the table like how it used to be. It was the longest the group had been away from Alexandria since arriving.

The sun hadn't quite risen yet but it would soon, the sky becoming a light blue- gray color. That's when you called it quits with attempting to catch anymore sleep, you wouldn't and you knew that. Everyone else would be up soon anyway and you'd be hitting the road again. Alexandria was only few more hours out but after what happened, everyone needed to rest. The group could've easily made it there late at night but decided it was okay to make it there by early afternoon today. You let out a deep sigh and sat yourself up, stretching out your arms and back.

You spotted Tommy who was in the same spot as he was the night before, sat up on the tailgate of one of the trucks from his turn on night watch. You slipped your leather steel toe boots on and made your way to him, deciding to give the both of you some company. "Heard ya comin'" Tommy's southern drawl never failed to amaze you, he didn't look like he'd sound like that but he sure did. When people met Tommy for the first time, the faces they'd pull were comedic. Especially the people of Alexandria.

You let out a scoff as you made your way up onto the road that was a few feet away from where you had set up camp for the night.

“Heard ya all night actually" You hopped up on the truck, taking your place next to Tommy and comfortably resting your elbows on your knees. "Was it bad?" You asked looking at him slightly embarrassed. Tommy knew you struggled with sleeping, he had been there to deal with most of it.

Since being in Alexandria it wasn't as bad as when you were on the road, almost like your body knew it wasn't in your safe comfy bed anymore. Tommy looked at you and gave you a soft smile and shook his head. "You weren't shaking or breathing heavy or doing that teeth grinding shit, just heard ya tossin' and turnin' all night"

You were listening to Tommy but watching the point in the sky where the sun was going to be peeking up at any second now. "Hey" Tommy nudged your arm with the back of his hand, pulling you away from zoning out and thinking too much. You averted your gaze to Tommy, "wasn't your fault". You scoffed a laugh and looked away, your eyes wondered to where everyone else still lay asleep in their sleeping bags. Specifically your eldest brother.

"Tell that to Eddie"

You and Eddie had been going at it over the past few months. You weren't exactly sure why and how it started but at this point, you didn't make it through a day without some sort of dispute or sarcastic remarks.

You heard Tommy sigh and put down the sniper rifle he had been holding.

“We got a lot of good stuff. Especially with winter coming. I mean shit, look at this." Tommy was trying to change the subject, make it seem more positive. You sat up and looked over your shoulder. The trucks bed behind you was piled high with crates and boxes, some bigger stuff just lying around. Like a Kitchen- Aid mixer, which you already called dibs on. The other truck that was parked next to this one was the exact same way.

None of you expected the run to go this well. You had found weapons, food, clothes, kitchen appliances, medicine, books, and so much more. There was so much that you actually had to leave some stuff behind. Hidden. Of course. But you still slipped in a few things for Jace and Luke. "We're gonna have to come back for the rest soon" You commented, receiving a nod of agreement from Tommy. "We got the whole route mapped out right?"

"Yes ma'am"

"Good" You and Tommy made eye contact and smiled at each other. The sound of shuffling made you both break contact, looking back to see the other 3 waking up and beginning to pack up. Nellie caught your eye and gave you a wave and a sleepy smile to say Goodmorning, you returning one. You made eye contact with Eddie who, in return, shot you a stone face glare.

Once everyone had packed up, it was time to hit the road. You drove one truck with Nellie in the passenger seat. Tommy drove the other, with Eddie and Henry squeezed in the front. The sun was at its peek in the sky when the gates of Alexandria came into view. You beeped the car horn twice giving whoever was on watch the signal to open up the gates. The 2 trucks came to a rolling stop safely inside the walls of Alexandria. "Home sweet home" You remarked, taking the keys out of the ignition.

The closing of the trucks doors rang in your ears as everyone stepped foot on the concrete. You saw Deanna making her way down the road to the group with a blissful smile on her face and pep in her step. "Wonder what she did now" Henry sarcastically remarked, quickly going to the bed of the truck to help begin unloading, Eddie right behind him.

"Thank goodness!" She planted her hands on her hips, taking stand in front of you, "you should've been back last night did something happen?"

