#I never cry while watching movies but I got dangerously close this time

[capt-sievert]

Me pulling up to the function acting like nothing happened after watching the most toe curling, earth shattering, tear inducing movie I've ever seen

[rebelliousstories]

Not Like The Movies

Relationship: Cooper “The Ghoul” Howard x Reader

Fandom: Fallout

Request: Yes by Anon

Warnings: Fluff, Angst, Violence

Word Count: 1,688

Main Masterlist: Here

Fallout Masterlist: Here

Summary: How Cooper got landed with someone of her sunny disposition, he will never now. And it does not help that she knows his films.

“Good morning, you cutie. Oh who’s the best little girl ever?” A feminine voice brought Cooper out of his deep slumber. His eyes had to adjust to the bright light outside that flooded the building they had stayed the night in. He looked around for the source of the noise and was relieved to see it was just his partner playing with DogMeat. The man sat up from the bed that was miraculously in the building that probably used to be someone’s house and began to roll the sleep from his muscles and bones.

“Well, good morning to you, cowpoke.” She greeted, allowing the dog to roam around wherever she pleased.

“Mornin’ sweetheart. Whatcha doin’ up this early?” He asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. His boots hit the floor right next to where his partner was, as she sat up on her knees to pull him in close. Physical affection was something Cooper was still not used to after all this time, but he was slowly coming around to it. All of the affection happened behind closed doors, or in this case, a closed house. He still had an image to maintain after all.

“Couldn’t sleep, so I spent some time with Bella.” She said cheerfully into his chest. Cooper just sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“Don’t go naming the thing. Then you’ll get too attached and then you’ll be depressed when it dies.” He groaned out, shifting their bodies so their eyes met.

“But she can’t be named ‘DogMeat’. That’s not a proper name,” came her cry. She laid on the puppy eyes really thick.

“DogMeat is a proper name because that’s what it is.” He argued back, tilting her head up by her chin.

“Fine,” she relented, and smushed her face back into his chest. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, gotta head into town now. Stock up on some supplies, gather a new bounty hopefully.” Cooper pressed a kiss to her hair, and shuffled so that he could pull both of them up to stand.

“You gonna behave when we get into town?” He drawled, voice leaning into dangerous territory. His partner giggled and nodded her head.

“Of course, Coop. When am I not?” She inquired, biting her lower lip. That woman knew the easiest way to get Cooper riled up was to do just that motion right there. Because, in an instant, his eyes were locked on to her lips.

“What about back in Filly where you kept smilin’ at folks, leaving me to save you from someone’s fist in your face? Huh?” Howard recalled, watching her shift in his arms as she, too, recounted their last adventure into town.

“How was I supposed to know?” Her whimper made Cooper weak, but he had a job to do today.

“Just tone down the sun a little bit, alright? Maybe a nice cloudy day instead of bright ass sunshine.” He offered, bringing her face back up to his. She nodded and stood on her toes to reach his face. Cooperate, ever the gentleman, met her halfway and locked their lips together. They moved as one, letting their lips slide across the other’s. Hands roamed freely, and it was starting to look like they were not going to be making it to town soon. That is, of course, until DogMeat came back in the room with a dead iguana in her mouth. She dropped it on the floor, and pawed at the man and woman who were locked in their embrace. The Ghoul groaned as his partner detached them in favor of tending to the dog he claimed he did not want.

“Good girl. Such a good hunter.” The baby voice was back. Seeing that the dog was getting the attention now, Cooper moved to grab all of his effects from where they were strewn about the room. His duster sat upon his shoulders, while his hat found its spot on his scarred head.

“Come on. Let’s get goin’.” He stated definitely. His saddle bag was slung across his shoulder, and his hand helped navigate his partner through the abandoned house.

They began their trek into town, which thankfully was not too long of a walk. DogMeat followed on the other side of Cooper, hot on his heels. He kept his eyes peeled as they drew further and further into the town. There was a pharmacy, a trader’s hut, several food stalls, and even a mechanics repair shop. Plenty for the two of them. Turning to his partner, he passed her some caps and pointed towards a couple stalls.

“Go get you some dried meat, and get a box of ammunition. Don’t smile so much, alright?” Cooper stressed. She nodded in return and patted his arm as she left with DogMeat.

The Ghoul made his way into the trader’s hut first to find a new bounty that was around. Thankfully, the woman behind the counter had one, and it was simple enough. Someone had not paid her what she was owed, and now she had a hat out on the man. He accepted half of the caps upfront, before moving on to the pharmacy next door. Cooper’s eyes caught his partner and DogMeat traversing the stalls, already having several pouches of meat in her bag.

