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boiolay · 4 years

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Paper Scribbles | Mark Lee

summary: the one mail that made him wish he did things differently | childhood bestfriends!au + idol!Mark

genre: fluff; angst

warnings: swearing

word count: 6K

"Mark! You've got mail."

It was already past midnight when they arrived at the dorm. After working the whole day on the choreography for the comeback, the only thing the boys wanted was to go to bed and sleep for as long as they could. Mark especially. He had been drained out of energy for being involved in so many activities, differents unities, choreographies, composing… He felt like his days had less hours than his members’ so everything else than work, at that moment could wait.

"Just leave it over the table. I'll take a look tomorrow." He mumbled rubbing his eyes as walked to his bedroom.

"I think you should take a look. It's from Canada."

He stopped as soon as he heard his home country. It wasn't unusual for him to receive mail from his parents, but they would always tell him they were sending something. He frowned trying to remember if his mother had said something and was almost sure she didn't, but he still turned around walking back to Taeyong letting his curiosity take over him.

"Thanks, hyung."

"Don't take too long, Markie."

Mark nodded taking the brown envelope from his hands before the older walked away. Plopping down on the couch, he twirled it around searching for the sender's address. He didn't have a clue where that was, it was definitely from Canada, but the place written on the paper didn't ring any bells from who it could be.

Until he found your name.

He widened his eyes and held his breath as he read the name printed on the paper a few more times checking if he wasn't just imagining. It had been years since he last heard of you. And seeing your name written by a handwriting that wasn't his was making his heart do things that he didn’t know it could do again.

During all those years he hasn't heard of you. But you were in every little thing that surrounded him. You were on his reflection in the mirror every time he saw the little scar under his chin from when the two of you were trying to learn how to skate. You were in the black socks that he wore because you always told him the white ones were lame. You were in the stars in the sky that you used to stare as you laid on the grass from his backyard on a weekday when you were supposed to be studying. And especially, you were in the lyrics of every song he wrote.

Seeing it, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to the days when you were his partner in crime. When everyone in the neighborhood knew that when one of you were seen alone you were planning something. When his parents knew that if he wasn't on his bedroom at a friday night, he would be at yours. When he thought you were gonna be forever.

It was probably a summer morning when you met. It has been so long that neither of you remembered, and it didn't actually matter. The two of you only knew that you meet in a playground, you weren't even three yet, Mark was feeling too shy to join the other kids on the sand box, so you walked up to him and offered your favorite cookie, asking him to be your friend. Your mother once told him you wouldn't share it with anyone but him. Well, he took a bite from it and threw it on the floor. It made you cry, but as soon as he saw tears rolling down your cheeks, he felt bad and hugged you. That was when your friendship started, and little did you know that you would never leave each other's side. At least until you were fifteen.

You were together in every memory he had from his childhood. When you started preschool, your teachers instantly fell in love with the two of you. On your first day, you came hand in hand. He had a red cap that was almost big enough to cover his eyes and you had your pigtails bouncing as you made your way to the class. You had the biggest grins on your lips, you were the only kids in the whole class that didn’t throw a tantrum to leave their parents, after all, you had each other. There was no way your teachers wouldn't fall in love at the sight of you comforting the other children. They only found out that the duo meant trouble when, a week later, in art class, you would replace your canvas with each other's faces. At the time that idea of having pink all over your face sounded just right. It would match your dress!

Another episode that warned what was yet to come was when you were caught trying to sneak your pet rabbit into the school trip. Mark helped you to put it on his bag so you could bring it to meet it's cousins at the zoo. Your plan failed when Mark opened his backpack to put his lunch on it on your way to the school and the rabbit jumped out. Your moms had to hold back their laughters as they tried to scold both of you.

You wouldn’t stay away from each other even when you were grounded. Whenever your parents tried to punish you for misbehavior or something, you always found a way to be with each other. Once he was grounded because he was caught eating candy in the middle of the night, and that made his parents not let him leave the house in the following day. In the next morning, they woke up to Mark laying on his belly on the entrance hall happily kicking his legs with the door wide open. As his dad walked further to investigate what was going on, he saw you on the porch in the same position as the two of you drew and talked. Mr. Lee just shook his head grinning before inviting you to breakfast. Mark didn't disobey his parents, after all he didn't leave his house.

Mark was really found of all those memories, even though some were told by his parents and others he remembered vaguely, he treasured every moment he had with you. As he grew up, his memories became gradually more defined so as he could remember the details of them, they also became more meaningful to him.

He was able to remember, for example, you giving him a bouquet of red flowers and wearing a dress of the same colour the night he played the flute on his band for the first time, he had felt so happy to have you clapping excitedly at his performance. Or even when you spent the whole night helping him finish his biology project that was due the next morning even though you had an english test the same day. Of course he didn’t know that, otherwise he would have never asked for your help, but when a friend in common told him that, he remembered feeling guilty and selfish. So he bought your favorite ice cream with his lunch money and stood in front of your class waiting for you to leave, ready to comfort and apologize to you. For his surprise, you came out smiling.

“Didn’t you fail?” You laughed throwing your head back before reaching to take the cup out of his hands and linking your arm with his.

“You think too low of me, Mark Lee.” He sighed relieved smiling while you made your way back home chatting. Little did he know that you, in fact, failed, but seeing him waiting for you made it feel like nothing.

One memory that repeated itself every year, but became more clear in his mind as he grew up was when the two of you would run between the sprinklers of your front yard in the summer, laughing and purposely getting wet to cope with the hot weather. These were his favorite memories. It was something that first happened when the two of you were still little and your parents were too distracted with the barbecue party to notice you sneaking out. When they did, you were in the middle of the lawn giggling and running away from the water jets with your chubby feet. Mark recaled the same scene a few years later, the two of you just a little older with the same happy smiles on your lips. This time, you were being chased by your siblings and were big enough to know how to use a water gun. The last time it happened, always brought a grin to Mark’s lips, all the details were clear as day.

He ran after you with the smile he always had whenever you were around, you also ran, but away from him. You screamed for him to leave you alone, but the laugher that would come out of your mouth every time he came close to catch you told him you didn't actually mean any of that.

“I’m serious, Mark! I don’t want to get wetter than I am!” You shouted at him as you faced each other from opposite sides of the sprinkles, you laughed at him resting your hands on your knees. You two were panting from all the running, but you couldn’t be happier.

“Too bad you will, loser.” He smirked at you and jumped through the jets to get to you. A surprised yelp left your lips, but you reached to take the hose that was just behind you and splashed it on his face. He coughed surprised when the water hit his eyes and you turned it off as soon as you heard him, your eyes widened and your mouth agape as you watched him recover from your sudden attack. As Mark rubbed his eyes, you walked closer to him trying to hold back your laughter with the hose still in hands. You touched his back that was turned to you and caressed it softly talking with the sweetest voice, knowing he couldn’t get mad to you when you did that.

“Oi, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to-” At that moment, he turned around and jumped on top of you making you fall on the ground. You wiggled under him to try to pull him away, but he held your wrist pinning you down so you couldn’t move. He smirked taking the hose from you and splashing all over you, finally getting his revenge.

“You son of a bitch!” “Yah! Don’t curse my mother!”

He laughed as stared at you pouting with your red cheeks and your hair all wet spread on the grass. He couldn’t think of a moment when you looked more beautiful.

“I’m sorry. I forgot it’s not your mother’s fault you are an idiot.” You flashed him a teasing grin that in just a few seconds turned into a genuine smile. You stared at his sparkling eyes and soft smile that always made your heart skip a beat. His hair was all messy and wet and you couldn’t help, but run your fingers through his strands. He closed his eyes enjoying your sweet touch leaning his head closer to you.

“Yeah, but you still love this idiot.” He whispered and when opened his eyes to stare back at you lovingly, you grinned leaning up to rub your lips against his and whispered before kissing him slowly and tenderly.

“Well, you are not wrong.”

Besides the good memories you shared, you have always been there for each other, in the good and bad moments. Like when he broke his arm and you did all his homework for three weeks, or when your grandmother passed away and he was there to wipe all your tears. But like in every friendship, you did have a lot of fights, mostly petty ones.

Once you tried to cut your own fringe and ended with just a tuft of hair on the top of your forehead, when he saw it he laughed so hard he felt on the floor out of breath. You gave him the cold shoulder for the next two days. That was until, after your soccer practice, you forgot you were supposed to be mad at him and stormed into his bedroom with your cap still on talking happily about the goals you’ve made. He looked at you puzzled as you laid beside him on the bed, you frowned at his confused face, but soon remembered you were not talking to him. And when you were about to stand up to leave, you saw him smirk and point his chin to your head.

“Nice cap.” You punched him on the arm, but couldn’t hold back a smile.

“Shut up.”

Another one was when you gave him spoilers of the new Spider-Man movie. He knew it wasn’t your intention, but he so wanted to see for himself that when you told him about the ending scene he ignored you for a whole day. He only accepted your apologies when you said you would go see the movie with him and would pay for the popcorn. In a minute it was all forgotten.

You were fourteen when you confessed. Neither of you knew when the romantic feelings towards the other appeared. They were just there, hidden, until it bloomed like a flower in the spring, always ready to pop up just waiting for the right moment. It didn’t surprised him tho. It had always been you, just the two of you. Maybe it sprang up was when you held him a little tighter than the other times when he came home from a trip with his family.

It had been over a month since he had gone to the middle of nowhere, you didn’t talk during that time because he had no access to internet. Of course he missed you, you were everyday with him, how wouldn’t he? What he didn’t expected was that when you came running to him, just a few minutes after they parked the car in the garage, his heart would go on loops. He saw you coming his way with the brightest smile on your lips, your yellow flowered summer dress floating around you and your hair fluttering, for some reason he froze on his spot as watched you come.

Has she always been that beautiful?

He only came back to his senses when your body hit on his almost knocking him down on the ground. He automatically wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly against him not wanting to let you go and hoping you wouldn’t hear the drums inside his chest. When you pulled away, too soon, he stared at you with shining big eyes and you smiled shyly under his gaze.

“Hi.”

“You grew taller.” It was only then that he noticed he had to look down to talk to you now. He just nodded, lost of words, as you kept looking at the changes on the other. You stayed like that, secretly admiring each other’s features until his brother cleared his throat beside you.

“Are the lovebirds gonna help or we’ll have to wait until the wedding?” He was used to people teasing you like that, but you would always shrug it off or roll your eyes. However, this time it felt different. He saw you blush and mumble saying that you would help his mother before walking inside the house, he felt his ears burn and widened his eyes at his brother making the older laugh.

Or maybe it was when he said 'i love you' after you gave him a bowl full of watermelon on one of your movie nights. You would always tell each other that, but that time it had a different meaning. It didn't held the same teasing tone as before. He had said it with so much tenderness and had the softest look on his eyes. It was such a usual moment, the two of you just chilling in the living room, you wearing his hoodie even being summer. You have said it was a bit chilly outside, but later he would find out that you liked to be surrounded by his scent.

It just felt right to say at that moment. And he did it.

You just smiled extending him the bowl, ready to say it back like everytime you did something to him. But when you looked down at him he saw you freeze for a moment as you stared deeply in each other’s eyes. The same words you would always tell the other felt completely different now. And you could tell which that meaning was by his eyes that shined and overflowed with affection, admiration and love. When you smiled shyly with your cheeks tinted bright red and sat beside him, closer than you would before, he knew you were alright.

"I love you too, Mark."

And it was just like that. You confessed to each other in the most intimate, yet innocent way it could have happened. And you knew. There was no need for other words. You reached over to lay your hand between the two of you and he gently placed his own on top of yours with a smile on his lips and his heart beating wild. He looked at you with the corner of his eyes and saw the most beautiful smile on your face as he laced your fingers together.

Not long after that you shared your first kiss. You guys were too shy and flushed to do it before, but just like the rest of your relationship, it just happened.

He was walking you home after your first official date, or, after going for some ice cream. It was like before, but now he could hold your hand whenever he felt like. When you got to your front door, he reluctantly let go of your hand and pressed his lips together standing in front of you. He shifted his weight from one side to the other and saw you playing with your feet as looked everywhere but him. You both felt what was about to happen. Mark was nervous and he knew you also were, after all, neither of you had any experience in anything that was happening.

He cleared his throat softly and wiggled his body back and forth moving his gaze to you.

“So… I’ll come tomorrow. And we can go to the pool or try that muffin recipe you found…?” “Cool. That’s cool for me.”

“Cool.” When you raised your head to look at him, he chuckled softly noticing you had a little bit of ice cream on your chin. How cliché, he thought.

“You complain that I’m a messy eater, but look at you.” With a warm smile, he stepped forward and held your jaw with one hand while the other gently rubbed the stain out of your skin. Your faces were closer than they have ever been. Mark saw the blush on your cheeks, but didn’t say anything as he felt the blood flood his. He stared at your wide shining eyes and you both couldn’t held back a smile. All the anxiousness from before completely dissipating as you drowned on each other’s eyes, he suddenly felt at peace. Feeling your breath against his skin, he closed his eyes. The only thing he remembered after that was his lips on yours.

It was... weird, but good weird. It was wet, there was too much tongue, teeth meeting more than it should. It wasn't his fault, neither yours, that’s just how everyone’s first kisses are. But yours felt just right. The way he held you tightly, like he was holding the world on his hands. The way he caressed your face tenderly. The way you held his hair, gently pulling him closer to you. The way you smiled against each other’s lips and giggled. The way your heartbeats synchronized into one.

After you pulled away, eyes still closed, you just stood there with your arms around each other and beaming smiles on your faces. When Mark opened his eyes, he met yours, you have never seen his eyes shining so bright like that. You exchanged your goodbyes and he hugged you one last time pressing a sweet kiss on your forehead before crossing the street. He was on cloud nine and so were you.

Nobody was surprised when they found out you were dating. In fact, almost everyone you knew seemed to have made a bet on when the two of you would get together. Mark realized that when saw his brother giving yours twenty dollars, he had bet that Mark would only grow some balls to ask you out after you started dating someone else and your brother had bet that he would be your first kiss. Said and done.

Your parents were thrilled when you told the. Although all of them knew you were eventually end up dating, your father was hoping it would take a little more time, but that didn't stop him from inviting Mark over just to ‘hang out’ as he used to say, even when you were busy. He told Mark that he felt like his second son and couldn't’ have wished for someone else to be with his little girl. He really enjoyed spending time with your father too, he felt like he belonged to the family even more. The only one that wasn't very keen of the two of them together was you, he would always laugh when you argued with your dad saying that Mark was your boyfriend, not his.

Besides that, our relationship was much like any other. You had dates everyday, they wouldn’t always be going to amusement parks or to the cinema, most of them were the two of you sitting down while Mark played his guitar, or doing your homework in silence enjoying each other’s presence. The time you would spend just the two of you immersed in your own world was his favorite type of date.

One that he treasured was when the two of you had just finished your exams in school, he knew how stressed you were so he decided that you had to chill out a bit. He took two of the biggest blankets he could find and as much pillows as he could carry and ran across the street with his hands full. Since he basically lived in your house he didn't bother ringing the bell, he walked to your backyard and settled the things down on the grass and sent you a text that said “ i’m by the pool. bring doritos.”

He watched as the lights of your bedroom were turned off and smiled to himself as he laid down on top of the pillows. When you came to meet him, you had a side smile on your lips and were already in your pajamas.

“What is this?” He grinned brightly and reached for your hand, that you gladly held, pulling you down to lay beside him.

“This is me making you stop overthinking your grades.” You rolled your eyes playfully, but followed his lead and snuggled him under the blanket.

You talked for hours. About the most silly things, your deepest desires and fears, you were each other’s safe place. At one point of the night, he was talking about whatever while staring at the stars, but you had found a much more interesting sight. You were on your side facing Mark and had your head rested on your hand, you couldn't help a smile as you stared at his profile. You couldn’t tell, but Mark saw your eyes roam every feature of his face, his almost defined apple cheeks, his pink pretty lips, his little nose…

“Are you even listening to me?” He giggled when turned to face you and meet your mesmerized eyes. You shook your head lightly before smirking softly.

“I was not. It’s not my fault you distract me.” He laughed throwing his head back and clapping his hands as he felt a little blush creeping on his cheeks, but he moved to lay on his side to face you. You reached a hand and touch his face caressing every part you had been staring, rubbing his cheek, bopping his nose, what made he giggle more, contouring his lips with your thumb, but when you locked eyes he heard a sight leave your lips.

"I love your eyes, you know..." You blurted out. "I mean, I love all of you, but your eyes... They have a special place in my heart." You chuckled and stopped your hand on his apple cheek caressing it gently. He grinned widely and reached to hold your hand intertwining your fingers.

"Is that so? Why?"

"They sparkle. I feel like i can see your soul looking at them. They shine. Just like your soul, Mark. And you have such a beautiful one, baby.”

Those words stuck to him until now and whenever someone complimented his eyes he thought of you.

One thing he was grateful for was how much support you gave him. You were always there for him, supporting him no matter what, hyping him when he was feeling down and doing your best to make him happy. It was even you who he told first about the SM audition that was going to happen. You quickly ran to his house to make sure he had typed his informations correctly in the enrollment paper. He was still uncertain if he should try, he was very insecure of his abilities and just the thought of leaving for the other side of the world made his heart ache, but he just let you think that his hesitations were because of his insecurities.

“Mark! You are amazing. I've already told you this a thousand times! There's nothing to worry about. You are so talented... They are gonna love you. And if they don’t, first their loss. Second, this is just a try out, it’s just the beginning, love. Your life won’t end because you failed one audition. Okay? Have some faith in yourself!”

You skipped school to go with him to the audition. His brother offered to drive Mark so you could join since his parents would have asked if yours had allowed you to come, the answer would have been no. During the whole ride to the city center, Mark had his legs shaking frenectly. You tried to sooth him by holding his hand and caressing the back of it, but he was too nervous, not even your touches could make him calm down.

Once his brother parked the car he felt his heart stop. Mark was so tense that he didn't remember much of what happened after that. He knew his brother had talked the whole time you were waiting, making jokes to try to make him laugh and you hadn’t let go of his hand even for one second. He was glad you were there to reassure him even if it was just by squeezing his hand.

At some point he was told by the staff that he had to go alone from there. He sighed deeply and nodded at his brother and you, if he wasn't so terrified the would have laughed, it looked like you were the one auditioning. You let go of his hand and offered him a smile, he turned around to walk inside, but after a few steps he felt your hand on his arm, meeting your gently eyes when he turned back.

“Hey. Before you get in. I just want to say how proud I am of you. I can't put in words how amazing and talented you are. Just trust in yourself, Mark. You are gonna shine more than the brightest star in the sky. And i'll always stand by your side no matter what happens.” You winked and gave him your brightest smile. “Now go get them.”

That was all what he needed to regain his confidence.

The results came a week later.

When he told you the news you screamed and laughed like never before, hugging him so tight that he had to ask you to loose it a bit. You had told him how happy and proud you were of him and gave him a little lecture about how he should trust himself more, but soon was kissing all over his face again. Before you left to go home, he thought he had seen a different shade on your eyes, but he shrugged it off at that time.

The time he had to say his goodbyes and pack was way too short. He tried to stay as much as he could with you, but he had a ton of things to do before leaving to Korea it made hard for you to have some time alone. He was feeling bad because he felt like he wasn’t giving the attention you deserved, but you reasured him that it was alright, that you understood why that was happening and that you would be with him even if he just had two minutes to talk to you.

On the day before he would go to Korea he took to spend it only with you, he took you to a walk on the park, bought you your favorite ice cream, took you to the little playground where you met and didn't let go of your hand. It didn't even feel like he was leaving, he was so happy to be able to make you laugh and look at your bright eyes that he forgot why he was doing that.

He only remembered it later that day when he heard you on the sleepover you were having at his house. Neither of you were supposed to sleep, so you could spend more time together, but he closed his eyes and felt asleep. He woke up a few minutes later when heard the bathroom door close followed by your quiet sobbs. He realized how difficult it was for you to let him go. He knew you were happy for him, but he could understand what you were going through. Having your best friend in life that it’s also your boyfriend to move to the other side of the world while you had no choice, but sit back and watch, it breaks anyone's heart. He didn't think he could be so selfless if he was in your shoes. All the times when he thought about becoming an artist he saw you by his side, but he realized that you always somehow knew that wouldn't be possible, that you couldn’t be part of that. Even so, you were there supporting him, wanting him to pursue his dreams, to be happy, even if that meant that you would have to let him go.

Just by hearing your shaky breath he could tell you were trying to control your emotions, but every time you would inspire, a loud sobb would come out from your chest. It was too painful hearing you break like that. He barged in the bathroom what made you quickly try to put a smile on your face and hide your sadness, but failed. He just pulled you into his chest and buried his face on your neck letting his own tears flow down his cheeks while you resumed crying, this time on his arms. Once you were calmer, he brought you to the couch where you hugged each other for the whole night while he caressed your hair and whispered on your ear sweet nothings and promises that he didn’t know he could keep.

You didn't come to the airport with him in the next day. You had told him that you prefered to say your goodbye on your street when you could pretend he was just going on a trip. He had laughed, but felt his heart ache. When the time came, you tried not to look at him, he knew you didn't want him to see you cry again, he knew you wanted to be strong for him, but he held your face to make you stare at him, he wanted to look into your eyes since he didn't know the next time he would be able to do it.

You didn't need to say a lot of words to make him understand everything you wanted to tell. He pulled you to a last tight hug staying like that for a few minutes. Eventually, he had to pull away since his parents were telling him they should go. He held your face between his hands, eyes roaming around your features like he was trying to engrave the sight of you on his brain.He let go of you with a nod once he felt tears start to rush to his eyes. As he was about to enter the car, you held his hand catching his attention. You walked to be in front of him and leaned up to press your lips gently against him.

“I’m really proud of you. And I love you.”

And then he left to Korea to chase his dreams, leaving the love of his life behind.

All those memories, those intense moments brought a sad smile to his lips and made tears well up on his eyes. He sighed deeply rubbing his hands on his face and trying to put himself back together after those old feelings that had come intensely over him all at once. Even after so long you had the same effect on Mark as before.

Yes, of course he dated after you. He fucked around, he was at his peak of popularity, there were girls falling on his feet, he tried to forget you, he tried to find someone with whom he could share his life. But none of them felt right the way you did. He couldn't help comparing them to you and none of them came even close to be as special as you were. Even if his head wanted to let go of you, his heart wouldn't . He couldn't love them the way he loved you. The way he loves you.

Mark stared at the brown envelope on his hands and twirled it one last time before opening with trembling hands. Inside there was another envelope, but this time it was a pretty white paper sealed with a golden wax. He turned around to look at the back and he read his own name written in your elegant handwriting, just like in the notes you would leave around his bedroom or on his notebooks. He smiled fondly and ran his finger over his name feeling warmth spread on his chest. Soon, after letting his thoughts run to you again, he left out a shaking breath before finally breaking the seal and pulling another paper from inside, his heart beating wildly on his chest.

As soon as his eyes met the first words he froze. His heart sank. Feeling a bitter taste on his mouth he read the golden letters over and over, but couldn't believe. Or didn't want to. He only realized he was crying when some words on the bottom of the paper were becoming blurry. He dropped the papers on his lap and rubbed his eyes trying to get rid of the excess of tears on his eyes. His mind was blank. How could that have happened? How he could have let that happen?

He the papers once again, but this time he noticed something that he didn't have before.

At the back of the paper, on the top corner written on a red pen that didn’t match the golden letters printed on the paper there was a inscription scrambled on your handwriting. He couldn't help sobbing when he finished reading. It said:

“My love, i confess, i’m getting married, but the love of my life was and it’s always gonna be you. Yours, ___ .”

author’s note: so....??? i loved writting this so much, but i cried so hard at the end. I would really really really love to read what you guys thought of it. And if you came until here, thank you so much!!! <3

664 notes · View notes

vhsrights · 4 years

Note

MORE MOMILY BUT WITH A baby girl??? ;-;

this was super fun to write!! thank you :)

An Unusual Canvas

WC: 1794

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The soft footfalls of the little girl running on hardwood echoed against the walls. Her dark, silky curls bounced around her shoulders, flying freely behind her. Eyes full of sparkle, the girl was focused on her task. Small fingers grasped tighter around the brushes in her hand. She had to make sure that she got everything that her mama had asked for.

“Leia? Bird? Is that you?” The older woman was turned to face the far wall, her body perking up at the click of the doorjamb.

“Mama! I got the bushes!” The little girl lowered off of her tiptoes and pushed the door open.

“Brushes, Bird, they’re called brushes. Thank you. Are you ready?” The girl enthusiastically offered her hand forward, teeming with bristled brushes, to Emily.

Emily turned around and beamed at her daughter. Today, JJ was going out to run errands and Emily was going to paint Leia’s room. Well, she’d had a better idea but JJ didn’t need to know about that just yet. The girl in front of her somehow had managed to look like a spitting image of herself and her wife. That was one of the perks of being able to pick your donor, she believed.

“Br-bru-brushes.” The girl sounded the word out slowly, just like her Mommy had done when she taught her how to say “snack”. “Look, Mama, I said it! Brushes! Yeah, I wanna paint.”

Emily nodded zealously at the girl’s accomplishment and noted the twinkle in her eye. It was one that she saw in JJ’s when the blonde was focused on a task. She took the brushes from Leia and sprawled them on the dark mat that covered the light carpet. Turning to her side, she pulled the two paint cans close to the brushes, creating their “painting station”. Leia excitedly clapped her hands, ready to paint.

“Okay, so we are going to paint your room a nice yellow color. Then, I have a special surprise for you. Does that sound good?” When she received a staggering yes, Emily turned her attention back to the light, yellow paint can.

The girl nodded her head and pushed back her sleeves, copying Emily. She beckoned the little girl to her, spinning her around to pull her hair into a loose ponytail. They didn’t need paint getting in Leia’s hair too. Walking back to her spot on the wall, Leia clapped her hands. It was now time to paint. The floor was safely covered and the girls had everything they needed.

Emily reached over and handed Leia a wide, dark-bristled brush. She popped open the tin of paint, tediously demonstrating to Leia how to dip her brush in and remove the excess paint on the side. Leia’s eyes followed her every move and took in every detail. JJ and Emily had understood that her observation and logic skills were highly developed since she was a baby, making things more interesting for them. Mimicking her Mama’s motions, Leia got a large glob of paint on her brush. She looked over at Emily, hesitant to make the first mark.

“Together, Bird.” Emily held hope in her eyes, pushing Leia to smile as they simultaneously touched their brushes to the wall.

“Look, Mama! I’m doing it!” Her brushstrokes were even as she artfully glided her brush against the wall. She squealed out of excitement.

“Wow, Bird, that’s great. Why don’t we cover a little bit more with yellow before I tell you about the surprise?” Emily glanced over at the girl’s work, impressed at her proficiency. A natural artist, JJ will love that. “Just do that little bit by your knees and then we can stop with the yellow.”

“Okay, Mama.” Leia’s eyebrows furrowed and her tongue stuck out a little bit as she focused on her painting once more. Emily admired her daughter while setting down her own wide brush, selecting smaller brushes, and bringing the other paint forward.

“I’m done.” The little girl set down her brush and looked expectantly at Emily. “Surprise time?”

“Yes, Bird, surprise time. I know this is your room, and you picked the yellow, so I had an idea. We can do something to make the room really pretty and then show Mommy when she gets home. Do you want to draw butterflies with me?” Emily beamed at her daughter, knowing how much JJ would love the butterflies on the wall.

“Butterfly?” It took Leia a little bit of time to process. “Yeah, I wanna do it, Mama! We can make the room pretty for Mommy.”

“Sounds great, Bird. Okay then, pick a color to paint with. Do you want blue or red?” She gestured to the paint cans in front of the little girl.

“Blue! Blue! Mommy loves blue and I do too, so I wanna paint with blue.” Leia bounced up and down excitedly, teeming with new energy at the thought of drawing butterflies.

Emily and Leia giggled as they set up to draw their butterflies. Both took smaller brushes and carefully brought their paint to where they needed it. Leia sat on the ground beside Emily, eyeing her mama for directions on what to do.

“Okay, Bird, the first thing you’re gonna do is get some black and make a small, fat line like this.” The woman cautiously made the middle of the butterfly, making sure the paint didn’t run. She then turned her attention to what Leia was doing. “Perfect, just like that. You can stop it there.”

Guiding the little girl, Emily helped her draw the curved outline of each wing. They went slowly, monitoring the inching paintbrush extremely carefully. Satisfied with each exaggerated curve, Emily and Leia admired each of their butterfly outlines. Emily’s was heavily intricate, exhibiting multiple patterns and intricate lines. Every delicate stroke popped against the light wall, making Emily that much more excited to show JJ.

“Bird, are you ready to dry it? I have to use the hairdryer so that it’s not wet when we add your blue and my red.” Emily inquired the young girl was examining her dark outline on the wall. “I have it right here so we can put it on high and do it quickly.”

“Okay, Mama. You can dry it. I wanna add the blue.”

Leia backed away from the wall as Emily plugged in the dryer to the nearby outlet. The dryer was loud but it was efficient. Leia giggled at the warm, high-powered heat and decided to blow on the wall as well to help the process. Emily’s eyes filled with tears of laughter at her daughter’s adorable behavior. Several minutes passed and eventually the wall was dry.

“Mama, I dried it. Look, the butterfly is hot.”

“Yes, Bird, you did! Alright, now let’s add your blue and my red. Are you ready?”

“Mhmm. Let’s do it, Mama.”

Leia and Emily simultaneously dipped their brushes into their paint, eyeing the butterflies on the wall. Letting out a deep sigh, Leia followed Emily and put her first line of paint. She had been doing coloring books since she was a kid and staying in the lines had never been a problem for her. It may have been a shock to JJ and Emily, but this was the big leagues. No mess-ups were really allowed. The girl’s eyebrows furrowed once more, her tongue barely poking out from between her lips as she carefully added the blue to the yellow wall.

She had just finished a piece of the left-wing when she accidentally hit her brush against Emily’s arm. The blue was vibrant against her pale skin, the streak covering a part of her forearm. Leia froze and looked up to her Mama in surprise. Her lips moved to quickly form an “O”, not knowing what to say.

Emily didn’t look mad at her, so what was going to happen? The amusement on the brunette’s face intensified as she formed a plan. Opening all of the paint tins had already left residual pain on her hands, some accumulating perfectly on the tip of her pointer finger. Taking advantage of her daughter’s shock and letting her childish nature take over, Emily quickly bopped Leia’s nose.

The paint was cool against her nose and it took Leia a full 5 seconds to register what Emily had done. She crossed her eyes in hopes of seeing what had happened to her nose and spotted the paint.

“Mama, my nose is red! You put red on my nose.” Leia spoke with surprise lacing her voice. Emily tried her best to keep her laughter from bursting out.

“I did, Bird. You look like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.” Emily joked lightly as she tilted her head, examining Leia’s nose more.

“Rudoff? He looks funny.”

With that, Leia dissolved into giggles. She decided to copy Emily and touched the end of her brush. Taking quick and unsteady steps forward, attempting to bop Emily’s nose. She missed and her paint-laden finger gave her a blue cheek instead.

“Leia! Oh, come here you.” Emily laughed and grabbed Leia, who squealed as Emily took her thumb and ran it in a curved line across her forehead.

The two had gotten lost in their antics enough that they missed the sound of JJ’s shoes clicking against the hardwood. The blonde heard the two’s chuckles from down the hallway and wondered what was so funny. Emily was supposed to be painting Leia’s room. So what had they gotten into?

“Guys? What are you two doing?” JJ asked as she pushed the door open.

Emily and Leia froze. Mommy’s home. Without another thought, Emily turned the little girl around and held her up to JJ.

“Look, Jen. Simba.” The brunette looked slightly ridiculous sitting on the ground, their 5-year-old held up in her hands. Leia didn’t understand what just happened.

“What?”

“Simba,” Emily repeated herself with mirth on her face.

“You’re such a goof. Leia, what were you guys doing?” JJ turned to ask their daughter, knowing that Emily would not tell her what she wanted to hear.

“Making butterflies for you, Mommy. See, I made the blue one.” Leia dropped to the ground and pointed to her painting on the wall.

JJ almost gasped out of shock. Her first thought was to worry, but knowing Emily and how much she cared for Leia, there soon wasn’t a doubt in her mind that everything had been done correctly. The paintings were beautiful and so was her family.

“Aww, baby. They look so cute! Here, I’ll help you and we can put more butterflies on the wall.” JJ took off her shoes and coat, lowering to the ground on the other side of Leia. Giving Emily one loving glance, the family giggled and returned to their painting.

#writing #jemily #momily #userjemilyology #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #leia prentiss jareau #canvas #painting #fluff #they're a family #prompt #mc content hours

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kaylathekittykat225 · 4 years

Text

Tears in the Heart // Steve Harrington X Wheeler!Reader

Warning/s: language, angst, fluff? Flufting? Flirting? I don’t know man. I just went into a frenzy writing.

Word Count: Y’all it keeps getting going, I need to be stopped; 25k. I am sorry, I got excited

Guys, y’all are egging me on to write angst, and angst is my love somehow, don’t stop. And it’s all fine that angst is how I write, that and slow burrrrrrrrrn! Okay go onto reading.

This one was requested by gwenandtheunfortunatename

Hey!! I just love your writing and long fics!!! Can u do one where the reader is a female!Wheeler reader and feels invisible with her family but actually has a few friends in school? Nancy and Steve are dating but then he slowly starts to notice how she doesn’t treat her sister well (maybe the reader is missing from school one day?) or doesn’t pay attention so it becomes a concern for him or someth??

Here’s my Masterlist.

Enjoy.

—–

Watching paint dry was always the most infuriating thing, especially for you as someone who was so excited for the first layer of paint to dry so that you could start applying the next layer or just wanting your beautiful art piece to be done so you could feel accomplished with what you just did. Watching paint dry was an infuriating task, and yet here you were, dancing around your room to the music your radio was blasting for you while you continued to wait for the first layer of what you were painting to dry enough so as not to smudge.

Some great artists prefer to work even through the wet paint: Monte used it to blend two colors together seamlessly, Van Gogh used it to have the colors stand out more when he used the globs of paint to add dimension to the canvas, Bob Ross used the wet paint to ring out the true beauty of the world and showing how colors don’t stand out, but truly blend in together.

You worked differently than those guys, for one thing you weren’t a famous painter like they were. But you couldn’t stand mixing colors together from different layers. The composition looked messy when you tried doing it, so you knew you felt more comfortable with layering and drying paint on top of itself. Just was not the thing for you.

The song changed and a grin grew on your face as you heard the guitar riff opening and felt a rush of energy surging through you. Your paint brush was held in your mouth between your teeth and your dancing started back up again as you cranked the volume up a little louder to get the entire room shaking. The music was so loud, and you were so in the zone of mixing up your next shade of reddish pink that you didn’t hear someone screaming at you about the volume of your radio. They noticed when your volume went up and that you weren’t noticing their calling your name.

