#I can’t blame Mike for being confused

[chirpsythismorning]

u know what? I'm a Willel twin truther now, Mike being in love with El's twin is much better than Mike dating his cousin LMAAO

LMAOOOO a win is a win

[stevesbipanic]

If You Would Promise Me Your Heart

For my Eddie, @steveshairychest.

Every nerd in Steve’s life had their mythical creature niche.

Robin loved pixies. Channelling their mischievous energy into her everyday life, bouncing around the store while they were on shift, even joking she’d get a pixie cut one day.

Nancy, though she would deny it to anyone outside their circle, loved fairies. Soft but calculating, intelligent and beautiful, when they had visited the ren faire the year prior her cheeks matched her glittery wings.

Dustin loved hobbits and Steve loved to affectionately call him one even as the boy grew just as tall as him, the excitement that crossed his face when Steve agreed to watch the movies with him made the confusing deep lore worth it.

Lucas loved ents. Steve would often find him in the woods just listening to the trees, he was the only one of them that would still brave the forest at night, the trees would keep him safe.

Max loved harpies. If Steve were to give any proof that these creatures existed, he’d just tell you to look at Max’s face when some boy told her girls can’t skate.

Will loved merfolk. When they visited the beach last summer Steve could see the years of stress melt away from the young boy’s face as he listened to the waves, the water washing away the memories.

El loved elves. She loved the many forms they came in from fantasy to Christmas, that they could be fun or loud or quiet or brave, that they could be whatever they wanted to pointy ears just made them a little special.

Mike loved griffins. He knew that being both just made you stronger, that you can be strong and brave and protect the things you love, that being different doesn’t make you less whole.

Erica loved unicorns. She would hit you if she heard you saying they were anything less than metal.

Which of course leads us to Steve’s favourite nerd, Eddie.

Eddie loved dragons.

The first thing he did once his scars had healed enough was to get a beautiful dragon tattoo across them, the rough skin almost like scales through the dragon’s back.

One of his most prized possessions is a massive red dragon figure for his campaigns.

Steve thinks he’s seen the How to Train Your Dragon movies more than every seven-year-old in the world because it’s the only things that make Eddie feel better when he has nightmares. He has seen them so many times that he can recite his own favourite scene by heart.

They’re in the small clearing in the woods behind their house, it’s spring, the afternoon is warm and the wind is calming. The sun is setting, they are sharing a small picnic, it’s perfect. The sun is bathing them in a golden light, Steve thinks Eddie would be beautiful even if the world was pitch black.

It’s time.

He whistles out the first few notes.

“I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me.”

Eddie has turned to Steve recognising the song, his eyes are as bright as the love between them.

“No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey.”

Eddie’s eyes are shining, he’ll blame them on allergies.

“If you will promise me your heart, and love,” Steve looks expectantly at Eddie.

Eddie face breaks into a smile at Steve’s pause.

“And love me for eternity,” he continues, “My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I’ve no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me,” Eddie sings pulling Steve to his feet as he stands.

Steve laughs as he continues, “But I would bring you rings of gold, I’d even sing you poetry!”

“Oh would you?” Eddie giggles.

“And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me.”

“I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry; I only want your hand to hold,” Eddie sings lacing their fingers.

“I only want you near me.”

The boys begin to spin and dance to only the tune of their voices.

“To love and kiss, to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming. Through all life’s sorrows and delights, I’ll keep your laugh inside me.”

Eddie begins to spin from Steve the joy bubbling up inside him, not even noticing Steve’s voice has gotten softer.

“I’ll swim and sail a savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life if-” the last words catching in his throat as he looks at Steve, down on one knee.

“If you will marry me.” Steve finishes, a beautiful black ring in the shape of a dragon protecting a ruby in its centre laying in a black box in his hand. “For the dancing and the dreaming, Stevie, yes.”

[kiirotoao]

Dani @will80sbyers with all of your s3 posts you’re making the gears turn… I can’t believe that the season where Mike and El have the most romantic screen time is also the one where they’re so unserious?? I get that s3 is the dawn of teenager-hood and the messes that come with new emotions and decision-making prowess (failure), but to focus all of that on Mike and El is wild.

Mike is always like “they’re conspiring against me” and blaming Max for making El “spy” on them, and he’s so focused on blame. It’s not his fault for anything he does, which is an incredibly immature mindset, especially towards your supposed lover. It’s not even his fault for Will not liking girls, too. We all know the line and the hurt that he brought with it. So amongst all those offenses, when he looks back, who does he look back to? Who does he show to have offended most and desire to reconcile blame with?

It’s so obvious who he truly cares for. He’s not confused over Will’s emotion. He knows when he hurts him. Meanwhile, he’s making the most confused and detached-from-the-point faces at El when she points out how he hurt her.

Mike cannot read the room when El’s in it. But he can when Will isn’t. That’s true attachment and connection.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that El’s having the time of her life with Max and not Mike. In fact, Elmax’s love throughout this season alone powers El to connect so deeply with Max that she’s able to bring Max back to life after clinical death. In one season.

For the kids, season 3 is about Max being a girl’s girl to El as she dumps Mike’s ass, Lucas being a bro’s bro to Mike while he barely beats a single allegation against him, and Will the Wise ultimately being a fucking boss (with the floundering Sir Mike at his feet as seen above).

Even in such a funny and lively season, it can’t get any clearer to me how much Mike and Will’s relationship is foundational to the emotional storyline of ST and what true love means. Just look at this scene. I remember first watching it and being so moved by how suddenly, between all the bright summer sun, Nancy’s fun dresses, the perpetual noise and laughter, we get this.

This is an argument that bursts because of love. They’re trying to reconnect and understand why they don’t see eye-to-eye anymore. It comes with hurt, but doesn’t love come with hurt? A parent’s discipline. A flesh-wound to heal. Holding someone when they’re crying. Giving up something that you wanted or had. Arguing before you realize your mistakes and come together again. Love does not come when you dump someone who’s not adding to your life. Or when you eat your feelings away instead of facing the problem. Or when you try to fill your apology with material goods. Or when you give compliments. Or especially, love does not happen when you can’t express it.

Love persists against all testing, and we see how that doesn’t work out for Mike and El who stay broken up until the very last second but Mike and Will get back together as a team within the next episode. And people still dare to say that Byler isn’t going to happen? Okay.

[finalgilmoregirl]

☆ random thoughts about what i think being in a relationship with mike would be like :

a/n : no gender specified, no y/n + no mentions of the actual movie plot

he’s actually pretty quick to open up after the first couple of dates. i think he would want you to know his situation as soon as possible and understand what you might be getting yourself into if the relationship has any chance of becoming long term.

he also does it for abby’s sake, he doesn’t want you to meet her and accidentally say the wrong thing, or be surprised by their situation so much that you get scared off, leaving poor abby confused.

likes watching horror movies, but only over the top, borderline goofy ones (i.e. nightmare on elm street, child’s play, gremlins, signs). he gets fidgety and even anxious during any where the antagonist is human, some might hit a bit too close to home.

cheesy low budget slashers have a pass. the acting is bad enough and the plot is predictable enough to keep him entertained but not lead him to spiral. those and again, goofy ones are when he pulls out the “here, i’ll protect you” move about fifteen minutes in, of course just wanting an excuse to hold you.

he’s the worst at grocery shopping. he always goes when he’s hungry which leads to too many snacks and frozen meals. and as much as you love the convenience, you know he and abby can’t live like this. which leads to you pushing the cart around while he holds the list you made and grumbles things like “when are we even going to eat rice?” and “i don’t need all of these vegetables, they’re just going to go bad.”

in the end, he’s grateful. and abby is too now that you introduced them to the world of easy to make side dishes.

stealing his clothes duh!! he could groan about how he’d been looking for that hoodie or his sweatpants and sometimes even socks (yes even the ones with the holes in them) but at the end of the day he’ll allow it because he loves the way his clothes look on you, and you love smelling like him.

like i mentioned earlier, he lives for touch. it’s something he didn’t know he was missing until he met you. then it’s all he wants when he’s around you. it can be you running a hand through his hair, or him pulling your back into his chest with an arm around your shoulder.

he loves forehead touching. he loves it when you do it as a way to cheer him up, making a silly face, causing him to pull away and giggle into your neck. he loves it on late nights where he’s just woken up from another bad dream and you do it to calm him down, allowing him to match his breath with yours. he loves it after a moment of passion, and as he stares into your eyes all he sees staring back is pure adoration. it’s the intimacy in the close proximity that he never gets tired of.

he has a temper but it’s hard to blame him. it comes from a place of anxiety, where any high stress situation causes a fight or flight response in him. he hates it about himself, and even after you forgive him after an argument for snapping at you or abby or for shutting you out at a time when he shouldn’t, he still kicks himself for it.

abby usually taking your side in debates just to spite her brother. even if its about something she has no knowledge about, you're in the right! which usually leads to mike jokingly mumbling about how much she likes you more than him.

finally, date nights!!! and as much as mike likes the idea of going out for drinks or for dinner and a movie, he and his wallet favor a more intimate night in at his home. these kinds of dates are few and far between, since its hard for mike to find someone he trusts enough to send abby away with. but on the rare chance that she gets invited to a friends slumber party just a block over, he takes it and spends the night drinking and laughing with you over a plate of your guys' favorite take out orders.

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hope you enjoyed! ☆ requests are open btw

[ghosttotheparty]

platonic soulmates eddie and nancy getting high and steve being Responsible; ty for the help @spectrum-spectre and @username-i-guess <3

---

The door swings open a few seconds after Steve knocks hard. (Probably a little too hard given the time of night, but someone down the road from Eddie’s trailer is playing music that Steve would be able to sing along to if he knew the words, so he didn’t worry about it.)

Nancy’s hair is frizzy, and her cheeks are flushed, her eyes glassy and red. A smile is teasing at her lips. Steve’s stomach twists as he looks at her. She’s wearing a Slayer t-shirt, wrinkled and too big for her, falling to her knees and hiding whether or not she’s wearing shorts underneath.

“What the hell’s going on?” Steve asks sharply. It’s cold out, and it’s late, and the last thing he was expecting while staring at the ceiling was to hear Nancy’s voice over the phone, sluggishly telling him to come over to Eddie’s as soon as possible. (And if Nancy is telling him something so pressing, of course he’s going to listen.) But as she grins up at him, flushed and sleepy-looking, he wonders why the fuck she’d invite him over for this. Which is something he really never would have seen coming. Nancy and Eddie.

“We’re high,” she says, and he blinks.

“You’re…”

“He’s higher than me,” she says, and Steve’s never heard her voice like this, mumbly and slow and almost childish. Her lashes flutter as she blinks, gesturing with a lazy hand. “But ‘m also high. But you’re not.”

Confusion tangles with frustration in Steve’s chest, and she can see it on his face as he looks her up and down again, his eyes skimming deftly over her bare legs and Eddie’s fucking t-shirt and her tangled, frizzy hair.

“We didn’t fuck, Steve,” she says too loudly, looking at him like he’s being ridiculous, and he splutters out, “You can’t— You can’t blame me for thinking that!”

“Oh my god,” she says, exasperated, and he huffs.

“Why am I here? It’s like three in the morning.”

“Look,” she says, looking at the ground, holding a hand up. “I made brownies. We had one each, and then we shared two blunts, and then Eddie got hungry and forgot there’s pot in the brownies. And now he’s too high.”

“You made… pot brownies,” he says slowly, his mind reeling. Her expression changes, shifting into a terrifying combination of annoyance and frustration.

“Focus, Steve,” she says loudly. “He’s too high. I’m too high to help him.”

“Why’d you call me?”

“You’re, like— the mom!” she says, tossing a hand in his direction, gesturing aimlessly.

“Wha— Why?”

“You were a lifeguard.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“What, would rather I call Mike?” she asks, throwing a hand again.

“Why are you shit-talking your little brother?”

“Everyone else does.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t, he’s your brother.”

“Steve,” she almost shouts. “You’re not focussing.”

“Oh my god,” he says, exasperated, trying to push past her. “Where is he?”

“Sofa,” she says, pushing the door open further and moving aside so he can come in. “I can’t move him, he’s too heavy.”

Steve steps inside. The smell of weed hits him hard, and he holds back another Oh my god.

Eddie is laying on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling blankly, his eyes glazed over and unblinking. One of his arms is up against the back of the sofa and the other is hanging down, his fingertips brushing the ground.

“Eds,” Steve says, crouching by the sofa and nudging his shoulder. “You in there?”

Eddie stares at the ceiling, silent for a moment before, “…Steve?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“…Where are you?” Eddie asks lightly, his eyes searching the ceiling like he’s going to find Steve on it.

