#42 balloons

[th3b4dk1dzz]

Starkid Fancast -42 Balloons

Carol- Kim Whalen (Cover: Angela Giarrantara)

Larry- Joey Richter (Cover: Jeff Blim)

Carol's Mom- Jaime Lyn Beatty

Ron- James Tolbert

The Kid/Ensemble- Lauren Lopez

Letterman/Ensemble- Curt Mega

Other Ensemble: Jae Hughes (Kid Cover), Mariah Rose Faith Casillas, Jon Matteson, Meredith Stepien (Carol's Mom Cover), Bryce Charles, Correy Dorris (Ron Cover), Rachel Soglin, Joe Walker (Letterman Cover)

Seriously, if you love 80's pop and rock music or you love Jeff Blim's song writing style, you will love this show. I recommend checking it out.

[diamondnokouzai]

"Well, ah, stay safe and try not to chud it up." Recorded to Lawnchair Larry in 1982.

[golden-cherry]

deal - cl16 (42/?)

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Series Summary: Your whole life has gone to shit. Your boyfriend broke up with you, you just lost your job and the Monegasque, who suddenly stands in your doorway, claims that it’s his apartment.

Chapter Summary: The new bed is here! And Joris isn't happy about it!

Warnings: 18+ (mentions of sex), fluff

Word Count: 3.3k

series masterlist

previous part

A/N: LETS GOOOOOOOO!!! FORZA FERRARI!!!

“It was really nice of you to take the photos for Enzo and Charlotte,” Charles says as you both get into the car in the afternoon. He buckles up and starts the engine. 

“It's my job, after all,” you smile and make yourself comfortable in the passenger seat. 

Charles steers the car out of the driveway. "Well, actually it's your job to take pictures of me, not of my brother's engagement," he corrects you, for which you gently punch him on the shoulder. 

“I still enjoyed doing it,” you say. "I'm very happy for Enzo and Charlotte. They seem like the perfect couple.”

Charles purses his lips and nods. "They've been together for a long time. We were all wondering when he would finally pop the question. But I didn't think he'd actually do it during Christmas.”

You look at him. ”Why not?”

“I don't know,“ he replies, shrugging his shoulders. "I would have thought he would have done it in the summer, after a nice day on the boat and then maybe at dinner.”

You look at him. "Maybe he wanted to combine it with something nice – and Christmas is a celebration of love.” You can't help but grin. “And he didn't have to buy her a Christmas present, just a ring.”

Your roommate laughs. “Should I do the same to you next year? Just propose to you so I don't have to get you a gift?” 

You know it's a joke, but when the words leave his mouth, you feel warm. You roll your eyes in mock annoyance. “Absolutely not.”

The Monegasque steers the car through the streets of his home country. “And how should I propose then? Do you want a trip in a hot air balloon? At Times Square, where everyone is watching? Or at a Taylor Swift concert while she sings Love Story?”

You can't suppress a giggle. ”None of that, please.”

“Then tell me.” He reaches out and grabs your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours. 

“Mmm. I've never really thought about it much. But I think I'd rather have a moment that's just for the two of us. Where no one else is watching, where we're on our own. No onlookers, no one to talk about it. Just the two of us – I think that would be perfect.”

Charles squeezes your hand twice. “Good to know.” He smiles at you briefly before looking back at the road. “By the way, I asked Pierre and Kika if they wanted to go to Lando's party with us tonight. I hope that was okay.”

“Absolutely. I feel like I haven't seen Kika in ages. But it was only – what – four days ago?” 

“I think so. They want to come around seven, so you two can get ready together and maybe have a drink.” 

Without thinking about it, you lean over and kiss his cheek. "You're the best, Charles." You can see the blush rising in his face, but you let it go uncommented.

“I know,�� he says with a grin as he turns into the underground parking garage. When the car comes to a stop, you both get out and you press the elevator button while Charles takes your bags out of the trunk. 

“What are the parties like in Monaco?” you ask him as you both enter the elevator. ‘Do you have to dress particularly chic or does it depend on the club? How much money do I need to take with me? Is my ID card enough or do I need to take anything else?’ you bombard him with questions. 

Charles has to laugh. ”Haven't you ever been out partying?”

You shake your head and press the button for your floor. “Not in Monaco, no.”

The elevator doors close and you feel it transport you upwards. The Monegasque looks down at you. “The club where Lando's friend performs is chic, but not super chic. If you like –”

“Where the fuck have you been?” an angry Joris bellows at you as the elevator door opens. 

You almost have a heart attack from the shock, but Charles just looks at his best friend in confusion.

“Since when did you stop checking your cell phones? I've tried to reach you ten thousand times!” Joris's face is as red as a tomato as he snarls at you angrily and you get out of the elevator without saying a word. ”I was still asleep! And I didn't even get to eat breakfast!”

Charles puts your two bags down next to the apartment door. "And a good morning to you, Joris. How can I help you?” He walks past him, deeper into the apartment, Joris follows him, seething. You follow them in silence.

“How you can help me?” Joris asks snappishly, leaning on the kitchen worktop with his hands, before pointing at a few sheets in front of him with his index finger. “Next time you order furniture, at least be home when it's delivered, or leave your own cell phone number so they can call you if they ring the doorbell and you don't open it.” 

Charles opens his eyes wide. ”Our bed.”

Joris sneers. “This shitty bed has cost me valuable hours of sleep. And I certainly shouldn't have driven here.”

Charles can hardly keep a grin off his face as he turns around and opens the fridge. "How many bottles of wine did you drink yesterday?", he asks, placing eggs, vegetables and bacon on the counter in front of him. 

“Two.”

Your roommate gets a bowl and a pan out of a drawer before he starts to crack the eggs into them. “Did you throw up in your front yard?”

Joris rolls his eyes and watches as Charles prepares his hangover breakfast. "No.”

“Then congratulations,’ Charles grins. ”Then you had a successful Christmas.”

The omelette tastes so good that Joris's anger disappears with the first bite. He talks about Christmas dinner with his parents and his brother and the family vacation planned for next year, while he shovels the omelette into himself like a bulldozer. In between, Charles slides him coffee across the counter in a cup, but doesn't dare get closer to his hungry and hungover friend. 

“By the way, the bed is very nice,” Joris finally says, pushing the empty plate away. ‘You could have at least warned me.”

“I'm sorry,’ Charles apologizes with pursed lips. ”Are we friends again?”

Joris sighs. “Of course,” he smiles, getting up from his chair to embrace his oldest friend. They both pat each other on the back before letting go. “I have to go now. By the way, I gave the delivery man a €150 tip for kindly setting up the bed. Thank God you had some money lying around.”

Charles watches his friend go in the direction of the apartment door with confusion. “The setup was already included in the price.“

The photographer purses his lips. "At least they got a nice tip," he finally says, before leaving the apartment and leaving you two alone. 

Without saying a word, you take the dirty dishes and wash them in the sink while Charles puts your bags in the bedroom. When he returns, he stands directly behind you. You can feel the warmth of his skin through your clothes. 

“We also have a dishwasher, you know?” he whispers, laying his chin on your shoulder. His arms wrap around your middle, his chest pressing against your back. 

You nod and lean against him. “But we don't need to run the dishwasher for that,” you reply, breathing in as his hand slowly slides under your sweater. “It was very nice of you to make Joris breakfast, even though it's already afternoon.”

“Mm-hmm,” Charles hums softly. "It was the least I could do. It was really nice of him to come here to take delivery of the bed. I'd completely forgotten that I put down his cell phone number." 

“Joris is a good friend.”

“He is,” he murmurs and kisses your cheek. ‘But I prefer to have you lying in my new bed." He gently pulls you out of the kitchen towards the bedroom where the new bed is. Joris was even kind enough to make the bed; dark gray sheets are smoothly stretched over the mattress and you would love to snuggle up in them. 

“It looks incredibly cozy,“ you smile. 

“Come on.” Charles gently pushes you towards the bed. “I told you I wanted you in it.” He watches you with eagle eyes as you slowly crawl onto the bed and slip under the covers, putting your cell phone on the nightstand. As if you've been conditioned, you have to yawn. 

“The bed was definitely the right decision,” you smile and stretch your arms to fold them behind your head. "But it was definitely the wrong decision to trick me to get into it.”

“Why?’ your roommate chuckles. ”Too comfortable?”

“Definitely. I'd love to stay here forever.” You tap the empty side of the bed next to you. ”Come and try it out.”

Without wasting another moment, Charles circles the bed and lies down next to you. His arm wraps around your middle again and pulls you towards him so that your chests are touching. “I see your point. It is pretty comfortable.” His hand slides up your back under your sweater until it finds its place between your shoulder blades. 

You close your eyes and breathe out. “Do we have to go out partying tonight? I mean, can't we just order take-out and stay in?”

“Of course we could do that,” he smiles. 'But I highly doubt you want to cancel on Kika and Lando.”

You sigh. ‘We could invite everyone here," you suggest. ”The bed is big enough for all of us and –”

“Absolutely not,” he interrupts you and shakes his head vehemently. ‘The only ones allowed in this bed are already in it. Nobody else is allowed to snuggle up in the covers. Besides, I don't like the thought of you lying in a bed with Lando.”

You raise your hand and gently run your fingers through his brown curls. "Are you jealous?”

A deep growl escapes Charles' throat. “Maybe.”

You lean forward and kiss his stubbled cheek. ”You do know that Lando is the reason we're friends again, right? Because he called you when you were in Italy?”

“I am aware,“ he mumbles, pressing you closer. "Doesn't mean you have to share a bed, though.’ 

“You don't have to worry about that,” you grin. “There's only one man I want to share a bed with.” He looks at you with a raised eyebrow. “Don't worry, Charlie. You're the one I mean, of course.”

“Perfect.”

You lie in bed for a while, legs tangled and snuggled together. You gently run your fingers through his hair while his fingertips caress your back. Lying here with him feels so normal, so familiar, that you don't ever want to be in a bed without him again. 

“You still haven't answered my questions about tonight,” you say eventually, and your hand gently caresses the soft skin at the nape of his neck. 

Charles almost moans, his eyes closed. "I'll pay for you.”

“But I can pay for myself," you smile, even though he's not looking at you.

“Doesn't matter.” Your fingers pause in their movement. Charles fidgets a little, wanting for you to continue.

“You're about to fall asleep, Charlie," you giggle, but comply with his silent request. 

He moves closer to you and cuddles his face into the hollow between your jaw and your shoulder before taking a deep breath. “I'm not,” he replies softly. “But lying here with you is so comfortable.” He leisurely pulls at your sweater to reveal the skin on your neck and places feather-light kisses where your pulse is beating. Goosebumps spread across your body. 

“Charles...”

“Let's cancel on everyone,” he whispers, and his hand moves to your thigh to drape your leg over his hip so that you are literally pressed against each other, body to body. You feel his hardness against your clothed core. 

You sigh. “But you just said that we can't cancel,” you reply. “Besides, you already said yes to Lando and invited Pierre and Kika.”

“I don't care,” he breathes. “Let's be crappy friends and cancel at the last minute. I'm sure the others will understand.”

“What will they understand, hm? That the bed is so comfortable that we don't want to leave it?“ you ask him quietly. 

“That I'd rather be here in bed with you than standing in a crowded club.” His breath caresses your neck gently. “That I'd rather test out the new bed with you than yell at you over the loud music just to be able to talk to you.”

His words make your face heat up. You hope he doesn't notice. “Then we'd be very bad friends.”

“Then let's be very bad friends,” he grins against your neck before pressing a final kiss on your pulse. “We can make it up to them sometime. Just not today. Today I want you all to myself. Now that I finally have you back with me.”

You feel him press his boner against you and you absentmindedly tighten your leg around his waist. Your fingers gently press into his neck muscles and his breathy moans reach your ears. You can feel your arousal pool in your panties and you want to give in so bad. 

You want to stay home with him. In this bed. You want to repeat last night at his mom’s house, but this time the both of you would be able to show how much pleasure you give each other. You desperately want to hear him groan again, but now without the barrier of your hand on his mouth. You want to feel his cock against your pussy, sliding through your folds and gathering your juices. 

God, you want to repeat last night but without any clothes on. His cock nudging against your clit, sending jolts of electricity through your veins. His hands grabbing your ass and moving you over his length. You want to feel the the tip of his dick catching in your entrance before finally sliding in, stretching you deliciously. 

You want to fuck him so bad that it’s making you dizzy.

“What are you thinking about, mon amour?” Charles asks, pulling you out of your thoughts. 

Before you can answer him – which you don't really want to do anyway – your cell phone rings. The Monegasque reaches for it without hesitation, answers the call and puts the person on speakerphone. 

“Allo?”

“Hello, you two,“ Kika's voice sounds from your cell phone. ‘How are you? What are you doing?”

“We're testing my new bed,’ Charles replies with a grin, and you hide your face in the duvet. 

“You can't say that,” you say, reaching for your cell phone, but your roommate extends his arm so you can't get to it. 

“Why?“ Charles asks hypocritically. "It's true, isn't it?”

“Charles!”

Kika laughs loudly. "Should I call back in a minute? I don't want to disturb you guys doing whatever it is you're doing.”

“It's fine,” you call to her, although she would have understood you even if you had spoken normally. “What can I do for you?”

The Portuguese woman giggles. “I just wanted to ask what you would like to drink and what you are going to wear.”

You open your eyes wide. "Um, I have no idea. What do people wear in the clubs here?" You repeat the question you've already asked your roommate. 

“How about this?” She begins. "Pierre and I will come a little earlier and go through your closet together? The guys can play video games or something. And we'll get ready in peace and quiet."

You like her suggestion. ”That would be great.”

“Great. Pierre and I are going out for a quick shopping trip and want to buy some wine. You drink sweet, right? Then I'll bring you something.”

“Thanks!” you reply and with a big stretch you finally get to your phone in Charles's hand. "See you in a bit!" You hang up and put the phone back on the bedside table. When you turn to your friend, he's pouting. ”What's wrong?”

He turns on his back and crosses his arms over his chest, which is a little difficult considering your leg is still wrapped around his waist. “I was kind of hoping you'd cancel on them.”

A smile spreads across your face. You slide closer to him again and reach for his arms to separate them before you roll onto him. Your knees are next to his hips on the mattress and instinctively, his big hands find your ass. 

“I'm sorry, Charles,” you whisper, leaning down so that you are completely on top of him. Your elbows are next to his shoulders and your hands are finding their way into his hair again. ”We don't have to stay long.”

The Monegasque exhales. “As long as you promise me that we'll stay in bed tomorrow, that's okay with me.” When you purse your lips, he groans in annoyance and pushes his head back into the pillow. “Do I have to go to camp with Andrea tomorrow?”

You nod slightly. ”I'm afraid so.”

“That's terrible,” he complains, wrapping his arms around you. ”Then we won't see each other again until New Year's Eve! What will I do without you during that time?”

You don't want to think about spending the next few days without him, which is why you change the subject back to tonight. 

“How about this: Kika and Pierre are coming over soon and we'll party later with Lando and his DJ friend,” you begin your suggestion. 

Charles raises an eyebrow. ”I don't see any compromise I'm willing to make.”

You roll your eyes in mock exasperation. “Just let me finish. So - we're all going out to party in a bit, and when we get back home we can make ourselves comfortable in bed here, watch another movie and not get out of bed until noon tomorrow.”

“Do we have to be dressed to watch the movie?” he asks mischievously, and as you move to roll away from him, he turns you both so that he is now on top of you. He grabs your thighs and puts your legs back around his waist, and as he nestles against you, almost crushing you under his weight – which feels better than you care to admit. You feel his boner between your legs. 

“Charles,“ you moan softly as his cock softly nudges against your clothed clit. 

“Do we have to be dressed?” he repeats his question and slides his hand under your sweater, his fingers spreading over your sides. 

You breathe in his scent and bask in his warmth. “We don't have to,” you reply without giving a thought to what it means for you. But you couldn't care less about that right now. 

Charles's lips breathe light kisses on your neck. “Then it's a deal,” he whispers before withdrawing completely – leaving you high and dry. “Come on. Our friends will be here soon. And I doubt you'll want to be in our bed then. No matter how comfortable it is,“ he grins and leaves the bedroom. But as he walks through the door, you can still see him put his hand in his sweatpants to fix his erection. 

Somehow you're glad you have the same effect on him as he does on you. 

Hot blood courses through your veins when you think about how the evening will end. You would love to pull Charles back into bed, rip his clothes off and let him ravish you until you can't walk anymore. 

That will have to wait. 

But anticipation is half the fun.

[blondgirls-world]

57 Reasons

TW: Meanspo

01. You will be FAT if you eat today, just put it off one more day.

02. You don't NEED food.

03. Fat people can't fit everywhere.

04. Guys will be able to pick you up without struggling.

05. You'll be able to run faster without all that extra weight holding you back.

06. People will remember you as "the beautiful thin one".

07. If someone has to describe you, they'll say "oh she weighs like 90, 100 lbs".

08. Guys will want to get to know you, not laugh at you and walk away.

09. Starving is an example of excellent willpower.

10. You will be able to see your beautiful, beautiful bones.

11. Bones are clean and pure. Fat is dirty and hangs on your bones like a parasite.

12. If you eat then you'll look like those disgusting, fat, ghetto and trailer-trash hookers on Jerry Springer.

13. The models that everyone claims are beautiful, the spitting image of perfection, are any of them fat? NO!

14. Too many people in the world are obese.

15. People who eat are selfish and unrealistic.

16. Only fat people are attracted to fat people. Do you want pigs to like you because you are one of them.

17. Anyone can have "inner beauty" but few can earn real beauty, inside as well as out.

18. You'll be able to move as quietly and skillfully as a spider.

19. Only thin people are graceful.

20. If you slap a fat person you can see a shockwave ripple over their skin. That's disgusting.

21. Do you want people to say "for gods sake get off me you're crushing me!!!" or "you are sooo light" ???

22. Underweight aka perfect body.

23. Ballerina? or beanbag?

24. I want to be light enough so a helium balloon could lift me and carry me to the clouds.

25. I want to walk in the snow and leave no footprints.

26. Starve off the parts you don't need. They're ugly and they drag you down.

27. Nothing cant be fixed with hunger and weight loss.

28. Saying "no thanks" to food is saying "yes please" to THIN!!!

29. Fat people are so huge, yet people look away from them as if they don't exist.

30. The only time people do notice a fat person is when they get in the way of that beautiful thin girl walking by (ok that sounds really horrible i know.)

31. Have you ever seen a person NOT notice a walking skeleton.

32. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

33. Is food more important that happiness in life? I think not!

34. Eating is conforming to everyone else's expectations.

35. When you start to get dizzy and weak you're almost there.

36. Hunger is your friend and it won't betray you like food.

37. Food is mean and sneaky. It tricks you into eating it and it works on you from the inside out making you fat, bloated, ugly and unhappy.

38. Think of anorexia as your secret weapon.

39. If you can name one reason to be fat, I'll name a million and one to be thin.

40. Thin people look good in ANY kind of clothes.

41. Food rots your teeth.

42. Puffy cheeks, double chins and thick ankles-- aren't attractive.

43. Fatty areas stretch and sag as you get older.

44. Ever seen the arms of a fat person wave hello or goodbye?

45. Eating little to nothing saves you money!

46. The average (middle class) American wastes OVER $8,000 a year on FOOD ALONE...it goes in one end and out the other. That sure is a lot of fat! No wonder so many Americans are obese and overweight!

47. Fat people make their country look bad.

48. Big people sweat more and they smell bad.

49. Fat people die earlier.

50. You'll be the envy of all the other girls.

51. All of the guys will want you.

52. You're less likely to get food poisoning.

53. You won't be exposed to all the chemicals and pesticides they put in food today.

54. You won't get sweaty on hot days.

55. The word fat will only apply to you in a sarcastic way.

56. No one wants to see a fat person dance.

57. Beauty Queen? or Dairy Queen?

-Fading Obsession: Pro Ana Mia Website plus Forum (fadingobsessions.com)

[milesandcorysupermacy]

All jokes, mami

42!Miles Morales x Hothead!Black!Reader

Genre: Angst to fluff

Warnings: First time writing but I think it's pretty good 🤷🏾‍♀️, use of n word, cursing, Miles crying, mentions of trust issues, that's it I think

Word Bank: Hija: daughter Bien: Good Muy Bien: Very Good. Ay Dios mio: oh my God Tia: Aunt

Summary: You're having a great time with Miles, Talking about drama and laughing your ass off! But, when you go in the bathroom you find some press on nails that DAMN sure aint yours, and are WAY too dramatic to be his mom's. What do you do?

You're sitting in Miles' room. 'Neon Guts' by Lil Uzi Vert and Pharell playing in the background. You guys are doing what yall usually do, gossip about things that go on at Visions.

"Nah, that nigga was trippin', ma. In what world is it EVER ok to crease another man's forces? I'm not the issue."

