#wink wink nudge nudge some of you may guess where we're headed

[arotechno]

O. basilicum, part vii

By the summer that Basil turned eighteen, the state of affairs in Verdigris had begun to change.

Long before then, Jim’s mother had passed away unexpectedly, and he had followed his older sister out of town. His parting gift to Basil had been a new cane, as his old one was much too short to be of use to him now.

“Don’t worry about me,” Jim had assured him. “I don’t know where I’m headed, but wherever it is, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Basil had been skeptical, but he hadn’t voiced his concerns. It was a dangerous world out there, but who knew? Maybe Hank was right. Maybe there was a better world out there. If Basil had resigned himself to never leaving, perhaps Jim could see enough of it for the both of them.

In the weeks and months that followed, Basil took up fishing alone. Throughout the warmer months, whenever he wasn’t running errands for Frida or working in the community garden with Dusty, he could often be found down in the creek, wading up to his knees. Other times, he took long walks in the woods with his cane, staying out as long as he dared before Frida would start to worry.

She worried less, these days. That was one of the more surprising changes. Perhaps Basil was just growing up, or perhaps it was something else. Either way, Frida spent less time fretting over him and more time lauding him for how far he’d come since arriving at her doorstep, battered and broken. She did still worry for him, of course. Such was the natural way of things: the sun rose every morning, Basil did not have a heart, and Frida worried.

After all, for how much things may have changed in Verdigris, others would always remain the same. Basil liked that just fine.

All of that to say: by his eighteenth birthday, Basil had become so firmly rooted in Verdigris that the thought of calling anywhere else home felt incredibly foreign. Where he had once been a stranger wearing someone else’s clothes, now Basil walked the dirt roads of the village like he’d been born there, his unsteady gait the only visible indicator of his former life. Two more years and he’d have spent half his life in Verdigris. Already, Swallow’s Point felt like a distant dream.

Basil had long ago given up any intention of ever returning to Amistadia. It wasn’t home to him any longer; being driven out of it had severed those ties completely. Even if he wanted to return, even if he thought it was safe to do so, he doubted he could manage it. And what would be the point in returning? Nothing awaited him there. Why leave Verdigris, the only place he’d ever truly been accepted as he was? Here, they were left alone. Basil had no doubt that passing travelers knew they were out here—but whether those strangers recognized them as Heartless, he couldn’t say, and did it matter? So long as they kept to themselves out here, no one thought of them as a threat. Sure, there were some who understood—Jim’s mother had been one of those precious few—but most never would, so it was best not to bother.

Even so, Verdigris was a small place. And Basil knew, from Hank’s many stories, that the world was much bigger than this. But he was no king, no god, no hero—after everything, a quiet life suited him just fine.

Basil hefted his pack over his shoulder as he walked home from the creek, barefoot in the tall grass. In it he kept his shoes and his canteen, and his cane hung from a leather loop attached to the outside, should he need it. Fireflies rose up from the grass around him, blinking softly as if keeping time with his own steady breathing. Crickets chirped and cicadas hummed their mournful evening song, like a choir all led by the gentle summer breeze blowing through the hillside. Basil walked slowly, taking it all in, though he didn’t have time to stop and rest a while. He was already late for supper; the sun was starting to set earlier than he had gotten accustomed to anticipating.

As he crested the hill, Basil squinted through the evening’s dying light. Dusty stood at Garth’s front gate, gesturing wildly. Raising a hand to keep his sunhat from blowing away with the breeze, Basil hurried up the road to meet them. His bucket slapped against his thigh as he went along.

“...and that’s what I don’t understand!” Dusty was saying animatedly when he arrived.

“What’s this?” Basil asked, expertly dodging Dusty’s waving arm.

“Ah!” Dusty said, pointing. “You! Tell the old man here to stop being so damn difficult.”

“Oi, don’t involve the poor lad in this,” Garth cut in, voice gruff. He was hunched behind the fence, leaning on an old, sanded down tree branch he used as a walking stick.

“Don’t involve me in what, exactly?” Basil asked again, setting down his bucket with a sigh. It looked like he wasn’t going to be home for supper after all.

“Old man Garth here won’t accept anything from the town garden,” Dusty explained, crossing their arms over their chest. “Not a single bite.”

“I grow my own food,” Garth said firmly. “Save what the town grows for others who need it.”

Dusty gestured at Garth’s garden, incredulous. About a week prior, animals had gotten into Garth’s yard and eaten most of his late summer harvest. Something had also eaten one of his chickens.

“I have enough,” Garth insisted. “I preserve most of what I grow. Save your charity for those who need it.”

“Save my— I don’t understand what you think the point of a community garden is if not to feed the community!”

“Stop,” Basil said. Dusty actually quieted. Despite being one of the younger folks in town, Basil seemed to have that kind of sway over people. Even Dusty, from time to time.

Basil glanced down at his bucket of fish. Only a few measly brook trout sat at the bottom, still with their scales (he was too squeamish with a knife to skin them himself). He’d been hoping to take these home to Frida; it was a poor afternoon’s catch, but it was something. Basil frowned. Then, he picked up the bucket and held it over the fence toward Garth.

“Here,” he said. “At least take this. Just in case.”

Garth peered in the bucket, wary. He raised his bushy gray eyebrows.

“I don’t need charity from you either, lad.”

“Don’t think of it as charity.” Basil shook the bucket. The fish slapped around wetly inside. “Think of it as payment. I still owe you for this.” With his other hand, he reached behind and pulled out his cane, tapping it against the dirt.

Garth’s expression softened. “It was just scraps, Basil. Jim did all the work both times.”

“Jim’s not here, so I can’t repay him. Besides, you taught him everything he knows. Please?”

Garth was quiet for a moment, scratching his short beard in thought. Then, finally, he sighed and took the bucket.

“Thank you, lad,” he said softly.

Basil smiled wide and turned to walk off. If he stayed any later, Frida would certainly have his hide. Dusty stared after him, feigning suspicion.

“I still expect your help in the garden tomorrow,” they called after him.

Without looking back, Basil lifted a hand and waved. He understood the code for what it was: he would almost certainly be interrogated tomorrow. Dusty liked to challenge and taunt him, whether that meant a mandatory heart-to-heart or getting his hands dirty. Often, it was both. Whereas it had once embarrassed him, now Basil found himself looking forward to it. Not that he’d ever admit it.

That was the greatest change since Basil’s arrival in Verdigris, although it was mostly an internal one. In a way, the people of Verdigris had become family to him more than even his own parents had been. Thinking that way made Basil feel guilty, but he hadn’t seen his parents in eight years, and doubted if they were even still alive. Maybe they had loved him unconditionally—they certainly risked a lot for him. But Basil wasn’t too concerned with love, not anymore.

The people of Verdigris had taken Basil in exactly as he was. They’d sheltered, fed, and clothed him. They—Frida, Hank, and Ann especially—had raised him, and saved his life. Basil wasn’t very strong, nor was he particularly skilled; but he would be there for them in return, in the only ways he knew how. But it wasn’t out of a sense of indebtedness—that wasn’t the kind of debt that could be repaid, anyway. It was simply what felt right.

Frida was waiting on the front porch with a lantern when Basil finally arrived. He committed the image to memory, deep within the well of his chest, of her standing with a light in the dark, waiting however late into the night for his safe return.

She looked at him disapprovingly.

“Sorry,” was all he said.

“You’re never going to listen to a word I tell you, are you, Basil?” Frida asked fondly. She glanced down and tilted her head, as if noticing he had arrived empty handed. “No catch today?”

“I gave it to Garth.”

Frida hummed, urging him into the house, not caring for the dirt on his feet.

“You make it difficult to be upset with you.”

Basil beamed ear-to-ear, which only seemed to weaken Frida’s resolve further.

“Come now,” she said. “Supper is getting cold.”

[crossoverbaps]

It's a Love Story, Baby Part 1 I need a better title, I know...

This story includes shameless shipping, beware! (Gweelok x Jerry with a little Festro x Fart sprinkled in)

Gweelok sighed to himself as he was facing away from his four roommates.

“What’s the matter with him?” Festro groaned. “He's been staring at that wall all day long!”

“Gweelok looks lonely.” Fart guessed. “He looks like he's longing for some company.”

“Aww, we should give him a hug. Slog is coming, Gwee.” Slog grinned as he spread his arms apart and was about to rush over to his friend, but Fart put his arm in front of Slog, stopping him.

“Hold on.” Fart told him. “I meant a different kind of company.”

“Bleh blag bleh bleh?” Dingle guessed in his gibberish.

“Exactly, I think Gweelok is in love.” Fart nodded.

“Ooh! Who's the lucky disgustoid?” Slog grinned.

“They may not be a disgustoid.” Fart corrected.

“Oh no… He better not be in love with a human!” Festro gasped in horror.

“Guys, won't you all shut up?! I'm not in love and I never will be!” Gweelok shouted in denial, but his face was a bit red.

“Blaga blaga bleg bleg.” Dingle grinned and pointed at Gweelok's face.

“I'm NOT blushing because I'm in love! My face is red because I'm angry you keep bothering me!” Gweelok shrieked.

“We're sorry, Gweelok, we'll leave you alone.” Fart apologized. “Come on.”

“Gweelok has become such a sap, I can tell. Good thing we're not into that mushy stuff, right?” Festro chuckled while nudging Fart with his elbow.

“Um… Yeah…” Fart sighed, sounding slightly dejected, though Festro didn't notice.

“Jerry…” Gweelok looked out the window of their underground home, which led to the outside tunnels. “You may have been a bad guy, but I miss you… I wish I knew where you had gone… Literally… Oh no, I said the L word didn't I?!”

Suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared in the room, and in front of Gweelok was the man who had gotten Gweelok into the situation before. Jerry the Troll King.

“J-J-Jerry!” Gweelok gasped.

“Hello, my dear Gweelok, did you miss me?” Jerry winked.

“What? No! I just wanted to… Know where you have been…” Gweelok scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Oh, Gweelok, I always loved your tendency to deny everything.” Jerry chuckled. “Was what I did wrong? Yes, of course it was, but you did wish for it and I want to grant any wish you make.”

“But… I wasn't even playing your game.” Gweelok scratched his forehead in confusion.

“I had to take the opportunity to see my favorite disgustoid.” Jerry gazed into Gweelok's eyes lovingly, Gweelok couldn't help but smile back. “Now, how about we go back to my place and dance some more.”

“Uh… Hmm…” Gweelok rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Festro, Fart, Slog, and Dingle walked back to the room Gweelok was in, only to notice he was gone.

“Where did he go now?!” Festro grumbled. “First he stays in one place all day and now he's moving around!”

“Look, a piece of paper!” Slog pointed at a note on the floor. Fart picked it up and read it out loud.

“Dear friends,

Gweelok is with me, don't bother looking for us.

Love… Jerry?!”

“Oh no! Gweelok has been kidnapped!” Slog put his hands to his face.

“Nobody takes our bro away!” Festro growled angrily and pretended to roll up his non-existent sleeves. “I say we go to the labyrinth and show that troll who's boss!”

“But we need plans, and we need to pack, and we have to find out where that labyrinth is now!” Fart listed the many things they had to do.

“Fine, but let's hurry! Or else… Well, I don't know what will happen, but we gotta save Gweelok.” Festro told them. The others nodded, though Dingle was a little reluctant.

“Blagity blah blah?” Dingle suggested.

“Of course it's not a misunderstanding! We never misunderstand anything!” Festro retorted. Dingle shrugged and then all four remaining disgustoids went to their rooms to pack their bags for an adventure to save Gweelok.

Meanwhile, Gweelok was sitting at a table across from Jerry, both having tea.

“Thanks for taking me here, I love my bros, but I need to get away from them sometimes.” Gweelok thanked the Troll King.

“No problem. Anyway, you can stay here as long as you'd like.” Jerry told him.

“I'd love to but I need to get back to my bros.” Gweelok groaned. “Eventually I mean.”

“That's the spirit, I also left a note for them so they wouldn't worry about you.” Jerry said as he sipped his tea again.

“You've been so considerate lately, why?” Gweelok titled his head in confusion.

“All for you.” Jerry whispered tenderly.

“Aww…” Gweelok blushed again, Jerry blushed back.

“Want to dance again?” Jerry offered.

“You're not going to give me legs again are you?” Gweelok raised an eyebrow.

“Only if you want me to.” Jerry answered.

“Nah, I'd rather dance my own way.” Gweelok shook his head.

“Suit yourself, besides, I like it when you dance your own way.” Jerry smiled.

Meanwhile, Festro and the others were looking through the map that they made.

“Who's idea was it to have all of us make the same map despite us having differing senses of direction?” Festro scoffed.

“It was yours.” Fart pointed out.

“Yeah, but… Nevermind, you're right…” Festro groaned.

“Blegga bloo blah.” Dingle frowned.

“Yes, Dingle, Gweelok would have made a proper map if he was here, probably with his fascinating technology.” Fart replied sadly.

“I hope he's okay.” Slog added worriedly.

“Um, how long have we been walking?” Festro asked, sweating and panting. “And why do all the rocks look the same?”

“Easy, we're lost.” Fart responded.

“We can't be lost! After all that planning I came up with!” Festro complained.

“It was my idea, Festro!” Fart argued.

“Then it was your fault, I should have been in charge!” Festro pointed at Fart accusingly.

“You take that back!” Fart narrowed his eyes.

“Not before you do!” Festro narrowed his eyes back.

“Guys! This isn't helping! I know I'm not usually that bright or mature, but we need to save Gweelok!” Slog got between his two slightly older friends. Dingle nodded in agreement.

“You're right. Sorry.” Fart apologized.

“Me too, let's argue after we save Gweelok.” Festro said.

“Very well…” Fart slouched over, feeling a bit guilty for fighting with Festro. He loved his friend, but sometimes he could be a pain in the neck. “Still, I'd do anything for him.”

“Come on, I think we're almost there!” Festeo motioned his arm for them to follow, they looked at each other shrugged, then rushed to follow their leader, wondering if he was right about them almost finding Jerry and Gweelok

[thebeartrap]

When Y/n is forced to take over in the kitchen, her past in New York comes back to bite her.

Chapter 3: Dinner Service

"Alright chefs, we're doing a seared salmon with a mango glaze tonight. Tina I want you to do a side salad, chard, lemon vinaigrette, & radishes, it's gonna pair nicely with the salmon. Marcus, get to work, I want dark chocolate with some citrus in there, don't shy away from the mango, it's not redundant if it's well done. Syd you're on the salmon please, we want a strong Maillard reaction, I want to hear that crust, okay? Carmen, I'll help you plate and glaze. Ready chefs?"

"Yes, chef." Everyone gives you a reassured nod and gets to their stations. You set up next to Carmen, and he winks at you.

"Killing it already, chef."

"Thanks chef, just don't burn down the kitchen please."

He looks at you confused.

"I haven't burned down a kitchen yet, I don't plan to start now."

"You never plan to burn down a kitchen, but shit happens."

Tickets begin to come in and Carmen starts to yell into the kitchen.

"Let's fire two salmons chefs."

"Yes, chef!

"Are you trying to tell me that you've burnt down a kitchen, y/n?"

"Ha, no. But my sous burnt our restaurant down, why do you think I was on a plane to Chicago a day after you called me?"

"Guess I just thought you really liked me." Carmen nudges you in the side with his elbow playfully as Syd sets down two plates in front of him. You and Carmen each get to work glazing the salmon and plating it perfectly. You wipe a glob of glaze off the edge of Carmen's plate with your napkin.

"Sloppy work, chef."

"Oh, fuck off. Hands!"

The rest of dinner service goes off without a hitch. Richie ducks his head through the doors a couple of times.

"Some fuckos told me to send compliments to the chef.. so, compliments, I guess."

You and Carmen exchange countless glances and a few flirty remarks over the night. You come to realise how much you missed leading a kitchen as the night ends.

"Alright, chefs, let's fire one final salmon and then we're closed."

A small cheer and an enthusiastic "Yes, chef" is heard from throughout the kitchen. You send off the final salmon and let out a deep breath you hadn't realised you'd been holding all night. You turn around and lean against the cold metal of the counter. Carmen spins around next to you and comes close to you.

"Great work tonight chef." It's quiet and close enough that only you hear it. The sincerity of the compliment makes you blush. You turn back around to address the rest of the kitchen.

"Alright chefs, let's clean up and get the hell out of here." You pull your pack of cigarettes out of your pocket and turn back to Carmen. "Join me?"

"Hell yeah, I need one."

Carmen follows you out to the alleyway and you both sit on top of some empty crates, thigh to thigh. You pat your apron incessantly, looking for a lighter. Carmen realises and reaches over to light your cigarette before his own.

"So, how'd I do as your sous?"

"Well, the restaurant is still standing, so not too bad."

Carmen laughs.

"So, what happened to your place?"

"Fire did crazy damage, they're gonna have to build from scratch. I couldn't afford that, sold the space to the bank, lost a shit ton on that deal."

"Jesus chef, that's awful. I'm sorry." He looks up at you and catches your eyes staring right into his icy blue ones. "Well, if it helps, I'm glad you're here." He notices the city lights of Chicago reflecting off of your face and is overwhelmed by how beautiful you look sitting there, cigarette in hand. A momentary boost of confidence overcomes him and he reaches forward, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear. Just as you both lean in, Richie bursts through the door and into the alley, cursing loudly.