“Turn your head,” Steve says, begrudgingly amused as Eddie turns his head slowly to face the back of the sofa. “Other way, Eddie.”

Eddie’s bloodshot eyes widen when they find Steve, and Steve suppresses a smile as Eddie breathes, “Wow.”

“How you feel?” Steve asks softly.

“Goo-o-o-od,” Eddie slurs, grinning deliriously. “Nancy’s a baker.”

“Is she,” Steve says dryly.

“Mm. Nancy baker. Good ass baker. I’m a baker. I’m baked. Steve, I’m baked.” He giggles, his whole face lighting up, eyes squeezing shut as his cheeks squish up, the lines in his skin deepening beautifully.

Nancy is giggling behind Steve, and without turning to look at her, he calls, “Nancy, don’t you touch those brownies.”

There’s a moment of silence, except for Eddie’s giggling, and then she huffs and there’s a clatter of a knife on the counter.

“Mom,” she calls back, and he rolls his eyes.

“Steve,” Eddie stage-whispers. “Do you wanna bake?”

Steve blinks at him.

“No, Eddie,” he says calmly. “No, I don’t.”

“But it’s so fun-n-n…”

“I know, Eds, but someone’s gotta keep you in check.”

“‘S nice of you, Stevie.”

“Eddie!” Nancy calls from the kitchen, and Eddie beams at the sound of her voice, his eyes closing as he lifts his chin and says her name back. “Steve thought we fucked.”

“Nancy,” Steve snaps, looking at her with wide eyes as Eddie gasps dramatically.

“I would never,” Eddie says loudly. “Nancy Baker is a beautiful woman, but she is not my type, ‘m afraid.”

“Nancy Baker,” Steve repeats under his breath, turning back to Eddie as Nancy laughs in a way Steve’s never heard her laugh, open and loud and childish.

“Why?” Nancy says, her voice teasing. “Why am I not your type, Eds?”

“You be quiet,” he says to the ceiling, closing his eyes, his face red.

“Tell him!”

“No.”

“You can tell him!”

“I’m not gonna,” Eddie sings loudly.

Steve huffs.

“Nance, leave him alone,” he says. “Eddie, you don’t have to tell me anything.”

“Eddie,” Nancy sings back, ignoring Steve. “Tell him!”

“I am not telling Steve Harrington I’m gay, Nancy.”

Steve’s breath catches in his throat, and Nancy claps a hand over her mouth.

“You said it,” she says gleefully after a moment as Steve stares at Eddie, his stomach fluttering, because Eddie’s gay. Because he didn’t want to tell Steve.

“I didn’t tell Steve, I told you.”

“Steve is in the room, you dumbass.”

A few seconds pass before Eddie’s eyes widen at the ceiling, and his face flushes darker, and he looks at Steve, his eyes shining with a fear that Steve fucking hates.

“It’s okay,” Steve says quickly even though he’s still reeling. “It’s cool, Eddie, I don’t— I don’t have a problem with it.”

Eddie blinks at him.

“It’s okay,” Steve says again, nodding. “‘S fine.”

“I told you,” Nancy says from the kitchen.

Eddie rolls onto his side, hiding his face with his hair, groaning, and Steve takes a moment, lowering his head to the sofa cushion and exhaling shakily. He can feel Nancy watching him, but he can’t even bring himself to care.

“Okay,” he says after taking another deep breath. “Bedtime, Eds, come on.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Come on, Wayne’s gonna be here in a few hours,” Steve says. “He doesn’t wanna sleep in your bed.”

“…You know Wayne’s schedule?”

“Yeah,” Steve says softly. “Of course.”

Eddie is quiet, still hiding from Steve.

“Eddie, get up."

“Can’t move,” Eddie mumbles into the sofa.

Steve sighs, rubbing his cheek as Nancy snickers.

“Come on,” he says, standing and wincing as his knees pop, tugging at Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie just groans loudly, and Steve sighs again. “I’m gonna help you, Eds, c’mere.”

He leans down and picks up Eddie’s arm, pulling him up so he’s standing, and he’s heavy on Steve as Steve wraps an arm around his waist. He’s soft.

Steve stumbles down the hall with Eddie, whose head falls forward as he groans, his hair hiding his face, and Steve calls to Nancy to not touch the brownies. He smiles when he hears her blow a raspberry at him.

“Oh no,” Eddie says when they sway together, and Steve stops before the doorway of his bedroom.

“You feel sick?”

Eddie stares wide-eyed at the floor, unblinking, unmoving.

“Eds?”

Eddie hums quietly, standing still before his head turns in Steve’s direction slowly, his eyes following behind after a moment.

“You gonna be sick?” Steve asks when he doesn’t say anything.

“…No.”

“You okay?”

Eddie exhales, his glassy eyes skimming over Steve’s face.

“Yeah,” he breathes.

“Bed,” Steve says. “Come on.”

“‘M coming…” Eddie mumbles, and then he giggles. “Coming.”

“Jesus,” Steve mutters, his cheeks flushing.

He gets Eddie into his room and into bed, carefully lowering him so he doesn’t flop, and Eddie writhes, pushing his face into his pillow. The room is dark, lit up by the hall, and Steve flicks on a lamp.

“Where’s Nancy?” Eddie says, his voice muffled by his pillow. “Nancy. ‘S a pretty name. Nancy Wheeler Baker. Nancy. N’ncy…”

Steve gets up to call Nancy’s name down the hall, and she appears after a moment, after flicking off the lights in the living room.

She climbs onto the bed next to Eddie as Steve watches. Eddie wraps an arm around Nancy’s waist, hugging her and grinning as she looks down at him, poking his cheek.

“Edward…”

“Nancelot,” he slurs, and Steve scoffs, raising an eyebrow. “Pretty lady.”

“You are so high,” she says, emphasising every word with a poke to the tip of Eddie’s nose.

“You make good brownies,” he mumbles, his eyes fluttering shut as she keeps poking his nose. “Chef Nancelot.”

“It was a box mix,” Nancy giggles, leaning over his head as he snorts.

“But I could taste your lo-o-o-ove…”

She snorts, snickering and running her hand over his face.

“Are you guys set?” Steve asks, still watching from where he’s leaning against the doorframe. “Am I free?”

“Don’t go,” Nancy says, whining, reaching out and making grabby hands at him as Eddie groans. “Sleepover.”

He stares for a moment, hesitating, and then Eddie says his name, dragging it out dramatically, desperately.

“Stevie-e-e-e…”

Steve sighs, glancing at the dark window, and he gives in, kicking his shoes off as Nancy cheers, clapping happily. He climbs onto Eddie’s bed on his other side.

They’re all too close, Eddie laying partially on top of Nancy’s legs, and Steve leans against the wall next to Nancy, their shoulders almost touching.

Eddie rolls over, against Steve’s legs, and Steve looks at him. His eyes are closed, his lips curved into a happy smile, and Steve can’t help but reach down to the top of his head that’s at Steve’s waist. His hair is messy, tangled, and Steve pushes his fingers into it. Eddie hums.

“Didn’t know you guys were so close,” he says softly to Nancy.

“‘S my best friend,” she says lightly. “You know… your whole thing with Robin?”

“Platonic with a capital P,” Steve says softly.

“Mhmm. ‘S Eddie and me.”

“Soulmates?” Steve says softly. Nancy nods, smiling. “Never would’ve thought.”

She giggles quietly, scrunching her nose.

“Valedictorian and super-super senior.”

“Mhmm.”

“Eddie Munson,” she sings softly, reaching to play with the end of one of Eddie’s curls. Eddie is still smiling, head tilted up into Steve’s hand, and Steve can’t tell if he’s asleep or not.

“Eddie Munson,” Steve repeats like he’s agreeing.

“Never would’ve thought,” Nancy says quietly, almost pointedly, giving Steve a look.

“Thought what?”

Her gaze lowers to his hand in Eddie’s hair, eyebrows raised, and she reaches out to poke the back of it. (Nancy pokes a lot when she’s high, apparently.)

“I’m just…” Steve trails off, unable to find an excuse, and his cheeks flush.

“‘S cool,” she says lightly.

They’re quiet.

Steve listens to Eddie breathe, and as he scratches at his scalp gently, he thinks he doesn’t mind that Nancy called him as much as he did when he arrived.

“Steve,” Nancy says quietly after a while, after shifting and slumping against the wall. She’s resting her arm across Eddie’s chest.

“Yeah,” Steve whispers.

“…You’re too hard on yourself, you know that?”

He blinks, his eyes looking across the room at the mess of posters that are covering Eddie’s wall.

“Oh,” he says.

“You, like…” She sighs heavily. “You’re not… the same. But you keep all that guilt inside you. And you… act like you’re this whole new person, this… this nice guy. But you’re still a bully.”

His chest clenches, and he looks at her, his eyes burning.

“Because you’re so mean to yourself,” she adds after a moment. “I think… there’s a little part of King Steve still inside you, you… beat the shit out of him every day.” She’s mumbling, talking so softly that it’s almost like she’s talking to herself.

“But if you’re— if you’re gonna be Steve Steve, our Steve, the— the Steve that’s best friends with a dorky lesbian and a fourteen-year-old nerd, you gotta… forgive yourself. Let King Steve go.”

Steve blinks tears back, swallowing thickly, exhaling shakily, because she’s right. King Steve lives inside him, like he’s hiding in his ribcage, and Steve won’t leave him alone. He torments him, bullies him. Even though King Steve is just a kid, just a scared, lonely kid without a clue about what or who he is. Even though Steve knows King Steve was pretending the whole time. Lying. Wearing a false crown.

“…You know about Robin?” he asks weakly, his voice wobbly, and Nancy smiles a little bit.

“I know well.”

He looks over at her, and she looks up at him, seeing the confusion in his watery eyes.

“Like recognizes like,” she says softly.

Oh.

His lips twitch into a smile, and she grins.

“Who would’ve thought?” Steve murmurs.

Nancy smiles so brightly that her eyes squeeze shut, and she leans so her head is resting on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve tilts his head to rest on hers.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t love you like I was supposed to,” Nancy says after a while, her voice soft.

“You weren’t supposed to love me, Nance,” Steve says, closing his eyes. “You can’t… You can’t make yourself love someone just because you think you have to. It’s okay.”

“I wanted to,” she whispers.

“It’s okay,” he says again.

She’s quiet again, and he thinks she’s fallen asleep until she speaks again.

“I do love you,” she says quietly. “Just… platonically.”

“With a capital P,” Steve murmurs, and he can practically sense her smile.

“Yeah.”

“‘S cool, Nance,” he says softly. “I love you too.”

He drifts off as she falls asleep, feeling her head become heavier on his shoulder, and at some point they both shift in discomfort on the wall, sitting up straight and groaning quietly. They glance at each other in the dark lighting of the room, and Nancy shifts to lie down on the bed next to Eddie, wrapping her arm around him and sighing. Steve follows, moving slowly so Eddie can shift with him, still laying on top of him on the small mattress.

Steve falls asleep.

He wakes up to Eddie climbing on top of him, and he winces, cracking his eyes open to squint in the bright sunlight that’s shining through the room. Eddie’s legs wrap around his hips and he buries his face in Steve’s neck as he sighs, and Nancy shifts closer to Steve in her sleep.

Steve sets a hand across Eddie’s back, holding him, and Nancy finds Steve’s other arm before he can wrap it around Eddie, hugging it to herself and nuzzling into his shoulder. Steve smiles.

Eddie rubs his face into Steve’s neck again, taking a deep breath, and then he lifts his head, his body tightening and trembling for a moment.

He’s squinting when he looks down at Steve, brows furrowed adorably. He blinks blankly at Steve, whose smile widens.

“You still high?” Steve asks softly.

Eddie stares for a moment before his lips curve into a smile, and he shrugs.

“‘M on top of Steve Harrington in my bed,” he says, his voice rough. “Might be.”

Steve laughs lightly, closing his eyes. Eddie shifts to touch his face, poking his cheek and tracing the bridge of his nose and outlining his lips.

“Feels real,” Eddie murmurs.

“‘M real, Eds.”

“‘M gonna go back to sleep,” Eddie mumbles, sticking his face back in Steve’s neck. His breath is warm.

“Okay.”

[twoelectrichearts]

The way that Mike talks about El screams idolization to me. Do I think he loves her? Yes. I do think he cares about her. Do I think he’s IN love with her. No. If he actually was in love with her, I feel like he’d talk about traits and qualities of hers that he loves that are beyond just her powers. Like how Jonathan and Nancy explained why they love each other. They were actual meaningful traits and qualities. I don’t know what Mike loves about El beyond her powers.

This is literally the first thing that comes out of his mouth regarding El last season. Like, yes, that’s an amazing thing that she did, Mike. Can you also mention something else, though? What else do you like about her? What else do you admire about her?

