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skzhua · 2 years ago

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Episode six.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 3.1k

warnings: A lot is happening in such a short time, mentions of deceased parents, drinking, teenage behaviour, suggestive.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

Min Ho walked out of his room to see you sitting at the counter, enjoying your morning coffee alone. He went to go grab his mist that stood next to your mug, passing in front of you in the process which exposed you to his shirtless figure. You groaned out of disgust.

"Can't you put a shirt on?"

"Not my fault you can't handle this?" he pointed to his muscular torso with a smirk on his face.

Misting his face with his eyes closed, he didn't notice you got off your stool to step closer to him. You eyed him up and down, checking out how hot he was.

"You're right." Your hot breath made him open his eyes. "I can't handle it."

"I'm right?"

Up on your tiptoes, you leaned closer to his ear. Min Ho felt his heart get faster and faster.

"You're too bloody hot." you whispered sensually

Taking the mist from his hand, you put it aside and slid your arms around his neck. He gulped and his eyes flickered down to your lips. He carefully placed his hands on your waist.

"I hope you're not joking." he breathed out in a low voice.

"Why would I be joking?"

"Because you hate-"

You shushed him and leaned closer to his face. Min Ho felt the pace of his heart quickened more and held you tighter. As your lips were about to touch, Min Ho shook himself awake. Sitting up on his bed, he felt the sweat drip on his forehead. Never in his life had he had such an explicit dream of someone he despised so much.

The week consisted of two things: school and Kitty's venting. As much you liked the girl, she had nothing else to talk about but her supposed-discovery that your professor was her potential brother and that Dae hadn't thanked her for giving him back her necklace. So, reading a book in the comfort of your couch was enough for her to understand you had other things to do and she continued to rant to Q. You hadn't read far because your phone rang to notify you that someone texted you.

Yuri: Sleepover tonight?

Y/N: What's the occasion?

Yuri: Nothing, I just need to get my mind off things.

Y/N: Sure.

Yuri: Are you going to Min Ho's party? We could go together.

Min Ho. Again. And again. The two of you had not talked since the accident. Not that you minded. In fact, you were quite happy to not have him around as much. Though he did start to act weirdly around you the day after. You didn't question it as he was probably getting sick of seeing you just as much as you were.

You weren't going to go to the party. He did add you to the list of guests but it wasn't your thing. Adding the fact that it was against the rules and that your aunt was the vice-principal, you didn't want to get in trouble.

Y/N: I'll see. I'll be at your place in an hour.

You packed pyjamas and clothes for the next day in your bag and went to grab your toothbrush and other necessities in the bathroom. Opening the door, Min Ho was already there putting on his night cream. As soon as he saw you, he stopped moving. You gestured for him to move aside so you can grab your things but he didn't budge.

"Min Ho." you said in a warning voice.

He cleared his throat and finally left you space. You looked at him weirdly while shoving your hairbrush in your bag. You accidentally touched one of his products as it was in the way and he gasped in panic.

"Don't touch that!"

"You're getting weirder and weirder every day." you sighed.

"What are you even doing?"

"Be glad, I'm sleeping at Yuri's tonight. A small break away from you is going to do me some good."

He forced a smile. "That's so thoughtful of you."

You arrived at Yuri's soon enough and she invited you in kindly, offering you something to drink. Walking to her living room, you saw your aunt discussing in laughter with Principal Lim. She got up as soon as she saw you and came to engulf you in a tight hug.

"I haven't heard about you in days, I was wondering how you were doing."

"I'm great. I'm sorry I couldn't spend Chuseok with you."

She shook her head vigorously. "I'm just glad you spent time with your friends."

"Y/N is among our best rising students. Her grades are impressive." Jina added. "And I'm more than happy she and Yuri get to bond."

"Mom." Yuri rolled her eyes.

"What?" she said innocently.

"We'll be in my room."

She took your hand and dragged you behind her before shutting her door. With a heavy sigh, she let herself fall on her bed.

"I'm sorry if my invitation was so sudden. I felt lonely and I'm sick of only having Dae around."

You sat next to her. "I understand. I needed a break from my dorm anyway."

She frowned. "It's not going well?"

"I was misplaced in the boys dorm." you admitted.

"Oh."

"Right, oh." you chuckled. "Don't rat me out."

She zipped her mouth to confirm you that you could trust her. "Who are you rooming with?"

"Dae."

She gasped. "No way."

"And Q, and Min Ho." you failed to mention Kitty since you didn't want to cause a fuss over it.

"Y/N, the hell?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "We manage. The guys are not that bad, I swear."

"You could have asked to change."

"I tried already but the girls' is full. It's all good, don't worry."

She didn't seem fully convinced but she didn't push it. "Alright, if you say so."

"How about you? Have you heard from Juliana?"

Her head dropped down. "I've seen her on the first day but she left to whatever school, away from me. She promised we would find each other again but I'm starting to lose hope."

You rubbed her shoulder in a comforting way. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

She exhaled loudly. "It's okay, it's only a rough pass, right?"

You acquiesced with her. To take her mind off everything, you prompted you do some face masks while watching the movie of her choice. You definitely didn't think you'd be doing anything of that sort when coming to KISS, even less with Yuri. For once, you felt like the two of you were more than forced friends and that you genuinely were bonding.

You left with Yuri to go to school and went separate ways so she could join Dae. As for you, Q texted you to join him and Kitty before class.

The three of you went to get ice americanos and sat at a table while Kitty went on with her necklace story. You almost wished you had stayed with Yuri.

"While I would love to talk about this whole thing again, I'd rather shove scissors in my ears, no offense." you said after she moved to talking about Dae again.

Q sighed in relief. "Yes, thank you. Seriously, this whole week, all we've been hearing is Dae, necklace, Yuri, Alex, necklace, Alex, Yuri, Dae, necklace... You're like a robot that's malfunctioning, stuck on a loop."

You nodded. "Yeah, and didn't you come here to have new experiences and love your life?"

"You know what Min Ho's Madness Party is?" Q asked which earned him a look from Kitty and you. "A new experience."

"Ugh, God. I can't believe I was about to stay in on a Friday night, pouting about a boy." she grunted. "Oh, no. I'm turning into LJ..."

"I'm out for this one. I'm not going." you announced before sipping on your coffee.

Q's eyes went wide. "What? No, both of you have to come. You're going to go out into the great big world and be a new kind of yourselves."

"A new kind of ourselves who..?" you trailed off in confusion.

"Who'll find someone to kiss?"

You exploded in laughter but Kitty seemed to be in agreement with his suggestion. "I always thought Dae would be my first kiss, and now he's the only boy in the world who can't be."

"Yeah, I know, I know. But think of all the possibilities. Seriously, use that matchmaker skill on yourself. Switch it up!" Q beamed at her.

"Okay... I could kiss somebody tonight. Yeah, I will kiss somebody tonight."

"Yes, girl." he shouted, satisfied.

"You guys have fun boy-chasing." you chuckled but Q shook his head

"Don't think you can get away from this, my friend."

You groaned. "Do I have to come?"

"Yes, please. You could help me with finding a boy." Kitty begged.

"I don't have your talent with that sort of things."

It was Q's turn to beg. "Y/N, I never see you go out much. It'll be fun. Consider it as a night out with us only."

You bit your lip in hesitation. "I guess I can stay for a bit. I might leave earlier, though."

Kitty helped you with choosing what you were going to wear. Since it was supposedly the event of the year, she insisted that you looked your very best. While she picked a tight black top with an equally tight black skirt, she spotted your red sheer top with a V neckline.

"Why is it that I have never seen you wear this?"

You took it from her. "It's something Yuri forced me to buy when we went shopping together once, nothing extravagant."

She scoffed. "Are you kidding? This will look amazing with your black skirt. Oh, and your chain necklace!"

You bickered over it until you gave up and changed. You helped her with the makeup and hair before doing yours. Satisfied with your looks, you went to the event together. The place was gigantic, a good way for Min Ho to show off his wealth as he was the one renting it.

"Do you see Q? He told me he was going to be with Florian." Kitty asked and you shook your head, clueless on where your friend was.

After assuring her that you'd be fine alone, you went separate ways to find the guys. The crowd was already dancing like there was no tomorrow, leaving you close to no space to pass through. You ended up getting out of the pack of people and opted to go look towards the bar. A wave of relief travelled your body when your eyes narrowed down to your friends as they were exchanging hugs and laughs. You wanted to join them but a voice calling you out interrupted you.

"Can I offer you something to drink? It's on me."

You stopped on your tracks as you held your breath, slowly turning around. Coming face to face with Min Ho, you smiled awkwardly as he gasped in horror.

"That's how you pick up on girls?" you let out a laugh as he cursed at himself for hitting on you.

"Ah, my eyes! It's like looking directly to the sun." Min Ho grumbled to himself.

You didn't bother staying with him as Q saw you from afar and invited you to join the lot.

"Hey, guys." you waved at them and Q could only laugh as he watched Min Ho behind you.

"You're so hot, you even got him to stare."

You brushed it off and hugged Kitty instead. However, she immediately broke away from it and pointed behind you.

"Dae is here." she said and Dae smiled at her from afar. "Nope. I am here to meet a new boy to kiss."

She stole Q's mocktail and expected for it to have alcohol in it. After discussing liquor, you picked up another drink that Q ordered for you and asked Florian to put his strong alcohol in it.

"Need to get tipsy?" Florian asked.

"Terribly."

Kitty laughed and raised her glass. "To new experiences. Let's do this."

Dae walked up to her and began to say something but the three others walked away. Clueless, you stood still and gave him a sad look.

"Good luck with that." you tapped his shoulder before catching up to the others.

You all soon went on the dance floor and started to enjoy the party fully. You bumped into someone by accident and apologized quickly. The girl squealed when she saw you.

"Y/N! I haven't seen you around much." Eunice exclaimed.

"I wasn't out much either."

"Good thing you are here. I talked about you to this boy the other day and he's so handsome. He's here, you should meet him."

You shook your hands in refusal. "Please, no."

"Come on, I'm sure you'll like him."

You stopped your protests as she pulled you out of the crowd. She walked around for a bit, looking for the man in particular, and then rushed you to him. He was sitting at the bar and exchanging with some other guy.

"Dongmin, this is Y/N."

One of the two guys excused himself and left you while the other smiled at you warmly. He was much taller than you and was definitely the type of guy who knew he was handsome. Well, like Min Ho.

"It's nice to meet you. Eunice has told me all about you."

"I'll leave you to it." the girl in question whispered before disappearing.

You were uncomfortable but at that point, you didn't care that much. Florian might have put too much liquor in your drink since you could already feel the effects. Dongmin ordered one for you and pulled out a flask out of his vest. Although it was a bad idea, you let him pour some in your glass.

"So, your parents were the heads of a restaurant company?"

"That's right."

"It must have been hard when they died. Going from a rich environment to living with the middle-class."

You almost spit out your sip. "Excuse me?"

"Well, it must be different now, no? I've heard you needed a scholarship to come here instead of being able to pay for your studies."

"I did get a scholarship, but-"

He cut you off. "I'm supposing your parents left nothing for you? Wow, that sucks."

"What? How-"

"Dongmin." someone said as they stopped behind you.

"Ah. The host of the event. How are you, Min Ho?"

"I'd be doing better if you weren't harassing my friend."

You stopped breathing for a bit. Min Ho was coming to your rescue and you couldn't be any more thankful for it. But you didn't understand why he was doing this.

"Harrassing? We were just talking."

Min Ho gave him a sour look. "About her parents, yeah? I don't think she appreciates it."

"We're good, man." Dongmin defended. "Right, Y/N?"

You simply shrugged your shoulders, earning a huff from Min Ho. "Are you feeling comfortable? Really?" he asked to be sure.

You looked back and forth between the two men and slowly shook your head. That told plenty for Min Ho to take you by the wrist and lead you away from the guy. There was a spot away from the dance floor that was quiet enough to feel more cozy. He invited you to sit and took a bottle of water from behind the bar to give it to you.

"I thought you were better than this to defend yourself."

"Thank you for your concern but I was doing just fine." you argued as you took a sip of water.

"Fine? Y/N, you were almost shaking there."

"Well, now I'm good." you shot at him. "I'll find Kitty and Q."

You left him behind and rushed back to the dancing floor. Little did you know that Min Ho followed you from a distance. Only to keep an eye on you in case you had to bump into Dongmin again.

The night went on, more drinks were consumed on your part, third-wheeling Q and Florian was a good way to summarize the whole thing. You had lost Kitty along the way as she went away after she threw a fit at Dae, evidently too drunk to be in her right mind.

The boys were making out furiously next to you and you were growing more and more disgusted. Not that you didn't root for them but they were far beyond keeping it innocent. Eventually, you left and found Eunice again in the crowd as Yuri started her set.

"I'm sorry about Dongmin. Min Ho told me what happened." she said as she gave you a hug.

She focused back on Yuri but your mind went off somewhere else. Maybe, just maybe, you liked the idea of Min Ho caring about you. After all, he hadn't been so bad in the past recent days.

"I'll be gone for a minute." you said to Eunice before starting to look for Min Ho.

You didn't know what you wanted to tell him but there was this thing between you that needed to be cleared up. With people jamming to the music, it made it hard for you to search for him properly.

As you were about to give up, you saw him from afar by recognizing his green suit that fitted him way too well for your own sake. You walked towards him but stopped when you were close enough to see what he was doing. Holding her closely by the waist, his lips were on Madison's. Your heart fell and it felt like everything around you disconnected. He pulled away from the girl and finally noticed you were standing only a few feet away from him.

"Y/N." he said and let go of Madison.

"I didn't want to interrupt." you managed to say. "I just wanted to-"

You couldn't finish your sentence. The music stopped abruptly and you saw Professor Lee with Principal Lim on the stage with stares of disapproval. Everyone began to run out of the place in a hurry which made you stumble only to crash on someone. You were lucky to find out that it was Yuri and she helped you get out with her and Dae. As soon as you stepped outside, camera flashes were blinding you. Yuri pushed you away violently and took off with Dae. You'd usually say it was a bitch move but considering the fact cameras were capturing her, she was probably only trying to protect you.

Min Ho ran to you after seeing her push you. He held your shoulders and scanned your body for any injury.

"Are you sure you are okay?" he asked again.

"Can you leave me be?" you exploded at him. "Go back to Madison or something."

#xo kitty #xo kitty fanfic #xo kitty x reader #xo kitty minho #xo kitty min ho #xo kitty minho x reader #xo kitty min ho x reader #min ho x reader #sang heon lee #sang heon lee x reader

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marvelgirlstories · 1 year ago

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Hi, I realized that I accidentally saved this to my drafts instead of posting it. 🥲🥲 This is the George Weasley fic that I wrote to celebrate one month on Tumblr. ❤️❤️❤️

Enjoy Xxx

George Weasley x reader (dating)

Cute Date

SFW

Warnings: Bad language, Fred scaring people, George being sad

It was a sunny Friday and you were slowly dying in the north tower, where you had divination. You were sat next to George bored as fuck, trying not to fall asleep. You were just about to close your eyes, when George passed you a note.

Hey gorgeous,

Are you free tonight?

Yes Yes

Go on a date?

Yes Yes

Pick you up at 7.

Your loving boyfriend,

George Fabien Weasley

Xxx

You chuckled as you read the message and saw the possible answers. Georges face lit up when he saw the message, even though he knew you wouldn't turn down the opportunity.