You didn’t notice them until they turned off your radio entirely and tried calling your name again. “Y/N.” Your name was called again, this time it startled you to the point that you let out a small scream that let you drop your paint brush from your mouth and strike the ground. Spinning to face your radio, you saw your mother staring at you with a look on her face that you often received when you did something wrong. “It’s almost midnight, Y/N. Holly and Michael are in bed, where you should be, and your sister is trying to study for an exam tomorrow. Now is not the time for you to let the entire neighborhood hear what you are listening to.”

“Sorry, mom.” You grabbed your paint brush off the ground and looked back up to see your mother had been replaced by your older sister. “Sorry I disturbed your studying. What class is it for?” While you asked your question, you worked on moving your easel from the middle of your room to one of the corners while also chucking your paints into a box along with your brushes.

When your sister didn’t answer, you looked up at her to see her just staring at you from the door. She had this little smile on her face, one that didn’t show any emotion though. “Oh, it’s not like you care about my test. All you worry about is your art and painting. Next time, at least put on some better music, not your shitty trash.” And with that, she shut the door behind her with a flick of her hair over her shoulder as she left.

You finished cleaning up after your paint dance, not giving too much thought to what she said to you as you pulled your sweater over your head and changed into your pajamas. Comments like that have been a common back and forth between the two of you ever since you entered high school with Nancy.

Maybe it was something to remind you that you were a year younger and she knew her way around the school better than you did. Honestly why she was doing this was unknown to you, so you just rolled with it. She never said anything mean or anything like that, just…

You shook your head as you pushed your covers back and slid into bed, getting ready to pull your lamp cord when there was a loud thud coming from your window. Instinct told you to ignore it and just go to sleep leaving whatever outside your window outside, it was most likely a squirrel who ran into the glass of your window while trying to get back onto its nest.

And you tried. You did click your lamp off and pulled your covers up to your chin, letting your eyes fall shut as you worked on falling asleep for tomorrow's day. As soon as your eyes were closed however, another tap rattled your window, and something was making noises outside the glass. “Just ignore it.” That was your mantra for the time being as you did so, pretending the sound wasn’t there and that you could just. Fall. Asleep.

Tap tap tap. “Dammit.” You groaned while throwing the blankets off you, following your intuition through the dark room to where your window should be, having forgotten to send the light back through the room as your annoyed self walked closer to the window. “I’m going to kill this fucking squirrel and eats its nu-” Your rant to yourself was interrupted as soon as you forced your blinds open and you saw a face staring back at you in the darkness outside.

A shriek left your mouth as you took a step backwards, stumbling away from the horrifying sight of someone staring back at you in the night. The face itself jumped back ever so slightly from where it was pressed against your window when it saw you too.

The two of you stared at each other for a few more seconds before you recognized who the hell was staring into your bedroom window. It was your sister’s boyfriend, Steve Fricking Harrington. Why the hell was he staring into your window?

Pulling open your window, you looked over at your clock and saw that it was midnight, stating this to the boy who was hanging from your window frame, his fingertips turning red from holding on. “Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Snow White. I’m sorry I didn’t want to fall to my death.” His voice came out strained as he moved to pull himself into your window.

“Whoa! I didn’t say you could come in! What are you doing on my windowsill? Stop climbing in my window!” Your voice was a whisper that also counted as yelling as you tried stopping him from entering your room, not to much avail though. “Harrington, what what are you doing here?!”

“Shut up, Wheeler.” Steve finished coming through the window, somehow finding a way to trip as his foot finished coming through, falling into you and sending the two of you down to the floor. “Jesus, Wheeler, sorry to say, but I do have a girlfriend. You are being very forward though.” From where you were laying on the floor with him kneeling over you on all fours, Harrington had this shit eating grin on his face which caused a slight anger to boil inside you.

Instead of answering him, you shoved your hand into his face and pushed him away, telling him to get off you with a mutter. “Wh-what are you doing here, Harrington? It’s midnight and you are in my room. What the hell is going on?” Standing to your feet, you watched him also pull himself up while shifting his hair around to make sure it stood where he wanted it to be.

“Funny story there, Wheeler. But that is a story for another time.” He spoke to you as though his being in your room was not a pressing matter. “What I do need to know, Wheeler, is how pissed your dad would be about finding me here?” Steve craned his neck to look out your window, apparently trying hard not to be spotted as he was looking for most likely your father.

Scoffing, you sat back down in your bed, staring at him from where you sat. “Honestly, it’s not my dad you should be worried about.” He sighed at your response in relief. “My mom on the other hand…” You made a face that got the message across, because your dad was an amazing man, but your mother had her own mind that definitely got in the way of a lot of things your sister and even yourself sometimes when Karen Wheeler brought her mind to a stop. And Nancy seemingly sneaking her boyfriend into her room next to yours was definitely not something your mom would be fine with.

You heard a quiet ‘shit’ and felt a small feeling of smugness rush through you as quickly as the cold overtook your room. “If you’re gonna sneak in and out of Nancy’s room, honestly it would be quieter just to go from my room to the shed on the other side of the room.” Steve stared at you curiously at this suggestion, even you yourself were shocked at your offering, but you really couldn’t take that back after he quietly inched his way closer to the window at the other end of your room.

Standing up, you made your way over to be next to him as he pulled your curtains away from the window, revealing that your window had easier access to get to the ground than your sister and the garage. “Plus, I have direct access to the woods, so my parents won’t notice your car around if you park it behind that big tree back there.” While pointing all these features out, you noticed that he was staring at you with a look that read extreme confusion.

“Why...why are you helping me sneak into your sister’s room?” You both were wondering that, but he didn’t have to voice it like that. Your face grew warmer as you fumbled for words about why you did this, because you didn’t really know why except for the excuse of not wanting them to get caught and then the entire family being forced not to ever leave again. That was a good excuse, it did the trick though.

Because you couldn’t explain why you would stick your neck out like that, for Nancy and Harrington. Nothing against the two of them, but you were too impartial to the two of them to risk anything.

So you scoffed and gave him the lame excuse you thought of and worked on shooing him out of your room. “Okay, okay. Jeez, Wheeler, I’m leaving. Sorry to whoever has to deal with sleep deprived you for the rest of their lives.” He shimmed himself out of the window, forgetting completely to close your other window, forcing you to get back out of bed and shut it before shutting the window he just dropped down from.

You watched him sneak his way to the front of the house and hopefully make an uneventful exit before you pulled the curtains in front of your window shut, bringing your world around you into darkness that you found oddly uncomfortable while standing in the middle of the room.

Sleep didn’t come as easily as you wanted it to; it never really took you over, leaving you to sleep more restlessly than normal and thus a sleep deprived Y/N took to the world. Your first few periods floated past you honestly like a dream, nothing happened, just the teacher murmuring on about their respective subjects. Nothing interesting to you really.

Your mother frequently got on your case to pay more attention in these classes, because every year, like clockwork, during parent teachers week, your teachers would comment on how you needed to remember to turn in your homework, or if you do turn in your homework, to not doodle across half of it. It was always commenting about your behavior in classes and school, how you looked like you would rather be somewhere else than cooped up there all day. Your mother always told you to do better. Why did you have to be interested in painting? Why not a sport or be good at school like your sister because brains could get you a good husband and an easy life.

Your father never spoke up during these meetings, sitting there because he was the man of the family and should be an example for his daughter to marry. He never took your side, but he also never defended your mother and her beliefs of how you should follow in your sister’s footsteps. It was never a secret, but your dad gifted you various paints, brushes, new pencils. When you were running out of a specific paint, or needed a new book or canvas, you found one more always tucked away in your closet, where you thought you checked, but there it was anyway.

There were few things in the world you knew for certain, you loved painting and how it freed your soul, how excited you were to graduate and head to California to get away from this damned town, but one thing you were certain on, was that you were not unloved by your father. You never doubted his love even if it wasn’t on his sleeve like your mother’s love of Nancy.

Speaking of Nancy, honestly after last nights...odd interaction between Harrington and yourself, you didn’t know how to look him or your sister in the eye. You had nothing to be ashamed of, it's not like you kissed him or anything, just the thought alone made you shudder, so why were you unable to look at them throughout the school day?

“Ugh!” You groaned at these stupid thoughts that were plaguing your thoughts and slammed your head down onto your notebook on the lunch table you were sitting at. Your sudden noise and head banging caused the other occupants of your table to look up; Matt and Clare had been giving each other looks all lunch with how you were acting today.

On any given day you were still quiet and almost always doodling away in the margins of your notebooks or going so far as to pulling your full sketchbook out just to get a bigger picture going. But you didn’t have a book open in front of you or a pencil in your hand, instead your fingers were rapping against the hard table and your leg was shaking so bad that you were shaking the table.

You were so out of it that you couldn’t hear your own name being called. “Y/N...Y/N.” Matt had been repeatedly calling your name the last five minutes after he finished up his own lunch and was eyeing your Cheetos that hadn’t been touched. Clare told him to leave you alone, but your ginger friend was ever persistent in stealing your food. “What if I just take the bag from her?” He directed the question towards Clare next to him while staring at your bag of snacks.

“I mean she’s out of it enough that I kind of want to see what happens.” Clare was watching you just as intently, your head was still down on the table. “She may have died; I haven’t seen her move since her head fell down.” Clare said Y/N and died and Matt let out the loudest gasp the cafeteria ever heard; she didn’t honestly know which one to be more embarrassed about, the fact that heads turned or that not enough heads turned for this to be the first time for him to be this obnoxious in the school lunchroom.

While Matt was busy slapping a bruise excitedly on Clare’s arm, you raised your head up and roughly rubbed your eyes with the palms of your hands. “I’m not dead, Matt. I just...I can’t figure out this drawing.”

“No, no, no, no. But wait.” Matt decided to ignore your distress and Clare’s slapping his hand away and kept talking. “But think about it! The perfect way to murder someone! What if Nancy wanted to kill Y/N and what she’s been doing is poisoning her food slowly over time and it’s finally kicking in! Nancy Wheeler is mur-” Your best friend was screaming at this point before your other best friend slammed her hand over his mouth with a dark blush over her face.

“Matthew Schafer listen to me hard and clear. Shut. Up. Now is not the time for one of your theories, especially one about a certain someone’s sister.” Clare growled that last piece out while tilting her head towards you. The two of them looked over to you as they saw you doodling away on a napkin you had picked up from the lunch line, your chin resting on your hand and your other, dominant hand, held the pencil you were drawing with.

Your entire body was shaking from your leg, causing the picture you were drawing to be scratchy, which, maybe that’s how you wanted it to be. “Why is she shaking so much?” Matt mumbled against Clare’s hand; their eyes fixed harshly on you as they just watched. Watch their best friend unravel before their eyes, watch her get frustrated at the drawing in pen on a napkin, watch her groan in frustration and let your head fall back on the table.

Clare let go of Matt’s mouth slowly and reached over the table to grab your arm, moving slowly to not scare you. As her hand grabbed onto you, she realized how much you were letting your leg bounce, she could feel it through your body, making her own arm gently shake. You didn’t respond right away to her hand, leading her to rub her thumb up and down your arm and giving you a gentle squeeze. “Y/N?”

In the six years of knowing you for Clare, she had been there for your lowest and highest, she had seen you through late night anxiety, posttest highs, first time putting your art up for others to see. She hadn’t been there for everything, but she had been there for enough to help you through the rough times. Clare looked at you, just waiting for you to lift your head up.

“Y/N, look at me.” Whether listening to her or not, you did lift your head up and met her eyes. “Are you okay?” there was no doubt that her words were filled with earnest worry, you could tell that and that she was worried about you, along with Matt who you also had you fixed in his eyes.

The quiet moment was shattered as the school bell screamed that there was four minutes for you to get to your next class. You followed the crowd around your friend group in packing up your pencil case and collecting your trash to toss while walking by the trash can. “Yeah, just frustrated at this drawing I can’t figure out.” And with that you walked out of the cafeteria and towards the one place that could calm you down, with Matt and Clare following close behind you until they were side by side with you.

They dropped your lunchtime behavior and Matt quickly filled the silence with his complaining about his Statistics teacher giving him homework to do over this next weekend after they just turned in a big packet not days ago. Clare filled in how her AP Chemistry teacher totally screwed her over with the test today and how he told the class that there would be no Nuclear Chemistry on the exam and yet two of the math twelve point questions were all nuclear that she couldn’t bullshit her way through and just did random math to get some sort of partial credit.

And you listened, adding in your thoughts here and there, stating how it was unfair to add homework after just finishing one, how shitty of a teacher it was to go against his word on what was gonna be on the test. The trio of you sat down in the art class you all have together with your respective easels in front of all of you with paints also at the ready on the table next to the canvas.

Class began, with your teacher talking about your assignment for the day, (what kind of inspiration was something you see every day?) and letting you go free and let your artistry be free. And this was when you felt something from the back of your head that you had been wrestling with all, maybe you could get this off your mind officially and be able to think of anything else other than this random nose.

It’s honestly stupid to be banging your head over something as simple as a nose, but this was driving you insane. Honestly batshit insane because usually you thought of something and you moved quickly to draw it since your brain was already working on some details that you needed the basic features to draw first.

And yet today was the day that you could finally say a human nose took the best of you. Matt worked on another Pokémon, last week you laughed to yourself as he got more and more excited with the orange and reds in his Charmander drawing. This week, yellow and blacks seemed to be the color he was reaching for; this will be interesting to watch from behind him. And Clare pulled out a polaroid picture from her backpack and taped it to the upper corner of the canvas, showing you the still shot of the main road running through downtown.

You also began your own work, grabbing hold of your pencil before reaching for the easel and you let your hand draw instinctively. You started with the structure of the face, a face you couldn’t think of but felt the need to draw a face structure; maybe this face structure would help you through the nose and drawing the rest of the face may be able to get you done with this face.

Faces and portraits weren’t your forte, they weren’t what you went for. You enjoyed drawing abstract pieces, things that spoke to you, because painting people wasn’t what you wanted others to see, you wanted to paint things that meant something to you, that could mean something to others if they saw your artwork. Art for you was emotion, drawing from the human soul, passion, and you felt like you couldn’t do that by painting someone’s face onto a canvas.

And all this nose was doing for you was driving you insane and getting your angrier by the second. This wasn’t something you felt comfortable just throwing paint at; penciling was stupid in your mind because this puts a lot of stress on the artist to be perfect, to not allow changes to be made midway through the project. So why were you penciling?

With a frustrated groan, you tossed the pencil onto the table next to you and stared at the white board in front of you, the blank one with some pencil scratches through the middle. Looking around the edge of your own canvas, you took a look at Matt and Clare, seeing them both working away at their own respective paintings, the orange and yellow of Charizard and the browns and reds of the town picture Clare was replicating.

Your eyes went back over to Matt, watching his face scrunch up in focus as he worked on getting the roaring face of the dinosaur looking creature just right, and his nose was all wrinkled as he dipped the brush back into the paint he was using. His nose.

“Matt.” The ginger turned to you, revealing that he had a second paint brush between his teeth, looking at you with a blocked ‘huh?’ “Can you just sit there for a second, I need to draw something really quick.”

His eyes brows perked up as you picked up one of your smaller tipped paint brushes and proceeded in dipping into the black and looked to Matt’s nose for inspiration as to how to begin to shape the nose. “Are you painting me like one of your French girls? Ow! What the hell was that for?” His head changed directions as he turned to glare at Clare who just chucked a paint brush straight at his head.

“That’s for-”

“Mr. Schaefer, don’t make me call your father down here for spouting profanity.” The art teacher called from the front of the classroom without looking up from her grading papers.

Matt muttered to himself as he turned around and rubbed the spot he was hit in the back of the head. “What do you need, Y/N?”

“I just need you to sit there so I can draw your nose.” Without looking at him too much, you quickly drew the shape of his nose, noting the subtle differences between Matt’s and whatever nose you keep thinking about. Things you could change when you moved on to shading and coloring the skin tone around the nose and over the black, a color you didn’t like to use for line work made things too neat. Shading differentiates the shadows from the highlights and the normal skin tone, there was no reason for you to use black to do this.

Matt made some comments about the weird request and started bragging to Clare about how his nose was ‘Y/N painting worthy’. The two of them began bickering about their noses and which ones of them had a better looking one, but you left them to bicker as you pulled pink and yellow together, pulling a little white and red into play as you mixed a skin tonish color together. Or, at least you think it looked kinda like skin tone, it wasn’t exact, but you figured it would do.

The rest of the period, you worked hard to get this nose right, shading here and there, adding brown to the skin tone shade you make it seamlessly flow together with a speck of white to the tip of the nose. Overall, it was a pretty good-looking nose.

So why did you still feel bugged about this? You finished the painting that you had in your mind, but why didn’t you feel the accomplishment of finishing one of your paintings? There was always a sense of greatness that you feel when completing a project, and it wasn’t here. You felt nowhere near close enough to feeling that.

The period bell rang, pulling you out of your mind and frustration as you were forced to work on it tomorrow, hopefully you can get whatever your mind is stuck on. Breaking down your easel, you put your paint and everything away before meeting Matt and Clare outside the door. “How’d my nose picture go, Y/N? I may wanna see that.”

The three of you chuckled on your way out the door, happily in your own world as you passed your sister on the way down the hall. Nancy didn’t bother giving you a glance as she smiled at her boyfriend walking over to her. “Hey babe.” She giggled as he reached down and pressed a quick peck to her lips before they walked off to her next class.

“Hey, beautiful, how was your chem test?”

“Well I would have had time to study more of my nuclear notes had someone not been interrupting me.” She fluttered her eyes at him before bouncing into explaining how she thinks she got at least a 91% based upon how many questions she thinks she got wrong. Steve Harrington chuckled at her angry comments on her teacher and told him that she can’t be anywhere near him when AP study time comes around.

“Babe, I know every way of sneaking into your room. I’ll always be there for you, for moral support or for a distraction. Besides, you don’t have to start studying until later next week, so relax.” He nuzzled his nose into her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her hair.

Nancy scoffed and looked up at him through her thick lashes. “And I don’t have time to not stud, Steve, I need to keep up.” His face visibly dropped at the mention of it already being that time of year. “Hey, I promise I’ll see you every day.” He commented on how he would hope so and the two of them made a run for their next classes as the bell was about to ring.

-----

Through the drive home, from the passenger seat of your sister’s car, you had your sketchbook on your lap with a pencil lazily being pushed and pulled across the paper in no specific way right now. You hated pencil, as seen with the nose painting, but it was still a basic art form that helps you start on something, getting an idea for what to doodle possibly as a full piece or just something to do in an evening.

Horribly so, after a few pencil strokes, you noticed something come forth in the picture. “Damnit.” You curse under your breath and shut the book before sliding it into your backpack.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Nancy asked as she continued driving the three of you home, with Mike in the backseat doing some math homework he should have done this morning.

Glancing at her, you knew she wasn’t interested in why you were frustrated yet again, a mutual understanding the two of you had as she would often talk about Steve and her school work on the way home while you just let her rattle on. She was just sick of your groaning next to her, no doubt. “Not that you care but a drawing has been bugging me all day.” She hummed in response, proving your point and how she wasn’t listening.

“Hey Y/N?” Mike chirped up from the back of the car as he leaned forward to perch his head onto the middle seat between you and Nancy. “Can you draw me a picture of my paladin if I describe him to you?”

A smile grew on your face. “Sure, thing bud. Can I do it tomorrow?” He nodded with a big grin on his face as he leaned back into his seat as Nancy pulled into the driveway and parked next to your father’s car.

“You’re the best, Y/N!” Your little brother called out as he pedaled away on his bike, also screaming about how he would be back before dark from...Dustin’s house? You couldn’t hear him at the point of where he was turning out of the driveway. That kid brought a larger smile to your face as you made your way into the house with Nancy close behind you.

“Y/N? Is that you?” Not even two steps into the house and your mother was calling you for helping in chores.

Following the voice of your mother, you found her in the kitchen with Holly on her hip and working over the stove at what you can assume to be dinner for tonight. “What do ya need mom?”

“Take Holly while I finish dinner. Oh, Nancy, how was your test?” Your baby sister was passed on to you while your older sister sat with your mom and talked about her day.

You looked down at Holly and filled your cheeks with air to make your face appear to be a frog as you walked the two of you out of the kitchen. “Come on, Ms. Holly, should we go paint a picture for mom and daddy?”

“Yeah!” Holly cheered at you mentioning her being able to play with paint. Your mom may have had a good grip on Nancy and made sure she had her bright future ahead and she kept her sweet baby Holly close, but Holly ran to you every time. You “tricked” Holly into liking you because you had paints and paper she could color on and give her arts to different peoples of the family.

The two of you make your way up to your room as you asked her about her day and she told you about how in preschool, Danny Cincade was pulling her pigtails during lunch and he wouldn’t stop until one of the teachers saw him do that to her. “Well, next time he does that to you, tell him that it hurts your hair and it hurts your feelings. If he doesn’t listen to you…” You paused before thinking about what you were going to say next as you set her down in the chair at your desk and pulled the paper out for her to begin her project on. “Well I will say that you decide what you should do when he’s pulling your hair, whether that’s pull his hair or call him a mean name like he’s a poop head, then I say you can make that choice, Holly-bell. But make sure you ask him to stop.”

Your little sister gave a surprising amount of thought to this before she nodded. “Can I have paint now? I wanna draw daddy a big and spiky porkipine!”

You did a “surprised” gasp. “A porcupine? Now why would you want to give dad a porcupine picture?”

“Cause he was extra spikey today with his hair, and he was grumpy today when he drives me to school.” Holly grabbed one of your old paint brushes you no longer used and dipped it heavily into the brown paint that you pulled out for her before splattering it on the paper in front of her. You loved watching her paint, seeing the sparkle in her eyes, her little tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth while her nose scrunched up in total concentration at her little piece of art she wanted to work on.

It was amazing to see, truly it was, to see someone so enthralled in their own work that they have no other cares in the world besides what is in front of her. Maybe that’s how you looked to the outside world. Because that’s how you feel when you paint, just you, your brush in the paint, the colors, and your imagination; that’s honestly all you needed for yourself to feel what you created.

You smiled to yourself while you grabbed hold of your own art supplies and set the tripod easel in its usual spot, at this point the three legs having their own divets in the carpet from where it spends its time. Staring at the canvas, you thought to yourself for a few minutes of where you should continue going; on the canvas was a dark red background overall with a much lighter center that was meant to draw you in closer, get a good look at everything.

In the middle sat a heart, not one that any five-year-old could draw, but an anatomical heart, you had the shape down and blank canvas towards the main junctions of the heart, with various plans of flowers in your head to put on top and within the heart.

A heart is the garden of the body, where everything is felt, consoled, thought through. The brain is the rudder of the body, but the heart is its center, the guiding force, the heart stops the brain from going into autopilot and gives you something to do and work for. The heart harbors so many emotions that flourish and grow into beautiful flowers, flowers you were working on painting right here. Flowers you wanted others to see and appreciate. But the flowers would have to wait because you needed to work on the soil of the flowers right now and finish shading in the features of the heart and its musculature.

“Y/N!” You had barely started mixing paints when you heard your mother call your name. “Holly! It’s time for dinner!” A sigh mixed with a groan from your desk.

“But I’m almost finished.” Holly whined, her slouched shoulders giving away her sadness and wanton to finish the rest of the painting. “I just need to finish daddy’s spikes.”

Stepping over to her, you looked over her shoulder and felt her smile come back onto your face at the sight in front of you. “You can finish painting, Holly-bell. Mommy and them can wait a few moments.” And she went back to painting, with a quickness behind her paintbrush while you stood over her, waiting for the inevitable second call to be heard.

She was almost done. “Y/N. Get down here and eat.” And there it was, with your mother doing her normal drawing out the last word to warn you she was not in a playing mood tonight.

“One second, mom!” You called down the stairs before looking at your little sister again. “Hurry it on up, Holly.”

“I’m almost there. Just two more spikes.” You followed her paint brush, noting more than two strokes as she worked to finish up. “Done!”

“Y/N Wheeler, get down here, now!”

You picked Holly up while she gingerly held the painting so that no one smudged it up and set her on your hip. “And that means that mommy is hungry, so we better get going, little miss Holly-bell.” The pair of you exited your bedroom and headed down stairs, where you whisper to Holly to be ready to fight mommy’s angry wrath, leaving her giggling as you set her down at her spot at the table next to your father.

Dinner was uneventful, it was meatloaf night so the group of you naturally began arguing how ketchup was a necessity for topping off your dinner. Currently it was only you and Mike fighting hard for ketchup while the rest of your family was arguing for either no topping or barbeque sauce, but no one else understood what you meant when you said that it made the meatloaf so much better.

-----

You found yourself standing in front of your work, only an hour or so after dinner had ended, and Holly just came in to tell you goodnight and that ‘daddy really liked his porcupine. Now that her painting for the day was done, you could relax and do your own work for the day on your work you commissioned yourself to do a little over a week ago. Tonight, you wanted to finally work on getting the flowers painted and going in on details around the actual heart itself, showing the roots of the flowers making their way down the face of the heart.

And that is what you did for the next hour or so of your night, dancing to your music, mixing paints, and applying layers of the colors onto the canvas, covering what little white was left and finally felt accomplished that everything was covered even if there was at least another week's worth of painting to go, but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t continue working at it and making the sweet ending ever closer.

However, you did need to wait a few more minutes before adding more touches since paint is not an instantaneous drier, thank God you didn’t ever find joy in oil painting, you would have gone mad trying to wait for that to dry enough for you to move on to the next piece of work. So, while waiting, you saw the clock and decided that it was time to switch into your pajamas and get comfy.

From across the hall, you heard the shower start up and figured that Nancy was in for her shower, since Mike was a morning showerer type of person and your parents had their own bathroom, Nancy was the only person you could think of to be showering right now. Your pants had already been switched out with pajama bottoms and you were tugging your shirt off when you heard something thump behind you. Turning around with the enlarged sleep shirt in your hands as you worked on flipping it right side out when you made eye contact with someone in your room.

“Shit!” The word left your mouth before you could think of anything other than use the shirt to cover yourself up. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Harrington stood in front of you with wide eyes. “Give a guy warning next time you undress, not that I’m complaining, but I am dating your sister and all so...” He gave a little shrug of the shoulder before you huffed and threw the shirt you were holding at him in a lump.

The cloth didn’t do much when it hit his head except giving him full access to seeing you in only a pair of pants and your bra. “Why the hell are you in my room?”

“You’re the one who gave me permission to use your room to sneak into Nancy’s.” Harrington said as matter-of-factly as he could while tossing the shirt back at you, which you gladly took and threw over your head.

“We need to work on the timing then. You can come in when…” Looking around the room, you saw a stuffed ladybug that had been sitting on the top shelf of your dresser for ages now. “When this bug is in the window, feel free to come in. Nothing before dinner here otherwise you’ll be way too early, and my parents might see you.” You slammed the stuffed bug down before walking back over to your paint corner and staring at the canvas. Now that he was in the room, you didn’t want to deal with him or anything.

“Thanks, I’ll just head over to Nancy’s room now.” You hummed, not really listening until you saw him out of the corner of your eye, until you heard the shower going.

“Wait!” Leaping forward, you grabbed his wrist and stopped him from opening the door. “She’s in the shower, you can’t go in her room.”

“Showering? I’ll just join her.” At the mention of that, you looked over at him in disgust and shuddered at the thought. “What? Never seen a guy shower before?” When you didn’t answer him right away, Harrington stepped away from your door and came closer to you, a cocky little grin in his face when he came into view. “Have you ever seen...a guy naked before?”

You tried so hard to cover the blush on your face as you tried working out an excuse. “Of course, I have, I’m not a person who lives under a rock. I’ve seen a guy before.”

“No, no, no. I didn’t ask that. I asked if you have ever seen a guy naked. As in have you ever slept with a guy?” No response. “Oh ho ho. This is very interesting. You are more a virgin than I thought you were.”

“Shut up.” You growled and shoved him out of your face, moving to grab onto your brush and palette and made a dark line on the piece of pink flesh on the heart. The dark worked as a shadow you were gonna use to emphasize the green that would be used in the next layer, making it look like the roots would be interwoven into the flesh of the heart.

Harrington chuckled as he walked over to your bed and let himself fall backwards into your bed. You didn’t turn around and worked on pulling more life from the heart using small strokes that made them less noticeable.

Up close you could see all of the colors and of course you could see the colors, but even with just the base layers down, you could feel pride bubbling inside of you as you concentrated on keeping your hand steady. “Is this yours?” A voice spoke softly behind you, causing you to jump and a streak of green crossed the right ventricle and cutting through a flower.

A noise of annoyance left your mouth and you let your head fall forward with your brush dropping onto the table next to you. Turning, you saw Harrington hanging over your shoulder with his eyes fixated on what was in front of him. “Yes, Harrington. This is mine.” With a heavy sigh you resigned yourself for the night, not too satisfied with your progress. But keeping a certain guest in your room wasn’t helping you.

Nancy get out of the shower please.

“That’s amazing.” For the second time that night, Harrington caused you to blush. “I haven’t seen anything like this before.” He reaches his hand out to touch it when you grabbed his wrist and pushed it away.

“It’s still wet.” Your words weren’t meant to be harsh, but he didn’t seem to notice as he slowly nodded his head while keeping his eyes fixated on the painting. Noticing that he seemed to enjoy your painting, you pulled the brush back out and dipped it back into the pink. “You can watch if you would like.” You mentioned quietly while keeping your eyes on what you were doing and your back turned to Harrington as he sat back down on the bed.

The moment was kind of serene, odd honestly was the best word, odd to have someone watching you, something you checked every few moments to see if you could ease the tension in your shoulders but he still sat there watching. You’ve had Clare and Matt in the room with you while you paint, but neither of them ever went out of their way to watch your every move and twist of the brush. Even if you were in your environment of comfort and what you wanted to be doing, you didn’t know how you felt about this.

Next door, you finally heard your sister’s door close, signally to you that she was out of the shower, and knowing her, she was already dressed and relaxing on her bed. “You...can climb through to her window now. Or you can go through the hall if you really want to.” Turning slightly, you didn’t look at him other than to see him still watching you before walking over to your backpack and retrieving your sketchbook from it along with some pencils and sat down on your bed, tucking your feet under your body.

Nodding, Steve stood up and thought for a second. “I think I’ll go through the window for now, since Nancy doesn’t know about me coming through here.” You parroted that that was a good idea while you opened your sketchbook and stared at it rather than at Harrington as he climbed his way through the window next to Nancy and left you alone again.

Sighing in relief, you found peace again and let your pencil glide across the paper. The piece didn’t last if you hoped it would as you quickly realized what was forming. “Shit, not again.” The nose was back.

Thinking about it, you didn’t really want to go back to our painting and decided just to deal with the damn nose...again. Until you eventually dozed off, you drew this nose over and over again, working this time only with shading and line work as you took different angles and lighting and perfecting this nose if you could say so.

This nose haunted you until you slipped into your dreams.

-----

Today felt like any other day, started out the same, kept going the same, even lunch was the same, with Matt and Clare arguing and with a new habit that seemed to be forming you bent over your sketchbook while continuing to draw a part of the body. However, you think you out nosed yourself last night, since you had three pages full of this nose. That didn’t stop you from watching as your paper quickly filled with the form of human lips.

“Oh, does Y/N over here want to practice kissing with these lips?” Matt chuckled to himself when he stood up and looked over the top of your easel. “If you really wanted someone to kiss, you coulda just asked, Y/N.”

Clare hopped over to your side of the painting, leaving her own for a second to see what exactly Matt was teasing you about. “Matt, as if any girl would want to kiss you.”

“Cause you keep stealing all the girls.” He winked at her as a rosy blush traveled up her neck before he turned his attention back to you. “Uh, Y/N, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you know that the nose is usually not that close to the mouth, right? Not like right underneath it?”

Matt did point out the simple feature that you had all the knowledge that you were doing. You don’t know what it was, but you just wanted to put the lips there. You didn’t know why, but it was the same reason that led you to agonizing over a nose and a pair of lips these past couple of days. Just to see what happens. Besides there is no perfect face who’s to say this isn’t how this face looks.

“That’s not where the mouth goes.”

“Picasso didn’t follow the lines of society so there’s no reason I have to.” You smiled up at him as you worked more pink into the lips without making it look like the lips had lipstick on. “Besides, I can just...see them there. This is my painting not yours.” Matt gives you a quiet ‘whoa’ as he thinks on what you just said while Clare congratulates you on managing to break your best friend’s mind and gives her a small time of quiet to finish her own piece of work before the bell rings in the next couple of minutes.

Not much silence followed for you when you heard the intercom system activate overhead. “Y/N Wheeler, please report to the front office. Y/N Wheeler to the front office.” Everyone’s head in the room turned to look at you, giving you a look as you slowly stood up, a dark blush running over your face as you quickly as quietly as possible walked out the door and following the hallway to the front office.

In your three years at this school, never had you been called to the front office, and seeing your mother there made you nervous to your stomach. “Mom?” You quietly called her name as you entered the main office and saw her standing there, waiting for you. Looking at her, you knew this wasn’t a happy calling, something confirmed by both her stern look on her face and seeing a shy looking Holly standing behind her leg.

“Y/N, so nice to see you. I’m taking you home.” Her smile looked friendly to any other bystander, but that smile had been shown to you plenty of times when you had to explain your grades, or where you were later at night. This smile meant she was here to deal with business, and you were about to be interrogated until wanting to curl up in bed and just die.

Your mind raced as to why this was happening. Nancy wasn’t here, neither was Mike, so this was only you. Get out. Get out. Run. Get away. You tried figuring out what to do, how to get out of this and the only thing you could think to do was sputter out “Bu-but I need my backpack.” Trying to get away from here, that’s all you could think about.

“Nancy will get your stuff. Now let’s go. Holly still needs to eat lunch and we need to get home, don’t we Holly?” The youngest Wheeler looked up at your mom and gave a small nod, still not moving out from behind her leg.

“I...but mom-” You spoke, but she interrupted.

“Y/N Wheeler, now.” This shut you down, her almost growl and the definite glare she sent at you gave you the opportunity to only respond with a quiet yes ma’am as you followed her out the door.

Matt had told you that being pulled from school early was always a bragging right as it meant skipping classes for the rest of the day. This wasn’t exciting and something you were relishing and going to tell your friends about. You feared what your mother’s temper would say. She never hurt you not physically, but she didn’t hold back with her words.

The car ride back home was absolute hell. Not a word was spoken, even Holly was silent during the ride. You noted how you were riding in your dad’s car, given your family only had two cars and Nancy currently had one at home. Your dad would be home. Maybe he would help you in keeping your mom calm.

“Um, mom?” You asked, trying to alleviate the tension but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Don’t. Say anything until we get home.” Shrinking into the seat, all you can think of doing was melting away, jumping out of the car. Because you have never seen your mother so quiet, she was so quiet that she was lethal; this happened before with our dad, he had done something when you were younger and your mother quietly called your father upstairs to their room before you heard her speaking.

Your mother wasn't screaming, she was a woman who cut down her opponents with her words. Her words were sharper than any weapon, any sword, and that’s what scared you because you were at the receiving end of her words.

And make you wait she did. Holly, your mother, and you walked into the house, completely quiet without Mike downstairs with his friends and Nancy upstairs talking with her friends or Harrington on the phone. And silence made you uncomfortable.