Miles said in his own blissfully ignorant (hilarious) way. Talking about yet, another incident he's had within the past two weeks with the same guy, Bryson. He hates this man with everything in him. You try to get them to stick together since they're 2 of the handful of students that are minorities. But, as I said earlier, he's ignorant.

"Bae, I get that, I do. The forces were clean. Fresh out the box." You say, trailing off. Playing with your faux locs, thinking of what to say next. Trying to tread carefully because you know Bryson is a sensitive topic. He's your ex, and yall are still cool. But, Miles just NEEDS to be throwing blows with him all the time.

"But that doesn't mean you punch him in the face! A simple 'Ay watch where you goin' bro' would've worked perfectly, but now he look like a busted, lightskin, balloon." You say doing a horrible impression of Miles and his suave brooklyn accent.

Miles chuckles at your description of Bryson, deciding to add onto it.

"Nah, he don't look like no balloon. His ass look like a clown. Matter a fact, a whole ass circus, and he the star. That nigga a bitch anyway. He really think he look like Drake?Nah, bro. Yo ass look like French Montana, stop playin'. Like, Drake? Nah nigga more like Brake, because he needa pump the brakes and slow down before Plankton come and steal the secret formula for that big ass forehead! Cartoon looking ass." Miles said breaking you two out into a fit of laughter. Silent laughter. The worst kind of laughter.

The laughter where you two are just rocking back and forth on his bed, slapping each other's arms and legs, wheezing slightly, and barely gasping for air. You two calm down and you think of a joke. You gasp from realization.

"Nah, because why do he for real laugh like Mr. Krabbs?" You say laughing again. Miles starts laughing too. Snorting this time, which only adds to the excitement.

"I love how funny I made you, Mami. I'm rubbing off on you, bien. Muy Bien." Miles says in a slightly creepy way.

"Damn, I can't even get credit for being funny, Morales?" You say pretending to be offended.

"No, it's better like this." He says before giving you a peck on the cheek and putting his hand around your waist.

After like 5 mins of talking about more drama at Visions (with no laughing fits). You and Miles settle down and start cuddling. With 'Good Days' By Sza in the background. You wrap your arms around his back, with your legs on the outside of his. Miles, just laying on his back and wrapping his arms around your waist. (I hope this makes sense 😭) Cuddling in a bear hug kind of position. You guys stayed like this for about an hour, and just as you're about to doze off, unlike Miles who fell asleep 20 minutes ago. You have to pee.

You slip your hands from around his back, and try to subtly move his hands from your waist, but he woke up. Damn, getting to the bathroom is not gonna be easy with his clingy ass.

"Where ya goin', mamas?" Miles mumbles half asleep, with a raspy voice. Your heart flutters from the nickname.

'How tf does he have this affect on me, and he's half asleep?' You thought.

"Baby, I gotta pee. I'll be right back, ok?" You say trying to dumb it down since only half of his brain works at the moment.

"No, you're gonna take too long. Just stay with me, we'll get you a pamper or sum." He says gripping your waist even tighter. You usually would've given up because of how sweet he was being, but you deadass were gonna pee on yourself.

"Miles." You say sternly. He lets your waist go with a dramatic sigh, and you walk into the bathroom.

You do your business, flush the toilet, and walk over to the sink, starting to wash your hands. But- oh, what's this?

You pick up a pack of orange, rhinestone, one inch, press on nails. You don't wear press on nails. Shit, Miles would know because he pays for you to get your nails done. You feel the anger boiling inside of you. Maybe they're his mom's? No, she hates orange. It reminds her of Halloween. "The devil's holiday". You remember that's what she calls it and you start to smirk. No! You're supposed to be mad right now. You finish wiping your hands on a paper towel and throw it away. Grabbing the nails and marching into Miles' room.

You see miles on his phone, he must've been waiting for you to come back. Or texting his other ho-

"Hey, Ma-"

"Whose nails are these?" You say throwing the box at his face.

He groans and inspects the box, tilting his head in confusion. "I dunno, these seem a little too... crazy to be yours, why?" He says completely oblivious.

"Nigga" You chuckle from anger, pacing around the room. "Stop playing dumb. Miles you're not stupid, you've never been stupid. So I know you understand what pisses me off, and one of those things is lying. Imma ask you one more time, Miles Gonzalo Morales. Who's fucking nails are these?" You spat gritting your teeth during the last sentence. Miles shot up out of the bed, knowing what you were getting at. Trying to convince you with all his heart he'd never do that. This poor boy has lost enough, and he's not about to lose you to a pair of ugly ass nails.

"Mami, I promise I don't know who's nails those are, It's wild that you're even accusing me of this right now. You came over every day this week!" Miles expresses, desperately trying to give you enough evidence.

"Yea, and I always come over after school, maybe your hoes have a scheduled time for after I leave. Who is this bitch? Hm, Miles? Is it that Mexican girl on the 2nd floor, she seems like she's our age." You scream at him, sure that Rio had woken up from her post-work nap.

"Mami, I don't love anyone but you, I promise, ok? Even if I did, with all the money I spend on yo shit. You really think I have enough to buy another girl some nails?" He shouts back. Pointing to the Gucci Mini-Purse he got you for Christmas, he had saved up all year to buy it ever since he saw you eyeing it at the mall. But he could have it back now and give it to his other hoe.

"You know what? You can have this back since my only purpose is being a charity case, fuck nigga." You say taking out your keys, phone, headphones, Lip Gloss, and card out of the purse, shoving it in your pockets. Throwing the purse at him.

"Mami, you serious right now? Sit yo hot-headed ass down and listen to me, you actin' crazy!" Miles grimaced realizing what he just said already knowing your reaction.

"CRAZY?!?!?! I WILL SHOW YO ASS CRA-"

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE? Dios mio¡ It sounds like the real housewives in here. Hija, what did he do this time?" Rio asked.

"Mama Rio, who's nails are these?" You ask her. (She gave you permission to call her that after the 6th dinner together, don't worry)

"¡Ay! I was looking for those, they're Miles' Tia's. She came over yesterday, and was showing me them. She took them from Miles' cousin because that little mama is only 12 and does not need those." She said grabbing the nails and walking out the room to call his Tia. Leaving you and Miles in the most awkward silence. You slowly turn around to see Miles standing there. You thought he would have some sassy remark but no. His lip was starting to quiver and you knew what was next. He starts letting tears fall which surprised you.

"Papa, why are you crying?" You say walking over to hug him. Feeling the worst guilt ever.

"I....I thought you we're gonna leave me, Mami. I would *hiccup* never do something like that to you. Honestly if the roles were reversed I'd forgive you. I don't think I can even see my life without you. I'm so sorry." He says.

"Miles..." You whisper.

"It's not your fault I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. You've done nothing to prove that you're untrustworthy. I have trust issues and that's something I need to work on. Not you. I'm so sorry, baby" You say sitting down on the bed for one of the most needed cuddle sessions yall have ever had. And after a few minutes of comfortable silence, Miles breaks the ice.

"What if I just made my mom cover for me, and I am cheating on you?" He asks with a shit eating grin.

"Miles..." You warn

"All jokes, mami"

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

FIRST FIC! what'd yall think? I'll accept constructive criticism. If you have a request or a way for me to make my writing better, just send a ask!

[blackcouplesera]

50 intimacy building exercises for black couples ❤️‍🔥

1. Take a long walk together for the sole purpose of sharing your thoughts and feelings with each other.

2. Plan a surprise date night in for one another.

3. Cook a meal together and enjoy it by candlelight.

4. Write love letters to each other, bonus points if you exchange and read them.

5. Take a couple’s dance class together.

6. Read an erotic novel together. Reenacting it is up to you!

7. Volunteer together for a cause you both care about.

8. Make time to shower together, let your partner cleanse you.

9. Go on a weekend getaway and spend quality time in bed.

10. Take a bubble bath and enjoy wine.

11. Watch your favorite movies and cuddle.

12. Take a hike and enjoy nature together.

13. Write down your goals and dreams together, affirm each other in the process.

14. Take a cooking class together.

15. Try a new hobby together.

16. Plan a picnic to enjoy each other's company.

17. Schedule a couples' massage or self care day.

18. Create a vision board for your future together.

19. Take a pottery class together.

20. Spend a day exploring your city and discovering new places.

21. Invest in a polaroid or film camera and take spicy photos of each other.

22. Write a poem or song for each other.

23. Plan a surprise weekend getaway.

24. Create a couple’s board game to play together.

25. Go on a road trip to explore new places together.

26. Plan a sip and paint night together. Grab some body paint, and use each other as canvases!

27. Attend a concert or live performance together.

28. Create a language for only you to use together.

29. Go on a bike ride together.

30. Watch the sunset and enjoy each other's company.

31. Play a couples' trivia game.

32. Attend a wine tasting together.

33. Create a recipe together.

34. Plan a date night at home and cook a romantic dinner together.

35. Attend a drive-in movie together.

36. Visit a botanical garden.

37. Go on a cabin trip and disconnect from technology.

38. Take a hot air balloon ride together.

39. Attend a poetry night together.

40. Go on a boat ride and enjoy the water.

41. Take a couples' pole dancing class.

42. Have a game night with other couples.

43. Try meditating together.

44. Attend a book reading or signing together.

45. Go on a couple’s retreat.

46. Bake each other’s favorite sweets.

47. Create a playlist and swap headphones.

48. Take a mixology class together.

49. Plan a scavenger hunt for each other.

50. Go on a day trip to a nearby town.

[roosterm3attrash]

101 ways to kill Barney Calhoun

I ended up making this list by going through multiple servers and people so here cuz I found it in my phone notes

Anyway the brilliant minds of the half-life fandom

1.) Waited pressure plate with tnt under it

2.) im going to leave mines under his mattress

3.) i’m setting a rake on his floor so he steps on it and whacks his face

4.) I'm giving him a bomb disguised as a cigar

5.) barney death 3: he ate what elvis presley ate….

6.) I would kill Barney Calhoun by slapping him so hard on the ass that it gives him cardiac arrest

7.) I drop him onto a pit of venomous snakes

8.) Im going to give Barney a beer but instead of beer it will be filled with deadly neurotoxin

9.) “now gordon, ive been keepin an eye out on this combine hideout for a while. they seem to walk in a certain pattern when crossing over to the entrance, which makes me think theyve buried mines all over the place. now, ive memorized the pattern, so im just gonna sneak on over, and you follow my lead, alright? dont worry, i know exactly where all the mines are.” and then he explodes

10.) that one episode of sponge bob where he eats the exploding pie and explodes

11.) set up tripwire then he falls into a tiger pit

12.) I type kill npc_barney into console

13.) slap the boobies off his chest so hard them fly around the world and hit the side of his head like water balloons

14.) i could marry him and slowly feed him mercury over a span for 3 years until he dies of mercury poisoning

15.) He tries to become a wwe wrestler but gets killed in a freak accident mid match

16.) I would kill him by making him a pizza but it’s covered in big chunks of lead but it’s hidden in the sauce and it’s a Chicago style pizza

17.) bring him to a highway and kiss him so hard he gets knocked onto the road and gets ran over

18.) Peeling him apart by the dna strand and eating it like spaghetti

19.) barney gets trampled by a stampede of horses

20.) giving him under the counter off brand viagra

21.) put him in a washing machine and turn it on

22.) shark attack

23.) pit of sharks

24.) barney gets criticized so badly he dies

25.) barney sits in an uncomfortable chair for too long

26.) He gets his arm caught in a bear trap w a beer used as a lure

27.) HE BECOMES THE CAT THAT TRAUMATIZED HIM. HE….YKNOW…..

28.) he gets stuck in a swimming pool like hes in the sims and dies from getting exhausted and drowning

29.) barney roasting marshmallows but his stick ignites into flames and he burns to death

30.) ATTACH SO MANY BALLOONS TO BARNEY HE FLOATS AWAY INTO THE SKY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN

31.) barney gets rejected by gordon and he gets so sad his body shuts down

32.) I kiss him so tenderly on the lips that he melts into a puddle and dies

33.) i throw him in to a volcano so that he melt into a puddle and dies

34.) "I’ll turn him into a flea, a harmless, little flea, and then I’ll put that flea in a box, and then I’ll put that box inside of another box, and then I’ll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives…I’ll smash it with a hammer!"

35.) stick a bottle of beer into his throat, the whole bottle

36.) give Barney Calhoun a beer can full of poison

37.) hang a piano over the toilet and wait

38.) i think barney should have his spine ripped out through his mouth

39.) he goes to a bar and tries flirting with the bartender and the bartender takes out a shotgun and kills him on the spot

40.) punch him so hard in the penis that he shatters like a brittle glass

41.) bite him in half

42.) I'm grinding him in a giant shredder

43.) bro took a bath in hot mac 'n cheese

44.) i put him ina giant caldron full of water and i begin boiling him down to gelatin and broth

45.) barney accompanies the crew to the borealis and he steps over thin ice and gets dunked into the below zero water and freezes to death

46.) barney calhoun gets carried away by a tornado

47.) took barney on a vacation to Hawai’i and pushed him into a volcano

48.) He dies and he's never mentioned again and nobody cares

49.) died of tummy ache

50.) Stepped on by a strider

51.) shrinked until he disappeared completely

52.) blasted into the sun

53.) Stab him with 300 pencils made with real lead

54.) slip and falls and dies

55.) put him into a Minecraft furnace

56.) Barney ignores the wet floor sign and slips and cracks his head

57.) while swimming in the swimming pool he swims to fast and smashes his face against the pool's wall

58.) he gets a concussion and drowns

59.) i want to put him through a lunchmeat slicer

60.) He falls off a dumb huge cliff

61.) he lives his life to the fullest and at his deathbed at age 93, June 29th, 6:12 am he passes away

62.) he eats a burgie with too much grease and gets a heart attack

63.) testicular cancer

64.) He should get sucked into a fan while trying to fix it at Black Mesa and literally no one comes looking for him

65.) The Pita Bread Room

66.) slipped on a Banana peel

67.) ran over by a crap ton of shopping carts rolling down the hill

68.) barney overheats in a fursuit

69.) he has sex so bad that he dies

70.) Barney dies because i fucking kill him with a shovel 🖕

71.) barney eats the gas station sushi

72.) barney faints via twirling around and holding his hand in front of his forehead, and then slowly lying down with a flower in his hands to indicate death

73.) When they turn off the suppression fields he just blows up

74.) barney gets crushed by a giant boulder thats all i got son

75.) barney goes to the beach that makes you old

76.) His head spontaneously combusts and pops like corn

77.) erectile dysfunction

78.) we should also have him get carbon monoxide poisoning

79.) barney gets gaussian blurred into nothingness

80.) he eats 20 year old expired mcdonalds burger and contracts the worst case of food poisoning youve ever seen

81.) Have we done tying him to a train track like a damsel

82.) he dies in a glue trap

83.) barney develops lactose intolerance over the years of combine occupation and he drink milk and then dies from shitting hinself to death

84.) he should chocke on his favourite food

85.) barney gets lead poisoning from a 1990s garfield glass mug

86.) he chokes on plastic

87.) barney gets thrown throw a glass window from a 15 story building

88.) gordon gives barney a wedgie so bad that he splits in half and dies

89.) gordon and barney divorce and barney dies from heartbreak

90.) alyx and gordon have enough of barney’s snoring so they smother him in his sleep with a pillow

91.) he trips while walking with gordon and impales himself on gordons crowbar face

92.) if he were the size of an ant he'd be ok instead he blows up like a watermelon and his remains are fed to lamarr by a very delighted kleiner. he fucking hated barney

93.) dog roughhouses with barney and accidentally obliterates his spinal cord

94.) barney gets poisoned to death by his own chumtoad

95.) coats him in eggs and flour and fries him

96.) snatched by a hawk and eten alive

97.) barney gets to participate in a danganronpa killing game and gets executed

98.) barney opens the love-letter-for-you.txt.vbs file and it kills him

99.) elaborate rube goldberg machine to drop an anvil on barney

100.) barney dies in an Iron Maiden

101.) we should put barney under those old timey stone tablets meant to squish and torture people and make them talk

[guessimjoiningthespidermanfandom]

More Often

Earth 42!Miles Morales x fem!reader 

Earth 42!Miles Morales x black!reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Mentions of water guns and mentions of jellyfish

Requested: yes 

@raeraypoca:That's perfect smanks! So basically all I would like is what happens on the road trip over there, stopping at gas station, what happens when we get to the Airbnb, what happens at the beach, classic "we gotta share a room?

Ughh" E, when we're left alone some heavy fluffy flirting only if your comfortable. I know miles is 15 l'm 14 so you really don't have to if you don't want to. A trip Possibly somewhere in Florida? 

A/N: Life has been crazy lately but I did enjoy my social media detox, I wanted to get this out sooner but I got into a car accident on Friday and I was supposed to hang out with this girl I've been talking to today but I had no car and I look crazy but, this is here now so that's all that matters.

Masterlist

“Be good,” Mrs. Morales warned. 

“I will,” Miles ceded. 

She looked him in his eyes in suspicion. 

“I promise,” 

She smiled “Okay come give me a kiss,” 

He kissed and hugged his mother goodbye before putting his suitcase in the trunk. He rounded the car to your side pulling the door open

“Go on the other side,” You didn’t even look up from your phone. 

“Scoot over,” He shoved your shoulder. 

“14 hours of this?” You rolled your eyes. 

“You love me,” He teased as you slid into the other seat to make room. 

Your older brother was going on a college visit up in Florida so your mom decided to make a family trip out of it. Of course, she invited Miles seeing as he was practically family. And who was he to say no to Mrs. Y/L/N?

After only 4 stops and one-half a night at a hotel, you’d finally made it to Destin. 

Your mom parked the car in between two brick-and-mortar shops on the uneven beach town roads. 

You immediately popped the door open hoping out to stretch your legs. Your brother got stuck with the pleasure of having to “watch” you and Miles on the Harborwalk Village pier, while your parents went sightseeing. He told you not to go too far before heading off on his own. 

“Look!” You pointed at a carnival game booth run by a tired and probably only a few years older than you teenager who certainly didn’t get paid enough. There at the top of a booth hung a very large dog stuffed animal with light blue fur and a purple collar.  

You tugged Miles along with you beaming at the boy. He coughed up the 5 dollars required for the both of you to get to fill balloon clowns' heads with water guns.  

On an unenthusiastic count of 3, you aimed your gun at the first clown’s mouth and pulled the trigger. 

Powered by your competitive spirit you quickly overtook Miles in the vanquishing of the clowns. His water gun consistently jamming was cause for frustration and his loss. 

“Game was rigged,” He informed you. 

“Okay, Trump. You’re only saying that ’cause I won” You clutched your stuffed dog winnings. 

“‘M saying that cause it’s true,” 

“I’m saying that ‘cause it’s true,” You mocked him in a high-pitched voice sticking your tongue out. “What are we gonna name our son?” 

“He is not my son,” 

You gasped, shifting the dog to cover his floppy ears with both hands. “Don’t say that in front of him!” 

Completely ignoring him you turned away from Miles to cradle the stuffed animal. “I’m sorry Miles Jr. I don’t know what’s gotten into your dad today. He doesn’t mean it,” 

You handed the toy to Miles telling him to apologize. He glared at you for the name before mumbling a half-hearted sorry to the dog. 

He couldn’t believe he actually liked you enough to apologize to a stuffed animal named after him. 

“Thank you,” You smiled before spotting a sandwich shop a little way down the boardwalk. 

“C’mon Miles, Junior,” 

“Why are you making me hold this thing?” He complained, glancing around at the other passersby on the pier. 

“He is not a thing.” You readjusted Junior in Miles’s arms to be cradled like a baby. 

You continued walking down to Say Cheese situated at the end of the boardwalk occasionally glancing back to make sure Miles was still holding the stuffed animal the way you gave it to him. 

——————

“Stop!” You complained, shielding your sandwich from the onslaught of sand coming your way. 

Miles kept shoveling sand at you with both hands. “C’mon let’s go make a castle.”

“Let me eat,”

“How are you still hungry with all the snacks you ate in the car?”

“You ate all the chips,” You retaliated with a swoop of sand sent his way. “I only ate like two”

“Yeah, two whole bags,” 

“Shut up,” You reached your hand out to be pulled up from the ground. 

Back on your feet as you made the trek down shore you leaned into his side. You hissed when you stepped on a sideways seashell. 

He came to a stop jolting you back with him. 

“You alright? Was it a jellyfish?”

You drew up your face at that. “Why would there be a jellyfish all the way back here?” 

“You could’ve just said you’re fine,” 

“Okay sorry I’m fine, c’mon,” You tugged his arm with you. 

Finding a good spot between the water and shore you dropped down to form your sand castle. 

You waited until Miles joined you on the ground to scoop the viscous textured sand into your hands and stack towers of the sand on top of Miles’s. 

When you turned to find seashells to top off your pillars Miles knocked over half the castle. 

“Miles!” You shrieked pushing him down. 

He pulled you down with him, laughing at you. You couldn’t suppress your giggles as you wrestled with Miles in the sand. 