The sun was glaring directly in your eyes so you tried your best to smile at her while also shielding your face from it. "No, we just got tired so we set up camp a few miles out" You did your best to reassure her, Deanna worried about your family probably more than she worried about her own. Alexandria relied on your group. And she relied on you.

"The run went amazing Deanna" Nellie joined putting a reassuring hand on Deanna's arm. "Well I can tell!" She threw her hands up gesturing to the full trucks behind you, "I mean look at this, this is more than we expected" The smile that beamed on her face showed that she truly was in a joyful mood. But there was something else there, a slight hesitation in her eyes. There was something she wasn't saying.

"Dad!"

Before you could begin to question Deanna, Luke's sweet voice rang through out the air. Luke was jogging towards Tommy with a excited look on his face. Tommy's face lit up at the sight of his son, his eyes widening and a smile forming. Jace and Cecilia weren't far behind him also coming to give everyone a welcome and looking equally as ecstatic.

A sense of relief washed over you, all your worries and racing thoughts vanishing in that moment. Cecilia welcomed you and Nellie into a tight embrace, wrapping one arm around either of you. "I'm so glad you're okay" She planted a kiss on both you and Nellie's cheeks, earning a laugh from both of you.

Oh, Cecilia. Sweet sweet Cecilia with her dark brown curly hair, big emerald eyes, and dimples. She had been the one to offer to stay with Jace and Luke while the rest of you were away, she didn't like being on the road and fighting. Not that she couldn't do it because she could, you'd seen her. She just chose not to.

"We got these for you, we went over the walls...with Cecilia. I hope that was alright" Luke timidly handed you a bunch of wildflowers tied together by grass. "Ah haha! These look like the perfect ones" Your voice sweet and smooth giving Luke a wide smile, reassuring him that you weren't upset with them.

Luke was shy and stuttered when he'd talk but he was also the kindest and softest spoken person you knew. His brown curly hair and dimples in his pale cheeks added to his soft composure. Jace, on the other hand, was older, taller, and had lost most of his baby face. He still sported the signature curly brown hair. "Come here, sweet boys" It was your turn to embrace them both in a warm hug.

Neither of them were quite as tall as you yet but Jace seemed to be getting there. Most days it seemed like you were eye level with him.

"Did you get your father some?" Glancing over at Tommy, he held up his bunch of flowers. His were shades of blues, greens, and whites. While the bunch Nellie and you were given we're shades of white, purple, and yellow.

"Boys"

You had forgotten Deanna was there, getting too wrapped up in your conversation.

"Why don't you help unload the trucks? I’ll go grab you guys notepads so you can help" Deanna meant well, she always did but you and Tommy expressed that you didn't want Jace or Luke in any of the dirty work the rest of the group did. They're children, they deserved to be children. They had already been through enough. But they still had responsibilities around Alexandria and training. You looked at Tommy for approval who gave you a nod. "Walk with me Y/n"

So you did. Walking side by side. Some days you felt like you towered over Deanna because of her small height. If someone saw you walking together they would think you were in charge, not her.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?"

"We brought in a group" She didn't miss a beat, as if she was waiting for you to begin questioning her.

"What?" You stopped dead in your tracks at the bottom of the steps to the pantry, she had already made it to the top of the steps with her foot in the door when she turned around and smiled at you. "Yeah a group of 15" She disappeared into the pantry "Of what ?!" You were hot on her tail, stomping your way up the stairs and swinging open the door but you still muttered a polite hello to Olivia as you passed her.

Deanna sighed and turned to face you. "This is their third day here, Aaron tracked them for a week to make sure they could be trusted" She tried to reassure you but it wasn't working. That was a big group. Bigger than your group. "Deanna that's a lot of people, you don't know them."

She ignored you, turning her attention to a stack of memo books. The memo books were used to count and write down everything that was brought into Alexandria from trips. Everything was documented and accounted for so if anything was stolen or taken out, it would be known. She picked up a black one and blue one, along with 2 black pens.

