#I am not a one-trick pony I am a TWO-trick pony | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

deantfwinchester · 6 days ago

Text

Love Me Right

Part 1: Henrietta’s

Pairing: ConstructionCEO!Joel x Waitress!Reader

She's eventually gonna be a teacher again bc let's be real, i'm a one-trick pony.

This is a Millionaire Joel AU x Most Eligible Bachelor Trope

Summary: Joel Miller, CEO and Co-Founder of Miller Construction, hasn't been dealing with an Empty Nest very well. His family and friends have tried their best to cheer him up since Sarah left for college in the fall, but the storm cloud above his head remains. On top of that (or perhaps because of it), he has just been named one of Austin's Most Eligible Bachelors.

What will that mean for the new-in-town waitress he meets in his favorite diner? As far as she knows, he's just an average contractor.

Warnings: age gap (reader late 20s, Joel late 40s); family-centered trauma and conflict; lethal levels of fluff otw

A/N: Bear with me for this one y'all. My imagination is ambitious and my brain is obstinate. Title inspired by Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n Sweet - bc i can’t stop fckn listening to Juno 🫣

Word Count: 4.6k

_______________________________________________

“Tommy, there ain’t a chance in hell that’s gonna happen. Why on earth did you bring this to me?”

“Well they talked to Joanna at the front desk first. She said wasn’t going to bring it up to you, but I couldn’t just let it slide,” Tommy raises his eyebrows at Joel, shooting him a mischievous look. “Because one - I wasn’t gonna pass up the chance to see this look on your face, and two - would a little publicity be so bad?”

“Who in their right mind is gonna choose a fuckin contractor from the goddamn ‘society pages’?” Joel bristles at his brother’s amusement with an unwavering scowl.

Tommy stares right back, but the playful nature of his expression is unmarred. “Most men won’t Joel - but their wives will.” Tommy’s salacious grin is damn near wider than Joel’s ever seen. Christ, he’s loving this.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me,” Joel says plainly, rolling his eyes.

“Come on brother, think about it - plenty of busy men in this city with bored housewives in need of a project. He tosses her a few thousand to redo the dining room - well who’s gonna do the job? She hasn’t got a clue where to begin and then BOOM! She sees the list of Austin’s Most Eligible Bachelors in the paper - where she finds a photo of the distinguished CEO and senior founder of Miller Construction—”

“Senior, seriously?,” Joel deadpans at him. Tommy ignores him, continuing to wax poetic.

“And can’t help but wonder if the rest of his staff is as dashing as he appears to be,”

“Flattery’s cheap Tommy.”

“Of course then she meets with me and the deal is sealed.” Tommy smiles smugly now that his story is complete.

“Boy can you paint a picture,” responds Joel, rolling his eyes at his brother’s antics. “So you wanna parade me around like a two-bit hooker, huh?

“Whaddya say — can I give ‘em a call?”

“If you’re so hell-bent on ‘marketing’ why don’t you do it?” Joel says flippantly.

“Well I’m not a bachelor anymore, am I?,” he grins brightly at him. This time, it’s sincere.

“Don’t break your arm pattin' yourself on the back, Tommy. Maria mighta said yes, but there ain’t a ring on your finger yet. She’s still got a few months to wise up,” Joel challenges, his tone playful.

Tommy glares at him, but then gives a sobered nod. “You’re right about that. I know I’m a lucky fucker, and I’m not interested in testing that luck - even for a charity auction. Sorry to the dogs, or the food bank or — is it old people?”

“Hell bent on it, and don’t even know what it’s for? Christ - it’s a Make-A-Wish thing Tommy, damn,” Joel replies, looking bewildered at his brother’s callous and cavalier response.

“And isn’t your attention and concern for the bigger picture just what they need in volunteers?” Tommy retorts, expression still smug but eyes hopeful. “What, ‘s it gonna kill you to go out for once? It’ll be a formality at worst and maybe even a good time if you loosen up a bit.”

“I can think of a number of other ‘worsts’ than a formality,” Joel muses

“You’re gentleman enough to handle it just fine,” Tommy continues.

It has been quite a while since Joel’s been out of his house for much other than work or routine, and even longer since he’s been out with anyone other than Tommy, Maria, and the guys from work here and there. He’ll admit, he hasn’t been dealing with an empty nest very well. He’s done a pretty terrible job of keeping busy since he dropped Sarah off at school back in the fall. She’d gotten in exactly where she’d hoped, and made friends fast - for this he was over the moon - but he misses her like crazy. He’s been swimming back and forth in swelling pride and stabbing grief since September, ecstatic and aching all at once. He knew Tommy’s intentions were relatively pure, business interest aside. He knows they’ve been worried about him for a couple of months now - they haven’t exactly been subtle — they’d started having him over for dinner damn near once a week.

This newfound hobby of Tommy’s, cooking like a grown-up, had become the ruse en vogue for getting Joel out of his house. As Maria’s caseload grew at the law firm, Tommy wanted to make sure she had a real meal to eat when she finally got home — so he started cooking. Joel had to admit it was real sweet, watching his brother dive headfirst into learning a new skill just to take care of his bride-to-be. He claimed it only made sense with his far more flexible schedule, but Joel knew it made Tommy proud to be able to do this for her, and the very fact he wanted to made Joel proud as well.

Once Sarah left for school, however, Tommy quickly discovered his brother’s less-than-satisfactory habits of microwave dinners or forgetting to eat in general. He was a fair chef in his own right once upon a time, but without his little girl there to feed, bothering to make a balanced meal fell by the wayside. Joanna, a kindly woman in her seventies, had been one of the first to notice the change in Joel’s demeanor and the drawn nature of his features. Not much younger than the boys’ mother would be today, Joanna worked at the front desk of Miller Construction, greeting clients with a maternal warmth that, Tommy had to admit, was in part strategic. Disarm a client while they wait with a smile and you’d be able to pry open their hearts and their pockets.

Joanna was not unaware of the role she played in this game, though she did not approve. She’d informed Tommy of her concern for Joel, and the regular dinner invitations followed suit. This, accompanied with Joanna’s tugging Joel along to a nearby diner for lunch a couple of times a week in November had practically pulled Joel through the fall slump and into the new year. The holiday visits home from Sarah had helped a great deal, as well.

Joel wasn’t blind to his friends and family’s kahoots to help him through this patch. Though he sometimes grudgingly obliged to Joanna’s pestering him out the door because she hadn’t “seen you eat a bite all day. Four cups of black coffee don’t count, and you know it. Up!,” or Tommy’s employing Maria to send a text herself inviting him to dinner after he’d tried and simply received the finger, he was grateful for their efforts and care. Sarah was too, but he didn’t need to know that. Those lunchtime diner visits soon turned into breakfasts — a preemptive measure on Joanna’s part to add some time out in public to Joel’s routine of home — office — work site — home. Eventually she’d pavolv-ed him into it, and Joel was at the diner for coffee, breakfast, and one of the only physical newspapers left in existence every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at first following behind Joanna and eventually on his own.

Joanna had been with the Miller brothers since the business was far smaller, just a few years after its inception, when they started needing a receptionist/secretary/assistant, just someone who knew how to manage their slowly growing demand. She’d been a friend of their mother’s and had taken up some of the slack when she’d passed, grieving alongside her friend’s sons and looking after them in her wake. She’d been one of the only reasons Joel and Tommy had been able to build the tiny Miller Bros. into its current position as Miller Construction, multi-million-dollar contracting firm, and the largest in the Austin Metro area. Joel’s practical thinking and creativity combined with Tommy’s ambition and idealistic hopes of grandeur got them into successful meetings with investors that Joanna quietly set up via her husband’s business contacts. Their vision reminded her so much of their mother’s optimism she couldn’t help herself. She’d keep an eye on Sarah when Joel needed and ensured they were taken care of in the moments they would have needed their mother around.