Which is why he was not afraid to leave her alone while he took his time getting his chems from the pharmacy. Being a ghoul certainly had its drawbacks; the stares, reputation, and fear. But it also held some positives; the stares, reputation, and fear. It certainly helped when acquiring what he needed for a reasonable price. A commotion caught his ears from outside, but he was not afraid that it was his partner.

Until he stepped outside. Cooper saw his partner being crowded against a pile of sheet metal while DogMeat kept barking up a fuss. The dog ran over immediately to the man and began to drag him by his duster over to the woman.

“Come on, sweetheart. Don’t play hard to get.” Some man crept into her space, making her cower down even further. Based on what he could see, and the description the trader gave, this must have been the bounty. She did mention that he tended to go where he pleased like he owned it all.

“Please. Let me go.” She whimpered. Her voice was full of fear and worry, and Cooper was not about to let that stand.

“Everyone’s got a price. I can pay whatever your price is.” He continued, placing his hand on the woman’s waist.

“I do believe the lady asked you to let her go.” Cooper finally made his way over. The man turned around, and smiled with blackened teeth.

“Don’t worry, Ghoul. Once I’m done with her, I’m sure you can have a turn. Certainly don’t wanna do it the other way around.” He laughed, as if what he said was the funniest thing in the world. Cooper began to chuckle lowly as he peeked his eyes out from the lip of his hat. Catching his partner’s eyes, she felt relief as she saw her savior in western gear.

“See, she might be bein’ nice and askin’ you to let her go. But I ain’t that nice. So now I’m tellin’ you to let her go. Now.” Cooper growled, feeling his patience wear thin.

“Or what, Ghoul?” The man never got to hear another response. In a flash, Howard had aimed his gun and fired on his legs. Blowing both of them off, the not-so-tough man now crumbled to the ground, screaming and crying, pleading for the ghoul to have mercy on him.

“Well, ain’t that some shit.” The Ghoul growled, tying a rope around the torso of the man, and began to drag him to the trader’s hut. He focused on the task at hand, knowing that DogMeat would take care of anyone else that had dared get close to her owner.

Walking out of the trader’s hut, Cooper’s eyes scanned the town as he tried to find her partner. He found her, hugging her lugs, stuck in the same place that she was being held. DogMeat was chowing down on the legs that were left. His pocket felt heavy with the weight of the caps, but all that mattered now was taking care of her.

“You alright there, sweetheart?” Howard held a hand out for her to grab onto, and she did. Eagerly shoving her face into his chest and letting out a shaky breath as she processed the events that had just unfolded.

“I’m good. Can we go please?” Her words were muffled in his shirt, but he understood them plenty. Calling for DogMeat, Cooper led the three of them out of the town and into somewhere more secluded. Once they were there, tears fell from her eyes as the weight of what happened fully caught up to her. He set her down on something resembling a chair, and squatted down in front to check her over.

“You saved me.” She whispered, letting her partner do what he needed to do.

“Course I did. What’d you expect? Me to leave you with that man?” He countered with a ridiculous tone.

“It’s like one of your old sheriff films.” Her giggles matched his groan as he dropped his head.

“This ain’t the movies, darlin’.” Cooper looked up at her.

“It’s kinda like the movies.” She replied, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to bring him in close.

“I can always take you back to that town and leave you there.” He stated in her shoulder. She giggled again.

“That’s not very sheriff-y of you.” Every time he thought he had won, she proved him wrong.

“Alright,” he stood up and took her with him, “let’s get moving. Maybe if we’re lucky we can find another house to sleep in.”

“Ooo, do you think we could find one with a television and a few films?” She teased, already walking off away from town. Cooper groaned, but caught up to her and kept her underneath his arm as they walked away from that town.

[vanesycho]

would you ever consider writing horror/thriller with jaehyun 👀

I've never tried writing horror, but i hope it was something you wanted🥹🤍🤍

I really like the movie Scream so I got inspired by this <3

Warning:Violence, horror(?)

wc:1k

──────────────────────

“I missed you Y/n.” You smiled at what you heard from your boyfriend and leaned against the counter. "I missed you too, I want to see you again soon." You took a deep breath, he couldn't spare much time for you because of his work. "Don't worry my love, we will spend the whole day together tomorrow." You smiled slightly, distracted by the sound coming from the TV.

'The recent horrific events in the city have caused widespread coverage. Authorities have announced that a person has gained a reputation as an extremely dangerous and obsessive criminal. This person has caused several kidnappings and has caused great concern among the public. Police are warning that this person could be in the area at any time. Citizens are asked to lock their doors and windows tightly, be careful when they are alone at home, and report any suspicious situations to the authorities immediately. For your safety, please pay attention to these warnings and take the necessary precautions to protect yourself. We will share any new developments with you as they occur.'