"We need the man power Y/n. I appreciate everything your family has done for Alexandria but its too much and you know that. The entire group was gone for 2 weeks, what if something had happened? No one was here to protect Alexandria. You need the weight off your shoulders and I need it off mine."

You knew deep down she was right. Your group held all the responsibility in Alexandria, they relied on you. Even though most of them hated you, the ones that listened to all the gossip at least. Deanna could see the mixture of doubt and worry on your features, the way your eyebrows crinkled and your lips turned to a frown. "Go home, get cleaned up, i'll be waiting at mine and we can talk more, alright?"

"Alright."

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

The Umbrella Academy season 4 episode 6

Final episode baybeee!!!! Here we go!!!

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE A PART OF THIS CULT

SERIOUSLY HOW ARE THERE SO MANY

Abigail, surely there's easier ways of divorce

Awww Diego and Luther has been a bright spot dynamic for me this season

If they kill off Diego so Lila and Five end up together, I'll be upset

Abigail, there's easier ways to divorce him

Oh shit

I dunno if Ben is making it away from this

Rip Jean

Both Jean and Gene down

Oh Lila

Hugs! Everyone gets hugs!

Reginald, you ignorant fuck, YOU are not cut out for marriage, that was YOUR wife!!!

Exploded head!!!!

That's freakin gnarly

"I do think! I think you're an asshole!"

Allison Luther and Klaus on the couch watching this is so fucking funny

THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES

KLAUS WITH THE SPIT TAKE, ME TOO

I freaking can't with the three on the couch

Viktor trying so hard to save his brother

OH

Is this going to be a reverse of season 2? This time Viktor is the only one that can save Ben?

Shit

That "seriously" from Diego is so valid

He doesn't want to hurt Viktor :(

SHIT

Common five, rewind time by a minute

Boys, now is really not the time

Five, stop being butthurt

Comon Klaus, discover you can do some cool healing shit

Doubtful

Seriously?

Wait a second. The last scene in season 3. Was Ben, wearing glasses, on a train like this. Are- I'm so confused. If a glasses wearing Ben shows up imma lose it

Maybe it wasn't fives journal?

THERES SO MANY FIVES OH MY GOD

It was him. Wasn't it. It was five leaving. It was him time traveling. That's why one of the first stops was the apocalypse

145,412 TIMES??? Damn no wonder they've given up

But... in order to go back to the original single timeline, wouldn't they need to not exist? Never be born?

Nobody likes this plan babe

Allison, Claire and Klaus are very important to me

This shit gonna make me cry

Dance as ya die babes, finish this the way you started it

God I'm gonna start crying

"I just want to say, I love you guys. But you are all assholes" laughing and crying, fucking devestated

THIS WAS THE SONG THEY WERE DANCING TO IN EPISODE ONE

HAZEL??? AGNES???

GRACE? HANDLER?

HERB!!!! DOT!!!!

So, the ending voice over broke me, I am crying

THE FUCKING 8 MARIGOLDS, NO I AM NOT OKAY

Well. That is that. I'm going to go stare at a wall for an unspecified amount of time

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Completed Chaptered AO3 Fics (4) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three

a night to remember (ao3) - grievingwarwidow

Summary: roxie, who prefers the label exotic performer over stripper, is a star amongst people who are out when the sun goes down. who better for a close-minded phil who has despised what he labels as lowlifes to suddenly obsess over than Roxie himself?

aka the one where phil gets pathetically hung up on dan, better known as roxie and is desperate to get to know him better.

Advent Calendar 2021 (ao3) - Phantje

Summary: Phil lives and works in a town in the North called Lylchester. Well, 'works'. He does charitable things in the name of being nice and his (adoptive) parents. Things are fine. Yeah. Fine. Meeting Dan who has strong opinions about peculiar things shakes up Phil's life and he is falling before he can help it.

Dan lives and works somewhere, or anywhere really. By fate, or call it the British Railway train running times, he ends up in Lylchester. Before he can help himself, he has made the first real best friend he has ever had - Beatrix. And suddenly, life does not seem so difficult anymore. Dan appreciates the work he can do, even if it has him interact with the rich idiot Phil more often that he would personally choose.