You followed your mom to the kitchen where she rounded the island and planted her hands firmly on the tile countertop. “I got a call from Holly’s school today.” This came out of nowhere, but you couldn’t move or do anything other than stand under your mother’s stare. Holly was sitting at the table with a sandwich in her hand and happily eating her lunch.

Her nails began to tap rhythmically on the countertop. “Her teacher told me that she pushed a little boy off the playground today. I get to the school and they tell me the same thing, and here I am thinking, my sweet little Holly? Why would she do that? Where would she get an idea like that? So, I ask her this exact question. Do you know what she tells me, Y/N?”

The pit in your stomach was a boulder now, you understood what was going on. And your mother wasn’t going to be happy with what you had to say. Slowly you nodded your head, giving her a response with what you knew. “Holly, your little sister Holly, told me that you, her older sister, told her to push that boy off the playset.” Her voice had stayed very level, but her eyes grew Angier and fiery with every word this mother dragon blew from her mouth.

“Mom, I didn’t tell her to push him. She told me he was pulling-” She didn’t let you finish as she slammed her hand down on the counter, causing you to flinch and take a step back.

“You don’t get to justify what you did. You aren’t the one who has to call this little boy’s mother and tell him why your sister pushed him. You aren’t the one who has to tell all her friends that my high school daughter is rebelling against me so much that she is trying to get her little sister in trouble. You, Y/N, are the one that did this, and I have to deal with the consequences of what you’ve done.” Her words rolled off her tongue and stung you, each and everyone.

“But mom, I didn’t mean for that. Holly told ne-”

“Don’t turn this on your sister because you don’t want to get in trouble. I am tired of your behavior recently, Y/N. I am not dealing with this anymore, where is your sketchbook, I’m taking it away from you until I deem it okay for you to get this back.” As she spoke, your heart rate elevated and you began to freak out.

“What? Wait no mom no! It’s a week until the art show! What am I supposed to do for the next week?!”

You could feel our eyes widening as you gestured around the counter, trying to argue with her. Your mom doesn’t do well with people arguing with her. “You can spend time with your family, Y/N. Not lock yourself in your room all day.”

“Then make Nancy do that too! Don’t single me out, mom!”

“Don’t bring your sister into this. Just because you are jealous of her doesn’t mean you can-”

“No mom! I’m not jealous of Nancy! You pretend in your mind that we are the same person, I just happen to be the less pretty, less academically amazing, less perfect daughter! That is not my fault that you put these stupid expectations on me that I never asked for! You can’t single me out in this family just because they are the least successful of your children! That is not fair!”

At this point it was a screaming match between the two of you, words you were holding back were starting to come out of your mouth, but it was like you were drunk and had no filter and no idea when to stop but it was all coming out. Your screaming attracted the attention of your father from his shower upstairs, the raised voices of two women of his household worried the man.

Coming down the stairs, your dad looked into the kitchen and saw Holly sitting in her grilled cheese with her sandwich half eaten while watching you and your mother. Looking further into the kitchen, he found the source of the shouting and quickly worked on diffusing his wife and daughter from murdering each other. “Whoa! Karen, Y/N, what is going on? You two need to calm down.”

“Stay out of this, Ted. Y/N and I are talking.” Your mom growled the last part of that phrase out without breaking eye contact with you. Ted Wheeler was looking between the two of you, he had obviously seen his wife blow up like this, but he had never seen you feed into your mother’s rage. He didn’t know which one had started and he didn’t know which “side” to take, because either way it would not work out well.

“Karen.” He took his wife’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Stop.” He stood his ground, shocking his daughter and wife alike. “Y/N go up to your room. Your mother and I will talk about this.”

“Ted Wheeler.”

“Yes dear?” Your father responded to your mom’s anger and responded with his usual soft and neutral voice. This was your que to leave, to go hide in your room and get away from this horrible place. AS soon as you stepped in, the first thing you thought to do was hide you paint supplies.

Your mom threatened you with taking your art away, but not if you hide it from her. Grabbing hold of your paints, you grabbed six or seven major colors, one that you can make other colors from these along with a few of our brushes. You couldn’t hide everything because your mom would figure out that not everything is there, but if you grab only a few of everything, you would be fine.

Heart pounding, pulse racing, short breaths, you worked as quietly and quickly as you could without alerting your parents of what you were doing.

Footsteps made their way up the stairs, warning you that someone was about to walk into the room. Panicking, you shoved the bucket of few paint supplies up into a corner of your closet and you sat down at the edge of your bed, settling yourself down before your bedroom door opened and your dad stepped in, causing you to look over at him with a sad look on your face. “How mad is she?” You were afraid to ask.

“Well, you said some pretty choice words to your mother, Y/N. So pretty mad.” Groaning, you hid your face in your hands. “She was threatening just to lock you in your room with nothing in here but your bed...but I was able to calm her down enough to just keep you in your room except for meals.”

“So, no art supplies?” He nodded at your question, to which you replied with a sigh. “How long?”

Sitting down next to you, you dad bumped your shoulder with a soft smile on his face. “I told her we can split the idea and make you suffer until Sunday night rolled around.” Sunday was like three days away. That meant those days you didn’t get to work on any of your projects that you had. “Don’t worry, squirt. You can survive this.” The two of you sat together on the bed for a little while longer before he finally stood up and helped you grab your pencils and paints and markers as well as a small stab with taking your work in progress heart away.

Looking at the room now, you felt emptier than the room, there was nothing in the room and that left you feel nothing inside. You saved some of your paints, but without even just the easel in the corner of your room it’s so empty and sad to look at your room. The walls had very few pictures on them, especially the one next to your window that was next to your sister’s room. Staring at the blank wall made your blood boil, boil so much that you blindly grabbed a paintbrush and stepped up to the wall as a butcher walked towards a new body of meat ready to be sectioned off into eatable pieces. Your brush worked as nimble as any scalpel, working with speed at the wall, your mind wasn’t thinking, your body was moving on its own at this point.

And there was no stopping it.

-----

It was only Saturday afternoon and you had two small panic attacks just thinking about the art show coming up. Just because opening night was in like two weeks doesn’t mean that you could turn it in the night the show opened, everything was due this Tuesday, completed, dry and everything. Would you be able to do that by then? Your art teacher had reached out to you and asked you to enter a piece, making you now feeling obligated to enter something. And that something happened to be locked in your parent’s room for the weekend.

Usually when you were antsy or nervous, you would draw or paint, and here you were still. A few colors and pencils but no paper. And lined paper did not agree with you doodling style of drawing erasing and then redrawing, you wore simple paper out too easily. You needed something heavier. And you couldn’t go at the walls again like last night; waking up this morning, you were shocked to see just what you did, quickly pushing your curtains around to hide that part of the wall, leaving your window open to let natural light fill the room you would be spending the next couple of days isolated to.

A light knock at the door, causing you to perk up to thinking hopefully your dad would come in and tell you that your mother slept well, and she was giving you back all your stuff. Not that you were upset or angry at your brother when he walked in, but when you looked at the dark headed boy who stuck half his body through the door, your hope fell away. “Hey Mikey, what’s up buddy?” You gestured him to come fully into the room with you where he plopped down into your desk chair across from your bed.

“Well, um, I wanted to know if you...you could still draw my DnD character? I was just figuring that since you don’t have your big piece to work on right now and I just wanted to see if you could do it now because you’re not busy and you said you would do it in the car a few days ago and I just think you could do a really cool job drawing him and it would be great and my friends might also want you to draw their too and that’s all up to you but if you could at least do mine that would be great and you would be an amazing sister.” His words jumbled out of his in one mess, something he does whenever he gets nervous or excited about something.

You let him ramble a bit through what he wanted, his excitement bringing a smile to your face as you saw just how much he wanted this done, even if he stumbled over his request. He had nothing to worry about in the world. Mike sat there after his long request, finally giving your room to speak. “You done talking, Mike?” You quipped, not meaning it in a mean way as you watch him cough for air. “Of course, I’ll do it for you, buddy. Can I just request something from ya?” His head nodded up and down, his eyes sparkling with excitement at your acceptance. “Get me some paper I can draw on.” He was already out the door when you said paper.

Chuckling to yourself, you went over to your closet and grabbed hold of the box of pencils you kept just in case; staring down at the bright colored Crayola that you weren’t favoring to use, but, it was for your brother and you loved Mikey enough to use these. You heard him scrambling back up the stairs before Mike rushed into your room, gasping for air as he held out some paper, he grabbed from the printer downstairs to you. You took the paper from him and laid it on top of one of your schoolbooks.

Pencils out next to you, paper at the ready, a semi sturdy workspace, you were ready. “Alright, Mike, what does this paladin of yours look like?”

The two of you sat there for a long period of time, which honestly slipped away from you as you did your best to draw a person, since you still haven’t gotten any better at it since your fascination with the nose and lips, but you still did your best as he animatedly told you about how Elias the Esteemed stood, how he was a lawful good paladin who only did what was just even when the other characters in the party would be annoyed by his upright behaviors.

While you were drawing, you asked him to tell you stories about his friends adventures, and he so happily did; he told you about how they spent almost twelve hours fighting to save a princess and the others thought his character was being stupid for trusting an evil goblin when a fairy offered to help them until it turned out that the fairy was evil and was the one trying to kill the princess to get enteral youth. Just from watching your little brother speak, you could tell that he absolutely adores what he and his friends do every weekend.

There was something that just brought joy to you when you saw someone radiate passion about something they love. And you saw this in your little brother as he told you story upon story of the renegades his friend group was.

Passion speaks louder than simple descriptions or words. These stories gave an idea of how the paladin held himself, why he swung left handed and not right, stupid little things than made you draw Mike’s character in such a way that to you, it would make him feel more alive and ready to jump off the page, ready to fight for the sake of any princess in need.

It was getting near dinner time when you finished, though you had been done for a bit of time, instead keeping this time to yourself. In this family, quality time was few and far between, and being with your brother brought happiness to your...rough weekend. And it was quickly shattered into pieces when you heard the call for dinner. Mike quickly stopped talking and looked towards your door before glancing back at you.

“Let’s get going then, Sir Eliad the Esteemed. Let us go feast after this glorious victory.” You turned the portrait over to him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders as the two of you headed down the stairs to join the rest of your family.

You kept to yourself for the rest of the evening, but really it was the rest of your family that didn’t come to see you. Your mother and you weren’t really on speaking terms, Holly wasn’t allowed near you after you “told her to push a boy off the playground”, and your father was passed out in front of the TV. Nancy had asked your mom if she could run up to the store and buy some ice cream, leaving the whole upper level of the house to yourself and there was nothing for you to do with it all.

So here you were again, staring at your ceiling as you twirled one of the pencils you still had out around your finger in complete and utter boredom. How could anyone live like this? You have been left alone with yourself and your thoughts for a full day and you were already ready to kill yourself. Looking around, you found yourself staring at the small stuffed ladybug sitting in your window, something to which you looked at curiously.

It was the weekend and you hadn’t seen Steve try and climb through your weekend since Thursday evening. Granted it was only a day ago, but you were curious as to why your sister and her boyfriend didn’t take this time to be theirs and spend time together. Hmm. At least he wasn’t walking in while you were changing into your pajamas again.

Speaking of pajamas, might as well get them on since you obviously weren’t going to be going anywhere tonight that would require proper clothing, so you pulled your pants off from the day and pulled on your pajamas bottoms before tugging your shirt off and over your head.

“Wheeler, we might wanna consider buying ladder.” A voice spoke up behind you, cause you to scream and drop the shirt you were holding onto the ground before turning around.

“What the hell, Harrington?!” You shouted at him, thanking the lord that you were alone on this level otherwise your mother would have stormed in here before you could say the boy’s name.

The brunette looked at you with a look on his face that you couldn’t read but you could have sworn you saw a quick blush appear on his cheeks before you remembered that you were in fact putting on your pajamas and he yet again came barging in on you. “Okay, this was your fault. I checked and the ladybug is there, so I thought I could come in.”

You stumbled over a few words before you gave up ad scoffed at him before putting your shirt over your head. “I thought you had just died because you weren’t here last night, so I assumed I was free of you sneaking into my window. Forgive me for being hopeful.”

“Aw, come on Wheeler, you know you would miss me if I just left you behind.” He smiled at you and sat down next to you on your bed, bouncing you up and down ever so slightly with his weight being added to the bed.

You muttered to yourself as you pushed your pencils away, “You have no idea.” And there you sat, the two of you in quiet silence, where you stared out the window at the trees next to your house, fireflies were beginning to emerge, lighting up the yard.

“Did you finish that painting?” Harrington asked you, to which you replied with a hum. “Your heart and flower painting that you had over there? Did you finish it?”

“Oh, um…” You pulled your lips between your teeth, because he had no right to really know about it, but he was asking, but why did you want to tell him? You ignored the questions and just rolled with it. “My mom...more or less grounded me for the weekend and took my stuff away from me, so I’m stuck here without anything to work on.” He gave you a look that you only responded to with a shrug.

He scoffed. “Wow, take a painter away from her painting.” Looking over, he saw your pencils tossed onto your desk. “You any good with pencils?”

“I mean yeah, paint is what I want to work with, but as long as I can put it to paper, I can use it.” When you answered his question, he nodded before he pulled something from his backpack that you didn’t notice he had until now. “What are you doing?” Your brows were quirked as you watched him bring back out a notebook. A sketchbook actually.

Your face had a look of shock on it, bringing him to smile at you. “Calm down, Wheeler. I can see the boredness in your eyes and I have this book. Mess around with it, I’m sure as hell not using it.” Your words caught in your throat as you stared down at the notebook that was now in your lap.

“Um...thanks, Harrington.” You stood up and grabbed the pencils you had honestly not really knowing what to do with this newly given gift. “Do you...want me to draw you anything?” You asked.

Harrington looked up at you, a look deep in thought on his face before he turned to you and asked, “I want you to draw me like a cartoon character.” Hearing this, you were surprised at his request, even voicing this confusion yourself. “You know like Fred from Scooby Doo? Draw me something like him. All attractive and suave.” He grinned up at you, his dark eyes twinkling as he waited for your answer to his request.

“I...don’t really do animation. I’m more of an emotion led artists and this isn’t really-”

He interrupted you. “Well then I guess I’ll be having my notebook back.” He held his hand out to you, but you held the book to your own chest shaking your head. “Thought so, now get drawing, Wheeler.” You were honestly taken aback by him sitting here and demanding things from you.

Almost stupidly, you sat down in the chair sitting in front of him and grabbed a pencil, the black one, one that you were using in his outline. Animation was more your style, even if it wasn’t what you wanted to be drawing right now, you found that drawing Harrington animatedly was easier than real life but there was still a learning curve for you.

You drew his face in very simple lines. His jaw came down into a subtle, but he did have a square face overall, deciding to accentuate the shape of his face while adding a slight chin to make sure he didn’t have just a square for his head. His ears were pretty flush to his head, so you didn’t bother and just hid them behind his hair.

Oh, the hair. You grabbed the brown pencil and moved to try and find a way to translate the Hairs hair onto paper and it wasn’t working that well. There is a reason Harrington was known for his long and fluffy hair, and boy was it hard to find a way to get the curls and the wisps onto the paper without making it seem like stray pencil marks.

You needed to tell your sister to tame her boyfriend’s eyebrows because they needed help, he was a few hairs away from unibrow. One had a sort of arch with some stray hairs underneath it and the other looked like a caterpillar. So, you decided to fix them on paper, and you gave him some damn good-looking eyebrows if you do say so yourself. Moving on, you stared at his eyes, and you finally noticed that he was staring back at you just as intently as you were, only he didn’t have a reason to be watching you. Maybe it was because he was staying still for you, but his gaze was a little unnerving. So instead of wanting to put focus on the small flecks of individual colors that made of his warm brown eyes, you grabbed the brown pencil again and just quickly drew a brown blob at the center of each eye and called it that.

His nose was in two sweet and small motions, choosing to ignore drawing the slight crook midway down his nose. It was a simple nose, given that you knew almost every turn by now after drawing it multiple times.

Your head shot up with your eyes wide at this, the pencil in your hand had stopped as you stared at Harrington’s nose. It was there, the nose. The one you had been drawing all week. There it was. The tweak at the top of the nose, the small button at the tip, the small and light freckles that lined the bridge of his nose. They were all there in front of you and you had no clue what to do with this new information.

It couldn’t be. Why the hell would you be drawing Harrington’s nose? There was no reason you had ever looked at him for more than five minutes total since the time he and Nancy started dating.

But there were the lips. The lips too. They were right there. Staring at you with all the swings and curves and pink tone with reds in it that you had been trying to copy since yesterday morning. The two of them were staring right at you. The face they belonged to was sitting in front of you and you didn’t know how to feel about it.

A hand snaps in front of your face, one of its fingers striking your nose gently. “Wheeler? You still in there?” You shook your head, clearing your brain of the fog that took you over.

“Yeah, sorry.” Quickly pulling the sketchy book closer to your face, you hid your warm face from where he could see you and quickly drew his lips in, completely ignoring your racing mind as you drew the outline and colored in his clothes on the way down, noting his denim jacket, T-shirt and a pair of jeans. On top of a pair of sneakers that you had never really seen him not wear before.

From the face you took time to get the feeling of Harrington into the drawing, you quickly rushed through the rest of him, producing a finished product in less than five minutes and handing it over to him. “Here you go. Sorry if it’s not like Fred enough for you, but I’m not really an animator or anything.”

Harrington looked over the paper you handed him; his face blank as he took in everything from the sheet of paper. The anticipation in your stomach grew every second he just stared at what you produced, wanting to be affirmed in what you had done, the ever challenging part of being like you, was that you didn’t know it but you needed the affirmation of how well you did. And for some reason, especially right now.

“Wow, Wheeler, you could open one of those street drawing stand things and have people pay you for these.” He gave you a quick smile before tucking the paper into his backpack between some of his school books. Looking at his books, you quickly remembered where you were and what he was doing here.

“Why aren’t you with Nancy right now?” You questioned and he quickly muttered to himself.

He fiddled with his zipper before turning back to you, fiddling didn't fit his persona. “I just assumed she was taking a shower again since you didn’t kick me out.”

You quirked an eyebrow at his response. “If I remember last time, you were half out the door ready to join my sister. I didn’t think you needed my permission to go see your own girlfriend. Much less have sex with her if you want to.” He scoffed at your remark, you bringing a smile to his face.

“Good to know I have Nancy’s little sister’s permission to sleep with her next door to you.” He slings his backpack back onto his back as he makes this comment.

“Whoa whoa, I didn’t mean that wait-Harrington I didn’t mean that!” He was already out the window by the time your confused brain caught up to you. “Great, now all I’m gonna hear is them having sex.” You muttered angrily to yourself as you slammed the window closed behind him.

Because what else would you want to hear besides your sister and her boyfriend screaming in pleasure at each other.

Looking around the room, you saw the sketchbook sitting on your desk. The sketchbook that Harrington gave you.

Steve Harrington. “Oh God.” You gasped out as it all fell around you. You fell back against the wall behind you, slipping down until you were seated, your brain finally caught up to you and the panic settled in. “Holy crap, holy crap. What have I done?”

His nose. That was it. He had your nose that you had been drawing. You found the face. And you didn’t like this at all.

You have been drawing your sister’s boyfriend's nose obsessively. And you couldn’t explain why.

Your heart rate increased.

Breathing became short, curt, and rapid.

Your vision was getting a little fuzzy around the edges as you tried rapidly blinking.

Chest was heaving, but no air was getting in.

You were having a fucking panic attack and there was no one here to help you.

You have to remember how to breathe on your own.

How do you even breathe?

You were alone, and your body couldn’t remember how to breathe.

You were alone and you couldn’t breathe

You couldn’t alone and you were breathe.

Alothe.

Brone.

Your panic took you over and you fell over onto your carpeted floor, passed out and afraid of what you now know.

-----

Monday morning finally came, to your mother coming into your room and calling you awake. Last night you finally got all of your supplies back and you were doing everything you could to make up for the lost weekend you had planned to use for painting. You stayed up until 3am, until your body was shutting itself down. You had seen Harrington come through your room and go, not giving him much to talk about this time around. You couldn’t let yourself get distracted with how little time you had left.

And when that three am mark rolled around, your brain couldn’t tell what was pink from green and you almost painted a giant line through the heart. So, you slept, for three hours your body rested and reset itself.

And it was rudely interrupted by your mom telling you it was Monday and you had to go to school. As you got dressed, you thought through how long it would take you to finish. All the colors were on the page, no white remained thankfully, but the flowers still needed life, they needed depth so that they were not 2D.

You could take the picture with you to school. But when would you work on it? And you wanted to keep this all a big reveal. Your teachers sure as hell wouldn’t allow you to work on it instead of their own class.

You could stay home. But how the hell was that supposed to work? Knowing your mother, you sure couldn’t get her to allow you to stay home for a reason as stupid as a painting.

But what if she didn’t know you were home?

An idea formed in your mind as you threw your hair up in a ponytail and walked over to your sister’s door before knocking on it. She called you in. “Y/N?” Nancy was confused when you walked in. “What do you want?”

“Nancy, I have a huge favor to ask of you. Can you please leave me here at home? I need to stay back and finish working on my painting and I don’t have enough time tonight. I promise I will do whatever you want, I will do your chores, your homework, I don’t know but please, Nancy, I really need this.” You pleased with her, throwing all your sincerity as you can into your words.

She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, her eyes darting back and forth between yours, looking for something, though you don’t really know what. “You owe me if I do this.” You gasped in relief at her words and surged forward, throwing your arms around your sister’s shoulders.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Nancy. Oh my gosh I owe you so much right now. Thank you.” You held her tight in a hug, ignoring how she didn’t return the hug, but you were just too elated at this moment to care. “Okay, I’ll like get in the car with you and at the stop sign at the end of the road, I’ll just jump out and run home.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t care.” She wiggles slightly as she wants you to release her, making you let go and rush out of her room.

You did as you said. Wished your parents goodbye after breakfast, got into the car for a short time before telling Mike to keep quiet and you ran home.

That was the easy part. What Harrington didn’t tell you was that climbing up the wall of the house wasn’t as easy as it sounded, and you ate dirt twice before you finally made it up to your window. You thanked your past self for leaving the window open, not knowing how you would have managed it to try and get that window open from the outside.

But you were inside now, and all you had to do for the rest of the day before your sister got back was be quieter than a mouse. And with painting, that wasn’t too hard for you: standing on your feet without moving was something you got used to. But this time, you couldn’t just tune the world out, you had to make sure that your mother didn’t walk in to find you here and not at school.

So, you went in painting, pulling out your paint palette and container of paints, you began working. Mixing, painting, brushing, applying the paint, you stood for hours, ignoring your stomach as it called for food around lunch time. Moving only one, and that was because you dropped a paint brush and needed to step forward a little bit. The other time was when you heard your mother coming up the stairs.

Your first urge was to scream when you heard her. It was almost like a horror movie with the murderer coming closer to the victim and the victim had nowhere to go. Where to go, what do you hide in? Would she even come in here? Of course, she would, she’s your mother! Looking around, the best you could think of with the footsteps getting slowly closer was under your bed, because you were basic and asking to be killed.

You dove and as quietly as you could, you shoved yourself under the bed, not realizing how cramped it would be down there, it wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be but you still were able to get yourself underneath before you watched the door swing open. Her heeled feet walked in, followed closely by the vacuum behind her, which she plugged in and quickly went to work.

All you could do was sit there, waiting, watching as the vacuum came closer, going away, closer, away. So on and so forth, but you would hear the occasional mutter from your mom about how filthy you kept this room, and how you need to put your paints away and not leave it lying out all day. From where you were lying, you could see her jostling things around above you, but nothing seemed to give away your still being home.

Looking around the room, you took inventory of what a bug must feel like, seeing everything so big and far away. Your dresser, bookshelves, even your backpack was massive from where you were. Crap. Your eyes widened as your mother grabbed your backpack from the ground. You were supposed to have your backpack at school right now, and it was sitting on your floor for your mother to see.

Shit shit shit shit shit! You screamed in your head with your hand clamped over your mouth as you waited for your mom to find you, catch you, and never let you see the light of day again. Something bounced off your bed. “Y/N needs to stop leaving her backpack home and start taking it with her.” Those were the last things you heard your mom say before she turned and dragged the vacuum behind her out the door, shutting it behind her before moving down the hall to your brother’s room.

A heavy sigh left your body as you felt relief rush over you knowing that you were safe from getting caught. And with that, you pulled yourself out from under the bed, squeezing a little bit at the hips, but finding yourself free from dust. You didn’t have much more of a thought to yourself other than getting more of the painting done before you could call it a day and finally finish it all off with a quick signature at the bottom.

A few more hours of you working passed before you heard your sister come back home. Just in time too. You had the biggest smile on your face as you painted the last brush stroke at the bottom. “Y/N Wheeler.” You were finished. Finally! Mike cried out that he was home and then promptly called how he was heading over to Dustin’s house. Opening your door, you wanted to make your way over to Nancy to thank her again, wanting to know what she wanted in return.

Opening your door, you saw Nancy had beaten you to it and was standing outside your door. “Nancy! I just wanted to say than-” Your smile and happiness quickly went away when Nancy shoved past you, cutting you off.

“Why was Steve asking about you?” Her question confused you, which you voiced, asking her what she was talking about. “Steve! My boyfriend! All he could do was ask me about you and why you weren’t at school and how you were enjoying your new notebook and then he went on to show me the cartoon you drew of him. When did you draw him? Why are you hanging around my boyfriend?!”

“Whoa, Nancy, I wasn’t hanging around him. I haven’t done anything. I don’t even talk to Harrington.”

“Then why does he have this drawing?” And to prove it to you, she pulled the silly drawing out you did a few nights ago, where Harrington asked you to draw him like Fred.

Looking at the paper, there was honestly nothing you could think of wrong with the situation. “Nancy, for like the past week, he has been using my window to sneak in and out of the house because he was almost caught by mom. I offered to let him use my room to slip through. You were busy or something like two nights ago and he was sitting in here waiting for you to finish and he told me to draw him like Fred from Scooby-Doo.”

“He’s been sneaking through your room?! You suggested this? Y/N what the hell have you been doing with my boyfriend in my room?” Nancy was screaming at you at this point, alerting your mother that the two of you were home when she called up the stairs for you two to stop yelling.

You were getting frustrated at this point, “Nancy! No! I haven’t been doing anything with your boyfriend! I’m not even interested in the asshole!”

“Then why did I find you drawing his face in your notebook?!” Once again trying to prove you were in the wrong, she showed you more papers, the ones from your sketchy book that were in fact of Harrington’s face that you found out the other night.

“Where did you get those? Nancy, that's from my notebook, where did you get that?” Your failed attempt to grab the papers from her led to her getting all in your face.

“And why were they in there?! Why! Y/N why are you hitting on my boyfriend?! Is nothing sacred for me?! All you do is walk around this house, painting, and drawing and being a goody little two shoes! You are a complete bitch Y/N! I work my ass off for my grades, to be great in school, to have an amazing boyfriend! And you are trying to steal him from me!” She kept getting louder and louder, screaming at you and stomping her feet and making more and more accusations towards you that you didn’t understand.

“Nancy, I know how it looks but I was just-”

She walked dangerously close to your painting, her flailing arms almost hitting it right off the easel. “You were what, Y/N?”

“Please be careful, Nancy, the paint is still wet.” Reaching out, you grazed her hand, hoping to calm her down but she ripped it away from you.

“Oh, is this what you care about? Let me show you what you’ve done to me, Y/N. What happens if I do this?!” Before you could react, her hand flew and shot its way through the canvas, punching a huge hole into the painting you just finished not moments ago.

“No!” You screamed in horror, staring at the hole she hit through the flowers atop and intertwined amongst the heart. Your own heart broke and your body had no idea what to do besides just scream.

Footfalls stormed up the stairs and Karen Wheeler charged into the room. “Y/N Wheeler, what are you screaming about, that is completely uncalled for!”

Tears welled up in your eyes as you looked to your mother for help. “Mom, Nancy she...look mom!”

“Mom! Y/N has been flirting with my boyfriend and cheating with him behind my back! And she skipped school today!” Nancy’s face had rage written all over it, nothing compared to the absolute shattered feeling you felt.

“Mom wait no please. I-” you tried explaining, but your mother had heard enough, and she spun on you.

“I can’t believe I ever raised a daughter like you, Y/N. I am completely disappointed in you. Steve is your sister’s boyfriend. And I’m talking to your father when he gets home about you missing school. Apologize to your sister right now.” Your mom was angry, you could tell, but you were hoping you could argue with her. “Don’t argue with me, Y/N! I guess locking you in your room isn’t enough for you to learn your lesson anymore. Your father will be hearing about this, young lady, you can be sure of that.”

She was gone, your mother left you in the room with your sister, going downstairs and angrily muttering to herself. Looking over to your sister, she saw she was still angry on her face, with a sickening smirk on her face. “What...have I ever done to you, Nancy? All I have ever done is try to be your little sister. All I want is for my big sister to guide me, be a role model. I just want you to love me, Nancy.” Tear tracks raced their way down your face as you stared at your sister, if you could even call her that anymore. Not after what she did to what she knew you loved doing and had worked so hard on.

“Why would I ever love the sister that made my parents split their love up?” Nancy’s voice came out as a growl and followed your mother, slamming your door behind her.

Your body finally gave out and you fell to your knees before curling up and letting our sobs ring through the room, screaming at one point all the pain out of your chest. Your mother yelled at you again, but you didn’t listen, you kept crying at the pain in your chest, the same pain that showed through the tear in the still wet painting.

------

“Karen, we should talk to her before we keep punishing her. She is going to hate us if we keep doing this.” Ted Wheeler was trying to talk some sense to his wife while walking up the stairs to his daughter’s room.

“Ted, I think it’s time we discipline her my way. You have been going too easy on her these last few years and she’s fighting back. I don’t like people fighting against me, Ted.” Karen Wheeler gave her husband a look that told him to be quiet while she did the talking, he was there to be a point of authority and trick you into listening to your mother.

Nodding, your father grabbed the door handle into your room and pushed the door open. “Y/N, sweetie. We wanted to talk to you.” The husband and wife opened the door and expected to find you sitting on your bed or standing in front of your painting that the two of them have known you have been working on endlessly lately.

But the room was empty. You were nowhere to be seen. “Y/N?” Karen took a step into the room, checking behind the door to see if you were standing there. “Y/N, I don’t want to deal with your games right now. Get out here young lady.” The woman checks under the bed, in the closet, but you weren’t in either of those places. “Ted, I don’t see-” Turning around, Karen Wheeler saw her husband standing in front of what looked to be the artwork you were working on. She stepped closer, looking around her husband's shoulder and her eyes widened when she saw what was before her.

It was a beautiful painting. The dark background may look black for one second, but when looking deeper at it, there were the light colors of white and grey in the background, creating an open ribcage around what is the centerpiece of the painting: a red heart. The heart had amazing detail, veins and fat tissue where you would suppose it would go. Green things ran along the heart as well, but it wasn’t as easy as it was before to tell that there was a bouquet of flowers emerging from the main openings of the heart because where the flowers once were was now a giant hole ripped through the canvas.

Karen Wheeler was rarely shocked at being speechless, yet here she was with her hand pressed to her mouth in awe at what she was looking at. It was beautiful but broken. While she stared at this, Ted had gone to the door and called somebody’s name down the hall. “Is this what she has been working on?” Her words came out breathless and airy. “It’s so beautiful.”

Ted nodded as he looked around the room, waiting for who he called before something caught his eye behind the curtain that was being blown around the open window. “Did you call me, dad?” Nancy stepped into the door confused.

“Nancy, do you know what happened to your sister’s painting?” Karen turned to her eldest daughter, her pride and joy, before her husband could, who had pushed a curtain away to see more of what he was looking at.

Looking over, Nancy shrugged. “She deserved it. I told you mom, she was che-”

“Nancy, I’m not asking for what she did to you. Did you do this to her painting?” Nancy looked around the room, not wanting to look at her mother, but giving a slight nod. “Nancy Wheeler! You know what painting means to your sister!”

“But mom, she doesn’t-”

“No Nancy! You aren’t in the right here. Y/N could have hit on your boyfriend, which I want to verify with your boyfriend, but that does not give you the right to destroy what Y/N has spent weeks working on.”

“Karen.” Ted called over to his wife.

“Nancy Wheeler, you are in a big deal of trouble right now and I don’t want to see you. You have severely hurt your sister and I am extremely upset with you.” Nancy looked away from Karen, her face flushed with red as she left the room, not feeling too hot that she had been turned on by her parents.

“Karen,” Ted called again, to which she finally turned back to him. “Look.”

Written on the wall, in black paint was line after line of your handwriting. “Failure. Stupid. Y/N Wheeler is useless. Not pretty like Nancy. Not smart like Mike. Not loveable like Holly. Matt is friendlier than Y/N. Clare is emotionally stable. Stupid. Failure. Shit. Y/N Wheeler is shit. The world won’t stop. Nobody here. Noone wants me. Unwanted. Unloved. No difference. No change without. Gone. She is gone. Y/N Wheeler isn’t wanted. She isn’t going to want. “

“Oh my god.” Karen gasped again, tears prickling at her eyes as she turned away, not wanting to see anymore as she looked around the room. “Y/N? Sweetheart please!” She looked at the closet again and saw your shoes were gone. Your shoes and one of your jackets were missing. “Ted. Ted! She’s gone! Y/N’s gone! Our little girl is gone, she's gone.” Her words sputtered out of her mouth as she fell into her husband’s arms, her face and cries falling into his shoulders as he led her over to where your phone sat on your desk.

“Hawkin’s police department.” Flo’s voice asked through the phone, she sounded bored rightly so since nothing happens in this small town.

“Flo, this is Ted Wheeler.” He held the phone to his other ear so that his wife wasn’t crying near it. “Pass me through to Chief Hopper. Our daughter is missing.”

-----

“Y/N!”

“Y/N Wheeler!”

“How many Y/N’s do you know, Lucas?” Mike looked over to his friend; the three of them had been out for the last two, maybe three hours, calling out your name, much to Dustin’s chargin when his voice started cracking and hurt from screaming.

“Well I’m sorry I just wanted to say something other than your sister’s name.” Lucas called back to the only male child of the Wheeler family. “Mike, we’ve rode back and forth across this damn road so many times, I can count how many pedals it takes to get from one side to the other.”

Mike ignored his friends' complaints as he kept calling out your name, hoping that as they kept doing this loop that you would call back out to him. Come running out of the woods. Just come home. “Y/N!”

Across town, your parents were looking just as hard as your little brother. Your mother had removed her heels and stockings and skirt for a pair of sleep pants your father had and some sneakers she found in your room that would fit. Never in your wildest dreams could you imagine that your mother would be trekking through the muddy, dirty woods, especially for the likes of you. “Y/N!” Your mother called out, moving the flashlight back and forth as she tried seeing any sign of you in the woods near your house.

“Karen, sweetheart. We won’t be able to find her out here, it’s nearly midnight. It’s too dark for us to make a difference in the search.” Ted reached forward and gently grabbed his wife’s elbow, hoping he could guide her home. He had been out here with her, calling your name and looking at every possible place you could be hiding.