It’s clear that Mike struggles with low self esteem and doesn’t view himself in a positive light. He doesn’t see his own self worth. To Mike, he’s unimportant. He’s a nobody. He’s nothing except a nerd, a loser, a freak who’s been bullied his entire life. He has El on this extremely high pedestal and feels like he can’t measure up to how incredible and amazing she is, because she’s a superhero. That’s what he continues to focus on. It’s not El’s fault that he feels this way either. She’s never talked about how amazing she is because she has powers. She’s never made it seem like she’s above anyone or better than anyone due to her powers. If anything, she’s talked about how she feels like a monster because she’s different. She feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere. She even voices that to Mike.

El cries to Mike, doubting that he loves her anymore because he never says it. He can’t even write it. And what does Mike tell her in response to that? Does he tell her that he loves her? It’d be the perfect time to say it if he does. She’s crying and could use some clarity and reassurance. But no, he doesn’t tell her that he loves her. Instead he tells her this. And of course brings up how she’s a superhero…

Even when he finally voices that he loves her, it falls flat to me and feels off. As the audience, we know that Mike’s initial reaction to finding El in the woods was not love at first sight. He wanted to get her back to wherever she came from and continue to search for Will. So yeah, that’s not true. Maybe he forgot what he was genuinely feeling in that moment? It’s either that or he’s knowingly lying to her. And then when he explains why he loves her… when we finally get to hear the reasons why…

BAM! Again… it all circles back to her being a superhero. He loves her for exactly who she is… a superhero who can fly and move mountains and… yeah… the momentum died when Mike brought up that. El’s reaction to that didn’t look positive either. I just felt so awkward and uncomfortable and confused watching this monologue. Seeing Will’s reaction and having him in frame didn’t help at all. Let’s not forget he basically had to push Mike to not stop and continue talking to El by reminding him that he was the heart. Why’d they choose to do that? All it did was make my heart break even more for Will. Especially after watching him give Mike the meaningful painting he made for him and the beautiful monologue where he disguised his feelings as El’s.

If they wanted me to root for M*leven, they could’ve easily had El say this to Mike. El loves Mike, right? She says that she loves him. I don’t exactly know why though. She’s never voiced why to Mike or to anyone else. I can’t solely blame Mike as the reason why I don’t ship M*leven when I don’t know why El is in love with Mike either. This could’ve been why, but no, the writers chose to not only make Will in love with Mike, but that he feels better for being different and loving him. All his life he was made to believe that he was a mistake for being different, but Mike makes him feel the complete opposite. He also mentions how El (he) is always going to need him. He says this to Mike, someone who wants and needs to be needed. You know what Will said meant the absolute world to Mike. It was exactly the kind of thing he needed to hear. How the hell do you top this?? Why would they choose to do this? Why make Will in love with Mike? Why make him have this type of love for Mike? The type of love Mike needs and wants? Why not have El feel this way about Mike and say this to him instead of Will? Throughout season 4 Mike and El just seemed to make each other feel bad and insecure pretty much the entire time. Not on purpose or knowingly, though. I don’t believe that they want or mean to make each other feel that way. They’re just not good for each other relationship wise. At least not from what I’ve seen so far. I have no idea how they’re gonna turn it around in the final season. Also, they’re just gonna throw away Will’s love for Mike? They used Will’s love for Mike to fix M*leven’s relationship then? And Will gets what? Nothing? No love for the gay character who’s unconditionally in love with his best friend? He should just be happy that his friends and family accept him for who he is? Because we know they will. That’s not going to be shocking. What would be shocking is if they didn’t. I don’t think that’s the type of twist the writers would want to do. That’d be beyond horrible. So yes, Will should just be happy and thankful that his family and friends don’t hate him for being gay. He doesn’t need love like everyone else. We don’t need to see the only gay character experience love and a relationship. Or maybe we will with some random, last second, half assed love interest. Oooo yay! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[thefirstlioveyou]

genuinely confused how some people say mike doesn’t understand the bullying el faced when they didn’t know she had powers in the first placez

i’ve seen people say it’s because her behavior can be seen as nd behavior and that’s why she was bullied, which- yes! but… why can’t that same logic be applied to the 4 boys? they are picked on for their niche interests, one was picked on for his disability, one for his race, one for his sexuality, and one for his looks/being a nerd.

but overall, they were chosen as targets because they are considered weirdos who don’t fit in due to their niche interests and their way of approaching/interacting with others (ex: stalking max instead of just approaching her normally). i do think that can indicate they may potentially be nd, or at least some of them (definitely mike)

they were chased in the woods, were threatened with a knife and pressured to jump off a cliff, almost ran over, physically and verbally harassed, etc.

… you really don’t think mike has no clue about bullying…? that he has no idea how it feels to be seen as a freak or outcast? actually?

obviously, el is different from mike. she has powers, he doesn’t. but they both experienced the same scenario- getting bullied in school for being seen as different.

the whole point of el saying mike doesn’t understand what it’s like and dismissing it is to show they cannot and do not understand each other. mike doesn’t validate her feelings either in the scene, and instead of holding himself accountable, he blames her bullies. they don’t get each other because their both facing something internally.

but that’s besides my point.

mike understands the severity of el’s bullying. lucas, dustin and will as well. they were all bullied because they were percieved as different.

[moody-alcoholic]

Formal dinner

This is just the first draft of a weird idea that popped in my head...

I started re-watching gray's anatomy and I think that's mostly to blame... Especially this scene. I also needed an excuse to practice writing from Simons POV so here you go.

Summary: Simon x OC 2k words. Formal military dinner gone wrong..? CW: alcohol, serious asthma attack, mentions of medication, medical emergency, medical inaccuracies. First draft, honestly I just love writing medical stuff.

Masterlist

Enjoy <3

“Well well, look at you all smart in officer formals.” I heard Rosaly’s voice behind me. I turn to see her wearing a long blue dress that seemed to be pulling in all the right places.

“Very nice.” I say she spins around I see how low cut the back is as she adjusts the clasp on her clutch. Her hair was done up too curled and I couldn’t ignore the light layer of makeup on her face making her lips look shiny, hiding the heavy bags under her eyes. I find myself smiling, I want to reach out and touch her. She looks up at me taking a step closer quickly looking around then leaning into me.

“I do have a thing for men in formals.” She purrs in my ear. I let out a breath as she giggles moving back. I can see the cheeky grin on her face. It’s almost too much, I want to pull her back up to my room and skip the festivities, I didn’t want to be here and I know she didn’t either. Price had to practically order her to come. ‘Set a good example as we should 141 is an important unit, there will be a lot of important people there.’ People started passing us through the main doors leading in the hall where the event was taking place, the hotel was grand, just like the last dinner event Price dragged me too. This is where he networks gets to gush about 141 to everyone sometimes picks up a medal at the end, what he’s really for though are the jobs he can get for us.

“Rosie?” I hear someone say, she turns around to see someone coming towards her.

“Mike, hey.” She says, I remember him he was the trauma surgeon at Gibraltar. He introduces the woman looped on his arm as his girlfriend and makes small talk with her. I look around for Price and Gaz they should be here by now I look down at my watch it’s almost 7. I look back up seeing Mike say his goodbyes going through into the room, Rosaly follows after them and for a second I look confused until she comes back out with two champagne flutes.

“You’re going to need this.” She says handing me one and sipping the other. I already felt exposed, such a formal event meant I couldn’t get away with my normal get up, when Price broached the subject about the mask he knew I wasn’t going to like it. ‘It’s all friendlies, they won’t even remember by the end of the night everyone will be pissed anyway.’ I didn’t want to take the chance, the whole point is anonymity, besides being in a room with potentially 100’s of people, no thank you I would much rather be Ghost not Simon, we settled on a black face mask covering my nose and mouth.

“Williams you clean up nicely.” I hear Price coming down the corridor with Gaz at his side.

“Looking sexy Gaz.” Rosaly says finishing her drink, he laughs.

“Could say the same about you too.” Gaz walks up to us hugging Rosaly. Price adjusts his beret. I subconsciously touch mine, it’s been a while since I have had to wear it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was lopsided already, I nod at him his is fine, he smiles nodding back at me. Only officers are required to wear formals since they’re the ones getting all the awards, everyone else gets to dress fancy, I cant help but wonder if Rosaly chose a blue dress on purpose or not. I hand my glass to her as she takes it out my hands.

“You’re drinking all ready?” Gaz laughs taking the full glass out her hands.

“I can’t help it I’m just so excited to listen to 2 hours of speeches form the same 3 people.” I smile at her sarcasm. Price shakes his head and leads us in the room. The table plan has already been set out and we find our way to our table and sit down. Rosaly waves a server over ordering drinks, as the speakers make their way to the stage.

The first speaker goes through the usual spiel of welcoming everyone and guests then going through the running order for the night. I look round the room as the waiter comes back with a try of drinks, there are a lot of people every table is full, sometimes I catch eyes wondering on us then quickly looking away. Everyone starts clapping and I join in watching a video start to play on the projector. With the lights off I sip my drink, letting it burn my throat and warm my belly. I look over at Price and Gaz watching the video, Rosaly is a little in front of me to my right she’s tapping her fingers on the table. I want to reach out and grab her hand, not here though. I wonder if Price is up for any awards I forgot to ask him. The rest of the speeches drone on, a few people get awards for bravery and what not. Some people get promotions, nothing higher then captain though, they would be done in a separate special ceremony. I recognise some of the people from years past, some I think I recognise but I’m not sure. Price is always introducing me to so many people I forget who I’ve met and who I haven’t. When the last speeches are done there is an interval break. Rosaly excuses herself to the bathroom and I turn to Gaz as he taps me on the shoulder.

“Is Price up for any awards?” Gaz asks me quietly.

“I don’t know I forgot to ask.” I admit finishing my drink. Price stands up to greet someone turning to introduce us.

“Where is Williams?” He asks as we stand up to shake his hand.

“Bathroom.” I say.

“Your new medic right?” The man asks Price who nods.

“I heard she’s a handful.” He chuckles we all join in, but I give Price a look. ‘What the hell does that mean?’ He shakes Price’s hand and walks away again, after a few more minutes and a few more people coming to say hi to Gaz and Price, Rosaly comes back with a tray of drinks. I shake my head at her taking mine off the tray.

“You should slow down Williams,” Price says.

“It’s an open bar, besides what are supposed to do other then get royally shit faced, there is a reason you marked tomorrow as recovery on the calendar.” Price shakes his head smiling but takes the drink. Rosaly places the empty glasses on the tray and a waiter comes and takes it. She turns to my sipping her drink.

“Did I miss anything?” She asks.

“Meeting Price’s friends.” Gaz said, she smiled her eyes finding their way to me. I held her gaze, she did look so pretty in that strapped dress they way it brings out the colour in her eyes, her cheeks are rosy, she looks flushed, relaxed enjoying herself. She plays with her necklace, I don’t think I even recognised it until now. It’s beautiful though, silver and diamonds but simple.

“Excuse me!” I hear the squeaking of the mic and look back at the stage. I see a man nervously rubbing his hands. “I know this is a bit of a strange request but are there any doctors here?” I look down at Rosaly who has shrunk down in her chair sipping on her drink. There is murmuring round the hall. Rosaly is almost hiding under the table now her eyes flicking over to Gaz and Price.

“We’ve got a medic over here!” Price calls. I see her close her eyes sighing and straighten up.

“Price I’m drunk.” She protests.

“Everyone is drunk Williams.” Before I know it there is a group of people making their way towards us. We all get up as the crowd parts showing a woman gripping her chest, she is clearly struggling to breath her face bright red. The scene makes Rosaly instantly change, she’s not drunk anymore, she puts the glass down on the table leading the woman to a chair.

“She has asthma we’ve tried an inhaler it’s not working.” Someone says. Handing the blue inhaler to Rosaly who shakes it.

“Have you called an ambulance?” She asks, the woman immediately starts to panic frantically shaking her head.

“She keeps refusing.” The same person says. “I didn’t want to make her panic.” Rosaly turns to us she throws me her clutch bag.

“Price call an ambulance, LT my trauma bag is in my room, go now!” She snaps. I don’t wait pushing through the crowd, I break into a sprint when I get out the main hall, her room is on the second floor I fumble through her bag looking for the keycard. I press it into the door rushing in. I see her bags at the foot of her bed grabbing the cammo backpack with the cross on the back. Why does she even have this with her? I don’t have time to question it as I run back out the room flying down the stairs. When I make it back to the main hall the crowd has gotten bigger. I push my way through I see Mike here now stroking the woman's back she looks worse Rosaly is trying to tell her to breath as I drop the bag at her feet. She lets go of the woman's arm throwing the bag open taking out a syringe of something securing a needle on it.