You were ready to pummel him with sand when you heard your mother call out for you. 

“Y/N! Miles! We’re leaving!”  

After racing and losing against Miles back to the rental car your mom turned you around. “Uh uh get that sand off you,” 

You rolled your eyes heading for the showers to rinse off.  

After cleansing the dusting the sand off yourself, in no time you were knocked out in the backseat of the car. 

You woke up past the sunset to a quick flash. 

You whined seeing your mother with her phone in your face from the passenger seat. 

You were entangled with Miles who was somehow still asleep. You shook him awake before getting out of the car yourself.  

—————

When you found out you’d be staying in the same room 

You jokingly complained, “He snores like he has 5 kids and works 2 jobs?”

“Be nice,” Your mother chastised. “He’s our guest,” 

“Yeah, be nice,” He teased.  

You punched him in the shoulder before lugging your suitcase out of the trunk. 

As you reached back in the trunk to grab your duffle bag, Miles grabbed the handle of your suitcase. 

“How many bags did you bring?” He questioned. 

“I can carry them, then,” You stressed. 

“No,” He grabbed your other bag. “I got it,” 

“Alright,” You slammed the trunk down before following Miles up the front steps of the AirBnB. 

——————

“Do you think-” You heard through the darkness. 

“Oh my God! No. Don’t say anything, go to sleep,” 

This wasn’t the first sleepover you had with Miles and it wouldn’t be the last, and almost every time without fail he would start spouting nonsense once the clock hit the AMs. 

“I was just gonna say what if dogs have existential crises?”

“How would I know that?” 

He shrugged despite it being only light enough for you to see his general silhouette. 

The exact moment you flipped back over to try to sleep, Miles interrupted you again. 

“Wanna watch The Road to El Dorado with me?”

Knowing you weren’t going to be able to fall asleep now, you loudly sighed before agreeing and sitting up against the headboard. 

He unplugged his phone from the bedside table resting between the beds, before getting up. 

You pulled the comforter back to give him space to climb in next to you. 

He grabbed Junior moving to put him on the floor. 

“No, don't put him on the ground,” You whined. 

“He’s staring at me,” 

You strained to lean over Miles and pick the toy back off the ground. You put the stuffed animal back on the bed so you were sandwiched between it and Miles. 

Then sidled up to Miles’s arm leaning on his shoulder. 

Not even five minutes into the movie, he felt you aggressively yawn, before burying your face in his shoulder. 

Soon your breathing evened out and when he glanced over you were asleep. 

He smiled to himself before pausing the movie at the barrel jump scene, moving so you were lying down. 

He put your phone on the charger and ensured you were tucked in before placing a kiss on your forehead. 

“Good night,” He whispered before lying down himself, ready to hang out with you more in the morning. 

©guessimjoiningthespidermanfandom

[knifedancer]

Not Dating

Day by day, one by one, Marinette’s classmates noticed that the young designer had gotten closer to Felix. Close enough to be considered dating. Finally, the entire class is convinced that the two ARE dating.

The only problem is that Felix nor Marinette seem to know about it.

Felix (PV) x Marinette, posted to AO3.

~~~~~~~

~~~SCENE 1: Lila~~~

Lila was walking down a shopping district when she caught sight of her favorite victim—er, classmate eating at a nearby café. Carefully maneuvering around the outdoor patio in a way so that she would not be seen, she noticed that Marinette was not alone… Across from her sat the snobbish cousin of Adrien’s: Felix Graham-Agreste. The Italian narrowed her eyes as she took in their chummy atmosphere. ‘When did they get so close?’

“Oh my gosh, Marinette! What a coincidence!” The liar called out as she exited her hiding spot.

The designer’s countenance darkened a bit as the liar approached, her voice dropping into a flat irritated tone. “Lila.” The snake’s eyes gleamed with a cruel light, her smile becoming a bit sharper.

“What do you want, Rossi?” Came the exasperated, blunt voice of her pale blond companion. Rude.

“What? Can’t I say hello to my classmates? I stop by this café all the time; the owner is like a father to me. I highly recommend the pasta!”

“It’s a boba café, they don’t sell pasta!” Cried the exasperated class president.

“Well, it’s on the secret men—”

“Hi, order number 42?” A waiter interrupted, pointing to the little plastic table number resting beside Felix’s elbow. “Who had the honeydew milk tea?” Marinette raised her hand and he set it before her. “And one matcha milk tea for the gentleman. Please enjoy.”

The two teens stared down Lila as the waiter left two straws and returned to his post inside to take orders. She scoffed as she sauntered away, pretending to look over the posted menu while spying on the pair. ‘Perhaps I can get something good to lie about at school tomorrow…’ she thought, watching them from the corner of her eye.

“Mm, this honeydew is delicious!” The bluenette remarked while sipping happily on her drink.

“Let me try,” Lila watched as Felix grabbed the drink right out of Marinette’s hands.

“Hey! Don’t steal all my tapioca pearls, jerk!”

The blond brought the same straw to his lips to take a sip. “Hmm, you’re right, not too sweet.” The designer’s scowl transformed into a smug smile as he set the glass back down in front of her, continuing to enjoy her drink without a second thought.

‘Did they just…indirectly kiss?! Oh my, talk about juicy gossip!’ Lila’s lips curled into a wicked smile; she couldn’t wait to twist this into a new story tomorrow!

~~~ The next day…

“You’ll never believe this, girls. Marinette was on a date with Felix!” Lila sobbed, “After I told her how much I liked him, too!”

“Aw, Lila…I’m sure that’s not what it was,” Mylene comforted the girl.

“I saw it! They were all lovey-dovey, sharing a drink—” The liar attempted.

“Girl, are you sure that your lying disease isn’t acting up again?” Alya asked skeptically as Lila tensed. “I mean…Marinette and Felix? Pfft, that’d never happen!”

“Does seem rather far-fetched,” murmured Juleka in agreement.

“But I really saw—" she tried again in vain.

“Shh, it’s okay. Why don’t you tell us more about your recent trip to Achu instead, Lila?” Rose begged the flabbergasted liar.

~~~SCENE 2: Adrien~~~

It was Saturday and the teen heartthrob of Paris had just finished a photoshoot early. Nathalie had even agreed to let him enjoy a little free time! ‘Too bad Nino is busy with Alya today,’ he thought glumly as he looked around the park. Spying his favorite designer’s balcony in the distance brought a smile to his face once again. ‘Maybe Marinette would want to play some UMS III!’ Destination set, Adrien began crossing the park at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sun and the breeze on such a pleasant day.

He watched as kids chased each other through the park, vendors sold balloons and treats, and friends picnicked on checkered blankets. The model smiled as his roaming eyes noted happy couples – like the two giggling college students holding hands as they walked, Marinette and Felix lounging under a tree, the young man chasing—WAIT. Marinette and Felix were what?

Adrien’s eyes locked back onto the pair beneath the tree in disbelief. Felix was sitting with his back against the trunk while reading the book he held in one hand. Sprawled out between his knees was a slumbering bluenette, her sketchpad forgotten on her lap while her fingers still twitched with the pencil between the digits. Her body was slumped slightly to the right, her head lazily resting against his cousin’s chest. Dumbstruck, he continued to stare as Felix brought his free hand up to turn the page before returning it back to its original place, his silver ring gleaming in a wayward sunbeam as his fingers idly played with one of Marinette’s pigtails.

They looked…comfortable. Closer than he remembered them being.

Marinette seemed to stir, her eyes squinting slightly against the sunlight before she began to shift. The blond’s hand extracted itself from her hair, his eyes falling away from those crisp white pages to gaze down at the girl in his lap. The bluenette resettled on her left side, half curled against his chest and readily fell back to sleep. With unbridled fascination, Adrien watched a soft smile spread across Felix’s face before his hand cupped around her cheek to gently play with the short hairs that curled in front of her ears. His smile never wavered as his eyes returned back to the book in his other hand as if the whole exchange had never happened.

Felix looked…happy and, perhaps, in love?

‘Are they…dating?’ The model’s brow scrunched in thought, considering the whole exchange as he quietly walked in the opposite direction. ‘Good for them. I should congratulate them at school tomorrow!’

‘Maybe Luka is available for a jam session,’ Adrien pulled out his phone to call the older boy.

~~~SCENE 3: Adrien and Alix~~~

After school the next day, while waiting for his ride, Adrien flagged down his cousin coming down the stairs. Felix gave his usual short greeting before expectantly looking at him. Noting they didn’t have much time to spare, he decided to cut to the chase.

“I noticed you and Marinette have gotten rather close recently,” Adrien smiled warmly.

“Yes, she’s been very welcoming and warm. She grows on you, much like a fungus,” the snobbish blond replied while his eyes drifted towards the entry way as if looking for someone.

“Come on, Fe! You don’t need to be so obtuse. She’s really special, isn’t she?” The model raised his eyebrows, attempting to put a heavier meaning behind his words. All he got was a distracted, affirmative hum in reply. Settling a hand on his cousin’s shoulder, his grey eyes shifted back to Adrien. The model looked directly into Felix’s eyes with a bright smile, “I just wanted to tell you that I’m really happy for you two!”

His cousin’s face scrunched up in confusion but, before he could question the green eye blond, his attention was captured by a shriek coming from the stairs behind them. Felix turned just in time to catch a flying bluenette against his chest with an “oof!” before she could hit the ground.

Alix jumped down from the top step and swooped around them in her skates, looking frantic. “Oh my gods, Mari! I’m so sorry, I thought you saw me coming. Are you okay?”

“Kubdel, what the hell were you thinking? You know Marinette has her head in the clouds 80% of the time!” Felix scolded the pink haired girl while setting the young designer down on her feet, keeping her in the protective ring of his arms. Turning to her, his tone became a tender and worried murmur, “Are you alright, princess?”

“I’m purrfectly fine, she didn’t mean to bump into me! Besides,” Alix and Adrien watched as her smile turned fond, “you caught me before I could get hurt. My hero.” She pretended to swoon and, although Felix scowled, his eyes remained soft. They watched as he took her bag from her shoulder and then grabbed her hand. Neither classmate missed how the grey eyed boy threaded his fingers through hers.

“You’re likely to fall over if I don’t hold onto you. Let’s get you home in one piece, shall we?” He nodded to the two as he led Marinette away, the unlikely duo murmuring to themselves – smiling and laughing as if in their own little world.

“Are those two dating?” Alix inquired with obvious confusion.

“Yup, I saw them cuddling in the park over the weekend. I was pretty surprised but I’m happy for them. I think she’s good for him,” Adrien grinned.

“Huh. I always thought she’d end up with you,” the pink haired girl shrugged and skated away from the now blushing blond.

“Wait, what?!”

~~~SCENE 4: Amelie~~~

The Graham-Agreste family didn’t travel outside of Paris much these days but, when they did, it was usually for a week at a time. Amelie had warned her son about the impending trip to visit a business contact in Greece and he seemed less than thrilled. She suspected it had something to do with the sweet classmate he had been spending so much free time with. She wasn’t blind but pretended to be whenever Felix’s face softened and an unconscious smile spread on his face when he would receive a text from her. She even had her own ringtone! And today? Why, Amelie was in for quite the treat because that very classmate appeared at their door just a few hours ago to help Felix pack for his trip.

She didn’t miss the chance to remind her teenage son to leave his door open as she didn’t wish to be a grandmother…yet. Nor did she miss both turning bright red at the implication of her words.

Amelie had checked a few times – while walking down the hallway, she didn’t want to cramp his style – and noted that he had left the door ajar as requested. This allowed her to catch snippets of their muffled conversation and laughter in passing. Not that she was trying to eavesdrop, but those joyful sounds made her so happy. It made her heart swell that Felix had finally found someone he could relax and be himself with! Her grumpy little man had made a friend – a girl friend no less – and Amelie was over the moon!

‘Come to think of it, it has been a while and they are awful quiet…’ she internally mused. ‘Better go check on them.’

The older blond set down her crossword and headed upstairs, approaching the bedroom door as quietly as she could. She heard nothing as she paused outside the door. Curiosity getting the better of her, she pushed the door open soundlessly. She had to bite her lip to stop from cooing over what she found!

Felix’s carryon was packed and set at the foot of the bed with care, a light jacket draped over the handle in preparation of their early flight. A single lamp on his nightstand was on, illuminating the scene before her in the dusk-colored room. In the middle of the duvet lay the two teens, about a foot apart but facing each other, unconsciously holding hands as they peacefully napped side-by-side. Tiptoeing to the end of the bed, Amelie pulled out her phone and snapped a few silent photos – noting with glee the tiny smile on her son’s face as he slept. With an airy sigh through her nose, she silently departed so the two could rest.

‘They make such a cute couple! I’ll have to frame these photos for when they get married…’

~~~SCENE 5: Juleka and Nathaniel~~~

A few weeks later, Madame Bustier had paired up students for an art history project. Juleka and Nathaniel had scheduled some time during lunch to study in the library, hoping to get the necessary books for their chosen historical figure: Marcel Duchamp. They greeted the librarian and headed towards the art history section, flipping through various books to find the most relevant information. Suddenly a giggle cut through the quiet and caught the attention of the two studious classmates. Peeking around the end of the row and looking toward the beanbag chairs in the reading nook, they spied two teens engaging in a tickle fight. Their eyes widened as they realized the grinning blond was none other than Felix and the snorting giggles were escaping a very pink, writhing Marinette.

“Is that…are they…” Nathaniel questioned under his breath, Juleka nodding vaguely to confirm that she was witnessing the same thing. This was not the work of an akuma.

They watched silently as the bluenette twisted and struggled to evade the blond boy’s nimble fingers, eventually ending up tangled and panting in an embrace that resembled a human Gordian Knot. Her legs were draped across his lap and an ankle hooked around one of his, her arms weaved and locked around his upper torso, her fingers driven into his hair. Felix’s head rested against her collar bone, his eyes shut, and lips curved into a smug smile. Their bodies were pressed so tightly together that not even a breeze could get between them. “You could have just told me you wanted to nap! Gods, you’re such a cat sometimes!” Marinette scolded softly with a huff of laughter, her fingers petting the skin and long hair at the base of his neck as the boy seemed to melt further against the young designer.

“Do you think they’re dating?” Juleka whispered in amazement.

“Certainly seems like it,” the red head replied.

~~~SCENE 6: Mylene and Rose~~~

“…And the whole park just looks so lovely with all those new trees planted! Thank you for helping with my beautification project, Rose!” Mylene expressed happily to the strawberry blond beside her as they wandered into the cafeteria.

“I was so happy to help. The flowers are going to smell amazing when they begin to blossom!” Rose swooned softly before bumping into someone in her distracted state. “Oh, hey Marinette! What have you got there?”

“Hey guys! I made bento boxes today, want to see?” The bluenette opened the two boxes for their perusal. Inside were tiny hotdog octopi piled so close together that they seemed to be kissing, slices of fried chicken, rice balls with seaweed hearts stuck all over them, and a small salad filled with heart shaped veggies. The two girls cooed over each detail, noting the obvious theme…

“Did you make these for your crush, Marinette?” Rose chirped sweetly, “So romantic!”

“Wh-what?! N-no, no! I just made these because I wanted to…” the young designer blushed crimson at their words and nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “I kind of fell down a YouTube rabbit hole with Kagami the other day and became super obsessed with the idea. I’m not very good though, I still need a bunch of practice…”

The colorful dreadlocked girl smiled kindly, “I think it’s really sweet! You know, I bet Adrien would—”

“Oh shoot! Sorry, girls, I promised Felix we’d have lunch together to work on our project and I really want to eat before this gets cold,” interrupted a distracted Marinette as she packed up her bento, her face scrunched as she took in the grumpy blond at the far end of the cafeteria.

“Sure, see you later, Mari!” Rose and Mylene watched as their friend crossed the room to sit with Felix. “They’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, huh?”

The mousey girl nodded, watching in fascination as their class rep seemed to scold the pale blond for only eating an apple before spreading the two bento boxes between them on the table. Felix responded with an eyeroll from the other side of his book, but Marinette just gesticulated her hand brandishing chopsticks to wave off his arguments. They were taken aback a moment later when she scooped a mouthful from the box and blew away the steam, then offered it to the boy with a silent ‘say ah!’ The grump seemed to huff before dutifully taking the morsel into his mouth, not letting her feeding him interrupt his reading. Marinette smiled brightly and continued to feed them both in this fashion, completely oblivious of the two shocked girls watching from afar.

The petite bubbly girl squealed with joy! “Do you think she actually made the bento for Felix? Oh my goodness, she filled it with hearts!”

“And he accepted it! We’ve got to tell the girls!” Mylene gushed, thrilled to see their sweet friend find love and appreciation.

Looks like the Adrienette fan club needs to disband…

~~~SCENE 7: Kim~~~

It was date night with his girl, Ondine. He had lost their bet at swim practice, so she got to pick the movie – some American “classic” called Grease playing at a small, off-the-beaten-path theater. She seemed happy so Kim wasn’t about to complain. ‘I just hope it’s not a total chick flick! I’ll have to catch the latest John Wick with the guys next weekend…’ he internally sighed. It was early evening on a weeknight, a few bored employees manned the front, and very few patrons were in attendance. Most appeared to be couples out on their own dates. The two athletic teens settled into their seats near the back – prime make out territory for couples, oh yeah – just in time for the lights to dim.

Suddenly, about five minutes into the film, the entry door on the opposite side of the auditorium opened with a loud BANG and made everyone present jump. Kim heard a familiar voice call out a whispered “sorry!” before catching sight of a couple quietly making their way down the aisle and settling a few rows down from where he was. One tall, lanky, dour blond and a shorter, contrite looking bluenette… Wait, was that Felix and Marinette? As Ondine hummed and danced in her seat to ‘Summer Lovin,’ Kim curiously watched as the duo took their seats in the back half of the theater. Once seated, there was some sort of frantic movement from Marinette before Felix settled his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer; the young designer’s head coming to rest against his chest. Kim’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his jaw dropped.

Were they on a DATE?

Distracted, Kim draped his arm around his girlfriend and stared off towards the screen unseeing for a few moments, the gears in his head slowly turning. They arrived together. They seemed cuddly with each other. His eyes widened. ‘Wait, they…’ He glanced over a few times to verify, ‘…they sat in the make out section!’ By the time the characters were dancing around the carnival to ‘We Go Together,’ the Vietnamese boy noticed out of the corner of his eye that Felix had long ago rested his head on top of Mari’s and had occasionally rubbed his cheek against her dark hair.

Maybe it wasn’t really them?

The credits rolled and the dim house lights came on, allowing him to get a better look at the couple as they got up to leave. Oh, yup, it was definitely Felix and Marinette. He nodded along as Ondine gushed about the film, watching his classmates ahead of them from his peripherals. Marinette was gesturing widely, her eyes lit up in a way that only happened when she spoke about fashion. The grouchy teen was gone, a warm smile on his face as he gazed down at the girl beside him. Once outside, he watched as the smile turned into a frown once again – this time only because the bluenette was shivering. He thought he heard the blond murmur “are you cold, Bug?” but he wasn’t sure. For the second time that night, Kim was shocked as Felix shrugged out of his coat and draped it around the dark-haired girl before pulling her close as they walked down the street.

Ondine looked between Kim and the couple, tilting her head a bit. “Isn’t that your friend, Marinette?”

“Yeah…” the taller boy replied hesitantly.

“Wow, she and her boyfriend make such a cute couple!”

~~~SCENE 8: Chloe & Nino~~~

Nino’s groan of frustration was so loud that it reverberated off the walls of the hallway, “Chloe! Look, I’m not thrilled about having to do this report with you either but I’m not going to let you just not do anything!”

The haughty blond girl huffed, crossing her arms with a pout. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me do…” She paused, her mouth opening and closing like she was attempting to spit out something foul tasting, “…homework, Lahiffe. I have far more interesting things to do – like my mani-pedi! These hands don’t just look perfect all on their own!”

“Just use your phone to search for some information on Louise Bourgeois. You insisted on picking her since you’re related but you have to do more than pick the topic!”

Chloe scoffed and turned towards the other blond that had wandered out of the classroom, “Felikins, tell Lahiffe here that a young woman like myself has important needs!”

Felix settled against the wall beside the classroom door and rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply when a stumbling blur came through the doorway and seized his attention. Nino watched in fascination as Adrien’s cousin quickly spun – was he always that fast? – and caught the figure in his arms, his face scrunched up in confusion and concern. As he raised himself from a crouch, the DJ was able to see he now held a barely conscious Marinette.

“Dudette! She okay?” Nino stepped closer with an outstretched hand, worry evident in his tone. Sure, he hadn’t been able to hang out with her as much lately, but he knew her! His oldest friend tended to push herself too hard and take on too much, plus she had developed a sensitivity to cold recently… Made her susceptible to getting sick very easily.