Karen looked back at her husband and in the glare of the flashlight off him, he could see her eyes filled with worry, shame, frustration. “Ted, I’m the reason she is out here. And I want to be here when we find her.”

Mr. Wheeler nodded his head, tugging a little harder on her elbow before she let herself be pulled into her husband’s embrace. The two of them stood in the middle of the woods, a mile or so away from your house, holding each other as they worried for their lost daughter. “Come on, dear. I’m sure we can look a little longer. Maybe she’s just a little farther ahead.” She nodded her head at Ted and the two of them continued forward. “Y/N!”

Back at home, Nancy was sitting in the living room with Holly drawing in front of her while she went over flashcards for her AP exam coming up. “Nancy?” At hearing her name, the young girl looked up. “Where’s Y/N? I didn’t get to paint with her today.”

She scoffed. “What is with this family and Y/N? She’s not here, Holly.” The last part, Nancy spoke louder so that the youngest Wheeler would hear her.

“Where is she? I miss her.” Holly said it so nonchalantly as she kept drawing on her little page. Nancy glowered down at the little girl before she stood up, ordering Holly to stay there and that she would be right back. Walking into the kitchen, she picked up the phone and quickly dialed a number.

“Hello?” Her boyfriend's voice came through the receiver and she felt like she could smile for the first time since she got home that day.

“Hey, Stevie. Wanna come over? My parents aren’t home and thought that we could get some alone time in.” She leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, getting a look to see that Holly hadn’t moved an inch.

Steve took a second to respond. “Sure, babe why are they out of the house. They just had a date night.”

“Oh, Y/N up and ran off and they’re off looking for her like a manic. She’ll be home soon I’m sure. It’s what she gets.” Nancy rolled her eyes at her own statement. “So, you wanna come over?”

She heard a release of breath on the other end. “God, Nancy. Your sister is missing, and you want me to come over? Please tell me you are calling me to help your family look for her.”

“Steve Harrington. What are you talking about? Steve Harrington you are my boyfriend, not my sister’s boyfriend or best friend.” Nancy growled into the phone ready to go off on the phone to her ear, but he cut her off.

“No, Nancy. I am not someone who dates a girl who ignores her sister, who hurts her sister on a daily basis by not even looking or caring about her.” His words caught her off guard, truly they did because here it was again, her little sister coming back to claim what is originally Nancy’s. “Nancy unless you tell me this is some sick joke, I’m sorry but we are done.”

Nancy Wheeler had nothing to say and was even more in shock when she heard the dial tone ringing in her ear. “Steve? Steve? Hello?” Nancy stood at the phone and tried ringing him back up, with no answer. In the living room, Holly hummed to herself as she continued moving her marker back and forth across the paper, so excited for mommy to get home and to give her a new painting of the family.

“Y/N!” It had been hours since the sun had fully gone down and at least five hours since Hopper got the initial call. This kind of thing doesn’t happen in Hawkins, never has before Will went missing a couple years back. “Y/N Wheeler!” Hopper called again into the night, shining his flashlight around the exterior of the fence of Hawkins lab, trying to see if anything would connect another strange event from the Upside Down to you.

The lab has been quiet for a while, so it didn’t connect why you would have gone missing. And it sounded like it wasn’t a missing persons case and instead was a kid running away from home. His eyes were barely hanging open at this point and he had used up his last cigarette over an hour ago, so he needed a kick to get him going that he didn’t have.

He didn’t want to, but Chief Hopper knew when to quit and now was the time. Grabbing his radio, he called out to Powell and Callahan on his radio. “Yeah boss?”

“I’m calling it for tonight. We will keep searching for the girl tomorrow when we get some shut eye and the sun is up.” Hopper mumbled into his radio as he did one last sweep of the area around him before he turned back around and headed for his truck.

“Will do boss.” Something clicked in Hopper’s mind before he signed off for the evening. “You say something else, boss?”

“Yeah, make sure Ted and Karen get home safe, I don’t need more civilians out getting lost.” The three police officers finished their pleasantries and signed off until the morning when they promised the three of them would be back out at eight am on the dot. This left Hopper to wander the woods alone with his own thoughts and the quiet around him back to his car and head back home to Eleven and some Eggos waffles fresh outta the toaster.

Hopper gripped his steering wheel with one hand while the other he used to rub his face of the stress this evening has caused. He enjoys his work, he really does. Helping the community and everything, but the max he wants to worry about is thieves from the local pharmacy because the local teenagers wanted to get high on Nyquil. No missing kids who run away from home. No monsters. No kids who have been experimented on their entire lives.

First Joyce’s kid, now one of the Wheeler’s daughters too. Whatever happened to kids listening to their parents and staying home? “I swear, if Eleven even thinks about disappearing like that on me, I’ll turn this state topside.” With a slam of the door, Hopper looked up to his little cabin, something he found when he was a young stupid kid and later in life would convert into a home for himself away from the life of Hawkins. Now it was his permanent home for him and his new daughter.

“El, I’m home.” Hopper ducked his head into the door frame, looking over to the coat rack that he placed his hat upon the coat rack before making his way into the kitchen right next to the door. “I hope you didn’t eat all of the waffles while I was gone.” He quipped with a smile on his face; he didn’t hear her respond, which he was glad about since she should be in bed, like he wanted to be. But Jim needed something in his belly.

He hummed to himself a little tune he heard on the radio on his way over, not knowing what the song was, but it was here in his head and it didn’t seem to appear to be leaving any time soon. This ditty stuck with him as Jim Hopper pressed a little extra butter into the crevices of the waffle and smothering it in syrup, the best way to eat waffles honestly. Grabbing his plate, Hopper decided in his head which channel he was going to watch tonight before he turned in only to get up at the asscrack of dawn tomorrow.

Stepping into his living room, Hopper jumped in surprise when he saw Eleven staring at him with a straight face. “Jesus, El, you should have said something while I was in the kitchen, I thought you were asleep by now.” Eleven kept her gaze upon her father figure as he rounded the couch and saw another thing he was not expecting.

El was sitting on the couch in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, but she wasn’t alone. Hopper nearly dropped his waffles when he saw you, passed out on his couch, your head laying on El’s lap as she ran her fingers through your hair, which was sopping wet, as were your clothes. “Eleven. How did she get here?” Jim fell into his armchair, his plate of waffles laying on his lap and his jaw dropped down nearly as far.

“She knocked.” El stated curtly, her eyes looking to Hopper a second more before she turned her head to look back down at you. “She’s Mike’s sister.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the Wheeler’s daughters. I’ve been looking for her all night. When did she get here?” Hopper moved his body forward to see more of her surrogate daughter and you.

“At 9-4-9. Why is she so sad, Hopper?” She completely disregarded his own questions and comments and began pegging her own at him. “I can see her thoughts. She’s so sad. Why? She has Mike. I can’t have Mike but I’m not sad.”

Hopper sighed after hearing this, he never poked into other people’s affairs, but he had a feeling he might have to talk to your family when he got you home. “I...I don’t know El.” The young teen nodded her head, her hand still running over your hair.

The group of three sat there in quiet silence, El stroking your hair as you slept on while Hopper sat deep in thought of what he should do next. He was thinking, but he could not stopwatch his daughter and how she acted around you. He saw that you were still wet, though it did seem like you were slowly drying off, hopefully you wouldn’t get sick because of this.

Placing the now empty plate down, Hopper stood up with his mind made on what he was going to do. “Come on, El. It’s past your bedtime, bud.”

“But I want to stay-” With a raise of his hand, Hopper stopped the young girl from speaking.

“I’ll stay with her, El. Don’t worry.” The chief walked over and gave her shoulder a gentle pat on the shoulder as he helped guide her out from under your head. “Be careful with her, I’m sure she’s had a rough night.”

Going into her room Hopper gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, to which she gave the customary comment “scratchy” with a smile on her face as she commented on his beard against her skin. With a chuckle, Hopper shut the door behind him with El flicking the lights off herself, leaving him in the main room of the cabin. The man signed deeply as he ran his hands over his face roughly, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes and wake himself up just a bit.

He took a rather ungracefully seat next to your head, hoping his jostling of the couch would wake you up, but you only shifted at his added weight. Jim Hopper sighed again and moved his hand over to your shoulder, gently shaking it. “Come on, kid. I need you to wake up for me.” His already gruff voice as gruffer and deeper from exhaustion as well as how quiet he was being. “Kid, you gotta get up.”

You finally started to move, letting out a groan at being woken up, your body shivering under his warm hand. The groan quickly moved into a gasp as you shot upright with your eyes wide like an animal Hopper has seen hunting before. You quickly pulled away from his hand, almost like he had burned you and pressed yourself against the armrest of the couch as your eyes greedily took in the room you were in.

“Hey, hey kid, calm down. It’s me Hopper.” He watched as your eyes came to focus on him, your eyes rapidly moving, and your chest was heaving. “Calm down, kid. You’re safe. It’s Chief Hopper. You’re safe.” His hands were in front of him, a simple signal of peace between the two of you as you slowed your breathing down and started blinking, your eyes rapidly seeming to come back into focus.

“Ch-chief Hopper?” Your voice came out a little hoarse, surprising you at the weakness behind your own voice. “Wh-what...where am I?”

“You’re in my cabin, kid. Bout twenty miles from any form of civilization.” Hopper kept his place on the couch, letting you settle yourself into a cross legged position that seemed more comfortable, though not fully at ease. “Wanna tell me how you ended up over here? And why you’re sopping wet?”

His comment caused you to look down at yourself, just now noticing that you were in fact wet. “I...I don’t really remember. I just was running through the woods out by my house, and I guess I just...wait, I think I fell into a creek or something before I found this place. Yeah, I fell into some creek, and it was freezing water, so I...don’t remember much after that…” You looked down as you tried remembering just how you got here.

“Well kid, you somehow made it from one end of Hawkins to the other. You’re almost outside of the city limits.”

“What? Wait what time is it?” Your eyes widened again, and you quickly jumped off the couch, making a move towards the door.

“Hold up, kid.” Hopper grabbed your forearm as you moved past him, stopping you and reversing your path to lead you back down to sitting next to him, this time placing you closer to him. “You know you caused a lot of trouble around town.” Your shoulders sank when he mentioned this, followed by a quiet apology that he waved away. “I don’t care, you’re fine, I know where you are. Now, wanna explain this to me?” Feeling around his pockets, Hopper produced a polaroid picture that he handed over to you.

You took the picture from him and felt yourself deflate once you saw your wall. “I forgot I did that.” Your words were quiet mutters as you looked at the words you painted nights ago when you were in a rage. “I...I didn’t-”

“Don’t tell me it didn’t mean anything. The words are there.” Hopper had his gaze fixed on you, his body leaning towards you as he waited for a response. “Y/N,” You looked back up at him from hiding from the photo. “Are there problems at home?”

He barely suggested this, and you shook your head. “No, there’s nothing like that, Chief Hopper, sir. It’s just...it’s…” Hopper watched as you worked on your words; whether it was appropriate or not, he placed his hand on your knee in solidarity. “There’s nothing wrong. I’m just...it’s hard sometimes, cause I’m just stuck in the middle. Mikey’s the only boy in the family and he’s always at his friends house. Holly is adorable and she’s the baby and she’s cute. And Nancy…” You paused again, focusing your gaze onto your finger tracing the fabric on the couch. “Things aren’t good with her and me. I got into high school and she just...because very mean. Bitchy honestly. My parents care about me...but they don’t side with me and it isn't good sometimes. Or a lot of the times. But things are like bad at home, times just get rough sometimes.”

“I think you just described a bad household, kid.”

“No, no, no. It’s not bad. I didn’t mean…” Your voice cracked and you moved to quickly wipe your eyes. “I didn’t…” You tried again, but you couldn’t get yourself to talk.

Hopper sighed at watching you. He didn’t want to have this conversation, it was an uncomfortable feeling already, but if he wanted to sleep again, he needed to know. “Don’t tell me if you meant it or not. Can you tell me why you wrote all of this? I’m just here to help you, Y/N.”

You finally looked up at him, for the first time really since you woke up, feeling your eyes starting to sting. “Damnit.” You whined into your hands as you hid your face from Hopper just as quickly as you looked up at him. Trying, you tried so hard to stop yourself from crying, because this wasn’t something you did. Y/N Wheeler didn’t break down and cry. You didn’t do that kinda thing.

Hopper watched, he was never this good when his wife got emotional, he was barely there for his own little girl. With El, she was even stranger of a case and had no clue what to do with you. You were a practically random sixteen/seventeen-year-old sitting on his couch, crying, and he was lost. He went against his own instincts and did something that made him uncomfortable but would hopefully help you.

“Come here kid.” As gently as possible, Hopper wrapped his arm around your shoulder and led you to cry on his own shoulder, much to his uncomfort. “Talk when you want to. I’m here all night.” As much as he didn’t want to be awake for the evening, he had a feeling he may have needed to say this.

And you took his suggestion quickly. “I don’t always feel like that, I just-I just-I just...it gets hard when my mom wants me to be like Nancy and I can’t because I’m not smart enough, or pretty enough, or perfect enough. And I was angry and tired and...I do hate home. I hate it so much. But I have nowhere to go. I can’t just leave.”

You had no one to listen to you, not before this, but Hopper did. Hopper listened to you until you slowly cried yourself to sleep. Chief heard your voice quiet down as you kept talking until you went completely silent and your breathing evened out to where you were sleeping. He glanced over to the clock and groaned at how late it was, or early. It was way too close to when he needs to be awake for his liking.

“Guess I should sleep myself.” Muttering to himself, Hopper leaned his head against the back of his couch and worked on getting himself to sleep, feeling you shift closer to his shoulder just before he fell asleep for the night.

-----

El let her leg jump against yours in the front seat of Hopper truck. Early this morning, you woke up to Hopper talking to someone through the phone, it sounded like he was talking to his police workers, telling them something about staying in the office and not being able to show up till later in the morning. After the phone call, he corralled you and El into his work truck after giving you a change of her clothes that looked like they should fit.

Plus, it gave her an excuse to see your little brother, who apparently has a little girlfriend that you didn’t know about. She was smiling in her seat next to you, still not having said too much to you other than she was excited to see Mike.

She was sandwiched between you and Hopper, allowing you to stare out the window as the scenery around you changed, watching as the scenery changed from heavily wooded forest to dirt roads to suburbs. All the while, you wondered what would happen when you got home. Because there obviously wasn’t anywhere else you would be going besides back home. How will you walk in? Will you go up to your room? Will your mom care? Chief Hopper said they were out searching for you, but you had a pit growing in your stomach where you thought how this could be a lie.

This question was going to be answered much faster than you anticipated as you saw your house and driveway come into view in the front window of the car. El’s jumpiness intensified at the sight of the house while you tried sinking further into your chair. “Alright, you two, let’s get to the door before this rain picks up again. I don’t wanna go into work soaked.” He warned as he got out of the car with El following past him and ran for the front door.

But you didn’t move a muscle.

You watched as Hopper went up to the door that El was already knocking on and it opened before the Chief even got up there. Your mother had opened the door and you inhaled sharply when you saw her with her hair pulled back into a mess that you wouldn’t even call a bun anymore and it looked like she was in a pair of your father’s pants and a grungy t-shirt.

Her eyes looked over Chief Hopper and El, who had pushed past her to where you assumed would be hugging Mike, before back to the Chief who pointed at the truck, causing her to look in your direction. The moment you two made eye contact, she began running to you, across the grass with no shoes on her feet. Rain was still coming down in a constant drizzle, but that didn’t slow your mom down.

Seeing her pursuit towards you, you pushed the door open and fell out into the rain yourself before moving towards your house and mom. You two met and her nearly tackled you to the ground as she wrapped you in one of the tightest hugs you ever received. Her face pressed into your shoulder and she held you so tightly to her chest, and you returned this by slipping your arms under your mother’s and held onto her waist. “Mom.” You whimpered into her chest, sealing your eyes shut as you fought back tears you never thought you would have shed.

The rain ran down your head and under your clothes, but you didn’t want to think about anything but your mom’s hug right now. “Y/N, oh my…” You heard your dad’s voice before you felt him hug you from behind, taking both you and your mom up in an embrace you hadn’t felt in a long time. Opening your eyes, you saw the front of your house, the door opens to your house with Chief Hopper standing on the porch still, his arms crossed over his chest with a neutral look on his face. In the doorway, you saw someone standing at the threshold of the house: Nancy. She looked at you, no emotion to her face, just watching. You wanted to feel uncomfortable under that gaze, but you shut your eyes and came back to enjoy the safe and warm embrace of your parents around you.

It was eventually the rain that pushed you three inside, and where your strings of apologies began. On your couch, with your dad sitting next to you and your mom kneeling in front, you started apologizing for running away, apologizing for making your parents and family and other people worried, apologizing for seeing your sister’s boyfriend. “Y/N,” You were interrupted by your mom. “Don’t apologize for something you didn’t do. You shouldn’t have been sneaking Steve into the house at all, but you were helping him see your sister.” She ran her thumb against your cheek, affection you weren’t used to yet or at all.

Your gaze went over to Chief Hopper, who was leaning against the junction between your living room and kitchen. He gave you a small smile and nod, almost having to tell you that it was okay for your mother to be treating you like this. ‘If you ever feel uncomfortable at home, or if you ever need anything kid, drop by the office. My door will be open if you need it’. He told you this morning while he offered your waffles for breakfast before hitting the road, the both of you remembering your admittance early this morning to him.

“Okay.” A quiet whisper came from your lips as you looked back at your mom and gave her a small smile. You just hoped in the back of your head that things would somehow go back to what you knew as normal.

-----

You concluded that you had no clue what normal was.

Tuesday your mom and dad kept you home from school with your father running out to work for a few hours before coming back. She never let you out of her sight throughout the day, calling your name every time you left the room for more than five minutes. And every time she called your name, you knew that it was your fault, you were the reason she was skittish about you leaving the house.

Eventually you were able to convince her that you were just going upstairs to sleep for a little bit, promising her that you wouldn’t leave or slip out the window...again. Stepping into the room, you sighed at the feeling of being able to breathe again. Sliding down against the door, you never realized how...overwhelming having attention on you was. But your room was your sanctuary and you looked around, your eyes stopping when you saw the wall next to your window, it was blank. The words you wrote had been painted over like they never were even there.

You gulped and forced yourself to look away from the negative space and felt the wind leave your body at the sight of an empty easel stand. “M-Mom?” She came up the stairs a few seconds after you called her. “Where’s my painting?”

At your question, she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “Sweetie, your dad took care of it.” Her news scared you, but what else had you expected when the canvas was destroyed, you could try and paste it together, but then it wouldn’t look the same. “He told me he was going out to get you another canvas sweetie, so you can paint it again when he gets back.” Nodding your head, you sighed before smiling up at her.

“Thanks mom. I’m tired, so I think I’m gonna take a nap or something.” She returned your smile before kissing your forehead and shutting the door behind you. Once you were alone, you took one final look at the empty corner before you turned to your bed and tucked yourself in for now.

Wednesday passed by with Clare and Matt tackling you as you stepped out of the car, both of them screaming at you for being missing for two days without telling them and making them worried when they heard about you actually going missing. And all you could do was apologize for making them worry. Every time anyone reminds you about how worried they were, you feel another wave of guilt in your decision.

At least your teachers didn’t bring it up, leaving you to figure out what you missed from the past two days on your own and your school day went on as normal, with a happy break during art class until you remembered your canvas. Seeing the face that you had started, you stared at it for a second, thinking, waiting, waiting on what is a good question, but your small burst of waiting ended when you picked up a paint brush and dipped the tip into black and began the outline of a face.

You didn’t give a fuck right now. You wanted to paint, and this face is what you were going to paint. That art period was one of the fastest ones you remember attending but still one of your most productive ones with you being able to get the shape of the face done and drew the base color of the hair down in the shape you would work with tomorrow.

And when Thursday art class came, you were already painting before the bell rang, not waiting for teacher’s permission to get started. Colors blended seamlessly, every strand of hair stood out in a cohesive way, the skin tone was becoming less white and more colored with a light blush on the cheek to give life. The lips and nose were already done, and this left you with the eyes.

You realized you hadn’t seen Harrington since...was it Saturday? Not that you cared, you didn’t need Nancy breathing down your neck again for supposedly cheating behind her back. But you wanted to keep this painting going, wanted to finish something that Nancy couldn’t destroy. Something you wish you could turn into the art show for your school.

You pushed away the thought of the art show you worked so hard to put a piece in, but that’s all your teacher talked about was the show today in Indianapolis. She advertised it on Wednesday and Thursday in class and told everyone to go if they were interested in seeing different schools and their projects they had worked on. You had been planning on going all year since you heard about this opportunity back in August. And now, your plans are completely up-ended for having your own art presented there.

Instead of focusing on the now missed opportunity of the painting, you looked to what was before you and pulled your paintbrush to begin the eyes. Harrington’s warm and welcoming eyes.

Time slowly ticked by until you had the body of the eye colored out and everything except for the eye color itself. The pupils were completely, and the iris was outlined, but you left the coloring for last. You knew the color, but not the depth. Like his hair. His hair was brown, but there were small shines of gold hidden throughout, and as his hair got to his tips, they muted down to almost an auburn color. Nothing was just a single color; depth came from marking out the darker exterior iris and getting lighter as it gets closer to the pupil before darkening again.

This was something you stopped yourself from doing; you could stare at Harrington’s skin or hair all day and he wouldn’t notice. Trying to see his eyes, that was harder than you called for. So, you couldn’t know the report layers of his eyes, not without doing it in the next couple of days when he jumped through your window.

“What time is it?” You muttered very quietly to yourself as you turned in your seat to look at the clock hanging in the back of the church. With only ten minutes left in class, you were about to turn around when someone caught your eye. And you didn’t stop your staring gaze at Harrington sitting in the back row of class.

How long he had been in this class, you had no clue, but you couldn’t take your eyes of the teenager in the back of your class who had a paintbrush pinched between his fingers and working on the canvas he had in front of him. He must have felt your stare because he looked up at you and met your gaze.

You didn’t turn away yet, allowing the two of you to dumpling watch each other. From here you couldn’t see the colors you had been needing, but you could see the small smile he sent your way and a wave. You returned the gesture and turned back towards your own drawing, a warm blush rising to your cheeks as you dm cursed yourself for not noticing that he was in your class and painting obviously his face in front of him.

In the next ten minutes, you cut yourself off early and worked on cleaning up the paint brushes and paint palettes. You didn’t get much quiet cleaning done when you found someone standing next to you in the adjoining sink. “You've been missing the past couple of days, Wheeler.”

Harrington was washing his own equipment next to you. “Yeah...I wasn’t feeling well these past few days.” Not everyone in school knew you needed to know what happened between you and your family.

He hummed at your response not responding for a time until he was finished washing the brushes. “What are you doing tonight, Wheeler?”

You looked at him in confusion in his direction. “Why?”

“I was...there’s a new movie out and I was curious about if you wanted to come watch it with me.” His question caused you to scoff as the bell rang around you, forcing you to put your brushes away while answering over your shoulder.

“You should be asking my sister, not me. Besides, I’m busy in Indianapolis.” Yes. You were still going to the show, your mom and dad told you it would be a good way for you to show them what you enjoyed doing, even if nothing was there for you to show. You tried arguing this morning, but neither of them would change their minds.

Matt and Clare had you sandwiches between the two as they asked about your painting since you should be almost done, but you still weren’t focused on that. “How long has Harrington been in our art class?”

“I would say...he’s been there the whole time, hasn't he, Clare?” Matt asked over your head.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. He’s always been tucked away in the back. Very quiet for Harrington.” Clare commented herself in his “odd” and quiet behavior. You nodded in sort of understanding, but you threw a look over your shoulder again, still curious as to why Harrington was asking you about seeing a movie.

-----

“Mom, we really don’t need to do this. We can just go home and have a movie night or something.�� This had been your comment the entire ride from Hawkins to the capital in your state. But they hadn’t listened to you and kept driving.

And with you now standing in front of the building that was advertising the show, you tried even harder to not have to go inside and they pushed ever more for you to go in. “Come on, even if you don't have anything to actually present, we want to see what gets you excited to paint.” Your mom spoke rather whimsically as she wrapped her hand under your dad’s arm and he escorted her into the building, you were trailing behind them. As much as you didn’t want to go inside, your mother always found a way of getting you places you didn’t want to be.

Stepping into the door, you were welcomed to the warm environment of overhead lighting of candelabras, a cinnamony smell, and wooden floors that made the place feel homey and welcoming. A place you would gladly spend your Saturdays wandering between the lone pillars that held small statues, paintings on walls, different mediums of art you have never dabbled in but could appreciate.

“Come on, Y/N. Give us the tour of the place, what is everything?” Your dad looked to you with a smile. With a small huff, you looked around the room, to the other families of students whose art was on display, their art, and not your own, before you smiled back and started walking around with them.

They asked questions about what everything they saw, what it meant, how did it look like that, why did they do this kind of medium instead of that. It was fun for you to see them so interested in what you enjoyed. Some of the questions they asked were out of your realm, like why they used more black than red in this painting, why were the flowers sculpted this way. “That’s just what the person wanted to do. Everybody puts their own spin on what they do.”

The three of you were standing in front of a painting of what looked to be the Chicago skyline, with multi colors showing the sunset and stars beginning to appear in the sky. Really pretty painting, very simple but it caught the moment the sun disappeared behind the city.

You enjoyed standing in front of the painting for several minutes, analyzing it, acknowledging the simplicity of the painting and its colors while also admiring this person’s work with blending paints to make three colors appear to be a rainbow. You had never been to Chicago yourself, but this painting brought you there. To your left you watched your parents move down to another display, but you kept yourself happy enjoying others work.

“Beautiful.” Someone spoke next to you, the only other person who was standing in front of the painting with you; you looked over at the person and scoffed at seeing him.

“You following me now, Harrington?” As much as you wanted to move away from him, you didn’t want his presence interrupting your enjoyment of a small thing you loved. “How’d you even find me?”

“I’m not following you; I just happen to enjoy looking at art. Or do I come off as too much of a douchebag for this kinda stuff?” Looking back over to Harrington, all you did was look at him. Watch him. He never answered how he found you and you really didn’t want to have him around you more than sneaking in and out of your room to get to Nancy.

“Still doesn’t explain how you got to this one.” You mumble to yourself as you found the painting now not as appealing as before and turned to follow after your parents, seeing a big group of people gathering around a small stand.

“Wheeler, hey I wanted to talk to you about something.” Harrington was by your side again and walking over with you. His tall height allowed him to see over most of the people in front of the exhibit; once he saw what was on the other side of a sea of people, his eyes widened before a small smirk perked at his lips. “Wow.” He muttered before turning back to you.

“Whatever you want Harrington, no. And...stop talking to me. Please.” Your heart was starting to pick up pace as you moved around the crowd, still away from him and a little closer to where your parents were at the center of this grouping.

He followed; it was getting annoying. “Come on, Y/N. I just wanted to talk to you. I mis-” You spun around, your hair and dress you were wearing flaring out around you as you turned back to look at him.

“Don’t say that, Harrington. Me talking to you is the reason I am in this whole mess. So, stay away from me.” Something ran through you, you couldn’t tell if it was fury or anger, but a heavy emotion coursed through your veins as you stared at him. Your hands were fisted by your side and you hoped your glare would tell him to back off. “I don’t need Nancy hating me already more than she does. Just leave me alone.” Everything around you hurt, and nothing made sense. The art exhibits around you no longer were appealing; you were confused, and you didn’t know why.

“Y/N, that’s what I need to say, if you would let me talk.” Harrington stepped towards you with his hand extended out to grab hold of your wrist and bring your hand forward. “Nancy and I are-”

“I know, you and Nancy are dating, that’s why I can’t talk to you.” As you spoke you tried pulling your hand away, but Harrington had a stronger hold than your weak pull could break. And after feeling his hand almost holding yours, you almost broke and let yourself enjoy this small moment.

When you made the mistake of not pulling away harder, Harrington took a step closer to you, your feet were almost touching and he was so close you could smell his deodorant, or cologne, or whatever he used. Whatever it was, it smelt better than your little brother most days. “Y/N, if you would let me talk, I can tell you that Nancy and I are-”

“Why do you keep saying my name? You’ve always called me Wheeler and I’ve called you Harrington.” You took a step closer, even if it was small, and pressed your finger against his chest pokingly. “I call you Harrington because if I call you Steve, that makes me want to date you more. I want to be selfish and be the one that dates you. But I can’t because you are my sister’s boyfriend and she may hate me, but I respect her enough to not try and get with you. So please, just leave me alone.” You were practically begging him at this point, and you stepped away from him, moving to turn back to find your parents.

Forgetting that he was still holding on your hand, you groaned as he tugged you back around. Your beginning argument was cut short when you felt him press a kiss to your forehead. He left his lips against your rapidly heating up skin for a few seconds longer before he pulled away with a smile on his face. “Nancy and I aren’t dating anymore. I called it off after she…” He looked around for a second before he coughed and spoke again. “Let’s just say after I saw some true colors shining through.”

You stared at him confused, watching him, waiting to see if there was anything you could tell you that he was lying to you, that this was all a ploy for him and Nancy to see that you are trying to steal him from her. “How...what?”

Before he could answer, you heard your name being called. “Y/N sweetheart.” You turned your head towards where you heard your mom’s voice before you looked back at Harrington.

“I…I gotta go.” Taking a tentative step backwards, you kept your eyes on him as you slowly pulled your hand away from his. Once your hand was free from his grasp, you slowly turned away, letting the smile finally grow on your face.

“Wheeler?”

“Yes? Steve?” You tested out saying his name as you spun around quickly and looked at him. The feeling left you breathless and lightheaded.

“When are you free this weekend? I wanted to see if you could draw me another picture.” His smile hadn’t left his face and neither had yours.

Honestly you were feeling bashful at the attention and you couldn’t look at him without your heart skipping a little and the feeling that your smile wanted to get even bigger, so you looked at your feet as you answered. “I’m free this Saturday if you...wanna pick me up?”

Although you already knew the answer, you were excited to actually hear him say it; looking back up, he nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll come to your window to get you.” Your name was called again, breaking the small moment and you gave him a small wave before you turned around.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that you were here today.

The crowd around that one piece had dissipated with your parents still at the front of it, both blocking it from our view as you mom looked at you with a smile. “Y/N. Can you tell me why this person painted these flowers with a…” Her words faded away as you came around her and saw what everyone had been staring at.

There it was. But how? Staring at it, you knew, you knew it was yours.

The dark red background, the faded white outlines of the ribcage, the heart, the beautiful red and pink muscles and veins running across the structure. It was all there. Even the big rip in the center was there. But it wasn’t as noticeable with the gorgeous bouquet of roses sticking through the hole, making the original painting of flowers look 3D now. Your jaw dropped at the sight of it being here, and just as gorgeous as you imagined it when you began working on it.

“How did this get here?” Stepping past your parents, you went up to the stand it was sitting on and read the plaque next to it. Your name was there! “I thought you threw it out?”

You felt your dad’s hand on your shoulder. “Now why would I throw something so beautiful and emotional away? You worked so hard on it that I wanted to add my own spin to it.” He did this.

“You...you did this, dad?” He gave you a nod, and you felt your mom’s hand on your opposite shoulder, you between the two of them as you three looked at your art piece. The piece you had been planning and working on for months now and was here, in the biggest student art gallery in Indiana. After Nancy, you never thought you could have gotten to see this.

Tears quickly filled your eyes and started running down your face, but you didn’t move to wipe them away and instead moved to wrap your father in a tight hug. “Thank you.” You whisper to him, staring at what was before you as your mother enveloped you on your otherwise. “Thank you so much.”

The moment to others just seemed to be a family enjoying this piece of work, a sweet moment. And it was, but to you, you have never felt so loved before. This wasn’t going to fix everything that ever happened to you in the past with your parents and your family, but this was a good start to changing thin. You didn’t need to forgive them for everything from before, but you knew that one day, just one day all the tears in your heart could be mended and your heart be as full as the painting before you.

#steve #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington one shot #Mike Wheeler #Nancy wheeler #stranger things #stranger things season 3 #Stranger Things Season 1 #stranger things imagine #stranger things season 2 #joe keery

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dameronology · 4 years

Text

the one where you take the leap {poe x reader}

summary: you and poe take a late night walk and talk about everything and nothing (and you get tacos)

warnings: language

just some fluff because i am having a big sad tonight™ and i need some wholesome content. this is about 101 cliches rolled into one but sometimes that is the best thing

enjoy,

- jazz

There were very few people that Poe Dameron would wake up at 3AM for. In fact, the list started and ended with your name. You were that important that he was willing to forgo his beauty sleep and that was truly saying something. Everybody in the galaxy and their mother knew that the pilot needed a full eight hours to function and nobody could change that. However, you didn’t fall into the category of nobody.

That’s how you both ended up trekking across the plains of a jungle planet at an ungodly hour, the squelch of your boots in the wet mud filling the comfortable silence between you. Ajan Kloss was unbearably hot in the day but it bordered on glacial at night; that was how you’d ended up with one of Poe’s jackets. It was far too big for you, almost swamping your body, but he’d insisted you’d put it on before leaving.

‘Remind me why we’re going on a hike at 3AM?’ Poe’s voice, still raspy with sleep, called from behind you.

‘Because I told you I couldn’t sleep and you said hey, let’s go for a walk!’ You chortled back, peeking over your hood to glance at him.

‘Poe from half an hour ago was an asshole.’ He grumbled.

You stopped, turning to face him with a grin. The moon was high up above you now, casting the field of green in a yellow glow. Compared to the humid days, you almost relished in the crisp night air, enjoying the cool sensation on your skin as you glanced up at the dark sky and plethora of stars. Late night walks with Poe had become a regular occurrence over the last year - sometimes he initiated them, and other times like tonight, it was you.

‘The village isn’t far from here.’ You said. ‘Maybe we can see what’s open?’

‘That tiny place that does the tacos is twenty four hours!’ Poe’s face lit up as the thought came to him. ‘C’mon!’

‘Waaaaait!’ You called after him. ‘My legs are tired, Dameron.’

Poe knew you what you were doing - the whole thing was kind of your play. Either that, or the man was so whipped that the first thing he thought to do was carry you the rest of the way there. Whatever it was, he bent down in front of you, signalling for you to leap onto his face. You swung your bag over your shoulder and made a run for it, landing perfectly in place. He wound his arms around your legs and boosted you up slightly, peering up to face at you.

Now, it should be noted that Poe Dameron was one of the best-looking human beings you’d even seen - and that was on a normal day. But under the light of the moon, with his brown eyes illuminated like a warm, welcoming fire, and a cheeky grin on his face as he turned to look at you, it was something else entirely. It wasn’t just the external kind of beauty either - it ran deeper than that. He was the best person you knew; the kindest and the funniest, the smartest and the most selfless. As far as you were concerned, he was the most beautiful person in the galaxy (and he was carrying you half a mile - for tacos).

You chattered quietly amongst yourselves but it wasn’t about anything in particular. That was how a lot of conversations went; they were simply natural musings, you two bouncing off each other and giving a thoughtful hmm every now and then.