“Ambulance ETA?” She asks.

“15.” Price calls back. I watch as she rubs the woman's side with something.

“Sharp scratch.” She says injecting it in. “8:12.” She says starting the timer on her watch.

“Keep taking those deep breaths.” Mike says rubbing her back. I watch as Rosaly carefully recaps the needle, then turning her attention back to the woman. She attaches something to her finger, after a few seconds it starts beeping rapidly. The woman seems to be calming down Rosaly rubs her legs looking at her face. She takes a big breath in and I see her relax dropping her hand from her chest, she looks like she’s going to cry. Rosaly stands up stopping her timer.

“Thank you,” The woman says between breaths. Rosaly rubs her arm bending over her to see her.

“You’re okay don’t try and talk, keep taking those deep breaths.” She nods.

“I feel weird.” She says grabbing her chest again.

“You will for a bit it’s the adrenaline.” Rosaly explains, I hear movement behind me and see the crowd separate to the the paramedics through. Rosaly explains the situation, and convinces the woman to go with them at least to get some oxygen through her lungs. Mike goes to stand next to Rosaly as the woman is led away. The crowd starts to disperse.

“I can’t believe you wanted to trach her,” she laughs playfully nudging him.

“What would you have done if the adrenaline didn't work?” He asks.

“I would have pushed another adrenaline,” She explains.

“And then?” He asked crossing his arms.

“Then intubation.” She mirrors his body language.

"With 2 adrenaline's in her system?”

“Oh I’m sorry in which universe is an awake tracheostomy better then intubation?” She tilts her head waiting for a response.

“Won’t make a difference if she’s not breathing.” He says back. I can tell this is riling them both up, the mix of adrenaline and alcohol is not helping, look over at Price.

“This is the problem with you Mike all you want to do is cut, you’re a surgeon first.” She bends down picking her bag up.

“Okay calm down you two,” Price intervenes before Mike can reply. “She’s alive and she’s okay, lets enjoy the rest of the night.” Rosaly sighs and heads back to the table throwing her bag underneath the table picking up her drink. I see her hand shake as she sips it. She’ll never admit it but she loves this, the high of an unexpected medical emergency. That’s why she has the bag with her, for moments like this. She turns to look at me, I see the shine in her eyes, the fire in her belly, she smiles at me. I smile back I know she can tell her hand reaches out and squeezes mine. God I can’t wait to rip that dress off her later.

I cannot wait to start med school

[tngrace]

Chapter 4

I feel like I jump from Pete to Tom to Mike and vice versa in this chapter a tad too much, so I tried to use line breaks to break it up. Thanks to @firefly-graphics for the divider. Hopefully it doesn't make it too confusing. I'm planning on working on the last chapter today/this week so it'll be ready to post next Friday, and I'm so excited for how I wrap up this part! Stay tuned and I hope you enjoyed! <3

A03; Tumbler Masterlists: Main; Mav Chronicles

Cleaning out Goose’s things after getting home from the hospital is one of the hardest things Mav has ever done. He fights the tears with everything he has, knowing Carole and Bradley are just on the other side of the door, but some still fall. He’s doing his best to be strong, to be there for Carole to lean on, but holding Goose’s things is almost too much. He boxes up things he knows she’ll want to keep and leaves things he knows can just be donated. He pockets Goose’s spare tags knowing Carole won’t mind. Once he has the box together, he leans against the door just breathing. He doesn’t think he can do this, but he knows he has to. He takes a few more deep breaths, and then faces his best friend’s widow. 

Carole telling him Goose would do it without him feels hollow because he doesn’t think he can do this. It doesn’t feel right. Nothing feels right without Goose by his side. 

The next few days pass in a blur. Mav spends most of it helping Carole and Bradley with anything they need. He hears from Cougar as well, which is a surprise, and Cougar is the only one Mav shares his thoughts about quitting with knowing Cougar would understand. It’s a refreshing conversation even if it doesn’t help him make a decision one way or the other. 

Mav is right back at class as soon as it resumes, his decision of what to do put on hold; his brain is too scrambled to think clearly anyways and Carole seems to think getting right back to it might be good for him, despite Bradley crying any time Mav leaves his sight. The board cleared him of any wrongdoing and returned him to flight status immediately. He doesn’t want to go back to work, but Mike pushes him to get back into the air. Mav is still so out of it, he can’t differentiate between Mike as his dad and as his commander, and he goes along with it because disappointing Mike is the last thing he ever wants to do. Mike doesn’t feel one hundred percent comfortable sending Pete up in his current mental state, but he knows that’s what any other commander would do. It kills him, but he tells Rick to get him up as soon as possible. 

He’s waiting on the tarmac for his first flight back, Goose’s tags tumbling back and forth in his hands as he’s lost in thought. 

Bradley is in his arms, his tears too much for Mav to resist picking him up. He has a hand on Carole’s back as she cries quietly. Mav’s eyes are tear filled, but he doesn’t let them fall. He stands at attention despite holding Bradley, as his eyes never leave the flag draped casket. He never thought he’d be here, standing next to his best friend’s wife, holding his best friend’s kid, while said best friend is being lowered into the ground. And it’s all his fault. He can’t get the sound of Goose hitting the canopy out of his head. It haunts him day and night. He can’t get the images of Goose, covered in blood, lifeless in his arms out of his head. It’s always there. Carole and Bradley will blame him, just as he blames himself.  His arms tighten around Bradley as the flag is folded and presented to Carole by Viper while the twenty-one gun salute takes place. He can feel Bradley jump in his arms with each fire, and it’s all Mav can do to stay at attention. He knows Carrie, Cat and Jamie are there somewhere as well, but he can’t act like he knows them. He feels Tom nudge his arm when it’s time for them to pound their wings into the casket. He sets Bradley down, despite the little boy trying to desperately cling to him, not understanding what is happening or why his favorite people are upset. The entire class steps forward, and one by one drive their wings in. Mav is the last one to do it, Tom standing by his side the entire time. He feels his breath catch, a tear falling despite his best efforts, and then it’s done. He stands at full attention at the end of the casket as the missing man formation flies overhead.  People start disperasing after that, some stopping to offer Carole their condolences, but Mav doesn’t move. It isn’t until Tom whispers to him that they need to go, does he snap back into reality. He gives Tom a nod and then he’s scoping Bradley up once more, the little boy burying his face in Mav’s neck as they head back to the vehicles. He sees Mike join Carrie, Cat and Jamie and he gives them a long look. He wishes he could fall into Carrie’s arms and let her just hold him until the pain disappears like when he was a child, but he knows that’s not possible. He gives them a nod and then joins Carole in the car, Tom taking them back to the house. 

“Lieutenant Mitchell you are cleared for takeoff” It’s being shouted in his ear by Jester, so there’s no telling how many times they’d tried getting his attention while he’d been lost in thought. He drops the tags in his flight suit pocket, and acknowledges the order. He’s in the air before he knows it and it just feels all wrong. He’s been so out of it, he doesn’t even know who’s in his back seat. He can’t engage, barely feels like he’s flying the jet, before he’s landing once more, only breathing once the canopy is clear and his mask is off. 

“He won’t engage Mike, not in the air or on the ground.” 

The rest of the week goes about the same. Mav stays lost in his head, doesn’t engage with anyone, and won’t engage in the air, half the time barely getting in the air. The whole time there’s only one thought circling through Pete’s head; I can’t do this anymore. Everyone watches as Pete falls apart, no one more than Tom, but no one knows how to help. 

“It’s only been a few days.” 

“I know. I know. But he might not make it back from this.” 

Mike sighs knowing Rick might just be right. “Keep sending him up.” 

“Mike…” 

“I know ok! I know. He’s my kid,” he hisses quietly because they are still on base, even though no one should be near his office. “I don’t like this any more than you. But I can’t… we can’t…. If we coddle him, it’ll look like something to the Brass. We have to keep sending him up.” 

“And if he quits?” 

Mike is silent, stewing over the question. 

“Mike, have you even talked to him?” 

“Not since the hospital,” Mike sighs, sinking into his desk chair. “I had to make sure the Brass were done snooping around. You know it would kill Pete if they made the connection now.” 

“Maybe you should talk to him… not as a Commander.” 

“Maybe…. I don’t know that he’ll want to talk to me though.” 

“Try.” 

He gives Rick a nod, and then his best friend is gone. Mike thinks over how to talk to Pete, but he’s not sure he can make it happen. The next day it all goes to shit before he ever formulates a solid plan. They thought putting Sunny with Mav would help him engage, but it didn’t. It just made things worse, and the entirety of the class saw him finally blow up. 

Mike catches Tom’s eye across the tarmac, Tom and Ron having been observing from a distance as well. Tom drops his eye before Mike can convey or deduce anything and then he’s gone.  

Tom finds Pete in the locker room, cleaning out his locker, but he doesn’t know what to say. He tries to apologize once more, but Pete won’t even look at him. It’s tearing him up inside to see Pete like this, but he doesn’t stop him from leaving. Tom hears Wolf calling Charlie letting her know Pete has quit. While it angers him, he can’t do anything about it because no one but Slider knows Pete is his. He finds Slider waiting by his truck when he finally makes it out. 

Word of Mav leaving reaches Mike and Rick before Pete is even off base, and Mike is lost. He let his kid down and he doesn’t know what to do to fix it. He just hopes Pete reaches out before he does something rash. 

“Well?” 

“He’s gone. I… I didn’t know what to say to stop him. He won’t even look at me anymore.” 

“He’s hurting Tom. He doesn't know what he’s doing.” 

“He asked for space and I gave it to him.” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have.” Tom gives him the side eye glare because they’ve had this argument plenty over the last several days. 

“Don’t give me that look. Listen, you feel guilty so you’re giving him whatever he wants. And maybe he’s too messed up to say what he really wants; that he wants someone to fight to be there for him, to not let him push them away. Nick’s told us how messed up the kid was from his shitty past. Maybe it’s time you fight back and show him you’re not going anywhere.” 

Tom ponders his words and finally decides maybe Slider is right. “He’ll probably go to the airport,” Tom concedes. 

Pete doesn’t know where’s going, but he knows he has to get out of there. Being there without Goose is just too much. There’s too many eyes on him, and he’s letting too many people down. He doesn’t feel like an aviator anymore, and he knows he needs to leave before he hurts or kills anyone else. That’s how he finds himself at the airport. He’d sat down to rest while he decided where he needed to go, and hadn’t realized he’d been dozing off. Charlie’s appearance is a shock to his system though. 

“Let’s go get him.” 

“Excuse me?” Pete jerks at her voice. He has no clue what she’s doing there and he definitely doesn’t want to see her. “May I?” 

Despite not wanting to see her, Carrie raised a polite man, so he nods. 

“I’ll have what he’s having,” she says when the waitress walks up. He can see a blonde figure watching from right inside the door, and Pete holds in his sigh knowing Tom won’t step in for fear of giving anything away to Charlie. He shouldn’t be surprised Tom found him either, but he is a little surprised Tom came after him. He clues back in when Charlie questions his drink; “Hemlock is it?” 

“Ice water,” he gets out quietly. 

She acts like she doesn’t believe him and it grates on his thin frayed nerves. He just clenches his jaw to keep from saying something smart. 

“You weren’t going to say goodbye?” He’s not sure why she still thinks he owes her something. 

“I heard you got that job in Washington,” he says instead. “Congratulations,” he tacks on, again hearing Carrie’s voice in his head about manners. 

“Thanks. But I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye.” Her hand on top of his makes him cringe, so he subtly pulls it back into his lap. He wants out of this conversation so bad it’s making his skin itch. He glances back to where he knows Tom is waiting, wishing the asshole would come end this conversation. He tries to be dismissive, tries to get her to see he wants no part of this, but she just won’t relent. 

“You don’t even have a ticket do you?” 

What the fuck it is to her, he has no idea. He glances around the airport once more, his eyes landing on Tom, but not long enough for her to notice. He knows his eyes are pleading, but he turns back as she starts talking once more. 

“Listen, I’ve seen all the evidence, and it’s not your responsibility. It’s not your fault.” 

He’s so sick of hearing that statement it’s not even funny. He won’t even look at her now; he doesn’t need her placating statements or her assessment of his flying anymore. Her voice is grating on him, so he totally shuts down. He can tell by her change in voice it pisses her off, but he can’t bring himself to care; manners be damned , he thinks.

“You’re one of the best pilots in the Navy. What you do up there is dangerous. But you’ve got to go on.” 

“No you don’t understand,” he says softly, hoping she’ll get the fucking hint and leave. 

“When I first met you, you were larger than life.” It’s almost a sneer, and Pete hopes she’s finally got the fucking hint that he’s so done. “Look at you.” 