You stand up frantically before Richie reaches the spot where you two are sitting.

"Can't say shit anymore, what's the problem with calling a woman a broad huh?"

Carmen rolls his eyes so hard you think they may fall out of his head.

"Richie you're not getting any support from me on this one."

"What are you fuckos doing out here?"

You lift your cigarette and your eyebrows. "Climbing Everest, the fuck does it look like we're doing Richie?"

"What are you doing out here, Richie? Is my kitchen clean?"

"Hold on I thought it was this broad's kitchen tonight." Richie gestures to you and now it's your turn to roll your eyes.

"Yeah you're right, is y/n's kitchen clean, Richie?"

"Yeah, yeah it's clean. Everyone's heading out in a minute."

Just then Sydney ducks her head out of the alleyway door. "Could I get a hit off one of those?"

You lift your cigarette in her direction and she comes out to grab it from you.

"I didn't know you smoked chef."

"I usually don't, I just wanted to be one of the cool kids for a minute."

This makes you laugh, you've grown to really like Sydney- she's competent, efficient in the kitchen, and super fun to gossip with.

"So who did Richie upset this time?" You address the question to Sydney who laughs in response.

"I don't even remember, I've learned to tune him out."

"Very funny, I get it, let's all hate on Richie because it makes us feel better about ourselves."

"Frankly, cousin, you don't need to be so easy to hate on."

Carmens comment makes you and Sydney laugh uncontrollably and Richie angrily flicks his cigarette and storms back inside.

"What crawled up his ass tonight?" You turn to Sydney looking for a response.

"No idea, his ex wife called earlier, he was cursing on the phone with her, probably that."

"He's such a fucking baby." Carmen tosses his cigarette butt and stands up. "Great work tonight chefs, let's get out of here."

"Amen." Sydney turns to the door and heads back inside, you turn to follow her but Carmen catches your wrist and spins you around.

"Hey, I mean it, you did a great job tonight. I don't know what you were so afraid of."

"It's a long story.. but I'm feeling better now. Thanks chef."

"Get in early tomorrow and you can tell me all about it, okay?"

"Sounds good."

You and Carmen head back into the kitchen and finally home.

[thatsgay-writes]

Day 16

PREVIOUS

"Here they are, the brave young women whose tale of struggle and survival has gripped the nation." The host says as she sends the camera a smile. "The unsinkable nine, as we have come to know them. Ladies, you must have dreamed of coming home for so long. Now that you're here, what do you wanna do most?" She questions as she turns towards you and your friends. "Honestly, smoke about a hundred cigs, you know? Like, really rip through a carton or two." Dot starts as she leans forwards on the couch. The host gives her a slightly awkward smile, "Okay. How about the rest of you?"

"I don't know; Maybe hit up the OG for a never-ending pasta bowl and just... I don't know... Get back to our real lives." Toni says next followed by Nora. "I'd like to read the Odyssey again, rather than, like, live it." She jokes awkwardly, causing some of the girls to laugh in response. "Leah, what about you?" "Oh, um, I just wanna reconnect with certain people... People who may have been worried and-or felt like we had unfinished business. And if that person is watching right now, I just wanna say that I did not not miss you every day." You cringe at Leah's little monologue, still not feeling 100% about her after her fight with Shelby.

"My turn, Brooke, and I've got a nice, straight answer for you. I'm going to fuck the rowdiest guy with the biggest dick as soon as I fucking can." Fatin says, causing everyone to pause the fantasy you all shared and look at Fatin. Fatin turned to look at you, since you were at the end of the couch, and you couldn't contain your laugh. "Holy shit!" You belt out as you roll onto your side, "I don't think you can say that." You tell her after you finally catch your breathe. Fatin rolls her eyes, "Okay, make it more media-friendly. I am going to fornicate with the healthiest penis I can find ASAP." You let out a laugh at her newly formed answer.

After that, Dot changed her answer and Fatin got on Leah for her "emo shit show" answer and how Romeo's would be in everyone's DM's, before they finally started cheering over the fact that there was a chance to return home. "We're going home, bitches!" Martha yells as she holds up the bottle of vodka, causing all the other girls to cheer. You go to celebrate with them but notice how Shelby stays silent and slowly pulls away from the group. You watch her go, debating if you should follow her, as Toni helps you stand. Her face holds a large smile that slowly falls as she notices how distracted you are and that Shelby was walking away.

Ever since kissing Shelby, Toni had been confused on her feelings between the both of you. She had loved you for years but Shelby just had something so attracting about her. Unknown to her, you were having the same thoughts. "I'll, um... I'll be right back." You say as you pat Toni's hands that were still holding your own after helping you up. Toni just nods her head as you hop away after Shelby.

---

"You don't seem very excited..." You try and joke as you hop around the rock Shelby was sitting on, closing your mouth as soon as you see how sad she looks. You fidget nervously for a few seconds as Shelby doesn't respond to your presence. You let out a deep breathe before sitting down next to Shelby on the rock. "Are you okay?" You ask as you slowly reach out your hand to grabs hers. You move slowly so she has enough time to pull away but she doesn't. When you tangle your fingers with Shelby's, she finally reacts some and turns her head to look at you. She opens and closes her mouth a few times wanting to say something, but ultimately ends up closing it and shaking her head. You let out a sigh but nod your head. You lean forwards and cup one of her cheeks, giving her a quick kiss on the other one. Your face gains a small smile as you notice Shelby blush, "I'll leave you to your thoughts... If you ever need someone to vent to or a shoulder to lean on I'll be here." You tell her as you slowly stand up and start hopping back towards to other girls, missing how Shelby stared after you longingly.

---

As you get closer to the other girls, you smile as you hear them all laughing and joking around. "Oh, Martha, you're gonna be trippin motherfucking balls dude." You hear Fatin say as you finally reach the group and collapse next to Toni. Hopping around was not fun and you were going to need to find a walking stick or something soon. "And she won't be alone." Rachel says as she holds her hand out towards Fatin. Taking what looks to be a bag of gummy bears? You nudge Toni with your shoulder and send her a questioning look. "Martha ate edibles." She whispered to you before turning back to the group and reaching for the bag. You covered your mouth in shock and laughed at the fact that Martha, sweet and innocent Martha, ate edibles. "You want one y/n?" Toni asks as she holds one out towards you. You think about it for a second. Your doctors back at home would probably advise you not to get high but you had been feeling fine the past few days. "Why not." You answer as you take the gummy bear from Toni and pop it into your mouth.

---

"Marcus!?" You hear Martha yell out for the 5th time as almost everyone laid on the beach, high out of their minds. The only ones not laying down were Fatin, who looked like she was meditating, Shelby, who still hadn't returned from the rock, and you, who had taken a seat on Toni's back and kept tracing out random letters and shapes on her back. "I'm so fucking blissed out. Not even from the gummies, just from the thought that in 48 hours I can have an orgasm." Was the first thing Fatin had said in an hour, causing you to giggle and almost fall off of Toni's back. Unlike Toni, who always got more relaxed when she was high, you got more giggly, enthusiastic, and talkative. You being high rivaled Shelby's whole "Who wants to play an ice breaker?" persona.

"Wait? You haven't like self-induced?" Leah asks, seriously but still with a playful tone. "No, I can't do it with my hands actually. I have this weird cello-vibrato PTSD. It's a whole thing." Fatin responds, breezing over the subject. "So your electric toothbrush hasn't seen any action?" Dot asks causing you to laugh more and add on, "I mean we all kind of assumed." You send a wink Fatin's way before turning your attention back to Toni's back, effectively spacing out on the conversation.

When you do focus back onto everyone, it's from Toni tapping your thigh to get you to get up. "Huh?" "C'mon we're gonna go play in the water." Instead of standing up and hopping your way towards the ocean, you just roll of Toni's back and lay on your back in the sand. "I'm good... I think I'm just gonna lie here." Toni gives you a questioning look but you just push her thigh towards the water. "I'll be fineeeee, go have funnnnn." Toni rolls her eyes as you purposefully draw out words and follows the rest of the girls into the water.

You could hear the girls from where you laid, all of them letting out screams and laughs of joy. You would have joined but hopping around on one leg isn't fun and tired you out pretty quickly. You rolled onto your side once the sun felt too hot on your face and you noticed that Shelby hadn't joined in on the fun either. You contemplated going up to her and trying to talk to her or give her more space, but went with the first choice. If she had rejoined the group than maybe she would want some company now.

---

"Not a fan of the water?" You ask as you let yourself collapse next to Shelby, taking note how she now had the bottle of vodka and it had a less in it than it did before. "I... Um..." Shelby stuttered out as she purposefully did not make eye contact with you. "It's fine." You say with a shrug and lay on your side. "No need to talk, just relax." You say as you suddenly get hype fixated on making shapes and letters on her back. Missing the way she tensed up before finally relaxing. You spaced out again from what was going on, a common thing that happened when you were high.

---

The rest of the day blew by as everyone did their own thing. Nora and Rachel went off talked somewhere, you noticed that Toni and Shelby got into a argument, and you just chilled around with Fatin, Dot, and Leah, while Martha decided to adventure into the woods. "Guys! Guys! Guess what I just saw!?" Martha yells as she runs over the hill and back towards the group. "I just saw Marcus and he's alive!" She yells out, out of breath, causing everyone to laugh at how ridiculous she sounded. "No, guys, I'm being serious!" Martha defends and grabs the nearest person to her, Dot, and starts dragging her along. "C'mon, he's in the woods." Dot turns to give the group and exasperated look but you all decide to follow along.

You had your arm wrapped around Toni as you all journeyed through the woods. You had tried to get out of going, but Martha wanted everyone to go with her. "You're just saying that he, like, fucking pinocchio'd?" Dot asks, having not stopped laughing or joking about the situation since you all headed into the woods. "Yes. That is exactly what I am saying." Martha says in relief, missing that fact that Dot was still making fun of her. "He turned into a real boy." She finishes as you and Toni see Marcus... Who is still as fake as he was the day he was found. "I don't know, he kinda looks the same to me." Toni says as you release her arm so she can pick up Marcus. "Hey! My leg!" You say excitedly as you notice it laying under Marcus. When Fatin goes to kiss Marcus, you kiss your leg. It was all fun and games until Leah had to mention the fact that Marcus and your leg had been swept away but suddenly ended up in the middle of the forest. You had thought the same thing but hoped to just ignore that fact. "Leah. We're mellow. We're leaving."

---

"Oh Shelby, you love America so much. USA! USA!" Martha cheers, trying to get Shelby to join her but the other girl is completely zoned out. "Is she okay?" You and Toni ask at the same time. Both of you sharing an awkward look with each other, neither of you had told the other about your own kiss with Shelby. Luckily, Fatin isn't stuck in an unknown love triangle and walks over to Shelby. You all watch as Shelby starts to brush her hair, it seems to stay tangled no matter what she does. Until the brush gets stuck in her hair. Fatin attempts to help her but Shelby goes into full freak out mode. "It's all ruined." She says as she grabs the scissors out of Fatin's bag. Fatin attempts to stop her but Shelby was inconsolable.

"I don't' fucking want it! I don't want it!"

NEXT

[weightlessau]

adorable and soft [ateez; jongho]

Warnings: mentions of guns and a few curse words

part two of cute and squishy

summary: the weekly meet up didn’t go quite as you expected (well, maybe you did expect it a little bit)

requested (yay!!), it’s maybe a little more actioney than they wanted but i swear it’s fluffy!

Unfortunately that date Jongho mentioned never panned out. Just after lunch Sunhi and you only had a few minutes to exchange numbers before the whole group made their way home again, because of a 'sudden emergency'. Days after them you went home as well.

Sunhi and you are practically best friends at this point, even if she does keep quite a few secrets from you. Like why there's always one of the other men shadowing behind her when you meet up or where all her money comes from, but you never press on for more information. You're smart enough to guess that whatever her and her group is involved in, you probably don't want to be a part of that.

Today is one of those meet ups Sunhi and you have at least once a week.

'What should we do today?' Sunhi texts you in the morning to which you already have an answer to.

'There's this bar that I've wanted to check out. Do you want to go tonight?'

'Sure! I'll come pick you up at 8'

'Who are you coming with today?' you ask her. You secretly hope that it's Jongho, even though you're still embarrassed that you called him 'squishy', you have to admit that he is quite cute. After some contemplation you have also decided that a date with him may not be a bad idea, but you don't want to be the one to contact him. You're still unsure of his motives, if he really asked you out on a date or if he just said that to fluster you. He didn't have the chance to ask you again. Apparently he's 'out of the city for work'. You didn't want to know what kind of 'work' considering the answer you got after you called Jongho cute. A thinly veiled death threat.

A couple minutes later, Sunhi gives you an answer to your previous question and you think that maybe luck is on your side, 'Joong said that Jongho is free today ;)'

'Stop with the winking,' you whine over text. Of course everyone noticed the conversation Jongho and you had at the lunch table and Sunhi teases you constantly because of that. You're not alone in your suffering, though; you heard that Jongho is only referred to as 'squishy' by the other men.

';)))))' she sends you back and ends the conversation.

At exactly eight o'clock that night a black car pulls up in front of your home. Although you can't see who is sitting inside the car due to the darkened windows, you can be sure that Sunhi and Jongho are waiting for you.

Before you reach the car, Jongho has already hopped out and swung open the backdoor for you.

"My lady," he greets you.

"Thank you, Jongho." He closes the door when you're seated inside and gets into the driver's seat.

"You're still calling me Jongho?" he asks cheekily from the front while Sunhi just laughs at your flustered face.

"That's your name, isn't it?" you say with a smile and a roll of your eyes. He's still flirting with you, maybe you'll have a date by the end of the night, you hope.

Before Jongho can continue your little banter, Sunhi cuts in and you two start a conversation, completely ignoring Jongho at the the front.

When the three of you get into the bar Sunhi and you immediately sit down at a table and order some drinks for you and of course food. Jongho sits down a few tables down, body turned towards your table to see when you're potentially in danger.

Minutes of laughter turn into hours and soon Sunhi and you just slur the whole talk and lean on the table between you heavily while Jongho laughs at you behind his third meal (he has to pass the time sober somehow and what better way than trying the whole menu one by one?). The laugh is wiped off of his face when he sees a man approaching your table and striking up a conversation. He doesn't intervene in any way, before Sunhi or you show any signs of discomfort. But that thought is thrown out when three more men join that Jongho knows closely.

"Aren't you Hongjoong's little bitch?" Jongho hears as he quickly sends a message to his leader and makes his way to your table.

'Rival gang at bar'

'At least four of them'

'Need backup'

Jongho just presses send on his messages and doesn't wait for an answer. He has to get you two out of here before the situation escalades and innocent people get injured.

Turns out that won't be as easy as planned.

"Well if that isn't Choi Jongho." The man nudges a friend standing next to him.

Jongho swallows the insults that are crawling up to his mouth and instead says, "I don't want any stress here, so just leave it." Quietly he adds a quick, "you bastards" as he tries to usher a drunk you and an equally drunk Sunhi out of the bar. Thankfully the bill was already paid when you ordered.

"What did you just say?" A gun is whipped out and the customers of the bar start screaming the second they notice what is happening.

"Shit," he mutters under his breath.

Now the other men have also drawn their guns, pointing them all towards your group. No one says a word now, the whole bar has fallen quiet out of fear. Even you can feel yourself sobering up.

The doors to the bar slam open and Hongjoong marches in, with his gun drawn, closely followed by Wooyoung and San.

"Drop your fucking guns or you'll be in big trouble," Hongjoong threatens, "you're in our territory right now. You don't want me to contact your leader, do you?" He keeps his voice controlled and low, almost like he's having the most boring conversation, making him seem even more threatening.

Your blurry eyes see one of the rival gang's men raise his gun slightly, but before he can go any further a gun shot echoes through the bar before the customers scream out. The man drops down to his knees and clutches his left thigh where blood is oozing out.

"Wooyoung!" Jongho shouts out to the shooter.

"What?" Wooyoung shrugs, "he was about to do something."

The rival's grab the armpits of the injured member and drag him to the exit, where Hongjoong, San and Wooyoung are standing.

"This isn't over," the injured one spits at Hongjoong as they pass him and flee.

Hongjoong lets out a sigh while he looks around at the terrified faces meeting him, including yours. He walks over to his wife and throws his arm over her shoulder, hugging her intoxicated form to him.

"We'll go home now," he announces to the boys. "Jongho, you take [y/n] home." You see the small smirk decorating his face.

"Okay," Jongho agrees and ushers you towards the exit.

As you pass, you could swear that you heard San snicker and say, "good night, squishy."

Outside you are greeted by the biting cold, washing away your drunkenness, when you hurry towards the car.

The car ride is quiet with you trying to process what just happened. But you weren't all that surprised. After all, you expected them to be a part of shady business and that just got confirmed.

"Can you stop when you see a convenience store?" You break the tense silence.

"What would you need at this time?" Jongho asks, confused as he glances over to you shortly.

"I want to drink some more. I can't deal with this shit semi-sober right now. Either I'm completely sober or completely smashed, or I'll go crazy tonight," you explain your sudden plan to him and coincidentally a 24/7 open store appears on the side of the road, making Jongho pull over and park the car.

A few cups of beer and soju later, you're slurring again, leaning against Jongho's broad frame. Your drunken state lets you let loose a little bit. Or more than a little. You even go as far as hugging him, pressing your cheek onto his chest and squeezing him tightly.