All the sunlight of our past (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: YouTube is a mess.

Phil's been struggling with it for a while and has just taken a job as a video editor to make ends meet while he figures out whether he still loves it anymore.

Dan's channel has been dead ever since he started working at BBC Radio One and the two haven't seen each other in years.

During a chance meeting in 2019, Dan gets papped coming out of a gay club and his life is sent in to turmoil. He blames Phil, because it had been his idea to go there in the first place, so they're straight back to not talking.

The only recourse Dan has to salvage his career is to return to his YouTube channel after all these years and make a coming out video on his own terms. What he doesn't know is that Phil is the editor he just hired to help him with it.

break free (ao3) - wiccamoody

Summary: Dan is a competitor on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

By the way, I adore you. (ao3) - lxzyfangirl

Summary: Dan is very sick, and the future is not looking too bright for him, thankfully, he has Phil, his best friend, to accompany him through it all. But is Dan satisfied with being just friends?

dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) (ao3) - kishere

Summary: Dan Howell is an ice skater in England, a non power player in the world of competitive ice skating. Phil Lester is the greatest ice skater to come out of England in the past decade, part of a family legacy. When Dan is offered a spot at Phil's family gym, he learns what he was missing the most to be the best ice skater he could be.

Or: the yuri on ice inspired au

Dandelions (ao3) - throughtheirsnoses (det395)

Summary: Phil returns to his small town after studying how to improve his power that lets him grow plants with his mind. Phil is anxious and struggling with the expectations put on him to grow new plant-based medicine and on top of it all, his childhood best friend, Dan, gets his heart broken and turns to Phil as a rebound. Phil panics.

First to Listen (To Anything I Said) (ao3) - SylvesterLester

Summary: It's 2004, and Dan Howell is screwing up in school. He can't help that he's stuck in boring classes with boring people and just doesn't care. So when Phil Lester, one of the geekiest kids in school, is assigned to be his tutor, he's expecting this to just be another crappy part of his already crappy life.

But when it turns out Phil might be Dan's first real friend, his hormones threaten to screw all that up. Because that's all it is, right? Hormones?

Flatmates (ao3) - intoapuddle

Summary: oh my god they were flatmates / the fuckboy!phil au we all deserve

I Don't Love You (ao3) - Raspberrysaxophone

Summary: Dan and Phil work in an office and are (unfortunately) sharing a desk. Phil is often away on business or working from home so they are never there at the same time. They both get frustrated with how the other one organises the shared space and tell each other that through notes

- or -

Dan and Phil hate each other, but soon Dan realises that he is developing a crush on him. What will a New York business trip (where they are sharing a room xxx) do to their relationship?

i feel a kick down in my soul (ao3) - chickenfree

Summary: “I’m going to obliterate you,” he says, taking a few long steps towards Phil.

Phil runs. It takes him a minute to realize the ball is in the opposite direction.

light through an open door (ao3) - queerofcups

Summary: The only thing Dan’s trying to do is finish grad school and avoid talking about the very public crash and burn of his last relationship as much as possible. Meeting Phil, who’s working on his PhD in Philosophy, just like Dan’s ex was, is a coincidence. Now Dan’s just trying to finish grad school, avoid talking about his very public break up and try his hardest not to fall for a man who might hurt him the same way he’s been hurt before.

Project Poliwag (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Phil hadn't intended for his garden to become a haven for rescued Pokémon, but it had happened accidentally. This particular rescue wasn't that different, even though he had never rescued 117 Pokémon at once before. But he couldn't leave the Pokémon eggs to be destroyed, and he was willing to raise a whole army of Poliwag on his own if he must.

What Phil hadn't counted on was a stranger with a lost look in his eye turning up on his doorstep and offering to help with the project.

shapes and weights to choose (ao3) - queerofcups

Summary: Getting to interview Phil, Phil Lester, feels like the kind of recognition he's been working towards for years and Dan doesn't know how to handle it.

Dan's a sex toy blogger, Phil's a nearly-retired porn star. They fall in love, eventually.

strike a deal, kiss my lips (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Witches were the only magical beings capable of binding and controlling demons. It required a complicated ritual and crazy amounts of magic.