Then something unexpected happened that stunned them to silence... The grey eyed boy leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, his face transforming from worry to shock before effortlessly scooping the limp bluenette up bridal style. His voice softened, “Marinette, you have a fever! Did you go out without your jacket again?” He huffed as the girl whined weakly in his arms. Turning to the two of them, his tone became all business once more, “Excuse me, it seems I need to take her to the nurse.” The two shocked classmates stepped aside as a very fierce looking Felix hastened down the hall like a man on a mission. Nino could swear he heard Felix’s voice echoed a ‘what am I going to do with you, princess?’ as he turned the corner, but Felix surely wouldn’t say something like that… would he? Then again…

“Did Felix just…kiss Marinette? Do you think they’re dating?” Nino wondered aloud.

His words seemed to snap Chloe out of her stupor, she spun to face him and screeched in disbelief, “What?! Dating? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

~~~SCENE 9: Sabine & Tom~~~

Sabine was a patient, protective, intuitive woman. She watched her beautiful daughter trip over herself for a boy in her school – a model, no less – she just shook her head. Adrien seemed like a sweet boy but distracted and flighty. Tom thought he seemed like a good match for their sweet girl at first and welcomed him into their home like they would a future son-in-law; Sabine was unconvinced though. Not that she would treat the sweet teen model without her usual kindness – he was her little Bǎobèi‘s friend, after all. He just wasn’t the right one.

However, about half a year later Marinette came home with another blond boy that immediately caught her attention. The new boy, Felix, looked similar to Adrien but was entirely different. Sure, both boys were respectful, handsome, and polite… However, where Adrien was falling over himself for approval and acceptance, Felix walked with a gait that seemed to communicate he needed no one’s approval. She watched with interest as their friendship developed and noted with a smile that the grumpy boy balanced out their daughter’s overexuberance. She softened his hard edges; his quiet support allowed her self-confidence to blossom. He brought structure and order; she ruffled his feathers and introduced some spontaneity to his life. Sabine and Tom had friendly bets going that the two would become something more, but nothing had shown that that was happening. There had been an obvious change in their dynamic a few weeks ago and the bakers were thrilled! Perhaps this was the moment? No.

At this rate, her daughter was going to cost her $30 if they didn’t get together by the end of the month…

It had been a couple days since a worried Felix carried a feverish Marinette home from school. He made sure to come by each day with notes, assignments, and to inquire about her health. Sabine could tell by the way his eyes drifted to the back stairs during each visit that he wanted to see her – not that the taciturn blond would admit such a thing. The two teens were in the living room watching a movie now that she was feeling better. Sabine smiled softly as she washed a few dishes in the sink, ‘As if illness would keep that boy away from your side, Bǎobèi…’ The blond teen was sitting a respectful distance from her daughter on the couch as they chatted about the plot quietly, smiles on both of their faces.

Marinette began to shiver, her body not quite recovered, and whined about feeling cold. Sabine watched as Felix rolled his eyes before getting up, eliciting a louder whine from the girl on the couch. He passed the kitchen with a nod and wordlessly went up the stairs to the designer’s room, returning with a thick fluffy blanket as if he was used to fetching things in their house or for their daughter. Odd. The boy proceeded to drape the blanket over his blue-eyed classmate, carefully tucking it around her whole form before lifting her feet and encasing them as well. Marinette made happy noises as she began to settle in when a sudden movement made her squawk with indignation. Sabine turned in time to see Felix sit closer to her, Marinette’s feet on his lap as he began to unconsciously rub them through the cover of the blanket.

The older bluenette smiled, watching the two returning back to their bantering. Sabine quietly dried her hands and went back down to the bakery. Tom was going to want to hear all about this!

~~~Later…

Tom and his wife tiptoed up the stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two teens without their notice. There, on the couch and basking in the glow of the DVD menu, lay two sleeping teens. Their daughter was cocooned in the blanket like a caterpillar going through metamorphosis, only her head was visible. However, laying slightly behind and draped over the blanket was the slumbering form of Felix. His arms unconsciously pulled her closer, causing their Bǎobèi to hum happily.

“Better be ready to pay up, honey,” whispered Sabine with a grin. “This boy is definitely our Nǚxù.”

Tom chuckled softly, pulling out his phone and opening the notes app. “Do you think he’ll like strawberry crème for their wedding cake?”

“Perhaps lemon, it would go very well with that cream cheese buttercream you’ve been testing out…”

The two adults retreated back to the bakery to continue their discussion, leaving the two teens blissfully unaware that the details of their anticipated nuptials would likely be hammered out by the end of the week.

~~~SCENE 10: Sabrina & Roger Raincomprix~~~

Lt. Roger Raincomprix returned home after his evening patrol, dropping his keys on the entryway table before letting out a long sigh. Tonight had been a long shift but he needed to speak to his daughter before she went to bed… He plodded down the hallway to her room and knocked when he saw the light still shining from beneath the door. “Sabrina? Are you still up, pumpkin?”

“Come on in, Dad!” Roger nervously pushed his way in, finding his smiling daughter dressed in her pajamas and sitting at her desk. “We have a big test tomorrow, so I was just getting in one last review before going to bed.”

“That’s good, honey. We need to have a talk,” the officer sat on the edge of his daughter’s bed and fidgeted with his hands. He wasn’t sure how to broach this topic with his teenage daughter but, some things had happened that evening that made Roger realize that he needed to make sure she was being safe.

“Something wrong, Dad? Did something happen on patrol tonight?” Sabrina’s tone became pensive, concerned for the serious look that her father was sporting.

He dropped his eyes to the floor, flexing his hands in and out of fists as he spoke haltingly. “Yes. Uh…well… Pumpkin, you’re a young woman now. Hormones are hard to deal with as a teen and you’re…going to meet someone special…and you’re going to have some urges—”

“DAD!” The scandalized cry brought his eyes up to meet her own wide, cyan-colored eyes. “Are you…trying to give me the ‘birds and the bees’ talk?”

He swallowed thickly, “Yes, sweetie. You’re sixteen now and—”

His daughter crossed her arms and gave him a flat look as she interrupted again, “I don’t even have a romantic interest right now, Dad. We already covered this in Sex Ed. What is this really about? What happened on patrol?”

Roger gave a long sigh and his brow furrowed. ‘I shouldn’t tell her what happened but… Sabrina wouldn’t tell anyone.’

He cleared his throat. “There was an incident with two of your classmates tonight in the park—”

“WHAT? Who?”

“Sabine’s daughter, Marinette, and that blond kid…what was his name again? Not the model.”

“Felix Graham-Agreste?”

He snapped his fingers, “That’s the one! Caught the two of them in the park canoodling…”

~~Earlier…

Lt. Raincomprix whistled softly as he walked past the hero statue in the park. It had been a quiet shift besides the akuma – not that he could assist with that! – which the heroes apparently wrapped up a few minutes ago, if the recent swarm of ladybugs was any indication. ‘I wonder what those two do after the fight? Chat Noir seems suave, he’s probably some playboy…’ Suddenly a crash and groans were heard. Roger pulled out his flashlight and rushed toward the bushes where the noise originated. There, he found two teens he recognized from his daughter’s class in a compromising position…

Felix Graham-Agreste was slouched back against the trunk of a tree and Marinette Dupain-Cheng was slumped forward between his knees, both staring towards the light with wide eyes. Their hair and clothes were in disarray, small twigs and leaves attached to the strands as if they had been rolling through the bushes. One of the bluenette’s hands was resting upon his thigh, while the other was gripping the front of his belt. The blond had a hand on the back of her head and the other pressed against her upper back, as if pulling her towards him. Felix’s shirt had been untucked and ridden up to expose his stomach; Marinette’s shirt gaped open in the front where a few buttons had popped off to reveal the lacy shoulder strap of her bra.

“What do you two think you’re doing? A park is no place for a lover’s tryst!” Lt. Raincomprix exclaimed.

The two looked each other over briefly before turning red in the face, the small girl squeaked in embarrassment as the boy pulled her close to cover her exposed décolletage and flaming face. He cleared his throat to try to regain some semblance of decorum. “Our apologies, Officer. We weren’t… this isn’t… this was an accident…”

“So are many babies that come from young teenage relationships, son. I understand, I was a young, hot-blooded man myself once.” Roger chuckled at the memory of his adolescent escapades. The two teens in front of him rose to their feet, a flustered Marinette clutched the front of her shirt closed as a more composed Felix kept an arm around her while he continued to shield her from view with his body. “Head on home. I don’t want to be finding you two in the bushes after dark again, you hear?”

The two teens nodded and started the trek back towards the bakery, Roger could hear the bluenette muttering about this being all the boy’s fault. Before they could escape the park, the officer called back out to them. “Oh! And remember to use protection!” He could see the pale blond stiffen and a new flush of red go up the back of his neck at the comment. He chuckled and murmured quietly, “Kids these days…”

~~~Present…

“…I know they’re in your class and you’re all about the same age. It’s totally natural to express your love that way. I just wanted to have a talk with you to make sure that you’ll be safe.” Roger smiled at his daughter and ruffled her hair. “Alright, pumpkin, thanks for hearing me out. Just wait to give me grandkids until you’re a bit older, hm?” He chuckled and walked from the room with a wave. “Sweet dreams and good luck on that test tomorrow!”

A gaping Sabrina stared at the door that her father closed behind him, trying to grasp the facts – Felix and Marinette were apparently caught in a park together.

Were they even dating? It was obviously serious!

Or was he just using her?

How had no one noticed?

She needed to talk to Chloe!

~~~SCENE 11: Max~~~

The cafeteria was busy when Max Kanté wandered in, almost every seat was taken, and a few students had even braved sitting on the notoriously filthy tabletops. Markov scanned the area and found an empty chair near the resident grumpy blond in the corner – was he saving it for someone? Or perhaps most were just too intimidated to ask? Based on various factors, the bespectacled teen calculated that he had a 64.8% chance of success approaching him verses someone else in their class. He’d take those odds.

Approaching the distant table, he noted that Felix Graham-Agreste was focused – leaned forward on elbows and brow furrowed – on a laptop screen in front of him and, once he was within two meters of his target, that it appeared he was playing a video game. Max’s curiosity was peaked. “Hello Felix, apologies, I noticed you were playing a game. I was unaware you were a gamer. Perhaps you would be interested in being a beta test—”

The blond winced slightly and sat back, looking up at the suspender-wearing boy with a wry smirk. “I’m not, Kante. I am attempting to try a game recommended to me by an acquaintance. I’m afraid this endeavor is likely fruitless.”

“Oh,” Max paused, unsure how to continue the conversation. “Well, if you change your mind, I wouldn’t mind a non-gamer perspective. My games should be user friendly to professionals and novices alike.” Felix hummed in response, his eyes returning to the screen where 32-bit sprites bounced in place while awaiting orders. ‘Likely an emulator game considering the archaic graphics,’ he thought to himself.

He cleared his throat and rested his hand on the back of the open chair. “I actually came here to ask if I could take the chair or are you saving it?”

Felix’s eyes flickered over the item before he waved dismissively, “Take it. I’m not saving it.”

“Many thanks. Enjoy your game.” The blond teen snorted in reply and turned back towards his computer.

Max moved to a table nearby, settling in to eat with a few members of the AV club to discuss the latest technology released at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES). While one boy animatedly spoke of the newest VR technologies, the bespectacled boy noticed Marinette swerving between the tables; he raised his hand to greet her, but she only gave a wave in passing before stopping beside Felix. Unusual. The distance between them was not great and, though he did not mean to, he could not help eavesdropping inadvertently.

“Hey Felix! Are you…playing a game?” The bluenette leaned over his shoulder, tilting her head at what was displayed.

“Yes, although not very well.” He chuckled softly.

“…But you don’t like video games,” he hummed as she paused in thought. “What brought on the change of heart?”

Felix roughly cleared his throat and preoccupied himself with brushing nonexistent dust from the keyboard keys rather than meeting her eyes. When he finally spoke, Max could barely hear his voice over the general din. “…You enjoy it.” Were his ears red? That had to be a trick of the light!

Marinette whipped her head towards him, blinking a few times as she absorbed his words. Max could see the instant they sunk in: her cheeks took on a rosy glow, her eyes softened, and a sweet smile spread across her face. Were they…flirting? Max was unsure. She leaned in a bit closer, “So…what are we playing?”

Felix seemed to recover some of his normal composure at her reply, “Final Fantasy 7, unfortunately.”

“Wait, the original 1997 release? I love that game!” Marinette glanced around for a chair, frowning when she didn’t see one available. She contemplated the tabletop with a quick swipe of her hand, grimacing at finding something sticky. She wiped her hand lightly on her dark wash jeans and mumbled something that made the boy scoff. They seemed to exchange a look before he sat back and made a gesture in front of him.

Wait! Was Felix Graham-Agreste offering what Max thought he was offering?

No! Couldn’t be! There was only a 13.7% chance that…

Max stared with wide eyes as the blue-eyed designer smiled graciously before casually taking a seat on the blond’s lap – as if this was an everyday occurrence! – before proceeding into a detailed breakdown of the game mechanics and basic strategy. Felix loosely looped an arm around her waist to hold her steady while her hands fluttered about to emphasize her words. The pale blond rested his chin on her shoulder, his eyes attentive and focused on the screen once more, nodding along while his body language communicated contentment. Lifting the sleeve of his green polo shirt, Max pinched himself to make sure he was not imagining this strange manifestation, then glanced around for an akuma for good measure. Nope, this was real.

‘Looks like I need to adjust my calculations…’ he thought, baffled.

~~~SCENE 12: The Whole Class~~~

After a few long days of presentations and exams (and multiple late-night stress-induced akumas – midterms, amirite?), students were rewarded with a school board mandated half day as a “stress relief” measure. Dupont’s was scheduled on Wednesday and teachers had doubled up on homework assignments, but Madam Bustier’s class wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and they had time off from school! They quickly arranged for a potluck styled picnic in the park and most of their group had arrived by the allotted time…

“Hey, where’s Marinette and Felix?” Max questioned.

“Don’t know about Felix but you know my girl, she’s always running late,” Alya chuckled.

“They’re probably coming together!” Rose chirped from beside a nodding Mylene. Juleka seemed to be murmuring something about a Felinette fan club to a perplexed Ivan.

The Ladyblogger scoffed, “Yeah right. They can barely stand each other at school.” Alix seemed to be quietly chuckling at something Nathaniel was muttering about from the shade of a nearby tree.

Nino and Adrien shared a look beside a smug Kim. “They seemed pretty chummy to me,” the jock shrugged while the other two boys nodded emphatically.

Lila crossed her arms with a huff, “I tried to tell you, Aly—”

“Pardon our tardiness, someone couldn’t pick what flavor juice they wanted…” interrupted Felix with an annoyed tone.

Everyone turned to see the grumpy blond, who had suddenly appeared and was setting down a few boxes of pastries from the boulangerie. He was dressed in a crisp white linen button up, the long sleeves belying the warmth in the air, with his typical grey vest and slacks. Trailing behind was a contrite looking Marinette carrying a large jug of grape juice, her flirty grey skirt and short-sleeved white blouse with white embroidery seeming to match Felix in a casual way. Most present would agree that that was the best way to describe the pair: formal vs. casual, yet somehow complimentary. Well, most people anyway – Alya called it a coincidence!

“There were too many options,” she protested with a scoff, “rich people apparently like to have a bazillion different kinds of juice!”

“It’s called ‘having a selection’ and that’s not even a number!” The boy snarked back, wandering closer to Adrien with an eyeroll. The designer grumbled as she poured herself a cup of juice.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s get this party started!” Nino cried while pumping a fist in the air, cueing Max to start up the tunes while the group mingled over snacks and students settled into a rough circle on a collection of picnic blankets.

Everyone was laughing and having a good time, although many were stealing glances at the bluenette and pale blond as they seemed to coordinate or maneuver around each other like some kind of elaborate dance. His hand steadying her elbow as she wobbled while getting up, her wordlessly placing a few extra cheese squares onto his plate, a tap or a smile or a shoulder bump somehow communicating each other’s needs without words. The food began to dwindle after a couple amicable – if scrutinizing – hours passed. All that remained was a handful of badly bruised fruit and the dwindling drink supply. It was during a moment when Marinette was refilling her cup with juice at the nearby table and Felix turned a certain way that it happened…

“Uh, Fe… You have something on your collar.” Adrien pointed towards his own neck to indicate the general location. “Did you spill something on yourself?”

“No,” puzzled the teen in question, popping open the top button, pulling the collar away from his neck and into the edges of his field of vision.

“Yeah, dude, it kinda looks like lipstick?” Nino helpfully contributed.

Felix face morphed into a flat look of irritation before leaning back to call over his shoulder, “You got lipstick on me again?”

‘AGAIN?’ The class thought simultaneously, shocked speechless.

Oblivious to the turmoil he had created in their classmates, the grumpy blond turned to speak directly to the approaching bluenette. “What is it with you and always leaving marks on me, hm?”

Jaws slackened, unsure what to make of such a bold statement. However, Alya’s eyes had zeroed in on the exposed skin around Felix’s collar bones and shoulder… which were covered in light scratches. Scratches that were obviously made by human fingernails rather than by an animal. ‘As if given in the heat of passion…’ The thought caused her to choke on a bite of food and left her coughing roughly to clear her windpipe.

“It’s not like I meant to—AH!” Marinette’s toe caught on a rock, lurching her forward and causing the grape juice to go airborne. As if in slow motion, everyone watched in silent fascination as the purple stream crashed down on Felix. With a bland look and soft growl, the now wet teen dragged a hand down his face and looked into the bluebell eyes staring at him in horror. A silent conversation seemed to pass between the two as everyone held their breath – Adrien’s cousin was not known for being forgiving, especially when it came to his clothes. After a couple seconds, the young designer scrambled up and began to blot his face and neck with a few wrinkled napkins that she had crushed in her hand when she fell.

“Oh gods… I’m so, so sorry, Felix!” They watched as his brow furrowed and he captured the wrist of one fussing hand in his. Just as he was about to open his mouth to give a – likely scathing – retort, she suddenly perked up with a determined glint in her eye. In one fluid motion she reversed his hold and yanked them both to their feet. “I know! Let’s go back to my house so you can change, I have one of your shirts from last time!”

With a quick tug and a brusque ‘see ya’ over her shoulder, the two were off! The drenched blond stumbling after the exuberant bluenette bounding gracefully across the grass, moving so fast that they were quickly out of earshot. Leaving behind the cacophony of vocalized reactions of their friends and classmates to such a proclamation…

“Wait—”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN—”

“…Last time?”

“Do you think that means they…”

“DUDE!”

“…my ship…”

“Damn, get it, bro!”

“Did you see…”

“I told you so!”

“What just happened?!”

“Ridiculous! If you hadn’t already told me, Sabrina, I would not have believed it.” Chloe’s muttered words, although not loud, cut through the din and silenced all present. Twelve sets of eyes landed on the duo as if seeking answers or insider gossip.

“Wait! What do you know, Sabrina?” Alya questioned with narrowed eyes.