"You're so squishy." There's nothing in you that thinks talking to Jongho is a bad thing right now. You drowned all those thoughts with alcohol.

"So soft," you slur and snuggle closer, closing your eyes in bliss.

"Alright, [y/n], I think it's time for you to go home," Jongho laughs and tries to peel you off carefully, but you only tighten your grip and pout up at him, with your chin propped onto his chest.

"No," you look into his eyes firmly to refuse and then press your cheek onto his chest again, closing your eyes.

You feel the rumble of Jongho's laugh vibrating his chest and then feel strong arms embracing you.

"Step on my feet," Jongho tells you and you follow his order, stepping your right foot onto his left and your left onto his right, still clinging onto him but this time with him securing you onto his body as he walks you two to the car. He helps you into your seat and your head immediately lulls to the side, half asleep, as Jongho reaches over you and puts on your belt for you. Before he can duck out of the car to get into the drivers seat, you grab his arm and look up at him with your eyes as pleading as possible.

"I want a good dream," you mumble.

"And why are you telling me that?"

"I want you to-," you pause, "I don't know. I forgot." You cross your arms over your chest and pout again as you look straight ahead, facing away from the still hunched Jongho as if it's his fault that you forgot.

Jongho doesn't try to make you remember and just closes the door and gets in on the other side.

A few minutes of driving pass when suddenly you scream out, "squishy!" making Jongho swerve the wheel.

"That's what I forgot!"

"What the hell, [y/n]!" he slightly raises his voice out of panic. "What does that even have to do with a good dream?"

You shrug, happy that you now know what you forgot, "I don't know."

Jongho has to resist rubbing his face in frustration, a defeated smile taking over his lips. "How about we're quiet the rest of the ride, [y/n]?" Jongho phrases it like a question, but doesn't want an answer from you, which he doesn't get.

You just stare at his side profile for the rest of the ride, admiring his features and his cute little smile. A dreamy smile graces your face as you prop your elbow onto the armrest and your chin onto your hand.

"You're really pretty," you whisper, not even realizing that you're talking. Jongho doesn't show any more reaction than his smile broadening slightly, the action pushing his cheeks up and making them appear more full.

"So soft." As if in a trance, you reach out towards his hypnotizing cheek and quickly grab it between your fingers before Jongho can even react in any way.

"Ow! [y/n]!" he warns you, "let go of my cheek!"

You laugh loudly, "no."

A sigh leaves him and he gives up, trying to rip his face away from your grasp while driving.

Thankfully you arrive just a few minutes later. Jongho helps you walk into your home. Already having a routine for when you come home drunk, you lead him to your kitchen and sit down on the counter.

"I'm thirsty," you slur out, looking at Jongho with half opened eyes.

When he hands you your glass of water after opening every possible drawer and cupboard, you sulk, "and hungry."

A slice of bread and two more glasses of water later, you get ready for bed and Jongho tucks you in for the night. He can't get off the bed though, because you have his arm cuddled against your chest.

"Stay," you hum and pull his arm further to you, making him stumble onto the bed completely, landing beside you. You let go of his arm then and open your arms, "come here, squishy," you pet your chest, "let me cuddle you."

Having given up resisting the drunk you, he lays his head onto your chest and lets you squeeze him, "why do you only call me squishy when you're drunk?" he teases you. There is no point in him feeling embarrassed when he's actually feeling very comfortable in this position, pulling you to him as well.

"Do you not want to be my squishy?"

"Only if you go on a date with me."

"Ask me in the morning."

And with that Jongho can feel you tight grip on him softening. He stays lying next to you until the next morning when he asks you the question properly this time.

"Do you want to go out on a date with me?"

bonus

You accept.

Even though you're together, you still only call him 'squishy' when you're drunk, but he gets reminded of the nickname often enough by his friends.

p.s. thank you so much for 100 followers 🥰

[addictofsupernatural]

Spidey Senses (pt. 1)

Peter Parker x reader

Summary: You have a big secret about your life, and so might your crush.

Word Count: 2253

Chapter 2

You woke up, looking around at the apartment to yourself, and got ready for school. You made yourself some scrambled eggs; they were quick enough to make. You ate and cleaned up, not that anyone was expecting you to. You went to the bathroom, looking at yourself one last time. You frowned, but smoothened out your shirt.

Peter liked this shirt. He once told you that at lunch, when you brought him cookies made cookies for him and Ned. It was a Bowsette shirt, and this time instead of wearing it lose you tucked it in. Maybe he'd like that? Not that it was doing much for your body. You did read somewhere that having confident vibes was attractive, so maybe you just needed to act confident, and he'd notice that you wore the shirt he likes? It was stupid, but you were doing it anyways.

You locked up your apartment and walked to Peter's nicer apartment complex, where you sat down on the untagged steps outside. A few minutes later Peter came rushing out with a piece of toast in his mouth. You turned and smiled, perking up.

"Morning Peter." You chirped. No matter how bad you could feel sometimes, you couldn't help but have the best of attitudes around Peter.

"Morning." He said, voice muffled. He took a bite and ripped off a piece of toast, silently giving it to you. You took it and ate with him. "So I just got a text from Ned, and we have to pair up in biology for a project on the genetics of different forms of life."

He sounded pepped up, and so were you. You loved doing projects. It was a stress reliever from working at nights, and you got to spend some time after school with Peter. To you, projects were amazing. "So, who're you gonna pick for your partner?" You teased.

"Of course only the one person I know who can keep up with me." He nudged you, and you giggled. "I wish Liz was in that class. She's really smart."

Then there was that. Peter's crush on Liz. Though it made you feel terrible about yourself, you couldn't help but constantly compare yourself to Liz. She was so much prettier than you, smarter, actually popular. Not that you really cared about popularity, but it seemed like everyone adored her, Peter included. You didn't dislike her, you just wished you could be more like her. But if she's what makes Peter happy, then you would try to be the most supportive friend you could be.

"I bet you do." You did your best to smile. "Are we still on for joining the Mathletes?"

"I don't know. What if I get too nervous around Liz and start messing everything up? Then I'll look like an idiot."

"First of all, never call yourself an idiot. You're a genius, own it. Second, me and Ned are gonna join with you. We'll have your back Peter. We'll all have some fun, and you'll get to spend more time with her. We'll be in the back for support if you need us."

He nodded and put an arm around you, squeezing your shoulders as he side hugged you. "Thanks y/n. I can always count on you and Ned to be really awesome friends."

Though it took a blow to your feelings and self esteem, all you responded with was "Of course." as you walked into school and met up with Ned.

Sometimes, keeping things to yourself was just the better option. There were two things you kept from Peter. One, you were completely and undoubtedly in love with him. Only Ned knew about this, since he's just as close to you as Peter is. Two, the day you went to the Stark museum field trip and got bit by that spider changed your life forever.

As the day went on, so did your anxiousness. It was good this time; you didn't have work today at Delmar's Deli-Grocery, meaning it was time to suit up. Queens always needed help, and you were happy to do it. So was this other guy with similar abilities, but you never met him, so you didn't worry about it.

Mathletes went pretty much as expected. Peter was adorably awkward around Liz, but a genius none the less. You actually had some fun with Ned, goofing off as well as being able to get some work done. Peter would come back to you two every now and then to give updates. "You okay?" Ned quietly asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." You rested your chin on your hand and leaned over. "What about you? Like anybody right now?"

He gave you a goofy smile. "Nobody specific, but I'm hoping being in the Mathletes will show girls how smart I am."

You gave him a toothy grin in return. "I'm sure they will. Girls who are worth your time are suckers for nerds." Ned nodded his head eagerly in response.

Peter caught a glimpse of your conversation with Ned about girls liking nerds, and it sounded like a really tempting topic to over and listen about, but he had to focus on Liz. Giving her his main attention will show her that this is just as important to him as it is to her.

When Mathletes was over, Peter went over to you and an excited Ned, trying to ignore that nagging left out feeling he was having. "What'd I miss?"

"Y/n's gonna paint the Millennium Falcon and Death Star on my walls!" Ned said excitedly.

"Woah, really?"

You shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, it's not a big deal. I like painting, and it's not like my landlord would let me do it on my own walls. His parents are gonna take me to buy the paints and pay me for doing it too, so it's really just me getting all the benefits."

"It's gonna happen next week, so we should have a marathon over the weekend." Ned proposed.

"I love that idea!" Peter said, getting pumped up and excited in a very cute way he does. "We should do it at your house!" He said to you.

"I'm so down!" You excitedly said. "But right now I have homework to do, so let's walk home."

Ned said his goodbyes as he got picked up. You and Peter walked home together talking about Star Wars and how he would love it if you painted for him sometime. You promised him you would and said your goodbyes, watching him walk up his apartment complex steps and disappearing. You then quickly ran home to put on your super suit and head out.

Meanwhile, Peter came home to see Mr. Tony Stark in his very own living room. "Aunt May, I'm ho–"

The two heads turned to see the suddenly out of breath teen. "Oh, hey! Mr. Stark was just telling me how you got accepted." Aunt May smiled.

"W...wha–how–um, hi." He breathed out.

Tony smiled effortlessly as he got up. "I was just talking to your Aunt May over here about your acceptance for your application into the Stark internship." He winked. "Can we talk privately in your room?"

"Ye...uh, sure. Course." They both went into his room and Tony closed the door, looking around the room.

"So your aunt seems nice." Tony said nonchalantly. "Really doesn't look like an aunt."

"Um, why are you here Mr. Stark? I never filled out an–"

"She's cute." He picked up a framed picture of you and Peter, you hugging him while you both smiled. Tony instantly recognized you as the other person he was going to recruit.

"Y–uh, I guess." The question was very flustering for Peter.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Woah! No, we're just friends. There's actually this other girl–"

Tony set the picture down and went on to his phone. "Okay, I'm bored with this story now." He then pulled up a video of a disguised man stop a car from crashing into a bus. "This you?"

"No! I don't know who that is."

"Yeah?" He looked up and got the broom that was against the wall, pushing one of the air vents out of the way and watching Peter's suit fall while tied to a rope. "Tell anybody about your powers?"

"No! Not even Aunt May, I promise. It's been a secret since I got them."

Tony nodded. "I'll cut to the point. I need you to come with me to Berlin. There's something you can help me with. Think of it as a mission. Are you up for it?" Peter only nodded his head. "Good, we got one more stop to make."

You got home to your apartment after stopping a robbery at a fast food restaurant. You took a shower and finished your homework fairly quickly. After backing some double brownie cookies for the weekend, you started pencil drawing to pass the time. That's when you heard a knock at the door. Your hair was still a bit damp as you curiously got up and answered the door. In front of your very eyes was the infamous Tony Stark.

"Woah." Was the first thing to drop out of your mouth. You wanted to slap yourself. You quietly said, "Hello."

You stuck out your hand for a hand shake, trying to make it as firm as you could while feeling nervous around the celebrity. As he shook it, you swallowed your nervousness down and remembered that everyone has flaws and he's just a regular person.

"Hi, can I come in?" You forced a smile and nodded, stepping aside as he came in and walked around your house. In all honesty, it was kind of making you uncomfortable how much observing he was doing. He noticed the same picture Peter had was hanged up on your wall. "Is this your boyfriend?"

You nervously laughed at the thought of that fantasy. "I wish." You blurted out. He raised his eyebrows and looked at you, feeling that this was going to be fun to tease about over this mission. "But I've been friend zoned, so yeah." You quickly said. "Anyways, would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Got any sweets or something? I am kind of hungry." He didn't look at you and kept wandering around your apartment. You silently nodded and took out the container of cookies you just put in the cupboard. You made those for the Star Wars binge, but if you had to sacrifice some for Tony Stark, so be it. You opened it from the kitchen counter, and he took one while inspecting your kitchen. "Oh wow. These are good. Make them yourself?"

"Yeah actually. Thanks." He opened your finance drawer with your bills, newspaper coupons and food stamps. You quickly closed it. "Um, please don't look at that!"

He looked you in the eye for a second before nodding and looking at another picture of Peter and you, this time with you trying to cover your face from the selfie. "So, I've read your personal file."

He was so straight forward that you didn't know how to react. "Oh. Are you even allowed to do that?"

"I'm allowed to bend the rules a bit sometimes." You huffed in response. Rich people. "Emancipated at 15. That's a lot."

"Yeah, I guess. I'd like to think I've adjusted well." You put on a smile again.

He leaned against the kitchen counter. "You miss your mom?"

"Um, she needed to learn how to take care of herself before she could take care of anybody else. I'm okay with that." You rocked on your heals.

"That's very mature of you, but you didn't answer my question."

You really didn't know why you felt so open with him. Maybe it was all that internet stalking. Damn. But you weren't about to spill out your life to this man and scare him off. No matter how well you felt like you kind of knew him. "Mm, it's complicated."

"And what about your dad?"

You truthfully never really think about him. "What about him?"

"You don't want to meet him? Know anything about him?"

You let out a laugh. "The only thing I want to know about him is his address, so I could file for some child support."

Tony smirked, deciding that he liked you. "Can you even file for yourself."

You sighed. "Probably not. Sometimes the government can suck."

He nodded his head, his eyes averting to your room. Shit. "What're those?"

"Oh, um, you don't need to see that!" He walked a lot faster than you and went into your room. You silently cursed your small legs. "Wow. These are a lot of drawings. And there's a lot of Thor. Do we have a little crush on a certain God?"

"Maybe!" You blurted out, much to Tony's amusement.

There was a small desk over a bulletin board full of your drawings. You got the desk when you saw pieces of wood being thrown out of a Home Depot because of chips and scratches, and you volunteered to take it off their hands. You built it yourself, wobbly and uneven, and painted some of it with the paints Aunt May got you. It made you look like the help, but it was nothing compared to the drawings you had of the superheroes.

"So what if I do? I know a ton of people who have fake crushes on you!"

"And you're not one of them?" He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Should I be offended?"

You smiled, genuinely smiled, and shook your head. "People have fake crushes on unrealistically perfect people. Thor, Thor is unrealistically perfect. You have a ton of flaws but are essentially a good person at heart... With all respect."

"What makes you think I'm not just perfect?" He was truthfully interested in hearing your take on this.

"Because it takes a person with anxiety to know a person with anxiety." Tony uncomfortably shifted his weight onto his other foot.

"I've seen some bad stuff too, not as bad as you, but I know that memories creep up when things get too much to handle. You have a ton of things to handle. I've seen some interviews that get to you. Some things that people say. The rude reporters. Even though a lot of people say bad things about you, your company, and even your family, you still have it in you to fight for everyone. That's amazing. You're not unrealistically perfect, but you are realistically perfect to me."

He paused for a moment, absorbing what was said. "If you're not in love with me, then why do you take the time to know so much about me?"

"Because, while I don't think of you as the fake love of my life, I see you as someone I look up to."

"Believe me kid, you should look up to someone else." He tried to joke it off.

You shrugged. "I don't have anyone else." You felt embarrassed suddenly, looking down at your desk. You then smiled again and searched through your drawings, picking up one of Tony smiling. "Just think of me as your number one fan. You can have that."

"Huh." Was all he said as he looked at it.

"What? Not used to seeing yourself smile?" You giggled. "Anyways, why are you here?"

"Oh, right." He took out his phone, showing you a video of you suited up, stopping a moving car full of robbers until the police showed up.

You sighed. "Okay, you found me. What now?"

"You're not going to try and lie for your secret identity?" Tony smiled again.

"To Ironman?" You giggled again. "No."

"Well, there's a mission in Berlin I need you and the Spiderman's assistance for."

"Is that what he calls himself?"

"Yeah. You met him?" You shook your head, and Tony knew he was going to enjoy this. "Well, you're about to. Ready Spidergirl?"

"Um, shouldn't I pack or something?"

"No need. I got you provisions and clothes for a few days. Especially considering that's probably the only kind of things you have."

You clutched your baggy shirt. "Rude, but true."

"Okay then, stay here." He then left the apartment for a bit and came back with a nice looking shirt and ripped jeans. "I don't want people thinking I found a homeless girl off the side of the street."

"You're so mean." You breathed out a laugh. "Thank you though. I'll be out in a bit." You stepped out a minute later uncomfortably. "Ready?"

"Look at you, looking like a girl." He teased.

You laughed. "Who'd have known? Let's go."

"You ready to meet the Spiderman?" Tony asked as you both stepped down from the apartment complex.

"Should I be? I don't even know who that is." He winked at you before opening the door for you. You slid in the back seat and looked at a surprised Peter dead in the eye. "Holy shit!"

[cocastyle]

The In-Between Chapter 7

Stranger Things x It Crossover

with some Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 7,547

Warning - none

A/N - super long chapter because there is a lot in this one! anyways, I hope you all like it :)

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

T H E I N - B E T W E E N

Intro The Losers’ Club The Party Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epilogue

“Well, fuck. This house looks like a shit show just waiting to happen," Lucas muttered as he looked at the old house before them. He glanced at Y/N who was by his side currently snapping twigs in half before lightly nudging her with his elbow. She glanced his way and he pointed at the house. "Please tell me this isn't the place."

"Wish I could, Lucas," Y/N sighed. She then patted the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry. It looks scarier on the inside."

She then began to walk away while Lucas blinked in shock before yelling out, "You do know that doesn't help, right?"