Pete is getting pissed, and he knows he’s going to say something he can’t take back, but she just won’t quit. “You’re not going to be happy unless you’re going Mach two with your hair on fire, you know that.” 

“No. It’s over. It’s just over.” He makes it sound as lifeless as possible.

“To be the best of the best, you make mistakes and then you go on. It’s just like the rest of us.”

“You don’t think I know that?” he growls. He can finally see Tom moving towards them, and Pete curses him for not doing it sooner. 

“I’m here to help!” 

“If I wanted help, I would’ve asked for it.” He blows out an aggravated breath as her eyes scan the room. When they land on Tom walking towards them she scoffs. If he won’t take help from me, there’s no way he’ll listen to his arch rival , she thinks. 

“So I’m too late!” She carries on with more nonsense, but Pete tunes her out. His jaw is clenched so tight when she makes a dig about him quitting, like his dad . She doesn’t say it, but it’s heavily implied and Tom has finally had enough. “That’s enough!” His voice booms in the quiet room, and Charlie just rolls her eyes. 

“He’s already gone,” she scoffs. “Not like he’d listen to you anyways.” 

Tom doesn’t dignify that with a response and she stomps out of the airport. Good riddance , he thinks. He’d heard more of their conversation than he’d liked and he mulls over how to approach Pete as he makes his way to him. 

“Water you say?” Tom asks, nodding to Pete’s drink as he sits down letting him know he’d heard the previous conversation, even though Pete had met his eyes more than once. He gives Tom a nod and then he’s ordering one as well. They just sit there, Mav almost asleep on the table and Tom watching him. 

“Can I take you home? Get some sleep in a bed instead of this table?” His voice is soft like when they’re sneaking time just the two of them, and it makes Pete want to cry.

“Won’t sleep. Can’t sleep. I’m fine.” 

Tom’s hand closes around Pete’s forearm giving it a squeeze. He doesn’t give a fuck in that moment that they’re in public. Pete is his only concern. “You’re not fine, but that is ok. You shouldn’t be expected to just be fine after everything.” 

Pete cracks his eyes open and just watches his boyfriend, if he can even still call him that after the last couple of weeks of Pete avoiding him. “Why are you here?” 

“Why do you think?” He wants to scream that he loves him, that he cares about him, but he refrains. It’s not what Pete needs to hear in this moment. 

“Afraid of having no competition Ice man?”

Tom snarls at that, his icy glare boring into Pete. He knows Pete is just lashing out because of the conversation with Charlie, but it still stings. “No, asshole. You know better.” 

“Do I?” 

He takes a deep breath, counting to ten before replying. “You should.”  Pete seems to deflate before his eyes meet Tom’s once more. “I know things have been a lot. I know you’re not sleeping. But please…. Let me take you home right now? If you still want to leave after some sleep, I’ll bring you back and book the ticket myself.” 

Pete eyes him for several long minutes, before he finally gives in with a nod. Tom lets out a relieved breath, before he pulls Pete up and out the door. He takes the bike keys out of Pete’s jacket and tosses them to Slider as they head for Slider’s truck. “Thanks,” he whispers to his best friend, who just gives him a nod. Pete is asleep before they’re out of the parking lot. 

Tom carries him in and tucks him into bed once back at their housing. Slider hits the couch, and Tom isn’t the least bit surprised when Pete tries to cling to him when he goes to leave. He gives a small smile even though Pete is still asleep, and slides into bed with him. Pete sleeps like the dead, the exhaustion finally winning out. It’s early the next morning, the sun not even up yet, when Pete wakes. Tom rouses easily when he feels Pete moving, and he pulls him against him, barely kissing his forehead. 

“Morning,” he whispers. 

“Morning.” Pete’s voice is gravelly and Tom moves to get him some water. Pete gives him a small smile as he drinks it down before curling back into the blankets. Tom lays back with him, his arm stroking up and down Pete’s back in comfort. He’s thought over his words very carefully since yesterday, not wanting to make things worse or scare Pete off once more. “I know you’ve been avoiding me and I know you want to quit.” He feels Pete tense under him, and he barely holds in his sigh. “But I don’t think you should quit. You’re a talented pilot Pete, and the accident was not your fault. I know you think it is, and I know no matter what anyone says, you’re going to blame yourself. But it wasn’t your fault.” 

“Then who’s was it?” His voice is so small, and Tom knows he’s just looking for somewhere to place the blame so he can absolve himself of the guilt he can’t let go. 

“Mine.”

Pete shoots up, hovering over Tom, his head already shaking in denial. 

“How so?” Tom asks. His hand has not stopped rubbing up and down Pete’s back the whole time. 

“It wasn’t yours Tom.” 

“Explain it to me. How was it not mine?” 

“You’re not the one who lost control and couldn’t get it back!” 

“No. But you didn’t lose control Mav. You flew through jet wash. A freak accident that could happen to any of us. I know you did your best to regain control in the spin. But it wasn’t possible.” 

“It wasn’t your fault.” Pete sinks back down in the bed, his head resting on Tom’s chest.

“It was my jet wash Pete. I took too long to make the shot. If I had just got out of your way the first time maybe things would be different.” 

Pete struggles to find an argument for that, but he’ll be damned if he lets Tom carry any guilt for this when it wasn’t his fault. “It wasn’t your fault.” 

“It wasn’t yours either.” 

They lay there in silence, Pete sinking further into the comfort of being with Tom once more. 

“Does your family know?” Tom eventually asks because he doesn't remember seeing anyone out of the ordinary at the hospital or the funeral. 

“Yea.” 

“All the details?” 

“Yea,” Pete whispers. 

Tom hums thoughtfully. “Maybe it would do you some good to pay them a visit?” Tom suggests. He’s not sure what their relationship is like, but he remembers how carefree Pete was when he returned from family dinner after the volleyball match. Tom’s willing to risk anything at this point to help Pete. 

“Maybe. I’ll think it over.” 

Tom just nods and Pete ends up drifting back off in the silence. Tom manages to pull him out of bed around lunch and between him and Slider they’re able to get Pete to eat some pizza. He ends up curled in the corner of the couch watching a baseball game after, and then he’s crawling back in bed around sunset. They didn’t try to force too much on him that day, knowing he needed rest more than anything. 

Tom is surprised to find Pete still awake when he crawls into bed a little later. 

“I used the phone in here earlier.” 

“Ok?” He can tell Pete is nervous, but he’s not sure why.

“I took your advice. I think… I think I’m going to go home for a visit tomorrow.” 

“I think that’d be good for you.” Tom softly kisses his forehead as Pete finally relaxes once more and cuddles close. 

“I’d love for you to come with me,” Pete whispers in the dark. “But it’s… I’m protecting you too.” 

“I know Mav. Maybe one day, when you’re ready.” 

“Yea… maybe.” 

It’s not long after that Pete drifts off into another deep sleep. 

The next morning, Pete heads back over to his place to clean up and change clothes before his visit. He wasn’t lying when he said he wished Tom could come with him, but right now it’s too risky. He knows he still looks like death, and Carrie is going to fret, but he can’t change it. He throws on his jacket and his aviators before jumping on his bike and taking off. 

Once there, he notices his sister’s car in the drive as well and he sighs. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever inquisition Cat will bring, and heads for the front door. He tries to remind himself that it’s a good thing he’s here, but he just feels weighed down and nervous. He knows he’s probably been a huge disappointment to Mike the last week and half, and it’s killing him inside on top of losing his brother. After another deep breath on the stoop, he rings the doorbell - something he rarely does, heart in his throat. He's not surprised when Carrie answers. "Pete? Oh honey come in. You know you never have to knock."

He steps through the door, and before he can say anything she's pulling him into her arms. "Pete. Just breathe," she whispers, holding him tight. 

"Mom," he chokes out. 

"Jamie honey go help your sister," Carrie calls over her shoulder knowing Pete wouldn't want his siblings seeing him break down. 

"It's ok. You're ok," she whispers over and over, rubbing his back. "I'm here Pete. You're ok." 

He clings to her, breathing in the familiar scent as tears roll down his cheeks. He hears the stairs creak and knows Mike is coming down. He tries to pull back and straighten up, but Carrie just holds him tighter. "No. Right now you're here as our son. You stay right here as long as you need."

Pete's never been able to tell her no, so he stays right there until he feels his heart rate settle. "You're staying for dinner," she tells him, when he finally pulls back. She cups his cheek and gently wipes his tears. "Yes mam." 

She gives Mike a stern look before she leaves them. "C'mere kid." 

He breathes a huge sigh of relief when Pete still sinks into his hugs like when he was a kid. He’s careful of Pete’s fading bruises, but he holds him tight. Watching him struggle this week has almost broke Mike. He rests his chin on the top of Pete’s head. “I’m so glad you came home.” 

“I…. I’ve been so mad at you!” 

“I know. I know.” He lets out another sigh. “So has your mom kid.” 

Pete can’t stop the snort of laughter at that. Carrie has always been protective of him, so he’s not really surprised by that. 

“I…. I don’t know what to do Dad.”  Mike’s heart breaks hearing such uncertainty and heartbreak in his kids voice. 

Mike gently squeezes the back of his neck before he steers him towards his study. It’s been so long since Pete has actually called him “Dad” so he soaks it in for a minute. He settles on the couch beside his kid, weighing his words. 

“I heard you were gone,” he starts with. 

“Charlie?” 

“Mmmm. So I’m curious what brought you back?” Mike’s watching him carefully and it makes Pete nervous. Mike didn’t really believe much of what Charlie told him, but he also wants to see what Pete says about it.

“I….” Pete chews on his lip and stares out the window. “I couldn’t leave without telling Mom bye. She’d never forgive me.” 

“This is true. But…” Mike reaches over and squeezes his knee bringing Pete’s attention back to him. “But you wouldn’t ask me what to do if you were really leaving.” 

“No, sir.” 

“Pete… You’re not here as my Lieutenant. You’re here as my son…. I hope,” he tacks on at the end quietly. 

“I am. I just… It’s already dangerous enough that the brass might find out you took me in. How you’ve kept it a secret this long and kept it out of the inquiry, I don’t know. Them not knowing protects us both and I…” he gets up to pace unable to sit still any longer. “I’ve already almost cost you a lot. I’m no good just like everybody says and if I tell you…” 

Mike cuts him off at that; he spins Pete to face him, gently cupping his cheeks. “Don’t ever say that about my kid again. You are perfect the way you are Pete and if people can’t see that, then that’s their loss.” 

Pete gives him a feeble nod. 

“We’ll tell you as long as it takes, just like when you were a kid. But you are perfect just the way you are.” 

“If I tell you, I’m just asking you to keep more secrets, more things you’ll think you have to protect me from. That’s not fair to you.” 

“You’d be surprised at the things a parent would do for their kid. I know you probably don’t remember it, but I told you in the hospital if it came to you or the Navy, I’d pick you every time. That hasn’t changed kiddo. Never will.” 

Pete absorbs the words and knows they’re true. Mike would sacrifice it all for him, even if he doesn’t deserve it.  “It was Ice,” he whispers, his gaze dropping to the floor. “He came in right behind Charlie.” 

“Mmmm. I had a feeling.” 

Pete’s head jerks up at that, but Mike quickly reassures him. “Don’t. It’s just because I know you son. Nothing is obvious.” 

Pete lets out a deep sigh, his body sagging almost as if his strings had been cut once more. 

“Come on let’s take a walk. Get you some fresh air.”  

Pete follows him out the back door into the yard overlooking the ocean. He hates how close the neighbors are, but that’s base living for you. He briefly wonders where Jamie is running off to so close to dinner, but his head is quickly drawn back to Mike. He hasn’t been able to go near the ocean since the accident, but breathing in the salty air he grew up with, relaxes him. “You have two options. First you’ve acquired enough points to show up and graduate with your Top Gun class. Or… you quit. There’d be no disgrace in quitting Pete. That spin was hell. It would’ve shook me up. Hell listening back to it shook me up. Not just because you’re my kid either.” 

Pete stares out over the ocean, trying hard not to let the accident play in his mind. Mike’s hand on his shoulder draws his attention back once more. “So you think I should quit?” he asks less confidently than he’d like. 

“I didn’t say that Pete. I’m just laying out your options. But… you feel responsible for Goose, and you’ve been off your game. You’ve lost your confidence. I know you know this Pete, but a good pilot is always compelled to evaluate what’s happened so he can apply what he’s learned. Pushing it in the air is our job. We have to do it. It’s why I put you right back up once you were cleared. As a father, I would’ve never even considered it. As your CO, I had no choice. I had to push you.” He pauses as he considers whether to keep pushing in that moment, but thinks better of it. Pete’s had enough pushing since the accident. It’s time to just let him be.”I can’t make this decision for you kid. But I can say I will support whatever decision you decide. So will your mom.” 