Clinging onto the material of Poe’s jacket, you blinked under the bright lights of the village, finally breaking through a clearing in the thick trees. It was a little town made up mostly of retired rebels and business owners. The place was hardly a sprawling city but it provided the Resistance with shops and bars, becoming the hub of different squadrons.

‘Taco Town is open!’ You cheered, almost falling off of Poe’s back as you pumped your first in the air.

‘Have you summoned up the energy to walk now?’ He teased.

‘I think I might be able to.’ You gave him a light poke. Your boots hit the ground with a dusty thud and then you ran towards your beloved taco place.

It was a twenty-four/seven shop, usually because of the Resistance soldiers passing in and out all hours of the day. The lady who manned the place at night was an elderly woman - she knew you both by name (and both your orders, because that’s how often you frequented the establishment).

After gathering your order and paying her a few extra credits as a tip, you carried the food outside to Poe.

‘You’re the only person who can get me out of bed at this ungodly hour for tacos.’ He muttered, flinging an arm across your shoulder as you sauntered towards a strewn bench.

He didn’t move it when you sat down, nor did he say anything when you shuffled into his side. The air was still cold, biting at the bare skin on your face as you enjoyed the taco-induced bliss you’d been waiting for. To your right, you could see the rest of the town lights as they stretched out for miles, eventually blurring into a blob of distant light. Poe was on your left, meanwhile, hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on your shoulder as he ate his food.

‘I wonder how far out this place actually goes.’ You murmured. ‘I’ve only been as a far as the boot shop, and that took me like an hour.’

‘Sorry I set fire to your old ones.’ Poe nudged you, and you couldn’t help but laugh as you remembered the incident.

‘It’s okay. I nearly grounded your jet so we’ll call it even.’

He didn’t respond verbally, instead giving your shoulders a light squeeze.

Even with the chaos of the war, Poe felt like an anchor amongst a raging ocean of pure fucking insanity. You’d met people before, ones you’d vibed with and connected with but with him, it was an entire new level of...whatever it was that you had. You’d teetered on the ledge of more-than-friends on multiple occasions, but neither of you had taken the leap. If you did, there was no coming back - you’d be jumping without a parachute.

‘That was a good taco.’ You declared.

‘Worth the walk.’ Poe nodded. ‘Not that you did much walking.’

‘You offered, Dameron!’ You reminded him. ‘You are my trusty stead.’

‘And that’s all I’m useful for?’

‘Of course not! Sometimes you bring me caff as well.’

Your conversation continued, veering off of the subject of the Uses of Poe Dameron™ and to a million other things.

You spoke about his X-Wing and the fact that BB-8 had made a point to show every single person in the base his new antenna. You discussed your latest meetings and missions and how Finn had lead his first successful operation the day before. You laughed about something - you couldn’t remember what - and the only thing that pulled you from the conversation was the fact you noticed the sky beginning to turn pink.

‘Maker, it’s gone 4AM already.’ You pulled up the long sleeves of Poe’s jacket to check your watch.

That was the thing with you and Poe - when you started talking, or when you were even just in the presence of one another, you completely forgot about the world around you. It felt like nothing else mattered. It was just you, him and the blank canvas of the galaxy ahead of you (and sometimes, a circular droid child).

‘Let’s stay a while.’ Poe murmured. He dropped his head against yours, pressing a soft kiss to your hair. ‘I have no-where to be tomorrow.’

‘Me neither,’ you reached up to squeeze the hand that was resting on your shoulder. ‘But the Resistance doesn’t wait.’

‘It can for now.’ He shot back.

Maybe this was it - the moment that he finally found it within him to take the leap and just tell you outright that he was blatantly, irrevocably in love with you. The thought of risking your friendship was painful - but the only thing more agonising was the idea of not knowing if you loved him too.

(But with the way you looked at him, it was a mystery to everybody around you how he didn’t you obviously were - but more on that later).

‘What is it, Poe?’ You gave his hand another gentle squeeze.

‘Huh?’ His blinked at you.

‘You’ve gone off some place else.’ You replied. ‘I know that look on your face and it means you’re either in deep thought or you’ve seen a nice butt and given that I’m sat down and the only person here, I’m gonna assume it’s the first one.’

That was the comment that pushed him over the edge. The realisation that you knew him, that you could read him like a book. You got him in a way that no-one else seemed to, understood him in a way that others had failed to. In a galaxy so cold and so daunting, having somebody by his side with a bright smile and a few cheesy jokes was imperative. Every time he thought about his future after the war, your face was always the first thing that popped up.

‘You know I love you, right?’ Poe - for the first time since you’d met him - stumbled on his words.

‘Of course.’ You replied, before silently adding but not in the way I want you to love me.

‘No...’ He shook his head. He shuffled to the side slightly, turning to face you. He put one hand on your cheek, the other resting on your shoulder. ‘I mean I love a lot of things. I love Leia, and I love Finn, and I love Beebs and I love my X-Wing. But not in the way I love you.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m saying I’m in love with you.’ He got there eventually.

‘You’re in love with me?’ You couldn’t work out if you heart was going a million miles an hour or if it had stopped entirely.

‘Yeah. What do you think?’

‘I mean...’ You trailed off, chewing your lip for a moment. ‘I think you’re probably in love with your X-Wing too. I saw you cry over the landing gear once-’

‘-Y/N!’ Poe whacked you in the shoulder.

‘Poe, you’re an idiot.’ You gave him a watery smile. ‘Obviously I’m in love with you.’

Dropping the remains of his taco to the ground*, the pilot grabbed you, crashing his lips to yours. Just like Poe, the kiss was a lot of contradicting things all at once - it was soft but hungry, demanding but sweet. It was a lot of feelings at once and you could feel every single individual one, finally coming together after well over a year of pining. You’d both taken the leap and the water below was even better than the ledge on which you’d been standing.

(* you made him pick up the taco wrapper before you walked back to the base - hand in hand, obviously).

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x you #poe dameron x y/n #poe dameron imagine #poe x reader #poe x you #poe x y/n #poe imagine #star wars fluff #star wars imagine #star was x reader #star wars imagines #star wars fanfic

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outlawsworld · 4 years

Text

Trusting Strangers - Chapter 6

Arthur Morgan x Female reader

Summary: The reader tries to ignore her true feeling for Arthur. She dresses up for a job which may lead to feeling coming to the surface.

Warnings: slight violence. Nothing too major

Notes: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please reblog/like/message me to let me know if you like it.

Chapter 1

It can't be, It just can't. How could this have happened? You never had feelings for someone before yet here you were. There was nothing you could have done because it's not like these feelings crept up on you, they hit you like a train. All at once with no warning. You were laid in your tent looking up to the canvas. Sleeping wasn't an easy task as your mind was too full to relax. The morning light had started to creep through your tent but you just laid there trying to conserve as much energy as you possibly could. You knew the longer you laid in bed made it more likely someone would come and get you. So you decided to finally pull yourself up and change into your clothes. You scraped your hair into a braid before pulling your boots on. As you left your tent the morning air hit you and you could see no one else was awake. It must have been a lot earlier then you had thought. For once you were looking forward to doing your chores, they may help in taking your mind off things. You poured yourself a coffee and sat on a log staring at the flames as they rose. It wasn't too long before you heard Pearson make his way over to his cart to begin his day cooking.

''You got some nice catches the other day girlie'' He shouted over to you. ''Nice bits of meat like this will feed us for a week'' he smirked as he began to cut up pieces of game. You just smiled in his direction and turned back to your coffee. You were soon joined by Tilly, Abigail and Jack as they had their morning breakfast.

''You alright (Y/N)?'' Jack asked you quietly as he took a bite from a bread roll.

''I'm alright Jack, how've you been?'' you smiled down at him. You couldn't help but feel joy whenever Jack was around. He was so innocent and sweet that you forgot that you were all outlaws on the run.

''I'm good. Mamma said to ask you if I can help with the horses today?'' he looked at Abigail who gave you a nervous smile.

''I don't see why not'' you turned your attention back to Jack.

''Thank you (Y/N), I'll go get my coat'' he ran back off to his tent and Abigail shuffled to sit next to you.

''I was gonna ask, I just didn't get chance before Jack'' she sighed. ''I just need a day, just one day''

''It's fine, honestly'' you cut her short. You could tell that raising a child in this environment was hard. ''He can help me feed and brush the horses down'' you smiled at Abigail in a reassuring way.

''Thank you (Y/N)'' she smiled back at you before Jack returned.

''Come on then. You can help me feed them first'' you stood from the log and gestured for Jack to follow you to the horses. He followed close behind you and you showed him exactly what to do. You made sure he had the easier jobs that didn't include any heavy lifting. A smile beamed from his face as he was setting out small piles of hay for the horses. You couldn't help but smile at the effort he put into it and you could tell he took a shine to Dallas. The jobs took a little longer than they normally would but you didn't mind, it was a welcomed distraction. You grabbed a grooming brush and passed it to Jack before standing him on a crate next to Dallas.

''There you go. You can reach his neck and back now'' you stood next to him as you both brushed the black stallion.

''Can I ride him?'' Jack asked as he was in awe.

''Would your mum be alright with it?'' you asked, giving him a cheeky smile. You quickly looked to see if Abigail was watching but you couldn't see her. With one motion you lifted Jack onto Dallas' bare back. ''Hold on tight'' you smiled up at him as you unhitched Dallas and led him at a walk around the outskirts of camp. You only walked slowly so that Jack didn't become unbalanced without a saddle.

''Whoa, look at me'' he shouted as you walked through the woods. Jack patted Dallas on the neck and his smile was bright as he was giggling at every movement.

''You will be able to ride him by yourself one day'' you smiled up at Jack which only made him more thrilled. John was standing at the hitching post as you finished your walk. You felt slight dread as you approached him, you were unsure if Jack was allowed to ride bareback.

''Look at you Kid'' John smiled at you both and the dread left your body.

''We went all the way around the camp'' Jack beamed as John helped him down from Dallas. You hitched him up before turning to John.

''Jacks been a great helper this mornin''' you patted him on the shoulder before he ran back into camp to tell everyone about his ride. ''Sorry I didn't ask first'' you looked at John innocently.

''What to ride? Don't worry about it'' he chuckled. ''Your good with him, been round kids much?'' John followed you as you went to check the other horses.

''No, not really'' you smirked. ''I had no siblings''.

''Ahh, me neither'' he leaned up against the hitching post as you brushed down Dutch's white Arabian. ''You are better with him then I am anyway'' John looked down at his feet. You stopped what you were doing and turned to look at him. He looked visibly upset as he spoke about Jack.

''That's not true. I've seen you with him and your great'' you paused as you waited for John's reaction.

''I'm not cut out at being a father. Not yet anyways'' John sighed. ''He's a good kid but I think I've left it too late''.

''It's never too late John, trust me'' you managed to catch his eye before smiling at him. ''Why don't you do something with him today? I think Abigail needs a day off'' you giggled and he smiled weakly at you.

''Your right. As always. Is there anything you can't do (Y/N)?'' John began to chuckle.

''I can't cook'' you giggled as you turned back to the horse. Charles approached you both as you began to brush The Count again. Charles helped with the last of your chores and John got roped into helping too so you managed to finish in the early afternoon.

''You hungry?'' Charles asked you as you finished brushing down the last horse.

''Starvin'.'' You were quick to reply. The three of you walked back into camp and grabbed some bread and stew from Pearson before sitting around the fire. The rest of the girls joined you as you ate.

''I heard about a job'' Karen blurted out. ''It's a good one'' she seemed so excited as she spoke.

''What is it?'' John questioned before he took a mouthful of stew.

''There's a rich fella staying in Valentine. Bit of a ladies man but damn he's rich'' she giggled. ''I seen him in the saloon drinking and I think if we get him drunk enough it will be an easy steal''.

''Alright?'' Charles questioned missing whatever point Karen was trying to get too.

''Well there is a problem you see....us girls have already tried but he ain't interested in us'' she sighed. ''Stupid fool. But....I know one girl who could handle herself who ain't tried yet'' she glanced at you and gave you a wink. Suddenly all the attention was on you.

''What?'' you exclaimed. ''Have you seen me....if he ain't interested in you there is no way...''

''We will make you look irresistible'' Tilly cut you off.

''You can borrow one of my best dress' and we will do your hair all pretty'' Mary-Beth added. You could see John and Charles giggling in the corner of your eye and you gave them an irritated stare.

''I'm not as good at flirtin' as you'' you were trying to think of any excuse to get out of it.

''Don't give me that'' Karen shrugged your comment off. She stood up and held out her hand to you, there was no getting out of this. You looked for help from John or Charles but they didn't come to your rescue. There were no more excuses so you grabbed Karen's hand and she dragged you to her tent.

You sat while Mary-Beth tugged at your knotted hair. Each stroke of the brush felt like she was ripping part of your scalp off. Tilly was busy trying to find a suitable dress that would suit you the best and Karen was applying powder to your cheeks. Sadie and Abigail were sitting in the corner giggling at your unamused face.

''You will look stunning when we are done with you (Y/N)'' Tilly smiled at you.

''That's right. No man will be able to resist you'' Karen winked at you. ''Not that you care about that''

''What does that mean?'' Mary-Beth asked.

''(Y/N) ain't sweet on anyone'' Karen looked up to Mary-Beth and giggled.

''Really?'' Mary-Beth pulled on another knot in your hair. You winced and tried to ignore the conversation because you knew that wasn't quite true anymore.

''Well it's probably a good job. I mean.....John has Abigail drooling over him'' Karen glanced at Abigail ignoring the angry look she received. ''Javier is a flirt, Lenny is too young for her, Bill is dumb, Charles is just a 'friend', Kieran is only interested in his horse'' Karen giggled ''and Arthur is Arthur''. You furrowed your brow at this comment.

''What do you mean?'' you asked curiously.

''Arthur has never been sweet on anyone in camp but I'm pretty sure each of us have been sweet on him at some point'' she sighed.

''You have all been sweet on him?'' you scanned the room for the girls reaction and they all nodded except Sadie.

''It's hard to not be. He is a mystery and so manly'' Tilly smiled. ''There is something exciting about that''.

''Yes, but he's never reciprocated the feelings'' Abigail interjected before Tilly got carried away. Your heart sunk slightly as you thought about how stupid you were, you had let your feelings take control. Arthur wasn't interested in anyone and you were just setting yourself up for disappointment. The girls worked on you for a couple of hours until you were pristeen. Tilly had picked out a dark blue dress which complemented your features well. They all helped you squeeze into the corset before finally climbing into the dress. Your hair was knott free and hanging down past your shoulders and your makeup made you look blemish free.

''You look beautiful'' Abigail smiled at you as you stood ready to go show the camp the girls' hard work. You struggled to take a deep breath before leaving the tent, the corset clung to your ribs not allowing for much movement. The sun was beginning to set as you stepped out of the tent and made your way over to the rest of camp. Everyone was gathered round the campfire as you gingerly strode over them.

''Introducing the woman who is going to steal the heart and possessions of the richest man passing through Valentine'' Karen gestured for you to stand in front of everyone. You approached slowly as the girls moved to one side. The redness in your cheeks was hidden by the makeup but you could feel your temperature rise with embarrassment as you stood with everyone gawking at you.

''Wow (Y/N)'' Hosea looked up at you. ''You look incredible my girl'' he smiled at you as you looked at him before looking around to see the others reaction. They all sat there in shock at how you looked. Javier stood up and took your hand in his before pressing his lips to the back of it.

''Stunning'' He said after laying a kiss on your hand. You chuckled as he did this, the last thing you expected was this reaction. Suddenly you felt confident in the way you looked and you stood up taller and even did a little twirl.

''What's everyone lookin' at?'' you heard his voice from behind you and suddenly the nerves creeped back up. Taking a breath you turned round to see Arthur and his eyes landed on you too. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly as he looked at you all dressed up. You managed a shy smile but your heart was racing and you could feel that sickness in your stomach as he approached you slowly. He stopped right in front of you as he scanned you up and down, it was the first time you had seen him all day. For a minute you forgot everyone else was there. They had all turned there attention away from you now anyway. ''Hello beautiful'' he finally whispered to you as you looked up into his eyes. You felt breathless as he looked at you the way he was. Everything in your body was telling you to wrap your arms around him and not let him go but you pushed them to one side.

''Hello Arthur'' you managed to reply with a shy smile.

''What's the occasion?'' he asked not breaking eye contact with you. You could feel the heat from his body as he stood so close to you.

''(Y/N) is going to seduce a rich fella in Valentine so we can rob him blind'' Karen interrupted the moment. Arthur's face suddenly went stern and he backed away from you.

''Who's goin'?'' he turned to Karen with slight irritation in his voice.

''Well me, (Y/N) and I don't know.....Bill?'' she gestured to Bill who was already downing a bottle of whiskey.

''Bill? You seriously haven't thought this through 'av ya?'' Arthur sighed. ''I'll go. Let me just get ready'' he turned to his tent to grab some things whilst you and Karen made your way over to the wagon. John helped you both in and past you a pistol that you tucked into one of the folds of your dress.

''Damn (Y/N)'' he shook his head. ''You look amazing. Make sure he knows where to keep his hands or he'll lose em'' John smiled at you. Arthur was quick and mounted into the driver's seat and with that you were on your way to Valentine.

''So the plan is to get him drunk'' Karen started talking to you. ''He needs to think that you are going to sleep with him. When he is drunk enough you go to his room, wait for him to pass out and take everything worth taking'' she giggled.

''What if he don't pass out?'' Arthur asked and turned to give Karen a quick glance. ''Then what?''

''Well I guess (Y/N) will have to sleep with him'' Karent winked. You were about to protest but you were too slow. Arthur had already stopped the cart and turned to the both of you.

''That ain't happenin'.'' His tone was stern as he pointed at Karen.

''I was jokin' Arthur. Calm down, you almost sound jealous'' Karen teased. ''She can hit him over the head with her pistol'' Arthur sighed, still not fully satisfied with Karen's answer but started the wagon moving again. You arrived at Valentine a couple of minutes later and you could hear the music and loud conversations coming from inside the saloon. Karen went ahead to check that the man was definitely in the saloon before you all went in. Arthur came to the back of the wagon to help you down. He put his hands around your waist and slowly lowered you until your feet hit the floor but he didn't remove his hands straight away. You looked up to see concern on his face and he took a deep breath before releasing his grip on you.

''I don't like this'' he muttered before Karen came running over.

''Show time'' she grinned before linking her arm through yours. ''We will go in first Arthur, we don't want him thinkin' you came with us'' she pulled you away. You glanced back at Arthur who clenched his jaw while holding back allowing you to go in first.

The music and smell of beer hit you as you walked into the warm saloon. There were a lot of people there singing, danicing and getting drunk. You seemed to attract the attention from a lot of men as you and Karen made your way over to the bar. The bartender passed you both a shot of whiskey each.

''That's him over there, with the red coat and mustache'' Karen glanced in the man's direction. ''Seems like he's already noticed you'' she giggled. You took your shot as quickly as you could before ordering another. If you were going to do this you needed something to get rid of the nerves. You were so used to pick pocketing or house robberies but this was something you had never done. Getting a man's attention wasn't the hard thing it was playing them so they don't suspect a thing. You grabbed your drink and walked over to an empty table and sat down slowly eyeing up your target. He had many women sitting around him at his table but his attention was on you, never breaking eye contact. You could tell he was an attractive young man and his attitude showed that he knew it too. Arthur walked into the saloon, you watched as he searched for you and caught your eye before making his own way to the bar. You turned your attention back to the target and you saw he was already making his way over to you.

''I don't believe we have met'' he held his hand out to you and you took it. ''Simon Clark'' he gently kissed the back of your hand.

''Bethany Hope'' you made up a name and introduced yourself.

''Mind if I join you?'' he asked and you nodded before he took a seat next to you. You glanced at the bar to see Karen and Arthur watching you and you felt a sense of relief that you had them watching out for you. ''How come I have never seen you before?''

''Maybe you weren't looking hard enough'' you teased him.

''You are not someone I would overlook'' he looked you up and down and you felt exposed. ''Drink?''

''How about we share a bottle?'' you smiled curiously at him. He nodded and headed to the bar to get a bottle of whiskey. You took a deep breath and looked at Arthur. He didn't take his eyes off you for a second as he clutched at his own drink.

''Here you go'' Simon poured you a shot and took his seat again. You tapped your glasses together before taking your drinks. Simon liked to speak about himself, which made things easier. You pretended to be interested in his stories while you kept on pouring drink after drink for him. He never once questioned that you were not drinking but it was probably because he didn't care. Simon was so engulfed in talking that he hadn't realised he had finished the bottle by himself. His words had started to slur and he clung to the table to stop from falling off his chair. ''Will you accompany me to my room?'' he slurred as his hand laid on your leg and started to make its way up your thigh. You had to resist the urge to brush his hand away. Having a strange man touch you intimately brought back bad memories but you tried to shut them out.

''After another drink'' you stood up removing his hand before collecting another drink from the bar. As the barman handed you another two shots of whiskey you quickly glanced at Arthur and gave him a reassuring nod. He gave you a weak smile but you could tell he wasn't enjoying this. Karen was currently flirting with another guy at the back of the room leaving Arthur by himself. You thanked the barman before heading back to Simon who now had his forehead pressed against the table. "Here" you passed him the whiskey as you drank the other. The liquor was strong and made your eyes water slightly. He downed the drink before stumbling to his feet.

"Follow me sweetheart" Simon whispered in your ear. The smell of alcohol on his breath was overwhelming but you took his hand and followed him to the door. Arthur watched from the bar as you made your way to the door not letting you out of his sight.

"I'm in the hotel across the street over there. Got a very comfy bed for us to sleep in" Simon's words were slurred as he almost fell out of the saloon. You couldn't help but feel sorry for the women that fall for men like this. The cold night air hit you hard as you followed him outside and down the stairs. You started to make your way to the hotel when he dragged you down a little ally between two buildings.

"This doesn't look like a hotel" you rolled your eyes as Simon pressed you to the wall. He was pressing his body into yours to keep himself from falling over. You took the opportunity to pick pocket him while he whispered sweet words into your ear. "oh, yeah, ahuh sounds good" you muttered not listening to what he was actually talking about. You had managed to take his watch, what money he had left on him and the key to his room, stuffing them down your dress. Simon then grabbed your wrists and pinned them to the wall above your head. His head went to your neck and left a kiss. Suddenly the touch from this man sent panic surging through your body. It felt too much like when men had taken advantage of you before. Your knee came up and struck him in his manhood. Simon quickly fell to his knees cluching his groin.

"You slut" he screamed at you as he clambered to his feet. Simon's face was now red with rage as he raised his hand to hit you. You were about to swing for him and defend yourself when he was dragged backwards away from you. Arthur had him pinned against the wall by his throat. You took a deep breath of relief while cursing at the corset restricting your movement. Where did he come from? You didn't even notice that Arthur had followed you.

"That ain't any way to treat a lady" he quickly punched Simon in the face and blood spurted from his nose. "Now you made the mistake of touching this lady in particular" he struck him again. A small whine came from Simon's mouth. His nose was visibly broken and blood was dripping from his face. "No one touches her. No one, you hear" Arthur was angry. You had heard Arthur shout a lot but this was different. He was red with rage and there was no stopping it so you stayed back and watched. Simon nodded and Arthur punched him one last time. You heard a crunch as he dropped to the floor. Simon was out cold.

"You alright?" Arthur turned around to face you. He scanned you up and down to make sure Simon hadn't hurt you in any way with a look of slight panic in his eye.

"I'm fine. You didn't have to do that ya know" you looked down at Simon as he laid face down on the floor. "I had it under control" you began to walk out of the ally when Arthur grabbed you, pulled you back and pushed you against the wall. You hadn't noticed the people that rushed into the street when they heard a commotion. It was a good idea that you don't get caught with Simon knocked out or the law would be quickly on your case. Arthur's strong arms were keeping you pinned to the wall and his body was close to yours. Your heart began to beat loudly as you could feel him so close to you. The both of you stayed extremely quiet as the people on the street tried to find where the noise was coming from. Although you had been in this situation only minutes before it felt completely different with Arthur. You didn't want him to move away from you, you weren't scared of him. The sickness in the pit of your stomach came back as you looked up to catch Arthur's gaze. His lips were only inches away from yours and you could feel your temperature rising with every second you stood there.

"Damn it Ben, you must be hearin' things" a man called out as they made there way back into the saloon. Arthur peered around the corner to check it was clear before backing away from you. There it was again. The instant coldness you felt when Arthur wasn't as close to you anymore. You took a deep breath as you pushed yourself off the wall.

"Sorry" Arthur muttered as you left the ally. "For pushing you like that" he added before making his way to the wagon.

"It's alright" your voice cracked slightly. "Where you goin'?" Arthur turned round and cocked and eyebrow at you. "I have his room key, don't ya wanna see what he has in there?" you gestured to the hotel. Arthur nodded and you lead the way into the hotel and up to Simon's room. You looted the whole room and you made close to $1,000 in money, jewels and deeds.

"Least it was worth it" you smirked as you searched through the last draw.

"You might think so" Arthur snapped back at you. His tone was dry and irritated. You stood up and faced him as he counted the stack of money he had found. Anger rushed over you and before you could stop yourself you snapped back at him.

"I didn't ask for your help Arthur. He could barely stand up and I had control of the situation" you shouted at him. He was acting as if you weren't able to do the job by yourself. You had spent months by yourself and never had a problem so it irritated you that Arthur had felt the need to step in.

"Oh really? Because from where I'm standin' he had you pinned against a wall. Kissin' your neck and was about to hit ya" Arthur's voice drowned yours out. "Didn't look in control to me".

"I can defend myself. Don't need you to fight my battles for me" everything inside you wanted to scream at him. "It was my job and I was doing just fine untill you intervened".

"I know you can defend yourself (Y/N). I know that better then anyone cause I've seen it but do you think I'm just gonna stand there and watch him touch you like that?" Arthur marched across the room to stand directly in front of you. He towered above you, just like he had the first time you had gone hunting. Making you feel small and helpless. His body was so close to yours that you could feel the heat radiating from him again. You both stood there tense and unmoving. "Do you know how hard it was for me to watch him with you all night?" his voice was hushed now but still assertive. His brow was furrowed as he looked deep into your eyes waiting for your response.

"Why would you even care?" the words came out of your mouth uncontrollably. You were not intimidated by Arthur. Not anymore, not after everything you had been through. You didn't back away from him like you had before. His eyes widened at your comment but he was quick to reply.

"Because I do care about you (Y/N). A lot more then I should" Arthur sighed before continuing. "I know you can fight your own battles, I know that. But seeing him touch you made me so damn angry that I needed to....well ya know. You don't have to fight alone anymore. I'm here to back you up and I'm sorry it came across that I don't believe in ya" he spoke softly as he placed his hand on your shoulder and scanned your face. You were taken aback by his comments. He wasn't trying to fight for you, but with you. Sudden guilt flooded your body for getting angry with him.

"Thank you" you stared up at him. "I'm sorry, I just ain't used to people helpin'. I'd been on my own so long I guess I just learnt to fend for myself. I thought you didn't think I was capable of fighting and I got angry" your voice was hushed and slightly cracking. The last person you wanted to argue with was Arthur. You felt all the anger drain from your body which left you feeling deflated. With one motion Arthur pulled you towards him and embraced you. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest. You were shocked at first but accepted the hug by clutching at his shirt. He was warm and smelt of cigarettes and whiskey. You could hear his heart beating in his chest and the feeling of being safe in his arms was enough to make your heart race.

"Your not alone now" Arthur squeezed you tighter as he said this, his voice was almost a whisper. You closed your eyes and nuzzled into his chest to prevent him from seeing your rosie cheeks. The warm feeling in your chest spread throught your body and you wished that you didn't ever have to let go of him. You felt him place a light kiss on your head before he pulled away from you. "Come on, we should get Karen and go back to camp" he gave you a tender smile as he walked across the room and opened the door before gesturing for you to walk through. You slowly walked out of the hotel and back into the street with Arthur following closely behind. Karen was waiting for you at the wagon ready to go.

"How'd it go? Get much from him?" She giggled as Arthur lifted you both into the wagon.

"Yeah, it was worth all the effort" you passed her share to her.

"Told ya it would be a good job" she nudged your arm. "You have a good night Arthur?". He hummed in reply as you left valentine. Karen told you both about her night the whole ride back to camp. She had managed to pick pocket a couple of men and showed you what she had grabbed. Your mind was far away from the convocation as you watched Arthur drive the wagon. You wondered what he meant when he said he cared for you more than he should. He cared about you and that was the only thing that mattered, it made you feel warm inside. You cared about him too, a lot, but there was no way he would care for you the same way you cared for him. It didn't matter to you right at this moment, you were just greatful to have him as a friend. It wasn't a long journey back to camp and when you got back most of the camp were already sleeping. Karen jumped down from the wagon and went straight to her tent to sleep off the alcohol she had consumed. You would have followed but the corset was too restrictive and you could barely move. Arthur came to help you down for the last time tonight.

"I don't know how women wear these damn things" you cursed as your feet touched the floor. Arthur chuckled at you struggling to move.

"I don't know much about that but you look....ermm....you look beautiful tonight" Arthur managed a complement before looking down at his feet and scratching the back of his neck.

"Thank you Arthur" you blushed. "I'm gonna go get outta this thing though, g'night Arthur and thank you again for everything" you smiled sweetly at him whilst trying to brush off your nerves.

"G'night (Y/N)" he tipped his hat and smiled sweetly at you before going to untie the horses from the wagon. You wanted to stay and talk to him all night but your eyes were becoming heavy so you walked away and went straight to Mrs Grimshaw.

"Can you help me outta this?" you smirked as you gestured to your corset. She shook her head before giggling at your incompetence.

Chapter 7

@nena-ma

#arthur morgan x female reader #arthur morgan #rdr2 #rdr2 community #rdr2 arthur #rdr2 photography #red dead redemption two #john marston #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption arthur #red dead redemption imagine #rdr2 fanfic #red dead redemption john #red dead redemption fanfic #rdr2 jack #arthur morgan fanfic

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prettyinlimegreenboots · 4 years

Note

5 - “You’re one of the most important things in my life.”

There’s a few cuss words. I sobbed while writing this so I would recommend having some tissues handy. A character is in the hospital but no one dies. Buckle up boys and girls - 2900 words of emotional rollercoaster.

There was a strange comfort being in the four walls of the building, almost familiar. Almost as if they should name a wing of the hospital with how often they found themselves in there. Once again, he had gotten the call that no spouse ever wanted to get. Race had found himself in the emergency room, this time, surprisingly, no fault of his own. His appendix had ruptured with him needing emergency surgery.

Running a hand through Race’s unruly mess of hair, he leaned over and kissed his forehead, thanking all of his guardian angels that his snookum was going to be okay.

The familiar beeps calmed him slightly, knowing that it was unlike he would wake up anytime soon due to the anesthesia.

Sitting back down in the chair next to the bed, he swore, trying to get comfortable in the chair. He wanted to have a word with the hospital chief about getting comfortable chairs for loved ones who had to sit in them all night long. But that was a battle for another day. His phone vibrated as he pulled it from his shorts.

“Hey Kat.” His voice was soft and tired, as his eyes swept over Race.

His sister-in-law was a godsend. She was always checking up on the two of them and she was a really good listener when they both needed someone to talk to. “How is he?”

“Asleep. Doc doesn’t think he’ll be awake today. Better chance in the morning.” Spot sighed. “They said if he didn’t have the surgery when he did, we would’ve lost him.”

He hadn’t spoken those words out loud yet; yet they were the ones he couldn’t get out of his head. “Hey, he’s going to be okay. You have to focus on that. How are you? Do you need us to bring you food?”

“What time is it?” He croaked, clearing his throat.

“It’s 4:30. What time did you get there?” She asked as he could hear Jack in the background saying something to her.

His eyes looked at the clock on the wall, groaning softly. “I got here at 1. No, you don’t have to do that, I’ll get something from the cafe.”

“Spot, you know that food is crap. Let us bring you something.” Kat said softly. “Besides, don’t you want something more comfy than jeans? Does Racer have clothes to come in?”

He looked around the small room. His canvas bag was thrown in the corner with a bag that held Race’s clothes, necklace and wedding band. “He’s not going to want to wear jeans home.”

“We can be there in 30 minutes. Tell me what you want.” Spot bit his lip as she said that.

He sighed, leaning his head against the wall. “Whatever is fine. I’m not picky. Just get him a pair of PJ pants and a hoodie. Thanks Kat.”

“You’re welcome, Spot. Text me the room number and we’ll be up soon.” She promised as they hung up. Texting her and Albert quickly, he shut off his phone, not wanting to deal with anyone else.

Quietness wasn’t something that was associated with Anthony Higgins. Spot tended to hate the hospital visits due to the quietness that surrounded the room while they were admitted. Leaning forward, he grabbed Race’s hand, sighing before dropping it and pushing himself to his feet. Walking over to where the bag was, he grabbed Race’s wedding band, slipping it back where it belonged, kissing it before lacing their hands together.

Knowing that Race was going to be okay, Spot let his guard down. Every emotion he had pushed down for the last three hours had bubbled up to the surface. He bit his lip trying to keep the tears at bay but lost that battle. Gripping the lifeless hand tighter, he let his head fall to the bed, losing the battle with his tears.

He sobbed, gut wrenching cries, letting go of the fear and worry of possibly not seeing his husband ever again. It had been touch and go for a while in the surgery bay. The doctor had told him it was the worst case of appendicitis he had ever seen, not that that calmed Spot down any. And now, with the quietness surrounding him, he let it all go. He rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the tears that were there, only for more to rush to take their place. Race would never let him down if he saw Spot like this.

“It’s a good thing you’re not awake to see me as a mess.” Spot spoke quietly, voice thick with emotion. “Dammit Race, I know this wasn’t your fault but you can’t keep giving me heart attacks. I'm not as young as I once was.”

Sitting back in the chair, he scooted it closer to the bed, not letting go of Race’s hand. “You’re one of the most important things in my life. I hope to God you know that, Racetrack. I know we exchange ‘I Love Yous’ all the time but you’re one of the most important people in my life - Jack and Kat are up there too. I vow to start telling you that more, along with a hell of a lot more ‘I Love Yous’”

“Let’s make a pact - no more hospital visits for the rest of the year, okay? It’s July and we’ve been here 5 times already. I think they should just name a wing the Higgins-Conlon wing or at the very least give us a frequent flyer card.” Spot cleared his throat, looking up at the unmoved Race. “Baby, I’m just glad you’re gonna be okay. Just sleep, you’re really good at that and I can’t wait until I see those pretty blue eyes staring back at me.”

He trailed off, hearing a gentle knock at the door. Seeing the door gently pushed open, he tried to smile at Jack and Kat as they walked in but a sigh was all that he could muster. Unlacing his fingers with Race, he stood up and met them, pulling Kat into a hug he desperately needed. Jack patted his back, stepping around them, sitting in the chair Spot just vacated.

Kat pulled back, looking her brother-in-law over. “You doing alright?”

“Just had a good cry before you got here.” Spot chuckled before nodding. “Waiting for him to wake up on his own but I’m doing alright.”

She dropped a duffel bag in the corner before giving him a McDonald’s bag. “Got you food. Sit down and eat.”