You rolled your eyes and talked to yourself as you changed the channel. "This stupid news again, this is all I've seen for 2 weeks." A deep breathing sound came from the phone. "Be careful though Y/n, you're in the killer's place, I'm worried about you." Your hand went to the popcorn you had just prepared and you popped a few into your mouth. "Don't worry, this is nothing but nonsense, I'm sure they'll catch them soon. And never mind that, haven't you gotten home yet?"

"No, not yet." "I told you to take a taxi, why do you insist on walking?" There was no sound from your boyfriend. You frowned. “Hello?” After a while he spoke again "Yes I'm here, god someone just standing there in a weird outfit." You chuckled. "What? Are you scared? Don't worry, Halloween is coming up, everyone has already started getting ready." You sat on the couch and started looking for a movie to watch. "Hey babe, I have to hang up now, let me know when you get home okay?" There was no sound again. You rolled your eyes. "Look, don't make those jokes on me, okay? You know I don't like it." There was no sound again, the next thing that came was the sound of the phone closing.

You just stared at your phone screen, thinking there was no signal there, you called again but he didn't answer, you waited for a while, this time when you got a call from your boyfriend, you quickly answered it. "I think the signal went out-" The groaning sounds in pain behind didn't let you finish your sentence, you called out your boyfriend's name in a familiar voice. Another voice answered you, a strange, unfamiliar voice. “Hello Y/n.” It made you stand up quickly, you swallowed hard. “Look... If this is a joke, it’s not funny at all.”

The person on the other end of the phone laughed, "Oh honey, if you saw your boyfriend writhing in pain on the floor you wouldn't call this a joke." Your breathing quickened, your heart beating with fear as you started dialing the police number. "If you call the police, I will stab you until I take out all your guts." Your hand started shaking, you just stood there doing nothing, you brought the phone back to your ear, your voice came out shaky "W-what did you d-do to him?"

"Oh him? Don't worry I haven't done anything yet honey, but if you don't do what I say I don't think he'll live very long, right?" he brought the phone closer to your boyfriend, his groaning in pain caused tears to flow, the strange-voiced person who heard your cry laughed "Are you crying? And just now you were talking about how nonsense this is?"

"What the fuck do you want?" Your voice came out a little harsh despite your crying, you heard the other person hummed. "You." You swallowed hard. “What?” “You heard me, Y/n. No time to play dumb. Now answer my question, do you think your boyfriend would suffer more if I cut him in half or if I tore his limbs off?" Your tears started to flow faster, you covered your mouth with your hand to suppress your sound. "Please..." There was no answer, and after a while you threw the phone down in fear when you heard your boyfriend screaming in pain, even though the sound was still echoing in your ears. You didn't know what to do out of shock and fear, your whole body was shaking, you were frozen. "Answer me, Y/n. Do you think he's suffered enough? He still doesn't seem to have enough organs out, hm?"

"Fuck you! You're going to rot in hell you piece of shit!! You think you're going to get away with this?" He just laughed, you hated it when you heard his laugh, you hated everything, you couldn't do anything while your boyfriend was there in pain taking his last breaths. "Come on darling, don't cry. Now I have one more question for you." you stayed silent. “Do you think...I would enter from the back entrance of the house or from your open window in your room?” You opened your eyes in shock, felt your heart stop for a moment and quickly ran to the kitchen, took out a knife and held it tightly in your hand. "I'll be the one to cut out all your organs." a small laugh was heard, when you heard the sound of the hardwood floors, you took a few steps back, the steps echoed in the house. “How cute, a knife suits your hand Y/n. Oh, we would make great partners.” and another footstep "But don't worry, if you'll be a good girl I won't have to kill you and we can do this together. I'm sure you'll have fun."

A tiny scream escaped your mouth when the power went out in the house, with that your phone fell out of your hand, you looked around in fear. You froze in place when a man in a mask and black clothes entered your field of vision. “You see, Y/n.” When he took off the mask, you opened your mouth in surprise, the faint lines of his face visible under the moonlight made your heart race. "This is a two-player game and I'm about to win." That was the last thing you heard from your ex, Jaehyun.

[vitzi9]

Of course Ghostface wants you!

Gf!Ethan X GN!Reader

Masterlist if you want to read my other things.

‼️CW/TW‼️: scar; manipulative E; yandere!Ethan

If there's others tell me.

Not satisfied with this one, like really not. I fell like this is pure shit. Sorry.

"I'm scared, E. I'm actually terrified."

Ethan tightens his hold around you and kiss your forehead. The both of you lying down on your bed after a movie and an argument with the group.

"Ghostface wants us, he probably wants me, too! I don't wanna die, not like this. And the group... They want to separate you from me. You're my only support. Don't leave."

"I won't leave you." He whispers in your ear. "I'd never leave you. Nobody'll ever separate you from me. We'll be together forever. I'll protect you from everything."