After divination you finally got to speak to him. He pulled you put of the way of all the people wanting to get down to the great hall for lunch. You were about to say something when he kissed you. The kiss lasted about 20 seconds before you broke it. "So pick you up at seven?", George asked. "We literally have the same common room", you answered. "I'll take that for a yes.", he said. "Dress code?", you wanted to know. "Nothing to fancy", he replied. "Ok.", you said leaning in for a kiss.

You were finally ready at five to seven and so you went down into the common room because George couldn't come up to the dorm. You were wearing your favorite outfit to wear outside of school. You had glammed it up with some jewelry and make-up and you did your hair.

He was already there and you could see how his eyes shone when he saw you. But as he made no move to go over to you, you sat down near the golden trio and tried to help Hermione help Ron and Harry with their homework.

At seven he walked over to you. "Wow, you look stunning", he said, before pulling you in for a deep kiss. "Get a room", Ron shouted and George pulled away ready to yell something back. But Hermione got there before him hitting Ron on the head with a big bit of parchment. "Don't worry about him", you said,"I was promised a date!" "Come on then, gorgeous!", he said, leading you out of the portrait hole.

"Where are we going?", you asked as you both went down the stairs. "Shhhh", was what he said. When you stood in front of the corridor with the one-eyed witch, you knew where this was going. "Oh no. No. Not Hogsmeade.", you said, before you could stop yourself. George turned around to face you. "Well, I mean... If you don't want to we don't have to.", he answered, trying to hide how much it hurt him. But you knew him to well to think he didn't mind. "No, George. Fuck! That's not what how meant it." You internally cursed at your self. You lightly kissed him. "I was just worried. I thought we might get caught. But then I realized you would of thought of that. Because my loving boyfriend, George Fabien Weasley thinks of everything." "If you are sure...", he said. "Don't worry, handsome. I will always go along with your crazy plans." He smiled. "Come on, then!", he said opening the tunnel.

He stepped in first, then helped you down. After he closed the passage, he took your hand. "You ready", he asked. "Of course", you replied. He took out his wand. "Lumos!" "Come on!", he dragged your arm as he started to run. You joining his pace.

You ran for about two minutes before you slowed down to a walk. After a while, you got to the end of the tunnel. "Ok. Let's go!", he said. You two snuck up through the storeroom and into the main shop. The owner wasn't there. He was probably up stairs. You two made your way to Zonko's and then two the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta gave you extra cream with your Butterbeer. "You are the first Hogwarts students that have snuck out tonight.", was her reason. "This is really nice. Thank you so much!", you said to George. "It isn't over yet, love. There's more to come.", he replied. "Well, I'm looking forward to it.", you said, kissing him softly.

When you had both finished your Butterbeer, you went outside. "You ready for the rest of the date?", he asked. "Always", you answered. He grabbed your wrist and lead you back to Honeydukes. After you snuck back down the tunnel. He took out his wand, ready to light it up. "Wait!", you said. He was about to ask why when you kissed him passionately. Taking your time, tasting the Butterbeer you both drank. His tongue ran along your bottom lip and you let him in. He pulled away just before it became a major make out. As you whimpered at the loss of contact, he reasoned you with: "There plenty of time to do that later." He lit up his wand and you carried along the tunnel. He went first and then helped you up back into the corridor. Suddenly you heard a voice. "Well, what do we have here?"

You both froze "Umm...", you were about to say something when Fred appeared. "Fred! You idiot! You scared us to death!", George shouted. "I thought you were Snape.", you added. "Keep your voices down", was all Fred said back. George was just about to lunge at Fred, but you held him back. "Leave him alone.", you said,"It was kind of funny!" "At least someone has humor around here!", Fred exclaimed. "Don't test my patience.", you shot back. He put his hands up in defense. "Have fun, you two.", was the last thing that he said before he crept away. "Come on, gorgeous. Let's get out of here before Filch or his cat finds us.", George said. "Where are we going?", you asked. "It's a surprise!", he replied.

"Well, considering we are going up the only stairs that head to the astronomy tower, it's not much of a surprise, is it?", you commented. "Ok, cleverclogs. Whatever you say!", he answered, half annoyed, half amused. You where about to say something back, when you stopped in your tracks. You had reached the top of the tower, but your mouth dropped all the way to the bottom again. "Do you like it?", George asked, not being able to read your face. "I love it! It's beautiful!" He had set ups beautiful picnic area with candles, pillows, blankets, a picnic rug and all of your favorite foods. "I didn't know what...", but he didn't get any further, because once again you pulled him in for a kiss. "Wow!", he exclaimed, when you finally pulled away.

He lead you loosely by the wrist to the rug covered in blankets. George picked up a chocolate-covered strawberry and fed it to you. You both had an amazing time eating, laughing and having fun. It was so nice to relax instead of studying or catching up on homework. Then George put on your favorite song. "May I have this dance, madam?", he asked standing up and bowing in a truly gentlemanly style. "Of course.", you said. As you two slowly danced across the room, you rested your head on his shoulder. "What did I do to deserve him?", you thought. "Everything", he replied. You looked up startled. "Did I say that out loud?", you asked. "Yes"

When it was finally time to go, he took you to his dorm. Everyone else was asleep, so it didn't matter. "Thank you so much!", you said while you were cuddled up in his bed. "Of course. I love you.", he replied. "I love you too"

You both fell asleep, enjoying your last moment as before the next school day together.

Hope you like it ♥️😘 See you all soon. Xxx

Tags:

@kandis-mom @felicitylemon

#fanfic #fanfiction #george weasley fanfic #george weasley #george weasley imagine #george weasley fic #george weasley fluff #george weasley x you #george weasley x y/n #george weasley x reader #george weasley x fem

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panfluidme · 7 months ago

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Could you please write something with Martin being hurt (potentially fatal) and Chris trying his best to save him or at least keep him alive long enough to get proper help (please no death I just finished reading all your wild kratts fics and I can't deal with another Martin death)

Sorry that it's taken me so long to get this out. My brain is just like "f u" recently, and writing has not been wanting to work with me. Then I've also been doing high school graduation, so that's fun

ALMOST GONE

Martin was out like a light, Chris' own brain was a little fuzzy as he tried to remember what happened.

The last thing he had recalled was the two jumping around in the trees. They had been following a group of monkeys, so...

So how did they end up down here? Had they fallen or something?

But both of them at the same time? Normally one person would fall, but very rarely would both of them fall. At the same time and right next to each other.

Chris was snapped out of his thoughts when Martin groaned quietly. He shook his head and went to check on him. He could see some blood coming from the top of Martin's head, which wasn't exactly reassuring.

"Hey, Martin, can you look at me?"

Martin opened his eyes, wincing a little. "It's bright," he mumbled.

"I know, I know." Chris wiped some of the blood off Martin's face. "Do you remember who I am?"

"You're Chris, my little brother." Martin leaned back, finding it hard to keep his head up.

Chris gently kept his hand on Martin's shoulder, frowning a little. "Stay awake, okay? I know you can. I'm going to get us somewhere the Tortuga can easily find us then call Aviva, okay?"

Martin furrowed his eyebrows together. "Aviva?"

"Yes, do you remember who she is?"

The blond had to pause to think before he shook his head. Chris frowned more as he gently tried to pick Martin up. With how much taller Martin was than Chris, and the fact that Chris didn't have as much muscle strength as Chris, Chris struggled a lot. In the end, he put Martin back onto the ground, leaning against a tall tree.

The brunet grabbed his creature pod and called Aviva, hoping that she would be able to help. However, his creature pod died right before she could answer. Odd, he normally was much better at charging it, but it wasn't the first time that he's needed it and it was dead.

He grabbed Martin's, but it was smashed up. This wasn't ideal at all, Chris needed to call Aviva so he could get Martin help.

Okay, so what was the best way to go about this? Martin was hurt, likely having some brain damage since he didn't remember who Aviva was. He couldn't call the Tortuga with either of their creature pods, him calling then 'hanging' up probably freaked everyone else out.

Chris paced a little, ignoring the slight pain in his ankle. It was up to him to get Martin and himself to safety. Logically, Chris knew he might also have a concussion, but it was much smaller than Martin's. Logically, Chris knew he and Martin had other injuries, but that was pushed to the back of his mind.

He hummed to himself as he thought. Nodding to himself, Chris looped his arms under Martin's armpits and started to drag him. He was careful, walking backwards. He looked over his shoulder a lot to make sure he wouldn't trip.

Martin groaned softly, Chris quietly reassuring him and telling him to stay awake. The older tried to do so, his head spinning and stomach churning.

Slowly, but surely, Chris made his way to the Tortuga. It took him hours to do so, partly because he had to stop and rest and take care of Martin, and walking backwards in a forest was a slow process anyway.

"Aviva!" Chris shouted. Martin groaned at the loud noise, but Chris had to ignore him.

The woman in question ran over and helped Chris bring Martin to the med bay. Relief washed over Chris while he watched her take care of Martin, quietly answering Koki's questions while she took care of his injuries.

Everything was going to be okay, and Chris was happy with that.

#wild Kratts #chris kratt #martin kratt #jimmy z #aviva corcovado #Koki #angst #fluff #oneshot #tws for injuries #tws for blood #angst with a happy ending #martin kratt angst #chris kratt angst

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moonchildreads · 1 year ago

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small town

Chapter 20 - Self Control

IN THIS CHAPTER: The last high school party, apple flavored Kool-Aid, and Andy gets what he deserves [10.3k]

WARNINGS: underaged drinking, mentions of drug use (weed), slut shaming, a little misunderstanding (gets resolved really quickly), suggestive themes? (very mild, eddie's just a little bit wired, okay?)

A/N: i know i'm a day late, i'm sorry T.T someone got fired at my job and i'm supposed to handle their shit now because my boss is kinda cheap. it is what it is. BUT. hopefully this chapter makes up for my tardiness because as you can probably tell from the banner, the slow burn is officially boiling, you guys! enjoy <3

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

In the night, no control Through the wall something's breaking

Saturday, May 31st - 1986

Dottie was pacing like a nervous dog in a cage, feet hitting the soft rug in front of her closet with each step she took. It was the first Saturday in a long time that she hadn't spent in a blissful domestic bubble with Eddie and she was feeling downright antsy. The night before, once Hellfire had officially said goodbye to its Class of '86, the two teens had sat themselves in a booth at the back of The Hideaway with burgers, fries, and milkshakes, and something had finally clicked into place for her. There was no longer a specific need for them to spend so much time together anymore - no more exams to study for, no more books to read or worksheets to fill, and yet there they were still, on a Friday night, getting food together like usual. Sitting opposite of Eddie in that booth, watching him try to lick ketchup from the corner of his mouth and not reaching the smudge with the tip of his tongue, it dawned on Dottie that she had never loved anyone the way she loved him.

It wasn't that Dottie hadn't loved throughout her life, because truthfully she had. She had loved her Dad first, tiny fingers wrapping around a big thumb when she was just a few hours old. She'd loved her Grandparents, all four of them equally, but maybe no one should tell them that Grandma Jo leaving after a visit would always cause the biggest sobs to escape her tiny toddler body. She'd loved her Uncle Johnny, always cuddling up to him while they lived together, not really understanding that he wasn't actually her Uncle until it was too late to start calling him anything else. She'd loved her friends back in New York, even though she knew now that they hadn't loved her back in return. Hell, she'd loved Tyler, or else it wouldn't have hurt as much as it did when he broke her heart. Dottie wasn't someone that didn't know what loving meant or felt like, but the way she loved Eddie was unlike any other kind of love she had ever experienced before, and she knew she had to tell him sometime soon or she'd regret it for the rest of her life.

But first, there was prom, and graduation, and most pressingly, a party for which she had absolutely no idea of what she was going to wear, hence the continuous pacing. James, tired of hearing the back and forth on the wooden floors for the last fifteen minutes, came into his daughter's bedroom resigned to play stylist for the night like he'd done so many times before. Keeping up with the latest trends for the sake of his little girl was a full time job he had long ago learned to love.

"Do you know what Nancy is gonna wear?" he asked, sitting down at the end of Dottie’s bed.

"No, I didn't think to ask. But she always looks so pretty, Dad, I can't look like a bum."

"How about you tell me what you don't want to wear and we can start from there, okay?"

Thirty minutes later, Dottie had an outfit laid out where James had been sitting and she was doing her makeup in a hurry before Nancy picked her up. The plan was simple: go to the party, say hi to Chrissy and thank her for the invite, hang out with Nancy for a bit, meet up with the boys, and if the party sucked, head over to Jeff's for a movie night. He'd rented Ghoulies and Weird Science for the weekend and he still hadn't seen either, so it seemed as good a backup plan as any. Besides, movie nights had always meant sharing a blanket with Eddie and cozying up to him when she got sleepy. No matter what ended up happening, she knew her night wouldn't be completely terrible.

"Honey? Are you done yet? Nancy is here!" James yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll be down in a second!" she hurried to put on her clothes and ran down the stairs to meet her friend, crossbody bag bouncing behind her and hitting her backside.

She found Nancy politely making small talk with her Dad on the foyer; James had gone to school with her mom Karen and had fond memories of sharing a desk with her throughout their many years at Hawkins’ various academic buildings. They hadn't exactly been friends, but they always were on good terms and had even worked on a few projects together, namely one about growing sprouts from beans in mason jars when they were in middle school.

"Hey! Sorry for making you wait," Dottie said, stopping to hug Nancy who was better prepared to receive it than she had been in the school’s bathroom a day before.

"You're fine, don't worry about the time," Nancy reassured her. "There aren't any schedules to keep at these parties, everyone just comes and goes when they want to."

"Oh, good to know that we can just leave whenever if it sucks."

"Speaking of that," James said, getting his daughter's attention. "Call me if you're staying at Jeff's, okay? I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

"Donny can drop me off, you don’t gotta come," she waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Okay, but call me anyway so I know where you are. Take care you two, don't get too wild."

"Dad, seriously," Dottie rolled her eyes, exasperated but not without fondness. She knew he worried too much, but after all they’d been through, she couldn't blame him.

"Have a good night, Mr. Burke, it was nice to meet you," Nancy said, heading out with Dottie at her heels.

"You too, Nancy. Say hi to your parents for me, will you?"

The girls got into Nancy's car and drove away towards Loch Nora, the radio playing The Rolling Stones’ Harlem Shuffle softly in the background. They talked about random things, filling the empty space with the kind of anxious but lighthearted conversations one would have with someone they don’t know very well yet. So far their budding friendship had proved satisfactory for both girls, and they were willing to put in the effort to get to know one another better, even when that meant having to venture outside the comfort zone The Weekly Streak’s newsroom provided. During the ride Nancy complimented Dottie's outfit, and in turn, she had loudly admired hers, prompting the blue-eyed girl to admit she'd borrowed the shiny jacket with padded shoulders from her Mom’s wardrobe. After a good-natured laugh, Dottie admitted she had stolen her dress from her Mom’s closet too and Nancy told her her Mom had good taste. When they parked across the street from Jason Carver's house however, the friendly chatter ceased and both girls stared at the two-storey rising in front of them with apprehension.

"I'm so nervous," Dottie admitted, watching the colors spilling from the fairy lights inside the living room paint the veranda red, then green, then blue, and finally back to red.

"Me too," Nancy said, taking a shaky breath. "But we got this. How bad can it be?"