Before Pete can answer he feels little arms wrap around his legs and he looks down to see his adorable niece clinging to him babbling in her little gibberish. “Well hey there Cin,” he grins, lifting her into his arms. He’d given her a nickname just like he’d given her mom when he’d been a kid. It was something just for them and it always made him smile knowing Cat let him get away with it to make him feel comfortable. Mike smiles watching Pete relax into himself and smile for the first time in weeks. 

“I’m guessing someone escaped from your sister,” Mike laughs, as they turn to head back into the house. 

His older sister is standing on the back steps with her hands on her hips. “Sorry. Someone was determined to see you.” 

“It’s alright. I’m glad she found me.” He tickles her belly, drawing out a giggle before Cynthia buries her face in his neck babbling “Mab” over and over. Mav was easier to say than Pete so they’d taught her the shortened version of his callsign for now. 

“I’m glad you're home,” she says softly, drawing Mav into a hug, squishing her daughter between them. 

“Just for dinner. You know I can’t be here much.” 

“Still. I’m glad you’re here.” 

He follows her into the kitchen where Carrie is finishing up dinner. “Where’d Jamie run off to earlier?” 

“The beach. She’ll be back.” 

Mav bounces Cin in his arms to hear her giggles once more. He’s not sure he’ll ever be able to step back onto the beach or in the ocean ever again. 

“She got a boyfriend she was meeting?” Cat asks, causing Mav to freeze. 

“Nope. Nope. No. We are not doing this. No. It was bad enough when you started dating and got married. Baby sis is not doing this too.” 

“Like you can stop her. Couldn’t stop me. Besides, she's eighteen now, Mav.” 

“Oh I can talk her out of it. Just you wait.” 

Cat rolls her eyes and takes Cin from him. “Well go for it little brother,” she smirks pointing towards the beach. She’s calling his bluff and he knows it. 

“Fine!” he huffs as he stomps out. Carrie and Mike join her at the door to see if he’ll actually do it, all three holding their breath. He gets to the edge of the sand and freezes, his eyes staring at the waves. He feels his lungs start to burn making him realize he’s holding his breath, but he can’t seem to draw in any air. 

“Damn it Catherine. I told you not to push him just yet. I’ve done enough of it the last few weeks.” 

“Dad. You know he’s gotta work through this.” 

“Antagonizing him to go to the beach wasn’t the way.” 

“I got it,” she tells him with an eye roll, passing Cynthia off to Mike as she goes out the door. She walks up behind her brother, carefully wrapping her arms around him. She rests her head against the back of his neck as she keeps tightening her arms. “Just breathe Pete. Follow my breaths.” 

It takes several, several minutes, but he does end up matching her breathing. “Cat?” he chokes when he doesn’t feel like the world is going to fade to black. 

“I’m here. I’m sorry. I thought… I thought if I made it a challenge you could do it. I shouldn’t have pushed.” 

“I…” 

“It’s ok. I see Jamie coming back now. Let’s go back in and you can wear my child out so she’ll sleep like a rock tonight ok? She doesn’t get enough time with her Uncle Mav, so let’s give her all the time possible.” 

He gives a nod and lets his sister spin him back towards the house. “We’ll tag team Jamie after dinner too,” she smirks, letting out a relieved breath when Pete smirks back at her. “But first, please tell me you have someone and you’re not losing yourself in the Navy?” 

“Uhhhh not really been top priority there sis.” 

“So the blonde at the funeral that couldn’t leave your side isn’t your other half?” 

Pete freezes once more causing Cat to sigh. “Would you stop doing that?! Dad is going to have my head.” 

“What… Cat… you…” 

“Relax! It’s just me. Your big sis, your secret keeper, your partner in crime? Remember me? You know you can tell me anything Pete and it stays between us.” 

“It would ruin his career if it got out. He’s got big dreams, and he deserves to reach them. Why he’s wast....” 

“Don’t you fucking dare,” she growls. “You’ve never been a waste Peter Duke Mitchell-Metcalf and you never will be.” His big sister has always been overprotective of the sacred little boy that came into her life as her little brother. Some things never change. He also knows she’s really good at keeping secrets for him, even if he hates he has to ask her to keep this one if he wants to be honest with her. 

His head falls to her shoulder as he softly sighs. “Fine. Yes. Tom and I have been seeing each other since like the first day of class.” 

“So almost six weeks. I believe that might just be your longest yet,” she teases. 

“Oh fuck off,” he laughs as he pushes her away. 

“Don’t be letting your niece hear you talking like that!” 

“Like you don’t cuss like a sailor too?!” 

They reach the back door and Cin comes running back to Mav. “Hi sweet baby. Let’s go play til Gigi is ready for us to eat.” 

“My Mab,” she babbles, squishing his cheeks between her tiny hands. 

“Yea I’m all yours princess.”

The night turns out to be just what Mav needs, and when he leaves, he’s the most relaxed he’s been in two weeks. He heads back to Tom’s base housing, knowing he can’t go to his alone right now. Slider is perched on the couch watching a game, and Tom is in the kitchen when he enters. 

“Hey pipsqueak,” Slider calls as Mav heads straight through to the kitchen. He’s still not sure how to handle Slider being extra nice to him, so he just nods and keeps going. 

“Hey,” Tom smiles over his shoulder at him. 

Mav walks over and wraps his arms around him, burying his face in Tom’s back. “Hey.” 

“Feel better?” 

“Some.” Tom spins in Pete’s arms and tilts his boyfriend’s face up to him. 

“You look more relaxed,” he murmurs softly before giving him an even softer kiss. 

“Both of my sisters and my niece were there. Cin is… She’s two and she’s really good for somebody.” 

“Mmmm yea I bet. Carole stopped by with B. Told her you’d gone on a visit. She said to call her.” 

He feels Pete tense in his arms but he just keeps talking. “W… Wh…Why?” Pete finally gets out. 

“Why what babe?” 

“Why’d she… why would she…. Why call her?” 

Tom softly cups Pete’s cheeks as he stares into the eyes he loves so much. “Sweetheart, why wouldn’t she be looking for you or wanting to talk to you? She said she hasn’t heard from you in two weeks and she’s worried.” 

“I… I … Why? I killed Nick! I took her husband, Bradley’s dad! Why would she want anything to do with me?!?!?!?!” 

Tom sees Ron in the doorway, having come when Pete started yelling. Tom was at a loss on what to say though because Carole and Bradley were Pete’s family. 

“Because she’s worried about you, Mav. You’re like her brother. Bradley’s uncle. Bradley was looking all over for you here because he misses you. They don’t blame you,” Slider said softly. 

Pete turned, staring at him with wild eyes. “I killed Nick!” 

Slider walked closer, but kept some distance so Pete didn’t feel caged in by them. “No you didn’t. It was a freak accident. The board ruled on it. Viper’s told you that. We’ve told you that. No one… absolutely no one blames you. Everybody knows how much Goose meant to you and that you would never do anything to harm him. It was not your fault.” 

“Sli’s right,” Tom whispers into his neck where he’s holding him tight. “We’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it, but it wasn’t your fault.” 

“It feels like my fault,” he cries, sagging in Tom’s hold. 

“It feels like ours too,” Slider says. He walks closer wrapping them both in his arms, both of them hugging Pete as tight as they dared knowing he was still sore. Once Pete is all cried out, Tom takes him to shower while Ron calls Carole with Pete’s permission to bring Bradley back over. 

It’s a night of more tears, of healing, of meaningful conversations reaffirming Pete’s place in their life as Carole’s brother and Bradley’s uncle. Bradley even falls asleep in Pete’s arms, and no one has the heart to move him. Graduation is in two days, and still no one knows exactly what Pete is going to do. 

[riahlynn101]

Whumptober Day Thirty: "Not Much Longer Now."

Takes place in the FNAF movie universe.

This is a work in progress, but I've been so busy. Day 29 (which I'll post sometime today) and day 30 are basically the same story told from two Point of views. This one is Garrett's POV. And day 29 is Mike's.

I'm going to put the story under a read more just in case I decide to include spoilers.

Trigger warnings: Child death, major character death, blood, gore, implied/referenced kidnapping.

Edited 10/31/2023 - added onto the story. Minor grammar and spelling edits.

Garrett can still recall the pain he felt. The knife ripping into his flesh. Uncle William staring down at him with a cold expression, not a hint of remorse in his eyes. He remembers calling out for his brother. 

Mike never failed to show up before. Rushing into his bedroom during a thunderstorm to make sure Garrett’s okay. Checking under his bed for monsters every night without fail. And letting Garrett curl up next to him whenever he got scared. 

But that day, for one reason or another, his brother never showed up. 

Garrett died…scared and alone and-

The next couple decades are an endless blur of nightmares. Terrible beasts with claws and forked tongues chasing and lunging at him.

Sometimes, though, he’d get lucky. Instead of beating back monsters with a flashlight, Garrett would find himself being forced to reenact his last moments with his family. It should frighten him, being forced to do anything. But he gets to see his family again, and it’s the last good memory he has. 

He likes being able to play again, zooming around the picnic table with his toy airplane. Mike bought it for him with his birthday money. Garrett loved that toy until the day he died. Quite literally too, he died holding it. 

The only bad part of the dream is seeing his big brother so distressed. Watching Mike run after the car, calling out his name, hurts. His heart aches terribly. He longs to reach out to his brother, hug him and tell him that it’s okay. That despite what happened, it’s not his fault. None of it is Mike’s fault. 

But slowly, over the years, that wish changed. 

It morphed into something more permanent. 

A simple hug and some meaningless words wouldn’t suffice. His brother spent years ruminating on his kidnapping. Sure, it might work in the moment, but what happens when Mike wakes up? Will he be satisfied, or will his self-blaming tendencies come back in full swing?

Garrett puts his plan into motion. 

It starts with the reopening of a long abandoned pizzeria. When management starts talking about hiring a security guard, Mike’s file ends up on their desk. 

He talks with the other children, and makes sure that they know not to mess with Mike. They listen to him-for the most part-but Cassidy glares at him. Not that Garrett cares. As long as they leave his brother alone, they can hate him all they want. 

The next part of his plan is left to chance. It’s hard to maneuver the marionette, so leaving the pizzeria is hard. And it’s not like he can threaten his brother into taking the position anyway. Well, he can-if he could leave-but Garrett doesn’t want his brother to take the job out of fear. 

Instead, he calls his brother, dialing the only number that he could ever remember. His voice isn’t picked up by the receiver, so Garrett has to get creative. A customer left a speak and spell, so he uses that to communicate. 

He doesn’t have a lot of time, so he chooses his words carefully. Something that can’t be confused with anything else. 

“C…O….M….E…..F…I….N…D…..M….E….”

His brother always just hangs up the phone. Which Garrett finds to be a little bit rude. Their mom raised them better than that. He’ll have to remind him of that when they meet again. 

Mike takes the job, thankfully. And the kids do their part and stay away. Cassidy is noticeably absent most of the week, but Garrett has bigger things to worry about. 

The one and only thing that gets in his way during the week is the stupid music box. Whenever it’s played, he’s forced into a deep slumber. A deep slumber with the same monsters that have tormented him all these many years. And there’s no way to disable it, Garrett’s tired - many times. 

Fortunately, his brother slips up. He falls asleep at the security desk, head pillowed by his arms. The music box slows down until it stops entirely. 

Garrett maneuvers the marionette, maneuvering it through hallways and into the main office. He watches his brother sleep, a peaceful look on his face. Putting the marionette down, he creeps closer. 

He touches Mike’s forehead, setting the final part of his plan into motion. 

Garrett stands in the same forest that he was kidnapped from. The sun is out, shining down through the treetops. 

“Mike!” He calls, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Mikey!”

“Garrett!?”

Garrett whirls around to face his brother. “Mike!” He shouts, practically launching himself at his brother. It has been way too long since he could hug him. 

His brother hugs him tightly, body wracked with sobs. Tears stream from his eyes, but Garrett chooses not to mention it. Mike has always been weird about crying, especially in front of people. Which strikes him as odd, given that their parents used to encourage them to cry if they had big emotions. 

“I…I’ve missed you,” Mike murmurs. 

“Missed you too.”

“And I’m sorry. I should have-” 

Garrett cuts him off. This is supposed to be a happy moment, and he isn’t going to let his brother spiral into unhappy thoughts. “Nope. Not here. Not today.”

Sniffling, Mike nods. “Okay…yeah. Sorry.” He returns to hugging Garrett. 

Eventually, when they pull away from each other, he takes his brother by the hand. “I want to show you something.”

And his brother accepts his hand without thinking twice, because of course he does. Mike has no reason not to trust him. They walk through the forest, underbrush crunching under their feet. 