Y/N just looked at him from over her shoulder and gave him a sly smile before walking over to the back of Steve's car where Steve, Wheeler, Stan and Bill were currently unloading the weapons and supplies. "You guys need any help?" Y/N offered.

Bill set the rope he had in his grasp on the ground before looking to Y/N with a small smile. "N-N-No, we're good. There's only a f-f-few more things left and th-th-then we should be good to g-g-go," Bill told her.

Y/N smiled back at him and Wheeler glanced between the two before chuckling softly as he got a small flashback of him and Eleven back when they hadn't admitted their feelings for each other yet.

"Denbrough," Steve called out causing the boy to look away from Y/N and over to the older boy who had his hands on his hips. "You gonna help or you gonna stare at Y/N all day?"

Bill instantly blushed and glanced at Y/N who let out a small laugh, her cheeks dusted a light pink. She gave him a wink before turning around to leave him to finish his job, for once not minding the small protective part of Steve that was coming out.

Y/N glanced around at her friends, smiling to herself at the sight of Lucas and Eleven talking to Beverly and Ben while Max, Will and Dustin talked with Richie. She liked that they were finally trying to get along for once.

The puff of an inhaler had her snapping out of her thoughts and she turned to see Eddie standing off to the side with an inhaler in hand and his focus on the Well House. He looked paler than usual and it didn't take Y/N long to notice the small shake of his hands as he gripped onto his inhaler like his life depended on it.

Y/N frowned and slowly walked over to her friend before placing a hand on his shoulder. Eddie instantly jumped and turned to her with wide eyes, but he relaxed almost as quickly once he realized who it was.

"Oh, hey, Y/N," Eddie greeted, his breathing still a little erratic.

"Hey, Eddie. You okay?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she gave the boy a confused look.

"Uh. . .not really. I mean. . .I don't know about this, Y/N. My asthma can't take all this stress," Eddie admitted as he let out a breathy chuckle.

Y/N could tell the boy was scared, so she didn't hesitate to reach for his hand and give it a small squeeze. "Hey, you're going to be just fine, okay? You've got me, the rest of the Losers, and the whole Party here to help. It's not like you're going in there alone," she assured him. "Besides, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Eddie was silent for a moment before nodding. "I know," he whispered as he sent her a small smile. He let his inhaler return to its spot in his fanny pack before giving Y/N's hand a light squeeze. The girl smiled at him before Wheeler announcing that they were done had everyone turning to look at them.

The groups were silent as they stared at the supplies on the ground before them. No one made a move to grab something, so Dustin let out a sigh as he took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before returning his hat to its rightful spot.

"Only half of us are going in, right?" Dustin asked and Y/N nodded in response. "So how are we going to do this? Draw from a hat?"

"We could always measure our wangs! I'll for sure wi-" Richie began, but the Losers were quick to exclaim, "Beep beep, Richie!"

"Why do I have to look like him?" Wheeler whispered as he lightly shook his head.

"We're going to draw sticks actually," Y/N said as she held out a handful of sticks she had broke when they first arrived. She glanced to Dustin and gestured towards his hat. "May I?" Dustin nodded and quickly took his hat off before handing it to the girl. Y/N smiled in thanks before placing the sticks inside and holding it out. "Okay, everyone grab a stick. The eight shortest sticks are the ones who have to go in."

One by one, the Losers and the Party all grabbed a stick from the hat. It wasn't until everyone had grabbed a stick that they slowly opened their hands, a little over half of the group letting out groans while the others let out sighs of relief.

In the end, Richie, Steve, Wheeler, Eleven, Y/N, Dustin, Bill and Eddie were the ones who got the short sticks.

"I would've won," Y/N heard Richie mutter as he pouted, but she just ignored him and went over to the pile of supplies and weapons with Eleven right on her heels and no complaints coming out of either of their mouths.

Y/N picked up a crowbar, some rope, and a flashlight while Eleven picked up a flashlight and some rope before they turned to the boys.

"Come on, princesses. We don't have all day."

- - -

"I love you, Y/N. I really do, but I'm so happy that I don't have to go in there," Stan muttered from his best friend's side as the two stared ahead at the pulsing goo portal before them.

Y/N grimaced at the colors coming from the portal before saying, "I love you too, Stan the Man, and I really don't blame you either."

"So we doing this or what?" Steve asked as he held his bat up against his shoulder. "The longer we stand here, the more we're just going to psych ourselves out."

"True," Y/N sighed before she began to pull Bill's jacket off. Said boy instantly looked over at her and gave her a confused look. She just smiled softly and said, "I don't want to get it messed up."

Bill smiled at that before taking it from her and setting it on top of a wooden chair that was bent to one side because of a missing leg. "It'll be th-th-there for you w-w-when you get b-b-back," Bill told her, the two smiling warmly at each other before looking to the portal in front of them.

"Okay, let's do this," Y/N muttered shakily. Bill glanced over at the nervous girl before reaching out and grabbing ahold of her hand, their fingers intertwining almost instantly. Y/N looked to Bill who gave her a small smile and a nod. She quickly returned it before the two began to walk towards the portal.

"Be careful!" Beverly called out before nervously biting her lips, worry coursing through her veins.

"Stick together!" Ben reminded them.

"And don't wander off alone!" Lucas added, Max nodding her head in agreement.

The people staying back continued to tell them to be careful and such as Y/N and Bill walked through the portal side by side. The two stumbled into the Upside Down almost instantly and Bill was quick to put his hands out and steady the girl, Y/N gripping onto his arms automatically before the two looked up and locked eyes.

Bill blushed as he stared at the girl and Y/N just sent him a small smile that made his heart start beating faster and his breath hitch in his throat.

"What the fuck? You've been in here for like ten seconds and are already making heart eyes at each other?" Richie asked in disgust as he pushed his way through the portal.

"Shut up, Tozier," Y/N grumbled as her and Bill pulled away from each other.

"Make me, L/N," Richie shot back before mockingly puckering up his lips. Y/N let out a laugh and shoved the boy away while Richie chuckled and Bill frowned.

One by one, Wheeler, Steve, Dustin, and Eleven came through the portal. It took a moment longer for Eddie to come through and he instantly grimaced at the sight of decay all around him before taking out his inhaler.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Eddie muttered. Y/N chuckled and nudged him before giving him a small reassuring smile. Eddie relaxed a little, but he was still pale as he looked at the room around him.

To Y/N's surprise, everyone then looked to her. The girl blinked in response and her eyes flickered over to Steve who gave her a small nod that told her to go ahead. She smiled ever so slightly before nodding her head towards the staircase. "Turn your flashlights on and come this way," she told them.

The group all nodded and turned their flashlights on before following the girl up the stairs and out of the house. Once they were outside, Y/N pulled out her map before opening it up and looking at the divided sections.

"Okay, since we don't know if Mike is still in the same spot Eleven last saw him in, it’s best if we check as many areas as possible. We split the map up into four sections so I say we pair off and then go from there," Y/N explained.

Bill's eyes lit up and he looked at Y/N before opening his mouth to speak, but Eleven beat him to it and exclaimed, "I call Y/N!"

Bill instantly frowned while Eleven linked arms with the girl. Y/N offered Bill a small smile and his frown instantly turned into a smile, not being able to keep a straight face when she smiled at him like that.

"I'll go with Bill," Steve offered, his eyes flickering between Y/N and Bill. Y/N let out a small sigh of relief, something about knowing that the older boy would be by Bill's side calming her almost instantly. As for Bill, he couldn't help but tense, already knowing what was about to happen.

"Okay then. I guess that means it will be me and Eddie and then Richie and Mike?" Dustin suggested. Everyone nodded except for Richie and Wheeler who looked at their friends with their mouths hanging open.

"What? Don't put me with his ugly ass!" Richie complained as he exasperatedly waved his arms around.

"Did he just call me ugly?" Wheeler asked, his face scrunched up in confusion and annoyance. "We have the same face! He does know we have the same face, right?"

The two boys began to bicker before the group's eyes and Y/N rolled her eyes before saying, "Tozier! Wheeler!"

The boys instantly stopped and looked to the girl. "Seriously? We have someone who needs us and you two are busy bickering? Save it for later, okay?" Y/N told them.

Richie and Wheeler frowned but nodded their heads. "Fine. We'll take the section that's on the far left of the map," Richie explained before he began to walk off. He glanced over his shoulder before yelling, "Come on, dipshit!"

Wheeler rolled his eyes and gave Y/N, Eleven, and Dustin an 'are you serious' look, but when none of them made a move to switch with him he pouted and hurried after the boy.

"So I guess they've got the far left section. Eleven and I will take the section with the quarry since she might be able to locate Mike when we get there," Y/N explained. "You guys split up the last two and then we'll meet back in our world, okay?"

The groups nodded and Y/N gave them all a small nod before saying, "Good luck." She then looked to Eleven and the two nodded at each other before beginning to walk off.

Y/N had taken no more than three steps before Bill was suddenly reaching out and grabbing onto her wrist. The girl turned around to see Bill looking at her worriedly. "B-B-Be careful, okay?" he whispered, his eyes flickering over her face as he stared at her in concern.

"I will," she assured him as she gave his hand a small squeeze.

"P-P-Promise?" Bill found himself whispering, almost afraid that he was going to actually lose her.

Y/N stepped up on her tip toes and kissed the boy’s cheek, Bill's face instantly turning red while Y/N smiled at him. "Promise," she whispered. "You be careful too, okay?"

Bill nodded and whispered, "Promise."

Y/N smiled softly at the boy before reluctantly pulling herself away. She glanced at the others boys where Eddie was currently smirking at her and said, "You guys be careful too. I don't know what I would do if any of you got hurt."

"We will. Now go," Steve told her as he smiled and waved her off.

The girl saluted him making the boys chuckle before Y/N ran after Eleven and the two disappeared into their section.

It was time to find Mike.

- - -

Eddie was silent as he walked through the Upside Down. He hugged himself and stared at the things around him in disgust, not wanting anything to touch him in fear that it might give him some disease or something.

Deciding he couldn't stare at everything or it would only freak him out, Eddie let his gaze fall on Dustin who was walking beside him. He hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Dustin since the boy had gotten here, but from what he remembered, Dustin was the reason Y/N's friends had all come here in the first place.

"So how long have you known Y/N?" Dustin asked, drawing Eddie out of his thoughts.

"Uh. . .two years now I guess. I met her at lunch on her first day of school after she moved," Eddie explained. Knowing that he probably had to keep the conversation going Eddie asked, "What about you?"

"Oh," Dustin chuckled a little at the memory before smiling and glancing at Eddie. "We met back in second grade. She was already friends with Lucas, so I knew who she was, but I didn't become friends with her until that year. There was this kid named Troy who liked to bully me because I have cleidocranial dysplasia and Y/N saw him making fun of me one day and called him in asshole before embarrassing him in front of the whole grade at recess. We became best friends after that."

Eddie chuckled and became a little less tense. "That sounds like Y/N alright. She once punched our school bully Henry Bowers in the face after he almost made me have an asthma attack. He threatened to beat the shit out of her for standing up for me, but she merely punched him square in the nose before grabbing my hand and running away. She ended up breaking her hand, but she said it was worth it because Henry had a broken nose and bruised face for the longest time," Eddie laughed.

Dustin let out a small laugh before shaking his head. "She gets herself into a lot of trouble doing things like that, but you got to love her," Dustin sighed, a distant look on his face.

Eddie let his eyes flicker over the boy's face before he frowned a little bit, the sudden realization of how much Dustin and his friends must miss having Y/N around hitting him hard. They had been best friends before she moved. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if Y/N left them now.

"You know, she talks about you guys a lot and how much she misses you," Eddie said. "She loves you all a hell of a lot."

Dustin smiled softly at that before looking up at the boy. "Same goes for you. She talks so highly of you guys and how thankful she is for getting to be in your group. We used to have conversations before she left about how afraid she was of not fitting in. So the rest of the Party and I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for her," Dustin told him.

Eddie stared at Dustin in surprise before letting a smile break across his face. "We're lucky to have her," Eddie answered truthfully.

A small silence fell among the two again, but this one was more of a comfortable silence than anything. It wasn't until they reached a small forest looking area that one of them spoke up again.

"Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew," Eddie muttered as he stepped over all the decay covered objects around him. It was to the point where the landscape around him was so destroyed and disgusting one couldn't even tell what the objects actually were and the smell was enough to make Eddie gag.

"It could be worse," Dustin pointed out making Eddie look at him confused.

"How could this place be any worse?" Eddie asked in disbelief.

"Well," Dustin began as he walked through the woods like it was nothing, "for starters, I've seen these plants where it will literally shoot out dust and some kind of like gross mist at people. I got that shit in my mouth once and it was disgusting let me tell you."

Eddie looked at the boy in horror, flashbacks of when It had changed into a leper and thrown up on him going through his head. The thought of one of those plant things doing what had happened to Dustin to him made him feel light heated.

"You haven't even seen the Mind Flayer," Dustin told him.

"Mind Flayer?" Eddie asked confused.

"Yeah, it's like the boss of the Upside down. It's gross and can like shoot parts of itself into people. It happened to El once and she had to literally rip the thing out of her leg with her powers. There was so much blood and. . .woah, are you okay?" Dustin asked as he looked to the pale Eddie.

"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Eddie said as he shakily reached into his fanny pack before taking a hit off his inhaler.

Dustin give the boy a skeptical look. "You sure?" he asked. Eddie nodded and Dustin sent him a small smile. "Good. Let's keep going."

Dustin then began to walk ahead and Eddie stood there for a minute before taking another hit off his inhaler and hurrying after the boy, silently wondering how things were going with the other groups right about now.

- - -

"Why did I have to get stuck with you?" Richie complained for what had to be the hundredth time since the pair had left the others. "You look like you wouldn't be able to tell a difference between a demogorgon and your own mom."

Wheeler glared at the boy, the fact that he was glaring at someone who looked exactly like himself still creeping him out. "You done yet? Cause you've been complaining ever since we left," Wheeler said.

"Your mom complains every time she leaves me, but you don't see me telling her to be quiet," Richie shot back.

Wheeler shook his head and looked away with a scoff. "How did you and Y/N even become friends?" Wheeler muttered, the tone in his voice making Richie freeze and look to the boy in pure hatred.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Richie asked, his teeth gritted together as he instantly became defensive.

Wheeler looked surprised that Richie had heard him, but didn't back down as he stopped walking and turned to look at the boy. "The person she describes versus the person standing before me are two totally different people," Wheeler explained.

Richie furrowed his eyebrows, his anger slightly starting to disappear and instead being replaced by confusion. "What do you mean the person she describes?" he asked.

"I know it's hard to believe, but Y/N actually thinks highly of you, Tozier," Wheeler said. "She won't shut up about the whole lot of you, but I remember some of the things she's said about you. How you probably care the most out of the group even if you won't show it or how you will spend days at the arcade with her just to make her smile. How you are one of the funniest people she has ever met and how you aren't afraid to get serious and help her out if she really needs it."

"Why would she say that about me?" Richie asked, cutting Wheeler off in his explanation because of how confused he was.

"You're one of her best friends, man. You helped her through a tough transition in her life when she had to move to Derry. Your jokes, if that's what you would like to call them, and the little arguments you all have helped get her mind off of all the hard things going on in her life. She was so damn excited for us to meet one day and even went on and on about how she thought you and I could be friends. But since we met I haven't seen the boy she's talked about and we sure as hell aren't even close to being friends."

Richie's face had gone blank, the confusion and anger completely gone. Instead his face seemed to morph into a look of guilt as he looked down at his shoes.

Y/N had really said all those things about him and he had been an asshole since the Party arrived just because he was a little insecure?

Wheeler stared at Richie for a moment before asking with crossed arms, "So what the hell have you done to deserve someone like her in your life?"

An ear ringing silence filled the air at that point and Wheeler stared at Richie expectantly for a moment. It was only when Richie didn't respond that Wheeler rolled his eyes and began to walk off again.

It took a minute before Richie was by his side again and that was when the boy found himself whispering almost sadly, "I don't know."

Wheeler glanced over at the boy, letting his eyes flicker over to the utter lost look on his face as if Richie honestly couldn't figure out why he had been lucky enough to have Y/N as once of his best friends.

There was only silence after that, the only sound being the crunching of leaves beneath their feet.

- - -

Bill gulped as he glanced at Steve who walked in front of him with his bat swinging gently from side to side. He watched as the older boy ran a hand through his hair before looking around. He glanced back at Bill and the boy was quick to look away, not wanting Steve to know that he had been staring at him.

Bill just couldn't comprehend why Steve had wanted to be paired up with him. He knew it couldn't be good by the way Steve had looked at him almost angrily when he had chose him, but Steve hadn't said a word since they left so Bill wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

"What do you want, Denbrough? Or are you going to keep staring at me and pretending like you aren't?" Steve called out, turning his eyes towards the boy for only a second before looking back in front of him.

Bill felt his cheeks warm up from having been caught before he asked, "W-W-Why did you want t-t-to be partners with m-m-me?"

"Cause we need to have a talk," Steve told him with a small shrug before going silent once again. Bill stared at the boy before giving him a look that asked if he was actually going to say anything.

Steve pretended not to notice him before he sighed and said, "Y/N's like my little sister, you know that?" Bill nodded in response and Steve mimicked him by nodding as well before saying, "Good, so you'll understand why I'm about to give you the while protective brother talk."