"Yeah. You’re right. It’ll be fun," Dottie nodded, and arm in arm they ventured inside the packed house in search of good old teenage normalcy.

Neither Nancy nor Dottie were having the slightest bit of fun. After a few shouted-over-loud-music hellos to some familiar faces, they had found themselves in Jason’s kitchen, nursing cups of a strange brown concoction that didn’t smell good and tasted even worse. Dottie wasn’t much of a drinker, and apparently Nancy wasn’t either, citing that the last time she’d gotten drunk, she’d embarrassed herself so badly she’d rather not have a repeat. The jocks and popular kids disagreed heavily with that assessment, and were having a lot of fun with two kegs in the backyard next to the pool. Dottie had suggested they venture out, sit by the water where it wasn’t as stuffy, but Nancy had quickly directed her into the kitchen where they ran into Marcie Hurley, an acquaintance from the newspaper club. Marcie was a lovely tall girl with a bold pixie cut; she was currently slightly intoxicated but full of ideas for stories to run in the last edition of The Weekly Streak before summer holidays started. Nancy pretended to listen to her with her utmost attention, but Dottie could tell by the way her eyes were glazed over that she was definitely calculating how much more she’d have to hear before she could get away without coming across as rude. Two girls Dottie didn’t know walked into the kitchen searching for something fruity to drink when they said something that caught her attention.

“What do you mean Munson said no?” one of the girls was saying.

“He said he wasn’t selling tonight! Which is honestly such bullshit, he was smoking with some other guys, he definitely had something on him,” the second girl said, pouring vodka into a cup.

“Show him your tits, maybe he’ll share with you.”

“Ew, I’m not that desperate!” the first one laughed loudly.

Dottie scowled immediately. She’d once gotten curious about him dealing and asked him a couple of questions, like how did he get into selling and if he was allowed to smoke his own product. Eddie hadn’t been particularly proud of his answers, but she told him she didn’t mind: the money helped pay for some bills around the trailer and put food onto their table. It wasn’t like he was dealing hard stuff or was some kind of mafia lord moving tons of product, for fuck’s sake. People talked about him like he had his thumb on the illegal underground in Hawkins when in reality, he was just a teen selling weed and a couple of pills here and there to a few fellow students at parties. Dottie hoped he’d never done something as gross as asking a girl to show him her body in exchange for a couple of hits of a shitty joint. She liked to believe she knew Eddie, and in her opinion he’d never do something like that, but teenagers had never been particularly known for making good choices. Nancy was already looking at her when she turned around, a knowing smile on her face. She nodded towards the door once, and after a whispered “thank you” off Dottie went in search of her friends.

The boys were enjoying the fresh air and sharing a smoke on the veranda at the front of the house, not really ready to go inside and face the music just yet. Donny had picked up Gareth and Jeff on his way to the party, but Eddie had arrived solo just a few minutes after them. They were talking about music, as they often did, when Dottie opened the front door and jumped on Jeff’s back, who flinched in surprise.

“Fucking hell, Dot, you’re gonna kill me someday if you keep doing that,” he said, rubbing his chest.

“I was worried you guys weren’t gonna show up,” she admitted, hanging onto his shoulders. He leaned his weight into her, hands wrapping around her loose wrists like they were backpack straps to keep her in place as they swayed side to side.

“Party sucks that much?” Donny asked, passing along the joint to Gareth.

“I mean, it’s not like I know a lot of people here. I’ve been hearing Nancy talk to other girls all night, and I think she’s as fed up as me.”

“Wanna ditch?” Jeff asked.

“We’re not leaving until I drink my fuckin’ weight in rich people’s beer,” Gareth declared, giving the cig to Eddie who took a long drag and put the roach out on the underside of the railing he was leaning against.

“If you want beer, there are a bunch of cans in the kitchen but you gotta fish them out of the cooler and someone spilled something green in there. It’s kinda gross,” Dottie grimaced.

“What? No keg?”

“Actually, there’s two in the backyard but the basketball team took ownership of one and I think the football team was doing handstands on top of the other one.”

“That’s so fucking lame,” Donny scoffed.

“Well then, who’s down for fishing?” Jeff looked at the guys, and Gareth shrugged, putting his hands in his jean pockets and following him inside.

“You coming?” Donny asked Eddie who didn’t move from his spot.

“Nah, gonna smoke a cig first. You go ahead,” he said, getting his Camels out of his front pocket.

Donny headed back inside and then it was just Dottie and Eddie under the moonlight, the tiny lamp above the front door doing nothing to shield them from the darkness. Eddie smiled, putting the cigarettes back in his pocket and opening his arms so Dottie could sheepishly tuck herself into him. She felt like she could finally breathe easy when feeling his chest rising up and down under her cheek, his warmth seeping into her bones.

“Too many people?” he asked knowingly, cupping the back of her head with one of his hands. Her fingers drew patterns on the soft cotton of his shirt.

“Mhm,” she nodded. “This is nice.”

“Yeah? You like my shirt?”

“Smells good,” she laughed. He smelled like Old Spice aftershave and laundry detergent.

“Why, thank you for noticing I showered, princess,” he said, grinning. “You look pretty. This your Mom’s dress?”

“Yeah,” she beamed, looking down at her shift baby blue dress. “I didn’t know what to wear so I just played it safe. The socks are new though,” she lifted her leg to show her white ankle socks with frills under her black kitten heels.

“So cute,” Eddie pouted theatrically, making her slap his chest in return. “No, really. You look nice.”

“Thanks,” she settled back against him, cheeks burning.

They enjoyed each other’s presence for a few seconds when the front door opened with a bang, an overexcited and red-eyed Chrissy Cunningham spilling out from the inside, her giggles following her as she skipped towards them in tune with the music coming from the speakers in the living room.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, a mischievous grin gracing her fairy-like features.

“Hey, Chris,” Eddie smiled, still holding onto Dottie as she turned in his arms to take a look at the newcomer. “How was your latest purchase?

“It was so good. Valerie, Julie and I just smoked a joint each in the bathroom,” she whispered conspiratorially, making Dottie laugh.

“Oh my. What would Jason say if he knew you were hotboxing his shower?” Eddie matched her tone.

“What Jason doesn’t know won’t hurt him. D’you want to smoke with us later, Dot? Only girls allowed.”

“Sorry, I’m not really a smoker,” Dottie said, feeling a little bit dumb. “But I’ll take you up on that Queen song you promised me yesterday if you wanna dance.”

“Oh my God, yes!” Chrissy grabbed her arm and pulled her out of Eddie’s grasp. “She’s mine now, Ed!”

“I can see that. I’m gonna go get a beer,” Eddie said, following them inside. “Have fun, ladies!”

“We will!”

Weed affects different people in different ways. That was a fact Dottie knew after spending so much time with the members of Corroded Coffin, better known as her best friends. Donny was always virtually the same after a good session, just got very thirsty. Eddie would get deep and thoughtful, and once the effects were gone, he’d get so hungry he’d eat drywall if it was the only thing around. Gareth, like Chrissy, would get giggly once he hit that sweet spot. It was like drinking, Donny had told her once. Everyone had a different tolerance, and most of the time taking a few hits of a shared joint wouldn’t be enough to change anyone’s personality significantly. There were other people like Jeff, for example, who had a very low tolerance and had decided to stop smoking altogether after realizing he’d get panicky and his clothes would always start itching each time he indulged in the vice with his friends. None of them had ever questioned him or pressured him to smoke after that, the same way that they didn’t pressure Dottie to smoke or drink when they were doing it around her. They’d always smoke outside, and Dottie and Jeff were free to lounge around on the couch and talk about anything and everything until they all regrouped inside again. Watching Chrissy be so carefree and joyful made Dottie think that maybe she’d enjoy being invited to one of their movie nights some day.

Chrissy, on the other hand, was a girl on a mission. There were no movie nights being planned in her head; she was instead focused on getting information out of Dottie to relay to Eddie at his earliest convenience. Chrissy liked Dottie, she really did. She liked how kind and attentive she was despite always walking around with an anxiety cloud above her head. She liked how she dressed, with her vintage clothing and big earrings Chrissy couldn’t wear because it’d be dangerous for a cheerleader to be tossed around with hoops or fun acrylic shapes dangling from her ears. She liked how she made Eddie feel, and Chrissy liked Eddie very much, so that just cemented Dottie in her mind as a good person to have around. And so, the blonde lulled her into a sense of comradery with heartfelt compliments and wild dances, trying to get to the bottom of the question she’d had swirling around in her brain for two months now: do you like my friend or is he wasting his time to end with his heart broken? To her credit, what came out of her mouth was much more subtle than that.

“Eddie’s awesome, isn’t he?” Chrissy asked, casting her line into the sea and waiting for Dottie to bite.

“Yeah, he’s great!”

“He was so right about us being friends! I’m so happy you came!”

“Well, thank you for inviting me!” Dottie smiled at her, and Chrissy squeezed her hand in response.

The party was in full swing now. Nancy had found a couple of classmates she got along with and finally managed to escape Marcie’s insistent newspaper talk; she looked much more happy talking to them near the door to the backyard than she’d looked like back in the kitchen. Donny, Gareth and Jeff were fishing out beer cans from the cooler and passing them along to people that normally ignored them in the hallways, their bravery for sticking their hands into the horrid green liquid making them the heroes of underaged teens trying to get unbearably drunk before inevitably throwing up all over Mrs. Carver’s bushes. Eddie stood to a side, near the archway that led to the stairs where bubblegum pink eyeshadow Marianne from his Sociology class had just disappeared up to with his lovesick boyfriend trailing behind her, much to his friends’ jeers and claps. The metalhead had a barely sipped on beer in his hand and hearts in his eyes as he watched Dottie and Chrissy spin around in the middle of the living room, singing along to Top 40 hits and dodging couples making out.

Eddie had never felt happy at a house party before. He’d usually drop by, deal a little bit from the back of his van, and speed away either to Jeff’s house to hang out with his friends or back towards his trailer where he’d smoke and fuck around with his guitar until he’d fall asleep on his tummy with his jeans still on. But standing there, seeing his friends being treated like normal people instead of the dirt beneath a shoe, he felt happy at a party for once in his life. He felt like a normal teenager, like everyone else in the Hawkins High Class of ‘86 saying goodbye to a long school year and hello to the unforgettable summer ahead. Chrissy made a suggestive face at him while dancing around with Dottie and Eddie laughed.

“Hey, Munson!” a familiar voice said, coming to clap his shoulder and snapping him out of his trance.

“Hey, Foster. How are you doing?”

“Weird seeing you here,” Kyle Foster of the Yearbook Club said, looking friendly but fidgety. “You never sell inside at these things.”

“Not selling tonight, man. Just enjoying the beer,” he lifted his can above waist level to demonstrate.

“Ah, dude, that sucks. I had a twenty with your name on it,” he clicked his tongue. “But if our deal still stands, I guess in a couple of weeks you’ll have a bag with my name on it.”

“I’m a man of my word, Foster,” Eddie smirked, shoving his hand into his pocket. “But here, for your troubles.”

He produced a tightly rolled joint from inside his packet of Camels and extended it to Kyle, who looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Never in his entire time being Eddie’s customer had he sold him a pre-roll, much less one that he had intended to smoke himself at some point. He eyed him curiously, not making any moves to pluck it out of the dealer’s hand.

“You sure about that, Munson?” he asked, giving him the chance to recant his offer.

“Yeah, you can have it. I’m not gonna smoke it and I’m feeling generous tonight. Just don’t send anyone else my way, okay? It’s the only one I had.”

“Y-yeah, man, sure! Thanks,” Kyle smiled, grabbing his prize for holding a polite conversation with the town’s freak who felt like less and less of a monster as the school year came to a close. “Here, take the twenty anyways,” he pulled a single bill from his back pocket. “Sorry about, y’know, that whole thing. See you when the yearbooks come out!”

And with that, he shoved the note into Eddie’s hand and left towards the backyard, probably in search of a borrowed lighter to spark up in a corner of Jason Carver’s lush garden. Eddie looked down at his hand, snorted, and put the twenty bucks away to spend another day. Maybe he’d get Dottie a strawberry milkshake like he’d done the day before, only to watch her eyes light up at the first taste and indulge in her pleas because it’s so good, Ed, you gotta try this! They make them with real strawberries! Chrissy found his eyes again over Dottie’s shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him. He clutched his chest like he had been hurt by her, overdramatic as always, and Dottie twirled Chrissy around breaking their eye contact. The songs changed but the girls stayed dancing and he kept on watching them with a satisfied smile on his face. It was a shame, really, that Eddie often became blind whenever he saw the girl he was in love with being truly, completely happy, because if he didn’t, he would have noticed one Andy fucking Humphrey staring at him like he could make the dumb metalhead drop dead in a heartbeat just by looking at him.

Jason Carver wasn’t the typical high school bully you’d see in films. Truthfully, he wasn’t even a bully; he just kept quiet while his friends did all the fucked up things the basketball team was infamous for. He was known as someone who would fly off the handle quickly, but not without reason. He took freshmen and sophomores under his wing, taught them what being a good teammate looked like, gave them a family within the walls of Hawkins High as part of his team. Jason was, if anything else failed, extremely protective and fiercely loyal to his own, and expected the same considerations to be returned to him. So when Andy, one of his best friends since elementary, came running to tell him that The Freak of Hawkins High was trying to flirt with his girlfriend in front of everyone, Jason had no reason to doubt him. Why would he, when Andy had been nothing but reliable all this time?

“What do you think you’re doing, creep?” Jason told Eddie, his tone low, trying not to call too much attention to themselves. Chrissy didn’t need to see this, she didn’t have to know she was being ogled by a pervert under his own roof.

“Drinking your beer, Carver, what does it look like I’m doing?” Eddie said with a sour tone, and instantly knew that had been the wrong answer.

“Yeah? What makes you think you’re welcome in my house?”

“Chill, man, I got invited, same as everyone else.”

“Who would want you here?” Chance Peterson said, appearing at Jason’s shoulder. This was bad.

“Uh, his girlfriend? Just like everyone else?” Eddie deadpanned, putting his can of beer on a ledge and lifting his palms. “Look, I’m really not looking to cause any trouble tonight-”

“Why would Chrissy invite you? You aren’t friends,” Patrick asked, and Eddie held back a scoff. He was willing to bet he knew Chrissy, the real Chrissy, more than any of these meatheads did.

“She invited all the seniors, that’s all there is to it. I’m a senior too-”

“Yeah, a senior citizen, you freak,” Chance said. “Why don’t you go home early and leave us actual seniors alone, huh? What is this, your tenth time trying to graduate?”

“See Peterson, I always knew you didn’t know how to count, but didn’t think you would be so bad at it. Should have known though, it’s not like anyone expects you to do anything that isn’t playing around with your balls. Now why don’t you back off and let your captain here and I have a civil conversation, alright?” Eddie looked down at Chance who narrowed his eyes at him, but Jason threw his arm out to stop him from moving forward.

“We’re not having a conversation, Munson. Back off my girlfriend or leave.”

“I’m not interested in your fuckin’ girlfriend, Carver,” Eddie said, bewildered.

“You say that, but you sure were looking at her before we walked in,” Andy said, stepping around his friends to stand next to Jason. “Wanna explain that?”

“Is looking at someone a goddamn crime now? Can’t exactly leave my eyes at home, you dumbass,” Eddie said, getting loud.

“So you were looking at Chrissy!” Jason yelled.