It happening on accident was practically unheard of until Phil came along and got tangled up with a snarky and dangerous demon named Dan. Suddenly bound together, Phil must grapple with control over a chaotic demon that wants to strip the skin from his bones.

And maybe strip the clothes off of his body as well.

Take a Picture (It'll Last Longer) (ao3) - phantasticworks (steddieworks)

Summary: Dan and Phil meet at 2 a.m. in a coffee shop. Phil is a photographer looking for a model, and Dan can't say no to pretty boys.

The Clock Keeps Ticking (ao3) - tellsfromhale

Summary: Dan has spent over a decade growing comfortable with himself. Finally, he can live his truth, and he can do it with Phil at his side. For the first time, he's excited about what the future holds.

Then, one day, he finds himself suddenly back inside his childhood bedroom a decade in the past, and getting to that future with Phil becomes a lot more difficult.

The Philver Scream (ao3) - UnorthodoxSavvy

Summary: While Dan's career in the FBI is taking off, Phil is left behind to pick up the pieces of his life after his brother's death. However, he finds himself plagued by strange nightmares that he can't explain. Soon, people around him start dying. Can Dan and Phil's partnership survive the mounting body count?

The River (ao3) - Portia331

Summary: Dan arrived in Melbourne two weeks ago with just one suitcase crammed with running gear, psychology textbooks, and a mere fraction of his wardrobe especially curated to fit both his aesthetic and the Melbourne weather.

He's about to start in the role of a lifetime on a 12 month contract, but he's barely ready for the Australian summer heat, let alone what the world is about to throw at him.

The Stress, The Glory and The Afterglow (ao3) - easybubby

Summary: It's 2024. Dan and Phil are overworked and slipping into old habits. The only difference between now and 10 years ago is that their relationship now comes first and they will do anything to protect it, even if they have to spend time apart. They treasure one wild night before they vow to keep their distance for a while.

The X-Philes (ao3) - UnorthodoxSavvy

Summary: Phil is a psychic. Dan is a detective. When Phil is visited by the ghost of his brother, he knows something isn't right. Can he and Dan solve the case, or will they become the next victims?

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

what might come with the dawn (ao3) - cloud-gays (wind_brewed)

Summary: The Island has a Guardian, that's what people say. Phil doesn't know if this guardian is a mythical being or just a piece of gossip; a made-up story to make people feel safe during storm season. A made-up story just to make them feel secure.

Now that he decides to move in with his parents again, Phil needs the protection. Maybe he needs to reach out to this lonely, black-clothed being; reach out to the lonely man of winter.

Also called: Phil is a storm-chaser of sorts and Dan, a storm-magnet. In between running and hiding, they find each other inside the calm of the storm.

[zombifiedheartg]

May I please request poly yandere total drama cody and Noah throughout the seasons? Or just a general story when/how they kidnapped their darling and when the darling wakes up?

of course! <3 thanks so much for requesting ! not too proud of this, i really hope you liked it though! i'm so sorry if it isn't exactly what you asked for :(

yandere poly!noco x reader . .

song⤹˚ ; pretty boy by tv girl

cw : un-consensual drug use, kidnapping, gaslighting, manipulation, guilt-tripping, basic yandere behaviour.

cody and noah are kind of different as yanderes, noah gaslights you, and cody guilt-trips you. they do argue like an old married couple about you though, cody thinks you need space, and noah thinks that'd just give you a chance to run off.

cody's paranoid, but noah is much more paranoid than he'd like to admit.

but they love eachother, and their love for you is stronger than any other feeling they've had. you're a need to them.

and they'd do anything to keep you close by them.

୭ 🧷 ✧ ˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀

geoff had been hosting a reunion party for the contestants, and noah and cody thought this was the perfect chance! you were a sweetheart, of course you were gonna attend. even if you didn't have too.

you looked amazing as usual.

noah and cody were the only few people that you really talked with after the show, so you immediately went to them. you three talked for a bit, well you mainly talked. the two boys looked at you with dreamy stares the entire time along with occasional nods to make it seem like they were listening.