As the boys’ surrogate mother figure and Sarah’s Aunt Jo, it came as no surprise that amid Joel’s season of empty-nested loneliness Joanna had begun encouraging him to “get back out there” and claimed that she “won’t be around forever” and “would like to see him settled before I go.” Classic maternal guilt-tripping, and Joel told her each time that he hears 70 is the new 50. She told him to try that again in a few years when he hits the real 50.

Truth of the matter was, Joel had been alone for a long time. He’d seen people on and off while Sarah was growing up, but it was a rare occasion, and no fling had ever lasted more than a couple of months. With Sarah at home, it never mattered much to Joel — he had someone to care for who was the best company he’d ever had right in front of him. She’d needed him a little less as she’d grown up, but he always had a purpose.

Joel was a natural-born caretaker — between brotherhood and fatherhood, he took to it like a tadpole to water. With Sarah away at school and his little brother engaged, however, he couldn’t figure out where to put all that love, and so it crackled into grief like a blackening candle wick, blooming into a flower of ash that nestled in his chest. The cloud of soot hovered around him for a while as he went through the motions of his everyday. Tommy, Maria, and Joanna all wanted to see him find his way again, as did Sarah when she received honest reports from her family members after some prodding. He always put on his biggest smile for her, never wanting her to worry, but she could see something hurting in his eyes, just below the surface.

While it may have been blatantly out of his comfort zone, Tommy and Joanna jumped at the opportunity to convince Joel when the Most Eligible Bachelors’ Auction came knocking. He needed something to disrupt his routine, with the added bonus of his coming out into the social scene like a plaid-clad debutante with a few extra crow’s feet.

After rolling the last few months’ events around in his mind for a couple of minutes while Tommy answers a phone call, Joel is broken from his reverie. Tommy’s standing in front of him again, waving a hand back and forth.

“Hey ground control - you with me?,” he asks before Joel’s eyes focus on him once again. “Can I give em a call?,” and this time Joel notices the concern in Tommy’s eyes as his joking facade flickers with hope. It’s more than just publicity, and he owes it to them to give it a shot.

Joel releases a measured sigh, relenting. “Can’t believe I’m saying this but sure, fuck it. Call ‘em back,” he says rolling his eyes, resigning himself to whatever nonsense his participation will entail. He reminds himself it’s for charity, and returns to his computer, refocusing on his work as Tommy darts out of his office to return to his own, reporting his success to Joanna along the way.

_______________________________________________

You got lucky with this job at Henrietta’s, with its flexible hours and fairly livable wage, you had time to settle into your new place and get to know the city. You spend your off days wandering around, doing research on local schools and prepping your applications for summer school and the new year.

Never had you pictured yourself leaving students mid-year, and having to do it hurt like hell. You missed the kids you left behind every day, but when a friend caught wind of an acquaintance needing a subletter for a little studio within your price range, you didn’t have much of a choice. You needed to take up the lease starting in January, or you’d be starting over at square one. It had been a long time coming, this encroaching need to run and start over somewhere new. Staying in your hometown was no longer an option — work may have been a saving grace, but the other areas of your life were suffering. You knew healing couldn’t begin without separation. You needed to be far away from everything — it was the only way you could picture trying to feel whole again. Grad school had ended the previous year, so you fled.

With each mile you put between you and your family, you started to feel like your lungs could fully inflate once again. The oppressive air of scrutiny and memory that swam around you at home dropped off piece by piece with each passing mile marker. You’d put a few states between yourself and your parents once it was all said and done, and while it was scary, starting from scratch all over again, it was invigorating. You’d done it at eighteen when you left for college, you could damn well do it again with eight years’ more life experience under your belt.

You’d walked into the diner on your second day in the city. You had some money saved up from time living at home, but knew it would dwindle quickly with rent to pay and no salary coming in on the regular. You would need something to keep busy and pay for necessities until the end of the spring semester. When Diane, the manager caught sight of you, bright-eyed and looking like a deer in headlights, she welcomed you with a warmth you’d only read about in books. She interviewed you then and there and offered you a job on the spot, waiting tables on the breakfast and lunch shifts at least four days a week. She told you your “sweet smile and wide-eyed look will do wonders for you in tips, precious!” You think it’s probably just teacher face you can’t shake, and hope she’s right — maybe it could do you some favors until you get back in the classroom where you belong.

Diane’s rounded face was accentuated with wonderfully deep crow’s feet and smile lines that suggested a lifetime of sharing this warmth, and her dark hair streaked with gray around her hairline and temples rested atop her head in a frazzled bun. She made you comfortable out the gate, and had set you up with a uniform immediately. More aptly, she handed you a t-shirt and an apron to go over your leggings. You were thankful for the relaxed dress code, knowing plenty of other establishments required a much more specific ensemble. Once you’d changed she introduced you to your shift lead, Reggie, and the line-cook-on-duty, Tony, patting you comfortingly on the shoulder and insisting they welcome you, hoping to keep you around to solve their persistent staffing issue.

While Diane was quite a bit older than you, somewhere in her mid-fifties, Reggie and Tony were younger, floating between mid-thirties and early forties, if you had to guess. Reggie was a slim black man you’d put in his thirties, and he greeted you with a smile and an exclamation that he was more than ready to gossip ad nauseum with someone so much closer to his age. He’d been the one to fill you in on Diane’s immediate taking to you, letting you know with little ambiguity that you were just a few years younger than Diane’s daughter, who had moved out of the city about a year ago, and that you favored her to boot. Reggie had called this particular gossip session your orientation.

“Don’t get me wrong honey, Diane’s a sweetheart. But never have I seen her offer a position on the spot. I think having you here may do her some good,” he’d said, before turning to fill you in on Tony the line cook. “Yeah Tony’s hot, but he chain smokes like a chimney and doesn’t care at all when I ask him to keep his second hand smoke to himself on the days I have a performance!,” he shouted pointedly at Tony, who only looked up long enough to give Reggie the finger and wink at you. Tony was a muscular Italian guy in his forties with tattoos of a sort that didn’t quite match up with the gold chain and cross pendant hanging around his neck. When your eyes went wide at the wink, Reggie giggled a bit and leaned toward you. “Don’t worry, Tony’s a little sleazy but harmless. He’ll hit on anything in a skirt, but as soon as you tell him you aren’t interested he’ll back off and won’t bring it up again. He’s a good guy, but don’t tell him I said that.”

Over the course of your shift you discovered that Diane’s been at Henrietta’s for fifteen years, Reggie is a drag queen and lounge singer by the name of Wizz Tiria at a few different clubs around town, and Tony has a few other business ventures he mentions on and off (the details of which he keeps to himself), but never misses taking his Mom to church on Sundays. You share a good bit about yourself as well in exchange — what brought you to Austin, why now, and where you may go from here. It doesn’t take long for you to make yourself at home among this eclectic little bunch, and for the first time in a really, really long time, you’re content with the peaceful monotony of these early winter days.