“Well…” she hesitated, looking around nervously before dropping her eyes to the checkered pattern of the blanket she sat on. “My dad said, the other night…”

~~~SCENE 13: The Confrontation~~~

No one was really sure how it started but the newest ‘golden couple’ was in the middle of an argument during their free period. Madam Bustier had left to gather more materials for later coursework. Everyone watched with silent interest as Marinette and Felix seemed to forget that the rest of the room existed, teasing smirks and flashing eyes only for each other.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah!”

“You and what army?”

“I don’t need an army, I can best you all by myself.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

The class collectively held their breath as the two edged closer and closer. The space between them on their shared bench disappeared as they leaned in, eyes locked together as grey gazed deeply into blue, nose to nose and humid breaths mingling as they continued to banter. Marinette’s bangs brushed Felix’s forehead as he tilted his head and his features adopted a more cocksure appearance, as if he was challenging her. She leaned ever closer, their lips only a whisper apart as their voices dropped in timbre. Time seemed to slow to a stop in the classroom. The anticipation was so thick that it was choking every ambient sound into silence…

“JUST KISS ALREADY!”

In an instant the spell was broken. Everyone jumped at the screeched words and searched for the source. There stood a panting, flushed Juleka. Her hands planted on her desk as she leaned aggressively forward, a fierce fire burning in her eyes as they bored into Marinette and Felix – as if the strength of her will alone would make it happen. A few groans were heard as the couple leaned away with widened eyes, only now realizing they had an audience.

“What did you say?” questioned the pale blond, his lips turning down into a frown.

“We’re saying you don’t need to hide your relationship anymore,” Ivan smiled softly.

“Guys, what…” the young designer chuckled incredulously.

“We know you two are dating,” answered Kim plainly.

Marinette and Felix’s ruddy complexions mirrored each other, their eyes looking like they might pop from their sockets. The two tripped over their words to contradict but neither were able to get more than a “we’re not—“/”that’s not—” as their tongues tumbled about uselessly in their mouths.

“Don’t even try to deny it, we’ve all seen you two. It’s not like you’re very subtle, Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe crossed her arms and stared down her nose at them.

The tall blond boy was the first to recover, his brow furrowing. “Wait, what do you mean you saw us?”

“I saw you cuddling in the park,” Adrien offered softly.

“And in the library,” Nathaniel contributed while Juleka got herself under control.

“All of you know that Marinette is very physically affectionate, especially when she’s cold.” Felix defended.

Alix scoffed, “What about holding hands and carrying her bags?”

“She’s also incredibly clumsy and regularly hurts herself. I do that to keep her from faceplanting every three meters,” he argued while Mari chuckled softly.

“You two regularly share drinks,” Lila rolled her eyes at the gasped “sorry for not believing you, girl!” coming from Alya beside her.

“And made him bento lunches!” squealed a lovesick Rose.

“Hey! I told you I made those on a whim!” the young designer cried.

“Then why were there so many hearts?” Mylene innocently questioned.

The bluenette blushed, “They were supposed to be flowers…I’m not very good at cutting shapes with a knife.”

“Well, Ondine and I saw you all lovey-dovey at the movies,” presented Kim with an eyebrow waggle.

She crossed her arms and huffed, “I was researching 1950’s American fashion for a design!”

“Uh…dudette…we saw him kiss you,” Nino nervously murmured. Although, by the way the whole class gasped, they had heard him. The Moroccan boy quickly added, “it was on the head!”

Marinette squeaked and looked at the slightly pink boy beside her. Felix turned to meet Nino’s eye, “…she was ill with a fever and I had my hands full, if you will recall.”

Lila’s tone turned salacious, “That doesn’t even cover the scandalous moments…”

“You did seem awfully cuddly playing video games at lunch the other day,” Max stated while adjusting his glasses.

“B-but th-that was…” the designer stuttered weakly before being interrupted.

“Sabrina’s father caught you hooking up in the park,” Kim smirked and winked towards Felix, who showed the telltale signs of a flush spreading up his neck and ears.

“Not to mention the lipstick and scratches!” Alya leaned towards Marinette and whisper shouted, “I didn’t know you had it in you, girl!”

“And he has clothes at your place from last time,” purred the Italian.

“That’s…” the bluenette swallowed hard, “I-I-I was tr-trying to save a k-kit-kitten from the tr-tree in the p-park. F-Felix ca-caught me when I s-slipped, damaged hi-his clothes… He left his sh-shirt for m-me to repair it and he for-forgot to p-pick it up.”

The blond kept his eyes down, his voice was quiet but still carried in the small classroom, “I recently discovered a new allergy to a certain laundry detergent that makes me very itchy and I’ve been scratching myself…”

“Um…what about the lipstick?” a bashful Adrien murmured.

“I hav-haven’t gotten m-m-much sleep lately…” began the designer, pressing her palms together in her lap nervously.

“…She has a tendency to fall asleep on me if I carry her,” Felix finished quietly, his grey eyes holding unreadable emotions.

“We’re just friends,” they flatly replied, their expressions reflecting some internal conflict while unable to meet the other’s eye.

Most of the students collectively groaned again as they hunkered back down into their seats, unable to stand that phrase. Fourteen sets of eyes exchanged looks as the information sank in. The couple’s explanation made a lot of sense in hindsight… Nino and Kim had known Mari for years and she was overly physically affectionate. ‘Plus Alya knows the girl was even more so with cold weather,’ the Moroccan boy thought. He and Kim shrugged it off, who were they to judge? Many others are willing to brush it off as a misunderstanding now that the excitement had passed.

On the other hand, Adrien seemed to grow more flustered since the declaration of friendship, shooting furtive glances towards Marinette – his imagination running wild with the idea of cuddling with the soft, sweet-smelling baker girl. ‘Maybe she and I…’ He was jolted from his daydreams by a tap from Nino’s pen on his arm. The model’s ears and cheeks felt like they would permanently sport a pink coloration. A few Adrienette fan club members squealed quietly as they observed his reactions. However, there were a few classmates that were still suspicious – such as Chloe and Sabrina – that quickly found home with the handful of Felinette shippers as they charted their theories. Some things just felt too convenient and damn, if they didn’t make an adorable couple…

REET! REET! REET!

The akuma alert popped up on every phone in the class, everyone opened it to see the location— BOOM!

RIIIIIING!

A plume of dust rose above the rooftops from a few blocks away and the school’s evacuation bell blared overhead. The students quickly grabbed their things and calmly evacuated away from the action. They all failed to notice a still pink Felix Graham-Agreste grab the hand of a flustered Marinette Dupain-Cheng before running furiously in the opposite direction…

~~~ BONUS SCENE~~~

The akuma took longer than usual. They were both off their game. First, the heroes had been distracted and submerged in the thoughts contained within their own minds. Their communication suddenly became stilted and awkward, filled with embarrassed laughter that would die out like a sputtering engine running out of fuel. Then it was as if they were hyperaware of each other – every touch, glance, and proximity – causing them to jerk away at the most inopportune times.

The worst part?

It wasn’t caused by the akuma.

The issues were not resolved by the Miraculous Cure. So, after recharging – and getting a peptalk from – their kwamis, they rendezvoused on the top of a tall building where they would not be overheard. Feet dangling over the edge, they decided to clear the air.

“I just can’t believe they thought we were dating!” Ladybug cried, her hands fluttering anxiously around her head.

"That cover story about the kitten in the park was genius though." Chat Noir chuckled, “I’m honestly not as surprised. You did suddenly act much closer to me after you revealed your identity.”

“Excuse moi? I was NOT the one that revealed to you! I seem to recall saving your leather-clad butt from being revealed to all of Paris.” The spotted heroine poked him in the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah…” the black-cloaked hero rolled his eyes, “and you happened to drop your transformation right as we barreled headlong into that broom closet. You landed right on top of me!”

“Fine, I saved both of our asses, Alley Cat!” she grinned teasingly.

Chat threw his head back with a joyous laugh, a more natural grin spreading across his face as he flirtatiously waggled his eyebrows. “Alley Cat who? Our classmates seem to think I’m a House Cat now, Bugaboo.”

Ladybug’s cheeks pinked under her mask at the implication of his joke, her eyes breaking away from his to refocus on another point on the skyline pensively. Had he said something wrong? The lines of Chat’s mouth tugged down at her reaction, leaning closer in an attempt to meet her eyes again when her whisper froze him in place.

“…is the idea of being MY kitty so ridiculous…?”

His eyes widened. Chat swallowed thickly, his mind supplying the same sweet moments their classmates had witnessed and more as his face burned up. Perhaps even a bassinet, family dinners, and kisses. Gods, that sounded…purrfect. A wide grin blossomed from the ashes of his frown and he leaned into her peripherals to catch her eye with a flirty wink.

“Does that mean my princess would like to become my queen?”

The bug-heroine’s eyes snapped to meet his, filled with enough warmth and love to knock the air from his lungs. Within seconds, a playful sparkle and a bright smile broke across her face as she leaned right into his personal space to peck his cheek. His face grew hot, smile lopsided, and he could swear his spine melted a little.

“If you can catch me, Kitty,” launching herself from the building with a laugh as she swung away.

Shaking himself from his stupor, he pulled out his baton and plunged off the side. Challenge accepted. He had a bug to catch!

‘Looks like our classmates will have more to talk about tomorrow…’

**Note: I plan to write a sequel eventually!

[itsmebytch001]

Okay! So Imagine on Earth 42! Y/n is dead but Aaron is alive and when Y/n turns up in his living room not seeing that this isn't really HER house and Miles and Aaron walk in and he's like...

Aaron: "Miles...Miles I think i'm tripping" He backs away from her and grabs onto Miles's shoulder but Miles is just leaping to her and hugging her so tightly it's hurting her and Aaron's just FROZEN in the corner like wtf and while Miles is hugging her and crying Y/n and Aaron are just looking at each other likeeee almost crying...

Y/n: "...Papa?" And he's so scared that this is like a horrible punishing dream to hurt himself so he's like backing out the room just pissed he's having this dream again and is like breaking down in Y/n's room which Miles is NEVER allowed to eneter EVER only him and he sits and stares into the void and cleans it but always leaves everything EXCATLY how it was when she died

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH I NEEEEEEEEEEED MORE ANGST GIMME

Yas I need more angst FEED MEEEEE

It takes like an hour for Aaron to accept that this isn't

A) A evil trick or

B) A bad dream / hallucination

but once he dose he fully breaks down crying and holding onto his daughter is a bear hug in a vice like grip and shes crying and E42!Miles is crying while 160!Miles is just standing in the living room like....

160!Miles: "damm what happened to ya'll?" While the family collapses in tears and 160!Miles is so taken aback by Aaron's cyring having never seen it before he's juts like...

160!Miles: "Imma just head out, be back in 20 when ya'll are done"

I think Aaron might snap a bit and not let Reader leave, like he's smart enough to make her a watch that allows her to stay, he decorates it as 'you can stay here however long you like!' but really it's more like 'you ain't leaving, not now to ever and don't try with me I will lock you in your room' and he treats her like a glass balloon not letting her do anything without him, sometimes when you stay over if he is chill (Unlikely) he just watches you from afar, if 42!Miles catches him he's like...

42!Miles: "You good Unc?"

42!Aaron: "Yeah, why?"

42!Miles: "Cuz you standing over your daughter while she sleeps like fucking Michel Myers"

...

42!Aaron: "Shut up, get back to bed"

42! Miles: "How about you bet back to bed, looking like a serial killer"

Comes visits you whenever, scares the shit out of Jeff, he also breaks down when he comes to visist, honestly he might aswell move since he's here so so so very often, back in his universe (E42!) He has a mural for you, like the one his family has for him on E160 but he dosne't visit it often as he should, E42!Miles dose like every week or so to make sure the paint dose not fade but when he dose visit he leaves incense and plays some sad music and just sits and stares into the void.

If you took him to his mural you need to keep reminding him he's dead in E160 and that he can't be drawing attention to himself so to keep a low profile, and if you have his ashes he's like...

42!Aaron: "So my whole body....is in this tiny jar?"

160!Y/n: "It's called an earn...but yes"

42!Aaron: "Don't give me lip...but are you sure? Maybe they missed a piece? How can my ENTIRE body be in this?" He waves it around.

160!Y/n: "Please...Please don't do that" You snatch it back from him and place it back on the shelf.

42!Aaron: "Right, I'm sorry it's just strange...being dead kinda"

160!Y/n: "Where's my body then? back where your from"

And suddenly it all come back and he becomes cagey and sad...poor Aaron just want's to forget but keep you forever, will come back to scare Diana as well just for laugh's ....

[twobfb42]

24/42 bfb, tpot insp: @cactus-balloon i need to draw 4x next time...

[strangersteddierthings]

Writing Prompt for this list, requested by @suddenlyinlove. #42. "His ego is so visible; I can almost watch it grow." and #30. “Can I sit here? The other tables are full.”

Details - This is an AU with a twist I don't wanna spoil so like... suspend your disbelief please. Period-typical homophobia and thus, the use of slurs derogatorily. Stir clear if that is triggering.

Posted on Ao3 because it is long (9.7k) and it might be easier to read there for some.

-

August 25, 1984 - Two Days Before the Start of School

There's a good view of the whole party from their dark corner of the yard, where Jeff, Gareth, and Brian are huddled around him. Eddie'd told Carol Perkins he'd show but only if his friends could come, too. If she wanted weed, then his friends could have beer.

Plus, if he was going to suffer, they were going to suffer. That's what friendship was about.

"His ego is so visible; I can almost watch it grow," Eddie mutters, glaring in the general direction of Steve 'The Hair' Harrington as he laughs at something (he's clutching his beer awfully tight for someone having fun- Nope, Eddie doesn't care).

"Right? Can see it ballooning right before our eyes," Jeff says. This is why Jeff is his best friend. They hate on the same things. People. Whatever.

"Sorry for you guys," Eddie fakes sympathy, "once I graduate, I won't have to deal with it. Let me know if anyone shoves you into a locker though. I'll slash some tires or refuse to sale 'em weed. Whichever hurts them more."

"You said that last year," Gareth says. "And yet."

Eddie pretends to stab himself in the heart, falling to the ground dramatically, gasping like he was dying before finally stilling, staring as unblinking as he could at the sky.

Jeff nudges him with his foot, "good riddance, Munson. People will remember you weirdly."

Eddie breaks character to grin up, lifting a hand that Jeff takes and helps pull him up. "Remembered weirdly is what it's all about."

"Speaking of weird, Harrington's being... weird," Gareth says, tilting his head slightly, still looking in the direction they'd all been looking at just moments before. "When you just dropped he like... I dunno. Weird."

"What, weird how. What did he do?" Eddie whips to look at Harrington, who is looking back, looking worried, and is slightly closer than he was before. Eddie watches as Harrington's eyes track his entire self, looking for what, Eddie can't even begin to understand. He can visibly see the tension leave Harrington's body, pretty sure even his friends clocked that (even though they have less experience in the Harrington-watching department than himself).

"When you dropped, he like... rushed forward. I think he caught how fucking weird that would be for him to do 'cause he stopped just as quickly. That's weird, right?"

"Really fucking weird."

Harrington steps back into his friend group, more on the outside than he was before. (Did seem like people loved Hargrove a bit more than Harrington these days).

Eddie and his friends go back to trash talking everyone they can set their eyes on. It's easy to do, what with being ignored in the corner again. Occasionally Eddie is flagged down by someone, or they try and make eye contact (which is worse), so he huffs as though put upon and marches off to a different corner of the Perkins' backyard to sale his contraband.

(If he's marking it up, well, these rich kids can afford it.)

Anyway, their trash talk always seems to come back to Harrington. None of them acknowledge it out loud but Harrington's the easiest to shit talk in public because he's the safest. He's egotistical, kinda airheaded, and an asshole, but in a different way than Hagan or Jackson or most of the other jocks.

Harrington is the kind of asshole that you introduce yourself to 15 times and unless you're 'popular' he doesn't bother to remember he's already met you. Hagan and Jackson are assholes that give you a swirlee if you sneeze wrong near them, or will call you a fag before gut punching you behind the bleachers because they think they caught you staring at them (which Eddie was not ((It was Harrington he was staring at)).

He's safe to shit talk because he doesn't get physical (couldn't win a fight if the rumors were true (Also they all saw how he looked after Jonathan got him)) and rarely gets confrontational (less so with each passing year). Eddie thinks that's his ego - he's so full of himself that anything you say about him can't possibly affect him. (What are the words of a peasant in the face of a king, after all?)

That's not to say they haven't fucked up and said something at just the right time to provoke Harrington in the past, because they all have, but it's typically his lackeys that jump in defense, that say something first to defend Harrington. And The King will let them bark and growl just enough to put the peasants back in their place, calming his dogs with words of 'they're not worth it' and 'if what he said meant anything it would have hurt, wouldn't it?' which is just rude. Like Eddie and his friends aren't even people capable of drawing Harrington's attention, much less his wrath.

If Eddie's honest with himself (he's not), he would stop to question why he even wants to provoke a reaction from Harrington (it's because of his stupid crush), but Eddie's not honest so...

The point is, they feel pretty comfortable trash talking Harrington in hushed whispers to themselves in a corner of Carol Perkins' yard.

"Do you think he, like, genuinely thinks he looks cool when he does that?" Gareth whispers as they watch Harrington shotgun a beer, again.

"Dunno, probab-" Jeff cuts himself off, a quizzical expression on his face as he turns his head to look towards the Perkins' house. He's got ears that pick up everything, so Eddie just watches as he moves away from the group to the fence. Watches as Jeff jumps to look over. When he lands, he flips quickly back to them, looking between them and the group of party goers. He takes a moment, assessing his options it seems, before cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting, "Cops in bound! Just turned onto the street!"

The party starts scattering instantly, teens running in all directions.

Brian and Gareth eye the back fence and Eddie knows immediately they're not going to jump it. Eddie throws Gareth the keys to his van, "get Jeff and go."

They don't argue, they've done this song and dance before. Eddie knows they might get a stern talking to for smelling like beer but if Eddie's in the van with them, they're all ending up in jail because of what's in his lunchbox. (Hell, they'd still get a night in jail instead of just a warning for the beer if Eddie's in the van without the lunchbox).

Eddie's not the most athletic but he's gotta run. He tosses his lunchbox over the back fence before hauling himself up, one leg over and trying to get the other when he gets high-centered for a moment before gravity starts to pull him down (thankfully on the correct side of the fence) only to find the chain on his jeans catches along something at the top, leaving him to cling quickly to the fence, praying he can muster enough upper body strength to haul himself back up enough to unstick the chain before the cops get here. He tries to readjust and his hand slips, he can't get any leverage. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

He's so screwed. Officer Callihan said if he was caught again, he'd be tried as an adult. Wayne's going to kill him. Why won't these stupid jeans just rip, how has the chain not given way yet? He's going to get caught with his lunchbox right at his feet. He's-

Being shoved back up, someone's shoulder digging painfully into his ribcage to get the leverage needed for Eddie's body to be high enough for the stranger's hand to sneak up and unstick the chain. Eddie expects to be dumped suddenly and unceremoniously on the ground but this does not happen. Instead, his mysterious hero manages to keep him pinned up on the fence long enough to turn themselves so both of the stranger's arms are under Eddie and then they kind of just... sink together, using the fence as a counterweight by leaning into but not actually dragging Eddie down against it.

The culmination of which ends with Eddie being held like some blushing bride in Steve Harrington's lap. Eddie opens his mouth to say... something. What, he doesn't know, but Harrington lifts a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet. So, he stays quiet, heart pounding.

It takes about five full seconds before the sounds of the cops busting the party actually start, the sirens on the cars flipping on to let the scattering teens know they've been caught. In that same instance, Harrington sweeps up Eddie's lunch box and shoves it onto his chest, where one of Eddie's hands comes up to wrap around and hold it close on instinct, the sound the metal handle clanging on the metal lid meaningless in all the other sounds happening.

Using his other hand, Harrington basically folds Eddie forward and out of his lap, back on his own feet in a crouch. Harrington shoves his chin forward, a silent instruction to move but Eddie's still wrapping his head around the fact he's no longer dangling from a wooden fence like an idiot, so Harrington steps forward, a hand wrapping around the wrist of Eddie's free hand, forcing him to follow along as they stealth along the wooden fence of the Perkins' residence, then the fence of the neighbors, and finally a third neighbor before the fences run off and all that's left is the woods that boarder the town one way, and a way back to the road on the other.

Eddie should pull his wrist free and book it, run as fast and as far from Harrington and this party as he can get but he's kind of star struck right now (he can be a little honest with himself, as a treat). He just follows, lets Harrington jerk him around (don't even think it Munson, do not think about it-) and follows quietly.

Harrington peeks around the end of the fence, looking for any incoming trouble, Eddie assumes, and quickly jerks back, looking to Eddie, "you trust me, man?"

And Eddie, the idiot, says, "Yeah, man."

Harrington grabs his lunchbox, ripping it away from him with ease (Eddie's still star struck, okay?) and shoves it up against the fence, twisting his body as he does, so he ends up sitting with his back to this fence, body blocking sight of the lunchbox before pulling Eddie into his lap.

This is what brings Eddie back into his body. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Just don't punch me until I get the cop that's gonna round the fence any time now to go away."

Eddie could bolt but he's not particularly fast, so he'd be caught, and he knows the odds. Between himself and Harrington, they'll book him and let Harrington go with a warning. So, Harrington thinks he can get the cop to go away? Okay. He lets Harrington manhandle him (don't think it don'tthinkit don't-) He's absolutely thinking it because Harrington grabs his ass and pulls him flush against him before a hand cups the back of his head and shoves his face into Harrington's neck, and then Harrington whispers in his ear, "just pretend we've been making out back here for the last half hour."

Fuck! Harrington's trying to get him shot by the goddamn police. He is an idiot and should have known better than to trust him. Well. If Harrington thinks he can get away from this unscathed, he's sorely mistaken. Eddie lifts his hands to ruffle Harrington's perfect hair before gripping it roughly with one hand, the other moving to brace himself on the fence, then he latches onto Harrington's neck, intent on giving Harrington the biggest, ugliest hickie of his life. Try and explain that away you asshole.

Except Harrington's reaction isn't what Eddie had thought it would be. Instead of being shoved, the hands on his ass and in his hair squeeze, seemingly trying to get Eddie closer and that is definitely a moan his hears, breathed directly into his ear. It eggs Eddie on a bit, truthfully, so he pulls back a little, less set on just marking Harrington and a little more set on seeing if he can make Harrington actually enjoy it.

Eddie presses kisses over the bit of skin he'd just bit like a wild animal and runs his tongue up to gently pull at Harrington's earlobe, before kissing his way back down to suck at the same spot some more. Harrington keeps switching from squeezing at him to petting him and Eddie's not really going to complain. The police can come shoot him. He'll die- well, not happy but at least alright.

"Jesus Christ, kid!"