''oh, watch my drink for a sec?'' you handed noah the red solo cup, before turning to lindsay who was waving you over.

it was just too easy, the pill he slipped in wasn't harmful, you were just gonna pass out for a bit, and land directly into their arms..

after lindsay, bless her heart, talked your ear off for a little bit, you walked back to the boys with that smile they've grown too fond of. almost immediately, you took a sip of your now dosed drink.

of course it took a few moments to kick in, you started to see black spots surround your vision after maybe, five minutes? and before you knew it, you dropped. thankfully, cody catching you.

''oh my god, are they okay?'' bridgette spoke worriedly, ''probably just had a bit too much to drink, right, noah?'' cody slightly stumbled over his words, looking at noah for help.

''yeah. don't worry, we'll drive them home.'' noah reassured, putting your limp arm around his shoulder. ''are you two sober enough, though?'' bridgette felt a weird stir in her stomach, something about this wasn't right.

''we're fine.'' cody said with a bit of harshness in his tone.

''..okay.'' she sighed defeatedly.

after what felt like hours, you started to wake up, your vision starting to unblur as you looked around your unfamiliar surroundings, were you dosed? god, who could've done such a thing? were you gonna get murdered?

panicked thoughts ran through your mind as you became more aware.

the more you started to get conscious, the more you realized how much your wrists were hurting.

you blinked a few times trying to see clearer before realizing your wrists were bound by a zip-tie, digging painfully into your skin, it'll probably leave a mark.

''oh, they're finally awake! cody!'' you recognized that montoned voice. it was unusually cheery and you didn't expect to hear that voice at all.

cody had fallen asleep against noah's shoulder waiting for you to wake up, the two were sitting on the floor infront of you.

cody rubbed the sleep away from his eyes before looking at you with a bright smile.

''took you long enough.'' noah smirked, ''noah? cody?'' you were dumbfounded. these were your friends, the two people you trusted with your life.

you grimaced as your head started to pound, ''um, sorry, one of the side effects were headaches..'' cody apologized with a sheepish grin. ''should go away soon, though!'' he said quickly afterwards.

''god, i'm so glad you're here though! my two favorite people in the same room, wow.'' he beamed, hugging you and noah close. you stood completely still in shock, not know how to respond, it was moving so fast. so many things you were questioning in your head, going over habits you looked past with them.

''you should get comfy though, you're probably gonna be here for a bit..'' noah reminded.

''it'll be easy though, three lovebirds finally all together.''

˖°🌷📎⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

.

.

[freeuselandonorris]

F1 Ask Game

thank you @bright-and-burning and @goingxmissing for the tags!!

Who is your favorite driver?: i go back and forth between lando and oscar! i think lando has my heart the most though, honestly, goblin child that he is.

Do you have other favorite drivers?: i love lewis, i love charles, i still have a soft spot for max and daniel although definitely not to the extent i used to... but honestly i'm kind of fond of most of the grid and its peripheral characters (including the previous generation of ex-drivers like nico (i used to be OBSESSED with nico when he was driving for merc!), jenson et al) and the up-and-comers like liam, ollie, kimi. i just like drivers!

Who is your least favorite driver?: there's nobody i really hate, but i'm less keen on perez and hulkenberg. fernando annoyed me for a while when he was just waltzing into random other series, nabbing the best car and winning everything and then fucking off again when he was trying to catch the triple crown, but i find him pretty funny these days.

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?: i think @goingxmissing made a very good point that liking a driver generally means you end up liking the people around them too, but i'm generally a driver not a team person. i'm papayapilled currently because my two favourite drivers are with them, but i wouldn't particularly follow mclaren regardless of who drives for them (i'm also less than impresed with some of the choices they've made recently, but let's not get into that.)

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?: mclaren obviously, and i am very fond of mercedes although that's a deeply frustrating endeavour at the moment. but yeah, none of the teams are particularly meaningful to me.