_______________________________________________

It’s a brisk February morning when you walk into the diner for your shift. You’ve spent the last month working in the cozy little greasy spoon, so you’re still getting to know the regulars, but you’ve caught on pretty quick. You’ve been working the Tuesday, Thursday, and weekend shifts, but when Diane loses another server, you’re eager to pick up the slack — extra pocket change and keep your mind busy. The company’s pretty good too. Thus, you find yourself walking into the diner at 7 AM on a Wednesday morning with a hoodie over your t-shirt and a scarf to ward off more of the wind cutting into your cheeks. You head to the staff room to remove your hoodie and don your apron and emerge, finding the diner a bit colder than it had been up to this point. You’d kept a light jacket or a cardigan on you previously, but today’s need for something heavier led you to selecting a favorite hoodie to throw over your work t-shirt — which you didn’t quite think through until you came into the dining room and felt a chil run up your spine. Diane catches sight of you before you can still yourself.

“Sweetie, what on earth fo you think you’re doing?,” she asks like you’ve done something obviously egregious.

“Huh? What is it?,” you ask innocently, but you know the answer. She can probably see the goosebumps you feel rising on your arms.

“You need somethin’ on under that, you’re gonna freeze in here today!,” she chastises.

“Yeah, I brought my hoodie, but forgot I’d be taking it off. It’s not so bad in here, I’ll be alright,’ you tell her reassuringly.

“Absolutely not. Wait, hold on a second - REGGIE! We got any more o’ those long sleeve souvenir shirts in the case?!” she hollers after him.

“Hold awn!,” he hollers back, Southern twang taking center stage when he yells, just like the rest of them. After a few seconds he emerges with a few in hand. “Got a few left. Ugly as hell, probably why they’re still here. Watcha need ‘em for?”

“Sweetie, go on and change into that before the rush starts. Not the staff shirt, but the branding’ll be fine in case Jason drops by,” she says, rolling her eyes. She pats you on the shoulder, nudging you toward Reggie to take one of the shirts. They’re bright green with a gaudy design on them that makes you laugh when he hands it to you. Jason’s the owner of Henrietta’s, and so you’ve heard, the bane of Diane’s existence. You’ve only heard tale of this rotten Jason thus far, never quite laying eyes on the mythical beast. You really hope today in this goofy shirt isn’t the day you do.

You return to the dining room a few minutes later clad in the neon green monstrosity, tugging at it in a futile effort to make it look better. “Happy now, Diane?!,” you holler as you enter, only to find her standing directly in front of you at the hostess stand, face to face with a man you’d never seen in here before — who you almost run right into, not looking where you’re going. He’s tall and broad with dark brown curls laced with grey streaks, and gray patches in the short beard that frames his jaw. He catches you when you nearly bump right into him, and you look up to meet the deepest brown eyes you’ve ever encountered. Your cheeks go red when you realize what you’ve done.

“Whoa there,” he says, smiling down at you as you stutter out an apology. “It’s alright, no harm done,” he responds, voice gentle but deep. It’s true, he didn’t even budge when he caught you, and you’re fairly certain if you’d fallen, the outcome would’ve been the same.

“Sorry about that Joel. C’mon, your table’s ready,” she says, patting Joel’s arm and leading him forward, not before turning back to you and saying, “Certainly am. Now go grab some coffee for Table 7 for me, will ya sweetie?” with a smile. You’d just run almost smack into a customer, and she wasn’t upset with you or anything. You shouldn’t be surprised, that’s just Diane, but you’re used to much larger reactions to small mistakes. You just nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, but your eyes are drawn once again to the man she’s leading away. He’s looking back at you with a smile that sends a shiver down your spine, one you’re certain has nothing to do with the chill in the air this time. He’s wearing a plaid button-down and a utility jacket, with cheeks and a nose tinged pink from the cold. You tear your eyes away anxiously and head for the coffee pot.

You’ve got your hand around the decaf pot, pouring another cup for the regular at the bar counter, when your eyes find Table 7, your next destination. You see the man, Joel, Diane had called him, with his back to you, facing out the window, newspaper in hand. You steel yourself once again, switch coffee pots, and head for his table.

You approach from the side, hoping not to spook him as he’s engrossed in the paper he has in hand. Christ, when was the last time you saw a physical newspaper? It’s kinda cute, you think, seeing someone reading one on a cold morning with a cup of coffee. So picturesque. Especially someone as handsome as he is, and you find yourself staring at his broad shoulders and dark curls again before he looks up from his reading.

“Hey,” you start, a little shaky, “sorry again, about before. Don’t know what I was doing, not looking where I was going,” you smile a little, shaking your head at your mishap.

“Really, it’s fine. You seemed, uh, preoccupied,” he says, looking down at the offending design on the tshirt you’re wearing, before looking back up at you. “It’s certainly a change from the regular uniform, huh?” he says, smiling at you. The way his eyes crinkle as he does plants a warmth in your chest you aren’t expecting. It’s been so long since you felt it, it’s almost unfamiliar. Your cheeks warm as you smile back at him, hoping it comes off as embarrassment from your wardrobe rather than bashful attraction. You’re about to tell him it’s certainly not a permanent solution, when he speaks again. “So, Sweetie, huh? Haven’t seen you around before — that what they call you in here?” he questions, smirk playing at his lips.

You laugh in response and introduce yourself, and tell him this isn’t your normal shift, but you’ll probably be around for it moving forward. You take his breakfast order, and tell him you’ll let him get back to his paper.

You don’t converse much more when you bring Joel his breakfast, just quiet thanks when you refill his coffee cup. He looks so peaceful, you almost hate to interrupt each time. You ask Reggie about him when you both have a minute behind the counter.

“Yep, that’s Joel. Gorgeous, isn’t he? Started coming in a few months back with an older lady, then more regularly by himself. She’s with him once in a while, kinda seems like a mom vibe, but she doesn’t look like him. Anyway, I think he works construction or something, always coming in with those boots on looking like a lumberjack,” Reggie says flippantly. “Heard from the older lady one day when he was in the bathroom — his daughter went to college back in the fall, they’ve been trying to get him out ever since,” he said, looking sympathetic at the thought.

You feel your heart do a little squeeze at this newfound tidbit. A fresh empty nester. You know how hard it’s been for Diane, so much she’s taken to parenting the staff in her daughter’s stead. Staring at Joel’s back as his head is bowed reading the paper, you begin wondering more and more about him. His daughter’s probably around eighteen, so how old is he? You’d guess he isn’t married, and you didn’t see a ring. Who is he? Why does he come here to read his paper each day? And most importantly — how soon can you find out the answers to these questions? You don’t want to ambush him at all and scare him off, but you’re drawn to him, and so very curious.

Meanwhile, Joel is stealing glances at your reflection in the diner window in front of him, watching you laugh with Reggie and the customers at the bar, smiling sweetly when someone makes a request of you. He needs to get out of there before he starts feeling creepy, he thinks. He rises and walks to the counter to settle his bill with Reggie at the cash register, glancing at you when he does so, futilely trying to balance showing interest and being weird. He leaves a nice tip in the jar for all of you to share, but just before he turns to go, he looks back at you, locking eyes.

“Oh uh, Sweetie?,” he says, smirk on his face. He looks almost bashful when he speaks next, like he’s working up the courage. “Glad you’re picking up. Look forward to seein’ you again,” he smiles. The look on his face when he says it is so sincere, you could melt on the spot. He was nervous about his joke, you could tell, but recovered when you laughed in reply.

“Looking forward to it too, Joel. Enjoy your day,” you say, smiling wide in return. He gives a little wave to everyone before grinnig down at his shoes and walking out of the diner into the crisp February air. Your eyes follow him out to the pick-up he hops into, before looking back over to Reggie and Tony, staring at you devilishly.

“And I’m looking forward to seeing this story unravel,” says Reggie, looking over at Tony and grinning, like something juicy has just unfolded before their eyes. The two are laughing while you smile and wave them off, wiping down the counter. Diane emerges from the office at the sound of their hearty laughter, reading glasses slipping down her nose, notepad in hand, and stares back at the three of you.