Bill blinked in surprised before looking at Steve with a shocked face. Protective brother talk? But why? Had Steve heard about the way he had treated Y/N the past day? He thought they had made up, so why was Steve wanting to give him a protective brother talk of it wasn't for that reason?

"Y/N's a great girl, but you already know that, right? She's so kind and caring and anyone would be lucky to have her. She's one of the best people I know and she's still just a kid," Steve said. "What I'm getting at is that Y/N is pretty special, okay? I know you know that just from the way you look at her like she's the only girl that matters. And Denbrough. . .you better not fuck up with her or you can bet that I'll be on your ass in a heartbeat."

"I wouldn't dare hurt her," Bill replied almost instantly, the shock about Steve giving him the protective brother talk because he thought the two were in a relationship still not having hit him yet. When it did, he looked down before whispering, "Plus there's no need to worry. She doesn't feel the same."

Steve blinked in surprise from how dumb Bill was before turning and putting a hand to Bill's chest. "Woah, woah, woah. Aren't you supposed to be somewhat smart or something?" Steve questioned. "You've got to be a complete dumbass to believe the shit that just came out of your mouth."

"You think Y/N doesn't like you?" Steve asked in disbelief. "Denbrough, I haven't seen her even so much as glance in someone's direction with half the love she looks at you with. You're crazy if you think she doesn't care about you."

Bill looked to Steve in surprise before asking, "B-B-But what if I m-m-mess up? W-W-What if she's doesn't l-l-like me after I t-t-tell her how I f-f-feel?"

Steve stared at the boy for a second and was reminded of himself back in high school when he was debating on telling Nancy Wheeler how he felt or back when he had liked Robin Buckley.

He let out a sigh before reaching out and placing a hand on Bill's shoulder. "Listen, Denbrough. You can't have that type of attitude or nothing is ever going to happen," Steve told him. "From what Y/N's told me, you're a pretty great kid. You won't mess it up and even if you did, I'm pretty sure Y/N would find it adorable anyways. All she's going to care about is the fact that the boy she cares about likes her back."

Bill was silent for a minute and Steve could practically see the cogs moving in the young boy's head as he came to terms with the fact that Y/N might actually like him back and that he should probably tell her how he felt as well.

Finally, Bill glanced up at Steve and sent a small smile on his direction. "Th-Th-Thanks, Steve," he whispered.

Steve shrugged as if it were no big deal before beginning to walk away. "Anytime, kiddo. And remember. Break her heart and I-"

"-break my face."

- - -

"I swear this place looks a lot nicer in our world," Y/N muttered as she stared at the Upside Down's version of the quarry in disbelief. Instead of the usual water she was used to seeing, she was met with liquid so black that it couldn't be anything good. And the smell that came with it? Absolutely nothing like the smell of fresh water, a summer breeze, and the trees that came with the actual quarry.

"I believe you," Eleven said as she grimaced at the sight before her. The two girls shuddered before backing away from the cliff, neither wanting to fall in accidentally.

"So where did you see Mike when you talked to him?" Y/N asked as she turned to her friend.

Eleven glanced around before looking down at the black liquid once again. "He was in a cave," she explained. "One down there perhaps?"

Y/N nodded as glanced over at the cliff one last time before looking to the rope she had attached to her belt. An idea instantly sprung into her head and within a matter of minutes she had tied the rope around her waist before giving the other end to Eleven.

"You hold this, okay? I need you to lower me down and then, when I get down there, I'll look for Mike and see if I can find him," Y/N told her.

Eleven nodded and the two girls went to the edge of the cliff before Y/N bent down on the ground and slowly began to crawl over the edge. It took a minute for her to find a groove for her foot, but she eventually did and climbing down from there wasn't too hard.

Y/N continued to climb down until she spotted a small opening a little to the right. She began crawling in that direction before she was finally able to land her feet in the ground. The young girl let out a small sigh of relief before flattening our her shirt and looking up.

The cave itself was dark on the inside so Y/N couldn’t quite see what was inside. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she gently gripped onto the rope in case she would have to tug lightly and have Eleven pull her up quickly.

"Mike?" Y/N called out, her voice just above a whisper in case whatever in the dark was not her friend.

There was a long moment of silence before she heard a small shuffling sound and then a, "Y/N?"

Out from the shadows stepped out a hesitant Mike and Y/N almost cried in relief at the sight of him. "Is that really you?" Mike whispered in disbelief, afraid that it might be Pennywise trying to trick him.

"No, it's me," she assured him, tears falling from her eyes as she smiled at her friend. "If I was It I don't think I would have a rope tied around my waist with one of my friends attached to the other end."

Mike gave her a confused look, but shook it off once he realized the girl standing in front of him was in fact one of his best friends. He didn't even hesitate before rushing forward, his arms wrapping around the girl as he let out a small laugh of relief.

Y/N stumbled back at the sudden force, but hugged Mike back just as tightly, the two both starting to cry at the fact that Mike was finally going to be safe.

"Holy shit," Y/N cried as he hugged the boy. "Don't you fucking do that to us again, you hear? Or next time I'll leave you in the Upside Down for good!"

Mike chuckled and pulled away before glancing out at the black 'water' in front of them. "I don't plan on it," he assured her. "Did you say the Upside Down? Like as in the place you've told us about before?"

"Yeah," Y/N sighed. "I thought we had closed the gate, but I guess we didn't. I don't know how you ended up here, but you must've gone through one of the portals that the demogorgons use."

"Demogorgons? Those alien looking creatures you've talked about? I only saw. . ." Mike trailed off as his face paled. "I only saw It."

"Yeah, I saw It too," Y/N told him. "But I think It is somehow connected to the Upside Down at the moment. Like connected so much to the point where they both seem to be working together."

"So it's like Pennywise meets the movie Aliens?" Mike asked, the girl nodding in response. "Well, that's just great."

Y/N chuckled before hugging the boy once again. "It's okay. We're going to get you out of here and then close the fucking gate, okay?" she said.

"That sounds great," Mike admitted as he let out a small laugh. "But who's we?"

"Well, all the Losers of course, but my friends from Hawkins all came down to help as well," Y/N explained.

"They did?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Yeah, in fact, one of them, her name is Eleven, is up above holding the other end of the rope," Y/N told him right as she felt a light tug on her waist coming from the rope. As if seeming to remember where they were, Y/N suddenly got back on task and said, "We should probably get going. We've been in the Upside Down for a while with no contact with It or the demogorgons, so I'm not quite sure how much longer we are going to have that luck for."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Mike said as the two walked to the edge of the cave. Y/N and Mike latched onto each other before Y/N lightly tugged on the rope. They were being pulled up only seconds later and Y/N was able to catch a glimpse of Eleven using her powers to pull them up before they were put onto the ground.

Eleven's face was suddenly hovering right above Y/N's and she gave the girl a concerned look. "You okay?" Eleven asked, worry on her face.

"I'm okay," Y/N assured her. "Great actually." The girl then sat up before gesturing towards Mike who was pushing himself up onto a sitting position. "This is Mike Hanlon. Mike, this is my friend Eleven Hopper."

Mike nodded over at Eleven in greeting. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming to save me," he breathed out.

Eleven just smiled in response, but her smile instantly disappeared as a howling sound filled the air.

"What was that?" Mike asked in a panic, his eyes searching frantically all around them.

"We need to go," Eleven said as she quickly helped Y/N to her feet. Y/N nodded in agreement and went to help Mike up, not noticing Eleven who had turned to see Will standing a little ways away from them with a blank look on his face.

"Will?" Eleven called out confused.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and turned, a gasp escaping her lips as she dropped Mike back on the ground and ran over to Eleven. "El, that's not Will," Y/N said as she grabbed her friend and began to pull her away from the creature who looked a lot like her friend.

"What-? But that's literally Will standing right in front of us?" Eleven said confused. "Unless you have a friend that looks like Will?"

"Not a friend," Y/N muttered.

"Not a friend?" 'Will' asked, tilting his head slightly as he smiled wickedly at the girl. "Oh, Y/N. That hurts my feelings."

Y/N pushed Eleven behind her and glared at the boy in front of her. "You're not Will. You're not my friend," she insisted.

The 'Will' took a step forward. "But we've been through so much together, Y/N. How would we not be friends? Would being best friends forever be better? Cause we could make it forever," 'Will' assured her.

"Get Mike," Y/N whispered as she shoved Eleven back towards her friend. Eleven nodded and went to go help the boy up while Y/N continued to stare at 'Will.'

"Sorry, buddy. I've got enough friends as it is," Y/N called out, taking another step back while 'Will' took a step forward.

"I'm sure you could use one more," 'Will' laughed. "We can all float! Wouldn't that be fun? We can all float! We can all float! We can all float!"

The 'Will' began to scream at them causing the three to stumble back slightly in surprise. But the part that really began to freak them out was when 'Will's' mouth opened up and cockroaches began to crawl out by the dozen. The cockroaches quickly covered the boy's entire body while 'Will' continued to yell, "We can all float!"

The howling sound was heard again only this time closer and 'Will' covered in cockroaches stopped screaming so that he could smile at the two. "Want to play a game?" he asked.

Y/N shook her head, but she had barely even started to before figures began to step out of the woods. "Shit, run!" Y/N yelled once she saw the demogorgons and demodogs that were filing in behind 'Will.'

Eleven and Mike didn't have to be told twice and before they could even register what was going on, the three friends were running away and back in the direction of the house, the demogorgons, demodogs, and 'Will' following after them.

They ran for what felt like hours and it wasn't until they were coming up on the edge of the woods that Y/N looked back to see that 'Will' has transformed back into Pennywise, the clown grinning at the girl and waving to her.

Eleven and Mike were ahead of the girl, so they pushed themselves through the last of the woods before catching sight of the Well House as well as Richie, Wheeler, Steve, Bill, Dustin, and Eddie who were all bolting towards the house with demogorgons on their tails.

"Hurry!" Mike yelled as he could hear the sound of the demodogs and demogorgons getting closer. He could even hear the sound of Pennywise laughing behind them which only made him pull Eleven along faster, the two running towards the door and running in behind the others.

The group was quick to run down to the basement and everyone began to shove each other through the portal until they had all fallen through and hit the floor. It was as soon as Eleven came flying through the portal as the last person that they all began to scream, "Close it! Close the gate!"

Everyone's panicked screams was all that could be heard as Eleven held up a hand and began to close the gate. An ear piercing scream escaped her lips as they all watched the gate close before them as if someone was stitching it together piece by piece.

It was when the final piece seemed to stitch tighter, officially sealing off the Upside Down from the real world that the group all felt back in relief, everyone collapsing to the ground.

Eddie was the first to notice Mike was there and he let out a chuckle before saying, "Mikey." Mike grinned back at the boy and the two embraced before the other Losers quickly went over to their friend as well, hugging the boy and jokingly threatening him to never do that shit again.

When Bill had finished hugging Mike, he smiled before turning to look at Y/N. However, he froze when he couldn't find her.

"Y/N?" he called out, the confusion in his voice making everyone freeze before they looked around as well.

Yet Y/N was no where to be seen.

Bill felt his heart start beating faster, a feeling of utter panic washing over him as he realized something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

"W-W-Where's Y/N?" Bill asked, his eyes flickering around the group in a panic before he stopped on Eleven who he knew had been partners with her.

Eleven paled as she looked around the group. "She was. . .she was. . ." Eleven couldn't even finish the sentence as a feeling of guilt and dread washed over her.

"She was right there with us," Mike elaborated, his voice just above a whisper.

"Did no one see if she got through?" Will asked, his eyes wide as he felt himself begin to panic. He knew what it was like to be trapped inside the Upside Down and if Y/N was trapped. . .

A hand slamming onto the portal was enough to answer the group's questions and they all turned to see two hands banging on the other side of the closed portal. "Guys!" Y/N yelled.

"Guys! No! Please!" Y/N cried out as she banged on the portal, panic settling in her bones.

"Y/N!" Bill yelled out as he ran to the sealed portal, his hands banging against the portal too before he began to try and claw at it with his fingers.

"Bill! Bill! Help me, Bill! Please!" Y/N cried, the sound of her sobs being enough to make his heart rate spike as he realized he had to do anything and everything to get the girl out of there.

"Y/N!" he cried out before he looked to Eleven in a panic. "G-G-Get her out of there! G-G-Get her out!" He probably looked like a freak yelling at Eleven like that with a red face and tears filling his eyes, but he didn't care. The girl he was pretty much in love with was trapped on the other side of the portal with It and the whole Upside Down.

Eleven held her hand up and tried her best to open the gate, but nothing seemed to be working. She screamed as she tried her hardest, but blood was spilling from her nose and before she knew it, she was falling backwards and Wheeler had to catch her. Eleven hadn't quiet passed out yet, but she was so weak she couldn't do anything else and the realization made her start crying.

Bill realized what was happening and picked up one of the axes they had been using as a weapon. He began to hack at the portal, but all the axe seemed to do was bounce off of the thing until it got to the point where Bill was hitting the portal so hard that the axe broke.

"They're coming!" Y/N suddenly cried out as she tried to claw her way out of the Upside Down, but it was no use. "They're coming! Guys! Please!" She was full on sobbing by now, her words coming out in hiccups due to how frightened she was.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Steve muttered as he ran forward and used his own weapon to try and get through the portal. The others, all except Eleven, were quick to join in as they all beat at the portal only for there not to even be a dent or scratch to be seen.

"Y/N! H-H-Hang in there! We're g-g-going to get you out!" Bill yelled back. "We're g-g-going to-"

His own yells got cut off when Y/N was suddenly ripped away from the portal, a blood curdling scream filling the air as she suddenly disappeared.

"Y/N!" everyone yelled, but her scream disappeared and she never returned back to the portal.

A silence filled the air after that and it was like each of them could feel the silence in their own body. Everyone was pale, their bodies shaking as they tried to fathom what us just happened.

Bill seemed to be the worst out of them all and he stumbled slightly pass everyone until he stopped by the wooden chair that had his jacket still lying there waiting for the girl. The boy stared at it with tears in his eyes before gently picking up the jacket and holding it close to his body.

A sob left his mouth and everyone's eyes turned to him, their own emotions finally breaking through at the sound of Bill's cries.

Bill fell to his knees, his hands clinging onto the jacket so tight that his knuckles were white. He was sobbing, his whole body shaking with each sob that one could just tell how much this situation hurt him. They could just tell how much Y/N meant to him.

It was in that moment, where Bill cried out for the girl he was desperately in love with and the girl who was best friends with every single person in that room. . .it was that moment that each of them slowly began to break down, Steve being the first one after Bill and going over and hugging the boy as he cried out for the girl who was his little sister. It was in that moment that they fully realized what had just happened.

Y/N L/N was stuck in the Upside Down and something or someone had gotten to her before they could.

* * *

Tag List

@witch-of-all-things-soft @nightbu-g @vickeystar @daniellajocelyn @alexthe80swhore @ren-ni @floralpiper @starshininginthedark @aimee-lucass @marvelismylifffe @dwcljh @sycard @connor---murphy @tinycolorwhispers @sarai-ibn-la-ahad @izzyisavengersupernaturaltrash @theamandarenee @amberkay284 @gryffingirl @dejewskoo @artlovingbre @jacinta-lexianne @gabiatthedisco @littlemaeve @newhopenessie @pheonix-nin @captn-sprkl-fngrs @flaredflowedrsuits @madelinelikesfics @mysteryartisticwriter @that-one-book-girl @spnsquirrel @galaxsea-707 @felicia-can-fly @whoops-im-gay-now @hollandcomics @lauren-theicecreamslinger @peterhollandd @princessserena23 @hollandstanleythomas @you-s-suckbowers @hitoshi-s-stupid-bitch @deviantly-gayy @pastel-rose-water @gothackedalready @fandoms-all-around-catiel @danas-wonderland @c00ln3rdz @lastjeon @fraeppuccino @80sthottie @hawkxyes @milk-n-cheese @mileven-reddie @kimseungminsgf @roboturtle16 @maxinemayficld

[gay-tanuki-aus]

 Soulmate AU

Setting: School

It is said that the first thing, whatever it may be, said to you by your soulmate, would be imprinted onto your inner forearm like a tattoo. So there may be instances where the first things said might be super vague, something like "hey" or "hi". Then there were also the super-specific ones like "I remember seeing you at the bar last night, you were gorgeous, but I didn't think to say hi- so it's funny how we're meeting here again at a supermarket in the grocery lane." Last but not least, there were ones where it was just plain confusing.

"'Hi, I was wondering what kind of program you used?' I mean, who even asks that the first time they meet?" Ally groans as she stares at her forearm. No matter how much she thought about it, it just seemed impossible. It was always said that your soulmate was who you'd spend the rest of your life with and that you'd be lucky if you ever met your soulmate in your teenage years. Not many meet their soulmate this early on, after all, the world is so big, to make sure the two people meet, would need many variables to align. This made Ally feel slightly better about not meeting her soulmate yet, even though that particular sentence still confused her. It led her to wonder what kind of circumstances she and her soulmate would meet in.

At this time, Donut was also wondering about her soulmate. 'CSP'. That's it. That's all that is written. What baffled her the most, however, wasn't the short 3 lettered word or acronym. It was the fact that she didn't know what CSP meant. It wasn't like she didn't try searching online either, but all she got was "content security policy". Content security policy?? In what world would the first thing your soulmate say to you be content security policy? Did that mean she would have to try and get a job in that? Or maybe she just had to ask her soulmate what the acronym for content security policy was. No, that'd just be plain stupid. Imagine going up to everyone and asking that. Donut laughs a little at the thought, but she can't help but wonder if that's really how she'd find her soulmate?