How long have you been into F1?: well, i guess technically we're talking about 25 years lmao. i started watching when i was a kid because my mum loved mika hakkinen, so i have fond childhood memories of watching the hakkinen v schumacher years and being fascinated by it. but in terms of watching it by my own volition, this is the 11th straight year i've been watching. mental.

What got you into F1?: see above for the original inspiration! but i came back to it in 2013 because i started working as a subtitler for live tv and one of the channels we covered happened to be sky F1 (so yeah i basically got paid to watch F1. it was great.) a few months of covering the 2013 season - the fabled "multi-21" season of seb and mark nearly killing each other - and i was hooked.

Do you enjoy Fanfic/RPF?: oh yes lmao.

How do you view new fans?: having survived the wilderness years where nobody gave a fuck about F1 and many of the fans were middle aged "well actually..." men, it fills me with joy to see so many younger and more diverse fans coming to the sport. sometimes i see takes that make it pretty clear there's a lack of understanding of the history or previous context of the sport, but so what? we all started somewhere.

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?: oh my god, i don't think i'd want to, it looks stressful as fuck lmao. i'd quite like to be a strategist though, if only i had any capacity for it. maybe for merc. i'd like to work under toto (ahem).

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?: yes! my mum, obviously. a lot of my non-F1 friends (i.e. friends i didn't meet through motorsports fandom) are also into it to varying degrees, and i'm lucky enough to have forced quite a big group of people on here into being my actual real life friends now too. i'm very lucky.

Are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?: yes!! i am not always brilliant at responding to DMs in a timely fashion (i get very easily overwhelmed when i have lots of unread messages lmao) but i love the anons in my inbox and it still makes me so happy when people send me messages saying something (...usually piss related lmao) reminded them of me 🥹

i feel like everyone has maybe been tagged already...? if not comment and i will tag u!

[idliketobeatree]

HIII 8 and 18 for the ask game <3

hi hello Leanne <3 sorry this is so late, and thank u for asking dearie!!

8. do you prefer season 1 or 2, and why?

oof that's a tough one, and i'm probably going to be in a minority here, but i prefer season 2, actually?

and not juuust because of the ineffable duo content. really! season 1 made sense, it was executed really well, following the book and introducing the characters that i've learned to know and like, and it was great, but also kinda uneven? like the pacing was very diluted. they dropped S1e03 Hard Times and then expected me to sit through Shadwell discussing witchfinder scamming with Newt. even good acting didn't stop me from hyperfixating on Them

now, season 2 is a whole other trip. you just get thrown into the middle of a 4-years-and-counting story that wraps around itself, changes POVs like gloves, leaves breadcrumbs of context and clears up absolutely nothing. it's like a fairytale to me. and the colors are so bright and you blink and Crowley's sitting on a throne in Hell basked in green and you blink again and they're having a casual bdsm apology dance on a Thursday morning. the whole Whickber Street has never looked more like a dollhouse. literally what' s going on

me on the left watching S2 for the first time. neil gaiman on the right

where's the logic where's the integrity where is Gabriel where is GOD. where is She???? oh look Aziraphale's on Blue's Clues. Crowley sleeps in his car? this would kill the 2019 fans from angst potential but luckily we have the most devastating damn kiss in the history of television to distract us from everything else!

i could go on and on and i understand why people don't like this season. i really do. but S2 was my brand of weird and unexplainable, and cheesy, and fanfic thropes, and chaos incarnate. all those metas could only grow in the aftermath of that particular tempest. if this is the bridge between S1 and S3? it's uh, flaming like anything

18. what is your favorite moment through history, and why?

besides going feral for 1941 i have an extremely weak spot for their first meeting in Eden. bible canon divergence for the win! other people have written it better, but i can't get enough of how much symbolism their choices held. they've barely set a foot (or belly) on Earth and immediately chose to love it. come on. you can't do it to ex-catholic girlies. not to mention David and Michael's unparalled chemistry.

((i'm also forever haunted by Crowley speaking of this moment in riddles like "they looked into each other's eyes and realized they were made for each other" what tf is wrong with him : ))

—

[good omens ask game]

[spencerreidswhore187]

Hi! I've seen you post a lot of pjo things as well as fanfics. Any chance you can write a solanegolo grumpy x sunshine fic?