“What’d I miss?!,” she asks. You’re smiling too much to respond with anything genuine, so you return to your wiping, and let Reggie take the lead.

121 notes · View notes

ladykailitha · 12 days ago

Text

Of Butterflies and Backstrokes Part 12

Hello!! This lovely story is completed. And next week will be almost all getting this story out to you. So Sunday, Monday, and Friday will be the last three chapters of this story. So you're all in for a treat.

In this Eddie is horny on main, gets into some trouble, and vows to find out if it's connected to Steve.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Steve walked away from that first meet with Billy feeling more than a little smug. Billy’s two athletes had done well enough. Chrissy Cunningham winning bronze over all in her division and Jason Carver winning silver in his.

But the thing that really made Steve’s day was that Jason’s time for the silver, was slower in masters than Eddie’s time in intermediate.

Steve made sure to focus on getting Eddie’s time in the backstroke as close as he could to the current record.

He wasn’t sure if Eddie’s coaches had lucked out in middle school, or if training Eddie on the backstroke that young was why he was as good at it as he was, but in Steve’s mind it didn’t matter. With Eddie’s arms and longer torso, he was like a knife in the water, just slicing through it.

When Eddie showed up at the next meet, Jason was sure to get in his face. Eddie had changed into his black Speedo and was braiding his hair the way Steve taught him. His was never as tight as Steve’s but at the Olympics Steve wouldn’t be his coach and wouldn’t be able to do it for him.

“You must think you’re pretty special after that performance from last time, huh?” Jason huffed. “With the judges falling all over themselves to put you in the higher division, but now you’re playing with the big boys now. I will wipe the floor with you.”

Eddie looked up at the other swimmer. Jason cut the all-American boy next door stereotype to a tee. His perfect tan, white teeth, blond hair and blue eyes. His toned body barely contained by his red Speedo.

If Jason hadn’t started shit, Eddie wouldn’t have said no to tapping that ass. But as it was, he was refraining. He knew what Billy was going for with this guy. He was the replacement Steve Harrington. Like original wasn’t one of a kind.

Eddie finished braiding his hair and stood up, meeting Jason eye to eye. “You can’t even wipe the floor with your own ass, man. My time was better than yours and it’s going to be again.” He patted Jason on his chest and then turned around. He grabbed his cap and goggles throwing the rest of his stuff in the locker and slammed it shut. He pulled on his team jacket, shoving the goggles and cap in one of the pockets.

“All you are is a one trick pony,” Jason sneered. “You might beat me in the backstroke but I am the better swimmer all around.” He gave Eddie a little push before shouldering past him.

Eddie just shook his head and followed the idiot out.

He walked right up to Steve with the biggest grin. “Looks like I got them against the lane ropes, coach. They’re running scared.”

Steve frowned, but when Eddie told him about his encounter with Jason just now, he grinned. “Certainly sounds like it. So I looked into who his charges were.”

“Yeah?” Max asked eagerly. She had just finished her heat and was going over her times with Steve when Eddie came out of the locker room.

“He is Jason Carver,” Steve explained, “been all over the country with all the best coaches and tutors. But he’s twenty-two and never made it to the Olympics so people were starting to say he was washed up, until Billy got his claws in him. If he wasn’t so Sunday school vibes, I would suspect doping with the sudden change.”

“I hope it shrinks his penis,” Max said darkly.

Robin and Eddie giggled and Eddie high-fived her.

Steve rolled his eyes. “The girl is Chrissy Cunningham. She’s only eighteen and she barely missed getting on the women’s team in the last Olympics, having come in seventh. She is highly favored on getting on the team for London. She didn’t need Billy’s help, she just came as a packaged deal with Jason as he’s her boyfriend.”

Robin rolled her eyes and scoffed under her breath, “Straights!”

Max squawked in outrage. “Hey, we’re not all weirdos like that.”

They all laughed.

Then it was time for Eddie’s first match of the day. Thankfully he had been placed at the other end of the pool from Jason as Steve wasn’t sure the guy wouldn’t try and push Eddie off or something.

Then the gun went off. Eddie arched backwards into the pool as graceful as a butterfly and just as beautiful. Eddie was focused on his stroke as he whirled around to make his way back through his lane.

He touched the pad and yanked off his goggles. He saw his time and hollered. It was even better than last time and there was no doubt he had beaten Jason.

And immediately as soon as Jason got out of the pool he ran right up to the the judges screaming about how Eddie must be doping.

The judge, a poor belabored man in his fifties pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mr. Carver, Mr. Munson has already submitted to a drug test after his last outstanding performance and he has passed with flying colors. Please go sit down.”

Billy came up and led a very upset Jason away from the judges murmuring things about how easy it is to fake a urine test.

Eddie just scoffed and turned to Steve as they walked passed them. “If he wanted to see my dick so bad, all he had to do was ask nicely.”

Jason whirled around to start something, Billy held him back. “He’s just saying that to get you riled up. Just ignore him.”

Jason walked backwards, glaring at Eddie. Eddie waved his fingers at him and then turned back to Steve and them.

“Some people take these things too seriously,” he huffed, putting his hands on his hips dramatically. “You should be able to have little fun outside of the pool.”

Steve grinned up at him. “As long as your head remains in the game in the pool, I really don’t care what you do out of it. Drugs and smoking aside. If it’s legal and ain’t hurting anyone, have fun, go nuts.”

Eddie grinned back.

All the men finished their heats, Eddie winning gold again.

“Next up are the state competitions,” Steve said after they had come back out from getting changed. “I expect you’ll both do really well there as well. The real challenge will come on the national level. Billy just brought his team out here to fuck with me and is really pissed it didn’t work the way he thought it would.”

“Also,” Robin said, “I’ve hearing around that since the Olympic trials are being held in Nebraska this time round and is trying to horn in on our facility because it’s been where the trials have been held in the past.”

“Joyce would laugh him out of her office if he tried that,” Max said rolling her eyes.

Robin put her hands over her mouth and giggled. “What if she already has and that’s why he’s so pissed?”

They all shared gleeful glances and then all agreed that without any evidence one way or the other that that was exactly what happened and no one was going to convince them otherwise.

Steve turned to Eddie. “Do you need a ride home? Wayne caught me before he left to say that he had to go to work.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said with a sigh of relief. “If you could. I was going to try and call Jeff to come get me, but if you’re willing, I’m ready.”

Steve nodded and turned to Robin, “Susan said she was driving both of you girls home, is that still okay?”

Robin nodded and then left with Max to go find her mom, leaving Eddie and Steve alone.

Eddie reached out and touched Steve’s elbow. “Hey are you okay? I saw that you were much further from the pool than you usually are.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. He scratched his cheek as he pursed his lips to stop their quivering. He nodded.

“I need you to breathe with me, Stevie,” Eddie cooed, taking both of his wrists and rubbing them with his thumb. “In for five, hold, and out for seven. The water isn’t close enough for you to fall in. It’s ten feet away. You can’t fall in. In for five, hold, and out for seven.”

Steve closed his eyes and did as Eddie bid, relaxing into the warmth of the younger man’s timbre. Slowly he opened his eyes. “Thank you.”

Eddie grinned back at him. “No problem!”

Steve coughed, and looked away. “I should probably get you home, before you turn into a pumpkin.”

“Sure thing, Stevie,” his voice was warm and tender, taking the suddenly change as the dodge it was.

They walked out to Steve’s car and Eddie kept an eye on him all the way there.

“This isn’t a setback you know?” he murmured.