According to Mindy, Ethan was the main suspect. When the first attack occurred, he wasn't here. Everyone got hurt, and Anika...

A wave of sadness overcome you and you feel your eyes water again.

"Love..." Ethan whispers, concern in his voice.

His thumbs caress your cheek while a weak smile makes his way to your face. The first attack was so unexpected, nobody was ready.

You even got hurt, too. Ghostface plunged his knife into your thigh. The hit was directed towards Sam but, trying to push her away, you fell and got hurt instead of her. Badly. You'll never regret it though.

Ethan's hand goes down your shoulders, to your hips to finally settle on your thigh. Where your stitches remains. He does not put his palms directly on it since the scar is really fresh and not healed yet. But his hand was still close to it. He was feeling guilty ever since he saw you with Chad near the ambulance. He was blaming himself.

"It's not your fault, E." You say.

-Yes, it is. I should have been here.

-But you weren't. It's useless to think of what you could have done. I'm alive. That's what matters."

You feel water running down your head. A single drop. A tear. Ethan is crying. You take Ethan's hand which is on your thigh and move it to your hip. Your good leg sneak its way in between his. While the hurt one goes above them to frame him. But not too far in case you worsen your stitches by stretching it. Both of your arms go under his. Your chest is glued to his.

"It's my fault.

-It's Ghostface's fault. He's the one who attacked me. Not you."

Ethan stays silent. His hand caress your back slowly and you do the same for him. Both of you comforting each other in the almost religious silence of the room. Some cars could faintly be heard outside but you were not paying attention to them.

In this hug, you were protecting each other. You were telling him how much you loved him, how much you were grateful. While Ethan was telling you that everything would be fine. He was so worried... You were happy he had econ. You don't know what you would have done if you saw him get hurt. He's the only one who understands you. The last thing you want is to see him in danger.

"You're risking your live by staying with me, you know ?" You talk with a shaky voice. You were getting emotional again just by thinking of what could happen.

"I'm sure Ghostface won't hurt you. How could he kill someone as pretty as you?"

"That's not funny, E. I'm really scared.

"I know but I swear to you, from now on, I'll always be by your side."

You nod, burying your face in his chest. Your arms tighten around him. You feel him tense for a second. Worried, you look up at him to just see him smiling, all softened, at you. He was so pretty. How could the others ever think of him as a criminal ? He was the one massaging your back when you were tired. He was the one cuddling you when you were sad. He was the one litteraly apologizing to chairs when he bumped into them. He was the one crying watching romantics movies ! How could he kill someone?

"Did I hurt you?" You ask.

-No, love. Why?" He whispers back.

You took time to respond, chilling in the pretty silence of the room where all you could hear were your two breath. It was hot but a nice hotness. A calming one. It made you sleepy, you who had sleep issue.

"Your body contracted when I touched you.

-It's nothing..."

Still worried, you move in the bed. Your back now facing him. He's whining, missing your body close already. You grab your phone and quicky return under the blanket. This time though, your head goes underneath. With the flashlight of your phone, you move up his shirt and look at where you touched moment prior. Ethan sighs.

"I told you it's nothing."

But you ignore him and go back to the surface. Meeting his accustomed yet loving gaze.

"Did your hurt yourself? You have a bruise on your hip."

He laughs nervously, as if embarrassed. His big hands takes a good hold of your hips before moving you up until you're face to face. He then hides his face in your neck. He loved doing that, manhandling you. You never understood why. He sighs once in the comfort of your body.

"I bumped into the corner of the table yesterday."

You had doubts.

"You're not hiding something from me, right ?"

But Ethan never doubted himself.

"What ? You think I'm Ghostface, too?" He said in a ironical tone, knowing damn well he won already.

You were not laughing. You would never dare doubt your boyfriend like that. The only reason you asked that was because you were scared he got into a fight or simply hurt himself bad. It happens, after all. Never would the thought he was a murderer even cross your mind. So you push him away from you a little to see his face. Not even a shadow of a smile on your face.

"Don't say that. Even for a joke. You know it makes me angry. I don't like them saying that. You're not Ghostface. I think I'd knew it well if you were a damn serial killer." You said, gritting your teeth, your hands clenching around his shirt.

-Well, I don't like them saying that either. Plus, they imply that you'd be stupid enough to be in a relationship with someone you barely know. But you're not stupid. And we know each other. You're the cleverest person in the damn world.

The subject changed and you didn't even notice.

-I am stupid sometimes, though. There is lot of things that I don't notice. Like when that guy was following me home. If it weren't for you I'd be dead.

-And that's why I'm here.

It was his duty, after all. To protect you.

-But Ghostface is not just a creepy guy in an alley. He's much more dangerous Ethan. And he wants me dead. He wants me.