Eddie tries to jerk away, a reflex because that's Chief Hopper's voice and he's so fucking screwed, but Harrington keeps him moored there, face hidden, hand cradling his head more gently than it has been thus far, the hand on his ass moving up to his lower back, holding him closer... dare he say, protectively.

"Hopper," Harrington sounds more calm than Eddie thought he would, "hi."

Eddie wishes he could see what is happening because there is an awful lot of silence going on in which he can only assume Hopper and Harrington are staring at each other. (Having a silent conversation, perhaps?)

Then the heaviest sigh he's ever heard from Chief Hopper (and he's heard some heavy ones in his days) greets the air, "I don't want to know who that is. Just this once, I am going to pretend I didn't see you here. You'd think that you would learn- Next time you and your boyfriend sneak away from a party to- just go to his house. Jesus, if it had been anyone but me walking around this corner... Give it about twenty minutes before you leave." The sound of retreating footsteps and Hopper's voice reporting in his walkie an 'all clear' follow those words.

They don't part immediately. Eddie waits until the footsteps cannot be heard before pulling back. Harrington makes no move to remove his hands from Eddie's person, so as a result the hand that was in Eddie's hair falls to his shoulder, then his chest, where it rests now that he's back far enough to look at Harrington. The moon is bright, and Eddie's eyes have adjusted to the dark of the evening, so he can see Harrington's face. "How the fuck did that just work?"

Harrington gives an almost hysterical sounding giggle before he tries to drop his head back to rest on the fence. He can't successfully do that, because Eddie realizes he's still cradling Harrington's head with one hand.

He makes no motion to move his hand, just holds Harrington's head up as he seems to be going through... something right now.

It takes several minutes, but finally he speaks. "It's kinda personal. Let's just say, Hopper and I got history, a- well, a good history isn't how I'd put it, but like, we're on the same page with it."

"Did you fuck Hopper?"

Harrington laughs out loud and Eddie slaps his other hand (the one not currently petting his soft, soft hair) over his mouth to muffle the noise. That sobers Harrington a little, remembering the 'wait twenty minutes' thing and once it seems like he's got it together again, Eddie removes his hand.

"No. Nothing like that with Hopper."

Eddie's a bit hung up on that fact Harrington is not immediately shouting that he's not a fag and would never have slept with the chief of police, a man. "You're really not gonna tell me."

"No."

They just kind of look at each other after that. Eddie's not sure what to do now. He should get out of Harrington's lap, right? That's a thing he should definitely be doing right now.

But.

But Harrington isn't shoving him off. In fact, his eyes are half closed as he stares at Eddie, eyes occasionally flicking up to meet his own, so Eddie feels like he can confidently say King Steve is looking at his lips. Eddie licks his lips, a test of sorts.

Harrington passes, because his tongue flicks out to lick his own lips.

"Hey, Eddie," (what the fuck. Harrington has never, not once, said his name, and Eddie has re-introduced himself several times.) "I want to kiss you. Can I?"

Oh.

Eddie's never been asked that before.

Gross. Eddie's got fucking butterflies in his stomach from Steve fucking Harrington.

Eddie wants to say yes so fucking bad but- well, his whole world view of Steve Harrington has just been rocked and now a ball of guilt is forming inside him for how he's marked up Harrington's neck like a wanton slut and Harrington asks for a kiss. But Harrington is also, at minimum, five beers in plus the weed, so he's clearly not thinking straight (ha fucking ha) because he wouldn't be asking him for a kiss if he was.

"No," Eddie says softly, "you're drunk. If you still wanna kiss me in the daylight, ask then."

Harrington scrunches his face and Eddie doesn't know him well enough to decipher what that look means, but he nods, sitting up so he can lean forward and nuzzle his face into Eddie's chest, bumping the top of his head against Eddie's chin like a cat.

Eddie leans his head atop Harrington's and lets himself be cuddled.

What a weird fucking night.

-

"Jeff!" Eddie flings himself on his friend's couch the next day, face down in the cushions, his voice mumbled as he continues, "I don't know what to do."

Jeff, ever patient with Eddie, just folds his legs at the knee and sits on the couch, dropping his legs back down and into his lap. "The way I see it, you do nothing."

"Nothing?"

"You sound extra pathetic mumbling into the couch. Nothing. If Harrington wants to kiss you, he'll ask again. If he doesn't, or tries to turn this on you, remind him he's the one that let another boy mark him up. You don't know if you can trust him."

Eddie musters all his strength to turn his head to the side so he can breath again. "You're right. As usual."

"Try not to sound so annoyed and disappointed."

"I should trust the Munson doctrine. If it's too good to be true, then it's not true," Eddie says as he wiggles forward, out of Jeff's lap and onto his knees, shuffling around until he's sitting cross-legged on the center cushion.

"Maybe, maybe not. Like, we know Harrington's an asshole but he's not mean," Jeff says. "besides, maybe being dumped by Nancy Wheeler for Jonathan Byers might have shaken some decency into him. Humility, even."

Suppose they'll learn if that's true tomorrow. "You can't tell anyone what I told you."

"Duh. Blackmail only works if the leverage you have is still a secret."

-

“Can I sit here? The other tables are full.”

Eddie, Gareth, Jeff, and Brian all look up at the same time. Harrington isn't even holding a lunch tray, hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket, striped polo tucked into light wash jeans under his opened jacket, Eddie's hickie only half hidden by the polo's collar.

Eddie's eyes scan the cafeteria quickly. Hawkins is a small town, so it stands to reason the schools are too. There are literal, completely empty tables. So, Eddie's eyes go to the table Harrington usually sits at.

Ah.

Everyone there is looking over. Watching. Waiting, probably. This is the trick. The joke. If Eddie lets him sit, they've pegged him for the desperate fag they all tell him he is.

"'Fraid this table is full, too," Eddie says, careful to sound bored as he says it, looking directly at Harrington.

Harrington's eyes widen slightly, like he hadn't expected Eddie to deny him. Well, joke backfired, buddy.

"I.... see," Harrington says slowly. "My mistake."

And they all watch him leave with such little fanfare that Eddie's wondering if he misread the situation. Was Harrington actually wanting to sit with them- but no. He watches as Harrington returns to his table, to the royalty of Hawkins High. Hagan says something to him and Harrington just shrugs with one shoulder before plopping onto the bench.

They wait for Harrington to start up conversation, for the leering and mocking to start up but it doesn't. Harrington just sits there in silence.

"What... was that?" Gareth asks, looking away from the Royalty to look at Eddie.

"Got no idea," Eddie lies, even as Jeff is leveling him with a look he refuses to acknowledge.

-

November 7th, 1984

Harrington was absent yesterday (not that Eddie keeps track) and now here Harrington is, slinking into the American History class they share for first period, face busted to shit. Eddie does a double take because he thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him but no. Harrington looks worse than when Jonathan got him.

Eddie spends the first twenty minutes of class just watching Harrington. Harrington slides into his chair and keeps his head down, eyes closed most of the time. Every now and then he winces and drops his head into his hands, palms digging into eyes. He looks bad.

Then Harrington goes a little green around the gills and looks like he's forcing himself to swallow down vomit and Eddie's done watching the sad display. "Hey, Miss Click, I think Harrington's gonna lose his breakfast all over the back of Thompson if he doesn't get outta here soon."

Miss Click looks like she's gonna give him detention again but then she looks at Harrington and must agree with his assessment. "Help him to the nurses office, Eddie."

Normally Eddie would argue but Harrington is also looking at him now and he really wants to know what happened so instead of arguing, he stands. Harrington does, too, grabbing his bag from the floor and shuffling towards the door.

The halls are empty and Steve makes it maybe ten feet down the hall before he falls against the lockers, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Come on, Harrington," Eddie grabs his backpack from him and shoulders it, then pulls one of Harrington's arms around him. "Just keep your eyes closed. I won't walk you into any walls."

"Thanks."

It's so quiet, Eddie's not sure he was even meant to hear it. They walk in silence a bit more before Eddie asks, "so, what happened?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, sure. Nothing causes this all the time."

"What'd'ya care."

Fair. That's fair. He shut Harrington down quickly at the beginning of the year. And Eddie's had plenty of time to concede it might have been the wrong thing to do. Harrington really wasn't setting him up to be a joke, or a punching bag, because if he had been, Eddie would have been jumped by now. Especially since it's fairly common knowledge that Harrington has fallen from grace, replaced by Billy Hargrove. A whole asshole and a half, that one.

They're silent all the way to nurse and even after Harrington vanishes behind the door, Eddie loiters in the hall. He doesn't care about getting back to class. Whatever is happening with Harrington is so much more important.

Another period later and Harrington is shoving himself through the door, even as the nurse protests behind him.

"I'll be fine, really. I'm sure my mom's not answering because she's not near the phone. There's no need to worry," Harrington catches sight of Eddie then. He looks surprised, but says to the nurse, "Eddie here will drive me home. I promise I won't be driving with a concussion."

She looks past Harrington to Eddie and he finds himself nodding frantically. The nurse, not paid enough to argue with teenagers, nods back and Harrington escapes back into the hall without argument.

"You need a ride?"

"I can drive myself."

"Absolutely not. You just said you were concussed."

Harrington looks like he wants to argue more but before he can, he folds a bit into himself, hands pressing into eyes again.

"Look, I owe you anyway, alright. Let me repay."

There's a long silence, then, "okay."

Eddie walks into Gareth's third period class and deposits the keys to his van to him with instructions to pick him up from Harrington's after school (Jeff is his best friend, but Gareth is the safer driver) before helping Harrington limp his way to his own car, where he hands over his keys very forlornly and climbs into his car. Eddie takes the driver's seat and they're off.

"You gonna give me directions, Harrington?"

"You've been to my house before."

This is true. He just didn't know Harrington remembered that. Hagan had invited Eddie to deal there, once; Harrington himself, twice. He didn't know Harrington had even remembered he was there. "Didn't know you remembered that."

"You've been to my house four times."

"Three."

Harrington lull his head to the side to squint (is he trying to glare?) at Eddie. "Four."

Four? Eddie didn't remember- oh. Harrington's ninth birthday party. Eddie was invited, one of the few who hadn't been in Harrington's class to get an invitation. He was in fifth grade, Harrington in fourth. It was shortly after Wayne had brought him to Hawkins.

"Your birthday party. Why'd you even invite me to that?"

Harrington doesn't answer.

-

"I thought you said your mom was home," Eddie says as he follows Harrington into his house.

"I lied."

"Clearly," Eddie says, looking around as he continues to follow Harrington upstairs.

Harrington just allows it, which Eddie wants to question but won't because he's working out how to apologize for the first day of school without apologizing.

"If you're here alone, who's waking you up to make sure you aren't dead?"

"No one. And clearly, I am not dead."

"Someone's supposed to wake you every few hours, right?"

Harrington shrugs. "Don't need anyone to. Why, were you gonna offer?"

Was he? No. Maybe. He follows him all the way to his plaid hellscape of a room, watches as Harrington flicks on his light, then tries to block the sunlight with his sad curtains and gives up quickly, opting to toe himself out of his shoes and crawl under his covers instead.

It's fucking pathetic.

Eddie leaves Harrington's room to start opening and closing doors around the upstairs. Rich people always have a- yes! A linen closet. Eddie pulls out the darkest towels and heads back to Harrington's room.

"You got tacks or nails or safety pins?"

Harrington pokes his head out from beneath his covers, squinting at Eddie. "Tacks in the cup on the dresser." then he disappears again. Quite an awfully lot of freedom Harrington seems to be giving him. He could be snooping through things.

He doesn't, though (yet). He uses almost all of the tacks to get the towels to stay up, but no sunlight breaches them when he's done. Then he turns off the light and closes the door, leaving it open just a crack, before sitting himself on the edge of Harrington's bed.

"I owe you an apology, Harrington," Eddie finds himself saying. Fuck. He was trying to do this without having to actually do it. Too late now.

"Oh," he hears in the near darkness Harrington's surprise, feels shuffling as Harrington must be moving to look at him. "Erm, why do you think you owe me an apology."

"For the first day of school. I thought- I thought it was a prank. Or a joke. A cruel one."

Eddie turns to see Harrington peering at him, just his nose and up visible, hair a static ruffled mess, the comforter held in place by one hand. "It wasn't."

"I know that now," Eddie whispers, picking at a loose thread on the comforter. "I just- I'm sorry. I did want you to sit."

Silence. Then, "I get it, Eddie. I wouldn't trust me either."

"I said I trusted you, that night," Eddie says, "and I did. I do? I think... I didn't trust myself, I think, enough to believe that you were truly being genuine with me. I was shitty to you. So, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Harrington says, "I'm gonna go to sleep now, my head is killing me. If you're hungry help yourself to whatever you can find in the kitchen. You're missing lunch period."

"You gonna sleep in your jeans?"

"Too much work to remove 'em," Harrington mumbles.

"Undo your belt and jeans."

"How forward," Harrington has an eyebrow raised.

"Just do it, ya tool," Eddie says with more bravado than he feels. He slides off the bed and watches the comforter shift as Harrington does as he's told. Eddie rounds to the end of the bed, pulling up the comforter and reaching under blind, finding Harrington's legs and trailing up to his knees to grasp of the jeans. "For your modesty. Lift your hips." Harrington does, and Eddie pulls. Harrington drops his hips back down once the jeans are near his knees, lifting his legs slightly instead, allowing Eddie to pull them off and drop them on the floor at the end of the bed. "Alright, sleep it off, Harrington."

Eddie leaves him to wander to the kitchen because he is hungry and missing lunch, and this free food is going to be infinitely better than whatever the cafeteria was offering simply because it's free.

The fridge has some leftovers in it, so Eddie helps himself to leftover chicken and mashed potatoes. He eats it standing in the kitchen.

Once done, he explores Castle Harrington. A big kitchen leads to a dining room, which rounds to a large living room with a wall of windows that lookout to the pool. Eddie's familiar with the backyard, where he'd station up and wait for people to buy. There's a little hall that leads from the living room to the stairs and front door, with another hall alone the middle of the wall there. It leads to a bathroom and a rec room, complete with pool table (fucking rich people) and another door farther still. It's locked but Eddie's a snoop, so he flips the latch and opens. It's an empty garage.

Eddie ends up removing his shoes, denim vest, and leather jacket, flopping down on Harrington's couch to channel surf, though his eyes keep flicking down to his watch. At the one-hour mark he sneaks back up to Harrington's room and looks for signs of life. Easy enough, Harrington snores.

He checks each hour. Eventually Gareth shows up, signaling his arrival with three sharp jabs to the horn of Eddie's van. Eddie heads out without putting anything back on.

"I'm staying. Harrington is not- it's not good, dude," Eddie says. "Looks like he got beat worse than I did when took a chance behind The Hideout."

Gareth's eyes go wide. Eddie'd gotten beaten for being gay (a busted lip and bruised ribs; would have been worse if the owner of The Hideout hadn't been stepping out back to smoke and ended up chasing away Eddie's assailant). "What happened?"

Eddie shrugs. "Don't know. But I gotta find out. I think he was being genuine with us, on the first day of school. I feel like I have to make sure he's okay."

Jeff leans forward to peer around Gareth from the passenger seat. "You feeling guilty, Munson?"

This is a conversation they've had several times. One Eddie never wins. "Well, yeah. If I'd let him be our friend, he might not have been wherever he was when he got the shit beat out of him. Might have been watching us at band practice or something instead."

Gareth makes a gagging noise. "Ew. You've got it so bad for Harrington. Polos? That's what gets you hot and bothered?"

Eddie feels his face go red. "Fuck off."

"Don't fuck up this time, Eddie," Jeff says before sitting back out of view.

"Call if you need a ride to school tomorrow," Gareth says before reversing out of Harrington's driveway.

Eddie waits until Harrington's gotten a full eight hours (most of which he spends snooping about the place) before going to wake him up. "Hey, you gotta get some food in you, I think. Up, up."

Harrington groans, but it sounds more annoyed than pained.

"Up, up, up, up," Eddie repeats, swatting lightly at Harrington's legs, occasionally grabbing to jiggle a leg.

"'m up. I'm up," Harrington says, sounding more like himself than he has all day. "Have you always been this annoying?"

"Call it the Munson Charm."

"Charm," Harrington repeats flatly.

"I already ate your mashed potatoes, so I'm hoping you're not wanting those for dinner. Lunch? Whatever."

Harrington throws the covers off, standing before Eddie in a polo shirt and plaid boxers. "Hey, Eddie. It's still daytime out there, yeah?"

"Yeah, didn't miss it."

"Cool, cool. Can I kiss you?"

Eddie freezes, remembering that's what he'd told Harrington to do. Ask him in the daylight. He does still want to kiss Harrington, but also, he's afraid. "First you ask drunk. Now you ask concussed. Still a no, buddy. It's gotta be daylight and without anything that could be messing with your mind."

Harrington takes the rejection well, just nods an okay and motions towards his door for Eddie to lead the way to the kitchen.

Harrington opts for a TV dinner, offering one to Eddie. He accepts, because, again, free food. Then they eat them at the dinner table like it's a real meal, instead of off of TV trays in the living room like normal people.

And the odd thing about it all is how not odd all of it is, actually. The last time they were alone together, Eddie ravished his neck like a goddamn vampire. And now they're just hanging out, chatting ideally like it's a thing they do all the time.

Eddie can see why Harrington became popular so quickly. He's easy to like when he's like this, soft spoken and kind. Eddie finds he wants to know if the guy sitting across from him is the real Harrington, or an act. Or was King Harrington the act? Eddie really hasn't known him enough to say that but he's seen this house. Conformity seems important to the Harringtons.

"You looked like you could use something to cheer you up," Harrington says, out of left field.

"What?"

"It's why I invited you to my ninth birthday. You'd just transferred to our school. Looked so sad all the time. Eight-year-old me hadn't experienced a sad birthday party, so I thought it would cheer you up."

Oh. "That's-" what is that? Sweet? Considerate in a way Eddie didn't think young Harrington possible of? "It worked. Your party was fun."

Harrington smiles at him, a soft and shy thing that makes the butterflies erupt in his stomach again. "Well, thanks for watching over me today. Made it easier to sleep, having someone else in the house."

"Anytime."

"You mean that?"

Does he? Eddie can't promise even himself that it will always be true, that he does really mean anytime, but it's true right now so he says, "yeah, man."

-

Being friends with Steve Harrington is so much easier than Eddie thought it could be.

Steve -because he's Steve now, not Harrington- doesn't come back to school the rest of the week, but he makes Eddie go, asking if he can gather his homework from his classes so he won't fall behind. And school has never been a real priority for Eddie (it is his second senior year) but hanging out with Steve has become important.

Jeff, Gareth, and Brian even come over on Saturday evening, at Steve's insistence. He wants to be their friend, too, it seems. And what an odd thing to see, his friends and Steve lounging around his rec room, Brian beating all of them at pool so easily it should be humiliating. Steve chats with them all like it's easy, normal, a thing he enjoys doing.

He can see his friends keeping the topics safe, music, high school gossip, they even start to discuss their grades. Eddie is mostly listening because he's been chatting with Steve all week, so he can see his friends are steering clear of anything other. They don't bring up anything Steve wouldn't talk to other jocks about.

Leave it to Steve to throw them for a loop. "Hey, you guys are all in Hellfire, right?"

The room screeches to a stop, all eyes going to Steve. He's not sure what's showing on his own face, but he can see all his friend's faces. They look surprised.

"Yeah," Jeff finds his voice first. "We're the only members."

Steve nods, "right. You play Dungeons and Dragons?"

"You know what Dungeons and Dragons is?" Brian asks.

"Yeah," Steve shrugs, fiddling with the beer can in his hands, "I know that, it's like -Hellfire, that is-, a high school club but- oh, this is gonna sound bad. I can tell already."

Eddie raises an eyebrow, curious, "just say it, Harrington. If we don't like it, there's four of us and one of you. We'll give you a swirlee in your own damn toilet."

Steve laughs and that seems to be all the push he needed because he relaxes, setting the beer down on a coaster, "I know some super cool kids who'll be freshman next year. I think they'd really want to be in your club. But, uh, since Eddie and I will be graduating this year, I was wondering if you'd want to move your game from the school to here? So they can join in."

Eddie's brain shuts off. Steve knows some cool middle schoolers, who play Dungeons and Dragons, and thinks the should all come to Steve's house to do that. Play DnD together. (Steve also believes he's going to graduate this year, ha!)

"I'm sorry," Jeff says, laughter in his voice, "there's no such things as cool middle schoolers."

Steve frowns slightly, "well, these will be the first, then. They've got their own DM, his name's Will, but I think he could learn a lot from Eddie. And Dustin loves this game so much. But if they wait until next year to officially join the club, Eddie won't be there."

Steve knows that Eddie is the DM. Steve knows what a DM is. (Steve really believes he's going to graduate this year?). "How- what? How do you even know about Hellfire? Or that I'm the DM?"

"I go to school with you guys," Steve says, "I know I'm an asshole but I'm not oblivious. Just because I didn't acknowledge the existence of your club before now doesn't mean I was unaware of it."