You're amazing 🫶🫶🫶

Thank you 🫶🫶🫶

Stick Season - Solangelo

“So I thought that if I piled something good on all my bad / That I could cancel out the darkness I inherited from dad”

Pairings: Will Solace x Nico di Angelo

Word Count: 803 words

TW: Body dysmorphia

You can’t cover the mirrors in the car - it’s the only place that Nico couldn’t escape his reflection. 

All the mirrors in the 13th cabin had been covered, turned around or fractured. It had been that way for a while. Nico supposed that was what he liked about the underworld - it was dark. He could hide that way, he could allow himself to slip further and further into the abyss before it consumed him. There would be no more Nico that way, instead, he could just…be. 

Maybe then Will Solace would leave him alone; Nico could not risk Will’s warmth, his light, diluting the darkness. 

Jules-Albert drove slowly, sifting through the busy afternoon traffic. Nico pulled his knees tight to his chest, if he closed his eyes and allowed himself to dream, Nico could almost imagine he was holding someone else. 

The car window was open, the cold air played with his messy, dark locks. Nico could not pull his eyes away from his reflection. 

The longer he stared, the more he began to hate. He’d never noticed how sunken his eyes were or that gentle bump in the bridge of his nose. His cheeks had hollowed since the last time he stared upon himself, he looked more dead than Jules-Albert. 

He looked like his father: the god of the underworld. 

As they neared the camp, Nico started to worry about what Will would say when he saw him. 

Would Will notice the weight Nico had lost? Would he notice the change in the way he walked, with the weight of the world on his shoulders?

Was this how Percy felt holding up the sky for Annabeth? Was this what love felt like?

Would Will notice the tattoos Nico had gotten over Christmas, Bianca scribbled across his wrist and a sun over his heart? 

Nico was not good with people, no matter how hard he tried, he could never articulate quite what he was feeling. 

‘I love you’ turned into ‘I hate you.’ 

Sweet glances turned into eye rolls.

Nico would practice sentences in his head, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re incredible. He’d repeat them and repeat them, sounding out every syllable. But they’d always leave his mouth as insults. 

Nico was unlikable, Nico was weird, Nico was foolish. 

He didn’t know why he bothered trying, 

Nico Di Angelo was not made to be loved. He could offer up his heart a thousand times but Will would never even notice it was there, that it was his. 

Nico did not want to speak to any of the campers, he especially did not want to be anywhere near the Apollo Cabin. 

With his head glued to the ground, Nico walked, following the path to the Hades Cabin. 

Nico was not sure what he expected when he entered the cabin, but it was not the sun sat on his bunk. 

When Will spotted the shocked Nico in the doorway, he stumbled up, off the bed and strode straight towards him. 

The closer he got to Nico, the brighter Will seemed to glow. It was cute, Nico thought. He wanted to tell Will but he’d inevitably end up saying something stupid. 

Although, that might have been better than the stream of jumbled sounds that poured out of his mouth as Will aggressively poked Nico in the chest.

“Where in the Gods names have you been?” Will yelled.

“Erm-”

“I know you wanted to spend some time at Camp Jupiter but I thought you would at least reach out, send an iris message, a phone call or even shadow travel! But no! Radio silence!”

Nico wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Will was just so…Will. He was bright, he was happy, and he radiated warmth and love. He was the opposite of Nico and the dark shadow he lived in. 

Nico was terrified of contaminating Will’s joy. He had seen the way that the night sky swallows the sun. He couldn’t let himself extinguish Will’s light - even if he desperately wished for that light to banish his sorrows. 

When Nico first arrived at Camp Blood, all he wanted to do was avoid the Apollo kids. But then he saw William Solace and knew that it would be a losing battle. 

So when Will took Nico’s hand and began to drag him out of his cabin, Nico let him.

“You’re coming with me, death boy. One week helping out in the infirmary so I can keep an eye on you. Doctor’s orders.”

Nico grinned, tightening his grip on Will’s hand. 

He knew better than to say no.

Smiling for the first time in a while, Nico replied, “Si, mio sole.”