Steve let out a shuddering sigh and stopped a moment to close his eyes. “I do know that, but at same time whenever this happens I just feel like I failed.” He huffed out a bitter laugh. “Dr. Hughes would probably say it’s because of my father constantly hounding me to be the best all the time...”

“I know what it feels like to have that voice in your head,” Eddie said softly, reaching out to touch his arm, “telling you everything you do is a failure and you’ll never be good enough. But it’s like breaking your leg. Sometimes you’ll have bad days, but you’ve just got to keep moving forward. Okay?”

He nodded and just buried his head into the crook of Eddie’s neck, sobbing. Eddie wrapped his arms around him and held him as he cried.

Eddie couldn’t win every meet, but even when he didn’t, he at least made the podium each time. He was brilliant in the water.

Max was doing well, too. Susan had given her permission to practice with Steve more days out of the week. Provided of course she kept her grades up. Eddie had opted to train with Steve and Robin twice a day.

He really wanted to put in the work required to be the best.

The Ghastly Ghouls, as Eddie had taken to calling the stuck up coaches and their charges who looked down on Eddie and Steve, started avoiding them all together. Bitter and angry that not only was Steve the better coach, despite being afraid of the pool, but Eddie was more dedicated to the sport then their athletes were.

Hannah and Lisa would often complain about how hard it was and how much the swimming time ate into their social lives.

Eddie wanted to laugh. He still hung out with his friends, had Sunday dinner with Wayne, and practiced with his band around his swimming schedule.

Hell, a lot of the times the stands would have more than just Wayne and Susan in them. Joyce and her sons, their friends, too. To root Steve on as well as Eddie and Max. Jeff, Gareth, and Brian would come as well.

He would never tell Steve this, but once he ran into Tommy and Carol outside one of their meets. The conservation was stilted and awkward as fuck, but he thought it was cute that they were trying to support Steve even if it was surreptitiously.

It was the last match of the season and Eddie was hyped. Bouncing on the balls of his feet and shaking his hands to stay warmed.

A couple of judges approached him with a jacket in the one’s hand.

“Is this your jacket?” the one asked, holding up a brand new, black bomber style jacket instead of the motorcycle leather that was so worn that it was brown along the cuffs and the zipper.

Eddie shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’ve never seen that jacket before in my life.”

Robin and Steve immediately dashed over.

“You’re saying that this isn’t your jacket?” the other judge growled. “It was found in your locker.” He put his hands into the front pocket and pulled out a little plastic baggy with what Eddie presumed was steroids. One thing he wouldn’t sell to his classmates, though many a jock asked. The risk was just too high.

Eddie shook his head. “My jacket is out in my van. I don’t bring in anymore because it’s too hot.”

“That’s not his jacket,” Steve snapped. “Robin grab me my phone. Eddie go get your jacket.”

“I’ll come with you,” the first judge growled and followed Eddie out to the parking lot.

Robin slapped the phone into Steve’s hand. He pulled up his contacts and dialed a number. “Hello, is Dr. Owens available. Yes, it’s urgent. Dr. Owens. Has Eddie tested positive for steroids, ever? No? Would you please tell that to these judges please?”

The remain judge’s eyes went wide. “Why do you have an Olympic doctor on speed dial?”

Steve just started him straight in the eye with the phone held out. The judge shakily took the phone and listened to Dr. Owens berate him for his idiocy and incompetence.

Eddie and the judge came back with Eddie’s jacket. Further cementing Eddie’s innocence.

“I think someone is trying to get Eddie out of the running,” Robin said, voice dripping with malice. “I think you’ll find whoever told to search Eddie’s locker is the one that put that there.”

“It was anonymous,” the second judge huffed.

“Convenient,” she said, darkly folding her arms in front of her chest.

“Can I swim now?” Eddie asked, his lip quivering and his voice breaking.

The judges shared defeated glances, but agreed he was allowed to compete.

Eddie made sure to get gold in every one of events that day, just further piss whoever had tried to sabotage him off.

After he stepped off the winner podium, he scanned the crowd wondering if whoever was out to get him was also the one who sabotaged Steve in ‘08.

And he was going to find out.

Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @gloomysoup

2- @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @eriquin

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

9- @chameleonhair @sadisticaltarts @dreamercec @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mac-attack19

10- @aol19 @tartarusknight @morallyundefined

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #olympic steddie #olympic swimmer au

72 notes · View notes

wileys-russo · 1 year ago

Note

“You look better in red” ficlet mayhaps🫶🏼

you look better in red

"no!" you laughed, shaking your head firmly from where you lay on the bed. "baby!" millie whined, stomping her foot like a toddler as she glared down at you. "please." the blonde pouted as you again shook your head.

"what am i then? chopped liver?" mary scoffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the taller girl beside her. "no! i just thought it would work best with three of us." millie huffed, having spent the last half an hour begging you to do a tiktok with her as you promptly refused.

"go on then snakehips. time's a tickin!" you teased, propping yourself up on one elbow and tapping your watch as your girlfriend gave you a mean stare and set up her phone to record.

you were away on england camp for the olympic qualifiers and of course that meant millie and mary had to record as many tiktoks as they could, millie dubbing herself the tiktok princess to marys tiktok queen.

"oi those are my shorts!" you realised as your girlfriend hiked her hoodie up a little, your favourite pair of shorts snugly wrapped around her muscular thighs. "our shorts baby." millie corrected, blowing you a kiss as mary fake gagged.

"best not stretch them with your tree trunk thighs or we'll be havin words." you warned her sternly, mary now ooohing. "ow mills!" the girl huffed as the chealsea player punched her, the timer starting as the music went.

"go on girls!" you cheered with a clap as they both started to dance, stifling your laughter behind your hand as they both went the wrong way and crashed into one another.

this seemed to be a common trend as the two of them routinely argued back and forth about who was doing which part, at least ten takes in and still not able to use a single one. "would you stop laughin!" millie scowled at you as you buried your face in a pillow to muffle the noise.

"sorry! just its like you've both got two left feet. like big clumsy giants!" you clutched at your stomach, now the laughter was free flowing it was unable to stop. "right! if it's so easy then you do it love, go on!" your girlfriend gestured, her and mary stepping back as you shrugged.

you made sure the camera wasn't recording as you clicked play on the sound, counting yourself in and starting to dance, both girls jaws dropping as you didn't miss a beat or a single move. "ta da!" you finished, giving them both a sarcastic jazz hands.

"mary get out." millie mumbled, jaw slack as she stared at you with a familiar look in her eyes. "what?" the keeper frowned, unsure if she'd heard correctly. "out, get out." millie spoke, jumping to her feet and pouncing at you, hand gripping the back of your neck and pulling you into a bruising kiss.

"ergh alright at least wait till i'm gone before you suck face!" mary groaned, grabbing her jacket and hurrying out of the room as millies large hands groped at you. "baby that was so hot." the taller girl mumbled into your mouth.

"don't laugh! i'm tryin to kiss ya here that's not very romantic." millie frowned as you pushed her away, body vibrating with amusement. "you are honestly like a teenage boy, the most weird and simple things turn you on bright!" you teased, shoving her suddenly as she fell back onto the bed.

"go on then baby. dance for me!" the older girl smirked, shuffling back to rest on her elbows as her eyes scanned you up and down hungrily. "you already got a free show. sorry love i'm a one trick pony!" you grinned, sending her a wink.

"alright! well then i guess i'll just have to dance for you." millie sighed, grabbing your hand and tugging you down on the bed, rolling on top of you and attacking your face with kisses before she stood.