“Uh…Gar…where are we going?”

He smiles at his brother, who now looks exactly how Garrett remembers him. A child only five to six years older than him. “Not much longer now. You’re going to love it.”

His brother mutters something under his breath, but he ignores it. 

They arrive at a clearing. It’s full of flowers. Daisies and roses and sunflowers as far as the eye can see. Garrett turns to his brother. 

“Do you like it?”

“It’s…pretty…” Mike says, sounding a little unsure of what to say. “Did you do this?”

“No.”

“Then who-”

“Do you want to stay here forever?”

His brother looks at him, confused. “What?”

“Do. You. Want. To. Stay. Here. Forever? With me, I mean.”

“Gar, I…can’t. We have a sister now, and she still needs me.”

That’s what he thought Mike was going to say, but it doesn’t hurt any less. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Mike asks, backing up a little bit. 

“Okay. I understand.” He doesn’t. It’s not fair. Why is Abby more important than him? He knew Mike first. “Before you wake up, can I have a hug?”

“Sure,” Mike says, though there’s a slight hesitation in his words. Like he’s afraid of Garrett, which is ridiculous because he wouldn’t hurt his brother without a good reason. He wraps his arms around Garrett.

“I’m sorry, Mike,” he whispers. Before his brother can ask what he means, Garrett plunges a knife in his back. His brother falls back.

Garrett stands over him, watching him wraith around in agony. “It’s going to be okay,” he tries his best to sound reassuring. He steps forward, knife poised in the air. 

“N-no! Stop, Garrett! What are you doing?” He scoots backward, using his arms to shield his face. 

“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” Garrett strikes his brother’s chest with the knife, making sure to hit his heart. The less suffering he puts Mike through, the better. 

His brother cries out one last time. 

He smiles down at his brother. All the pain will be worth it, he silently promises Mike. 

We can finally be together again….forever. 

[winderlylandchime]

3/3 ‘BRI BRI!! He’s quoting the movie, is that his favorite? i do that too with First Wives Club!! *randomly starts quoting it* I had guests! Who Guns N roses?! We should watch that. Its one of my favorite movi-ITS JUSTIN!! why is Justin here? Poor Bria- FOR A CHANGE? Fuck you Justin, that’s rude. See?! That comment even hurt Brian’s feelings. Why did he feel like he has to say he’s alone? HMMM. Why Brian? Why did you have to make it clear that no one else is here but you two? CANT ACCEPT WH- FUCK ME SIDEWAYS AND CALL IT PARKOUR BRIAN PAID HIS TUITION! HE STILL PAID FOR IT?! FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR? EVEN THO THEY BROKE UP AND HE CHEATED! HE STILL PAID THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS? I wouldn’t give him a penny. WAIT LET ME CALM DOWN…okay, I’m calm. doesn’t Justin still owe him for stealing his credit card? This dude is in more debt by 20 than every other American. A DEAL IS A DEAL. He cares about him even now. He wants his to do good! He wants hi-HE HAS RAGE, HE PACKED HIS COMPUTER?! That he paid for?! I AM SO NOT CHILL! FUCK BEING CHILL! CHILL IS IN MY REARVIEW MIRROR so let me get this hetero *turns to paused Brian on tv* once again, sorry, so 1) he paid for his tuition ahead of time just cause he knew he cant afford it 2) he packed his computer that he bought cause he knows he needs it and 3) he mentioned rage.. and all those little shits swear he doesn’t care, i mean sure he hides it but can you blame him? He was raised in a house that was on fire with parents that purposely threw gasoline on it. So obviously he would hide the glass of water that would keep him alive (i swear i didnt move a single muscle while he talked) dont give me that look! Everything makes sense in here *points several times to his head and accidentally pokes himself in the eye* ow..you didn’t see that.’ ‘I am still confused about Emmett and Ted. I really like them as friends and i don’t want this to ruin it but if they stay cool like they were before, i will love it. But please stop the lover thing’ ‘OH OH OH PLEASE TELL ME THAT THE CELLO FUCKER FINDS OUT BRIAN IS STILL PAYING!!! Please make me happ- Oh justin and Mike, is it weird that i kind of like Michael this episode..I can’t remember if he pissed me off or not, so i guess he’s cool right now, oh he’s here for the money. Get that money!….why is JT playing a trumpet? wait I focused on the wrong thing, he listened to Brian! Brian said ONE thing and Justin went “yup. On it boss” A DEAL IS A DEAL THATS WHAT BRIAN SAID! HE LISTENED! oh brian looks bad. He literally looks like he’s going to overdose. Is he gonna drop on the ground? He looks bad. And people look at this *waves to brian* and say he’s fine? I swear the only reason they thinks so is cause they have never actually seen this man be fine. So they think THAT is his fine. I need to go get some air, i am very upset about this’ He then proceeded to go outside and dragged a chair in the middle of the yard where he then ended up falling asleep. I would call it progress but at this point I know better.

I love the First Wives Club “I have feelings…I’m an actress, I have all of them!”

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS AND CALL IN PARKOUR - I’m going to propose to your brother before this is done.

A DEAL IS A DEAL - so fucking romantic. Sorry Mr. “I don’t Do Romance” Kinney.

“He was raised in a house that was on fire with parents that purposefully threw gasoline on it. So obviously he would hide the glass of water that would keep him alive.”

“He was raised in a house that was on fire with parents that purposefully threw gasoline on it. So obviously he would hide the glass of water that would keep him alive.”

Guys, gals, non-binary pals - standing ovation for Brother Anon. HE GETS IT. He gets our beloved Brian. Our trauma onion. He honestly gets him better than the writer who penned the email explaining the shit show that was S5 gets him ( @sophsun1 linked to it ) HE IS ONE OF US.

Wait I focused on the wrong thing - a deal is a deal that’s what Brian said! He listened! Brian is not done raising this kid.

“And people look at this *waves to Brian* and say he’s fine? I swear the only reason they think so is cause they have never actually seen this man be fine. So they think THAT is his fine.”

I am once again saying that your brother gets him better than the writers of the fucking show.

[headcanonsforsale]

can’t help it if you look like an angel, can’t help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain.. - a chess husbands fic

originally posted on ao3 and also found on my other acc @im-glad-you-found-us-alison

Alerted by Alison crying out for Mike, Julian came forward to the scene, in case he was needed. (He still needed to prove against his moral bankruptcy) However, all offers to help escaped his thoughts as his brain was hijacked by Robin screaming and charging for Mike like he was leading himself into battle.

Thunder rumbled overhead as Alison continued to yell out to her husband. There wasn’t much he could do, except stand back with the rest of the ghosts and watch the caveman approach the tree. It was stupid really, everyone knows not to stand under a tree during a thunderstorm and-

Bloody Hell.

Lightning flashed, narrowly missing the tree, instead surging toward Robin, who stood there and harnessed the power like Zeus, letting out what could only be described as a deep battle cry. God, that was hot.

But that begged the question, when did Julian not find Robin hot?

Surely he didn’t, he couldn’t.

Yes, they were friends and he had grown appreciation for the other man but to think he was hot?

I mean, they were together all the time. Whether it was chess, sitting together on the couch, playing a practical joke on Mike or going to one of Pat’s clubs together, they seemed inseparable. Julian would sit and listen to his caveman talk about the stars for hours on end and it wouldn’t matter.

Wait.

His caveman?

Since when were they that close?

Since his first day as a ghost, he supposed. Not a day had gone by where he hadn’t thought of the other and maybe he’d been pushing some emotions down but who could blame him? He was Julian Fawcett, professional at bottling up his emotions. Point is, after thirty years of denial and stumbling on the edge of admitting it all, this new development was the last push he needed. But, words weren’t his thing. They never were when it came to this sort of thing.

That’s why, despite the insane situation, Julian found himself following in tow with Alison, running across the field.

It was like a scene in those dramatic, romance films where they run to each other and reunite in a hug after sorting through their miscommunication. Except, the characters were always drenched and shaking from the cold and well, the rain just passed through his person but the cliche was still there.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t being thoughtful about his actions, it was as if his body had been possessed (ironic considering he’s a ghost) and had decided to sprint to Robin. As he approached and he passed Alison and Mike, the very face he saw everyday became clearer, he stood with such pride and power, the smirk evident on his face as he gazed up at the rumbling clouds. How Julian wanted to kiss that smirk off that face.

And so he did.

However, movies are bullshit and no matter how much practice you get, first kisses always suck ass. It was quick. A weird mess of face grabbing, brief contact and an electric shock, leaving the politician on the ground in a state of pure confusion and embarrassment.

He looked up incredulously at Robin, not exactly how he dreamt of looking up at him but alas. Time seemed to freeze. Like he couldn’t move or speak. He had his fair share of those moments when he was alive, most having an involvement with hiding a woman in the closet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t used to that hole forming in his stomach.

But of course, time can’t actually freeze. If it did, it would’ve been hell of a lot useful right about now.

“Now, you see here-“

Any attempt at a justification was thrown out the window as a strike of lightning struck the gatehouse, sending it bursting into flames.

Oh, fuck.

At least he had an excuse to walk away. ————————— Luckily, Julian had managed to avoid Robin the rest of the evening, inserting himself in the middle of groups. They’d simply dance around the issue, they’d forget about it in a few days, so there was nothing left for him to do except wait it out.

That did mean no more chess, based on his previous actions that day, Julian couldn’t trust himself to sit in arm’s reach of the object of his affection. Affection? Affection. He knew himself and he knew he’d probably pull another stunt like he did in the rain and ruin the one thing he wasn’t supposed to.

So he went to bed early, up into his room, away from Robin and his stupid caveman face that had crept its way into every single thought he conjured. As he stared at the ceiling, he could’ve sworn his brain was etching the very image of the caveman into it. He was going mad and he couldn’t do any damn thing about it.

Well, he could. But did he want to? Questionable.

Then he heard heavy footsteps from down the hallway, padded by fur but strong, he recognised those all too well. It was clear he was coming to pay Julian a visit, and a very awkward conversation. So, to attempt to avoid any more thought and possible pain, the politician laid still and closed his eyes. Resting his hands on his chest, he tried to stabilise his breathing. However, that’s quite hard to do when he could feel Robin's brown eyes piercing into his figure. It’s also hard to keep a steady heart rate when he hears that low voice ring through the room, replaying in his mind.

“You not asleep, can tell. Get up.”

Don’t surrender early. One of the many rules of politics. Continue to fight. Don’t give up everything in the blink of an eye.

And he would’ve stood his ground and continued to ‘sleep’ but that proves a difficult task when a strong arm begins to shake him and push him to sit up like some kind of baby.

“What is it.?”

That’s when they lock eyes and Julian almost surrenders right then and there. Those weirdly enchanting blue eyes that he found himself drowning in sometimes. Fuck. He was starting to become like Thomas. It was all those romance movies Kitty forced them to watch. That was it, he was just under the influence of cheesy love stories, he couldn’t be.. like that. That wasn’t who Julian Fawcett MP (disgraced) was.

“You know what is.”

Robin’s arms crossed as he said that, it took all of the politician’s willpower not to stare as his muscles flexed.

He swallowed and let out a shaky scoff. “I think you’ll find I don’t know what you mean.”

The gaze those blue eyes held hardened, clearly not amused by Julian playing the oblivious card. The caveman took a step closer and looked up at the other man.

“You kiss me.”

He hadn’t expected Robin to come out and say it so suddenly. It felt like something that hadn’t happened, something so out of this world when said out loud. If someone told him when he was still alive that he would’ve kissed a caveman from ten thousand odd years ago, he would’ve laughed in your face and he’s done some weird things.

“Did I? I can’t seem to recall.”

He couldn’t stop adjusting his tie, a device to break the weirdly intimate eye contact. When did he start avoiding intimacy? He chased it so often in life that it led him to the grave. But that was quick love, hidden behind locked doors and scarfs over hickeys. This was something different. Something he wasn’t ready to admit.

“Julian.”

He couldn’t admit it but the way he said his name, his laugh, those eyes, those damn eyes were going to take him down.

“Don’t make me say it out loud.”

Once the words were said, there was no going back and he couldn’t admit it. He couldn’t. Those three words, those words haunted his dreams, how many times he said them to Margot like it was a chore, how many times he didn’t say them. This would be one of them.

“Why you so scared?”

God, when did Robin get so close? So close yet so far. He could hear his irritated breath.

“I’m- I’m not scared.”

A lie masked by a snicker. But that’s not good enough for a man as old as time.

“You in love with me.”

He said it so casually. Like it wasn’t the very truth Julian was running from.