“No, I wasn’t! Believe it or not, not everyone is fuckin’ in love with your girlfriend, man!”

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Donny flanked Eddie, his voice booming over the sound of the music.

“Back off, dude, what’s your deal?” Gareth threatened Chance when he shoulder-checked him.

People were starting to catch on now, curious eyes looking around for the latest gossip. Jason and Eddie yelling at each other wasn’t exactly new, but both groups of friends having a screaming match at a house party? Now, that was juicy. As everyone started insulting and trying to intimidate each other, Eddie looked around trying to find Dottie in the crowd. She was still dancing with Chrissy, oblivious to the conflict, and now another cheerleader had joined them; he was pretty sure she was a junior and her name was Valerie.

“Hey! Stop looking at her, asshole!” Andy said, grabbing Eddie’s hair and turning his head back towards the imminent fight.

Andy’s voice was loud enough to startle the girls and make them look their way. Chrissy and Valerie paled instantly, hurrying forward to try to contain the scene before it turned truly ugly, leaving a path open behind them for Dottie to follow. Chrissy grabbed Jason’s arm and tried pulling him away when Eddie turned to Dottie and shook his head, his curls still in Andy’s grasp.

“It’s okay, Dot, stay over there!” he told her, not wanting to get her involved and hurt.

But it was too late, because Andy, as stupid as he was, caught on pretty quickly. He hadn’t recognized her before, all dolled up and giggly while she danced with Chrissy and Valerie. He’d simply assumed she was one of their friends, maybe even a junior he hadn’t really paid too much attention to while in school. Insistent on Eddie perving on Chrissy, he’d missed a crucial detail: that the unknown girl she was dancing with was the same girl that had threatened him in the AP Spanish classroom just a week ago. The same one that had told him to stay away from the Hellfire Club. That girl wasn’t Chrissy’s friend, she was a freak, merely blending in with the rest of the school population because she didn’t wear dark colors and leather. Andy turned on her so quickly she didn’t have time to heed Eddie’s warning before he was spewing venom towards her.

“I see now, freak,” Andy said, letting go of Eddie’s hair with a shove and stepping towards Dottie. “You weren’t looking at Chrissy, you were looking at your bitch.”

“What the fuck did you just call me?” Dottie said, angrily.

“That’s what you are, isn’t it? The freak’s little bitch. That’s why you came after me last week, huh?” Andy was seething. “Did he tell you to do that?”

“You brought that on your own by being a smug idiot,” she told him, not backing down from the fight even though she was terrified of him.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Patrick asked.

“This slut tried to tell Mr. Lorenzo that I cheated on a test if I didn’t leave her friends alone,” Andy explained, once again looking smug. Everyone was watching them now. “Said I was gonna lose my ride to college, acted all flirty and shit. What is it, honey? The freak not giving it to you good enough? Do they all share you, like the big whore you a-”

“Fuck!”

Dottie hadn’t hesitated. Instead, she’d just simply punched him right in the face with her right fist, thumb on the outside like her Grandpa Ken had taught her when they were boxing in his backyard one summer, hitting pillows and humming along to the Rocky theme song while Grandma Caroline made fresh lemonade. The crack that followed the punch was deafening. All chatter ceased and the music was turned off - if a needle were to hit the floor, it would have been so easily heard in the silence that followed her expletive. It had hurt for him, yes, something was definitely broken, but the impact on her knuckles had split the delicate skin covering them, not used to being treated so roughly by colliding against a jock’s bones. Andy pinched his nose with pain, blood starting to pour down his cupid’s bow.

“Wait, no!” Chrissy gasped, as Andy reached over to take someone’s beer can out of their hand and emptied it on Dottie’s head, throwing it away once it was empty. The metal clang on the floor until it hit someone’s shoe.

“What the fuck?” Gareth managed to say, before Eddie launched himself and pushed Andy away from Dottie who just stood there clutching at her hand and looking at the floor in shock.

Her Mom’s dress was ruined, sticky liquid dripping from her hair onto the soft fabric, staining everything as it went down, down, down onto her thighs and legs until it reached her socks. She smelled like an alcoholic and her fingers hurt. She felt empty, adrenaline leaving her body as she shivered while everything around her dissolved into utter chaos. The Hellfire Club and the basketball team were yelling and pushing each other once again, people rushing to get out of their way so they wouldn’t get hit. With the reflexes of someone used to being on alert, Nancy grabbed Dottie’s arm and yanked her aside just in time for Andy to push Eddie off himself and into a side table. Eddie hit the floor with a sickening crunch, but what made everyone stop the brawl was the sound of the lamp on top cracking into a million little pieces right next to the couch.

“Jason, stop this!” Chrissy pleaded, hanging onto his arm.

Andy, not one to be deterred, snapped his head towards Dottie, not caring that Nancy threw an arm out to cover her with her own body. He raised his hand, fully on board with hurting either of them to make a point, when Jason finally snapped into action and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him into Patrick’s arms who instantly held him in place, Chance coming over to help.

“Are you crazy?” Jason yelled at his friend. “We don’t hit women!”

He turned just in time to see Chrissy helping Eddie up, the two of them muttering to each other softly, looking a lot more friendly than he liked. His eye twitched once and he looked at Hellfire as they huddled closer to each other and started inching towards the exit, Nancy and Chrissy herding them out.

“Get out of my fucking house!” Jason told them, like they weren’t already trying to leave.

“Gladly,” Donny said, closing the door behind them and shielding them from further aggressions.

“You guys, I am so sorry,” Chrissy was saying, not knowing who to direct it to first.

“It’s okay, Chris. Not your fault your boyfriend has shithead friends,” Eddie said, patting her shoulder in comfort.

“Still, I should have-,” she cut herself off because there was nothing she could have done; the basketball team and the Hellfire Club were destined to hate each other until the end of time. She turned to Dottie instead. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I think so. My hand hurts,” she sniffed. “I’m sorry we ruined your party.”

“Oh, please, that party sucked,” Chrissy snorted. “The most fun I had all night was when we were dancing with Val.”

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Donny said, guiding Dottie towards his car.

“I can drive her, I brought her here,” Nancy offered, giving him half a smile. She wasn’t friends with the guys, but she knew enough about them through Mike to have at the very least positive feelings towards them. Besides, it wasn’t like Jonathan hadn’t also been an outcast back when he was still in Hawkins. She knew what that was like.

“No, no,” Dottie hurried to say. “You should both go back to the party. Eddie can drive me, Don, I don’t want to ruin your car.”

“Are you sure?” Chrissy said, not wanting to leave her in such a vulnerable state.

“Yes, I’m sure. Go back inside, it’s your party,” she squeezed the blonde’s hand. “I had fun dancing with you, thank you for inviting me.”

“Maybe we can do it again some day? Just us girls?” Chrissy said, eyes full of hope.

“I’d love that,” Dottie said, and she really meant it.

“Okay, then… let’s go back inside, Nancy. Bye guys, drive safe,” Chrissy waved at them, pulling her cardigan closed and both girls disappeared back into the house.

“Is this a bad time to say that I stole a case of beers?” Gareth said, lifting a 12-pack and bringing some much needed humor to the situation.

“Let’s go back to mine then, we can sneak in through the basement door,” Jeff proposed, and Donny nodded.

“I’m… I’m gonna pass, guys,” Eddie said. “I’ll take her home and head back to the trailer. My ass kinda hurts.”

“Have fun without us, okay? I’m sorry I ruined it,” Dottie said, tears swimming in her eyes. Whether it was because of the shame or the pain in her hand, no one knew but no one asked her either.

“Hey now, you didn’t ruin anything. We’ve got an awesome story to tell the kids someday,” Donny laughed.

“Yeah! We’ll be like: Auntie Dot broke a jock’s nose back in high school because he called her names,” Jeff said, putting on an old man voice and Dottie chuckled wetly.

“Come on, let’s go,” Eddie said, guiding her towards his van with a hand on her lower back.

“I should sit in the back, I’m gonna get your seats dirty,” Dottie said.

“Don’t even think about it, there’s no seatbelts in the back,” he said, climbing in and rummaging around for the tarp they covered Gareth’s drumset with when they moved it for gigs.

The music from inside the house was booming again when Donny’s car pulled into the street and the boys left, saying goodbye by honking twice. Eddie covered the front seat with the tarp and helped her get in, clicking the seatbelt for her in place and jogging to get to the driver’s side. Dottie stared out the window as Eddie turned the van on and backed up into the street, waving at a defeated Chrissy who was looking out from the living room’s window. When Eddie stopped at the first intersection, Dottie turned to look at him.

“Ed?” she asked in a shaky voice. “Can you take me to yours instead?”

The trailer was empty with all the lights turned off when they arrived, which was unusual for a Saturday night. Wayne had always had weekends off, after all, he had a kid at home to take care of and nobody was an asshole enough to ask an old man to come in during his time away with his family. Still, as Eddie kneeled down next to the entrance to help Dottie undo her heel buckles, she looked around while holding onto his shoulders and found herself missing her Mr. Wayne. Eddie had asked her in the van why she didn’t want to go home, and she had simply replied she didn’t want to tell her Dad she’d gotten into a fight just yet. She’d failed to mention that she was expecting Wayne to give her the parental comfort she needed, but without the grounding she was sure she was gonna get from her own father.

“He’s at the plant,” Eddie said, guessing her silent inquiry. “He’s doing extra time this weekend so he can take a couple of days off for graduation.”

“That’s really sweet,” she smiled, stepping out of her shoes now that he’d gotten them unbuckled. The beer that had dripped down her legs had stained the tops of her socks.

“Wait here, okay? I’ll get the shower running for you, the knobs are… well, they’re stupid,” he shrugged with resignation. “You can call your Dad if you want, tell him where you are.”

He started the shower for her while she dialed home, James picking up after a few long rings. He listened to her talk quietly while getting her a towel and clean clothes; she hadn’t exactly asked, but Eddie got confirmation that she wanted to spend the night when he heard her lie to her Dad about being at Jeff’s and having a movie night. Eddie wasn’t about to complain about her not mentioning she was with him if it meant he could sleep next to her for a full night. He went back into the bathroom, lowered the toilet’s lid and put the things he’d gathered for her on top before opening the mirror cabinet and pulling out a new toothbrush along with a packet of makeup wipes. She hung up and walked into the small bathroom after him, looking at the items in his hands with a quirked eyebrow.

“I wear eyeliner for our gigs sometimes,” he admitted. “It always looks like shit, but if it’s good enough for Ozzy, it’s good enough for me.”

“Maybe I can teach you how to do it right sometime,” she said, the corner of her mouth lifting into half a smile.

“Maybe you should just do my makeup so I don’t poke my eye out.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll do your makeup next time.”

“Kick your clothes out the door when you take them off, I’ll throw them in the washing machine for you,” he said, and left her to her devices.

He went back into his bedroom to give her privacy and get changed into his own PJs, which consisted of an old ratty t-shirt with a couple of holes around the neck and plaid pants he was sure had belonged to Wayne at some point in their lives. While he busied himself changing his sheets into fresh ones, putting her clothes in the washer and making his bedroom look somewhat presentable, Dottie tried to hurry up in the shower, not wanting to use up all the water. Still, she couldn’t help but take her time appreciating the fact that Eddie actually owned conditioner and that the green apple smell that surrounded him in the mornings belonged to the big bottle of shampoo in the corner of the tub. She washed all the beer off her skin and hair and, feeling a lot more like herself, wrapped her body into the soft off-white towel he’d gotten for her, standing at the mirror to rid herself of her make up as best as she could. She brushed her hair quickly, scrunching her curls into the towel to remove the excessive moisture, and brushed her teeth making a note to buy him a new toothbrush to replace the one she’d used. Timidly, she also reached for his deodorant, reasoning that it was better to use it than to stink up his clothes and bed with her sweat.

She was studying herself in the small mirror, not entirely believing that she was wearing Eddie’s clothes, when she realized the light scabbing on her knuckles had probably loosened up with the water and they were all bloody again like she’d never cleaned them up in the first place. Poking her head out of the bathroom, she directed her voice towards his bedroom where she could hear him pottering about.

“Eddie?” she called.

“Yeah?”

“D’you have any bandages? My hand’s bleeding again.”

“Uh, lemme see,” he pushed the door open and rummaged around in the sink cabinet, grabbing a little bag that contained their first aid supplies. “Come, sit on the bed,” he instructed, and she did as he asked without a word.

He kneeled in front of her and inspected her right hand, closing each finger carefully and pressing on parts of her palm to see if anything hurt. Nothing seemed to be permanently broken, so reached over to his bedside table where a cup of water sat and gave her an ibuprofen to help with the swelling before moving on with his next task. She watched him as he worked diligently to clean the scrapes, long thick fingers fluttering softly on her skin.

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?” Dottie asked.

“I’m getting a weird déjà vu here, princess,” he chuckled. “You need to stop getting into trouble before I get into pre-med.”

“Can’t help it. Trouble’s my middle name.”

“I thought it was Ann?” Eddie said, laughing.

Truthfully, he was joking around to hide the fact that he had been losing his mind since she’d opened the bathroom door and came out all rosy-cheeked, smelling like him and wearing his clothes. He’d given her one of his old shirts, a white one he hardly ever used anymore with a Garfield print at the front and his blue checkered boxers, not expecting them to look as big on her as they did. The hem of the shirt almost covered the shorts, and the short sleeves went past her elbows. The less was said about his gray socks that bunched up at her heel, the better, and he tried not to think about the fact that he knew she wasn’t wearing a bra because he’d had the most mortifying pleasure of throwing the cute cotton garment into his washing machine fifteen minutes earlier. Eddie was wrapping up her knuckles with a long piece of gauze when he noticed she’d gone strangely quiet. He looked up at her face to find her teary-eyed and chewing on a wobbly lip.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, holding onto her hand. “Is it too tight?”

“Is that… what everyone thinks about me?” she whispered, like she was afraid of asking out loud.

“I- I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, darling.”

“Wh-what Andy said. About me being… does everyone think I’m a slut?”

“What? No! Of course not!” he stuck the gauze in place with a piece of medical tape and lifted himself onto his knees between her legs to hug her. “Dot, he didn’t even know who you were until tonight, he was just talking out of his ass.”

“I’m not a whore,” she muttered into his shoulder. “I promise I’m not.”

“Darling, what are you on about, huh?” he grabbed her face with two hands and brought her eyes to his. “I know you’re not. You could sleep with half this town and I still wouldn’t think you’re a whore. You- you can do whatever you want with whoever you want! I know you, you’re… Dot, you’re so fucking nice to me, to all of us, and the only reason Andy said that bullshit about you is because you’re friends with the freaks.”

“I’m not,” she said, and he looked at her in question. “I’m not friends with the freaks. I am a freak.”

“Hell yeah you are,” Eddie smiled. “You are a freak, and you shouldn’t let what that piece of shit said get to you, okay? You broke his fucking nose because he talked shit about you, Dot. You’re so fucking amazing.”

It was probably the way Eddie was looking at her like she’d hung the moon and all the stars, or maybe it was the way he was holding onto her face with a gentleness no one associated with the rugged metalhead, fingers extending under her ears and into her damp hair, thumbs on her cheeks. It was most definitely the way he always took care of her, how he cleaned her wounds like she was the most fragile thing on Earth and how he never hesitated to pull her into his arms whenever she needed a hug without questioning her reasons. But honestly, it was most likely the fact that he was so close to her, his warm breath mingling with her minty one, that had her leaning forward and pecking his lips with hers in the most chaste kiss she’d ever given to anyone in her entire life.