"might want to get a head start and take your shorts and shirt off baby, cause this dance is gonna knock your socks off!" millie blew you a kiss and wiggled her finger guns, backing up as you raised your eyebrows at her confidence.

"count me in, from five." she flicked through her phone before she turned her back to you, pulling her hood up to cover her messy bun of hair. "oh my god." you sighed as pony blasted from her phone and you counted her in from five.

"millie!" you laughed as she turned, starting to body roll and bite her lip, mouthing along to the words. "call me magic millie baby." she flipped her hood off, dropping to the floor and rolling her body like a stripper as you laughed.

"baby this is not hot." you bit down on your lip as she wiggled and bucked her hips on the floor, shaking her head so much that her bun was clinging on for dear life to her head.

"scuse me, no talking from the audience." she warned, jumping up to her feet and quickly stripping herself of her hoodie, tossing it so it landed on your face. "keepsake darlin, from me to you." she winked and blew you a kiss as you peeled it off of you and dropped it to the floor.

"do we have a volunteer? oh you look willing for a good time!" mary yelled out, pointing to you and starting to stalk her way over. "millie!" your stomach hurt from laughing so hard as she stood in between your legs, grabbing the back of your neck and pressing your face into her stomach, rolling her body up and down as she continued to sing along.

"you want me? you can't have me!" millie yelled in a funny accent, suddenly shoving you away from her as she turned around and wiggled her bum at you.

you wolf whistled and broke out into cheers as the song ended and she dropped to her knees, peace signs in the air. "now that, that was dancing." millie breathed out, admittedly a little puffed from the effort.

"shut up and kiss me you big dopey idiot."

#millie bright x reader #woso #woso fanfics #woso blurbs #woso imagine #millie bright #woso x reader #engwnt

329 notes · View notes

snotty-zombie · 5 days ago

Text

Rageous-tober part 4 (final)!!!

Day 27: Crossover (2 parts)

Day 31: Halloween

More under cut >xP

totally disregard all the writing if you dont care lmaooo this is just me word vomiting about my ocs and thought process when doing this haha i just thought id give some context cuz i always forget you guys know literally nothing about my characters

Day 27: Crossover! So this is a two parter, part 1 is Gumlee x Ritzneer obvvvvvviously because I’m basic I can’t help but compare them and a lot of others can’t help it either from what I’ve seen I had an insane stroke of genius calling Veneer ‘Prince Gumdrop’ and I don’t think I’ll ever reach those heights again

Part 2 of the crossover is MLP CROSSOVER!! Including unicorn ‘Colt Ritz’ which I am quite proud I must say considering I hadn’t drawn a pony in like- 10 years AS WELL AS Pegasus ‘Boogie Bomb’ which I am ALSO quite proud of, he has very big wings and is covered in little green spots (which mimic the spotty design he has on his shaved scalp as a Rageon) he looks a bit like a donkey but I think that’s just because of his little facial hair bits and massive pointy ears I gave him hmmmm Also, siren Velvet and Veneer!! I can’t remember the exact lore of the sirens since I haven’t seen the film in a real long time but I got some help from my friend who is a big MLP fan and she filled me in on the lore etc, as well as inspiration from another artist on here who also did a VV x MLP crossover, I reposted their amazing art on my other blog so def go check it out. Anyway, VV are sirens and disguise themselves as alicorns (but also hide their flanks as they have no cutie marks)

Day 31: Halloween!!! 🎃 👻 💀 🦇 🐈‍⬛ Last one!! This one took foreveerrrrr and again, I just had to try to outdo myself with the amount of bs happening on screen at once I tried to include all my main fav ocs, as well as the twins and KR all going door to door in a massive trick or treating horde

I called this the 'soft launch' of my Velvet and Veneer fan parents, Dr Velocity (mum) and Dr Voltage (dad), they're in matching Frankenstein and Frankenstein's wife costumes :3. They mean well of course as any parent does but their good intentions can get lost in translation (harsh punishments and struggling/refusing to understand their bizarre children). I will definitely give them their spotlight when I eventually get around to redesigning them (slightly) and writing out some information about them to share with you guys because I like them a lot :P

-Theres Glow Worm getting her costume repaired by Rhinestone after she ripped it doing multiple cartwheels in a row -Velvet and Veneer trading their sweets that they collected (you'd think they were discussing border placement or something, they take it so seriously) -Veneer and TV Girl finally getting along after telling their lame boyfriends to stop fighting with each other -And a zombie Boogie sketch I refused to finish whoops

SO YEAH THATS ALL I DID FOR RAGEOUS-TOBER, finally posting it to tumblr half way through November. be sure to check out the creators account, jobiesayscheese 😻😻😻 thanks for checking my art out, and if you read all of my stupid ramblings ily sm and thank you for hearing me out

I also did in fact win a raffle for Rageous-tober not to flex but yes to flex (totally wasn’t rigged cuz tf)

Part 1! Part 2! Part 3! Part 4!

#mount rageon oc #mount rageous #trolls 3 #velvet and veneer #kid ritz #trolls orchid #trolls band together #mlp oc #mlp art #gumlee

34 notes · View notes

janitorhutcherson · 1 year ago

Note

hi! can you do a fluff piece with Mike where he expresses his love to the reader through the different love languages? (like words of affirmation, gift giving, physical touch, acts of kindness, and quality time?) I feel like he would be especially great at acts of kindness with cooking :) thanks!

hii omg this is such a cute idea. this is gonna be quickish i’m sorry, i’ll totally do a longer one later. if y’all like it i’ll maybe make a series?!? but for now just a silly little blurb.

i feel like mike would be very loving and showing his love to you would be extremely important. like, extremely important. so he’d def be the kind of guy to take all of these seriously, even if they weren’t… easy… for him since expressing emotions doesn’t come as natural.

words of affirmation: words of affirmation is one of my favorite love languages. this is one that doesn’t come easy for mike — and not because he doesn’t love you, but just because he can’t really express himself well. if you’re like me, being reassured, told you’re doing great, etc, is important to you. mike would do his very best to remind you every day how important you are to him, leaving the occasional note in the morning before you head to work. it may say something like, “Reminder I am so proud of you for everything you do. I love you, baby!” he’s also ramble to you at night sometimes, just telling you how much he loves you. if you were ever down, he’d make sure to sit you down and point out all of the things he loves about you, physically and mentally.

gift giving: okay i feel like this is a big one. money doesn’t come very easily for mike. after he got “fired” (that’s what he pretends happened!😜), he had to find another job that still had shitty pay. his resume didn’t make him a great candidate for anything high quality. with that being said, every month he attempts to scrape up enough money to make you a little gift basket. it varies from month to month, depending on how much he was able to save. sometimes they’d be big baskets he’d have abby help him pick stuff out for. there may be a fuzzy blanket, some candies, face masks, maybe a candle. sometimes they’d be smaller, just a little note and some candy, maybe a stuffed animal from the dollar store. regardless of how big or small, you always appreciated it when you’d walk into your shared home and see it sitting on the table.

physical touch: oh my god i think this one is a huge one for mike. given his past, he is so touch starved. every second he gets, his hands are on you. of course, at night he loves to curl up with you in bed. he’ll have his arms tightly wrapped around you, playing with your hair or maybe rubbing your back. even when he dips down on the bed to tie his shoes in the morning, he keeps his hand on your sleeping shoulder until he absolutely has to move it. he’s the same way out in public. at the supermarket, he’ll hold your hand, he’ll wrap his arm around your waist when you’re standing in line for something. when you’re out to eat, his hand will be on your knee underneath the table. when you’re cooking at home, he will always come and wrap himself up behind you, moving with you to the point that it’s slightly obnoxious, but you don’t mind. as long as he’s with you.