“I-“

Actions speak better than words. Right? So who could blame him when he cupped the other man’s cheeks and pulled him in, letting out years of repression in a single movement. Lips moving together, one pair clearly more desperate than the other, legs buckling with a need he’d never experienced.

And then, it was over and he was faced with those eyes. Softer, but still awaiting a confession.

He was so fucked.

[spiderlemon]

Car Rides and Confessions

Steve Harrington X Reader (Mike’s sister)

Summary: driving home from your annual movie night with the kiddos and confessions are made….

Warnings: none!!

After what felt like an eternity in Steve Harrington’s car, you finally made it to your house. Putting the car in park, everyone stumbled out… besides you who sat nervously in the passenger seat.

“hey watch it!! It took me forever to get my hair right!!” Dustin screamed as him and the gang finally made it on the Wheeler lawn. Steve looked over at you in confusion, still sitting there. He could tell something was off you were never this quiet.

Steve poked you and began joking around “Hey we got the right house, right? You can get out wheeler I know your probably sick of me.” You looked over like a deer in headlights and a sudden tension rose. Mike tapped on the window. “Y/n cmon let’s go chop chop enough time with your little boy toy!!” The who gang who now sat on the grass started laughing.

“He’s not my boyfriend ugh just go back inside Micheal!!! Or I’ll tell your friends you wet the bed last night” Mike looked away flushed and embarrassed walking back inside with the gang. The moment her brother closed the door, y/n turned to Steve and their eyes locked instantly, “we need to talk.”

Steve thought you were joking, “Ok?? Are you firing me as your free co babysitter of these hooligans because honestly I don’t blame you. I gave Dustin like 5 pounds of candy at the theater and he’s probably gonna be sick.”

You stified a laugh, his humor always made you feel more relaxed. “No… it’s actually something’s serious so please don’t talk and let me try to get out all I need to say ok?” Steve nodded eagerly.

You took a deep breath. “I really value our friendship and you know how you’ve been here for me all summer long. I’ve had this… I don’t know feel-ing these past few mon-ths I can’t hold in any long-er.”

Your hands began to figit so you tried distracting yourself by looking straight ahead at the street instead of his eyes. You were taken aback when Steve held your hands to stop your shaking. That’s when you looked over again.

Steve looked terrified “Oh sorry is this ok? I just saw you were nervous and…”

“Steve it’s more than ok” you smiled softly, now continuing your story with more ease. “Anyways what I’m trying to say is… I really like you more than friends and if you wanna explore us being more than that…. I’d like that? If not that’s totally ok cool cool cool and we can forget this ever happened and everything so yah cool I’m gonna go before I embarrass myself more and-“ and in that moment…

Steve kissed you.

His lips tasted like buttery popcorn and m&ms and you swore it was the best moment of your life. Pulling away was your least favorite part.

With wide eyes you let out a small “woah” and Steve laughed in response. You too started laughing and felt like the weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

“So just to confirm… that’s a yes?”

“You bet your ass it’s a yes wheeler holy SHIT. I just kissed you. I gotta call Robin. My mind is racing you have no idea how long I’ve wanted you to do that. I’m gonna scream.” He was grinning eye to ear.

“Please don’t scream” you started laughing uncontrollably at his adorableness. “Oh but I shall…” next thing you know Steve is on your lawn screaming:

“I JUST KISSED Y/H WHOOOOOO HOOO YESSSSSSSS LETS GOOOO” he started doing a little dance and that’s when you saw the gang peering from Mike’s open window. They started laughing.

“Who knew he had it in him?” Dustin joked. You looked up at them and waved shyly.

Steve Harrington is an idiot…

but he’s your idiot.

p.s this is my first ever story!! :)

[woozapooza]

I gotta say, I’m confused by the idea I’ve seen a couple times that it reflects badly on Jimmy that in “Bagman,” he didn’t use the thought of Kim to motivate himself until Mike put the idea in his head. Jimmy is not nearly as hardened as Mike, and he was nearly delirious from heat, exhaustion, and the traumatic events of the previous day. He simply was not in his right mind, and I can’t blame him one bit for not being able to see beyond his own fear and pain. To me, the fact that he had to be told to think of Kim doesn’t say anything about Jimmy’s feelings for her. You know what does say something about his feelings for her? The fact that Mike’s advice worked!

[lyrker]

1 n 3 n 19 n 31 n 50 for the oc asks !!!!

THIS GOT SO LONG IM SO SORRY HAVDJVS

1.First oc ever ?

I’m gonna have to pass this one to good ol’ Leader Decrose. I REFUSE to get into the backstory of how he came about, but in this old world I never dive in anymore, he’s like ? A refuge i suppose ? A set of four characters (including my self insert) were based on cards and his was the diamond.

3.Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else ?

Odd situation but I GUESS ?? There’s a few but one I like is named Polaris and they’re like. a dying star. And their big brother figure is Cyrus, aka cc who thought the key to transitioning was dismembering yourself and using dark magic on a lifesize frakenstein doll he made.

They work in a fucked up lab but like, fucked up as in goofy as hell. They’re so silly (:

19.Introduce a character that means a lot to you and why

*SLAMS JACE IN FRONT OF YOU* I love him an insane amount.

Jace Luong was away when the apocalypse striked, lost his daughter thag he blames himself for (but he could never save her anyway), accidentally shot a guy and had to step down from his military position, more for his mental sake than anything, ended up using his best friend, and that last one sounds so bad. and it is. But it is for this Reason that makes me shake him like GRRRR I LOVE YOU. WHY DID YOU DO THAT oh yeah i’m the author loll !!

Because the point of Jace is that. He wants to help so fucking bad but he keeps Messing It Up. He is not evil and I cannot say that enough—he is very “the means justifies the ends” but that does Not mean he doesn’t feel bad for using Noah as a lab rat. When Noah came back to KILL HIM he cried because someone Came Back For Him, even if it was to kill him.

I don’t wanna take up too much space but it’s because he’s not evil just severely fucked up from losing his daughter and the life of being in a world filled with zombies that he’s trying to rush to make some sort of cure, so he can save people, so that people can live again instead of just survive, but he goes about it in a horrible way that, honestly, was probably inevitable.

He’s special to me because he’s a fuck up, but he’s genuinely really really trying. He is not a good person, though.

(also if he was a tma avatar he would be of The Lonely or Eye and that’s so silly)

31.Pick an oc and explain what their Tumblr blog would look like.

I’m going to go with RAYNE because he probably DOES use Tumblr, knowing him. His layout is green but also he’s probably using the Goth/Rave color pallet because he thinks the colors are nice and he’s a 3 am user so that dark mode comes in handy. His pfp is like, his favorite pokémon but with a ditto face.

He reblogs pokemon stuff—screenshots, fanart, memes, etc and he’s Definitely gotten into discourse abt the best game. Also he’s totally a Nightvale listener so throw in some Nightvale posts. I think he reblogs a lot of shitpost art but also just art in general.

And of course, the occasional cat photo and tumblr trademark textposts.

50.Give me the good ol’ oc talk.

I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT NOAH & CO. BUT I ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THEM so here’s the MoMOF crew, named after the lemon demon song “Mask of my Own Face”

It’s a classic high schoolers sci fi horror story, think stranger things except without mike bc i hate him (did not finish watching stranger things)

Basically, six kids, Rayn, Rowan, Alex, Ash, Zach and Winston are friends ! Yippee ! Average middle/high schoolers.

And one night, Rayn and Rowan (dating) are just hanging out. Rowan is conked the fuck out at Rayn is gaming on his DS, and then he gets a text from Alex saying “Dude, why tf are you outside it’s like 2 am ???” and Rayn is confused outta his mind.

“Wdym i’m literally at home rn.”

Alex attaches a photo, a shot looking thru the blinds of their window of what looks to be Rayn.

Rayn sends a selfie back of the Charmander he just leveled up and Rowan fast asleep.

And it Can’t be him if he just sent that photo, because the beanie he always wears was handmade by Asher himself—whos this guy ?!?

naturally, they text everyone, everyone’s yelling in a vc and was NOT asleep like they should be, and Rayn gets the FANTASTIC idea to go and see who the person is. Alex is yelling that they will personally stab Rayn if he does.

He does anyway.

and they’re too far away now for Alex to see, but they’re watching their phones and when Rayn finally approaches the other Rayn the camera flips and it is missing Half Of It’s Face and then Rayn hangs up.

And they Cannot Find Him.

So for weeks they are searching for Rayn and are scared out of their wits about Why there were Two and they told the police, but they don’t believe them all too much.

But Rowan finds him one night, at the edge of the forest. Half of his face looks tk have been torn away and his hat and coat is gone and he looks run ragged but oh. Oh no.

That’s the real Rayn.

And it turns out, the Rayn they’d been staying with recently was a clone.

And he’s babbling about something, saying they “Can’t trust Winston”

And at the same time, Rowan gets a call. And Zach sounds like he’s running for his life, because Winston cannot talk, let alone sing, and Zach heard them whispering the lyrics to a song he doesn’t know, and ran for it.

So, while they found Rayn, they now don’t know where the real Winston is. And it’s kinda all about not trusting each other but also wanting to stay together because What If Someone Else Gets Taken, and they can’t trust anyone at All because they won’t believe them, and they could be more clones.

Other stuff happens; Ash is going kinda insane, Alex, as the eldest, feels like they have to be the parent of the group because god they’re falling apart and they can’t stand to see it, Zach doesn’t know if the things he’s catching on camera are real or not, and there’s also an almost murder and also arson !! Both by the kids (:

It’s a fun world i like to play around with because the kids dynamics are all super fun <3

[gummysharksupremacy]

Pinned Post: AU Masterlist

Hello everyone! My name is Charlie and I am gummysharksupremacy on AO3! I mostly write for Five Nights at Freddy's, although I used to write for BioShock. I made this blog forever ago but never actually got around to using it. Hopefully that'll change now! Below is a masterlist of all the AUs my co-author/editor and I have for FNaF. Please feel free to ask us about any of them if you're interested—we would be more than happy to share our thoughts and ideas! These are all going to be written eventually, and we’ve already started on several of them and are excited to share when it’s time! These are just the main ones I'm focused on right now (trying to write at least the first chapter of each by the end of the year, just to get them out there!), but there are a lot more I have planned on the linked Google Doc if you want to see!

AU MASTERLIST

Co-Parent AU: The one I'm currently writing! Evan survives the Bite of '83, and Michael and his friends (the Masked Bullies) kill William after he threatens his own kids and confesses to murdering other children. After they kill the man (nearly going through with a plan of torture), they get caught and have to go through the courts to prove it was self-defense while also navigating new family dynamics and a world without their abuser.

Redeemed Dad AU: Following the events of both FNAF 6 and Security Breach, William and Cassidy have been trapped in UCN for the past seven years. Cassidy would never admit it, but she’s getting bored, and Henry’s constant pleas to give it up and get some rest are starting to sound really tempting. So when William makes her an offer—let him go, and he’ll somehow bring them all back—she’s willing to at least hear him out. Of course, it becomes very apparent very quickly that neither of them have any idea what they’re doing, and William realizes that for once, he is in way over his head. (Or, William gets relentlessly mocked and bullied by every ghost in the vicinity for an entire fic—as he SHOULD.)

Good Dad AU: Evan survives the Bite of ‘83, and in the aftermath William realizes just how terrible of a parent he is. Resolving to step up and become better for the sake of his sanity and the wellbeing of his kids, whom he actually loves in this AU, he decides to get them all some fucking therapy. His wife and kids have no idea what the fuck is happening to him, but as he takes more of an active role in their lives, they all help each other adjust to life after The Incident. They come to actually realize that they’re actually excited about this unexpected change, and so the kids are confused but hesitantly enthusiastic about the future. Bonus: William confronts his own trauma!

Ghost Evan AU: Inspired by the FollowVictim theory (which I don’t personally believe but it is interesting), this AU follows the events of FNAF from 1-5 with Mike as the security guard hunting down his father and Evan as his “sidekick” of sorts. Evan can’t do much, being a ghost, but he can make sure his big dumb brother is taking care of himself and he’s more than happy to help take their father down after all that he’s done. This would likely be a one-shot, but I’m still excited to write it.

Role Reversal AU [Puppet Michael]: Instead of Charlie being the child murdered outside of the diner, it’s Michael. After his friends blame him for the death of his brother and lock him outside in the pouring rain, William comes along and sees his chance at revenge for Evan. Before he was locked out, Charlie gave him her security bracelet so she could sneak off to see her friends. This means that the Puppet comes to him instead of her, laying beside his corpse and allowing him to possess it. Unfortunately, his friends managed to catch the tail end of his murder, which means they need to be dealt with as well. Instead of the MCI, his three friends are possessing the main animatronics. Charlie and Elizabeth take his place in the narrative and work alongside Henry Emily to stop William.