She tried pulling away as fast as she had leaned in, she really tried to, but Eddie felt like he had been struck by a live wire and instinctively chased her mouth with his own, still cupping her face but moving one of his hands to tangle into her hair, finally taking a hold of the proverbial carrot dangling in front of him. He was kissing her - Eddie Munson was kissing Dottie Burke and he couldn’t get enough of it - he needed more, he needed to consume her and she to him until there was nothing left for anyone to see. He grabbed onto her bare thigh to pull himself up and she whimpered, the walls of the illusion suddenly crashing around him. She’d just tearfully asked him if the town thought she was a whore, and his way of reassuring her, had been to deny it and then make a move on her. Eddie jumped back so quickly he fell onto his bruised ass and hissed in pain.

“Fuck, Dot, I’m- I’m so sorry!” he pleaded, leaving her dumbfounded and glazy-eyed.

He’d fucked up. He’d ruined everything. With his eagerness, he’d jumped the gun and now his plan was ruined, and she probably, maybe, definitely thought he was a fucking pervert trying to get into her pants, and yes, he very much would like to do that but not like this. Not before she knew he would quite literally die for her, not before he’d confessed to her the profound love he felt and had finally become the kind of man she deserved to have. Dottie looked at him not understanding what had just happened, but when she moved to get off the bed and closer to him, he jumped off the floor and put even more distance between them.

“I’m so sorry, we shouldn’t- fuck, I didn’t-”

“Eddie, it’s fine-

“No, it’s not fine!” his hands tangled in his own hair while he tried to find the words to explain himself. “This is all wrong, goddamnit-”

“Eddie, calm down-”

“Fuck, Chrissy is gonna kill me, I’m such a fucking idiot-”

“Ch-Chrissy?” Dottie whispered, but he didn’t hear her in the middle of his freakout.

Oh. Oh. She was so stupid. She couldn’t even blame him, she’d been influenced by her aunts and by Gareth - and of course, who wouldn’t be in love with Chrissy Cunningham, Head Cheerleader and Queen of Hawkins High? She was so kind, and friendly, with her gorgeous eyes and warm smiles. And by his own admission, if she was going to kill him, well, that certainly meant she returned Eddie’s affections, did it not? She’d be an idiot not to love Eddie back because Eddie was so loveable. Sweet, silly, wonderful Eddie who had just kissed his best friend and regretted it deeply. She had to get out of there if there was any hope of saving their friendship.

“I’m so sorry,” Dottie said, rushing out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

“Dot, wait!” Eddie followed her. He had to fix this, he had to tell her, he was gonna tell her- “What are you doing?”

“I’m really so sorry, Eddie, I didn’t know,” she got her damp clothes out of the washing machine; the cycle had probably ended in the middle of his upset rant and neither of them had heard it.

“Where are you going? It’s midnight!” he watched her shove her feet into her heels, not bothering with fastening the buckles before she opened his front door. He had to act fast or he was going to lose her forever.

“Eddie, please,” she asked, tears pooling in her eyes again, voice broken. “I just want to go home. Everything’s fine, I’ll see you on Monday-”

“No!” he threw himself onto the door, closing it again effectively locking her in. “Y-you can’t leave like this! What are you gonna do, walk home in your heels? Are you insane?”

“Please, I’m sorry,” she sobbed, breaking his heart into a million tiny pieces. “We can forget this all happened, please, just let me go!”

“No!”

“Eddie!”

“No! We need to talk about this!”

“There’s nothing to talk about! I didn’t know you were dating her, just let me-”

“Wait, what?” It was Eddie’s turn to be confused. “I’m not dating anyone, what are you talking about?”

“I’m not fucking deaf, Ed! You just said Chrissy was gonna kill you!”

“Yes, but that’s not- Fuck! That’s not what I meant! She’s dating Jason Carver, for fuck’s sake!”

“It’s okay if you like her, she’s fucking perfect-” she babbled, fat tears leaving tracks on her cheeks.

“You’re fucking perfect! God, fuck, this is not what I-” Eddie took the clothes out of her arms and threw them into the living room, pulling her into his arms again.

“Eddie, what the fuck?!” she shrieked, trying to get away from him but he held on tight, throwing her onto his shoulder and sitting her down onto the kitchen counter.

“I made Kool-Aid!”

“What? I don’t want fucking Kool-Aid-”

“Just stop arguing!” he yelled, effectively shutting her up. “I made apple Kool-Aid.”

“...I love apple Kool-Aid,” she said, for lack of a better response.

“I know,” he said, leaning back and looking at her sitting between his arms, palms on the cold surface of his kitchen countertop. “That’s why I keep buying it. For you.”

An ugly sob bubbled up out of her throat and she hid her face in her hands. She wasn’t strong enough to keep fighting with him, and when he hugged her again, fingers tangling back under her ears, she simply bowed her head and cried harder. Eddie kissed her hair and held her, letting her release all the pent up emotions that were swirling in her mind. When she breathed a little bit easier, he looked at her, drying her tears with his thumbs.

“Can I trust you to stay here while I get the Kool-Aid?” he asked, softly.

Dottie nodded, so he moved away from her to get the pitcher out of the fridge. He filled a mug first, watching her legs swinging lightly back and forth while she sniffled and picked at her nails, and stopped before filling the next one. She saw him frown and look around the kitchen before finding what he was looking for: a yellow ceramic mug with a gnome playing the accordion on the front. A couple of weeks ago, the teens had been studying in the trailer on the small table in the kitchen, and Dottie had mentioned to Wayne she was gonna get him a hat with her college logo when she was in Michigan so he could add it to his collection. He’d glowed at that, joking that he was gonna tell everyone his niece was a genius and that he’d leave her her favorite mug in his will in return. The two of them had spent around 30 minutes going through every mug until she decided on one, all while Eddie worked on his homework with a dumb smile on his face. She’d picked a yellow mug with gnome playing the accordion on the front, the very same mug Eddie was now gently putting into her hands filled with apple Kool-Aid he allegedly kept buying because he knew it was her fave flavor.

They sipped their juice in silence until Dottie calmed down, holding onto the mug with both hands for comfort. Eddie stood there, waiting for her to say anything and when it became clear she was not gonna be the first one to talk, he put his mug down and turned to her, pulling on the hem of her borrowed boxers.

“Hey,” he said, ducking his head down to look her into the eyes. She made a small sound of acknowledgment but kept staring at the liquid between her hands. “I’m not dating anyone.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t like Chrissy,” he kept going.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“Yes, I do. I really fucking do,” he took her mug out of her hands and ducked a bit more. “Dot, look at me. Please.”

“Eddie, it’s fine-”

“I’m kind of insanely in love with you.”

“What?” Dottie breathed out, eyes widening.

“Darling, I haven’t been able to even look at anyone else since the day I met you. I’m so fucking obsessed with you it’s actually embarrassing,” he smiled at her, finally hitting her with the full force of his confession.

“You… you like me?”

“Mhm,” he nodded, lifting her hand and kissing her gauze covered knuckles. “Chrissy has been helping me plan how to ask you out. We’re not secretly dating, she knows I’m crazy about you.”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know,” Dottie murmured, ashamed that she’d jumped the gun with her conclusions.

“You couldn’t know, that was the whole point,” he chuckled. “I was gonna ask you out after graduation, I wanted to have our diplomas and everything but then you kissed me and… you’re awfully impatient, has anyone ever told you that?”

“God, I’m an idiot,” she laughed, hitting her forehead with her palm. “How long had you been planning that?”

“Since around your birthday,” he admitted, and she groaned. “I would have asked you earlier but I wanted to set things straight before, y’know? I wanted to graduate first, maybe get a job, I dunno… Give you what you deserve. Instead you get… this,” he waved his hand around. “Sorry.”

“Eddie, I’m so in love with you, it’s not even funny. What are you talking about?”

“What?”

“Oh my god, we’re both idiots!” Dottie groaned again, and he laughed in disbelief.

“You’re in love with me?”

“Yes! Why did you think I kissed you?!”

“I mean, I kinda figured out you liked me, but love, darling, that’s… That’s a lot.”

“You just said you are “kinda insanely in love” with me, what do you mean it’s a lot?” she looked at him like he had just told her the sky was green.

“Well, yeah, but- that’s different! I’m me!”

“Okay, what the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t know, I just- fuck, I love you and I really, really want to kiss you right now. Would that be okay, darling? Can I kiss you?”

She shook her head at him like he had just said the stupidest thing on Earth and wrapped her arms around him, bringing him forward and pressing their lips together again. Eddie laughed against her mouth, hands coming up to cup the sides of her jaw, thumbs rubbing circles into her skin. They kissed with no hurry and no other motives than to just kiss, savoring the moment like a cold sip of water after a long race. There were no more places to hide, no more shadows lurking in the background. It was just them under the mismatched light bulbs in the Munson kitchen, two mugs and a pitcher filled with Kool-Aid, and limbs tangling with one another, scratching an itch that had once seemed impossible to relieve.

Eddie moved his lips from hers to her cheek, up her nose and eyelids until he reached her forehead and stayed there, just breathing in and basking in the knowledge that they’d jumped off a cliff together and had landed on the other side unscathed. There were so many conversations to be had, so many things to be said, but this was more than okay for him now. This was enough, and for the first time in his whole life, he was enough. Dottie’s hands moved under his shirt, lightly running her short nails over his skin, the motion calming and grounding him. He was hers, and she was his, and there was nothing else that mattered anymore. The waters were calm. The locked padlocks remained in place, but the keys weren’t forgotten or hidden anymore. She felt at peace in a way she had never once felt before, knowing that no matter what came next, they would face it together. She yawned once, burrowing further into his skin, and he chuckled.

“Wanna go to bed now?” he asked, softly.

“Yes, please,” she replied.

Eddie helped her off the counter and let her get comfy in his room while he finished getting ready for bed, turning all the lights off and brushing his teeth with a dazed expression on his face. He found her tucked in on the left side of his bed, the one closest to the wall and realized that he could get used to this so easily. He was sure that once she went home the next day, he’d have trouble falling asleep until she was back next to him, nuzzling into his chest and wearing his clothes. They cuddled in silence, soft touches in the darkness, just exploring skin and calming rapid heartbeats with innocent caresses that revealed just how much they’d longed for this. There would be time for bolder actions, but tonight they just wanted to hold each other tight and never let go. Eddie, however, had one more question to ask before sleep could whisk them away to Dreamland.

“Darling?”

“Mhm?”

“I don’t want to, like, ruin the moment, but… what happens now?”

“Dunno. What do you want to happen?” she asked, moving her leg on top of his so he could shuffle closer to her.

“Can we maybe not tell people this happened so I can ask you out like I planned?” he said, shyly. “I just… I want to do things right with you. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

“You’re not fucking anything up, Ed. But sure, we can pretend this didn’t happen and I’ll act surprised when you ask me out,” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” he squeezed her closer. “I meant it more like… not telling the guys? You can tell your Dad if you want, though.”

“How about this?” she said, reaching up and kissing his jaw sweetly. “We don’t tell anyone anything, and my Dad doesn’t get an aneurysm every time he sees you. Sound good?”

“You want to lie to your Dad?”

“Not forever. We can tell him before I leave for college. You’re gonna come see me, right?” Dottie asked, hopeful.

“Baby, Michigan is only three hours away. They’re gonna think I’m your roommate with how often I’m gonna be there,” he pecked her hairline.

“Baby?”

“Just trying it on. D’you like it?”

“I love it. And I love you.”

“Fuck, I’ll never get tired of that. I love you,” he chuckled, leaning in to kiss her. “Okay, we won’t tell anyone so your Dad doesn’t murder me.”

“I have one condition though.”

“Okay?”

“I still get to kiss you when we’re alone.”

“You just want me to be your dirty little secret, don’t you?” Eddie joked, poking her side.

“I’ll be yours too if that helps,” she said, cheekily.

“Oh, don’t tempt me with a good time, princess,” he said with a mischievous tone. “Who knows? Might be fun to sneak around all summer.”

Half an hour later, when they were finally falling asleep between soft kisses and whispered sweet nothings, they both agreed that a little bit of teenage disobedience might just be the missing piece they didn’t know they were looking for to complete their perfect summer before officially being adults. After all, it always looked so much fun in movies, right?

taglist (comment below or send me an ask if you want to be added!): @munsonology @kurdtbean @every1lovesanunderdog @eg-dr3amer3

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noahsbookhoard · 2 months ago

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📚August 2024 Book Review (Part 2/4)📚

This batch is all over the place theme-wise but I faced some of my most terrible ennemies: romantasy, contemporary literature, saw-the-film-before-reading-the-book-and-now-I'm-biaised and the all or nothing Time Travel. This was eventful.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

From the early 20th century in Vancouver to the 24th century on a moon colony, the same phenomenon occurs: a sudden earth shattering hallucination of violins played in an airport terminal echoing in the middle of a forest. What is it? Where does it come from? The detective Gaspery-Jacques Roberts is sent to investigate.

Did I already say that I love time travel stories? Because I love time travel stories. But I'm picky as hell, if it doesn't make sense you will lose me immediately and never get me back.

That said, this book had me hooded from the beginning (passed the wonder as to why this sci-fi novel starts in 1912) and never let go.

The pacing is relatively slow but it works out well with the eery atmosphere and the feeling of déjà vu I couldn't scraper off. And there IS an element of déjà vu, something that comes back through different times with different characters so great job bringing this so deeply in the reading experience!

It also deals with the question of pandemic too but I liked how reminiscent of Covid it was without being specifically about covid. It didn't felt forced "hot typical you need to include to be relevant". It felt lived through (which it was) but always at the level of the character rather than an bigger perspective.

The story does a great work of binding together the different timelines in one chronological order and wraps nicely at the end, it was so satisfying! If is one of my favorite SciFi read of this year.

It's Kind of a Funy Story by Ned Vizzini

Craig Gilner must succeed in life, it is the only way to be happy. He needs to get to the best high-school to get into the best college to get the best job or he will be a total failure. But once he gets into an elite high school program the pression gets to high, Craig nearly tries to kill himself. He is admitted in a mental hospital and there he will meet a cast of diverse people who aren't so different from him deep down and face his anxiety.

TW for suicide ideation and a near suicide attempt

This was a wierd reading experience for me, I picked this book because I liked the Be More Chill Musical, which I admit is a wierd reason to pick a book but here we are! I did not read anything other than the back cover before diving in. I was aware that it dealt with mental health and suicide but that was about it.

The first part was a punch in the guts, just like Craig I went through an elite program (mine was after HS) and it did not go so well. I saw a kinda uncomfortable amount of myself in Craig: the overachieving mindset, the "you can do it, so you have to" mentality, the fear of not being enough, the feeling that however loving and caring my parents could be they just couldn't understand what was going on. The loneliness even when there's a crowd around... it did not go as bad for me as it did for Craig but it was painful to remember it could have. Some quotes hits right were I was 5 years ago and I wasn't prepared for it.