acts of kindness: i so agree that this would be a big one for him that he’d be good at. before you, mike was a one trick pony when it came to cooking, and for that, he could barely do it. he could make something that was edible enough to be spaghetti. once you two started dating, he learned for you. he wanted to be able to make your favorite dishes and desserts. he surprises you all the time when he’s off of work or if he gets off before you, making your favorite dish and having it served up on the table with candles when you walk in the door after work. he’s also big on doing things like running you baths, putting the bubbles in and the epsom salts in. sometimes he’d get into it with you, holding you. i also think he’d like to take showers with you. if you struggle with mental health at all, i think he’d be the type of partner to help you wash your hair. of course he’d do chores for you sometimes, knocking out necessary errands. overall he’s a very loving partner who will do anything to make you smile.

quality time: quality time is something that isn’t easy to get. as much as you love abby, alone time is especially hard to come by. since mike is working day shifts now, you two will do your best to have a late night together at least once a week. you’re both usually pretty exhausted, taking care of abby, working, running errands. but once a week, usually on a friday night, you both stay up until 3am/4am, just talking, snacking, maybe watching a movie. otherwise, for quality time, he makes sure to sneak some time in with you here in there. he’d make sure to run simple errands with you, maybe even to sit with you at the nail salon. i also think he’d love to help you cook, go shopping. any chance he’d get to spend time with you, he’d take it.

#mike schmidt fluff #mike schmidt x reader #mike schmidt imagine #mike schmidt smut #mike schmidt #josh hutcherson x reader #josh hutcherson fluff #josh hutcherson imagine #josh hutcherson fanfic #josh hutcherson #michael schmidt x reader #michael afton

315 notes · View notes

chippedshake · 1 month ago

Text

I'm fine

Darry is fine. He swears he's fine. Never been better.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But he is fine. He really is.

Sure, he's juggling gaining custody over his brothers with finding out how much to pay for two coffins with considering getting a second job with figuring out how the fuck one pays one's bills with actually being a guardian for his brothers with grieving for his parents, who disappeared with a knock on his door from the police.

But he's fine. He really is.

But I realize that the worst is to come when the storm is gone

And even if he's not fine – which he is –, it's not like he can afford to complain right now because he's facing a steep uphill climb with no help. If he admits that he's not okay now, then what is he going to do for the next four years?

Or after that, when he has to scrape together enough money for Pony to go to college somehow?

He has to be fine now. He has to be. Because if he's not, there's no hope for what comes next.

And I try to recognize that it's all in my head now

Darry isn't fine.

But that's okay. That's fine because everything is actually fine but it's just his head playing tricks on him and making him think everything isn't fine when it is fine.

Because everything is fine.

He's just always made a big deal out of nothing, like when his friends would prank him sometimes in school. It was never that bad, he just liked to catastrophise.

Classic Darry, making a mountain out of a molehill.

Because. Everything. Is. Fine.

Or it will be. Even if it kills him.

But lately I've been feeling tired but I can't sleep

Darry turns over again, dragging his sheets along with him.

Against his better instincts, he checks the clock on his wall.

Two AM.

He sighs. It's not happening tonight. He's been trying for two hours and needs to be up in three.

May as well be productive.

He groans as he sits up. He'll leave the bed unmade a while longer just in case he gets tired enough to go back to sleep, because he definitely won't get back in if it's made.

He stifles a yawn as he cracks Sodapop and Ponyboy's door open. They're fast asleep, Soda's arm around Pony. Darry lets himself breathe a sigh of relief.

They're okay. They're fine.

His eyes struggle to stay open as he sweeps the floor. He can feel his eyebags growing as he scrubs the kitchen counters. Falling asleep standing up is seeming like a genuine possibility by the time he starts mopping.

It's three thirty when he goes back to sleep.

My head is running miles but I can't breathe

Soda's thinking about dropping out. Soda's thinking about dropping out. He's thinking about dropping out because Darry's failed.

Failed at keeping his brothers safe, at maintaining their childhood as best he could with the neighbourhood they live in. Because now Soda is going to have to worry about bills and paychecks and bosses.

He can feel his breathing getting faster but he can't get it to stop.

And he's not a fit guardian is he? He can hardly keep them all under control on a good day and he can't keep Soda in school and Ponyboy's always mad at him and Soda'a dropping out–

Are these grounds for the State to take them away? Of course they are, everything is. Any step out of line, any tiny mistake (Darry makes so many he doesn't understand how he's been allowed to keep his brothers for so long), it's all grounds to take his brother away.

Oh, God, he can't breathe, he can't breathe

Will I ever get my mind under control?

In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

Like his mom always did.

In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

I don't know

'Cause I'm in the eye of the storm

Most people feel calm when they reach the eye of the storm. It has the lowest pressures in the whole storm, and it seems like you've escaped.

It seems like everything's back to normal.

Like Ponyboy still likes books just because he likes them. Like Dally's still got someone to trust. Like Soda still lets himself be a kid. Like Two-Bit just drinks for fun sometimes. Like Johnny can trust him as much as he trusted Darry's parents.

Only Darry knows better. He knows what's on the other side of the eye. He knows the storm goes on.

That Ponyboy's reading to escape reality. That Dally’s hardened back to how he was when he arrived. That Soda knows they can't make do just with Darry's paycheck. That Two-Bit's become an alcoholic. That he's never bothered to form a bond with Johnny in the past and he still seems scared of him.

And I've never been here before

Darry used to think he was stressed.

When he got a bad grade on his physics final in junior year and thought all his hopes for college were crushed unless he doubled down during senior year.

When he realised he didn’t like his girlfriend like he was supposed to, and he hadn’t liked any of his girlfriends like he was supposed to. And he hadn’t liked anyone That Way and he was at prom and had to dance with his girlfriend and felt like he was failing her constantly.

When they were in second place towards the end of the football league and they needed to win this game or it would've all been for nothing.

He scoffs at the memories of what his oh-so-stressful life used to look like. What wouldn't he give for that to be his greatest worry?

All of my thoughts screaming loud, saying that I'll never make it out

When Darry looks at the kitchen, he sees all the meals he needs to make. The table is just its short leg that needs fixing. The mailbox is just the bills.

When Darry looks at Pony and Soda, he can hardly see his little brothers anymore. He sees two boys who need clothes and food and a reminder to bring a blade wherever they're going.

He loves them, too, but that comes second.

You can't love a dead body, or a boy being kept by the State fifteen miles away.

'Cause I'm falling deeper and deeper into my head

"Darry?"

Darry snaps out of his thoughts. Soda and Pony are looking at him worriedly. He's not even sure who said his name.

"Yeah?"

Soda's brow furrows. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Soda, don't worry about it."

His half-hearted reassurance doesn’t seem to comfort either of them, but they carry on with their conversation.

Darry tries to think of what they were talking about so he can follow the conversation, but he can't remember anything after he started cooking.

And I'm scared that I can't see the light at the end

Darry stays on autopilot until he collapses into his bed.

All he wants is for sleep to take him. He just wants his head to slow down for once.

But of course it won’t.

It starts with the usual: mental math he loses track of but that helps him feel in control of everything. Calculating his paycheck and Soda's and the bills and Pony's college savings account and groceries and Darry's own savings account.

Then that turns into worrying about Pony at school: whether Socs give him any trouble, whether he's doing alright in his classes (because if anyone knows that grades don't mean anything, it's the boy that sold essays throughout his junior and senior year to pay for college), what classes are his favourite (because Darry doesn't talk to him enough to know).

What classes he'll choose when he gets electives.