-Of course he wants you my love, you're so pretty. Everyone want you.

You move away from his embrace and stare at him angrily. You had already told him not to joke like that and he was still doing it. Your eyes were swollen and your cheeks were dry. Contradictory with the long minutes you spent wetting them.

-Seriously Ethan, don't joke on that subject. It's making me uncomfortable. Anika is dead because of that guy. I don't want to laugh.

You cringed internally mentioning your friend. Fuck, she wasn't even related to the group that much. She was new, like Ethan. Why was she targeted ?

-I'm joking on it because I know nothing will happen to you. You're safe with me." He was smiling. A reassuring smile. One you could pour all your trust in.

You could never stay mad at Ethan anyway. Less in a situation like this. You needed support. And your friends didn't want him around. You only had him to dry your tears.

"I don't want you to get hurt." You said, entering back your safe place: his arms.

"I already told you. I won't. I'm staying here until you are safe.

-And the group? Chad, Mindy, Sam and Tara ? What about them?

-I'm sure they'll be fine. Even if they threw you out of their house...

-They didn't throw me out of the house, Ethan. I know you don't like them but they're my friends. They're scared too, you have to understand that.

-Okay, I understand. But if I wasn't here, you would have been all alone. They shouldn't have kicked you out in a situation like this."

You found nothing to answer this time. Because it was true. If he wasn't here, you'd be alone. They didn't kick you out, you left with Ethan because you were angry with their accusatory remarks towards him. But still, no one tried to call you. To know how you were doing. To even check if you were alive. And realizing that, you start crying again. You were so sensitive since Anika's death. You were truly in edge. You were happy Ethan was here.

"I'm alone E. I'm so fucking alone..." You realized.

-No, of course not. You're not alone. I'm here. I'd die for you. I'll protect you. Nothing will ever harm you as long as I'm here. You'll always be seen with me by your side. I'll marry you one day. You know that?"

You weren't listening anymore. You were remembering every memory you had with your friends. Searching a way to come back to them, to regain their trust. You needed them, they were your dear friends. Maybe you were dramatic but you had every right to be. And Ethan was right. They had left you alone to die by Ghostface. They had left you knowing you were a target. But you loved them, you couldn't resent them.

"We'll live a life where you won't need anyone but me. And I won't need anyone but you. A house secluded where no one can come. After all of this is done, we'll be together."

Ethan was smiling. But you couldn't see it.

[thegettingbyp2]

I love drama and protective Austin so how about one where Vanessa is hating on musical theater actress & being jealous & shady & Austin sticks up for you & calls her out.

8 Times a Week

A/N: So sorry it's taken so long but it felt so GOOD to sit and write again!

Join my Patreon here

Donate £1 to my Book Fund here

The moment you heard the front door close, you were quickly wiping your eyes and shoving your phone between the couch cushions. Jumping up, you checked in the mirror to make sure that there was no mascara running down your cheeks and you gave yourself a watery smile before turning to greet your boyfriend in the hallway.

‘You’re back!’ you exclaimed, running over to him and practically throwing yourself into his arms, partly because there was nothing you needed more right now than to be wrapped up in him but mostly due to the fact you hadn’t seen him for three weeks while he was away filming and you’d missed him more than anything.

‘I’m back,’ Austin sighed happily as he held you against him, burying his head in your neck and breathing in the smell of your shampoo, a smell he’d missed for the past three weeks. Pulling back slightly, Austin’s came up to cup your cheek as he pulled you in for a kiss that made up for all the kisses he’d missed whilst he’d been away. You let yourself relax into the kiss, focusing on nothing but the man in front of you and wanting nothing more than to order take-out and curl up on the sofa, watching movies with him. ‘You okay?’ he asked when he broke the kiss, noticing how your eyes were slightly red and puffy from where you’d been crying moments before he walked through the front door.

‘I’m fine,’ you replied quickly, not quite meeting his eyes. ‘I just missed you.’

‘Baby, what’s wrong?’ he asked, stepping even closer to you and running the back of his hand against your warm cheek, the cool sensation of his hand on your skin causing your eyes to flutter closed briefly. ‘You’ve been crying.’

‘No, I haven’t.’ You laughed, trying prove to him that nothing was wrong. But this was Austin and he knew you better than you knew yourself.

‘Please don’t lie to me, baby. Tell me what’s wrong and we can fix it.’

You sighed gently, knowing that Austin wasn’t going to let it go until you told him what was wrong. ‘It’s just some people on Instagram and Twitter posting some not too nice things about me.’

‘What do you mean “about you”?’ he asked, his tone growing dangerously calm as his eyes darkened slightly.

‘Just posting a video from the other night where I tripped onstage at work and making comments about how if I was actually good at my job, then things like that wouldn’t happen and that you deserve to be with someone who’s as talented as you.’ You spoke quickly and quietly, hoping that he wouldn’t hear, but he heard every single word.