Thankfully Craig gets help before it goes too far and so he ends up in the mental hospital for a few days. The characters he meets there are touching, sometimes funny. One downside note for me is the transgender character (I can't remember for sure but I think it was a trans women) referred to with the wrong pronouns - which I don't think was malicious, might be early 2000's prejudice, might be the author not knowing better but as a trans person myself, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

It was also heartbreaking to read a bit more about the author and realise that there is probably a (not so) little bit of himself in this: he also spent some time is a mental hospital, and he killed himself in more or less the way Craig almost did. That made me really emotional and I wasn't bracing for that at all.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C S Lewis

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent to the country to escape the Blitz, but there's not much too do in an old house with a severe housekeeper for the four siblings. Then one day while playing, Lucy discovers a wardrobe which opens on a fantastic land trapped in perpetual winter. The inhabitants see in the children a new hope: they will help Aslan the lion to defeat the terrible White Witch who took over Narnia.

The Chronicles of Narnia are such a classic young reader novel that I'm surprised I never read them before! Turns out now I might be a little to grown up for it but nonetheless it was nice.

The Christian parallels are more obvious than in the film but the style is nice and it adds details that make the characters' actions, especially Edmund's sounds a little more logical.

Some elements are also really nice and funny with the knowledge of Lewis' friendship with Tolkien. I wouldn't have had it as a kid so for that it's good to read them as an adult.

I will probably read it all at some point but peppered through the TBR, they are nice when you have a sick day that you need to occupy or just want to chill for an afternoon. Easy, nostalgia inducing, that's perfect.

Magie et Sentiments (Les secrets de Longdawn) by Ariel Holzl

After years of war and centuries of uncertain peace, the Earth and the Moon are set to create a new alliance. This would be symbolically marked by the marriage of Nathaniel, the son of a Moon noble family and Rebecca, the daughter of an Earth Duke. Conveniently for the England Crown, Luke, Rebecca's brother, is a spy and will accompagny the affianced couple and secretly make sure of the Moon embassadors good intentions. This is without counting on Sheva, Nathaniel's beautiful but cold sister.

The title is not really subtle, "Magic and Feelings, the secrets of [pun on a city name]" is pretty much what it says on the tin: a romantasy set in a fictional England. I was very invested in the fantasy but the romance I gotta admit, was fun. This is not my favorite read of 2024 but I was not huffing loudly every few pages so that's a win for romance novels in my book! The couples are kinda cute, the pacing isn't too slow and there is enough action to keep me entertained through the romance bits.

There is also a really cool setting in the Moon Empire, with it's own culture, laws and ritual which was nice to discover. The magic system both of Earth and on the Moon are also interesting, even though the elemental one isn't super original it works well in the setting.

The earth is an uchronia, which I love, it is always fun, set in a fantastical England whose city name have been changed (see Long Dawn -> London). Sometimes it was done in a rather elegant way, but at several times the book spells out the pun in a very artificial manner ("look ah ah, the working class have SUCH a funny accent, they say Loooon-doooon, did you see what I did there??" *author winking with both eyes through the pages*) and that threw me out of the story.

This is a late Middle Grade/early Young Adult book: I think a highschooler might be bored and it's a bit hefty for an elementary schooler but middle school kid would like it qi think. No shade to the author, I was just too old for this book but maybe that's why I could appreciate it: at the very least no explicit sex scene.

#book review #bookblr #books #emily st john mandel #sea of tranquility #it's kind of a funny story #ned vizzini #the chronicles of narnia #the lion the witch and the wardrobe #cs lewis #magie et sentiments #ariel holzl

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godsfavdarling · 3 months ago

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Thoughts on The Girl Who Slept with God by Val Berlinski (no spoilers because I need everybody to read it)

I rarely write a post focused on just one book—I usually save everything for a monthly wrap-up (except for that ACOSF rant, of course). But I just can't stay quiet about this one.

I first heard about this book on TikTok about two years ago. Some girl mentioned that if you loved Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter, you had to read this.

Naturally, I went straight to Amazon and bought it for way too much. It’s not translated into my language, so I had to order it from abroad.

I started reading it back in 2022, but for some reason, I really struggled to get through the first chapter. Maybe it was because I'd fallen out of the habit of reading in English, or maybe it was the small print that overwhelmed me, but I put it down and kept telling myself I’d come back to it eventually. Well, I finally did, and oh my god.

Was it a perfect book? I’m not sure. It’s one of those that, if it’s for you, you’ll love it. But I know it won’t connect with everyone—it’s slow-paced, and not a lot happens, at least on the surface.

I’ll try not to spoil anything and just focus on a few key aspects.

Let’s start with the basics—what’s it about?

The story centers around three sisters: Grace, the eldest at 17, who is deeply moral and devoted to God, always striving to be a good, kind, and selfless person.

Then there’s Jory, the 13-year-old middle sister, who isn’t as perfect as everyone might expect her to be. She’s a bit rebellious and prone to making questionable choices, but she’s just a young girl trying to figure things out—of course, she won’t be perfect.

And finally, there’s little Frances, the youngest.

The sisters live in Idaho with their parents—a stay-at-home mom and a father who teaches astrology. The entire family is deeply religious and very involved in their church community.

When Grace leaves home for a missionary trip to Mexico, she returns believing she is pregnant with the child of God. In response, their father sends Grace and Jory to an isolated house, away from the rest of the world.

The plot is kind of insane. I wasn’t sure where it was going.

Is Grace actually pregnant with a new baby Jesus? If not, does she genuinely believe she is, or is she lying? And if she’s lying, why would she?

I had so many questions.

What I love, though, is that even though Grace is the one who’s pregnant, the story follows Jory. She’s the main character, trying to navigate everything—her complicated relationship with their mother, starting at a new school, and the typical struggles of growing up. She wants to experience things that most teens do: falling in love, making new friends, testing boundaries. But her parents forbid so much, trying to keep her from living like a “normal” teenager.

Suddenly, Jory and Grace are living alone together. They get more freedom, but they also have to fend for themselves.

I loved reading about how they figured things out on their own, but I was also incredibly angry with their parents. These are just kids, yet they’re expected to act and think like adults.

It’s probably very realistic, but all the projection from their parents was so frustrating. Their father, especially, is neurotic and obsessed with doing things a certain way. He’s more worried about what people will think than actually listening to and taking care of and loving his children.

What enraged me the most, especially toward the end, was how the parents turned everything into being about themselves—their pain, their grief, their struggles.

It became all about how they were suffering, completely disregarding what their daughters were going through. That really hit me hard because it felt so relatable.

Jory, in particular, was left to handle everything on her own. While Grace had her own issues, Jory was basically abandoned emotionally, expected to navigate this chaos without any real support.

It angered me how, in the middle of all this, her parents never seemed to realize or care that she was still a child.

They were so wrapped up in their own lives and expectations that they couldn’t see the weight they were putting on her shoulders. Jory was left alone to deal with things that no teenager should have to face, and that isolation, not even the physical one but emotional one, was heartbreaking.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this book. I don’t like knowing too much before I dive into something, and in this case, that was easy because not many people have read it. I’m really glad I stumbled upon it.

That being said, I didn’t expect it to be a coming-of-age story. I definitely didn’t expect it to center around a 13-year-old girl left to figure things out on her own.

I went in thinking it would primarily be about religion, faith, and people trying to hold on to that faith—some clinging more tightly than others as real life unfolded around them.

I found myself underlining so many lines as I read. I was using a pencil as a bookmark. I’ll share some of those parts below, without any spoilers!

#vera's books #The Girl Who Slept with God by Val Berlinski #bookreview #book review #booklr #book life #bookworm #books #books and reading #reading #book recommendations #book reccs

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folklauerate · 1 year ago

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hi! i’m a big fan of your work and admire so much how much writing you post. i feel like we’re always being graced by something new and wholly lovely. it’s a real gift and i’m so grateful that you share your work. i write fic too and often wish i worked a little faster. i’m wondering if you’d be willing to share about your process. do you have a writing schedule? what are your writing “philosophies” if you have any? is your writing pace something you’ve worked to grow as a skill, or is it something that feels like it comes more naturally to you? and if i’m being overly curious, just ignore me! i’m interested in other writers’ process but know these can potentially be big questions to ask out of nowhere. thanks!!

Hello!!!

First of all, I apologize for not answering this sooner. This is such a lovely ask and a lovely question. I attempted to get my thoughts organized, got super sick in the middle, fell a bit out of love with even writing fic, and am now back lol!

I will attempt to organize my thoughts a bit for this question, but I'm known to go off on tangents, so I apologize if something doesn't make sense. Feel free to send another ask/dm me/comment/etc for clarification or any follow-up questions :)

Right off the bat--thank you for your very kind words :,) and thank you for taking the time to read my fics! I appreciate you so much.

My process is a bit wonky. I have actually slowly and recently become aware that I don't work the way a lot of my writer friends do--in a myriad of ways. Like, my output is not necessarily normal; in some cases, I am way faster than some other fic writers in terms of putting out work, and in other cases, I'm suuuuuuuuper slow, as there are people who update a couple times a week and finish long-form fics in a handful of months.

I think it boils down to this--I started writing fic because I just wanted to read a certain kind of fic--so I wrote it. I just wrote it! I sat down and wrote exactly the words I wanted to read and then I hit publish and kept going. Anytime I got an AU idea that was particularly gripping, I would just sit and write it and that was it.

I don't outline 99% of the time. It is rare that I do and I usually hate when I do it because it ends up as a last ditch attempt to get all my ducks in a row for a story that is giving me trouble and then the outline becomes really restrictive for me and then writing becomes tedious. I think it's important to note that writing fic, for me, is a really creative thing that I try not to put pressure on myself for, and the way I write my original work is really different. With fic, I will just sit and write and hit publish and I'm lucky if I do a proof read lol. I will quite often catch typos MONTHS later. Lol. If I'm being patient, I'll sit and re-read and re-edit a fic over the course of a few weeks and it's always better and more fully formed and trimmed in the right places and (in my opinion) better when I do that, but the thing is, I really don't usually do that!

That gets to the next bit--writing philosophies. There's about a thousand schools of thought and they're all garbage. The only one that matters is the one that you come up with and that works for you. Now, that doesn't mean that your writing philosophy and approach to the craft has to be entirely independently thought up by you, no. It can and probably will be an amalgamation of your own ideas and other people's ideas that work for you! But it should be a bit of taking from other's here and there and finding what works for you.

Mine is sort of like this;

For me, writing fic is a lot of things, but at the core, it is about creativity, freedom, removal from a capitalist need to produce/creation for the sake of creation, and a place to push my own boundaries. I write super wild smut or crazy out there AUs just to push myself to see if I can write it. I write an AU I come up with while driving in the car just because it gripped me and I want to. I write super fast because the idea just grips me and I want to exorcise the demon inside me and vomit it all up on the page and feel better. I've found that if I stray from that and I write for another reason, I usually feel pretty crummy about it.

This, of course, means that I don't have a real schedule or strict deadlines for myself or anything. I just write for fun and that's it! I am sure it's probably frustrating as a reader and I am sorry 😭 tbh sometimes it's frustrating as a writer knowing I'd probably have greater readership if I was more consistent with updates and wrote on a schedule and stuff, but that's my own fault lol, I just follow the muse. That being said, right now, I remain committed to finishing all my WIPs. I don't have a timeline for that, but I do remain committed to it.

Of course, I don't know how much of this is helpful for you if you're looking to have more discipline in your practice, so here are some more practical steps to write consistently;

put aside time each day to write, even 30 mins a day is good

SPRINT!!! sprinting for 15 mins and giving myself an impossible word count to meet really pulls me out of a funk and pushes me to write

follow your muse where it takes you and write what feels fun

on the flip side, you have to sometimes be the grown up and force yourself to sit down and write the bits you might be dreading or putting off, and you just gotta do them! this is where sprinting comes in

Your last question; my pace really has just come naturally, it's not something I've worked on or worked towards. It's been a bit of a "oh I guess that's there" lol. Discovering my normal and discovering what I can reasonably expect from myself both length-wise and time-wise (in how long it takes for me to write something) has been hugely helpful in budgeting my time moving forward while writing and setting realistic goals and expectations for myself. There have been times I have pushed myself--like with Bridgerton, Actually, which I wrote updates for weekly--and times where I let myself have a chapter update with a low for me word count and remind myself it is fine lol. The pace is the pace and it just... happens! I will say that if you're looking to get faster, ask yourself why, and try to be realistic if the quality is going to grow along with the pace, or if it will suffer. There have been times where I've taken longer on an update, knowing full well I could just slap something down on a paper and hit update and not care, but I instead made myself work through things, even when I didn't want to, and take time with them, because I knew it would be worth it for the quality. Sometimes, however, I've sacrificed quality for timeliness (Bridgerton, Actually is an example of that; I still think it's a good fun holiday fic, but it's only about 33% as good and fleshed-out as I wanted it to be, but that's my own fault because I didn't start writing soon enough ahead of time, and I prioritized my update schedule over quality, and that was a concession I had to make my peace with!), and that's okay too, if that's what you know you're going to do going into something!

I think I answered all of your questions but feel free to let me know if you'd like me to expand on something :)) thanks for the question, it wasn't invasive at all! I love talking about the process <3

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bloodmaarked · 11 months ago

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where sleeping girls lie // faridah àbíké-íyímídé

first published: 2024 [to be released 14 march] read: 17 january 2024 – 24 january 2024 pages: 576 format: ebook [ARC]

genres: fiction, young adult, mystery, light romance (lesbian) favourite character(s): elizabeth least favourite character(s): baz (sorry!)

rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 thoughts: so. i read ace of spades as an ARC back in 2021 and i can't really explain the way i was truly obsessed with this book (you can read my original review here). i read it in four days, bought a physical copy when it came out, talked about it to other people, etc. it was one of my favourite reads that year and it put faridah very firmly on my list of authors to watch. imagine my excitement when i was offered a chance to read her sophomore book early.

well. where sleeping girls lie just didn't hit the same. it's hard not to compare to her debut because there are a lot of shared elements and themes between the two, but i couldn't help noticing that WSGL lacked the spark, the excitement, and the punch of AOS.

one of the major faults is just how uneventful it was. the pacing felt so slow and only by around 80% in did i find myself thinking "oh, something's actually happening now". threads are picked up and then dropped for so long that by the time they came back around, i didn't care anymore. or things went unexplained for so long that i feel they became largely irrelevant to the plot. i wasn't necessarily bored but i did feel like i was in a perpetual state of waiting for the story to pick up. the overall plot was not as groundbreaking or exciting as the one in AOS, but i appreciated what it wanted to say.

the characters were also a little lacklustre. chiamaka and devon from AOS felt well-written, they were relatable in ways, and they had personality. sade, as the main character in WSIG, didn't really have much personality outside of her trauma. who was she, as a person? i don't really know. the side characters were okay, although i will say that i really liked the sense of intrigue and duplicity written into the male characters like august and jude. this will probably be an unpopular opinion but i didn't care for baz as the best friend at all; his manic pixie dream boy schtick got tired real quick.

i'm not so sure about how good the writing was in general. the whole book felt like it could have done with another thorough edit, and definitely a cut down in length by at least 100 pages. some of the dialogue also felt stilted and clunky. the story ultimately had an interesting and relevant message but i struggled to feel much depth from the writing.

i didn't dislike this book, i think i just had very high expectations following AOS and with the similarities between the two i wasn't expecting quite so many differences in quality. i would absolutely still go ahead and read more books by faridah (i've still got four eids and a funeral on my reading list) and would love to see her branch out to stories perhaps with an older cast, set outside of high school, or not focused on elite teens.

massive thanks to Usborne Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

#where sleeping girls lie #faridah àbíké íyímídé #2024 reads #2.5 stars #fiction #mystery #book review #booklr #bookblr #bookworm

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piratekane · 2 years ago

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3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

So many questions! Let me overshare!