What he'll major in.

And then Darry's thinking about what he'll be doing when Ponyboy's in college (because Ponyboy's getting out if it's the last thing Darry does) and he's realising that he has no idea.

There's no future for him after his brothers leave.

He used to imagine what his life would be like once he gathered the money for college. If he tries hard enough, he might be able to remember what it was like to hope.

But then he threw away all his dreams, all the possibilities of somehow getting out, and he doesn’t know how to find them again.

I'm in the eye, I'm in the eye of the storm

#song: eye of the storm (caleb hearn)#go listen to it right now #for the record there is a future for him #he just can't see it rn #the outsiders #the outsiders book #ponyboy curtis #darry curtis #darrel curtis #the outsiders movie #the outsiders musical #sodapop curtis #song fic #fanfics #chippedshake #aroace darry curtis

45 notes · View notes

sea-owl · 8 months ago

Text

@animelover4157

Here's their prompt!

I have always had an idea where Colin’s biggest threat for grabbing Penelope’s attention isn’t a suitor or Eloise.

No no no.

Colin’s biggest threat and nuisance is that he consistently have to fight a big ass dog (like a mastiff, cane corso, Saint Bernard, etc) that Penelope somehow convinced her mom to keep while in the countryside and is the very definition of a Velcro dog. It growls at any potential suitor that shows an interest in Penelope (it’s the reason why She doesn’t have suitors but Penelope is not aware of that).

For Colin, it does something worse. In the rare chance, that it is not next to Penelope, it will purposely move itself right next to/on top of Penelope so Colin cannot sit anywhere near her while it stares him down. This causes to Colin and the dog to race and wrestle one another to get to Penelope’s side with Colin losing 80% of the time and him glaring it down. Penelope thinks that they are playing and are getting along but is completely oblivious of the actual situation.

Tiny woman with a big ass dog. Classic.

Here's what I'm thinking.

So the Featheringtons were out in Ireland to visit Portia's brother, Mr. Finn Carroll, and his family. During their family visit one of the cousins introduced Penelope to the puppies their dog recently had. One of those puppies became attached to Penelope.

"Aw Portia look at that Penelope made a friend!" Finn said as he slid up next to his big sister.

"No," Portia immediately said.

Finn fully looked at Portia. "No?"

"No," Portia repeated. "Finn, I do not need a dog in my house."

"Oh, come on, Porshie!" Finn said, pulling out his puppy eyes and the childhood nickname. Tricks with a proven track record for him on getting what he wanted from his sister. "Let my niece have a puppy! You're already taking away her title as baby of the family!"

Portia sighed, rubbing her pregnant belly. "Finn, I am not dumb. We were both raised with an Irish Wolfhound. That dog will most likely get bigger than Penelope, and they're made for hunting large prey!"

"Yes, but you also know they make great companions!" Finn argued. "And doesn't Penelope need a friend?"

Portia will later blame her pregnancy brain, but when the Featheringtons went home, they brought a new puppy named Artemis with them.

Well, much like the goddess she was named after Artemis was a girl's dog and hated most men. She tolerated a few like the male staff, and she tolerated Lord Featherington on a good day. But most of the time, she stayed by Penelope's side.

"It is like she is sewn to your side," Felicity commented once as Artemis laid across both her and Penelope's laps.

Penelope laughs. "She just loves me."

Artemis barked in agreement.

At her full-grown height, Artemis was about the size of a small pony and was taller than any lord Penelope had ever seen if she stood on her hind legs. Artemis faithfully sticks by Penelope's side despite Portia's groans of dog hair in Penelope's dresses. Penelope only giggles when Artemis's response is to fully lay on her.

Artemis loves her life with Penelope and would only really change one thing. One tiny annoyance in her life.

That damn Colin Bridgerton. He's trying to take Penelope away from her! And he doesn't leave when she growls at him like the other men! He even growled back at her once!

The fool tries to race her too on the rare times she is not in her rightful place by Penelope's side. Why the fool thinks he'll win against her, she'll never know.

Today just so happened to be one of those days. Artemis was out in the park with her family. She was playing with Felicity and Penelope. The two girls throwing a ball attached to a string and having Artemis chase after it.

Artemis sniffed the air and stopped. She smelled Bridgertons. Looking around she spotted the family. Now the Bridgertons themselves weren't a bad thing, a few in particular she could do without and one wished was never around.

Well, it looks like today won't be the day Artemis's wish comes true. Just as she spots Colin Bridgerton he spots her as well. They stare at each other for a moment before both take off towards Penelope.

Artemis stared smugly at the Bridgerton as she once again claimed her prize of being next to her favorite human. Her head resting in Penelope's lap as Penelope pets her.

"One of these days Artemis I'm gonna beat you," Colin swore.

Penelope giggled. "It's so nice for you to play with Artemis Colin. I'm sure she loves racing with you."

Artemis turned her stare onto Penelope, headbutting her in the red head's torso. Playing? Absolutely not Penelope. Can't you see he's trying to steal you?

"You are coming to my family's country party? Colin asked Penelope.

Artemis stares back at Colin. Why hasn't he left yet? He's lost the race.

"Yes," Penelope replied.

Artemis huffed, leaning herself fully on Penelope. Going to Aubrey Hall meant a long carriage ride, AND Colin being around every waking moment. He was worse in the countryside where he had Penelope and Artemis trapped in his family home. Well at least Penelope won't be going to that bad smelling place she goes to ever few nights. Artemis hates when Penelope comes home smelling like that. To the point she almost considered getting Colin to go look for Penelope one night when the rest of the family. If only Penelope didn't lave her in charge of Felicity.

On the trip to Aubrey Hall, Artemis lay on the floor of the carriage by her family's feet. The rock of the carriage lulling her to sleep. At least with this trip, Artemis will have more space to run around temporarily before returning to London for another few months.

Another family was arriving as Artemis' own family were getting out of the carriage.

"Oh Portia!" The mother of the other family greeted Portia.

"Hello Mary," Portia said.

The older women started talking, meanwhile Penelope struck up a conversation with the older daughter.

"How are your first impressions of Aubrey Hall Kate?" Penelope asked.

Oh Artemis has heard of Kate. She likes Kate for how frustrated she makes Anthony. It's funny to watch when Artemis is visiting the Bridgertons with Penelope.

"H-hello."

Artemis looked around before feeling the wet nose of another dog boop against her leg.

Looking down, Artemis saw the smallest dog in her life. Was it a dog? It smelled like one, but how is a dog this small?

The smaller dog stared at Artemis. "I'm Newton! Newton Sharma!"

Oh this is Kate's dog.

"Artemis Featherington," Artemis said. Bowing her head a little so she wasn't towering over the smaller dog.

Newton began to tap his two front feet. Was he nervous? Artemis laid down to be at a more even eye level with him. "Perhaps this will be better to talk?"

Newton lets out a little yelp, one of excitement and moves closer. "Yes! Have you been here before?"

Artemis nods. "Many times. How are you dealing with your interloping Bridgerton?"

"You mean the Viscount?" Newton asked. Newton moved his head a little. "Well, I did knock him into the Thames the other day."

Artemis barked out a laugh. "I'll have to remember that the next time Colin races me near it."

Newton's feet did a few quick taps. Did he have to go? Artemis wondered if she should ask him if he needs privacy.

Before she could Artemis caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.

Artemis let out a whine. Oh great Colin has made his appearance and he has that mischief making smirk of his directed at her.

#newton likes his girls tall #im sorry i couldn't help myself #bridgerton #polin #artemis the irish wolfhound #newton x artemis #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #artemis x newton

132 notes · View notes