‘That’s ridiculous!’ he exclaimed, pulling you into him and tilting your head up to make you look at him. ‘Baby, you don’t need to listen to any of that, okay? You’re incredible! I could never do what you do.’

‘You did do it,’ you said, laughter colouring your voice slightly.

‘No. I did a play. You do musicals, with all the singing and dancing, I could never do that over and over again,’ he insisted. ‘Show me the comments.’

‘No,’ you were quick to reply.

‘Why not?’

‘Because you made me feel better about the whole thing! I’m not even upset about it anymore!’ you tried to reason with him but the raised eyebrow you got in response only proved to you that it didn’t work.

‘I know that’s what you were looking at just now, show me and we can get rid of them yeah?’ he spoke gently, his thumb tracing back and forth over your cheekbone as you sighed, nodding gently before taking his hand in yours and pulling him with you into the living room.

‘Just…promise me you won’t get mad when you see who the comments are from, okay?’ Austin gave you a questioning look but nodded nonetheless, wanting nothing more than to make you feel better.

Once the two of you were seated on the sofa, you reached between the cushions to retrieve your phone before unlocking it and handing it to him. You knew the exact moment he’d seen who had wrote the comments because his entire body went still and you could’ve sworn that you felt the temperature in the room drop a couple of degrees.

‘You promised you wouldn’t get mad,’ you reminded him after a couple of moments of silence.

‘That was before you told me it was Vanessa making these comments about you. She has no right talking about you at all, it was fine when she was making comments when I was doing Elvis press because I’d not long broken up with her but to come for you?! I’m not putting up with it and you shouldn’t too.’ He gave you your phone back before pulling his own phone from his pocket and opening up twitter.

‘What are you doing?’ you asked warily when you saw him pull up a photo the two of you had taken on your opening night of your latest show.

‘Sticking up for my girl,’ he replied simply, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you in close while he began to type with his free hand:

The woman in this photo is the most talented woman I have ever met and I’m lucky enough that she saw something in me that made me want to give her a chance. She’s stuck by me through everything and I’ll be damned if I don’t do the same for her. This woman goes onstage in front of thousands of people 8 times a week and performs for them. So what if she trips over every now and then, the beauty of what she does is that it’s different every time and that she’s fucking amazing at it. And for anyone who has a different opinion, that’s fine but please, keep it to yourself. She has more talent in her little finger than most, Vanessa.

He clicked send and you couldn’t help the shocked gasp escape your lips when you saw that he’d actually called Vanessa out. ‘Austin, you can’t do that!’

‘I can! She needs to know that she’s not getting away with anything like this, (Y/N), I’m not going to come home to you crying over something that’s not true, know who it was that made you cry and not do anything about it. I love you so much and I hate seeing you upset, so I’m going to do something about it when it happens.’

You sat in a stunned silence for a couple of seconds, feeling like a weight had crashed into you as you realised just how much the man sitting next to you loved you. ‘I love you too,’ you whispered, your eyes tearing up again as you leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

A lopsided grin worked its way onto Austin’s lips as he looked at you. ‘How about I go get changed while you order food and we’ll spend the rest of the night on the sofa, how’s that sound?’

‘That sounds like something I’ve been waiting for for the past three weeks.’

[dudewhy3]

Continue yours and Myrtle's discussion about Armin being a Twilight fan, what if it's a plot twist, and it's ARMIN who introduced Mikasa to Twilight?

Like, he was *analysing* everything and reading books and watching movies, but was ashamed of it, and Mikasa once spotted him writing another long essay about, "The more Edward loves Bella, the more he thinks he's in danger: principles of the selective abstraction and polarizes thinking", and so he introduced her with the saga after this.

BONUS: before AruAni became a thing, Armin heard Annie playing and singing Paramore - Decode, and he was mesmerized by her voice, playing and beauty, and so he was so smitten with her, that he didn't even notice that Annie was, in fact, smitten with him, too. It took them a while before they became a couple, but when they did, Annie plays Decode only for him :3

HI ANNAAAA, AND OH MY GOD YES!! THIS IS SUCH A GREAT IDEA AAAAAAGH, thank you for sending it in!! <3

It turned out rather long ahaha, so i'll put it under the cut. Please do beware of the angst ahead :3

So in a high school au, let's say Armin was 16 this year. That would mean that he was born in the same year the first Twilight movie was released (2008), just 3 weeks before. So, imagine his parents, a young couple, new parents to a little bundle of light, huddling up on the little couch in their little apartment, trying to ignore the cold, switching through channels to make the time pass. They randomly get to a channel streaming Twilight, so they watch it all. And little Armin doesn't cry once, he just stares at the screen with those big eyes of his, as if he understood everything that was going on. For the next 5 years, each November they would watch the release of another Twilight movie (except for that one time in like 2010 when they released it in June). And after the saga was complete, they'd watch it all in November, maybe even on Armin's birthday to make it more special. Until the day he turned 10, and his parents didn't come home– they never came home again, it was just him and his grandfather. Yet every time he missed them, he put on a Twilight movie, and the grief would get a little more bearable.