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed? I do my best writing in the gremlin hours, after everyone has gone to sleep and it's just me, my dog, and my Spotify playlists featuring [redacted]. I don't use a desk, only a small laptop table and the couch. I always have a blanket, no matter the weather. And I use split screen - one side to write and one side to shuffle through all the chats I screenshot that has pieces of the story I'll eventually tie together. And no matter the time, I always have a cup off coffee. It's 10:20PM and I'm finishing the pot right now before I go make a half one that'll carry me over until I go to bed. If no one got me, I know my coffee maker got me.

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back? In 8th grade, I let a girl named Alexandra - not Alex - borrow my brand new copy of The Slippery Slope, the 10th book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events run. She was very nice. She wore her hair in braids. I remember this because I used to sit behind her and wonder how long it took to get her braids like that. But more importantly, to the story at least, I was in love. She saw me reading it at recess, hiding behind the big tree so the nuns (Catholic school survivor over here) didn't yell at me and she told me that she wanted to read it too. Being in love, I did not even hesitate. In fact, I didn't even finish reading it. I gave it to her, right in the middle of the story, and told her she could give it back when she was done. She was a slow reader, but she brought it to recess every day and we sat under the big tree and she'd flip through the pages at an excruciating pace and I kept telling myself, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine - she'll be done soon and then you can finish it. The Baudelaires can wait. But then she was absent one day. And then the next. And for a whole week. And at the end of three weeks, I finally found out that she moved. And she took the book with her! Or at the very least, left it behind where I could never find it. The heartbreak. The devastation. I vowed to never let anyone ever borrow a book again. I made my wife buy her own copy of a book she wanted to borrow from me. Good thinking, too, because she left it behind when we went on vacation to the coast. It's probably someone's odd choice for a beach read now.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud? My organization skills extend to page breaks and applying title formatting to my gdocs. Sometimes I do handwritten notes that I scribble down during Very Important Meetings, but they tend to look like one of those whiteboards coaches use in football games to dictate the play. Like this:

And by the time I get around to using the notes, the X's and O's don't make sense anymore. I tried Scrivener for a bit but it's... too organized? I like going through my phone's camera roll to find all the chats I've screenshot with small fic notes or big ideas. Somehow, that makes the most sense to me.

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Maybe it's just because I'm Really In It Now, but Ava Silva is a goddamn delight. She gets to be charming and thoughtful and funny and I'm really just having the best time with her.

#this was really fun!#thank youuuu

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petermlx · 2 years ago

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Rant

I write how I want to read something.

I don't read too well so I try not to make my paragraphs too long and I try not to add too many run-on sentences.

I add more detail than what should be necessary because if it's easier for me to envision a scene then it's easier for me to put my characters into that scene. I imitate the character’s accents so that I can hear their voices and hear what certain words would sound like while they say them. Sometimes, I just pace my room and talk to myself, act out the scene that I'm writing because then the next unwritten scene comes to me and I can put it down into words.

I met with somebody today, a poetry, script, and book writer. I'm doing another Poetry Slam this year and my librarian suggested that I go to a workshop to help me prepare. I was luckily the only one there.

For the first time, I described to somebody what my writing process looked like and why I wrote the way that I did.

He nodded along to every word I said and called my process amazing.

I think it was the best compliment an adult has ever given me.

He read me some of his poetry and I listened to his tempo and the way he enunciated some of his words. My speech impediment prevents me from speaking too quickly so I have to slow down to properly pronounce some words. He complimented me on my poem last year, my first ever poem, the poem that won first place against students older and more experienced than me.

I wasn't in theatre yet at the time of the first Poetry Slam, I didn't completely understand what method acting was. But I knew that I sounded better when I over-dramatized my words and actions so that's how I delivered the lines of my first poem. He asked me how I knew what to do when I didn't understand how method acting worked.

I told him that before I even started high school that I listened to a bit of Button Poetry. Brave Young Voices, he said. That was probably it, I responded. I tell how that I heard a poem from these three girls. Somewhere in America, is what it was called, I couldn't remember the name at the time. I told him that I liked the way those girls sounded, how they got louder and then went quieter, how their voices shook and then became strong again, how they could stand perfectly still and then start gesturing up a storm.

I told him that I imitated them, that I copied the way that they pushed their emotions into their voices and the deliberate and yet frantic way that they moved on that stage without even moving their feet.

And that was that. He didn't try to push to figure out why I did that, he just accepted that it worked for me and that I could pull it off well.

He told me that I was further along with the Slam than anybody else he’s talked to. Since the Slam last year, I haven't picked poetry back up. This is officially the second piece of poetry I've ever written. He told me that because of how different our poetry writing styles are and how his doesn't work for me and mine doesn't work for him, that there wasn't much else he could do to help me get better because I've already gotten there myself.

He told me good luck and that he’ll be in the audience again and that he’ll put my preferred name on the contestant list. I told him thank you.

We spoke for over two hours, and not a minute of that time was wasted.

#peter’s everyday thoughts

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swiftsaltsweet · 2 years ago

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Wednesday Season 2: Hyde in the Shadows (Fanfic)

Episode 1A: Woe-fore art thou Wednesday?

Characters: Wednesday and Enid (ft returning chars and new OCs)

Pairing: Wenclair

Important info: VERY Slow Burn, Canon Compliant (with season 1), read A/N For more details on everything.

Summary: Stalking, murders, troubling visions, sins of the past, and a little bit of kidnapping. Wednesday's start of the second semester isn't a normal one, but when is her life ever "normal?" Wednesday has new mysteries to solve and catastrophes prevent, with the help of her overly enthusiastic roommate Enid, she just has to deal with some annoying relatives first.

Other Sites: AO3 and Fanfic.net

A/N: Can't wait for S2 so I'll make my own. Gonna try to keep it as canon compliant from Season 1 as I can. For those who care about ships, I do have plans for Wenclair but I hope you like a crock pot slow cooker cause that's what you're getting babes. You'll obvie have to deal with Ajax/Enid having/had feelings for each other (as well as me dealing/resolving the rest of this accursed love pentagon XP), again I'm being canon compliant. And that also means me trying to pace it more like the TV show (so enjoy my "episode" format).

Oh yeah OC warning, cause like…I kinda have to? It's not like we have a lot of characters and we'll need new people for new things. XP

Didn't know I'd be publishing it roughly right when Netflix announced S2! Was going to publish this when I knew I got ep 2 done but eh, que sera sera.

Anyway, not beta read, we'll live or die by my disembodied hands! ;w;/

________________________________________________________________

It was a cold late-January day, the last of the students were bustling through the gates of Nevermore, excited for the new school semester to come. Students said their goodbyes to their families, some more hastily than others. One such student was Enid Sinclair, a late bloomer werewolf at Nevermore.

"Ok sweetie, chin up, fangs on, claws out!" Enid's mother adjusted the collar of Enid's clothes.

"C'mon give us a growl," Enid's four older brothers howled.

Enid groaned inwardly, shooting her claws out and making a 'rawring' motion with them, "Grrr…." She attempted to growl, but only exceeded with placid enthusiasm.

She was a bright and cheerful girl who never, or at least usually, let anything hold her back…. even if said things were her older brothers and overbearing mother. Again, usually.

"Oh, you can do better than that!" her mother scoffed, rapping Enid's shoulder lightly, "Well…. never mind. I've learned to tamper my expectations." She then patted down Enid's newly long bangs, making sure it framed and covered the left side of her daughter's face just right.

Enid held back from rolling her eyes. She just needed to last a few more seconds and she could finally be free.

"Now you listen here, it's a new start of the new year, a lot can change! A lot changed last year, so-" Enid just nodded her head to whatever her mother was saying. It was probably something Enid heard a thousand times over the winter vacation anyway.

And did Enid have a very long winter vacation, both in a metaphorical sense and literal. Everyone at Nevermore had an early vacation due to the events that happened last year. Where there was a mass murderer running around, one of their teachers turned on them, had their principal killed, and summoned a racist pilgrim ghost. Understandably, the school closed its gates on the semester early so it could get itself sorted for the next year.

But Enid's break felt extra-long, possibly because of how much she had to spend with her family. Not that she didn't love her family, but they could really get under her fur at times. It didn't help much that all her friends were busy that winter.

She tried seeing if she could visit Yoko, one of Enid's closest friends who happened to be a vampire. Sadly, she was spending her break with family. It was a pilgrimage to the birthlands of her people. Enid was interested to hear the details of their trip but became squeamish when she realized one location involved people being pierced through with spikes.

The only person she was able to visit was her boyfriend, Ajax, a gorgon. Which would've been nice if not for her mother's judgmental attitude the whole time. Plus, she really wanted to spend some girl time with her other friends.

Enid easily ran through her vast list of friends, but all of them were busy, either for personal reasons or their families had taken advantage of the extra-long time off to spend as much time with their children before they shipped them back off to the boarding school for outcasts.

Enid's last remaining hope had been Wednesday Addams, her new bestie and roomie at Nevermore. They had a rocky start to their friendship, but Enid knew they totes got closer over the time they spent at school.

It was hard to describe Wednesday Addams, she was a peculiar person. She was a girl with a tongue as sharp as a knife and a personality as dark as the black clothes she wore; with a penchant for visions and detestable morbid hobbies, and a strange, detached hand as a….. pet? No, more like a family member. Enid still wasn't sure how Wednesday's disembodied hand, named Thing, was related to her family, but he had become a close companion to Enid as well.

She and Wednesday (and Thing) had been in close correspondence throughout the winter break, via letters. Despite another student at the school, Xavier, having gifted Wednesday a cellphone at the end of the school year previously. Wednesday was adamant to not use it, and insisted they only talk through letters. It was a bit archaic, but it was sweet in its own way. Enid's only issue is that Wednesday wouldn't come visit her. Nor would she let Enid come visit her own house.

Of course, Enid was dejected she couldn't spend time with them, but she respected Wednesday's boundaries. When Wednesday said "no" she meant it, and if you didn't listen, you'd probably wake up with one less finger on your hand.

And so, Enid's very long winter break was now over. She was able to see her friends again!

Enid wrapped up her goodbyes with her parents and brothers, hugging her father, dodging her brother's roughhousing, and ignoring her mother's final jabs of disapproval for something or other; and quickly ran into the school, keeping an eye out for her friends as she passed by. She made her way up to her dorm room, but was met with emptiness, sans her luggage.

Enid thought that Wednesday might be in, since it had been a few hours since she and her family had brought her bags up and gone out to eat. But it appeared that wasn't the case.

She sighed, and quickly turned out of the room and ran downstairs, keeping an eye out for anyone she knew, craving some kind of "human" interaction that she didn't share blood with. Still no one. She soon found herself at the foot of Edgar Allen Poe's statue, and an idea popped into her head. She looked around the corridor, and upon seeing no one there, snapped her fingers twice. A secret passage soon opened before her, and she quickly went through.

"There's too many people," Enid heard a regal voice complaining as she descended the stairs, it was Bianca, a siren and Queen Bee of Nevermore.

"I thought you loved the people's adoration!" a sarcastic voice rang out, it was Xavier, a psychic and King of Nevermore, "Isn't it the more the better?" The smirk he wore quickly flashed away after Bianca flicked his forehead.

"So, this is where you guys were hiding away," Enid announced as she bounced off the last step.

"Having a secret hideout does have its advantages," a nervous chuckle came from around the corner, it was Ajax.

Enid blushed and gave Ajax a hug before crossing to the other side of the room to stand near another siren and friend, Divina, "Sooooo, why are you guys hiding down here?"

"Like I said, 'Too many people,'" Bianca waved her hand lazily above her head, addressing the ceiling and the muffled kerfuffle above them, "The dorms are too crowded and noisy with everyone going to and fro. It's just easier to hide out here for the next few hours."

"Ah I see," Enid looked around the secret room, a special hideout for a club called the "Nightshades," just a place where a bunch of popular kids decided to hang out. Xavier, Bianca, Ajax, and the two siren twins, Kent and Divina, were there, but one last prominent member was missing, "Has Yoko not arrived yet?"

Divina pushed her lips and shook her head, "Nope, haven't seen her, but then again we've been down here this whole time."

"Weird, Wednesday isn't here either."

Enid began to ponder if the two goth girls were being held up by their families. Yoko could still be on her trip, and Wednesday….. Well, Wednesday once akin her parents holding her up to a boa constrictor slowly choking you….. but without the adrenaline rush. Enid assumed she meant that as a bad thing, but it was hard to tell with Wednesday sometimes.

Time passed in the chamber as the group of teens caught up. Many diving into detail about their break, and some not so much. The jovial atmosphere was soon disturbed with frantic running and crashing down the stairs.

"Yoko!" Divina exclaimed, rushing over to help her girlfriend up after falling from her frantic sprint, "What's the matter? What's going on?"

"It's Wednesday," Yoko gasped between breaths. Seeing the ever-coolheaded Yoko frantic made everyone feel on edge.

"What the matter? Did something happen?" Enid exclaimed, rushing over to Yoko.

"I-I-I don't know! Yes? No? She's-oh just- Enid! Follow me!" Yoko quickly turned back around and sprinted up the stairs, the Nightshade club and Enid hot on her tails.

Soon they arrived at a familiar place, the door to Yoko's dorm room. Was Wednesday in there? Why was she there? Has she ever been into Yoko's room before? Did Wednesday trash her room? Was someone dead? These questions swirled in everyone's heads, but especially Enid as she was close to both girls.

But before anyone could voice these questions to Yoko, she just opened the door, "Look!"

And so the group gazed upon Yoko's room and found it….. normal. Painfully normal, almost normie kind of normal. It was not something you would think would warrant Yoko's reaction.

"Um, Yoko, what are we supposed to be looking at?" Bianca said.

"Don't you see? Look!" Yoko spluttered, wound up and fearful.

Another look at the room. All the group saw was a normal dorm room. On one side, clearly Yoko's from the mixture of Harajuku fashion and gothic vampire horror, and her coffin lying in the corner of the room; and on the other side, light pink decorations adorned with a new roommate. Also dressed in pink. She sat on her laptop, not facing the group, typing on her computer like she didn't have a care in the world. The only real odd thing were the two dolls on her dresser, one was headless and the other was of a girl with an ax.

But that was all there was to it, it was a normal dorm room. Just one side was more gothic, and the other more typical girly. It almost reminded Enid of her own dorm room with Wednesday, with Enid being the colorful side, and Wednesday's side looking like something you'd find in a cemetery.

"Um, Yoko, I'm not sure what we're supposed to be seeing….." Enid trailed off. She was starting to worry for Yoko's wellbeing and feared she might be bothering Yoko's new roommate.

Yoko turned to Enid and pointed an accusing finger at her new roommate.

"It's that! That's the issue here! Do something Enid!"

Enid was shocked by how rude Yoko was being towards her new roommate by calling her 'that,' but also….. why was it something Enid had to do?

"I don't think I understand what's going on here Yoko, but don't you think you're being a bit rude to your roommate?"

"She's not my roommate, she's yours. Please collect her! She's scaring me!" yelled louder, now pushing Enid towards the other side of the room towards the pink cladded girl.

Everyone looked at Yoko stunned; she must've lost her mind.