Thankfully for both, it didn't take long for them to meet. As fandom people, it was only normal to be producing and enjoying fanart and fanfictions. So that's exactly how, and when it happened. It was at lunch, Donut decided to go to the Steven Universe fan club. She always enjoyed walking through the club room looking at the fanart which usually lined the club room walls. As she scanned through them, a certain fanart caught her eye. Intrigued, she had tapped a nearby person to ask them who drew it, and they pointed her to a girl- Ally not far off, sitting at one of the tables scribbling away.

Walking up, Donut decides to start the conversation up different. "Hi, I was wondering what kind of program you used?"

"CSP." Ally answers without looking up. Neither had realized what just happened until a second later Ally looks up almost aggressively. This only confirmed Donut's thoughts as she let out a small gasp.

"You're my soulmate???" Donut asks almost unbelievingly.

"Ok, but why are you taller." Ally seemed conflicted. "No, I mean- un-ask me that- please!"

"WH- I can't just un-ask you something like that!" Donut almost laughs at the absurdity of the request, but also slightly disappointed at her reaction. Did that mean Ally wasn't her soulmate? Or maybe they weren't meant to be soulmates? It is often said that one would feel a spark when they met their soulmate, but none of what was supposed to happen was happening.

"Oh, right, sorry, that was rude." Ally apologizes almost embarrassed but seemingly deflated.

"Oh pfft, don't sweat it, it's good! You see, so many people can ask you the same thing- so it probably isn't even me, I mean there are so many people on earth- y'know?? I'm sure you'll find the right soulmate." Donut says starting to ramble in an attempt to cheer Ally up. "Plus, we can just be soul mates with a space in between. Yes. We will be great friends or mates in this case!"

And that's what they did. They became soul mates. Kind of like when one would say 'Oh, this is my girl friend, with a space in between the girl, and the friend.' They would talk for hours on end about their ocs, and that's when Donut realized something was wrong. Something very wrong indeed, she may or may not be catching some unwanted feelings for her soul mate. Which was wrong. So what does a normal person do when they figure out something is wrong? They deny it.

"Yeah, then there's that boundary between acquaintances and friends." Ally says thoughtfully. The two were currently sitting at lunch talking about different types of relationships.

"I have like- friendship tiers I list everyone in. As you said, there are acquaintances, then there are friends. For me, there are three levels of friends: 'just met', close friends, and best friends. Then there is the slightly different topic of girlfriends. For instance, Theo would be a close friend." Donut starts to list off a few more examples as Ally listens, "And you- y'know you're like a super great friend, but I wouldn't date you. I mean, it's not like we're actually soulmates." She adds shrugging a little.

"Yep." Ally nods and that was the conversation; their attention brought back to fangirling over their ocs. If Donut could give herself a rating on how she did, she'd say she did pretty good, except she didn't.

A few months pass and Donut realizes her feelings were back, or more accurately, never left. So she decided, if Ally was interested in someone already, she'd just be a good friend and her ultimate wingman, but if Ally wasn't, she'd ask her out or something. Or not, since she's an awkward gay.

"So do you have a crush on anyone right now-" Donut had started the conversation, she'd ask every now and then just out of curiosity, except this time, she was going to make a decision afterwards.

"Huh, I mean everyone has one right, so I guess." The two were sitting at lunch again, just talking and enjoying each other's company.

Donut took a bite of her sandwich before looking back at Ally, "Oh?? So you do have one?" Now she was curious about who caught her soul mate's eye. "Who is it?" She asked almost a little too curious.

Ally didn't think much of it, however, and just shook her head. "I'm not telling you."

"Whaaaat- why not??" Donut whines. She really wanted to know now, who the mysterious person was.

"Why do you want to know so badly??" Ally crosses her arms almost defensive, but more flustered.

"Because I'm curious!" Donut exclaims. "I mean, you'd be the same if I said 'Hey Ally, I have a crush too.'" Lunch was almost over by this time, but hopefully, she could figure out who it was before then. Maybe a little push would help.

"You do? Who is it?" It was Ally's turn to be curious. "Y'know you should totally just ask them out, if it were me, I'd just ask my crush out."

"Yeah right." Donut snorts. "Like YOU would actually go up to your crush and just ask them out. That's not something the Ally I know would do." Donut teases Ally nudging her playfully.

"Shut up!" Ally clicks her tongue. "You are underestimating this gay. I would definitely ask them out. Anyways, what's your crush like huh? Since it doesn't seem like you'd be telling me the name."

"You're right I won't," Donut says with a smug look. "And I ain't telling you none of that." She was wrong. They spent the rest of the lunchtime talking about what their crushes were like. Right before the bell rings, Donut decides to go for it. "Wait-"

"Yeah?" Ally asks turning around, she was getting ready to go to class, but she decided that could wait. "What is it?"

"Good- luck in class!" Donut says after hesitating. She was going to ask Ally out, but on second thought, she could wait until later, or just not do so at all. She's pretty good at procrastinating anyways.

"Really now, I saw you hesitate." Ally crosses her arms in front of her chest. School can wait, whatever Donut was going to say had to be way more interesting than spending an entire hour in class listening to the teacher drone on about a random subject.

"IT'S NOTHING OK, GO TO CLASS." Donut was extremely flustered by now, she didn't think Ally would think too much of it, and now it seemed like she would have to tell her what she was going to say. Ally laughs a little and that makes Donut blush even more. "D-don't laugh!"

"Well it's funny watching you struggle for words, it doesn't happen a lot." Ally snickers some more. "So what's up my soul mate?" She had an idea what this was about, but she didn't want to ruin the fun.

"You're enjoying this aren't you- Oh my god. YOU'RE SO MEAN. I'M REALLY STRUGGLING HERE. Alright. I'll tell you, but if you laugh I'm leaving." Donut grumbles as Ally nods and laughs again. "Well uh, I think you're really cute- and like full homo-"

"There you go. Congrats." Ally giggled. "But really, I wasn't expecting this."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we had that conversation?"

"Which conversation- we've had many." Donut frowns trying to remember what Ally could be talking about.

"You said and I quote, 'You're like a super great friend, but I wouldn't date.'"

"That was-" Donut stammers completely forgetting they had that conversation, she then lets out an audible groan attempting to cover her face. "And like-"

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna like- go out with me?"

"I don't know hmmm-" Ally pretends to think about it. "What should I do..."

"C'MON ALLY. It's a yes or no question- the ones you're good at?" She then repeats in a slightly mocking but joking tone. "'Hey Ally, cats or dogs?' 'Yes'"

"Wooooow, don't make fun of me." Ally shakes her head in mock disappointment. "So rude. And I can't believe you don't want to be soul mates with a space anymore, I'm hurt."

Donut rolls her eyes a smile tugging at her lips. "So...?"

"Well- I have to go to class right now, so I'll let you know after school ok?? I'll definitely think hard on it." Ally winks as she turns to head to her class. Donut nods and gathers her stuff as well, there wasn't much time left to get to class before she was considered tardy. But that was hardly her concern at the moment. This whole thing had gone way better than Donut thought, and she was glad that Ally didn't flat out reject her which would've been quite devastating. On second thought, she also couldn't help but think maybe they really were soulmates.

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Because I can't write that much in one sitting plus I haven't spell checked anything so-)

[bowieemeddow]

TRINITY. (Queen Fanfiction)

Part 2 // PJ’s.

Summary: Margaret McCullugh comes to the realisation that her life is a total mess. After an argument she realises she’s had enough; she grabs her bags and runs away.

If you missed part 1 click here

Sunday // May 1970

I've been driving for hours now.

I don't know the time.

I don't even know where the fuck I am?!

I don't know where I'm going but I like that, I can go anywhere, anything can happen that can lead me into any direction, any place in the world.

While thinking this in my head I think god got the wrong idea about "anything happening" and deciding that a deer should show up out of no where leading me to crash into a fucking tree.

___

A shooting pain ran up my neck as I saw stars all over the place as I opened my eyes. I tried to move my leg but I groaned in pain, I must've broke it or something.

Glass was stuck in my hair and had left cuts down my arm and in my cheek, I didn't want to touch it incase it went too deep but my arm was covered in little drops of blood.

I clicked my seatbelt off and got out the car limping my way to the back of the car.

The back of the car was a little flame slowly but surely getting bigger, I smelled gas from the from of the car.

"SHIT!" I shouted as I quickly got my suitcase out the car and dragged it away from the car. Groaning every time I put weight on my foot.

I wasn't able to get far enough away from the car when it exploded.

The blow making me fall onto the ground, I luckily fell onto my back with my suitcase covering my face so no flying bits of glass could hit my face or upper body.

Thank god I'm in the middle of nowhere or else I'd be in deep trouble.

I just stayed there for several minutes, on the cold ground; I didn't know if I had energy to get myself up. But one good thing out of it; the rain put the car fire out.

I took it slowly, I firstly moved my suitcase from my face and onto the ground next to me. I then sat up and looked at my mum's cat burning away.

Just as I thought things couldn't get worse; it starts to rain, and I mean rain like I've never seen before.

I crawled over to where a newspaper was sitting; sure it was soaking wet but maybe it would give me a hint of where the fuck I am. I bent down to pick up the news paper which was in the middle of this random isolated street.

It was a London Newspaper. I'm in London.

Fuck fuck I'm in London. I'm in the middle of nowhere, in London, in the pouring rain.

Eventually, I decided enough was enough and that I had to get some shelter before I died of pneumonia or some shit.

It took another good hour and half of walking, before I found shelter.

A small bar in the city of Kensington called PJ's.

By the time I made it near the entrance of the bar I was close to complete exhaustion, I was sore from all the cuts and the rain water wasn't helping, my foot was in complete agony. I couldn't walk another step without collapsing.

_____________

Roger P.O.V

"Freddie that was amazing!" Mary cheered as she made her way over to Freddie.

"Well thank you darling." Freddie smiled gathering her up in a tight hug and kissing her.

"Well done love." heard Veronica say quietly to John as she sat down at the opened back of the van next to him.

"I still feel like we're missing something though?" Freddie added; nothing was ever good enough for Fred.

"I think I'm missing something too." I mumbled as I watched a hot girl walk by.

"Hey?" She stopped and looked at me with blushed cheeks, I winked at her before she walked away giggling to herself.

"Get your head out the gutter eh?" Brian suggested nudging my shoulder with his.

I wasn't listening to their conversation after that but instead lit a cigarette while watching a lady appear from the darkness completely soaking form the rain. She  limped along towards the building before throwing her suitcase down almost falling in top of it.

She was mostly in shadow so I couldn't see her properly; but from her cut legs I could tell she was in need of some help.

"What the bloody hell are you looking at now darling?" Freddie asked.

"The girl." Mary said as she looked in the direction I was.

"is it just me or does she look injured?"

"Oh shit she does?" Freddie gasped.

I put down my beer and walked over to her.

Margaret P.O.V

"I will not cry. I refuse to cry. Don't be such a weakling Margaret." I kept saying in my head to myself so maybe my watery eyes would calm down before I caused even more of a scene than what I've already done.

At least I looked calm keeping a straight face looking ahead. Maybe if I was by myself then I'd have a breakdown but we are near people so I keep quiet.

My head was splitting and my neck felt locked, glass started falling from my hair as I scratched my head.

"Hello?" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see 4 boys and 2 girls looking down at me.

I probably looked a mess. My mascara has likely ran down my cheeks due to a mix of rain and tears. I look like I went for a swim due to how bad the rain was; it's stopped now luckily enough.

"Honey what happened?" One of the girls said as she kneeled down next to me.

She was quite tall yet petite looking with a soft smile and a soft reassuring voice.

I clung onto her wrist just to make sure she was  real; that this was all real and I wasn't dreaming back a couple miles in my mothers car.

Realising that this was all real was enough for me to burst out in a mix of anger, frustration and fear.

"M-my car crashed into a tree. A-a deer c-came out of nowhere. I don't know where i am. I don't know anyone in Kensington."i could barely speak due to my shakiness from the shock of crashing into a tree and the fact that it's fucking freezing and I'm soaking wet.

"Hey, hey calm down love." Another boy said; another soft and reassuring voice.

He kneeled down beside me and put his hand on my knee; something Greg would do under the dining table.

"No don't do that!" I snapped at him trying to pull my skirt down as low as I could.

"Darling I know what it's like arriving to a scary place without knowing anyone. But you can trust us because we won't hurt you we want to help you and take you somewhere safe." Another man said as he came down and sat in front of me with a respectable distance between me and him. None of our limbs were touching. This boy looked different from the rest, had weird looking teeth and a weird fashion sense; like flamboyant.

I like it.

I was too caught up in admiring the boys jewellery that I never noticed that one of the boys must've ran to his van to grab a fur coat.

"Can I put this around you?” The boy asked, this boy had brown hair but lighter than any of the rest of them, he had some sort of attitude to him like he was stuck up his own arse.

"I'm Freddie Darling. This is Mary, my love. And these 3 boys are John, Brian and Roger. This is Veronica who's Johns girlfriend. Now that we're not strangers how about we go into the bar into the heat and try to warm you up huh?"

____________

We've been in the bar for about an hour now. No one here but us; the bartender wasn't even there surely it should be closed by now.

"Roger I don't need crutches. It's just a little bump I'll be fine if I keep walking on it." I argued  as I hopped back to the booth everyone was currently sitting at.

Except John, Mary and Veronica; they were away finding crutches for me; Mary said she saw a pair in storage at the back of the Pub.

"You May have broke your foot Margaret. We might need to take a trip to the hospital-"

"No! No hospitals I don't do hospitals." I snapped cutting off Brian's suggestions.

"Right okay. I'm just gonna drop the subject because I have a slight feeling that you will take a swing for me if I mutter the word hospital again." Brian's sitting back down with his hands raised slightly in defeat.

"I think that's a good idea Brian." I said back as I finally gave up and crawled back down on the floor to sit.

What the fuck am I doing? I've fucked everything up like usual; jumping into situations before looking at the whole picture.

I have to get my mums toasted car to Fisk before anyone finds it and contacts her. That's the first thing to do.

"Right I've got them." John said as he came back into the main hall holding a pair of crutches. Veronica and Mary following closely behind following closely behind.

"Can you help me up?" I asked Mary and Veronica took each hand and pulled me up.

"I do not need crutches John I am completely fine." I smiled with my head held high, both my feet on the ground.

"Margaret take the bloody crutches for god sake!" Roger complained as he snatched the crutches from John and held them out to me.

"Make me." I sassed back.

"For fuck sake you'll make your foot worse. Then we'll have no choice but to take you to the hospital."

"Please stop acting like my carer. I only met you an hour ago." I snapped as started to attempt to walk on my foot.

It hurt like an absolute bitch but I'm too arrogant to admit it; to admit he's right.

"Right now we are since we found you so I suggest you quit with this arrogance and just listen to me. Marg- MARGARET STOP FUCKING WALKING ON YOUR FOOT AND TAKE THE FUCKING CRUTCHES." Roger shouted over at me as I slowly but surely made my way around the hall. I ignored him and continued walking.

"Then since I'm so arrogant I guess I'll just leave then huh."

"Darling you go outside we'll carry you back in and tie you to a chair." Freddie Warner as he saw me limping towards the long corridor that lead to the main door.

"Ha, I like the sound of that!" I laughed, the long stretch of corridor made my voice echo around the empty bar.

The walls of the corridor was completely covered with thousands of band posters that date all the way back to 1955.

I stop and admire the biggest poster out of the lot.

"SMILE."

"Smile?" I breathe to myself; why does that ring a bell?

My thoughts left my head the minute I felt myself get lifted up and thrown over someone's shoulder.

I got the fright of my life until i caught a whiff of tobacco and cheap perfume; it's Roger.

"Roger! Put me down I swear to god I'll start kicking and screaming!" I warned as I found myself back in the main hall again.

"He won't let you down until you promise to listen to us. You are using they crutches even if I have to sew your bloody hands onto them dear." Freddie warned. He came over to me  with a big grin on his face, he was amused by all this.

"But I have to find somewhere to stay-"

"You're staying with us dear."

"But I have to get rid of the car before someone finds it. I'll get skinned alive if my parents find out where I am." I complained.

"We'll get rid of it in the morning. I know I guy who can do it cheap." Roger said. I felt my anger levels raise from a concerning 70% to 100% as I felt Rogers head move slightly; his breath ticking the back of my thigh.

That's when I realised what I was wearing; I skirt, a short skirt.

"I swear to GOD ROGER IF YOUR LOOKING UP MY SKIRT IM GONNA FUCKING KICK YOUR ARSE." I shouted kicking him hard in the chest frantically.

"Hm you're a feisty one." Roger chuckled to mask his groans of paints I continued to kick.

Roger let me down from his shoulder and stood back up with a smirk on his face.

"It's taking all my strength not to rip Your balls sack off." I said surprisingly calmly.

"What's stopping your sweetheart-"

"Right enough you two! Please Margaret just take them please." Veronica pleaded as she passed both the crutches over. To which I rolled my eyes and placed them under neath my armpit.