So as he grew older, he grew more attached to the saga. He started analysing everything about it, every little detail, because it made him feel closer to his parents. But he never shared those ideas, because they were so intimate and he was already getting bullied enough- so, he kept them in a little notebook. Until one day in math class when he was about 13 or 14, he was scribbling down ideas for that essay you mentioned- "The more Edward loves Bella, the more he thinks he's in danger" (which is such a cool title btw, love it). And Mikasa peeked over his shoulder and read a bit, and she was so engrossed with it that she didn't stop pestering him until he showed her the movies.Which was life changing for Mikasa, because she now finally had something she truly loved, but also for Armin- someone liked his ideas; he got to share his love for the series again, and it made him happy. So he finally found the courage to share his analyses and ideas, and they were well recieved by the fandom.

But he never finished that essay, not until he met Annie. He met her just as you said- he heard her singing once and was irrevocably in love. Except, i head canon that Annie would be such a distant and quiet person in high school, it would take a LOT to get close to her. Not only is she aloof, she's also extremely direct- so all his efforts to sit with her or strike up conversation ended up in her berating him for bugging her. Besides, there was Bert too, always two steps behind Annie in an almost stalky manner, but she seemed to indulge his presence better than Armin's.

So, Armin gave up on trying to pursue her. He accepted the fact that he was the Jacob in this situation and that his Bella has chosen the giant vampire, and drowned himself into his theories and analysis. He found that essay in his drafts, and decided to work on it again. "The more Edward loves Bella, the more he thinks he's in danger: principles of the selective abstraction and polarized thinking". It helped to put his own feelings and love somewhere.

But the bullies found it. They found his notebook, tore it all up, gave him one hell of a beating. Armin was left bruised and broken and with a ruined notebook. His work, his life's purpose- gone. He didn't know what to do, so he picked himself up, gathered the pieces of paper that used to be his essay, and started walking astray through the school. Until he heard soft guitar tunes coming out of the music room, and found Annie there, playing her guitar, wearing a scowl on her face. Somehow, her scowl only deepened when she saw him.

"I didn't know where else to go." He couldn't go home and worry his grandpa, and he couldn't go to his friends either, or Eren would have caused a scene. "Is it cool if I stay here? I promise not to bother you."

Annie looked him up and down, examining him thoroughly, her eyes widening the slightest bit at the sight of his bruises. "It's whatever," she finally said.

So they sat in the music room, each doing their own thing. Armin put his essay back together, and Annie carried on with her song. No word was spoken between them that day, or the next day, or the next week, yet there was peace in the quiet and comfort in the silent understanding passed between them. But Annie's silence turned into nods of aknowledgement and later into quiet 'hi's. Armin's turned into little smiles and stolen glances, and occasional "hey do you want some chips?"s. One day, two months into this arrangement, as she was taking a little break from her guitar and munching on his chips, she asked about that essay of his.

"How come you haven't finished it yet, don't you have a deadline for it?"

And so, feeling extremely self conscious, Armin beat around the bush and said that it was this silly character analyses for a show he liked.

The next day, Annie was playing another song, but he didn't recognize it at first because she played it in little sequences, never in full length. Eventually, maybe three or four weeks later, she asked him to put his essay aside for a minute and just listen, and she played Paramore's Decode, both guitar and voice. Armin was left absolutely mesmerized, so much so that he didn't know what to say, staring at Annie with a big dumb smile on his face. But the more he stared, the more self aware Annie became. She flushed a deep red, picked up all her stuff in a hurry and left.

That was the moment Armin realized he was completely smitten. He went home, sat down at his desk- and decided to finish his essay that very day, give it to Annie in the morning, and confess his love through it. Which is exactly what he did. He was an absolute zombie the next day, having barely slept, but when he made it to the music room his heart was beating like crazy against his chest.

Annie got flustered when she saw him. "This is my room, I found it first. If you're gonna sit there and mock me for what I play, then you can stick your nose right up your-"

He thrusted the papers in her arms. "Just read this," he demanded.

Annie looked between him and the papers with skeptical eyes, but eventually sat down and started reading through them. Armin sat next to her and carefully watched her face as she read, taking into account every little change in her expression.

When she was done, Annie sat the papers neatly between them.

"Okay. And?"

"What do you think?"

"What does this have to do with me?"

Armin took a deep breath in, building up his courage. He couldn't back out now.