"C'mon Yoko!" Enid laughed nervously, "Wednesday's my roommate, remember? There's no way she would get that close to the color pink. She hates color! She's even allergic, her skin will peel off she ever came in contact wit-"

"Hm? What's all this commotion?" a familiar voice chirped.

A chill ran down everyone's spine, it was a familiar voice, but it was off. It was too chipper, too nice sounding to be who they thought it was.

Everyone's eyes followed to where the voice was coming from and stopped at the girl with the laptop. The girl stood up, revealing a cute pink dress, and turned around.

A scream of horror was stuck in everyone's throat.

"What brings you all over?" Wednesday Addams, dressed in pink, smiled and asked the group.

***~***

Nevermore' s dorm walls were wracked with screams of horror, as Kent ran down the halls to get as far away from Yoko's room as physically possible. His twin sister would've followed, if she didn't stay to catch an almost fainting Yoko.

Everyone took a large step back in horror, everyone except for Enid, as she was more stunned than horrified.

The reason for such an adverse reaction was because…. Wednesday Addams did not smile. She did not wear pink, did not blush, did not curtsey, did not hold any glee in her darkened soul of a body. In any normal circumstance, if Wednesday Addams were to smile, it would mean someone was close to meeting a very undesirable fate, one worse than death.

There was only one person in this academy that was able to handle the very dark and dreary, the kooky, mysterious and spooky Wednesday Addams, and that was her roommate Enid. She had grown accustomed to her strange roommate, and so this reveal didn't not scare her as much as it surprised her.

She was almost a little annoyed, because really? If Wednesday was going to become more colorful, she could've at least asked Enid for some advice! This was exactly the kind of girl bonding time she so desperately wanted with Wednesday, and yet again she was left out of it.

Because of this minor slight, Enid couldn't help but feel a bit miffed with her next words.

"Wednesday, what are you doing?" Enid huffed, unafraid of the ex-goth girl.

Wednesday looked confused and a bit taken aback, "Um…. surfing the web?"

"The web? Like with a spider?"

"No, like with a computer," Wednesday looked at Enid with the sympathy you would give a head trauma victim, before gesturing over at the laptop on her desk.

Enid rushed past Wednesday and began inspecting her side of the room. Pink, pink, so much freaking pink. Fuzzy pillows, the book Little Women-the classic, not a book about women being shrunken down, the two strange female dolls, the prodigal laptop, and…. she was on Tik Tok?! This was not Wednesday Addams' desk, there's no way it could be. She was as allergic to modern technology and its social media apps as she was anything colorful.

With a quick snap, Enid turned on her heels, eyes locked onto the slightly shorter girl. She shot out her hands and pinched Wednesday's cheeks and began observing every small thing to see what else was different. Wednesday still wore her braided pigtails, with her bangs now pinned down to each side, and her hair looking a deep dark shade of brown instead of raven black. Her freckles were less noticeable, possibly because of the new color that was in her flesh.

Enid took a big breath, and even Wednesday's scent had changed too. Where Wednesday used to smell like dead flowers and a hospice, she now smelled like fresh dew and a field of flowers.

Despite the differences, she still looked like Wednesday. Same height, same dimple on her chin, and same cute little nose. For all intents and purposes, it was Wednesday.

But Enid couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. She had just been in correspondence with Wednesday not even two weeks prior, and she sounded the same in her letters as she always had. Did something so drastic change between then and now?

"Whaf arc your dowing?" Wednesday tried to speak through the pull of Enid's fingers.

Enid released the shorter girl, "Inspecting."

"Did I pass, inspector?" Wednesday took a step back, giving herself some space between her and the blonde.

"Wednesday, what happened?" Bianca was the first to recover.

"Hm? What happened? Oh, you mean over the break? Nothing much, just had a big family gathering. Saw everyone-oh! Uncle Fester did give me a minor case of electrocution during one of our family games," Wednesday giggled, "Oh you should've seen my hair it was so-"

"Wait, you were electrocuted?!" Xavier stepped forward.

"Yes, don't tell me you haven't been before?" she replied as if it was as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "Also I'm sorry, it got away from me while I was being manhandled," she dodged Enid, who was beginning to sniff and inspect her some more, "But who are you people? Well except you, I know you're my roommate! By the way, why did you run off and…. are you ok? You look unwell."

Yoko came to, "Wh-no! She's your roommate," Yoko pointed at Enid, who was glaring Wednesday's hand she was holding. Perfectly smooth, normal hand with pink nail polish. Wednesday pulled her hand away, but Enid just glared at her.

"But the principal said-"

"The principal is wrong!"

"You really don't remember any of us?" Xavier interjected.

Wednesday shook her head and trailed off unbothered, "Hmmm maybe my memories were messed with more than we thought…."

"You really don't remember anything?" Bianca started.

"Nothing about the murders?" Ajax continued.

"About joining the Hummers," Enid inquired

"The bloody Rave'N dance?" Yoko followed.

"How you kissed Tyler?" Xavier asked sullenly.

"She did what?!" Enid turned to him. Wednesday never disclosed an actual kiss to her. But she did with Xavier of all people? Enid didn't think Xavier was as close to Wednesday as she was.

"I did what?" Wednesday asked, with a small twinkle in her eye.

"The murderer!" Enid exclaimed back to Wednesday in disbelief.

"Ooo, I kissed a murderer?" Wednesday's eyes got brighter.

"Must not have been that good if you can't remember," Xavier scoffed smugly.

Enid looked around the room and saw no one else surprised, "You all knew?"

"It was kind of brought up by Tyler, when Wednesday was torturing Tyler," Bianca tried to soothe her. It barely placated Enid, but she let the issue drop.

"Torture?" Wednesday's eyes practically glistened with excitement.

"Um…. Do you remember how you beat us in the Poe Cup? How you punched Kent?" Divina interjected, trying to get back on track.

"That was Thing, not Wednesday," Enid corrected.

"How you ordered Thing to punch Kent?" Divina corrected.

"Speaking of Thing, where is he? Did you bring him?" Enid interrogated.

"No, no no no no, no too all of it, and why would I bring Thing?"

"Because we're besties!"

"You are?"

Enid was about to say something but was interrupted by a bone chilling voice.

"What is all this racket?" A sullen looking man came from behind the group of teens, Kent followed behind, no, was being dragged against his will behind him.

"Kent!" Divina scream-whispered at her brother, all he could give her was a shrug and look of confusion. It appeared that Kent didn't want to bring the mysterious adult with him, or even be in the room for that fact.

The group of teens, sans Wednesday, gave a wide berth to the intimidating man. He had his salt and pepper hair pushed back, dark circles under his red eyes, which all contrasted with his ghostly pallor, paler than most vampires due to his age. In all honesty, he looked like someone that might fit into Wednesday's family.

"Mr. Orlock, what brings you around?" Bianca said nervously.

"Principal Orlock, my days of teaching advanced conjuring are over. Now that Principal Weems is gone-may Satan take care of her-the board has decided I should be the one to take her place," Orlock started gliding around the room, herding the teens together like cattle, "So what, pray tell, is going on here."

He raised an eyebrow towards Wednesday, "You aren't causing trouble already, are you Ms. Addams? Didn't we just talk about how much trouble you got up to last year? I don't want any more incidents with the police."

"Oh, heavens no! I wouldn't dream of it, Principal Orlock! I promise I'll be, and I've been on my best behavior," The girl exclaimed in an over-the-top manner then mock sniffled, "It's just that they barged in here, started causing all this racket and were saying I should be living with the blonde instead."

"Enid!" Enid corrected exasperatedly.

"The blonde named Enid. And I'm just so confused, I was only trying to get a jump on my studies!"

"Wha-liar you had Tik Tok open- wait no that's not the point. She should be rooming with me! It makes no sense for her to be rooming with Yoko and-"

Principal Orlock held up his palm and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand, "I don't have time to deal with this foolishness! There will be no changes to the rooms at this time. That is my final word."

"But-," Enid started.

"No, 'buts!'" the elderly vampire growled, "No screaming, no running around," he glared pointedly at Kent, "No barging into rooms unannounced. I want move-in day to run nice and smoothly. Now, if this is not your dorm room! Disperse!"

With a click of his heel, he turned away. Wednesday only shrugged and chipperly skipped back to her desk, ignoring the rest of the people in the room.

Everyone started filing out, except for Enid, who practically had to be dragged away.

***~***

A week passed at Nevermore. A week since Wednesday's drastic change. A week since Enid practically cried herself asleep. A week since Enid found herself alone in her dorm room again.

Enid hated being alone, she'd rather be with her pushy, toxic pack mentality family than be alone. And now she found herself in a prison of solitude again.

And this state, probably is what drove Enid to do what she did this past week. Being pushy, trying to win Wednesday over again. All it did was push Wednesday away.

It didn't help that this "new" Wednesday was more sociable, having already gotten into her own little cliques before the start of their first 1st period class. People also changed how they talked to her, now addressing her as "Addams." The changes were becoming too much for Enid to handle. It was making her desperate. Oh, so very much.

But for the student body? They had accepted this change, embraced it. As for if it was because everyone just got used to it. Or because they were happy with a version of Wednesday not looking like she would murder them any minute, it was hard to tell. But Enid wasn't like everyone else in this case, she didn't accept the change. She rejected it.

Enid now sat alone at an obscure lunch table, while lunch was usually where she would hang out with friends, lately she'd taken up a new hobby of stalking a certain someone.

It was something new for Enid, stalking someone in real life. She was a pro at online "stalking," as she ran a big gossip blog revolving around the students in Nevermore and the neighboring town's students of Jericho. Thankfully(?), she did pick up on some more or less than legal tricks from Wednesday the semester prior.

"Stalking Wednesday?" a familiar voice spoke from behind.

"Again?" another familiar voice also chirped and sat down.

It was Xavier and Eugene, Wednesday's only other two close student companions at Nevermore. Well, Enid was sure about the latter, as Wednesday seemed to latch onto her psychic bee clubmate like he was a younger brother. The former? The relationship seemed to confuse Enid. While Xavier was infatuated with Wednesday, while Wednesday only ever gave him the cold shoulder.

"No, I was just…. Sitting alone in the dark corner of the quad because it's fun!" so maybe Enid wasn't that great at stalking….. or lying in this case.

"You're gonna have to face facts," Xavier started picking at his food, "She's changed…. And moved on."

He sullenly glared in Wednesday's direction, after the dorm room incident, Wednesday had been avoiding her old group of friends/acquaintances sans Yoko of course. At least the times when Yoko would be in her own dorm room and not hiding out in Divina's or Enid's. Yoko was terrified but wouldn't say why.

The only thing Enid was able to get out of her was some garbled sentence sounding like "Her clothes look mouthwatering." None of that made sense to Enid so she ignored it. Divina had a few choice words to say to her girlfriend though.

This new Wednesday was a lot more sociable, reserved in a friendly way, and very polite. She had been seeing Enid at other extracurricular activity events, she was never rude, but she always kept Enid at arm's length.

"I understand how you feel Enid, your room must be lonely without Wednesday, my shed's lonely with just me and the bees," Eugene sighed. He was so bummed he didn't even have the energy to hit on Enid, his ongoing crush for the past two years.

Enid ignored them, she just kept her eyes on Wednesday, how she was eating, chatting with friends, playing the knife game with their hands-well at least that sounded like the usual Wednesday.

Enid grounded her teeth in frustration, the change bothered Enid, so much so she felt obsessive. But she couldn't put her finger on why.

She kept staring at Wednesday, her hands, the way her cheeks rose when she smiled, the way her scent smelt like a bouquet of flowers-

Something clicked in Enid's head, "That's not Wednesday."

The two boys looked at her in alarm, after a tense moment of silence Xavier spoke first, "Enid, what do you mean?"

"Listen, I know it looks like her, but it's not!" Enid was surprised, she beamed at the two boys, "Don't you see? It's not her!"

The boys looked at her concerned.

"It just looks like her! I-I can't explain but…. ok maybe I can. It's a werewolf thing, her scent is different. Too different! There's no way it can be her!"

Xavier's eyes widened.

"There are also physical differences too! It just can't be her!"

"So, then who is that girl over there?" Xavier asked, very serious.

Enid stopped; she hadn't really thought about it until now. Who was that girl over there if she wasn't Wednesday?

"A…. clone?" she guessed.

"Or maybe a shapeshifter or changeling?" Xavier whispered.

"Wh-what if it's a ghost possession or it's just wearing her skin after it killed her?" Eugene added nervously.

"Killed?" Enid whispered, feeling her palms start to sweat. She had been so hung up on trying to reconnect with Wednesday, no, this fake, she hadn't thought about the real her possibly being in danger or dead.

Enid turned to Xavier, "You've read all those books in the Nightshade library, don't they have a clue? Are there any warning signs of some creature that lines up with Wednesday's unusual weirdness?"

Xavier snapped and shook his pointed finger at Enid, "No, but I think you might be onto something Sinclair. I'm going to get that right now."

"Are you going to cut class?" Enid asked.

"Yeah, if Wednesday's in trouble, it's better we get a hop on this sooner rather than later."

He had a point; Enid would rather get detention than have her best friend's body on her hands.

Eugene sat there pondering for a moment, "I think I have an idea that might work-I'll tell you what I find out later."

Enid looked at him suspiciously, "It better not involve you investigating the woods at night. If you wind up in the hospital again Wednesday will surely kill me!" Enid shuddered remembering how banged up the poor boy looked after the Hyde attack from last year. It really upset Wednesday to see her club mate lying in a coma.

Eugene beamed, "Don't worry, it won't be dangerous for me," he winked and slowly got up, "I'm going to make some preparations. I'll tell you if I find anything."

"Yeah, I'm going to start too, catch you later!" Xavier stated.

With that, the two boys got up from the table, and headed to the exits with other students who were dispersing to head to their next class.

With a sigh, Enid got up to do the same, unsure of how she could help. She begrudgingly walked by Wednesday's table. As Enid passed it, a gust of wind blew from behind her.

The young werewolf stopped in her tracks and snapped her neck around to look at Wednesday, her eyes wide like a mad woman. Wednesday looked back at her confused and alarmed.

And just as fast as Enid had turned around, she had turned back and started rushing out the quad doors. Ignoring Wednesday's new friends calling her all kinds of names.

Enid didn't care. All she could think about was the familiar scent she smelt.

She was going to need to pull another Wednesday Addams classic. She was going to do a B&E.

________________________________________________________________

A/N: (for the tumblr crowd, first time posting a fanfic on here, if anyone has any formatting tips let me know TT0TT)

I like puns, do you like puns? You're gonna have to deal with some puns. Lord help us all with what I name the next two seasons. 8U

Fun fact: Little Women was the book, if not at least a book, Lurch was reading in the 2019 animated film.

Fun fact 2: Wednesday used to wear Evergreen green and brown dresses in the Newspaper comics, and pink dresses in the 70s cartoon/tie in comic. 60s had a dark black/blue dress (hard to tell tbh).

Anyway, stay tuned for the second part of episode one! Now for this commercial break….

#wenclair #wwenclaire #wednesday #Wednesday Addams #wednesday (2022)#wednesday netlfix #wednesday (netflix)#wednesday 2022 #wednesdsay fanfic #hyde in the shadows #enid sinclair #it looks better on ao3 and fanfic.net this isn't fair fkldksfjf #anyone waiting for the wednesday timeline i'm working on it i swear TT0TT but this fanfic has taken ahold of me so this first and foresmost

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