“Yes mom.” He gave her a look, walking around the bed to sit in the opposite chair from Jack. “Thank you for bringing this.”

Jack smiled at him. “You’re welcome. You drove Kat up the wall by not calling.”

“Sorry, I didn't want to call when I didn’t have news.” Spot shot them an apologetic glance. “Doc said it was the worst case of appendicitis he’s ever seen. He was surprised that Race was as upbeat as he was when they took him down for surgery.”

Jack shook his head. “Did you have any indication that he had appendicitis?”

“None!” Spot shook his head, starting to eat the chicken nuggets they brought him. “It was just a normal morning. We parted ways and headed to on our merry way until I get a call at 12:20 that he’s been rushed to the hospital with an apparent case of appendicitis.”

Kat gave him a look. “When are they going to release him?”

“Don’t know. They won’t give me a whole lot of details. They do want him to have at least 2 rounds of antibiotics and finish another bag of saline before they release him.” Spot sighed. “I know he’ll be on an antibiotic for a week or so.”

Finishing up his food, he dropped the bag on the ground, sighing. “Thanks again for bringing the bag and food up.”

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything?” Kat stood beside Race’s bedside, running her hand through his hair.

Spot thought about everything. “Did you let Tyson out?”

Tyson was their year old Boxer puppy who was a ball of energy and a goofball. Race had insisted they adopted from the animal shelter and immediately fell for the puppy who’s paws were too big for his body.

“He eagerly greeted us at the door.” Jack laughed. “We’re going to stop by the house and pick him up on our way home that way you don’t have to rush home.”

Nodding, Spot smiled. “Thanks, I really appreciate you two. You’ve been a godsend for us.”

“That’s what family does, Spot.” Kat smiled. “Let us know when you’re heading home and we’ll have food for you guys so you don’t have to worry about that when you get home.”

Spot looked at his hands, willing Race to wake up. He didn’t know what to say to Kat and Jack at the moment.

“Hey you okay?” Jack looked over at his brother-in-law who had thrown his head back sighing loudly.

“I’m tired of spending time in a hospital. I’m tired of feeling so damn helpless while watching him sleep.” Spot groaned. “Can we just wrap him up in a giant bubble so that I don’t have to jump every damn time my phone rings with an unknown number?”

Taking a deep breath, Spot tried to calm down. “Sorry.”

“No you’re good.” Kat reassured him as Jack chuckled, causing Spot to raise an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I was just imagining Race in one of those hamster bubble balls, rolling around in the world.” Jack shook his head chuckling, causing Spor to chuckle with him. “He’d be a bigger menace in one of those than if he just walked around - bumping into everything and having a trail of destruction behind him.”

Kat walked around the bed to him, crouching down. “It sucks that you two have been in the hospital so much this year. I wish there was something we could do.”

Leaning over, he kissed her forehead before giving her a quick side hug. “You’re doing it by being here and bringing me food and clothes.”

“Hands off, lady, he’s mine.” A croaky voice called as Spot looked towards the bed. A smile crossed his face as his brain recognized the voice.

Spot stood, followed by Jack and Kat, looking over at Race. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my lower half has been taken out, ran over and put back in place.” He groaned. “What the hell happened?”

Spot pushed the nurse’s button, smiling at his husband. “You had appendicitis and needed emergency surgery. You’re going to be fine.”

“That’s good.” He nodded, looking at his older brother and sister. “And you guys came to keep Spottie company?”

Kat ran a hand through his hair smiling. “Brought him food, you guys some clothes, and check up on you but we can leave if you want?”

Yawning, Race snuggled into the bed. “Nah, you can stay. Spottie?”

“Yea Race?” He leaned over the bed so Race could see him.

“I love you, Pooks. Thanks.” Race’s eyes slid closed as a huge sigh of relief coasted through Spot’s body.

A knock on the door sounded as a young nurse peaked her head in. “I saw that someone hit the nurse’s button.”

“He was awake for a few minutes before falling back asleep.” Spot said, as she washed her hands before coming beside the bed.

Jack and Kat stood up and motioned to the door. “We’re going to get going. Let us know when you’re heading home.”

“Thank you for everything. And thank you for taking Tyson.” He gave them both hugs before watching them walk out.

The nurse looked at him. “Did he say anything about pain?”

“No, he just asked what happened before falling back asleep.” Spot said as she made a note on a pad of paper.

She watched the monitors for a moment before adjusting something on his IV. “Next time he’s awake just let us know. We’ll get some food for him. Is there anything I can get you? Something to drink?”

“I’m alright but thank you.” He smiled, watching her wash out before shutting the door behind her.

Sitting back in the chair, he laced their fingers together, giving them a squeeze, laying his head down on the bed. It was always the biggest relief when Race woke up after surgery, signifying that he was on the mend. He changed into the sweatpants Kat had brought before taking his place in the chair next to Race’s bed.

Several hours later, after many turns at Words with Friends with Kat, he heard movement from the bed. Looking up from his phone, he heard a groan and a couple of cuss words, before seeing the gorgeous blue eyes. “Hi handsome.”

“I look like shit, Spottie but I love you for thinking I’m still handsome.” Race croaked, reaching for the remote so he could adjust the bed. Meanwhile, Spot hit the nurses button.

Spot leaned forward grinning. “You always look handsome, stud. I’m sure you’ll look utterly gorgeous on your deathbed too.”

“That won’t be for a while.” He hissed as he attempted to move his arm as the IV tugged. “You all alone?”

“Nurse is on the way. Kat and Jack left right after you were awake and were going to pick up Tyson and take him over to their house for the night. I’ve been kicking Kat’s ass in words.” Spot grinned watching Race carefully. “How are you feeling?”

Race sighed. “Hungry and achy. Remind me never to do an appendectomy again.”

“That’s impossible since they took it out. But go for the gold.” Spot stood up, leaned over and kissed him. “I’m glad you’re alright. You gave us a scare there for a moment.”

Race looked at their laced fingers. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“I know but I’m glad you’re awake and talking. Hate being here without you being conscious.” Spot shrugged as the door opened.

“Glad to see you awake, Anthony.” The doctor said as he washed in before approaching the bed.

Spot stepped back, allowing both the nurse and doctor easy access to the bed. They spent the next few minutes checking over the incision and adjusting his fluids. The nurse left him with a menu, no restrictions, before telling them to use the nurse call if they needed anything.

“That was worse than a cattle prod.” Race groaned, opening up the menu and glancing at his options. “Have you eaten?”

Sitting in the chair, Spot nodded. “Kat and Jack brought nuggets and fries from McDonald’s around 5.”

“That was 3 hours ago. Want anything?” Race asked, looking up at him. “Actually, kick your shoes off and hop up here.”

“Race ….” Spot looked at his husband.

He sighed. “Sean, look I know the last few hours haven’t been easy and you look like a wreck. Hop up here so I can cuddle you properly.”

Following his husband's request, Spot snuggled into Race’s chest, being careful of his incision. “Isn’t that better? Now what do you want to eat? It’s been 3 hours since you ate and I don’t want you tearing down the halls cause you’re hungry.”

They got food figured out as Race wrapped an arm around Spot. “I love you. Thanks for holding down the camp.”

“I love you too.” Spot glanced up at him, biting his lip. “It’s a good thing you’re a heavy sleeper. I may have broken completely down this afternoon before Kat and Jack came.”

Race smiled sadly. “May have? Either you did or you didn’t.”

“I bawled like a baby. Might’ve even said the hospital should give us a frequency card.” Spot grinned.

Race kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

“I’m just really, really glad you’re gonna be okay, Race.”

Spot said. “I love you and I hate when you’re not by my side; sorry for being a sap but today put some things into perspective.”

Race chuckled. “I’m always the sap in the relationship so I’m glad you’re taking that position. What was put into perspective for you?”

“You’re one of the most important things in my life. I know we say I Love Yous all the time but I don’t know if I’ve ever told you how important you are to me. I don’t want to lose you. Yea, this was out of your control but this is the fifth time one of us has been in the hospital this year and I don’t know how much more my heart can take.” Spot sighed. “Don’t leave me, Anthony.”

Race’s arms tightened around him. “I love you too, Sean. I will try to be more careful. You’re one of the most important people in my life too and I love you so much. I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much pain and hurt but from now on I will try to be more careful.”

Spot nodded against his chest as his eyes closed, listening to Race’s steady heartbeat. He felt Race kiss his forehead before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. All was going to be okay in his world.

Holy crap! That was a section. What did you think? I absolutely love writing the two of them!!! What an emotional rollercoaster!

#newsies #newsies fan fiction #writing #ask #drabble requests #newsies drabble #drabble prompt #spot conlon x racetrack higgins #racetrack Higgins #spot conlon #jack kelly x katherine plumber

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

Text

Humans Are Space Orcs, “Size Six.”

So I have been working on this for a few days based on a rquest form someone who wanted to see more stuff form when Adam was younger. I will, of course, be starting on the extra requested fluff for you guys tomorrow, but I hope this works for today.

The bus bumped and jostled over the lumpy dirt road. Inside bodies swayed and juggle back and forth ramming into walls and steadying themselves against the antiquated seats before them. The bus was old, older than a large portion of dirt, old enough to have rubber tires, shitty suspension, and foam back seats, nothing like the sleek magno buses they used these days. Clearly their program wasn’t important enough to acquire a real transport vehicle.

Their ride from the airport had been nerve wracking to say the least, and only some of it had come from the imminent threat that the bus would disintegrate into its component parts, most of the rest of it had come from the slow building of nervous energy felt by all the young teens as they waited to begin their first day at training.

There were forty of them in all, though less than half of that was predicted to make it through the training and actually become pilots from the program at Trans Space Combative aviation Academy. Of course the Academy didn’t have its own location, as new as it was and untested as it was, the burgeoning UNSC wasn’t likely to spend a ton of funds on a group of untested children. So they had been shipped onto Del Rio Texas where the air force flight academy was located, and allocated space, some instructors, and a few classrooms to get started.

Adam had found the other recruits from the program nervously waiting outside with their duffel bags and clothing. None of them were over the age of fifteen, and they consisted almost equally of boys and girls.

Adam was displeased to find himself the shortest among the boys, and about mid pack among the girls, a good portion of them probably weighing a good ten pounds more than he did, though none of them were out of shape.

He tried to ignore that doing his best to make friends with the other nervous recruits determined not to be the loser this time. Just as long as he didn’t show his weird to them straight off, maybe he was going to be fine. It seemed to be working, at least until the buss pulled up, and the group of them stared on with shock and disappointment at the monstrosity before them.

They sort of hoped it wasn’t for them, but the ACU clad, army man stepping out of the door and onto the pavement dashed their hopes.

And soon they were on their way, jostling down the highway, eventually cutting through manned security gates, patrolled by armed guards, and finally onto the backroad that was taken around the airfield. Adam had his face pressed up against the window watching as a set of jets took off leaving trails of white behind them in the great blue sky above.

The implant in his arm buzzed, and he looked down to see a text from his mother asking if they had landed yet.

He had to apologize for forgetting and assure her that he was, indeed, landed and on his way.

The further they went onto the base, the more people they could see, large muscular men and women running in formation wearing the same light grey T-shirts tucked into blue canvas shorts.

Voices roared past them as the men chanted in time with their cadence.

Low lying buildings pulled up on the horizon in front of them, crouched together in stumpy lines. Yelled commands wafted through open windows as more recruits rolled past kicking up dirt clouds as they went.

Adam grew nervous upon seeing them, big and adult.

He glanced down at himself and his baggy T-shirt and jeans held up only by a belt, the cuffs folded up over his shoes.

They belonged to his brothers, but were still too big for him.

The bus rolled to a stop just then jostling him forward so his face nearly rammed into the seat in front of him.A dust cloud billowed up around them obscuring his vision for a moment. At the front of the buss, the driver reached out and cranked the handle to the door manually forcing it open.

“Wow, this thing is a real piece of shit.” Someone muttered

Boots thudded onto the stairs, and the entire bus went quiet as a man stepped onto the front of the bus. He was tall, and serious faced with thick eyebrows and what appeared to be a shaved head, though it was mostly covered by a wide brimmed dumbass hat in dark, clashing seriously with his patterned ACUs.

They all waited on the edge of their seats.

Adam shrunk down into his expecting to get yelled at.

That’s what all the old army movies told him was going to happen.

Instead, however, the man smiled.

Adam didn’t buy it for one second.

“Welcome recruits to the first TSCA Academy class of 4013. I am Master Sergeant Kimball, and I will be one of your MTI (military training instructors) during this program. If you need to address me at any time during this course you will call me Sir or Master Sergeant Kimball. Now I understand that you may all be tired from your flight. We have recruits here from all across the world, so hopefully, today will be easy and relaxing.”

Adam eyed the group around him watching as the others began to relax.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all? Perhaps because they were kids, they had been given some leeway during the training process.

I mean, were they really going to yell at a group of kids barely out of their teenage years.

“Alright everyone, Unload!”

There was a collective shuffling around the bus as the group of them took to their feet and began slowly shuffling towards the exit. Adam pulled his bag over his back, nearly tipping over backwards as the weight pulled his small frame off balance. Someone put a hand on his shoulder, ‘Whoa.”

He glanced over and thanked the girl who helped him hurrying off the bus and down the stairs into the hot as hell Texas heat.

Stepping off the bus he found Master Sergeant Kimball standing next to two other MTIs, who were smiling at them, though their smiles seemed more wolfish than reassuring.

My what big teeth you have he thought idly to himself stepping to the side so the others could walk through.

One boy came trudging down the steps last lugging an absolutely massive suitcase as a few of the others flopped to the ground resting against their bags eyes closed basking like lizards in the sun.

Sgt. Kimball stepped forward towards the last young man, “Here let me help you.”

The boy seemed rather grateful handing his bag down to the MTI taking some weight off his shoulders.

That was until Sgt. Kimball grabbed the zipper, opened the bag and dumped the entire contents of the suitcase into the dirt. He then got right up in the boy’s face and shouted, “NOW WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK DO YOU NEED A BAG LIKE THAT FOR. CHRIST SON, I COULD USE IT YO SMUGGLE YOUR CORPSE OUT WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU.”

The entire group jolted with surprise bolting upwards.

Even Adam was startled, and he had been expecting it. The poor kid was scrambling around in the dirt trying to collect his things, “GET YOUR ASS OFF THE GROUND YOU SORRY PIECE OF SHIT.”

The two other MTIs bore down on them their charming smiles revealed for what they really were. Wolf in sheep's clothing, snarling ravening beasts.

More bags were dumped on the ground, turned over, emptied until the contents mingled with the dust on the ground. The female MTI leaped over ripping Adam’s bag off the ground and tossing it’s contents into the dust. She reached down picked up a book and chucked it at him hitting him in the chest as he stumbled back, “YOU THINK YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TIME FOR READING!”

She moved on to the next student.

One of the recruits had burst into tears, and the MTI’s descended like vultures. One of them grabbed a water bottle from the ground and shoved it at the crying student, “BETTER GET STARTED ON CRYING ME A RIVER.”

Adam was scrambling to pick up his stuff and shove it back in his bag, “GET ON YOUR FEET!”

He bolted upright to find Sgt. Kimball in his face, or more looking down on him. His face was red and as he screamed little droplets of spit flew for his tongue. He gave Adam one long look over, “GOOD LORD BOY I’VE TAKEN SHITS MORE SUBSTANTIAL THAN YOU!”

“GO ON CLEAN UP THIS SHIT, IT’S FILTHY WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING, THEN GET YOUR ASSES DOWN TO INTAKE.” He scrambled to put his things in his bag the MTI’s shouting at him the entire time. He nearly tripped over himself multiple times falling flat on his face in the dirt much to the amusement of the MTIs.

“LEAVE YOUR SHIT HERE.”

He tripped and wobbled running after the others as they ran towards the building that had been pointed out to them by the screaming MTIs.

A few of the other recruits were crying, but Adam, well he had sort of expected it, and honestly he would have been disappointed if they hadn’t. IN fact he found himself grinning from ear to ear as he walked into the equipment room behind a line of other recruits.

The equipment officer turned around from his desk to glare at them. He was a heavy-set man in his late forties with biceps as big around as tree trunks.

He looked them over with a frown before jabbing his finger at Adam, “You there, smiley. Small or extra small.” He blushed, “er…. Extra…. Small.”

“At least he’s honest.” The man grouted turning around to rifle through his equipment coming back with two pairs of everything in stock. He stacked it on the counter in front of him.

“Two PT uniforms, Two ACUs, two shirts, sweatpants, jacket, gloves, hat, and.” He pulled up a set of tan combat boots then glanced him up and down, “What is your shoe size?”

“Er….” More blushing, “Six.”

The man grunted ducked back behind the counter, “We only carry eight plus in mens, but a seven in women’s shoulder work.”

He tried not to wilt at the reminder of how small he was.

He turned away again and motioned him off. He clambered to pick up everything he needed and wobbled away juggling the boots the pants and the jacket with some difficulty, dropping a glove on the floor and nearly dropping everything else when he went to pick it up.

Walking outside he was met by another MTI who yelled at him to get his ass to the barracks to change and put all his shit away. He hurried to do as he was told running and nearly dropping everything again as he made his way through the doors into a large room lined along either side with beds, a single trunk at the base.

He ran to one of the beds at the far end, opened the crate and placed his things inside struggling to pull on one of the PT uniforms as the others ran into the room to do the same, throwing their things in the lockers at the base of the beds as the MTIs continued to scream at them.

It was only as he was running out of the room that he noticed the horrible terrible thing.

The extra small pants…. Were too big.

He tried looking for a drawstring to make them tighter, but they were canvas with an elastic waist, and they did not go any tighter. He turned in his spot trying to figure out what to do, but as soon as he slowed down another MTI was screaming at him to get back onto the field and line up.

So he chickened out, holding onto his pants for dear life as he raced back to the training ground.

Upon making it there he helped the other students line up into evenly space rows thinking that the MTIs might be impressed with them if they were to do that.

They did their best to stand like they were supposed to, though all of the instruction they had ever gotten was from old war movies, and they were all doing it horribly wrong, a fact for which the MTIs noticed and yelled at them for with great glee as soon as they noticed. Of course they were eventually whipped into shape standing in line in straight rows heels together hands at sides, shoulders back.

He could feel his pants slipping, though he was too embarrassed to say anything.

Sgt Kimball stepped out in front of them hands behind his back, “what did I say! Didn’t i say we were going to have a fun relaxing day! Are you having fun!” He was right in one of the recruits face now bellowing almost at the top of his lungs. He moved onto the next student, “Are you relaxed!”

Adam didn’t think the kid looked particularly relaxed. In fact, he looked so tense, that if he squeezed any harder his spine was going to go shooting out of his ass.

“Well!”

There was silence on the grounds.

“WELL!”

Adam scrambled his brain not entirely sure what to do before squeaking out, “Yes sir.”

The MTI leaned in, “Why don’t you try and communicate in normal ranges of human hearing, son. I am not a bat!”

He looked back up at the rest of the group, “WELL!”

“YES SIR.”

“That’s better.” He turned to stalk away from Adam pacing up and down the line, “i will be straight with you when I say that today IS going to be fun and relaxing compared to what you will be going through in the next few years. If you manage to make it into this program I promise you we will destroy your social life, you will have time for nothing other than this program and sleeping, if I decide to allow you to sleep, that is.”

Adam was grinning.

Unfortunately that caught the Sgt’s eye, “THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING AT!”

He waited.

Adam just stood there.

“ANSWER THE QUESTION GODDAMMIT!”

He scrambled, “Yes sir, sorry sir! I thought it was a rhetorical question.”

“HEAVENS ABOVE HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL. I SAID ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

His mouth opened then closed, “Er…”

“THE HELL KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT!”

“Um.”

“Sweet Jehova did you come out this stupid or is it a family tradition, a side hobby?”

“I’m sorry sir, I forgot the question.”

He lowered his head with an exaggerated sigh rubbing his temples , “Forgot the question. FORGOT THE QUESTION. I’VE MET GOLDFISH WITH BETTER MEMORIES THAN YOU! I SAID WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SMILING.”

He blushed, “Oh….. Um” “HURRY UP.”

“BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE FOR YOU TO RUIN, SIR.”

That seemed to take the man back, and he simply sat there staring at Adam with a bemused expression.

“If you were any more pathetic, smiley, I might just cry for you. Honest to god, if you get any more pathetic I will cry real tears for your shame.”

He turned away.

“Now everyone get on the ground and give me FIFTY.”

At least everyone seemed to know what that meant, though pathetically enough his arms were wobbling at twenty.

“JUMPING JUPITER RECRUIT, I DIDN’T EXPECT YOU TO MAKE ME CRY IN THE FIRST HALF HOUR. MY COUSIN COULD DO MORE PUSH-UPS THAN YOU AND HE’S GOT NO ARMS!”

The Sargent seemed to have a lot of disabled relatives. A blind granny, an armless cousin, a nephew with a pole up his ass from a tragic fishing accident.

By the time they were done , Adam was quite nearly ready to throw up.

“ALRIGHT FIFTY BURPIES GO,GO GO.” Oh no, anything but that.

He paused but was almost immediately screamed at to get his ass in gear. He knew what was coming before it happened, and couldn't stop it.

As he jumped down into his first plank and then back up, he could feel the waist on his pants slipping, at first just a little, but then, as his feet left the ground there they went right down around his ankles.

At first he thought he was at least lucky to be in the back row, but then scrambling to pick his pants back up, he realized none of that was going to matter.

Sgt. Kimball was staring at him, cheek twitching.

He himself was blushing excessively.

He was quiet for a very long time before, “CONTROL YOURSELF RECRUIT, THE LAST THING I NEED TO SEE IS YOUR CHICKEN LEG FLAT ASS KIDDIE JUNK ON MY TRAINING FIELD. Fuck, as small as you are I’ll probably be indited for CP. Now go get some new fucking pants before you blind us all for a second time. And, since it seems you’ve never seen leg day, I want you to cluck like a chicken all the way there. Let everyone know the pantsless chicken boy is coming.”

He did as he was told rose red the entire time and beat red on his way back seeing as, they had given him the smallest size available in mens, so instead he had been given a pair of woman’s shorts, which, due to the cut, tended to ride up in very uncomfortable places of his anatomy.

It was a very good thing he was used to embarrassment.

Or this was going to be a very long couple of years.

***

Commander Vir blinked and put a hand to his head boots throwing up little puffs of dust in the Texas heat.

“You ok Commander?”

He sniffed at the air and took in a deep breath hands on hips, “Ah, the memories!”

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breaddaerb · 4 years

Note

Headcanons for Jett pls?

(Preferably for her backstory or relationships with the agents, if its not too much trouble.)

[ jett headcannons I ]

✎↷: of course, anon! it’s no trouble at all honestly, jett is one of the agents that i first got a soft spot for! apologies for any errors in here. have fun with these:

joon-hee comes from a larger, more populated city like busan or seoul. it makes sense, considering her card, and she’s most definitely taken part in the street food culture of the big cities. she has an older sister and an older brother, as well as her two parents. she gives off youngest kid vibes, so we’re going to go with it.

the age gap between her siblings wasn’t wide, but a gap enough to where joon-hee was equally influenced by her brother and her sister. she had a taste of everything growing up, but their family was happy. she was victim to various tantrums from time to time, back when her feelings were in jeopardy.

most prominently in her life was her dad’s food stall while her mom made a living elsewhere. in her voice line she mentions chopping 달래, which is wild chives in korean. chives are used frequently in 부추전 (chive pancakes), and is a common street food to find when visiting markets and oriental places. joon-hee has always had that culture born into her blood, with talking to the gossipy halmeoni down the street or giving a snack to the passing highschool students.

she’s been at the front of that shop since she can remember. learning how to cook with her appa was always something she looked forward to when she got home from school, eagerly running out from their home to go help him at the store. eventually, they evolved into a small business when she was in middle school, placed at the corner around their house, and made access to the store easier than before.

joon-hee’s home life was centered mostly on her dad. her siblings didn’t carry the same interest she did in the shop, and though they still knew how to help, it wasn’t the same as her own eager hands. her mother had somewhat of a distaste towards her youngest daughter working so much for their store, but she didn’t voice her dissent for it directly to joon-hee herself. it was clear her mother had a preference for her older siblings, though, and hardly gave joon-hee attention.

at this age, she was still as extroverted and rowdy as ever. good manners have been pressed into her, but she couldn’t resist going out to play soccer with her friends or playing tag. her parents didn’t mind mostly, since she could stay in shape that way, and it tamed joon-hee’s endless energy quite a bit.

she wasn’t the most popular in highschool. friendly, but she was incorporated into a mostly guy friend group with a few girls here and there. aside from working at the store, everything about her life was normal.

a fire. there was a fire in the store and jesus, she didn’t know what to do. her father had passed out in the smoke and she watched as it burned and withered around her. her body had moved on its own that time, and her hands shifted and twisted into fists. and then there was wind, soft like cotton yet harsher than steel. it ripped through the fire, building slowly until it grew more and more.

when it exploded, it didn’t take just her out, but her whole family. and the neighbors. and then the whole district.

by now, radiants had been discovered, but joon-hee never thought that she was going to be one herself. never thought that these ‘myths’ she saw on the news were real, encased in blue spirals that licked up her arm. she didn’t know what happened to these people, so she did what she knew best. she ran.

ran like her soccer practices, ran like she wasn’t a sixteen year old girl who barely had a clasp on the world yet. but she had scowered the streets away from her home and swallowed back the thickness in her throat, the one that had developed ever since she watched her family’s bodies get thrown into her own tornado.

kingdom found her like this. hopelessly lost, in search of a home and somewhere to belong. they took her in, raised her and trained her innocent mind. she was taught how to speak english and was forbade from associating herself with korea and her old identity. now, she was hawk, born out of air and sheer force.

it didn’t mean she forgot, though. her heart was as fragile as her, shriveling away from touch with regret feeling bile on her tongue. they told her that she had potential, that her own strength would pull her through out of any situation. all she had to do was let them help her and the deal was done.

joon-hee was stubborn, but desperate. she wanted her abilities gone, to be able to say that her whole existence and the first light had been a mistake to her. instead, they injected her with poisons, fed her powers to where she wasn’t even sure if she knew herself. this body was artificial, nothing like the lithe canvas used for scraping against grass.

with brain wash and evident threats, joon-hee became hawk. she was harsher, unable to help herself from leaping at someone, with her own management issues going unchecked. but she was the star of the show, not overlooked by either of her siblings. where her dad would encourage her and tell her that his ‘little bird was taking flight already!’

joon-hee encountered sabine while she was there. they didn’t see eye to eye and made nasty comments about each other often, but that was a part of life.

— i realized i wrote more than i had intended for the backstory portion that i’m just gonna.. skip over how jett joined protocol and get into relationships —

brimstone: she likes the man! he’s genuinely like a dad to her, which is hard to say when you look at how she grew up. she’s thankful for him swooping into her life, and while it’s fun to prank him and joke around, jett has always taken his affirmations to heart when it comes to self improvement. she still hates doing the stretches he tells her to do, but she still does them. disrespecting her elders is rude. (they help. but only a little.)

breach: breach? oh, he’s hilarious! jett had laughed her ass off when killjoy told her about how breach had broken her arm when they arm wrestled for the first time, and she holds it against her. it also gave breach respect in jett’s eyes, since such a burly man wouldn’t even go easy on the twig nerd. she challenges him to arm wrestles very now and then, and while she does lose, it’s mostly for jett to use as a measurement for how much she needs to improve. they play games together, too, since he’s such a good sport about it.

cypher: a little cryptic, but she likes him. they’re not the closest agents because of their severe differences, but they occasionally share a sneaky retort to one another after a mission or knock elbows together at the bar. jett has also managed to get him into some of her pranks and jokes every now and then, and they team up on phoenix sometimes when things are just too peaceful in headquarters.

killjoy: psh, her? she’s tech support. though, she did teach jett how to make gingerbread, so she guessed that she was okay to be around. jett likes to go to killjoy to find out what she’s working on and if it’s anything for her. usually the answer is a no, but when it isn’t, the two of them actually make up some pretty chaotic ideas together. if this were a highschool au, jett would totally try to bully killjoy into giving her the homework, and the engineer wouldn’t even need the bullying to give it up. she would rather not be harassed.

omen: he’s spooky, but they get along. omen isn’t a fan of jett’s recklessness, but he compliments her when she does something good, and it made her warm up to him just a little more. sometimes, jett will fly up to omen on a higher up position on site and give him a happy wave or a joke that she heard. the man is dull and numb about it, although one time when she actually got a chuckle out of him, it was like the whole world flipped upside down. jett takes pride in the memory specifically.

phoenix: her partner in crime, obviously. she can go from choking him out to talking about how to end the world together, and it’s one of her favorite things about him. jett tends to have no filter around the man and it’s the same the other way around. they have each other’s backs when it comes to being wingmen for each other or backing the other up on the battlefield. their chemistry is amazing, and while it’s dangerous to have them out together, brimstone would begrudgingly admit that they got a lot done,

raze: blow them all up, raze, jett is here for it! her taste for loudness and explosions goes sated because of the brazilian. the two of them talk about soccer together and play on the weekends, or can be seen in the living room tossing balls to each other by their knees. jett goes to raze when it’s something phoenix won’t understand, and the brazilian has provided to be an actually decent therapist. maybe it should start by opening up first..

reyna: scary. jett can keep up with her, but there’s something about the things that the woman says that sends chills down her spine. she never admits it because she’s fearless and doesn’t give a damn about anyone else, but reyna had told her that she could hear her heart racing and wow, that was really creepy and she may or may not be fearing for her life. they still mingle and talk, and jett can’t help feeling small underneath the woman’s presence. it isn’t to say that she won’t do everything in her power to prove otherwise.

sage: tall and pretty. jett likes having the woman help her out a lot, and the korean can often be seen going in and out of the medbay to check in on her. sage had shared her red ginseng tea for jett’s taro boba drink, and both parties ended up more satisfied than they had initially expected. their relationship is mainly jett flitting around her out of admiration, and they get along well in the whole gal-pals aspect of their bond. sage is like an older sister presence to jett, and she appreciates the woman taking care of her.

skye: skye is entertaining, but it always seems like the woman is a step ahead of her. she’s knowledgeable and buddy buddy with jett, and seems to read the korean so perfectly that the duelist has a hard time countering it. she never gives up, but more often than not, it leaves her feeling flustered and confused. skye pulled jett along to one of her morning ones and had to deal with a sluggish and slow assassin, which was much funnier than skye had thought. she does it occasionally just to dote on the younger woman.

sova: he’s a big baby to her, honestly. she’s seen him melt when sage complimented him before, and her view of him has never been the same since then. jett thinks of him like a walking teddy bear, and talking to him is more relaxing than her regular conversation with phoenix. she has a definite appreciation for him, but she wished that he would get himself out of the sky where she belonged. really, his drone freaked her out. when she mentioned it, he had tagged her with the dart in it, and that had hurt like hell.

viper: viper treats her like a young child. she’s not surprised by it, but it still frustrates her when it rubs in a little too hard. sometimes, the scientist notices this, and quietly reassures jett with something like ‘you did well today, regardless’. she’s back to business immediately after that, making the duelist laugh. jett can successfully talk to viper without fearing for her life too much, and her worries go mostly forgotten until she sees the syringe being pulled out from her lab coat. terrifying.

#valorant #valorant rp #valorant headcannons #valorant scenarios #backstory #angst #valorant jett #jett #valorant relationships #this was such a long one to write but it was still fun

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elecman108 · 3 years

Photo

Man, I forgot to post 90% of my art here for the past while. I’m gonna do an art dump in this post under the cut. Enjoy the bonk emoji if you don’t click the read more, and man am I dumb and forgetful lmao.

Includes: OCs getting names, a Sonic impression, a D&D map, homosexual energies, a sheep floating in the astral sea, a birthday drawing I already posted, Hex Maniac Ender, D&D Characters, D&D Characters as Miis in Miitopia, Little Hater Axel, local Demon in the consciousness of my D&D character yelling at him, illegal plants, a necromancer being cute, an actual event that happened in a D&D game two days ago, and Mermay drawing.

That’s everything in here as a TL;DR, I guess. Enjoy your day!

I’m gonna try and sort of have them in chronological order, oldest first, but I may end up putting them in the wrong order. If I do... Whoops, I guess?

[04/14/21] - This isn’t really new art, but I started to work on giving the four OCs of mine without a full name full names... I have not finished this bit, though. So Hunter and Akira have full names, and Warlock and Assassin only have temporary names. This may end up like Seven where I put in their names as a temporary name (7th OC I’d made at that time) and it just kind of... sticks. Lmao.

[04/20/21] - Alone on a Friday Night? God, you’re pathetic. I didn’t colour this one because it was a half-attempt at a meme image I still like it, though, so I might end up colouring it. It’s gonna appear again whenever I do my “unfinished drawings art dump” at some point probably in... June? I know I said I’d post them last month but forget it, lmao, it’ll happen eventually.

[04/20/21] - A D&D Map! This was to help me visualize the layout of my D&D character’s ship he used to be on. Also for my DM if they ever put us aboard the ship. The little fella in the corner is just there to vibe. This map is made of free to use assets from This Website, so while I’m gonna say DONT USE MY MAP WITHOUT PERMISSION, feel free to make your own!

[04/26/21] - Lesbian Day of Visibility drawing of yours truly, the disapointment! That’s... really all I have to say about this, honestly. It was just for that one day and that was it, lmao. I mean, I accidentally lined it in dark pink, so.. .That’s different, I guess?

[04/30/21] - Do Astral Seas dream of Ensorcled Sheep? Does the City know what Sheepleb is going to do? What crimes he may commit? Who knows! This was fan art of Critical Role ep. 134 if I remember correctly, right at the end when they jumped into the portal into the astral sea and Caleb was a sheep. Using my knowledge of the German language, I knew the word for “shit”, and had to use it.

[05/07/21] - This was already posted, but it’s going in here to dilinuate that it was drawn at this point. Also, aside from playing Miitopia, this is all I have to show for myself until the 12th.

[05/12/21] - Hex Maniac Ender challenges you to a Pokemon Battle! WIll you win against my team? My sis, who loves fairy types, pointed out to me that there’s a fairy girl and hex maniac duo, so I’d be the hex maniac. I spent... Over a week drawing this, because I basically had to redraw the Hex Maniac art from scratch in a higher quality size, and then draw myself over it. So... You can excuse the low-effort background for once. It was basically this, and then my birthday doodle from May 1st to May 12th, and then I took a break to draw up several D&D characters quickly for fullbody references.

[05/12/21] - Remember this art I made several months ago? I finally added my other two completed characters! I have three more named but without character sheet D&D characters, so for now this is just Kara, Axel, Golden Shadow, Kau, Cecillia, and Miri. Kress, Tempest, and Melia will have to wait until I make character sheets for them to be posted, and... For when I probably make more D&D characters. I have at least 9 additional, incomplete character ideas floating around, so... I’m never gonna be done this art, huh?