Fair point.

"Alright. Let's have our next club meeting here instead of the school. You can bring these cool middle schoolers and we'll see. If they're just lame middle schoolers, we're going to be very disappointed."

"Great! You meet Thursdays, right? They'll be here."

-

Monday is the real test. Eddie's feeling some kind of way about Monday. It's lunch, and everyone is already at their usual tables except Steve, who hasn't arrived yet.

Jeff catches his eye and Eddie can see he's thinking the same thing. It was easy to be friends with Eddie 'The Freak' Munson behind closed doors and in front of people already his friend. But if Steve actually comes through those doors and sits at their table, he'll be a target. Fully and officially.

Of course, Eddie catches sight of Steve as soon as he does come in, sack lunch in hand. He watches as Steve doesn't even hesitate. He weaves his way around other teens and plops down at their table, into the space left available for him between Eddie and Gareth. Watches as Steve beams at him before pulling a fucking pb&j out of his stupid brown sack.

Eddie can hear the murmuring around them, catches Steve's name and his own, knows that they've all been noticed today. The outcome of what will happen because of this, unknown.

Eddie doesn't like the unknown.

He might be willing to face it, though, if Steve keeps smiling at him.

-

The week passes. No one says anything to him. Steve sits at their table every day.

Thursday comes and he gets to meet some pretty cool middle schoolers, though unexpected ones. Will, the DM, turns out to be Will Byers, who was dead and then not dead and also the little brother of the guy who beat Steve up and stole his girlfriend (what the hell sparked this kids friendship with Steve?). Mike Wheeler, little brother of said ex-girlfriend. Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson are the last two. Eddie has never heard of these two, and therefore doesn't have any opinions just yet.

The kids know their stuff but they don't end up playing. Character creation takes some time, and Eddie's gotta think about how to incorporate four new characters (he was expecting one lame middle schooler, even though Steve had used the plural of kid every time he talked about them).

Before they all head out, Steve asks to talk to Eddie.

"Hey, I just- if the kids get into other after school activities, would you be okay with moving the date of the club meeting? My house is available every day, not just school days."

What an odd request. "I guess? Why?"

Steve shrugs (but it's a shrug Eddie has come to know doesn't mean 'I don't know' and means something closer to 'I have a perfectly valid explanation for this but don't know how to put it into words so it's easier to say I don't know') and says, "some school activities can't be rescheduled. It's be kinda shitty to make them miss this by forcing them to chose."

"There's a story there. I want to know it."

Steve looks at him, open in a way that Eddie hasn't experienced. "I want to tell you. But I'm not ready for that. Not yet. Now, go home and do your damn homework. I gotta drop these kids off."

-

December 21st, 1984 - Christmas Break

"I can't believe you did Dustin's hair for their Snowball dance," Eddie says as they watch Jeff, Gareth, Brian, Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin pile into Eddie's van after a rare, afternoon meeting of Hellfire. Gareth offered to take everyone home (maybe Eddie had to beg him to do it so he could stay and bother Steve, but that's between him and Gareth).

"He deserves a good older role model. I try to be that person," Steve says, and before Eddie can mock him for being egotistical, he continues, "that's why I wanted them to meet you, I guess, back in November. Dustin deserves a role model who understands the things he likes. Dustin needs you."

Eddie doesn't know what to say to that, so he just walks to the living room, grabbing the remote and settling in on the couch. Steve joins him shortly, sitting next to him rather than at the other end of the couch.

"You finish your homework?"

"Oh my god, mom," Eddie rolls his whole head dramatically, "no. I'll get it done eventually."

"Eddie," Steve says, sounding serious. Eddie turns to him, and Steve reaches out, grabbing one of Eddies hands, slotting their fingers together and Eddie feels those damn butterflies he's so used to these days. "I want to graduate with you. We can have a joint graduation party here. But that can't happen if you don't do your homework."

Eddie looks at Steve, feeling more seen than he's ever been in his life. His hand clutches back at Steve's. "Yeah. Okay. I'll graduate with you. Class of '85."

"Joint party?"

This is Eddie's chance to ask the question he's been itching to ask. "Your parent's won't mind you sharing with the resident freak?"

"My parents won't be here. They send me a card with a letter to take to their local accountant, who will arrange for a graduation cake to be delivered on a date of my choosing and give me money to host whatever kinda party I want. And what I want, is a joint party."

"You sound so sure of that."

"I am," Steve says, looking away to stare towards the TV, "I know the exact date they'll be in town between now and April 1986."

The fact Steve says 'date' and not 'dates' is not lost on Eddie. "When's that?"

"May 28th, 1985."

Eddie studies the side of his face, looking for any hint of a joke. "How do you know that?"

"Would you believe me if I said it's because I'm actually twenty-one, and have already lived through these events, and by some miracle was sent back into the body of my 17-year-old self to try and stop something terrible from happening?"

Eddie hits him with a throw pillow. He'll get the truth out of him one day.

-

May 3rd, 1985

Eddie graduates with Steve. It was fucking hell making it happen, but Steve recruited Nancy Wheeler to help tutor them both. (Eddie thought he'd be jealous, but Steve really isn't into Nancy anymore. They'd chat, he'd ask about Jonathan even, but most importantly, he'd always sat closer to Eddie than Nancy).

All of Hellfire is invited to their graduation party, his Uncle Wayne, too, along with the entire Byer's family, Chief Hopper and his daughter, Max Mayfield, and Robin Buckley. Most of these people aren't a surprise to Eddie by the time the party comes around but meeting them and learning that Steve considers this odd group of people his family was a surreal thing when it was happening.

(The real surprise person is Robin Buckley, who Steve had tried to befriend briefly during January but quickly backed out of doing that when he saw how weirded out it made Buckley. Buckley does not show to their joint graduation party but everyone else does.)

Steve and his uncle get along well and it makes some deep part of Eddie warm and fuzzy. Wayne was initially distrustful of Steve (rightfully so, given Eddie's history with jocks, and that he might have complained, loudly and often, about Steve to his uncle before. Hard to backtrack that.)

But Steve had shown up one day, asking to speak to Wayne instead of Eddie. Wayne had said yes, and then they both climbed into Wayne's pickup and went God knows where because Wayne and Eddie both know if they'd stayed on the property, Eddie would have done his best to eavesdrop.

Upon return, Steve had given Wayne a hug, hopped in his own car, and left.

Neither will tell him what they talked about, the jerks.

But all that to say, they're here, the sliding-glass door that leads to Steve's backyard wide open as people freely move from the inside to the outside and back. His friends, Steve's friends, their friends mingling easily. Hopper and Wayne chat, Jonathan and Gareth are hucking kids into the pool (at their request), Nancy is talking with Jeff and Brian, and Steve is standing at Eddie's side, holding a plate and eating cake (chocolate with raspberry filling, Eddie's favorite).

Steve spends a lot his time at Eddie's side.

Eddie expected Steve to be tired of him by now. To give up. But he hasn't. Every now and then, he still asks if he can kiss Eddie. And Eddie keeps saying no. Always an excuse, always a reason. It's been fucking with Eddie's head because he doesn't understand how Steve can be so willing, and wanting, to kiss another guy. Especially since the guy he wants to his is Eddie Munson!

Steve doesn't always ask when they're alone. He's asked when other people at this party are around, but always too quiet to be heard, like he's protecting Eddie's secret but doesn't care if people know his own. A little part of Eddie was mad at him about it; Steve's never been beaten up for being queer which probably makes it easier to be open about it.

In fact, Steve had asked him just this morning as they put their graduation gowns on over their regular clothes in the school parking lot.

"Eddie, can I kiss you?"

"No. Why are you so eager to get beat up?"

"I'm not scared of these people, Eds," Steve says with that damn shrug.

"You should be! This town'll try and kill you for being a fag," Eddie spits out, memories of Hagan, Jackson, Hargrove, the man from The Hideout, all come back to him.

"I've seen Hell, and I'm not afraid of a single person in this town," Steve says, voice cold and Eddie used to doubt that, but they've been friends for months now and Eddie's seen the nail bat he keeps in the trunk of his car, and been there when Steve's woken up screaming. Steve doesn't talk about it and Eddie hasn't pushed but this is- hearing this is the most direct Steve's ever been about it. Whatever the fuck it was.

"Tell me about it," Eddie finds himself say. "You've seen Hell?"

This brings Steve back to himself it seems, because he looks shocked by Eddie's words even though Steve said them first. "Not today. Today, we graduate!"

So, they've graduated, they've partied, and now, Eddie has questions.

"Hey, Steve, follow me," Eddie says and heads back into the house. He doesn't look back, doesn't need to to know Steve is following. He goes up the stairs and into Steve's room, waiting for Steve to enter before closing the door behind him.

"Want to get me alone, Munson?" Steve asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I want to know about Hell."

Steve drops onto the edge of his bed like a stone. He can see the war going on in Steve's head. He can wait this out. He leans back against the door, a confirmation for Steve that he's not going to give up on this easy.

"Eds, you didn't believe me before. I don't- I don't want to lose you if you don't believe me again."

Again? Eddie would have remembered if Steve had told him anything about Hell. "Trust me, then. Trust that I'm not going to leave just because I don't believe what you say."

"Okay," Steve says. "You asked, back in December, how I knew when I'd be seeing my parents again. Remember?"

Eddie thinks before wrinkling his nose and saying, "Yeah. Time travel."

"Yeah. Like Back to the Future but- shit. That's not out yet. But yeah, time travel. Sorta? I don't know. Maybe I didn't travel through time and instead just had a vision of the future. Or a prophetic dream. Or whatever."

Eddie is less leaning against the door, and more using it for support now. "The fuck, Harrington? You weren't joking about that? You really believe that?"

"Yeah. And I got a majority of the people in my backyard to believe me, so I'm hoping I can convince you, too. And if-if I lose you. If you think I'm crazy, or a liar, or whatever, it's better that I lose you this way than-" Steve cuts himself off, a choked sob following those words. Never, not once, has Eddie seen Steve cry, but he's seeing it now. Crying, over the mere thought of losing Eddie. Because Eddie isn't gone, he's here in this room with Steve, and still Steve cries.

"Hey, hey, shh," Eddie shoves off the door to drop to his knees before him, hands going up to cup his face. "I'm here. You're not losing me because I'm here."

Steve nods, cheeks rubbing against Eddie's palms before Steve's hands come up to grip loosely at Eddie's wrists, Steve leaning in to rest his forehead against Eddie's. He takes a shaky breath in before he speaks. "I've already changed the future. In that other timeline, the bad one, you didn't graduate this year. You don't meet Dustin or Mike or Lucas until next year. I'm so fucking jealous of you because I think Dustin like you better than me because you understand the things he likes and I don't. You never got to meet Will, the Byers' had already moved to California by the time the kids are Freshman."

Eddie stays quiet, waits, closes his own eyes to just hear Steve.

"There's another world, Dustin says it's another dimension. I don't know enough about how it all works but we call it the Upside Down. There are monster there, the Demogorgon and Demodogs, and later, Demobats and Vecna."

"Vecna and Demogorgon at from Dungeons and Dragons."

"I know. These things had no name until we had to fight them. The kids named the Demogorgon. You and Dustin name Vecna. Now shush."

Eddie nods against Steve's forehead and listens to the impossible. Will being stuck in the Upside Down, a girl with superpowers, how Steve got involved, that Steve returned to a body that had fought the Demogorgon but the Demodogs hadn't happened yet. That he and Nancy break up because Steve knows both their hearts belong to others (Eddie's insides twist because he's sure that Steve is hinting that his heart belongs to Eddie but that's for later in the story).

Steve talks about going to Carol Perkins' party because he'd heard Eddie was going to be there. He doesn't know how the events go before this timeline because Steve hadn't gone to that party last timeline. He'd been with Nancy still, then.

He talks about how Hopper was the first person he told about the timeline change, because if anyone could prove he was telling the truth, it was El. Hopper hadn't believed him but it had built enough of a trust that Hopper was willing to let them go at the party.

He talks about the events that led to the concussion he'd got, that sparked their friendship fully. How he'd gotten it protecting those kids from Billy Hargrove. Burning down a pumpkin patch.

"You said you were twenty-one," Eddie says, when Steve stops talking. "That would make the year 1986? '87?. What happens next?"

Steve shakes his head. "I can't- there are things I can't say. Can't talk about yet because if I change the timeline too much, Vecna could win. And I can't-he cannot-I-"

"Shh, shhh," Eddie soothes, "no, you don't have to tell me. Thank you, for sharing this with me. I do... I have a question."

"Mmm?"

"How do I play into this. Why did you decide to be my friend now?"

"To change the future. In March of '86, you get- the Upside Down shit effects your life, too. We trauma bond and- I realized that I wish I had known you better. Sooner. We had one week together and honestly, I spent most of it pining after my ex. It took a while, but I realized I will always love Nance, but I wasn't in love with her. But that realization came after it was too late for us-" Steve cuts off, sobbing.

Eddie doesn't know what happened. Isn't sure he wants to. That's a timeline that's already lost forever. For it to come true, it requires him to be in high school and he's not. "Hey, it's okay. We're okay. We're going to stay okay."

They stay there, close, until Steve is calm again and ready to rejoin the party.

"Hey. Any chance I can see El move something with her mind?"

"Yeah. Gonna have to wait until your side of the family leaves, though. It's still fragile, who knows and who doesn't."

His side of the family. Like- Eddie cannot think on that too long or he's going to combust. "Can't wait to see."

Eddie does get to see. Steve pulls El aside as the party winds down and whispers in her ear. A little while later, while Eddie is the only one outside for his smoke break, his cigarette gets pulled from his mouth and flung into the pool. He jumps, because Jesus Christ, but a quick look towards the house shows him Steve, arms crossed and smiling, with El, arm extended towards Eddie still.

He can't find himself to be mad about the cigarette when El smiles at him.

-

Steve is already cooking breakfast when Eddie emerges from the guest room the morning after graduation. He'd been invited to share Steve's bed (just to sleep, Steve had sworn) but Eddie had to decline because he wasn't sure he could trust himself.

"Morning," Eddie says, draping himself boldly against Steve's back to look over his shoulder as he fries up hashbrowns. Steve doesn't even hesitate to lean back against Eddie.

"Morning."

"Put that down and turn around for a moment," Eddie steps back and Steve obeys, setting the wooden spoon he'd been pushing hashbrowns around with down, turning to lean himself against the counter rather than stay in front of the stove.

"What's up?"

"Just wanted to report that I am suffering no hang over effects. You?"

"None," Steve says, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Good, good. Didn't fall out of bed and concuss myself either. Same for you I assume?"

"Same."

Eddie thinks Steve is starting to understand, if the little surprised face he does is anything to go by. "And I can't help but notice the daylight out that window. You see the daylight?"

Steve gives him a lopsided grin. "I do see it. Eddie, can I kiss you?"

"Yes."

They meet in the middle. For a kiss that's been a long time coming, it's so gentle. Steve cups his face like he's made of glass and Eddie should be annoyed by that but he's not. It just makes him feel safe.

Feel loved.

They break for air but don't go far from each other.

"I don't know what the future holds, unlike you," Eddie says, because he's a cheeky boy, "but I do know that no matter what it brings I'm here. You can't get rid of me now."

Steve looks conflicted, "not even if I asked you to go? For your safety? Even if it's to save you?"

Eddie shakes his head. "Babe, you've already saved me. You've already changed the course of my life." He clocks the way Steve's eyes darken when he calls him babe. "I'm gonna make sure I've changed yours for the better, too."

Steve hauls him back in by his shoulders. They kiss and kiss and kiss until the smell of burning hashbrowns ruins the mood.

Eddie doesn't know what horrors await (no one but Steve does) but they'll face those together.

[reyolfx]

lil destiel ficlet that i wrote last night. trying times but they go to the beach so it can't be all bad, right? castiel is the beach??? yeah

***

Sweat drips down Dean’s neck and collects in the hollow of his collarbone. It’s so funny – he’s 42 years old and has lived through things most people would never even experience in a nightmare, but he’s never felt the sun so fully on his bare chest. He’s crisscrossed the entire country, gun cocked and at the ready, and yet he’s never, not once, felt the sand between his toes and watched ocean devour shore. Before today.

Just fourteen years old the day he first asked his dad if they could swing by the beach. They were on a hunt in Oregon and Dean could practically smell the salt air, hear the waves. He longed to see it. Could feel something small and bright in his chest pulling him towards something natural, beautiful.

John said no. Focus was important at his young age. Couldn’t risk getting distracted. They hadn’t tracked down the monster yet. How would Dean feel if it showed up unexpectedly?

How would he feel if it got Sam?

It’s nearly 30 years later and Dean has still never seen a real fucking beach.

It’s almost embarrassing.

“So?” Sam says, sidling up next to him. Dean sits on a towel on a stretch of sand in coastal Georgia and looks up at his brother’s grinning face. “Whaddaya think?”

He thinks all these years without dad and I never even tried to see it.

He thinks this is all in the same country I could cross from east to west with my eyes closed?

He thinks I wish we’d come here when we were little. I’d have built you a sand castle.

“Pretty wild,” Dean says, nonchalantly. His chest feels like it’s burning and he thinks, absently, that this is what sun screen is for, but he just kinda feels it. Pokes at his stomach and watches alabaster white turn back to reddish-tan.

“It smells great, right?” Sam asks, and he’s grinning so wide it makes Dean feel like maybe, if it was a little later in the day, if he’d had a beer or two more than this first one, he might tear up. But it’s ten in the morning. Let’s get it together.

“Smells like the fishmart in fucking New York.”

Sam snorts. “It does not. This is all natural, Dean. Breathe it in!!” He’s grinning, and he flings his towel at Dean, and then he runs off after Eileen who’s sprinting towards the waves.

Dean smiles. He feels warm in a way that has nothing to do with the sun. It’s too big for this regular afternoon in Georgia.

“Hello, Dean.”

And there goes his hope of reining that shit in. The balloon in his chest expands, a soaring kind of pressure. He grins and looks up.

“Hey Cas.”

Cas is standing above him, looking down with a small smile on his face, fully, ridiculously clothed in his suit. It’s fucking August. Ninety degrees. Dean can’t help it – he winks. “That comfortable for you, city boy?”

Cas looks taken aback for a moment, glances down at himself. Hums in consideration.

“Hmm. I suppose this is not typical beach attire.”

“Sure as shit isn’t,” Dean chuckles. “Wanna go get some beach clothes?”

Cas cocks his head to the side a little. Seems to be considering his sleeves. “Maybe tomorrow,” he says. “I don’t assume this place has a jacket policy.”

It’s deadpan and ultra serious. He shrugs off his jacket with the hint of a smile. Dean can’t help but laugh.

“I’m glad you’re here Cas,” he says. Sincerity fights behind his teeth; he banishes it with a shoulder knock to Cas’s knee and a sip of his Sol.

All the same. Cas smiles at him like he gets it. “Me too, Dean.”

He’s been back for all of two weeks. Jack had unceremoniously dropped Cas off in the damn war room one fine Tuesday with a casual “Sorry it took me a while – there was a lot to sort out.” He'd smiled, given his signature wave, then disappeared, leaving Sam, Eileen, and Dean to stare fucking slack jawed at Cas for a good long time. Dean still remembers the way Cas shifted uncertainly on his feet, fiddled with the sleeves of his coat.

“Hello,” he’d said, and Dean had turned tail and walked straight out the bunker into the night air.

He hates that he did that. He didn’t mean to. It was just – a lot.

He couldn’t help the way his breath started coming in uneven, desperate puffs that wouldn’t fill his lungs, not properly. Couldn’t help the way his vision blurred out or the tears that came streaming down his face.

Ridiculous. Thankfully, no one followed him out that night.

He got himself together. The next day, he’d clapped Cas on the shoulder and said “Welcome home, buddy.”

That was that.

*

Except it wasn’t, was it?

Something stands between them. Something huge and real and hot as this southern Georgia sun.

Cas loves him.

Is in love with him.

Dean splays his toes out in the sand, feels the warmth radiating from Cas who's still standing nice and close. Except it's already so hot out, so maybe that's all in Dean's head.

Does he still...?

Dean shakes his head and buries his feet in the sand, uses his hands to bury them further until two big mounds engulf his ankles. Feels funny and nice.

“Are you glad we came?” Cas asks, out of the silence that had settled around them. It’s a fair question. Dean had been a bit reluctant. They’d just finished up a hunt in Savannah – a simple salt n’ burn, nothing crazy. Hunts these days feel a hell of a lot easier since Chuck’s defeat, and Dean isn’t complaining, but still, not like it's retirement. Sam had said “How ‘bout the beach?” and Dean had rolled his eyes and answered “Yeah, right.”

But he’d been outvoted. So even though the beach was something he’d only ever imagined doing when he was done, out, retired – here he was.

It isn’t bad.

Actually, it’s really fucking nice. Sweat be damned.