I made my way over to my suitcase that was currently lying on the stage on top of a raggedy old discoloured towel. Luckily my suitcase ( or more my mums stolen suitcase) is waterproof so everything inside should be completely dry; although it's probably not nice and folded the way I done it when I was packing since a little over an hour ago I was lying on top of it taking a mental breakdown.

I opened it up and grabbed my camera from its case and put its strap around neck before slowly but surely making my way back to the entrance.

"Where are you going?" John asked as he caught up to me almost instantly; damn him and his long legs.

"I wanna look at the posters near the entrance. I'm not gonna run away I swear!" I snapped at him; this was all too claustrophobic I couldn't move an inch without people asking if I was okay or asking where I was going.

"I was just going to ask if you if you wanted to take my bed tonight, you need your sleep since you've been through a lot today and you're gone going to get it on the couch. I'm gonna stay at Veronica's." He said sweetly, it made my eyes water slightly; a lovely boy just gave up his bed to make sure i get a good nights sleep and I just nearly snapped his head off.

I stayed silent deciding I've done enough bitching and simply nodded my head.

"Come with me." I pleaded to him grabbing onto his arm before he had the chance to walk away from me.

He stayed silent too and nodded.

Stayed behind me making sure I didn't fall as I made my way back to the long stretch of corridor. I wasn't great on these things.

"So are you a photographer?" Johns asked as he watched me looking around intently for a good cluster of posters to take a picture of.

"Not professionally no."

"Are you a murderer that's going to kill my friends tonight as they sleep?" He asked surprisingly calmly.

"Because if you are. Take Rog first cause he can be a right bastard sometime." I burst out laughing at his comment; sometime I've not done for quite a while to be honest.

Just simply laugh without the worry of being sarcastic, without it being fake. Just a genuine, carefree laugh; it felt good.

"See I got you to smile." He said pointing at me.

"Right right you got me there. I'm not a Killer John. Just a runaway."

"What exactly are you running away from Margaret?"

"You'll find out soon."

[cocastyle]

The In-Between Chapter 6

Stranger Things x It Crossover

with some Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 7,455

Warning - cursing (if people don’t like that kind of stuff)

A/N- so I kind of got carried away with this chapter and wrote over 7000 words lol, but I couldn’t really split this chapter up considering what’s about to come in the next chapter so I just left it as is (the next chapter is going to have so many interactions with the two groups you won’t be ready!) I really hope you all like this chapter because I worked hard on it and am actually really proud of the way it turned out! leave a comment with your thoughts on the chapter and with any predictions that you have for the future🤩

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

T H E I N - B E T W E E N

Intro The Losers’ Club The Party Prolouge 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epilogue

"Wh-Wh-What is she doing?" Bill whispered as he gently nudged Y/N's side.

The girl stared ahead at Eleven who was busy putting a radio on a station that only had static playing before she glanced at Bill. She sent him a small smile that had him blushing and smiling back. "You'll see," she whispered.

Y/N let out a small gasp as she remembered something and quickly disappeared up the stairs and into her house before returning a few seconds later with a cloth in her hand. She walked over and handed it to Eleven who gave her a small smile before beginning to fold it and wrap it around her eyes like a blindfold.

"A blindfold?" Richie asked. He then smirked before winking in Eleven's direction. "Kinky. Now all we need is some handcuffs and-"

"Beep beep Richie!" the Losers Club cried out while the Party all looked at Richie in disgust.

Y/N shook her head at the boy before looking to the Party with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about him. He hadn't quite matured yet if you can't tell."

"Hey!" Richie complained.

"Oh hush," Y/N told him making the boy pout. She chuckled and ruffled his hair much to his annoyance before she turned her attention back to Eleven who was finished setting up.

"Remember, you have to be quiet," Y/N reminded the Losers, making a point to stare at Richie longer than the others. They all nodded before looking to Eleven who was now sitting on the ground, the radio static playing behind her.

The room was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop. The prospect of Eleven doing something that could help them with their mission to find Mine being enough to make even Richie keep his mouth shut.

It took a minute, but Eleven suddenly let out a small gasp before whispering, "Mike."

Y/N noticed Wheeler frown a little at that seeing as she was talking about a different Mike instead of him. It was unusual that was for sure and Y/N had thought it was weird knowing two Mikes as well when she first moved to Derry. But since she had called him Wheeler since they were kids, calling Mike Hanlon by his first name hadn't been too weird for her.

"I. . .I see him," Eleven whispered out making the Losers all furrow their eyebrows and look to Y/N confused. She just gave them a look and gestured towards Eleven in response and they all looked back to the girl who had some blood starting to peak out from her nose.

"He. . .He's hiding by some water," Eleven said.

"The quarry," Y/N muttered as she looked to the others. Their eyes widened slightly and they watched as Y/N walked over and bent down in front of her friend.

Y/N reached out and gently took ahold of Eleven's hand, the girl instantly latching onto hers in return. "Tell Mike that we're coming for him," Y/N whispered, tears springing in her eyes. "Tell him he's going to be okay."

"Your friends. . .they're coming for you. Hang in there, Mike. You're going to be okay," Eleven muttered, although Y/N knew she was talking to Mike Hanlon.

"Hurry," a voice suddenly came from the radio causing the Losers and Y/N to jump in surprise at the sound of their friend's voice. "Please hurry."

Eleven's face then scrunched up in pain and she let out a loud gasp before ripping the blindfold from her face. Her eyes frantically looked around before locking with Y/N's. "He's okay," she assured him. Y/N wiped away her tears and gave Eleven a small smile before hugging her friend in thanks.

"What the fuck was that?”

The two girls pulled away from each other to see the Losers looking more confused then ever. "What the fuck just happened?" Richie questioned, his eyes wide. "What did she do and how the hell does she know that Mike is okay?"

Y/N took in a deep breath before standing up and slowly approaching her friends. "Guys, so Eleven kind of has these powers. She was able to mentally connect with Mike and get a picture of where he was and give him a message," Y/N explained.

"I'm sorry. What?" Stan asked confused.

"Powers like superpowers?" Ben questioned.

"I guess," Y/N replied. "I know it's hard to understand but-"

"Hard to understand? It's crazy! You know what, I'm calling bullshit," Richie announced.

"But Mike's voice-" Y/N began.

"We don't even know if that was his voice because all I could hear was a bunch of fucking static! How am I supposed to believe you when the only thing that I saw happen was that girl get a fucking nosebleed and bleed all over your basement?" Richie asked.

Wheeler narrowed his eyes at the boy and went over to his girlfriend who he helped off the ground while Eleven wiped the blood from her nose. He was about to say something when he saw Y/N raise an eyebrow at the boy and cross her arms.

"You want proof? Evidence?" Y/N questioned, not a look of hesitation on her face. Richie was silent before nodding his head. "Okay, asshole. Here's your fucking proof."

She then walked over to one of the closet doors of the basement before opening it and walking back over to the group. Richie was about to question her when the door slammed shut making him and the other Losers all jump in surprise.

The door then began to open and slam shut repeatedly and Richie was hesitant before he turned to look at Eleven who had one hand up in the air. The door slammed shut for a final time and Eleven lowered her hand before wiping the small bit of blood below her nose away.

"Holy shit! She's an X-Men!" Eddie exclaimed in disbelief making Dustin chuckle since he had thought the same thing when he first met Eleven.

Y/N smirked and looked to Richie while the other Losers and the Party watched the girl in amusement. "That enough proof for you?" she asked.

Richie made a face in response and Y/N chuckled before looking between the groups and clapping her hands together. "Now. . .we may know that Mike is okay right now, but that doesn't mean he will be forever. We need to start making plans and preparing because first thing after school tomorrow, we are going to the Well House to save Mike and kill those other motherfuckers before it's too late. Everyone okay with that?" Y/N announced.

The Parry and the Losers' Club all nodded in agreement and Y/N smirked.

"Great. Let's get to work."

- - -

Bill bit his lip in concentration as he used a ruler to draw lines through the map of Derry. His job, and the job of all the Losers, was to split a map of Derry up into four different sectors. When they left to go find Mike tomorrow, half of the whole group would be staying behind while the other half broke off into pairs and searched the specific sections of the Upside Down's version of Derry.

Since the Upside Down was pretty much a replica of the real world, Y/N had thought it would be a good idea to use a map of Derry to break up the sections. Because the Losers knew Derry the best, they had offered to split the map up while the Party got weapons ready seeing as they knew what would work best against a demogorgon if it were to attack.

Y/N had started out with the Losers at first, but it hadn't taken long for her to migrate over to the Party whom she had been spending the last hour with. The Losers hadn't thought much of it at first, but they couldn't help but notice the way she seemed to totally forget about them as she laughed and joked around with the Party, a smile on her face that looked nothing like the usual smile they got to see.

Bill had to force himself not to look up, reminding himself that Y/N was just excited to see her friends again. That's why Bill had put all his effort into the maps he was making, Beverly being the only other person to help him while Stan, Ben, Eddie, and Richie all watched Y/N and the Party with frowns on their faces and jealously coursing through their blood.

Glares were on the four boys faces and they only narrowed their eyes more at the sight of Y/N with her arms linked with Will as she talked to Steve and Lucas. "She forgot about us," Stan whispered softly, sadness laced in his voice despite his angered appearance.

"I can't believe it," Ben muttered, feeling awful at the idea that the Party made Y/N happier than they did. Him and the others could tell by the look of pure joy on her face just how much happier she was around the Party and that only fueled their jealousy more.

"Well believe it, Benny. We're yesterday's news," Richie frowned, glaring slightly as a bitter taste filled his mouth.

"Look how happy they make her. I don't think I've ever made her laugh that hard," Eddie muttered sadly as he too came to the realization that Y/N was happier around the Party than she was around them.

"It's cause you're not funny, Eds," Richie shot back. "No wonder Y/N left us. We're a bunch of losers literally."

"Sh-Sh-Shut up," Bill called out, tired of their behavior and tones.

Richie whirled around so fast that he whacked Eddie who let out a cry of protest. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he said as he looked at Bill in disbelief. When Bill didn't look up, Richie stomped over to his friend. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Are you really so blind that you don't see your girl over there with her arms fucking linked with another boy? He's stealing her right in front of your eyes, dumbass. How are you not the slightest bit mad or jealous?" Richie asked. "Cause me being Y/N's friend and seeing her talking to them and not us is making me mad and I'm not the one that had a crush on her."

Bill frowned at that and looked up, but he froze at the sight of Y/N  laughing at something Dustin had told her as she leaned into Will and wiped at her tears. Her arm was linked with Will's like Richie had said and she was resting her head on his shoulder as she looked up at Dustin with a huge grin on her face.

Bill's heart broke at the sight.

Bill cleared his throat and quickly looked away, blinking fast to keep the tears from coming. "Sh-Sh-She's not my g-g-girl. She can d-d-do whatever the h-h-hell she w-w-wants," he muttered.

Richie felt a wave of guilt wash over him once he realized how upset he had just made his friend, but Y/N's laughter had him turning back to look at her, a new wave of anger washing over him at the fact that she was now hurting Bill without even knowing it.

"How can someone be that funny? I mean, there's no way!" Richie exclaimed.

"Aren't they supposed to be gathering weapons anyways? Not joking around?" Stan asked.

"They did gather weapons," Ben pointed out as he gestured towards the few crowbars, bats, and other weapons they had gathered. "They even got flashlights and rope."

"Still, how are they so funny? Especially that Wheeler kid. She must be laughing at how funny looking he is," Richie concluded making the others raise their eyebrows at him.

Beverly rolled her eyes at Richie before glancing at Bill who was busy glaring at Will and Dustin. Beverly scoffed and stood up causing the Losers to all snap their attention over to her.

"Are you all being serious right now?" Beverly asked while the boys all gave her confused looks, not understanding what she was getting at. "You know that Y/N cares about each of you more than life itself, but you also need to understand that she can care about other people just as much. They were her first friends, guys. That group went through so much shit together just like we have and they haven't seen each other in two whole years!"

The boys didn't respond and Beverly just gave them an angry look as she narrowed her eyes. "I swear to God if Y/N hears one word from your jealous asses I will kill you. Now stop being self conscious pussies and be happy for your friend," she spat before she stormed away from the group and over to the Party.

They watched as Y/N's eyes lit up at the sight of Beverly before she grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her over to Max and Eleven, the four girls instantly falling into conversation. The boys all felt a wave of guilt wash over them, but none of them felt like going over and trying to talk to Y/N or the rest of the members of the Party.

It took only a minute before Richie, Eddie, Stan and Ben returned to their complaining as they watched their friend, but Bill took the longest to return back to what he had been doing before. His eyes were still on Y/N and his heart ached as he watched her.

He knew there was some truth to Beverly's words, but it was hard to believe everything she said after he had seen how happy Y/N was. How come he couldn't make her laugh like that? Or smile like that?

He would do anything to be in the receiving end of that smile. Hell, he would probably swoon at the sight.

Did she not like him the way he thought she had? For a moment he had thought she maybe returned his feelings, but now he wasn't so sure. If she had then he would be able to make her that happy, right?

Bill let out a small sigh and took in a deep breath before going back to the maps, trying everything in his power not to let his feelings get to him so much. But even he couldn't stop the one traitor tear from falling down his face as he realized he would never be able to make Y/N as happy as he had hoped.

If only he knew how he looked in Y/N's eyes. Then maybe he wouldn't have doubted himself and maybe he wouldn't have ended up hurting her later that night.

- - -

"Y/N!" Eleven cried out as she jumped onto the girl from behind, a laugh escaping her lips as she wrapped her arms around her giggling friend who had been busy sorting through the weapons with Steve and Wheeler.

"El!" Y/N mockingly yelled back as she looked over her shoulder at her friend.

Eleven chuckled and got off of her before glancing over at Steve and Wheeler. "I'm going to steal her for a few minutes," she said. She didn't bother waiting for a response from the boys before she was dragging Y/N away and over to where Beverly and Max were sitting.

"No, yeah I love your hair! I always wanted to try and cut mine short, but I'm afraid it will turn out bad," Max said as she looked at Beverly's haircut. "Who cut your hair because it looks so good!"

"I did actually," Beverly told her.

"No way!" Max gasped. "It looks so good, Beverly!"

"Thanks," Beverly said before she happened to notice Eleven and Y/N walking up to them. "Oh, hey Y/N!"

"Hey," Y/N greeted as Max also turned to look at her friends. Max's eyes lit up at the sight of the girl and she was quick to stand up before her and Eleven practically shoved Y/N into the place Max had just been sitting.

"Woah, okay," Y/N muttered as she adjusted herself so that she was more comfortable. When she looked back up, Eleven and Max were looking at her expectantly while Beverly gave her an apologetic smile.

"What?" Y/N asked, her eyes narrowing in curiosity as she wondered what her friends were up to.

"So we've been talking to Beverly," Max began. "She was telling us some funny stories about you when we heard some interesting stuff and-"

"Tell us about you and Bill!" Eleven interrupted, her eyes shining with excitement as she clasped her hands together and tucked them under her chin.

Y/N's eyes widened. "Me and Bill? Wh-What about me and Bill?" she asked. "We're just friends."

Max and Eleven both gave each other a look before raising their eyebrows at their friend. "Come on. We can tell by the way you look at him that you like him. Just admit it," Max prompted.

"What?" Y/N asked, her voice high and her face a dark shade of red. "Me like Bill?"

"Friends don't lie. You like him, Y/N. Admit it," Eleven insisted.

Y/N blushed even more before burying her face into her hands. "Okay, I like him," she whispered, not looking up to watch as her friends let out squeals and began to whack each other.

"We knew it!" Max exclaimed. "Beverly already told us, but like, we knew it!"

Y/N lifted her head to glance over at Beverly who smiled sheepishly. "They did already know it," Beverly said.

"So it's that obvious?" Y/N asked with wide eyes filled with horror at the thought of Bill knowing that she liked him.

"To everyone but you two," Eleven said.

"Yeah, Bill's kind of oblivious," Beverly agreed. "I don't think he knows."

Y/N let out a small sigh of relief causing Max to raise an eyebrow. "Would it be so bad if he did?" the red head asked.

"I mean, I guess not," Y/N whispered as she looked down. She would love to be able to tell Bill how she felt, to let him know just how much he meant to her even if he didn't feel the same way.

"But," Beverly said, already knowing that wasn't all the girl had to say.

"What if it ruins our friendship? What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Y/N asked.

The three girls' mouths dropped open at the same time before they all laughed. "First of all, he does feel the same way. It's obvious just by the way he looks at you like you're an angel walking on this earth," Max said.

"Secondly, it won't ruin your friendship," Eleven told her.

"What they said. I'm pretty sure that even if you and Bill went south that you two would still be friends. You two have been close ever since you moved here, Y/N. He wouldn't be the type of person to push you away like that. Besides, I wouldn't let him and I'm sure El and Max wouldn't either," Beverly said.

"Yeah, we'd beat his ass," Max agreed while Eleven nodded her head in agreement.

Y/N chuckled and smiled softly at her friends. "Thanks. I love you all so much," she said causing Eleven, Max, and Beverly to smile before they pulled the girl in for a group hug.

When they pulled away, they thankfully let the topic of Bill drop. Max and Eleven began talking to Beverly about her hair again and about her relationship with Ben while Y/N slowly zoned out.

She let her eyes flicker over to Bill who was across the room still working on the maps and trying to fold them. As if sensing her gaze, his eyes flickered up and locked with hers. Y/N sent a small smile in his direction, but to her surprise he didn't even smile before he just looked down at the maps again.