[05/12/21] - Speaking of D&D characters, did you know I’ve been making them as Miis in Miitopia? So here is their finished full body art next to their Miitopia self! Some of them look a little off (Golden Shadow, Cecillia) because of limitations of the editor and shading issues, some of them look a little off (Kau, Kress) because this is a human face canvas that I’m using to make a non-human face, and some of them (Melia, Axel) look REALLY GOOD. Common traits among my D&D characters include green eyes and tall. You wanna know why? Because I am tall and... despite having red eyes, I do have green eyes under the coloured contacts.

[05/15/21] - More D&D stuff! This is based around my D&D group’s current Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign where our Goliath Fighter, Nioh, ends up getting a little bit of hate for being cocky, and our little (well over 6′) hater, Axel, is just a man full of irritation. These are the tallest two characters of the group at the moment. Someone send help. Nioh belongs to one of the other D&D players, Axel (and his stupid additude) belongs to me.

[05/15/21] - This is what me playing D&D feels like. Me, the demon entity trapped inside the head of my D&D character, yelling at them to do things while the dice decide that they’re gonna get bopped a hundred times by a yeti and somehow still survive. This is also a reference to our first or second game where I just ran off like sixty feet to one side of the battle map to fight a Crag Cat and was just in Gay Baby Jail until like two turns later when I could run back to the others. I also drew him not in his winter gear even though this is a bit from when we were atop Kelvin’s Carin in an icy cave, so maybe that’s why he’s at low HP.

[05/15/21] - Melia has good gardening tips, such as Use A Mars Mii Trap To Hide A Body Because They Are Endangered And It Is Illegal To Dig Them Up. I love her a lot, because she’s the youngest of four, all four sisters based around the different seasons. She’s based around Autumn, so she’s all orange and yellow and brown and is so cute. Also she’s Chaotic Neutral, as if she didn’t need to be mildly more threatening.

[05/15/21] - Cecillia is my Tiefling gal who lived in a very northern town plagued by cold weather and snow, and Axel is my Pirate guy who spent most of his time further south on the high seas and warmer weather. So, naturally... I’ll use the guy more acclimatized to the hotter weather in the campaign where we spend 99% of it in the snow. She uses Tarot Cards as her spell focus, and I decided to sneak my other D&D characters onto her Tarot cards so naturally, Axel is The Hanged Man, given his backstory and personality. She’s a very cheerful and friendly Tiefling Necromancer of the Hexblade, so she’d for sure take care of those around her to ensure their success. Especially if they’re on her Tarot Cards, and their spirit comes to her aid when she asks for them.

[05/16/21] - Content Warning; Ryma thinks too much into local stupid moron’s lack of knowing how to answer a question and thinks too much into the reputation of Pirates. Poor Axel, man doesn’t know how to socialize with people who aren’t pirates and is used to being hostile towards everyone, so when he’s asked a question that his answer to is “uhh... no?”, he panics and ends up making a mistake that leads him to think that Ryma can read his mind. Ryma belongs to another of the D&D players. I guess me drawing all those spicy Cow Costumed OCs earlier just brought me to drawing Axel being a bottom in this, huh?

[05/16/21] - It’s Mermay, which means more OC drawings! Here’s Theo after drinking some potion that turned him into a mermaid, and Seven, tiredly, collecting his stupid boyfriend so that Lailah can fix the fact he’s turned into a mermaid. Mer!Theo is based around his sword’s colours of indigo-purple with red accents, which looks a little weird since Theo is the Blue one of the group, but... it looks cool, I guess. Seven’s just the same outfit as always, just no gloves this time.

And that’s it for the art dump! This was, frankly, MASSIVE. I’ll try and remember to upload both on Twitter and Tumblr at the same time, but... Ah... I have been drawing a fair bit. Just mostly sketches and linework that I haven’t finished and may not actually finish. If they’re not completed, I’ll dump them all into something at the end of the month or whatever. Maybe you’ll get the old sketch of the Axel face in panel 3 because in the sketch phase it was an Ahegao face, in the clean sketch it was a lip bite, and in the linework and final it’s just horny face. lmao.

Top ten things I have to remember for drawing: AXEL HAS A SCAR AND GREEN EYES. I remember his eye colour now, but if you look at his fullbody ref, he’s got brown eyes. And, naturally, I keep forgetting to put in his scar. He has more, but most of them are located in areas covered by his clothes. So if I ever draw him shirtless I guess I’ll have to place them somewhere.

Also maybe finish the reference sheets I have left to finish so I can post more of them, since I have two “Pets” completed (Roko and Mona’s nameless pet), but I have to do up Hunter, Warlock, Assassin, Akira, Myuut, and Stella. I’m betting when I do complete two more, it’ll be Hunter and Akira. Those two are the most fun to draw, at least.

#the disappointment speaks #drawings by me #OCs #D&D #art dump #Miitopia #of all of these drawings I gotta say the most cursed is censored bottom!Axel and the most blessed is Cecillia's lap nap #I drew a lot of D&D stuff lately! Most of my OC stuff has stayed in the sketch stage so #I guess that says something about what I've been prioritizing in my drawings?#Also that drawing a twunk as a twink is incredibly funny and cursed. love my pirate boy

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jace-the-writer-guy · 4 years

Text

Holly's New Snack

///Hey everyone. This is a smut story I decided to want to write a while ago and finished it recently. It may be my last one for a while, big surprise. I hope you all enjoy///

“In one of Holly’s visits to Beacon to meet up with her younger sister, she noticed that a pair of eyes had been on her constantly. When confronting the culprit Holly discovered that her spy was actually an admirer, and a very cute one at that in the form of a certain chameleon faunus.”

Word Count: 3,740

There were many things Holly liked to do. She liked to hunt at times, and always loved to drive her truck around on the roads back home, and she loved taking care of her weapons. Another one of those things was visiting Beacon every so often to check up on her little sister. It always gave her extra motivation for her next mission with her friends to make it back and tell April how it went, and give her some pointers on what to do in certain situations. In the last day of her most recent visit, she had taken notice of a certain someone that had been eyeing her. It was one of Beacon’s new foreign students, a cute girl with tanned skin and darker spots on her face, hands, and legs. The way the girl stared at her got her very interested. Holly even went so far as to tease the girl by taking her coat off, giving her a better view of her body and especially her ass and thighs in her pants. That got the desired reaction out of the girl as Holly noticed her eyes widen before she turned away, and Holly noticed a blush on her cheeks.

In the words of Vanille, Holly may have found herself a cute little snack.

Holly dropped her coat off at her truck where the majority of her weapons were, and she noticed that the girl had hurried off behind one of the buildings. The gunslinger raised her eyebrow and decided to follow after her, and ask very nicely as to why she had been staring at her all day. She even unbuttoned her shirt a bit more than usual just for fun. Eventually, Holly found her behind some bushes, trying to hide away from everyone to try to calm herself down. Holly smirked at that and stepped forward past the bushes, and the girl gasped and backed up against the wall in surprise, her skin beginning to change to the color of the wall.

“Oh, so you ain’t just a cute girl, you’re a cute chameleon girl, huh?” Holly said with a widening grin. She noticed that the girl’s eyes began to dart back and forth, her skin turning back from a mix between gray and tan to a light shade of pink from what Holly said, “Y'know, I’ve been catchin’ you starin’ at me just about all day.”

The girl’s mouth opened and closed for several moments before she tried to shake her head clear, and she tried to run off from the sheer embarrassment she felt but Holly’s hand on the wall next to her head stopped her. “Aw c'mon now sweetheart. I ain’t gonna bite, unlike my friend. It’s rude to stare at someone, y'know~?”

“S-s-sorry…” The girl squeaked out her apology and looked down, but with how Holly was slightly bent over, all she got was a very good look at Holly’s cleavage, and that made her blush even more as her skin grew a brighter pink.

“What’s your name, darlin?”

“I-Ilia…”

Holly grinned even more, and she took a finger and trailed it down Ilia’s body. “Tell ya what, hun. How about next time I’m here visitin’ my sister, I get you an’ give you a little show? Sound good?”

Ilia nodded multiple times, her heart almost beating out of her chest at being pressed up against the wall by the sexy gunslinger. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Holly’s cleavage at all, and that made Holly chuckle. “Alright, so it’s settled. Seeya then, sweetheart~”

Holly stepped back from Ilia, her grin still across her face, and she turned and walked away. She gave Ilia a good view of her thick ass as she walked off, and the faunus girl could do nothing but stare at it until Holly was out of sight. When Ilia lost sight of her, she let out a long pent up breath and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Her mind was so frazzled and she couldn’t think straight at all, and her eyes blinked slowly for several moments.

Why did this always happen to her?

X x X x X x X

*One month later*

Holly pulled her truck into a spot at Beacon’s parking lot behind the school and shut the engine off, and hopped outside. Outlaw was without its doors or its canvas roof, leaving the sun shining straight down on the interior of the truck and Holly herself. She was wearing an outfit far from the usual for her, but one she liked breaking out at times but with a new shirt. She wore a pair of jean minishorts that just barely covered her ass, leaving her cheeks hanging out a bit for all to see. She wore her normal boots and kept Bear Tooth at her right hip in its holster, and she of course had her bandana on over her blinded eye. Lastly, she wore a tight black tank top that hugged her torso and breast perfectly, with the words “Thick Bitch Energy” written on the front in red.

It was safe to say she turned more than a few heads on campus.

Holly looked around and smirked at all the stares she was receiving from the students, and she brought her scroll out. She went through her contacts to find the new one she had put in a month ago after she had April do some asking around, and she tapped on “Cute Lizard” to send a text out to her. “Hey sweetheart, I’m back in Beacon. Meet me back where we talked before. You don’t wanna keep me waiting, do ya~?”

She hit send and smirked as she already saw a notification that Ilia had read the message, and she began to walk on to where she cornered Ilia before. In truth, Holly had never really done something like this before, but the opportunity with Ilia was too good to pass up so she took it and ran with it. Now, she was walking through Beacon’s courtyard to meet up with the chameleon faunus and getting stared at by a very good amount of students of both sexes. The could feel the lust they all radiated, and she liked it. It was certainly a nice change of pace from the usual “arrive, hang out with April for a bit, and leave” cycle she was used to.

Eventually, she arrived at the spot she told Ilia to go to and was surprised to see she was already there, leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. “Oh damn, you got here quick. Excited, huh~?”

Her voice drew Ilia’ attention and the girl opened her eyes, and her jaw dropped as she laid her eyes on Holly. She didn’t know what to focus on between those deliciously thick thighs or her glorious, soft-looking breasts, her eyes darting between them as Holly came closer and closer, her skin growing a bright shade of pink. Holly didn’t even let Ilia say a word, not that she could anyway, before she leaned down and kissed her very deeply. Ilia’s knees grew weak and she couldn’t keep her hands away from Holly at all. As soon as their lips touched, Ilia’s hands were on Holly’s hips, and soon they slid up to her breasts. Holly smirked under the kiss as Ilia fondled her breasts, squeezing and rubbing them both in her fingers. They really were soft, and very squishy, and Ilia loved the feeling of them.

Holly kept their little kiss going for several moments before she pulled back, and she noticed that Ilia’s tongue wasn’t a normal one. “Ooooh what’s this now~?” Holly reached a hand up and gently grabbed the tip of Ilia’s tongue in her fingertips, and she slowly pulled it out of her mouth, her eye and her smirk widening as it grew longer and longer, “Mmmm looks like your cute skin ain’t your only chameleon trait… I wonder how long it is~”

Holly slowly began to pull Ilia’s tongue from her mouth, using her body to keep Ilia’s against the wall, and she stared at every centimeter of Ilia’s tongue that she pulled out. She watched in awe as she stretched the faunus’ tongue out by an extreme amount, much further than what she ever expected a person’s tongue to be. Ilia’s skin turned from pink to a lavender color as she was beginning to get turned on more and more from Holly pulling and tugging on her tongue, and from the fact that Holly was keeping her against the wall, keeping her from moving at all. Soon, Holly had Ilia’s tongue out to its full length at two feet, and she whistled lowly, gently wrapping her fingers around Ilia’s tongue and slowly beginning to run her hand all along the length of it.

“Daaamn, this thing’s impressive~” Holly remarked in wonder, feeling its warmth in her fingers as it lightly wiggled around, “I dunno what lavender means, but it looks like you like it when your tongue’s messed with~” She gripped it a bit tighter and pulled a bit, and Ilia let out a squeak and shivered against Holly’s body, her skin turning a deeper color when she did so, “Mmm damn, you do like this~ Sounds like this is your erogenous zone, huh~? The further it goes, the more sensitive it gets…”

Holly continued to stroke Ilia’s tongue at a slow pace, leaving the girl panting lightly the entire time. Holly’s thumb squeezed into the muscle at different intervals and each time it brought more little squeaks to come from Ilia. The amount of saliva that slid down Ilia’s tongue from her mouth was perfect for what Holly had planned next, but she continued to have fun with Ilia’s tongue, working her hand all the way from the tip to her lips, and then back down again. A small puddle of saliva formed between their feet, and there was even more soaking into Ilia’s uniform shirt from Holly’s actions. Ilia squeezed her fingers into Holly’s hips as she squeezed her thighs shut from the wetness of her pussy.

Soon enough, Holly stopped playing with Ilia’s tongue and she lifted it up, all her fingers and her palm covered in saliva. Holly gave Ilia a devious smirk and went to lift Ilia’s tongue up as it slowly retracted back to half its length, and Holly put the tip in her mouth and began to lean in. She took Ilia’s tongue further into her mouth and Ilia immediately let it go further, and eventually down Holly’s throat. Holly moaned a bit around it while she lifted Ilia’s skirt up and pulled her panties to the side, and then she sunk two of her saliva-soaked fingers deep inside Ilia’s soaking pussy. Holly leaned in further and soon began to lock lips with the chameleon faunus.

Now, Holly was basically the only thing keeping Ilia against the wall as she pressed her body into her, pumping her fingers in and out of her pussy. Ilia’s entire body shivered at the feelings that Holly was making her feel. She continued to moan deeper and deeper as she slowly began to wiggle her tongue in Holly’s throat, and that caused Holly to let out a pleased, muffled sound as she rubbed the underside of Ilia’s tongue with her own. Ilia whimpered a bit at that and began to grab Holly’s fat ass, squeezing it tightly in her fingers. That just made Holly speed up her efforts with her fingers, curling one a bit inside Ilia and it made Ilia start giving off moans at a faster pace, and at a higher pitch. Ilia didn’t stand a chance at lasting more than just a couple of minutes thanks to her sensitive tongue being down Holly’s throat, the way Holly was working her tongue against hers, and Holly’s fingers pumping deep into her cunt.

Ilia began to cum just moments later. Her eyes rolled up into her head a bit as her pussy clenched tightly around Holly’s fingers. If it wasn’t for Holly holding her against the wall, Ilia would have definitely fallen to the ground because of the pleasure Holly was making her feel. It was absolutely amazing! Her tongue stopped wriggling in Holly’s throat, her breathing deep and labored now after what Holly did to her. She didn’t think she had ever came that quickly in her life, but Holly definitely didn’t hold back at all. Holly slowed down the movements of her fingers to an agonizing pace for Ilia before she eventually stopped, and she pulled her fingers out. Then, she pulled her head back and Ilia’s tongue came out of her mouth absolutely covered in Holly’s saliva, and she stuck her two fingers in Ilia’s mouth.

Holly smirked at the sight of Ilia’s cute face as she felt Ilia’s lips wrap around her fingers. “Mmm that’s a good little lizard~ Oh damn, I just remembered! I still ain’t gave you that show I promised, have I~”

Ilia blinked in response as Holly took her fingers from her mouth. “Welp, we can’t have that. C'mon, let’s go to my sister’s dorm an’ I’ll give ya exactly what I promised~”

Holly began to walk away and it took everything in Ilia’s power to stay on her feet. Her legs were extremely wobbly, but she slowly began to follow after Holly. The gunslinger walked slow so Ilia could keep pace of course, and she couldn’t help but grin and chuckle to herself every time she glanced back to see Ilia following her, eyes focused on her jiggling ass with each step. And it was even better because Ilia’s tongue was still hanging out! Holly definitely had the girl entranced, and anyone that stared at them as they walked by could tell very clearly. Eventually, Holly made it to April’s dorm room and unlocked the door thanks to the digital key that April had sent to Holly’s scroll, and she pulled Ilia inside. After she shut the door, Holly took off her gunbelt and tossed it onto April and Star’s shared bed, and then she had Ilia sit down on the bed next to it.

“So lil’ lizard…” Holly purred in a sultry tone, “Ready for your show~?”

Ilia nodded wordlessly multiple times, still with her tongue hanging out, and Holly giggled. “Alright then~”

Holly turned around and spread her legs out a bit, giving Ilia a very good view of her ass, and then she began to shake it for her. Ilia’s eyes widened a bit as she watched Holly’s ass start to jiggle and shake from side to side and up and down. The soft flesh under her shorts rippled with each movement as Holly began to twerk her fat ass for Ilia, and she soon slowly started to drop it low, and she really started working her ass. Ilia’s eyes were just glued to the sight of the movements of Holly’s rear. She wasn’t fast like some girls would be, but rather slow with her movements to allow those she gave these shows to to savor all the motions her ass went through. She moved her hips in slower motions to make her ass jiggle whichever way she wanted, along with of course working her asscheeks themselves.

People hardly knew this about Holly, but she definitely knew how to work her ass when she wanted to, and Ilia was definitely witnessing that. Her mind nearly went blank as she stared at Holly’s ass. It rivaled Blake’s, even though Holly had the cat faunus clearly beat in size, but both were equally as amazing. Holly was nearly to the floor as she continued to work it, and Ilia drooled more and more from the sight. She just felt so powerless from Holly making her cum so quickly before so all she did was just sit there and watch as Holly teased her with her show. Her mouth just hung open and she looked like a complete idiot as she stared at Holly’s jiggling ass for the next minute or so before Holly eventually ended her show, and she stood up fully. Then as Ilia felt like she was finally able to say something, Holly started shaking her ass once more before she slowly began to unbutton her shorts and slide them down her thick thighs.

After the jeans hit the floor, Holly got on her hands and knees on April’s bed and gave her ass a nice, firm slap. “C'mon now, Ilia~ Don’t leave a girl waitin’~”

Ilia did not need a second invitation. She basically leapt across the gap between the two beds onto the one Holly was on, and she just dove in. With two hands planted on Holly’s thick ass, Ilia buried her face between her cheeks and her tongue immediately started to lick and prod at the Huntress’ asshole. Holly shook her ass around Ilia’s face, humming slightly as she felt the girl’s tongue lathering her hole up with saliva. Soon, Ilia started to push her tongue inside and Holly let out a small moan, and Ilia moaned a bit from the tightness of Holly’s ass around her sensitive muscle. And as Holly noted before, Ilia’s tongue grew more and more sensitive the further down the length it went, so the cute chameleon faunus began to moan deeper as she pushed her tongue further into Holly’s ass.

Holly got off her hands and started to rest on her elbows, biting her lip as she felt Ilia’s warm, wet tongue work deeper inside her. Her moans really started to come when Ilia began to wiggle her tongue around inside her ass and it made her legs quiver a bit from the feeling. Then, Ilia began to turn her tongue around and extend it back towards where it came in, wiggling the whole way and soon the tip came out, and Ilia was breathing deeper with her nose pressed firmly against Holly’s skin now that more of her tongue was being extended. Ilia’s own body quivered from the pleasure she felt through her tongue as she then began to flick the tip of it against Holly’s clit, and that made Holly take a sharp intake of breath and let it out in a shuddering moan.

Ilia could hear and feel Holly’s reaction to that and she continued to tease it for several moments longer, her eyes closed as her skin stayed a deep lavender color the entire time. After she finished with that, she began to extend her tongue further and push the tip inside Holly’s now soaking cunt. That caused Holly to begin to moan even more as it slowly inched its way deep inside her. Ilia herself was barely able to stay on her knees, especially since she was still recovering from what Holly did to her behind the school. Thanks to all of what she was doing with her tongue, she had soon began to cum once more and squeezed her fingers into Holly’s rear, trying to keep steady as she gave a long, pleasured moan into her ass, her juices just pouring down her thighs.

Holly could feel herself growing closer to her climax as well with Ilia’s tongue working both her holes, and she let out a trembling laugh. “Oooooh fuck, Ilia~ I-I didn’t think a cute girl like you would be so good~”

Ilia clearly heard the praise from the older girl, and she couldn’t help but blush a bit past her lavender-colored skin. She felt like she had to double her efforts for the woman after that, and so she did. Every inch of her fully extended tongue wiggled around inside Holly’s holes, especially near the tip as Holly’s pussy squeezed and tightened around it. She moved it further inside and soon she had the tip touching Holly’s cervix, the feeling sending shockwaves of pleasure through Holly’s core as it made her let out a scream of pleasure. Ilia then started to flick the very tip of her tongue against it and Holly bit her lip harder than before to keep herself from screaming, but that didn’t last long for her at all.

After just a few moments of Ilia’s amazing efforts, Holly finally started to cum and she forced her face into the bedsheets before she let out a loud, long, trembling scream into them to keep herself muffled. Her juices coated Ilia’s chin and dripped down onto the bed as her body shuddered from Ilia’s tongue. After several long moments, Holly came down from her very intense orgasm and Ilia stopped moving her tongue. Ilia then slowly pulled her tongue from Holly’s holes, retracting it back into her mouth and shivering the entire time. When it was fully retracted, Ilia started to just lick at both holes, licking up all of Holly’s sweet nectar.

Then suddenly, Holly turned around and laid on her back, and then she locked Ilia’s head in place between her thighs. She grabbed a few of April and Star’s pillows to prop up to lay her upper back and head on, and she smirked down at Ilia with a devious look in her eye. “You ain’t done yet, darlin’… I wanna see how much o’ that tongue you can fit in my cunt~”

Ilia blinked a bit and her entire body then turned pink in a huge blush. She was in for a looong day.

X x X x X x X

“B-Blake…”

“So you’re telling me…”

“Shut up…”

“You’re telling me that you had sex with a girl without even asking her name?”

“Sh-shut up!” Ilia exclaimed and hid her blushing face in her hands, but Blake could very easily see the blush spread across Ilia’s body, “I-I-I asked!”

“Three days later?” Blake asked and smirked at her friend, “I expected this from Yang, not you.”

“W-well, what was I s-supposed to do? Say no to this!?” Ilia replied and pulled out her scroll to show Blake a nude that Holly had sent her.

Blake laughed at that, resting her cheek in her hand as her elbow was propped up on the table they sat at. “Maybe ask what her name is when she asks you what yours is?”

“B-Blake, come on!”

“I’m not letting you live this down for a long time, you know.”

“…I hate you.”

“Pfft, no you don’t.”

#oc #holly karmine #ilia amitola #non sfw #rwby smut #oc x canon #blake belladonna #submission

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san-station · 5 years

Text

Thirsty • Seo Changbin

Pairing: Seo Changbin x Reader

WARNING: suggestive, fluff. Two of three swear words.

↝Word count: 5,1k

The beginning of semester always made you happy, you craved for coming back to your daily routines, you missed walking down campus to your favourite coffee shop and the smell of fresh bread. You missed the newbies asking about where was the registration building and the older students telling them the wrong directions just to pissed them off. You missed the early bumping sound of your neighbors’ loud music. Yeah, and the most of all, you missed the art studio at the Art and Design faculty as you were an art student for almost 3 years now.

You entered the studio determinate, chin up and a small smile in your lips. Five classmates greeted you with hugs and cheek kisses. Meeting your classmates made you feel slightly happy about them around you. Usually, you best friend Jihyo would be there, asking how was your summer, the problem was that she had to move to another state due to her father’s job. No worries, though, you were a sociable person, not too quiet, but not too talkative, just the right amount of sociability you wanted. When your teacher finally arrived, he was exuding happiness as he brought with him the hardest evaluation of your life: nude models. Everyone there burst into whistles and giggles as the two male models located themselves on the studio’s parquet and established their elegant postures for you to begin the assignment. You grabbed your graphite pen and started to draw on your canvas after a long sigh, only enjoying a quarter of your piece.

On the other hand, Changbin woke up late for his first class because he forgot to set the alarm, he got used to waking up whenever he wanted, so, for him, the semester was already a pain in the ass. He hated when he was having the best time of his life at his own apartment playing video games, listening to music or watching a movie. He was a music engineer student and so, he always hated when people made him do things, like establishing a deadline for his tracks or making him do the entire melody according to rules. He felt the pressure and felt obligated to do whatever people wanted. Well, that was college for those who always had to deal with the worst teachers and the worst partners. Or maybe it was because he irradiated a dark aura wherever he walked in and intimidated all human beings. His wardrobe was pitch black, maybe one or two white shirts he wore when he exercised. His daily expression was mad serious that you could think he was going to murder you in any second. However, he was a softy around his best friends and close acquaintance, that included you, the best friend of his best friend.

Changbin ran to his class, stopping by the coffee shop to buy his morning coffee only to arrive to an empty room.

A familiar person got out of the classroom seconds later and closed the door; he watched Changbin catching his breath crunching on a side of the wall.

“Are you okay?”, he asked looking carefully as the strong and fitted man stood up completely.

“W-what happened… to Mr. Oh’ session?”, Changbin question difficulty, after he notice he was half an hour later to his second class, he ran as fast as he could from the other side of the campus. Unfortunately, he thought, he would have to talk to him on another occasion.

“You are pretty late… Session’s over, mate”, the boy chuckled and put the classroom’s keys on his pocket.

Changbin whined and walked shoulder to shoulder with the him.

“Lend me your notes”, he spatted bumping the man’s arm.

“Which is the magic word?”, he asked with a smirk on his face, grabbing his backpack with one hand and putting the other inside his jean pocket.

“Lend me your notes or I’ll eat your babies, Chan”, Changbin wasn’t in the mood for begging, so he said harshly as they got outside the building and walked through campus to their next location.

“...C’mon, man, that was rude”, Chan fake cried and hold his chest thinking about the small man doing such atrocity.

“Ugh, fine, please, Channie-hyung, could you lend me the fucking notes or I’ll have to ask Mark and I don’t like him.”

“Dude, it was only first day, I actually can ask Mr. Oh to give me the presentation and the assignments for the rest of the semester if I want and you can miss classes whenever you like to. Just send him your works”, Chan shrugged knowing how much Changbin disliked Mr. Oh. He almost failed him for expressing himself and saying Mark Lee’s rap sucked, he was the class favorite, thus he got the lowest score of the class and an email from the teacher saying he had to be responsible for his words and accept consequences.

“If you do that, we’re getting marry this spring, bro”, he said as his nostrils filled with the sweet smell of coffee. Chan laughed and agreed, making their way into the famous place and lined up to order lunch.

While they were taking, a familiar voice made Changbin turned to the direction of the source and smiled warmly. You were talking with one of your common friends, Felix, while sipping your frappuccino and eating a cheeseburger. Chan talked alone for a whole minute without receiving any attention from the small man. When it was time to order, he had to make the decision for his friend and scoffed when he notice where his eyes were glued like a statue.

“Do you still have that tiny little crush on her?”, he whispered. The barista handed him a blueberry bubble tea, two burgers, chicken wings and a soda.

“I never said it was tiny”, Changbin gave the money without even looking at the cashier and started to walk to your direction, the employee was very surprised by seeing his 10$ tip, tho.

“Oh, wow…”, Chan was impressed, his childhood friend never admitted having feelings, he once thought Changbin had a tiny rock where his heart was supposed to be and his heartbeats where only earthquakes on his body. He was a kid when he believed it, pardon him.

They approached to your table startling Felix and you.

“Hi, guys! How are you?!” your excitement melted Changbin’s heart, for him you were the cutest person he would’ve ever met and every time you came across and have a conversation, he always found something about you that made him believe that evil didn’t exist, that flowers bloomed constantly around the two of you, that when you laughed, a fairy was born and babies smiled. He thought you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he found himself thinking about you every little second of his nights, daydreaming at every hour about what would you two do in the future if you ever got together.

“Hey, Y/N, Felix! How’s it going? Can we sit with you?”, Chan asked stroking Felix’s head, that made Changbin flinched as he got lost in his mind.

“Sure! C'mere”, you patted the sit next to you for him and his cheeks reacted instantly flushing a pinkish shade to his ears hidden by his black hair. Chan choked with his bubble tea as he wanted to vomit after watching that.

“What were you talking about?”, Changbin asked grabbing his burger and eating like if he was in some sort of fancy restaurant and needed to impress you with his skills.

“Tonight’s gonna be the welcoming fair for the new students and it’s gonna be outstanding!”, you clapped your hands full of glee. Changbin repressed a smiled. “There’ll be fireworks, a music show and a loooot of food!”, you finished, eager about the news. You loved the welcoming fair, it was so good to start the semester with great vibes, music sounding all over the place, colors flashing and lightning the dark night, tasty food dancing in your mouth making your stomach the happiest place on Earth. It was wholesome.

“And we were planning to go when everything’s set up”, Felix added grabbing one of Chan’s chicken wings, that made the older looked at him with pressed lips, betrayed. “Wanna come?”, he asked with full mouth.

Changbin was about to decline the offer, he wasn’t found of those kinds of things. People screaming and running over the place and food gathered on the floor at the end of the event? No, it wasn’t his thing.

“It’ll be fun!”, you nodded and slowly took a chicken wing from Chan’s food. He whimpered and pouted after biting his burger.

“Yeah, we’ll be there”, Changbin made it sound cool with his uninterested aura, but he was howling inside full of joy, he was going to spent the night next to you and he couldn’t ask for more.

Or maybe he could ask for more, like making Chan and Felix get away from you and let him have, at least, a few words with you. Since you arrived at the campus park where the fair was settle up and vibrating with energy and new faces, Chan and Felix tormented you with his vacation stories, not letting the e-boy get close to you. Except that he was the one too shy to integrate to the conversation.

The reality was that your gloomy state flowered after they walked away from you and, thinking you were alone, the happy mask you put on after going out of class was the perfect facade for the A student you were. Your first day started as great as it could be, you made your interventions in class, asked a few questions letting people answer and filling your brain with unknown themes and topics, that always sparked your curiosity and was one of the things Changbin like the most, that innocent eyes which never saw the bad side of people, only the greater of things. The eyes that looked at him without fear and only with excitement, not like everyone else. The eyes he deeply wanted to see closer and watch every little spot on your skin, memorize your scars and wrinkles; kiss the little moles you had in your mouth and your neck; blow the rebel strands of your hair that made you pull them on the back of your ears, trace the curves of your body, appreciating the reactions his hands would make on you as he could hear your heartbeat getting faster and little sweat drops appear on your skin. He would be proud of himself as he could sense how hot you’ll be as he touches you with such tender fingers, he wanted to make you feel thirsty for him, the same way he was thirsty for you

However, now he was a little worried when he saw the smile on your face fade away at the same time Chan and Felix decided to buy something to eat and watch the music show. Changbin was nervous, he wasn’t good with reassuring words, he preferred being the company and listen to the other person, usually people only needed someone who could listen to them and just that, company. So he thought that maybe his company would cheer you up as the australian boys were out of sight.

You walked a few steps ahead of him, Changbin keeping his distance as he delivered with himself about his next move, but you turned your head back to see him and waited for him to approach.

“Are you okay?”, he asked when your eyes met his, you gave him a small nod and continue your walk beside him.

“Mhm…”, you mutter raising your eyes to the night sky.

“You sure? You don’t seem like it…”, he could read your body language, your downed shoulders, your sad face trying to be something it was not, the tone of your answers.

“Today was not what I expected to be…”, you sighed and crossed your arms over your chest to hug yourself from the freezing wind it suddenly blow.

“Yeah, tell me about it…”, Changbin scoffed, glancing your previous action.

There it was, he had started the awkward silence because he couldn’t think about something more appropriate to say to cheer you up. He needed to think, he needed to know what was bothering you so much but he only could see the moonlight illuminating half of your face, your eyes looked visually pleasant, they seemed to reflect the entire sky and Changbin was stargazing. Your mouth started to move, you were telling him something that made you pout for a second. Changbin’s eyes followed the curve of your pointy nose and rested on your lips, for him they look pretty soft and kissable. Actually, everything about you seem soft and kissable for the strong man.

“Bin…?”, you frowned and a ghost smile tried to emerge from you mouth, watching the man beside you so lost in his thoughts.

“Changbin, did you hear me?”, he realized your mouth said his name and he looked up, meeting your starry eyes.

“Y-yeah…”, he muttered. “W-well, no… I’m sorry”, he apologized immediately, mentally slapping himself for not giving you the attention you deserved. You chuckled softly and brushed your palms up and down your arms to keep them warm as much as you could. Changbin’s arms intchend as planned carefully his next movements.

“I was saying that my drawing today wasn’t as good as I expected”, you pouted again, Changbin always seemed so interested in every word you’d say and it pleased your heart, he listened, not only heard and. You were glad he never pushed, he would let you open your heart as your mouth let out all your concerns. The first time you two met, Jihyo had told you Changbin was not an easy-going person at the beginning, he would keep distance and would never talk as that was his personality with strangers, he didn’t have too much trust in anyone but his close friends. Nonetheless, when she introduced you as her new best friend, Changbin fell his chest burning and his palms sweating as an angel stood right before him. Your shy smile warmed his chest and when you spoke, he sweared he was in heaven, he’d died and this beautiful creature greeted him in the entrance of his new home.

For you, meeting him was a little more… extreme. He stood there with wide eyes, his lips pressed in a thin line and his arms crossed over his chest. His muscles weren’t as prominent as now, but that didn’t stop your mind to picture him holding you tightly, that made you shiver; a tiny hurricane of butterflies ignated from your belly to the center of your breast and you had to swallow hard when he hold his hand out for you to take it. Politely, you shook his hand for a little too long, but neither of you care to notice. Jihyo gave you both a knowing smile without realizing the meaning and the three of you talked the whole night. Well, you and Jihyo, Changbin dedicated the time to engulfed himself in your invisible wrap around his body. He wasn’t aware of the looks you had give him that da. His cute dimples drove you crazy instantly, his laugh exercised your cheeks muscles making you smile by inertia and, for the first time in two years, you let your heart enjoy the company of this shy and intimidated man that made you feel pure ecstasy just by standing on your side. A couple of years later, you became very good friends unaware of your feelings for each other.

“O-oh… Why? What happened?”, he cared, you really life he cared, it meant a lot for you.

“We have to learn how the human body has so many different shapes by sketching nude models and-”

“W-what?! Did you said nude…models?!”, he interrupted you and stopped on his place. You let out a soft laugh.

“Yes, and today was the first try… by the end of semester we have to present four different body shapes but every time I looked at the models, I just hated the way my fingers couldn’t create the proper shape…”

Changbin was quiet, the image of you in front of a naked man’s body made him shiver in repulsion. He refused to let your pretty eyes wandering through someone else's’ body that wasn’t him, even if that idea was kept for himself.

“Anyways, I have three more months before the final presentation so I can practice a lot”, you finally said and turned to Changbin, the night breeze caressed your body, the goosebumps obligated you to press your palms harder over your naked arms and you allowed yourself to take a look at the man in front of you.