“It’s alright,” he tells Cas, and he turns his face to smile at him, smoke and mirrors clear for just a moment.

Cas looks back at him with all the glad sincerity Dean’s almost never seen in his life.

He can’t breathe, for a second, because he has seen it once.

They haven’t talked about it. Not once in the past two weeks that Cas had been back. Not that first night when Cas had eyed him warily, not the next day when Dean had covered up all uncertainty with an ecstatic but generalized good mood, and no day between then and now.

But the thing is, Dean knows he loves Cas back.

He knows it like he knows when he has a headache, when he needs a coffee, when he’s tired or energized or depressed or guilty or glad. It’s just part of his body, his soul. Hadn’t realized it until Cas had said it first, but then it hit him like a ton of fucking bricks and shit, wasn’t it just the most obvious thing?

But Cas was gone, then.

It’s been sitting heavy and aching in Dean’s ribs, in his lungs, ever since he came back. Before that, really. Dean doesn’t know how it’s possible but it’s like he knew before he knew – like he loved Cas so deeply and wholly that it surpassed whatever repression he had going on there. Like the knowledge existed at the same time that he had absolutely zero idea.

It doesn’t really matter, does it? When he knew. When he really knew. He’s just waiting now.

For what, he doesn’t really know. Cas had said he loved him. And fuck if he didn’t sell it. Dean doesn’t like to think of that confession, for all it absolutely destroyed him for a couple months. It’s ruined and ugly and frightening in his mind. But it’s true, right? He’s pretty sure it’s true. Doubt dances around the edges of his mind but it’s not that hard to fight off. Who lies or obfuscates during their last words? Not Cas – that he’s sure of.

When is the right fucking moment to tell your best friend you love him back? Like, love, love. Want it all, kinda love. Want a house and a forever and a bed with ruined sheets and a decades long photo album and a memory foam mattress that’s forever molded to their body kinda love. He’s not really a dinner date and flowers kinda guy, even though maybe – maybe it’d be nice to be, one day. Maybe he could be.

“Dean?”

He blinks. Reailzes he’s been utterly zoned out and zoned in on Cas’s face. Cas’s smile brightens just a touch and Dean just –

He just wants.

He wants to gather him in his arms and kiss that smile until it’s stuck there permanently. He wants to take him to bed, wants to take him to dinner, wants to take him to Jody’s to spend time with everyone they love, wants him on his arm at Sam and Eileen’s wedding and in his heaven when he dies and wants wants wants.

His mouth is dry and he’s staring at Cas. Cas is staring back. It’s nothing new. It’s their thing.

“Yeah, Cas,” he answers, uselessly. Like there isn’t a thought in his head, even though there’s a thousand. Cas is still standing above him and he’s backed by the sun. He’s a silhouette but he’s real. Dean reaches out and grabs his ankle, for some stupid reason.

Cas looks down at Dean’s hand. “I’m going to sit,” he announces, and then he does, and Dean has to move his hand. Cas stares at it for a moment before returning to Dean’s eyes. They’re not touching.

“Is everything okay?” Cas finally asks, when Dean fails to find any words, when he’s just staring at him like it’s all just going to happen without a hint of effort on his part.

He owes Cas a little bit of effort though. Because he loves him.

Dean takes a deep fucking breath. Salt air fills his lungs and it smells so fucking good – he never imagined.

He doesn’t really know how to do this. Fuck. He reaches behind him into the cooler and grabs a second beer, pops the top off and hands it to Cas.

“Cheers,” he says lamely.

Cas eyes the bottle, takes a sip. He licks his lips in a way Dean can’t help but track with his eyes and christ but he wants him. In every fucking way. He’d hand him beers forever.

“What are we cheersing?” Cas asks, head tilted in that way of his. Dean feels his whole entire being reaching out to him, but he keeps his hands to himself, starts tearing the label off his beer.

“Hmm,” he starts. “Us” is too chick-flick even though it’s his first instinct. He swats it away. Looks out at Sam and Eileen where they’re living some regular ass couple’s honeymoon dreams in the waves. “The future?” he asks, cause he knows it’s not quite what he wants to say. “Happy fuckin’ endings, I guess,” he settles on, even though he's pretty sure it’s not the end. Thankfully.

“What’s your happy ending look like, Dean?” Cas asks seriously. He’s not looking at him though. Cas is staring at the label of his own beer that he’s picking at, same as Dean is.

For some reason that’s the push Dean needs. He grabs Cas’s hand and pulls it away from the torn, damp label. Meets his eyes. They give the ocean a run for its money and Dean thinks he’ll never get over this shade of blue. Can he own a colour? This is his.

“Don’t need much more than this, Cas.”

Cas’s lips are parted and he’s staring at him. Dean can feel his breath against his lips, realizes how close he’s already leaned in. Fuck, half the work’s done already. He just needs –

“You like the beach that much?” Cas breathes.

Dean huffs a tiny laugh. “The beach is okay,” he says again, and this time it’s true, if it’s in comparison to the angel in front of him. The beach is so nice, could be heaven on a fucking steak but it’s all nothing if Cas ain’t there.

“It’s... what?” Cas says, like he’s been punched in the gut, and that’s when Dean realizes he said that last bit out loud.

He laughs. Thought it’d scare him but it’s out and he feels... well. He feels like he’s flying a little, but whether he crashes or floats depends on the response.

Cas loves him, though. He said.

“I said it ain’t shit without you, Cas.”

The answering smile takes a moment, but then it’s fucking brilliant. So fucking gratifying, the best thing Dean’s ever seen. Cas is about to talk but Dean needs to consume that smile, actually, so he does.

Captures his mouth in a kiss that feels like finding a new place in a country he knows like the back of his hand.

The heat of Cas’s tongue makes Dean shiver in the muggy south Georgia air. Warm and cold at the same time, he pulls back, because he has some words hanging out on his own tongue that for once are begging to be released.

Cas stares at him, half shocked and half utterly fucking in love. Dean knows the feeling.

“Fuckin’ love you, Cas.” It doesn’t even feel like a confession. Just a stupidly obvious statement, and it’s already gone full circle to being right back on the tip of his tongue like he could just spit it out over and over and over again and never feel like it’s enough. “Love you, love you, I love you,” he chants, and his hands are in Cas’s hair, on his shoulders, holding his face, everywhere, cataloguing.

“You –” Cas starts, but his words fall away, and his eyes look unfocused. Dean stops his own hands abruptly, suddenly freaked the fuck out.

He doesn’t have time to overthink it though, cause Cas grabs his hands back roughly and places them back on his face, right where jaw meets neck and he stares Dean down like the world is ending, a look they’re both intimately familiar with.

“You love me,” Cas parrots, and Dean can’t help it. He smiles. Every hope pinned on this fucking moment that feels like it could end him, truly, but he kinda knows it won’t – he’s pretty damn sure, and he’s so, so fucking happy.

“Yeah man. Real Cash and Carter shit.”

Cas just blinks. “I don’t –”

“You still love me too, Cas?” Cause he has to check. Cause he’s so close to sure but some tiny, almost-banished-but-not-quite self-loathing bug itches under his skin and he’s gotta make sure.

“Love you too...” Cas just echoes, looking far as fuck away, and Dean doesn’t want that. They’ve been far enough away from each other for all their physical proximity for a decade and change. He lightly whacks Cas’s cheek with his palm.

“Earth to Castiel,” he bites, and there’s the faintest tremor in his voice. What if he’s wrong?

Cas’s eyes snap right into focus and –

“Do I love you too?” He asks, incredulous, and he’s very suddenly practically in Dean’s lap. “Was that – did I leave that open to doubt?”

Dean can’t say he did. He wraps his arm around Cas’s waist and kisses the salt air off his lips instead. “Not really,” he finally breathes.

The moment unravels into touch and warmth and sand in unpleasant places, but it doesn’t matter. Sam and Eileen clear their throats obnoxiously and Dean flips them off, Cas glares, and then they're off, back to the room. Dean won’t leave an inch of him unexplored. They've got time. They're free.

[pastelearthling65]

100 reasons to stay alive

1. to make your parents/others/yourself proud

2. to conquer your fears

3. to see your family/friends again

4. to see your Favorite artist live

5. to listen to music again

6. to experience a new culture

7. to make new friends

8. to inspire

9. to have your own children 

10. to adopt your own pet

11. to make yourself proud

12. to meet your idols

13. to laugh until you cry

14. to feel tears of happiness

15. to eat your favorite food

16. to see your siblings grow

17. to pass school

18. to get tattoo

19. to smile until your cheeks hurt

20. to meet your internet friends

21. to find someone who loves you like you deserve

22. to eat ice cream on a hot day

23. to drink hot chocolate on a cold day

24. to see untouched snow in the morning

25. to see a sunset that sets the sky on fire

26. to see stars light up the sky

27. to read a book that changes your life

28. to see the flowers in the spring

29. to see the leaves change from green to brown

30. to travel abroad

31. to learn a new language

32. to learn to draw

33. to tell others your story in the hopes of helping them

34. Puppy kisses.

35. Baby kisses (the open mouthed kind when they smack their lips on your cheek).

36. Swear words and the release you feel when you say them.

37. Trampolines.

38. Ice cream.

39. Stargazing.

40. Cloud watching.

41. Taking a shower and then sleeping in clean sheets.

42. Receiving thoughtful gifts.

43. To hear “I saw this and thought of you."

44. The feeling you get when someone you love says, “I love you."

45. The relief you feel after crying.

46. Sunshine.

47. The feeling you get when someone is listening to you/giving you their full attention.

48. Your future wedding.

49. Your favorite candy bar.

50. New clothes.

51. Witty puns.

52. Really good bread.

53. Holding your child in your arms for the first time.

54. Completing a milestone (aka going to college, graduating college, getting married, getting your dream job.)

55. The kind of dreams where you wake up and can’t stop smiling.

56. The smell before and after it rains

57. The sound of rain against a rooftop.

58. The feeling you get when you’re dancing.

59. The person (or people) that mean the most to you. Stay alive for them.

60. Trying out new recipes.

61. The feeling you get when your favorite song comes on the radio.

62. The rush you get when you step onto a stage.

63. You have to share your voice and talents and knowledge with the world because they are so valuable.

64.Breakfast in bed.

65. Getting a middle seat in the movie theater.

66. Breakfast for dinner (because it’s so much better at night than in the morning).

67. Pray (if you are religious) 

68. Forgiveness.

69. Water balloon fights.

70. New books by your favorite authors.

71. Fireflies.

72. Birthdays.

73. Realizing that someone loves you.

74. Spending the day with someone like you.

75. Opportunity to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

76. Potential to learn, grow, and evolve as a person.

77. Joy and happiness in the little things.

78. The power to inspire others.

79. The ability to create art, music, and other forms of self-expression.

80. To explore different cultures, traditions, and ways of life.

81. To make a positive impact on the environment and help protect the planet.

82. Experience the joys of parenthood and raise a family.

83. Learn new things and develop new skills.

84. Create a legacy that will outlive you.

85. Being wrapped up in a warm bed.

86. Cuddles

87. Holding hands.

88. The kind of hugs when you can feel a weight being lifted off your shoulders. The kind of hug where your breath syncs with the other person’s, and you feel like the only two people in the world.

89. Singing off key with your best friends.

90. Road trips.

91. Spontaneous adventures.

92. The feeling of sand beneath your toes.

93. The feeling when the first ocean wave rolls up and envelops your toes and ankles and knees.

94. Thunderstorms.

95. Your first (or hundredth) trip to Disneyland.

96. The taste of your favorite food.

97. The child-like feeling you get on Christmas morning.

98. The day when everything finally goes your way.

99. Compliments and praise.

100. to look on this moment in 10 years time and realize you did it.

Ps : Never forget you are a beautiful person 💕 Life is so beautiful so live, live like no one else exist, live for yourself, don't care of bad people, you are strong

[cherrylng]

Coldplay Live Reviews - 11th February, 2009 - Saitama Super Arena [ROCKIN'ON (April 2009)]

11th FEBRUARY SAITAMA SUPER ARENA

Life in Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Speed of Sound

Yellow

Chinese Sleep Chant

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Talk

The Hardest Part

Postcards From Far Away

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes

Death Will Never Conquer Viva La Vida Remix

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends (encore)

The Scientist

Life In Technicolor II

One of the biggest bands of the 21st century, after all

"I'm so happy to be here in Tokyo. Last time we were in Los Angeles, we were at the Grammys (enjoying the cheers with satisfaction) and it's great to be here in Tokyo after winning the Grammy!" Chris Martin blurted this out as part of his MC rather early in the show. It's so blatant. But the charm of Chris Martin is that this doesn't come across as sarcastic at all. And that was the reason Coldplay won that day. Martin, you have become a star in my mind at this moment.

The four members of Coldplay took to the stage in the darkness, each holding a firework. Like the album, ‘Life in Technicolor’ and ‘Violet Hill’, the forgotten first single from ‘Viva La Vida’, started the show in the same hard-hitting manner as at Summer Sonic. But then Martin sat down at the piano and played the intro to ‘Clocks’. Gee, isn't that too early? Neither the band nor the audience had fully warmed up yet. However, even though the performance was a little rough, reflecting this, the beautiful melody that made Martin one of the best melody makers in the world completely captivated my body and soul. Ah, just when I thought my personal climax had already come, there was a raging hit parade of ‘In My Place’, ‘Speed of Sound’ and ‘Yellow’. The aforementioned lines were also released during this period, and during ‘Yellow’, balloons filled with confetti descended on the standing zone of the arena (Martin was smiling during the song when he ordered the audience to send one of them flying onto the stage and then popped it with the head of his guitar, eliciting a huge cheer). The band had only just begun, but they seemed to be running amok, as if they were about to come to a grand finale.

But, after all, the star of the day is not Coldplay's past, but the Grammy-winning hocus-pocus present of "Viva La Vida". The audience intends to do the same. The song selection from "Viva La Vida" was strong. The audience was still in a frenzy for the climax of the show, from the chorus of ‘Viva La Vida’ (Will's work on the drums made me cry) to ‘Lost’, which the band themselves had likely prepared as the climax of the main show, but it was striking that the relatively low-key '42' and 'Strawberry Swing' were more well-received than the inevitable singalong 'Fix You'. Among these, ‘Lovers in Japan’ performed towards the end of the show was a highlight. When "HAIKU" was suddenly projected on the big screen, the whole audience was stunned, but I doubt anyone was not moved by the fantastic vibrancy of this song, which stands out on the album. The beautiful ensemble, together with the huge amount of confetti that fell so thickly that it obscured the stage, covered the venue with a great deal of happiness (no band is more suited to confetti).

Martin's behaviour is amusing, by the way. He sprinkles in confusing Japanese phrases like "Awesome / Subarashii" or "Are you having fun?/ Tanoshinderu?" at various parts in the songs, dances like a marionette with its strings all tangled up, plays the piano wrong in 'The Hardest Part' and repeatedly says "fuck" (is this a joke based on the song title?), and acts all naive from beginning to end, as if he's just looking for someone to point it out. But it's amazing that such inexplicable behaviour is always so well defined. A star indeed. Even when he's blurting it out, it doesn't leave a gap. Martin and Coldplay, who never show any signs of hesitation or worry, are truly one of the greatest acts of the 21st century. It was a show where I could finally realise this. (Ryo Uchida)

Rock far beyond ‘rock or no rock’

There were ramps on either side of the stage, which led down to floor level. A small sub-stage was set up at the back of the floor (where the acoustic part was performed) and a huge spherical screen hung from the ceiling. Shortly after 6pm, the background music inside Saitama Super Arena suddenly switched from hip-hop to classical music. It was Johann Strauss' ‘The Blue Danube’. I wondered what was going on, but it turned out to be the band's opening number. The four members appeared with torch-like fireworks in their hands. The opening song was ‘Life in Technicolor’, which is the same setlist as Summer Sonic. Of course, the show was also developed in the worldview of "Viva La Vida" as a whole, but compared to the Summer Sonic set where they had Alicia Keys play piano in ‘Clocks’ and even performed a cover of [SMAP's] ‘世界に一つだけの花/Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana’, this show was of course a vivid presentation of the "Viva La Vida" mode—or rather, it was a live performance that told the story of how far the band Coldplay had risen thanks to "Viva La Vida". The part that symbolised this was the rapid succession of ‘Clocks’, ‘In My Place’, ‘Speed ​​of Sound’, and "Yellow" from the third song onwards.

Needless to say, all of these were single hits that have been representative of Coldplay's career to date. I thought it sounded like a stock clearance sale, but that's exactly what it was. Above all, the reaction of the crowd was magnificent, and apart from the core fans at the front of the arena, there was a clear difference in excitement between ‘Yellow’, ‘In My Place’, and ‘Viva La Vida’. In other words, this was a concert by "Coldplay of ‘Viva La Vida’", not by "one of the leading rock bands of the 2000s with four albums under their belt". So there was no need for a hot rock groove, and of course the band understood that. That is Coldplay's destiny, and the very difficult and complex balancing game they are forced to play as a rock band.

It is interesting to note, however, that while the atmosphere of this show was naturally quite different from Radiohead's show that I saw at the same Saitama Super Arena, it was not dissimilar to that of U2's. While Radiohead were quite a stoic rock show, and U2 seemed to fulfil their ‘role’ more convincingly and without failure, Chris Martin is a man who is inherently strange and far from the stability of a so-called pop star. He moves restlessly around the stage, sometimes singing and thrashing about, and even doing a few last minute antics at the end of each song. But at the same time, he can shout "I came here straight after winning a Grammy!" or scattering yellow balloons during the song ‘Yellow’, and handling detailed operations such as "moving to the sub-stage in 30 seconds, and then returning to our usual position on the main stage while the lights are out." And it's not that either one is essential, but both are very serious. This is reflected in the ambivalent title and theme of the latest show, which is stranger every time I see it. Despite being such a big and accomplished show, watching Chris is thrilling. The thrill is definitely that of rock ‘n’ roll. Such inconsistency is what makes Coldplay so interesting and why they continue to be one of a kind. (Tomohiro Ogawa)

Translator's Note: This is quite the amusing read of the live reviews by the journalists who saw that concert. Compared to reading the live reviews talking about Muse's concerts -which they're used to Matt's eccentricities and expect his awesome guitar playing- this felt as though they didn't expect Chris to be far more eccentric than they anticipated LMAO

I tried to find if there were any live video recordings of the Feb 11th show, but unfortunately there wasn't any. However, an audio recording of the whole concert is now available on YouTube... that came from Guy Berryman's In-ear monitor, for some reason. Quite an interesting way to listen to the whole concert.

There's also the video version that was recorded for MTV, but it was for February 12th, and cut down to only 40 minutes of content.

Good news is that full audio recording of it from the audience's perspective is available for listening too.

[sea-creature-tournaments]

Here is slightly updated character list. Ive removed some duplicates, specified some things, and alphabetized it.

1. Acht / Dedf1sh 2. Agent 8 3. Agent O 4. Azul Ashengrotto 5. Barnacle Bob 6. Blob 7. Cala Maria’s Hair 8. ChuChu 9. Clobbopus 10. Cthulhu 11. Cthylla 12. DJ Octavio 13. Davy Jones 14. Desti 15. Doctor Octopus 16. Eight Ultros 17. Faye 18. Fred 19. Grapploct 20. Grass demon 21. Grigori 22. Gyuki 23. H 24. Hank 25. Hatchan, aka Hatchi 26. Helmi 27. Henry the Octopus 28. Hyouzou 29. Icchan 30. Ikalgo 31. Inkling Octopus 32. Ivan McDorfleton 33. Jocktopus 34. Karambwan 35. King Caliente 36. Korosensei 37. Kraken - Runecape  38. Launch Octopus 39. Luca 40. Marcellus 41. Marina Ida 42. Medusa Octopus 43. Mimic Octopus 44. Mimic the Octopus 45. Mono 46. Mucku 47. Nanami's octopus 48. Nethimir 49. Occy 50. Octavio 51. Octillery 52. Octodad 53. Octoling Neo Agent 3 54. Octonia 55. Octoper OA 56. Octopider 57. Octopuff Travelers 58. Octopus - an octopus followed me home 59. Octopus Balloon 60. Octopus Cook 61. Octopus Mom 62. Octorok 63. Old Night 64. Ollie 65. Ollie Arms 66. Omanyte 67. Onionsan 68. Oswald 69. Paces, Light of the Ghoti 70. Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus 71. Pearl 72. Professor Inkling 73. Sayuri 74. Shapesinger 75. Shiver Hohojiro 76. Squidward Tentacles 77. Surume 78. Sushi Chef 79. Tako 80. Takopi 82. The Kraken 83. The octopus from the Beatles song Octopus’ Garden 84. Tickle-Me Wiggly 85. Topo 86. Umbrella Octopus 87. Ursula 88. Wako Tako 89. Wash Buckler 90. Yerbanian Chancellor’s Octopus 91. Zucker 92. giant octopus 93. the octopus from the rainbow fish