Y/N blinked in surprise before quickly looking away with a sad look on her face, not noticing the way that Bill looked back up at her sadly after.

- - -

It was around eleven o'clock that night before Y/N heard Ben call out, "We'll see you in the morning, Y/N!"

The girl quieted down her laughter and looked away from Lucas and Wheeler and over to where Beverly and Ben were standing by the stairs. Y/N was quick to get up and she smiled as she made her way across the room to hug both Ben and Beverly.

At the sight of her smile and the fact that she had left her other friends just to hug him goodbye, Ben suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he realized how wrong he had been earlier for judging the girl and for complaining about her hanging out with her other friends.

"Night, guys. I'll see you in the morning," Y/N said before pulling away to look for the others. Her smile slowly disappeared once she realized that Richie, Eddie, Stan, and Bill were all gone.

"Where. . .where did the others go?" Y/N questioned as she looked to Ben and Beverly confused.

Ben looked down at his shoes before saying, "They all left a little bit ago. Bill went first and then Richie, Eddie, and Stan followed not too long after."

"Why?" Y/N asked, trying not to sound upset. "They didn't even start goodbye."

Ben didn't respond and Y/N frowned before saying, "Uh. . .I guess I'll see you guys in the morning, yeah?"

Beverly and Ben nodded with small smiles before turning to go up the stairs. "Bye, Y/N," the two called out before disappearing into the night.

Y/N kind of stood there for a moment after the door closed behind them, her thoughts racing as she tried to think of a reason for her friends' sudden departure. Had she done something wrong? Were they okay?

Hands on her shoulders made her jump slightly, but she instantly relaxed when she looked over her shoulder to see Steve standing right behind her. He titled his head slightly and gave her one of his warm smiles before asking with a hint of worry on his voice, "You okay, squirt?"

Y/N turned completely to face him before smiling softly and hugging the boy. She dug her face into his side and he wrapped his arms around her with no questions asked. Y/N was silent as she breathed in his scent, a small feeling of familiarity and her childhood washing over her.

"I'm doing good," she whispered, her heart warm due to the fact that her two friend groups had finally met and she had them both by her side. "I'll be better when Mike's home though. He's so sweet and kind. We like to go out to his farm sometimes and I'll help him with the animals. You're going to love him."

"As long as he's not like Trashmouth, I'm sure I will," Steve laughed making Y/N chuckle softly as she pulled away to look at the boy.

"Oh, Richie's not that bad. He can take things far and curse most of the time, but he's got a kind heart and he is probably one of the best people you'll meet once you really get to know him," Y/N said, a smile on her face as she talked about her friend.

"They all are in fact. I mean, you've got Stan who is easy to relate with. When he knows I'm having a bad day, he always takes me bird watching and doesn't pester me with what's wrong, only stays by my side so I'm not alone. Then there's Ben who is the sweetest little human being you'll ever meet. He's the boy that will go to the library all the time with me just to research random things."

"We've got Eddie who is practically the mother of the group sometimes. He cares about my health more than I do and is always making sure that I'm okay. There's a little hammock in one of the group's hang out spots and he'll always sit with me and we'll read comics together. Then you've got Beverly who's a total badass. I tell her practically everything and I swear she knows more about me than I do. Every Saturday morning, we take a break from the boys and will go out to breakfast and catch up."

"Finally, you've got Bill. He's the one that I'm closest to out of all of them. He was my first real friend and helped me a lot on my first day of school," Y/N said. She looked down and smiled fondly as she whispered, "I'll never be able to pay him back for what he's done for me." She was quiet for a second before looking up at Steve and saying, "He means a lot to me. They all do really."

Steve smiled softly at the girl as she rambled in about her friends, a warm feeling of relief washing over him as he realized that Y/N has been fine and loved over the past two years.

"You really care about those friends of yours, huh?" Steve asked, a knowing look on his face.

Y/N smiled fondly and nodded her head as she softly said, "They're my best friends. I would do anything for them just like I would for you guys."

Steve's smile grew slightly at that, thankful that Y/N had some pretty great friends by her side. Y/N smiled back before turning to check and make sure that the weapons and maps were ready. Once she knew that they were, she clapped her hands together once before saying to the Party, "Okay, now that we have a plan to head out after school tomorrow and everything is all set up. . .who wants to watch a movie?"

The Party all perked up at that. "Yes! Star Wars please!" Will exclaimed.

"What? No, let's watch Back to the Future," Dustin complained.

"I vote Star Wars," Max agreed.

"Me too," Lucas said.

"No, guys. Back to the Future all the way," Wheeler argued while Eleven nodded her head in agreement.

"Back to the Future's the one where the mom is trying to hook up with her son, right?" Steve asked.

"I mean that's not the point of the movie, but yes," Y/N said with a small laugh.

"Okay, I vote that one," Steve said.

"Sorry, Will. I've got to go with Back to the Future which means that Back to the Future wins," Y/N said making the boy pout. Y/N just gave him a small smile which he returned before she gestured towards the stairs that led up to her house. "I'll be back."

In just a matter of minutes, Y/N had sprinted upstairs and found the movie. She had received a call from her parents a few hours before about how they had a last minute business conference an hour away that they had to go to and would be gone for the next couple of days, so it was no surprise that no one was around when she was running around trying to find the movie.

Upon finding the movie, Y/N began to make her way towards the basement when she paused next to the phone. She stared at it in silence for a moment before setting the movie down, picking up the phone, and dialing the number that she knew by heart due to the many late night conversations she had with the person on the other end of the line.

"H-H-Hello?"

"Bill?" Y/N said. "It's Y/N."

"Oh. H-H-Hi, Y/N," Bill muttered.

Y/N frowned slightly, but shrugged it off. "I just wanted to call and see if you were okay. You left early, so I wasn't sure if something was wrong," she said.

"I'm f-f-fine," Bill replied, leaving his reply at that and his tone coming out colder and sharper than usual.

Y/N blinked in surprise before nervously chuckling, "Oh, okay. That's good. Why. . .why did you leave without saying goodbye?"

"I w-w-was just tired which I s-s-still am. I'll s-s-see you in the m-m-morning, okay?" Bill told her.

"Oh, okay. Um. . .goodni-" but before Y/N could finish what she asked saying, the boy had hung up. Y/N stood there in silence, her grip on the phone loosening slightly as tears began to fill her eyes. Swallowing thickly, the girl blinked rapidly to stop her tears before taking in a deep breath.

Bill is just tired, she reminded herself. He's not trying to be mean.

Once she had calmed herself down, Y/N put a smile on her face and bounded down the stairs of her basement to have a movie night with her friends. They had all passed out within an hour, Y/N with her head against Steve's side, her feet in Dustin's lap and Will's head on her stomach. Just below them on the floor were Wheeler and Eleven cuddled up together and Max and Lucas doing the same thing.

Y/N found herself looking around the group for a quick second as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered the nights like these that they used to have before she left Hawkins. Nancy and Jonathan had been with them too and Joyce and Hopper had been the ones to cover them all with blankets while they slept.

So with her friends surrounding her, Y/N fell asleep with memories of Hawkins and her old life filling her head.

- - -

Y/N didn't know what to think when she woke up the next day to find that everyone in the Losers' Club except for Beverly weren't talking to her. Bill hadn't even been waiting for her that morning like he usually did before they rode to school together.

Everyone was either avoiding her like Bill was or being weird and looking uncomfortable around her like Eddie was. Y/N didn't know what she had done wrong, so she went through the day having no one but Beverly by her side.

Y/N almost felt bad for having chosen to wear Bill's jacket to school that day, a sinking feeling in her gut as she thought that maybe that was only making Bill more mad at her. Beverly wouldn't tell her why he or the others were and at her in the first place, so Y/N didn't even know how to fix anything.

This meant that when lunch rolled around, it was even quieter than usual. It was actually completely silent and not even Richie had some snarky thing to say. The group all just ate their food in silence with Y/N sparing sad glances in her friends' directions while Beverly glared at the boys, pissed at the way they were acting.

Y/N tried to strike up a conversation a few times, but it always received a one word answer in response before silence followed. After a while, Y/N gave up and most of the lunch period was spent with the boys staring at their meals while Y/N stared at them with a saddened and hurt expression.

It wasn't until everyone was getting ready to leave that Y/N let out a sigh and said, "Hey, I don't know what I did, but I just wanted to tell you guys thank you for being so nice to my friends last night."

This surprised the group and they all slowly looked up at her, finally allowing their eyes to lock on her face.

"Those guys mean about as much to me as you guys do and I've been wanting to introduce you all for so long. I really hoped you guys liked them. Anyway, I'm rambling, but I really appreciate it," she told them as she gave them all a small smile despite the tears that had begun to fill her eyes.

The group all stared at her in silence as the bell rang behind them, signaling that the lunch period was over. Y/N let out another sigh and stood up as she grabbed her things. "Uh. . .I'll see you guys later," she whispered before hurrying away from the table and out of the cafeteria, leaving the boys feeling guilty.

Beverly shook her head at the boys as she stood up. "You guys are ridiculous. Not only did you not give her friends a chance last night, but now you're punishing Y/N for talking to her other friends instead of you by ignoring her? I'm disappointed in all of you," she said.

Her eyes flickered over to Bill and they narrowed. "Especially you, Bill. We all know you care about her, so why the hell would you treat her the way that you have been? She told me about the phone call last night. She called to check and see if your dumbass was okay and you were rude and snippy with her before you had the audacity to hang up on her? What the fuck were you thinking?" she asked in disbelief.

"You all need to apologize to Y/N for the way you have been acting. She has talked so highly of you to the others and you all have done nothing but prove her wrong. There's no way we are going to be able to help Mike and defeat the Upside Down and It with you all sad and not thinking straight. So man up and go apologize before you lose her for real," Beverly spat before she angrily got up from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria, no doubt going to try and find Y/N.

"Did you see how upset Y/N looked when she left?" Eddie whispered, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he broke the moment of silence that had fallen over them after Beverly left.

"She looked like she was about to cry," Ben said just above a whisper.

"We did that," Stan muttered, his head bowed as he stared at his hands sadly.

"Fuck," Richie muttered as a feeling of intense guilt hit both him and the other Losers. "We messed up big time, boys."

Bill was silent as he stared at the doors Y/N had walked through only moments before. He hadn't been blind and had noticed her wearing his jacket today, the sight making his heart flutter. But as he looked from the door to the jacket that Y/N had secretly left behind on her seat for Bill was enough to make his heart break.

Richie was right. They had messed up.

They had messed up bad.

- - -

The final bell of the day made Y/N feel both relieved and scared. Relieved because she was finally going to be able to save Mike, but scared because she would have to go back into the Upside Down and she had a sinking feeling in her gut about what was going to happen.

She hadn't seen the guys for the rest of the day, but Beverly had made sure to always stick by her side. That's how the two ended up leaving the school together with their arms locked and small laughs escaping their lips as Y/N told Beverly about the time Dustin sang the song 'Never-Ending Story' with his girlfriend Susie over a walkie talkie system for everyone to see.

"I'm not even kidding," Y/N laughed. "Just picture it. Everyone is either being chased by the fucking Mindflayer or trying to save the world and I'm sitting there watching Dustin sing his heart out with Lucas' little sister by my side. It was hilarious!"

Beverly laughed so hard that she snorted. "I bet it was. I can't believe-" she began, but she trailed off once she saw Y/N smile disappear as she froze beside her. Beverly turned her head to see what Y/N was looking at and instantly frowned at the sight of the boys all standing by their bikes waiting for the two girls.

Beverly released Y/N's arm and Y/an glanced at her friends before looking away and walking over to her bike. "I'm surprised you all waited for me," Y/N said in a monotone voice as she approached her bike.

Eddie was the first to break and he sighed before saying, "We're sorry for the way we've been acting."

Y/N froze at that and rested her hands on her bike handles before looking up at the group. "What?" she asked, both her and Beverly staring at the boys in surprise. Although Beverly was smiling slightly due to the fact that the boys were finally apologizing after a long day of no one talking to each other.

"Yeah, the way we acted was unacceptable," Ben agreed. "And we're sorry for that."

"We. . .we were jealous," Stan admitted making Y/N blink in surprise.

"Jealous?" she asked confused.

"We were jealous of your other friends. We. . .we thought you were forgetting about us, that you didn't care about us like you did them. So we turned into a bunch of fucking jealous assholes and hurt you in the process," Richie sighed and the fact that he was speaking his feelings was enough to make Y/N realize how serious they were being.

"Guys. . ."she whispered sadly, hating that she made them feel like that. "I don't want you to ever feel like that, okay? I love you all so fucking much that it scares me sometimes to be completely honest. I've known you for what, two years now? I've known the others my whole life, so of course things are going to be a little different around them. But that does not mean I don't love and care about you guys any less. The Losers' Club is my family, you guys are my family. You're my life honestly and I wouldn't trade moving here for the world."

The Losers' all teared up a little at those words and Ben was the first to drop his bike to go over and hug Y/N. The girl chuckled and hugged the boy back while the others quickly came over to hug her as well. She hugged Eddie and Stan before hugging Beverly and Richie who held her the tightest.

The one thing about Richie was that he tried to act like he didn't care when he actually cared the most, so Y/N made a point to hug him back just as hard which made the boy dig his face into her shoulder as he held her.

Once she had hugged each of them, she pulled away to see Bill kind of standing there by himself. The two hadn't hugged or even spoken to each other yet and Y/N knew that their talk was going to be a little longer and more personal than the other. Bill must've known too because he glanced at his friends and gave them a pleading look as he said, "C-C-Can you all give us a m-m-minute?"

"Yeah," Beverly said. "We'll ride on ahead and you two can catch up, okay?"

Then, before the others could complain, Beverly pushed the boys to their bikes and they all began to bike away. That left Y/N and Bill standing there at the front of the school with their bikes by their side.

Y/N looked down at her feet before whispering, "You done ignoring me now?"

There was a beat of silence and she slowly looked up through her eyelashes only to have Bill rush forward and hug her, the action making both of their bikes fall over and hit the ground. Y/N's arms were out in surprise, but she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around the boy, closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Bill whispered into her ear as he practically cradled her head against his body. "I'm so sorry. I let R-R-Richie get to me and the w-w-way I acted around you was un-un-unacceptable. I mean, even that ph-ph-phone call was rude. You w-w-were just checking up on m-m-me and I hung up on you w-w-without even giving a r-r-reason. I didn't mean to h-h-hurt you and I'm so s-s-sorry for that."

"Why'd you do it? What did Richie say?" Y/N asked softly as she pulled away to look at the boy.

"What Richie said wasn't important," Bill told her, his head bowed. "It was what I told myself that got in the way."

"And what did you tell yourself?" she questioned.

"I-I-I thought I c-c-couldn't make you as h-h-happy as they could," Bill admitted. "Th-Th-That I would n-n-never make you as h-h-happy as they could."

Y/N's face softened at that and she furrowed her eyebrows as she lifted a hand up and placed it against Bill's cheek. "Bill, why would you think such a thing?" she asked, the disbelief evident in her voice.

"The w-w-way you laughed. . .the way you s-s-smiled. . .I'd never seen you l-l-look that happy," Bill muttered.

"Bill, that's not true in any way, shape, or form," she assured him. Y/N lovingly rubbed her thumb against his cheek before smiling softly at him.

"I'm my happiest when I'm with you."

Bill blushed at that, his eyes flickering over her face before he leaned forward and rested his forehead against her own. The two both let their eyes close as they enjoyed this moment, their arms holding onto each other while their foreheads touched.

"I r-r-really am sorry," Bill whispered, not opening his eyes.

Y/N smiled softly and opened her eyes long enough so that she could push herself up on her tip toes and press a kiss to Bill's cheek. He instantly leaned into her touch, his arm that was around her pulling her even closer to his body if that was possible.

"I forgive you," Y/N assured him once she had pulled away, Bill turning his face so that their noses brushed against each other and their eyes locked. Both of their faces were red and they were silent for a moment before Y/N smiled and said, "You should know better than to listen to Richie."

Bill chuckled softly and pulled away to press a small kiss to her forehead before he pulled away from her and went over to his backpack. "Yeah, p-p-probably not my s-s-smartest move," he said as he opened his backpack and pulled out his jacket. The same jacket that Y/N had in her possession only a few hours before.

Y/N's smile dropped slightly at the sight. "Oh, I should've told you that I was leaving it for you. I hadn’t meant to keep it so long," she told him, but the boy only smiled and walked over to her with it in his hand.

"I-I-I want you to w-w-wear it," Bill admitted, both of the teens' faces growing redder by the second.

"Really?" Y/N asked, her face lighting up slightly and a hopeful tone in her voice.

Bill nodded and Y/N smiled before turning around. Bill held the jacket up and she slid her arms into the sleeves before Bill put the jacket on her the rest of the way. She turned around and gave the boy a teasing smile.

"So how do I look?" Y/N asked as she struck a few poses for him, a giggle escaping her lips as she did.

Bill chuckled and smiled fondly at the girl. "Beautiful," he told her. "Just like always."

Y/N blushed slightly before going to grab her bike. She picked it up before sending a small smile in Bill's direction. "Come on, Bill. It's time to go save our friend," she said.

And with that, the two got onto their bikes and began to bike after their friends, Bill's eyes locked on Y/N and his jacket that was blowing in the wind behind her.

* * *

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