After a long minute staring at you, Changbin found some courage deep in his chest and wrapped his arms around your shivering figure. He almost died, sweating as if he was being chased by some predator, turns out he was being chased by his own feelings trying to erupt as the time with you seemed to go slower than usual. And of course you were taken aback by the man’s actions. In the couple of years you’ve known him, Changbin only had hugged you twice: the time your dad had a car accident and was pretty ill, you felt awful thinking about losing him forever. Changbin comforted you when you came from the hospital. When your dad recovered, your heart exploded with so much love and happiness that Changbin needed to feel those pure feelings, so he hugged you tightly and you were on cloud 9 for the first time as your bodies interacted that much. He hugged you when you win first place at the art gallery competition, he was proud of your hard work and saw the opportunity to celebrate next to you such an award.

Now, he hugged you because you were cold? He didn’t think clearly, he just saw his -not- tiny little crush freezing to death and his body reacted, wanting to protect you forever. Your shoulders were stiffed for a while, still in shock about the gesture. Changbin took that as a bad sign and slowly backed off. Not before you returned the hug quickly, welcoming the warmed feeling of his proximity. You closed your eyes and hide your face in the crook of his neck, making your nose inhale his viril scent. Changbin felt shivers down his spine as your breath tickled his sensitive skin, your hands intertwined behind his lower back and you pressed your chest to his, he let out a soft sigh.

“If you ever need help with something, just ask”, he murmured, mouth hidden in your hair. He took mental notes at how sweet your hair smelled, at how fragile your body could feel in his arms, he wished you could stay in his arms forever.

You nodded and pull your head out of his neck, just to face him with a few inches separating the tip of your noses. Neither of you moved away, you felt too comfy in each others arms. Suddenly, your fingers delineated Changbin’s back muscles in such slow motion, never breaking the eye contact. At the same time, you allowed yourself to paint his face features in your mind permanently with ink, he was attractive, you knew that the first time you met. And although at the time he was skinnier, his features were as sharp as always, his eyes were as captivating as always and his mouth was as inviting as always.

Changbin seemed to read your mind and, for an instant, he looked at your rosy lips barely parted. All rational thoughts vanished from his brain, he really wanted to do this, he was ready to do this but his body never reacted, he only stared at you while the breeze, once again, hit your bare arms.

“I-...”, he spoke in the sweet silence of the night. The music fair echoed through the air while you felt the only people in the place, reciprocally satisfied with each other’s heat.

Unlike Changbin, you were pretty confident so, you cupped his face with your colds hands and the grip he had on your waist got tighter. You gave him a sweet smile as he tried to say something that never came from his mouth, lips already connected with yours.

It felt surreal, even if it lasted for only five seconds. Your lips tasted like cherry chapstick and felt as soft as silk, Changbin thought that maybe, if he ever got the chance, he would buy you a silk dress just for him to trace his hands all over your body while he kissed you for hours, loving the sensation the texture gave him with the extra of your figure.

But good things sometimes didn’t last and you break the kiss with embarrassment. Your cheeks burning as you took a step back from the hug.

“I- I’m sorry…”, you whispered, startled by your abrupt actions and avoided Changbin’s intense glare. He opened his mouth one more time and tried to hold your hand, but two accents made you both jump in surprise.

“Oi, why did you get so far from the fair?!”, Felix’s deep voice resonated around, some students passing by frowned as they thought the voice came from Changbin, only to find out it was from the fairy-looking guy.

“We were looking for ya everywhere”, Chan spoke munching his almost finished hot dog. You cleared your throat and smiled widely at them.

“We went stargazing!”, you pointed over your head directly to the sky. Felix wowed at the view and stood there for a while, watching the stars and talking about astrology facts. You listened and made little interventions with Changbin sat next to you, smiling from time to time. Chan, on the other hand, looked at the both of you with a smirk on his face being nothing but too obvious that they say the whole show you too starred.

As time went by, neither Changbin or you brought the kiss event back; you acted as if nothing had happened and, for a while, Changbine asked himself why. He found himself overthinking one night alone in his apartment after sending Mr. Oh’s final appointment. This time, Chan helped him with the pensum and handed him the assignments the teacher would make him prepare. He did everything on time, feeling gratified about not having to face Mr. Oh ever, he didn’t want Changbin’s big mouth on his class and Changbin didn’t want to go to his stupid session, so everyone win. Everyone except for the fact that you erased his kiss from your mind, well, that was what it looked like for him.

You both met a few times after the welcoming fair and you acted so natural and obvious that, for one moment, he thought he dreamed about the time he finally could tasted your cherry taste lips, and it would’ve been fine because that wasn’t the first time if he was being honest. Yet, when Chan asked him about your “puppy lovers moment” they watched from afar, his heart shrunken and couldn’t concentrate anymore. Nevertheless, his wilde thoughts got interrupted that night by the knocking on his door.

He frowned, not expecting anyone to visit him at 2 in the morning. He got up from the comfy spot on his sofa after pausing the movie he was barely paying attention to and opened the door without even bothering to ask.

You made your way to his sofa and collapsed, letting out a loud sigh. You decided to sneak up into Changbin’s place with no invitation, you couldn't catch a proper sleep since two weeks ago and nothing could make you feel better. You knew he would be up since he used to had insomnio, he had told you that a few days after the fair when you were having lunch once again in the coffee shop.

“Uhm… hello, would you like to come in? Oh, great, have a sit on my nice couch”, Changbin said with purely sarcasm and closed the door, a smile flashing his face. You groaned, grabbed the blanket under your body and wrapped yourself with it as you made you comfortable in his place.

"I can’t sleep", you muttered gaining a scoff from the man.

“I can’t concentrate, Bin! The final presentation is the next week and I’m not over yet”, you uncovered your head out of the blanket and frowned in anxiety. “I feel the sketches look like shit…”

“Hey... don’t say that”, Changbin sat down your feet and rushed his hands over your hair. One thing was clear, after your kiss, you became more touchable with one another and it just felt natural by now. “Your work is pretty impressive, you know it.”

“Yeah, not this one.”

“What is it? What is the think you can’t find in your pieces?”

“Textures… I can see the muscles, I can see the curves, the lines, the expressions”, you explained sitting and carring your knees to your chest. “But I definitely can’t feel them. It’s just a canvas and, form me, every piece needs to be felt. I want people to look at the canvas and feel they can reach at the flesh and touch the warm skin! It’s so difficult when I don’t feel connected with my art…”

“You know what? Draw me!”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“N-no, I really want you to draw my body! W-well, at least my upper body”

A pink flush covered your cheeks as he took his hoodie off and turned to face you with his built up body. You almost let a gasp out at the gorgeous view but you controlled yourself before exposing that side of you, unknown.

Changbin dragged a chair from his kitchen counter, sat on it and assume a pose for you.

“Let’s go, draw me as one of your french girls, baby”, he said exuding confidence. The nickname made your heart skip a bit but you brushed it off and stood up, looking a pencil and paper over the apartment.

Changbin waited as you sat again and started to feel your cute form become timid and embarrassed about the fact that he was half naked. You concentrated on his wide shoulders, imagining your fingers traveling from his neck to his elbow, passing your fingertips over his flesh, painfully slow. The graphite of your pencil followed your orders as you let yourself sink deeply on pure sensations. How would your hand feel caressing his fitted warm chest, would you feel his heartbeats under your touch? Would he hold his breath if you lower your hands to his abdomen, tracing his belly muscles? You tried to not look right into his eyes, because you were catching some kind of heated steam vanishing into thin air and inundating the atmosphere around the empty apartment. You loved the way his muscles contracted as he shifted his weight from leg to leg. As he did so, you jumped.

“Really, Y/N?”, he smirked. “You are drawing daily nude models but you can’t take my chest? Jezz, my power…”, he muttered and you groaned, controlling the urge to reach out and punch that cocky smile of him.

“Shut up and don’t move!”, you complained and he obeyed, still laughing at your adorable tantrum.

An hour later, some suggestive jokes and another pencil, you were giving your piece the final touches as Changbin made an early morning snacks for you both.

“Are you almost done?”, he questioned cleaning his hands and drying them with the kitchen towel. It was funny, because he didn’t even bother to put a shirt again, he just wandered around like that, it was his house after all.

You hummed, letting him know that you needed a few more minutes. He stepped behind you, looking over your shoulder to his wide chest being touched by the tips of your middle finger, you were blurring some lines to give profundity to the piece. While you were so caught up by your work, Changbin allowed himself to trace your skin with his eyes, silently jealous of a insipid paper as he got unconsciously closer.

You felt very proud of this, pretty confident about Changbin’s features. The last time he wanted you to portray him was a year ago and he was skinnier, but this time, well, this time your heart flipped everytime the lines of his body curved and became muscles, your breathing became rougher as your heartbeat was running faster than ever just by looking at the sheet. You could feel his body through this, you felt your chest hurting as excitement bursted into you silently and a proud smile came out of your mouth.

You didn’t notice how or when Changbin’s cheek almost touched yours as he looked closer to your representation of him. Your breath was stuck in your lungs now, burning you inside. You pressed your thighs together as a reflexion, but Changbin catch sight of the movement and he knew it was deeper than him just imagining things.

“I can feel it”, you whispered swallowing hard, your heart thumping harder on your chest like if it wanted to get out of there to meet Changbin’s on the halfway. He tilted his head, making his lips brushed your cheeks slightly.

“How does it feel?”, his voice was ten times deeper as you’ve ever heard him. Soft throbbings emerged progressively between your legs making your ears buzz.

“It feels like you”, you purred, feeling his heavy breaths touching your lips faintly.

“What are you doing?”, you scanned his features, the proximity feeling oddly familiar, so close but so far away. Changbin licked his lip and watched every inch of your face, trying to reminiscent the previous mental picture of you in the welcoming fair. You were beautiful that night, it glorified your pure and innocent soul. Nevertheless, having you there, not feeling cold but exuding a torrid aura, made Changbin think this could probably be the beginning of a unstoppable thirst he wouldn’t be able to control.

“Let me take a sip of your lips, baby”, he put his hand down your chin and turned your face to his.

“Changbin-”

His lips were on yours like a rush, as if you were on a desert and you’ve drunk the last drop of water, he was thirsty for your touch, he was crying out for your soft lips to meet one more time after a long time and you didn’t want to hold back, not in the slightest. You both deserved each other’s needy touches, you’ve been desiring this for far to long that it felt right when he softly asked if you were okay with was going to happen, taking your soft moans as answers, he gently carried you to his bedroom, never leaving your mouth at any cost, probably thinking that if he was dreaming, he would never want to wake up again. At the end of the early day, you became one, pure hearts attached to one another, feeling the same love and attraction since the day you met and finally. You finally were ready to give your sketches the sensations they needed, you felt capable of doing whatever you wanted if Changbin was there for you, because he became the missing piece of the big canvas you were painted on.

And, by the end of the day, you were aware of how Changbin's body felt under your delicate touch.

Masterlist

A/N: this isn't proof read so, please, be nice~!

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kumeko · 4 years

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A/N: Written for the @dragonkirizine. I wanted to do an adventure story, though it’s been ages since I wrote one of those so this was a little challenging.

Summary: Eijiro and Mina stared at the hieroglyphics on the wall, not certain if those were clues to some ancient treasure or just some dead dude’s homework. Maybe they should have asked Izuku to tag along after all.

…

“I don’t get it.” Eijiro raised his torch higher, squinting at the hieroglyphics on the wall in front of him. At least, he was pretty sure they were hieroglyphics. Carved figures on crumbling walls inside an ancient ruin? Really faded paintings that didn’t make sense? They had to be hieroglyphics.

Or maybe it was some ancient dude’s homework. Eijiro chuckled at the idea. “Hey, Mina?”

Standing on the opposite of the ruin, his partner looked over her shoulder. As usual, she was dressed for adventure: canvas shorts with plenty of pockets, a sporty t-shirt, and a backpack full of tools. It made him feel a little less prepared, but then again, Eijiro was dragon-kin.

He was always prepared.

A lollipop hung loosely on her lips and Mina cocked her head. “Yeah?”

“What if everyone’s wrong about this place? Like, if this was actually just some guy’s outhouse?” Eijiro’s shoulders shook as he laughed, his tail swaying slowly behind him.

Her lollipop almost fell out of her mouth as she considered it. Almost immediately, she recoiled closer to the wall, disgust on her face as she quickly scanned the ground. “Ewwww.”

“I’m not…” Wait, now that he thought about it, that was pretty disgusting. Quickly, he stepped back, taking a deep breath as he tried to catch a whiff of…actually, he didn’t want to smell it. Luckily, there was nothing in the air but scent of old. Which was definitely a scent, no matter how many times Mina stared at him incredulously. It was a mix of dust, mold, and something Eijiro couldn’t quite describe.

It was just old.

“I don’t see anything,” Mina whispered as she peered into the ruin. She moved the torch from side to side, the light revealing and hiding broken tablets and patches of grass. Gingerly, she stepped forward once, twice, before looking up at him. “I think we’re safe.”

“Yeah, I don’t smell anything either.” Relaxing, his shoulders slumped and he snorted. “I mean, who’d make something this big just to shit in?”

“Yeah, that was stupid.” Mina giggled, stretching an arm above her. “Man, though, if you were right and this was just someone’s toilet or barn or whatever, could you imagine Deku’s face?”

Eijiro burst into laughter, already picturing their bookworm friend and the exact shade of red he’d turn. “And Iida? He’d faint.”

“He’d die!” Mina crowed and it was too much. All it took was a single glance at each other and they were both in tears, their laughter the only sound in this abandoned ruin. It echoed in the cavernous chamber, bouncing off the walls and through the broken ceiling.

Wiping his tears with a clawed hand, Eijiro sighed. “I wish he was here.”

“Yeah.” Mina pouted, crossing her arms and leaning against a stone pillar. “I can’t make heads or tails of this place.” She frowned, a thought coming to her. “You don’t think we’re in the wrong business?”

“Maybbeee?” Eijiro rubbed his neck awkwardly. They weren’t exactly the brainiest of their friends. The most enthusiastic, sure. The most adventurous, definitely. But searching ruins needed some level of smarts and they’d both failed every history class they’d ever been in. Still, this was what they wanted to do. This was what they did. There was no time to doubt it now. Slapping his cheeks, he declared, “It’s not manly to look back!”

Mina stared at him for a long moment. His cheeks reddened, slightly embarrassed, until she nodded eagerly and stepped forward. “Yeah! We’re going to find treasure!”

“And we’re gonna—” As Eijiro took a step forward himself, he tripped over a rock and sprawled face first on the floor. Luckily, even in his half-human form, his skin was as hard as dragon scales and all he had was an aching nose. “Ouch.”

“Are you okay?” Mina hurried toward him but froze as they heard a slow grinding noise. Turning toward it, she gasped in surprise as a wall slide open, revealing a secret passageway. She blinked once, twice, and then pumped her fist in the air. “We’re totally great treasure hunters!”

-x-

“Do you think this goes on forever?” Mina whispered, holding her torch in front of her to light the way. As usual, she was leading. Despite her fears, she always did that. There was something comforting about the shape of her back, in how the flickering light gave her hair a reddish hue.

Brave was what he had called her.

She had always laughed it off, declaring herself more foolish than anything else.

It was the only thing they really fought over, the only time their disagreements had any bite. Well, that and the fact that he wanted to lead more often. It just made sense—he was almost injury-proof and she was decidedly not. Saving the argument for later, he peered out into the near-darkness. It was easier for him to see than her, to make out the shapes in the dark.

Unfortunately, this was a tunnel and the shapes were just more wall, more of the path sloping downward and away. The walls weren’t even interesting, just smoothened dirt. “It has to lead somewhere.”

“I don’t want to be a skeleton when we get there,” Mina hissed, her voice low. Their shadows danced on the wall.

“Why are you whispering?” Eijiro asked, raising his voice an octave when he realized he was doing the same.

“It just…” Mina cleared her throat and continued, her voice now at normal speaking levels. “It just felt like I should whisper.”

That he could understand. Their footsteps were muffled in the tunnel, which was kinda impressive considering Eijiro couldn’t walk quietly to save his life. “I just hope we get somewhere more open soon—my wings are cramping.”

“They look uncomfortable, folded like that.” Mina nodded sympathetically. Her torch blew out and he watched as she jumped. “Whaaat was that?” she squeaked, trying not to scream.

Eijiro blinked in the absolute darkness. Without any light, he was now as blind as Mina and a shiver ran up his spine. Actually, now that he thought about it, he could feel a slight breeze, the real cause for his shiver. Might even be the reason the fire went out. Too bad he couldn’t breath fire as a human, or this wouldn’t have been a problem. “Think we’re near the end of the tunnel.”

He took a step forward, his tail dragging behind him as he did. A soft click echoed through the tunnel.

“Click?” Mina repeated slowly, dragging the word out.

Before he could say anything, he heard a heavy thud behind him, followed by a rolling sound. Something was coming. Something big. And it was picking up speed. Groping blindly in front of him, his hand managed to brush Mina’s back. “Hold on!” he shouted, sweeping her off her feet before sprinting forward.

“What are you do—” Hearing the sound too, Mina shut up quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck as she clung for dear life. “It’s getting closer!”

“Fuck!” Eijiro powered on, pushing his legs harder than he’d down before. Breathing heavily, he sprinted through the dark tunnel. His sides bumped into the tunnel walls. Mina squeezed her arms tighter around him. He took a deep breath and picked up the pace.

There, just ahead of him, he could make out a faint light. “There’s a light!”

“Maybe it’s a cavern!” Mina shouted, a vein of nervousness in her voice. “I think it’s almost caught up!”

“We’re almost there!” Eijiro grunted as he forced his legs to move faster, further. If only he could have used his wings. The light ahead grew brighter and bigger, taking up the entire exit. Squinting, he could barely make out crystal walls and a pool of water. Speeding through the exit, he relaxed his shoulders slightly as he entered the large cavern. “We can—”

His feet weren’t on the ground anymore. Eijiro blinked, barely registering the fact before gravity kicked in and they plummeted to the ground. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

The air stole his words. Above, he could hear a crashing sound as their chaser appeared above: a giant boulder, which shot over the gap and crashed onto the ground on the opposite side. The crevasse they were in was starting to narrow and he wondered what would come first: they’d get squished or they’d splatter on the ground.

Clinging tightly, Mina screamed, “YOUR WINGS!”

“WHAT?” The words ran through his head twice before he understood. Right. He had wings. He could fly. Unfurling them, he furiously flapped them, trying to gain enough lift that they wouldn’t splat on the ground. His shoulders strained as he managed both of their weights.

Mina whispered something, her voice too soft for him to hear. He could only feel her hot breath on his neck, her lips brushing his pulse once. Like a bolt of lightning, energy shot through him and suddenly everything felt light. He soared up through the narrow crevasse, shooting up until he finally reached the ledge they’d fallen off. Landing safely on the other side, he almost collapsed as the energy left him.

“That…was close,” he panted, crouching.

“Way too close.” Mina slipped out of his arms, but her hands stayed on his shoulders. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Taking a deep breath, he calmed his breathing and stood up straight. He frowned as he wiped his brow. “Did you give me your energy?”

Mina nodded. Before he could say anything, she defended herself, “Hey, it was an emergency. Either I pony up or we become pancakes.”

“But…” Eijiro puffed his cheeks, not liking this at all. Which was worse, that she was right or that he needed the help in the first place? “How’re you feeling?”

“Not bad.” As though to prove it, Mina pumped a fist in the air. However, her energetic response did little to hide the weariness in her eyes. “I got plenty of juice to spare. If you need it.”

“Mina,” Eijiro growled, grabbing her arm. “Don’t lie.”

“I’m not.” Mina frowned, glaring back at him. “What about you?” She gestured at his shoulder with her free hand. “Don’t think I can’t feel it! You hurt yourself!”

He blanched and looked away. This was maybe the worst part about their connection; he could never hide an injury from her. “That’s different.”

“How?” Mina yanked her hand free and crossed her arms. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

“…sorry.” Eijiro sighed, folding his wings. It ached slightly as he did so and he winced. “I might have pulled a muscle. Or two.”

“It was a huge fall.” Content now, she walked behind him and pressed her hands against his shoulder blades, at the connection between wing and flesh. Her fingers prodded and smoothened his muscles and she gently chided him. “You know you can’t lie about this. My shoulder hurts too.”

“Thanks.” He closed his eyes, relaxing into her touch. “But you can’t lie either.”

Her hands stilled for a moment, and she sighed. “Okay, okay. I’m a little tired,” she admitted. She pinched her fingers together, waving it in front of his face. “Just a little, okay?”

A little meant a lot. They’d been partners long enough that he could see the signs, read between the lines. Eijiro glanced around. The cavern they were in was a huge one, as big as forest almost. The walls were lined with crystals, faintly glowing in the dark, and a stream bubbled out of one side of the area. It criss-crossed merrily through the room before exiting on the other side. Just ahead, he could see where the boulder had crashed.

There were no signs of any animals, any visitors, anything. They might have been the first people to visit here in centuries.

All of which made it a safe spot to rest. “Let’s take a break.”

“It’s not that bad,” Mina insisted, proudly. She took a wobbly step forward and he rushed to her side to keep her steady. “Uh…okay.” She tried to take another step, but her body was starting to shut down fast. “Maybe…maybe I do need a nap.” She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, leaning on him for support. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Scooping her up, Eijiro grinned brightly. “We’re partners, right? You can rely on me.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, her eyes slowly fluttering shut. “Thanks.”

-x-

Eijiro.

Lying on the ground, stunned, Eijiro couldn’t place the familiar voice. All he could feel was pain, his entire body burning like every inch of his skin was on fire. His chest felt wet as he stared up at the sky. Raising a hand, his eyes widened as he realized it was blood.

His blood.

He was hurt.

Eijiro!

The voice again. Painfully, he turned his head slightly. Mina raced toward him, worry etched on her face. Her left arm dangled awkwardly as she moved and he realized with a start it was broken. How? He had been in his dragon form and she’d been on his back and…

And he wasn’t in his dragon form now, he realized. He had skin instead of scales. Whatever had hurt him had shocked him back into his human form. They must have plummeted from the sky, Mina falling off him as they spiraled through the ground.

Sorry, he croaked, his voice a wet rasp. He could taste metal in his mouth, blood dribbling down his lips. Fuck he hurt. Around him, he could make out the signs of battle, hear Bakugou’s angry roar and Kaminari’s lightning strikes.

They were in a fight. For something. For someone. His head ached, making it hard for him to focus. Sorry.

Stop apologizing! Mina snapped, suddenly by his side. Her hands cradled his head, her eyes full of tears. Shit. Shit. Shit.

He must have looked as bad as he felt. Eijiro winced as he breathed, his broken ribs constricting as he tried to breath in. I…

Don’t talk, just… Mina trailed off, not sure what to say. What to do. You…you’ll make it. I know you will. She cradled her head. There’s gotta be something. Think. Think.

He was dying. Oh god, he was dying. Eijiro wanted to move, to run from it all, but he could barely feel his arms, let alone his legs. A droplet of water landed on his face, then another, and he could only stare as tears streamed down Mina’s face. Forcing his hand to move, he clumsily wiped her cheek, leaving a bloody streak. It’s okay.

It’s not. Mina bit her lip before gasping. A pact. We have to make a pact.

A pac—no. Realizing what she meant, he shook his head. Or at least tried to. You can’t—Mina, that’d mean—

That’d mean you live, Mina stated firmly, pulling out a knife from her pouch. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself before cutting her palm.

Don’t, he repeated weakly. It was harder to see now, the edges of his sight filled with black.

It’ll be okay, she reassured, pressing her hand against his wound. It’ll be like an adventure.

Ignoring his protests, she started to chant.

-x-

��Eijiro woke up with a start, a ‘Don’t’ still on his lips. He’d passed out after she’d recited the spell, the blood loss too much. By the time he’d woken up, it’d been too late.

Mina had created a blood pact with him, connecting her life with his.

Calming his breathing, Eijiro glanced down at his partner, still asleep in his arms. It was hard to tell the time in here, this underground cavern didn’t have any convenient holes to check the sun. They could have slept for an hour or entire day for all he knew. Either way, Mina had lied earlier—he’d taken too much of her energy.

As usual. Keeping an arm still wrapped around her shoulders, Eijiro brushed her pink bangs out of her face. His fingers hovered over her horns, the most visible sign of their bond. Her hair had always been pink, but there was more of a reddish-hue to it these days. Maybe it was a sign of his energy flowing back into her. He hoped it was the case. He’d heard enough stories of bonded partners dying young, of reckless dragons taking too much energy and sucking their lovers dry.

Treasure hunting was supposed to be safe. Away from Bakugou’s endless wars, from Deku’s constant crusades. It was supposed to be safe and yet here they were again. It wasn’t manly to keep regretting something, to keep lingering on the past, but somehow he couldn’t move forward from that one action.

If only he’d been more careful. If only he’d been less brash. If only, if only.

Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead gently. “I’m sorry.”

-x-

“Eijiro?” Blearily, Mina opened her eyes with a yawn. She curled up into his chest, pressing a sleepy kiss against his skin. “You okay?”

“Of course.” Eijiro forced a chuckle, pulling back to better see her face. Good. Her complexion was much better now. “You?”

“Yeah.” Stretching, she slowly rolled out of his arms with a shudder and landed on the hard ground. “Yeowch.” She stared up at the ceiling. “We’re not home.”

“Nope,” Eijiro confirmed, resting his cheek on his hand. He watched her worriedly, but she didn’t show any signs of sluggishness either.

“Where—oh! The treasure.” Immediately, Mina sat up, her eyes bright and awake. She shook her head once, twice, and then bounced to her feet. “We’re out of the tunnel now.”

“Yeah but I’m not sure where to go next.” Standing up, he gestured around them. They had an unobstructed view of the whole cavern. Crystals lined the walls, giving him just enough light to make out the general shape of the area. Borrowing his abilities, Mina would be able to see just what he did: unbroken walls, not a single tunnel leading out. It was effectively a dead end. “Maybe there isn’t any treasure here.”

Mina looked around thoughtfully before shaking her head. “No, there is. My gut says so. And we also did not spend all that time for nothing!” She grabbed his hand, leading the way. “Come on, we have to start searching.”

-x-

“Are you still sure?” Eijiro frowned as he patted the wall for the 100th time. No, maybe the 1000th time. All he found was more rocks, more crystals, more nothing. He was a fairly optimistic man, but even he had his limits.

“Not so much…” Mina sighed, tapping a pink gem. “Though, you know.” She smiled sweetly. “This is kinda romantic.”

Eijiro stared at her blankly. “Huh?”

“Kinda like a candlight dinner, those kinda vibes.” She bumped shoulders with him. “You know, mood lighting. And it’s just you, and me here.” Mina batted her eyes, her lips curved into a sexy smile. Lowering her lids, she added, “No one to see us.”

His face burned red. “I—”

“Oh!” Mina dashed forward, forgetting him entirely as she squinted at a part of the wall. “I think I found it.”

He was never sure if she was teasing or serious. Both. Probably both. Biting back his frustration, Eijiro rushed to her side. Next to a row of crystals, almost hidden in the shadow they made, was a smaller tunnel than the one they’d entered before. It was more a crevice than anything else, barely big enough to fit one person at a time. “You sure?”

“Yeah, squint a little. Deeper in, don’t you see a bit of light?” Mina moved over slightly, offering him a better view.

Poking his head in reluctantly, Eijiro squinted. There was darkness, more darkness, and—well, maybe if he turned his head slightly and opened his eyes a crack, he saw a tiny speck of light. Though that could just be his eyes playing tricks on him. “Kinda.”

“Let’s find out what it is!”

Before Mina could march inside, Eijiro quickly stepped in front of her. “I’ll go first.”

“Whaaaat?” Mina puffed her cheeks grumpily, giving him a baleful glare. “Come on, it’s my discovery!”

“It’s still yours! But I can fight off traps.” He shot her confident grin as he persuaded her. “Come on, you gotta let me do my part. That’s what I’m here for, right?”

“…just remember to lift your tail this time,” she grumbled, letting him go.

He made it a point to lift his tail, waving it directly in her face until she batted it away with a laugh. Fortunately, this tunnel was much shorter than the other one, the speck of light growing bigger and bigger until it revealed another, smaller cavern. This one looked almost man made, the crystals brighter in here. In the center of the room, on a pedestal, was a glowing orb.

A bright, green, floating orb.

“Is that magic?” Eijiro muttered, transfixed.

Before he could take a step forward, Mina wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight. “Wait!” she hissed, freezing him in place. She poked her head around his body, her eyes darting around the room. “There’s probably a trap here. Something deadly, I bet.”

Remembering the giant ball earlier and spiky pit, Eijiro swallowed. Right. Dangerous place full of dangerous traps. He scanned the walls, squinting at the crystals and cracks that laced the walls, damaging the carvings on them. The whole room felt abandoned, forgotten from time. “See anything?”

“Not really.” She bit her cheek, frowning as she examined the floor. “It’s really old.”

“Yeah. I feel like we’re gonna fall through the floor anytime.” Eijiro shuddered as he stared at the small crevasses on the floor. Just how stable was this whole thing in the first place? It felt like they were one hard jump away from everything breaking underneath their feet.

“Just don’t turn into a dragon, okay?” Mina requested shakily, gulping audibly at the thought. “You’ll wreck the whole place.”

“A cave-in…” Rocks on his back, dirt weighing him down, unable to escape, unable to breathe. Eijiro swallowed. He wasn’t entirely claustrophobic, but he much preferred the wide, open spaces of the sky. To die like that, to die underground—nope, he wasn’t going to let that happen. “Definitely not.”

“Oh!” Mina exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. She tugged on his sleeve, pointing at the ceiling. “There’re tiny holes up there!”

Eijiro stared at the rock ceiling. The solid rock ceiling. “Huh?”

“Squint, you dummy. It’s really tiny holes.” She pinched two fingers together. “Like, this tiny.”

He narrowed his eyes, eyes straining as he tried to make out the tiny holes. Or at least, discern what was a tiny hole and what was just a small dip in the ceiling or a natural crevasse or—“Oh.” Now that he’d spotted one, he could see them all, tiny holes littering the ceiling. The holes continued down the side of the wall. “Arrows?”

“Probably. Don’t know what else is that small.” Mina picked up a pebble off the ground and threw it through the air. It landed on the ground with a soft thud.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe it’s not heavy enough?” Eijiro suggested, picking up a bigger rock. Throwing it, he repeated the experiment.

Again, nothing happened.

“That’s so weird.” Mina fumed, stamping her foot indignantly. “Why aren’t they triggering?”

“Maybe we have to grab the orb?” Eijiro wondered if he could withstand an array of arrows. Maybe? If they weren’t metal-tipped, at least. “Like, I can sprint in, grab it, and then cover myself with my wings?”

“You’ll just hurt yourself some more. Your skin’s tough, but not that tough.” Mina shook her head, vetoing the whole thing. “Maybe…” She frowned, biting her lip. “Maybe…” Her eyes widened as inspiration struck and without another word, she whirled around and dashed back to the bigger cavern.

“Mina?” Eijiro stood stock still, not sure if he should follow or wait.

As quickly as she left, she returned, dashing right up to the threshold to the small room. In her hand was a small, glowing crystal, and she wound up her arm and hurled it forward before Eijiro could utter a word. The rock flew through the air, a straight line that hurtled straight toward the glowing orb and knocked it off the pedestal. As it fell to the ground, a loud click echoed through the air and dozens of arrows flew out of the walls and ceiling, embedding on the ground.

It looked like a porcupine sneezed. Eijiro stared in disbelief. That would have hurt. That would have hurt badly. “Holy shit.”

“How did they even get that many arrows?” Mina gaped, her jaw slack. Amazed, she stared at the holes the arrows came out of. “Like, that’s gotta be a hundred. That’s must have been tiring to set up.”

“What if it’s like dominos and you accidentally trigger it?” he mused aloud, still processing what he’d witnessed. It felt so impossible. A chilling thought ran up his spine. “Are there more?”

“I hope not.” Mina tossed a rock in. Nothing happened.

“Looks safe?” Eijiro tossed another rock in. Still, nothing happened. Then again, nothing had happened the first two times they’d tossed rocks in either. He studied the room once more, not sure what else to expect. Blades jutting out of the walls, a pit of tigers, who knows what ancient trap could be here.

“Might as well go.” Before he could stop her, Mina darted in the room, quickly picking up the orb and dashing back out before any other traps considered springing. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she sighed. “That was close.”

Eijiro dragged her further away from the trap door, before a stray arrow could hit her. He turned to her in a panic. “What if there were more traps?”

“Then you’d rescue me,” Mina stated, squeezing his hand.

He turned red but didn’t drop the argument. “That’s not the point, the point is—” Before he could reply, they heard a rumble. The earth started to shake. “What is that?”

“…Eijiro, is it just me or is the floor collapsing?” Mina stared at the room behind them. Following her gaze, his eyes widened as he saw bits and pieces of the floor disappear, revealing a yawning black void. Turning back to the path they came from, he realized the same was happening in front of him.

The whole place was going to collapse.

“Shit. Grab on to me!” Without waiting for a reply, he carried her in his arms once more, his wings spreading behind him. Mina whooped excitedly as she wrapped one arm around him, the other holding onto the orb tightly.

He shot forward, dodging pieces of the ceiling as it started to collapse. Tilting left and right, he weaved through the cavern toward the tunnel they came in from. All around him, he could hear rocks crashing, crystals cracking from the force. Luckily the tunnel was a straight line and he folded his wings in as he landed at the entrance. Without even pausing to catch his breath, he kept the momentum up and hit the ground running. It felt like the ground would collapse beneath his feet. Maybe it would. Mina shrieked as they sped through the pitch-black shaft, her head pressed against his shoulder.

“You can do it!” she yelled. Probably. He couldn’t hear her very well, the wind stealing her words as they raced through the passageway.

Up ahead, he could see a light. The other end of the tunnel. He picked up the pace, a burst of energy running through his veins. As they burst through the exit, he extended his wings and flew up through the cracks in the temple ceiling.

Suddenly, above them was a bright blue sky and Eijiro stared at it for a long second, processing what had happened. “We did it.”

“Yeah,” Mina repeated, dumbfounded. “We did it.”

She pulled back and they stared at each other before breaking into identical grins. “We did it!” they shouted together.

As relief coursed through his veins, the adrenaline receded and Eijiro wearily drifted to the ground. He stumbled as he landed on the ground, unable to support himself, and Mina tumbled out of his arms. She sprung to her feet quickly, catching him before he fell. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. He tried to grunt. His mouth wasn’t moving like he wanted it to, his tongue too heavy, and he slumped into her arms. “S’ok.”

“You did great!” Mina cheered him, her voice at half its usual strength. Wrapping her arms around him, she slowly guided him to the ground until they were both sitting on the grass. “You were amazing.” As she praised him, she pulled his head to her lap. “Take a break, I’ll keep watch.”

“I…” Eijiro tried to protest, but already his vision was fading. His body refused to move and he couldn’t roll off her lap.

“Just rest a little. We’re partners, right?” she added, using his words against him. Before he completely blacked out, he felt lips press against his cheek. Her hand tousled his hair gently. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

With the last of his strength, he forced his arms around her waist, holding Mina secure.

I’ll be here when you wake up.

That sounded good. He smiled as he drifted off.

#bnha #kirishima eijirou #mina ashido #kirimina #kirishima x ashido #fanfic

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