"This is how I feel about you. What do you think?"

[teecupangel]

What if the assassins ended up in Far Cry 5?

It would be so chaotic if this was the whole ‘canon Assassins gets booted into Far Cry 5’. Those poor ‘kids’ wouldn’t have the time to actually get used to present day tech because Project at Eden’s Gate would be all over them so for this one, we’ll go for modern day versions of the Assassins getting thrown into Far Cry 5.

Now, the next problem would be how this would work considering the Brotherhood would prefer to send in a small group for missions (if it isn’t a solo mission) so if we consider the Assassins of the main game alone (not counting Chronicles, movie and other forms of media), we’re still left with 9 Assassins.

And, because it’s me, we’re adding Desmond into this so that would be 10 Assassins traveling into Hope County during the whole… cult thing.

So we’ll make this a bit… easier for us.

It’s meant to be a simple search and retrieve operation. William Miles got a tip that his runaway son was in Hope County. That was the official mission brief.

The unofficial mission brief is that the tip said Desmond Miles is part of the cult ‘Project at Eden’s Gate’ which complicated things.

It was meant to be a secret mission under Edward Kenway with Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton being his ‘field agents’ but someone tattled (it was Basim, Basim definitely tattled) and Bayek heard about the mission, taking his apprentices, Arno, Jacob and Evie with them because Bayek believed they’re too close to Desmond Miles to look at this objectively.

If Desmond Miles is part of the cult then the cult would be dangerous even for Master Assassins such as them.

Not to mention, Desmond Miles was their childhood friend and Edward Kenway’s godchild so they were pretty much compromised from the start.

Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are ordered to secure their escape route while Bayek’s team find Desmond Miles. Edward and Basim stay in their ‘mission control’ van.

They’d picked the time the cops are taking Joseph Seed in custody so that people were focused on another thing and Bayek and his team are deep into the compound looking for Desmond Miles when Ezio contacts them.

“We found Desmond!”

“Ezio, I told you three to stay put and secure our exit.”

“He’s with the cops! Desmond’s- shit! Desmond!”

By the time Bayek and his team return to the van, they find Edward Kenway knocked out. When he comes to, he tells them Basim knocked him out for some reason and Basim has gone MIA.

The three Assassins are not responding to their comms and they fear the worst.

But Edward did know what Ezio was trying to tell them before everything went to shit.

Desmond wasn’t part of Joseph Seed’s cult.

He was the junior deputy that had cuffed Joseph Seed.

Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton recognized him when he went inside the chopper with Joseph Seed. By that point, it was too late and they watched in horror as the cultists sacrificed themselves to bring down the helicopter.

The last thing Edward heard is that they’re on their way to find Desmond.

Unorganized Notes:

Sooooo… there’s three (four if you count Basim) main POVs in this one. Desmond taking over the role of the Junior Deputy main character of Far Cry 5, Altaïr-Ezio-Ratonhnhaké:ton team’s POV of trying to find Desmond, always a step behind him, and Bayek-Arno-Evie-Jacob-Edward trying to find Desmond and the other three.

The cult being named Project at Eden’s Gate is too much to pass so the cult is related to the Isus in some way. To be more exact: the plant Bliss which the drug is derived from is actually an Isu experimental plant that is meant to ‘copy’ the powers of the Apple. It was developed during the Human-Isu war as a way to control the remaining human slaves and make them into cannon fodders who would do everything for the Isus. It was never finished but the cult managed to harvest and use it for their benefit.

This means that Bliss barely works on Desmond. Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton also has higher than normal resistance to it. The rest though? Yeah, good luck.

Joseph Seed is very much interested in Desmond. He does not say why though. He does call Desmond ‘angel’ more than once, pinging Desmond’s ‘uncle bad touch’ radar. Faith though calls him ‘an angel shackled in a mortal body’ which… might hint on what Joseph actually meant.

Basim didn’t necessarily betray them. He is, unfortunately, Loki’s Sage and he knows more than he’s letting on. To be more exact, his objective is the complete eradication of the Bliss plant. Or, as he called it, “a grieving wife’s final punishment”. It’s later revealed that Bliss was engineered to have ‘Isu’ DNA. To be more exact, the Isu DNAs of Nari and Váli. Basim is actually heavily affected by Bliss and it’s hinted that he actually got hit by it (airborne?) at some point and his actions are done while under the influence of Bliss (which is… a nightmare to him)

(I got sidetracked into making the Isu related plot. Anyway, the main point in this one is the Assassins have their work cut out for them just trying to find Desmond who doesn’t even know they’re looking for him. Oh, and each of them have a specific Fangs for Hire. Desmond gets Boomer, The Altaïr Ezio Ratonhnhaké:ton team gets Cheeseburger. The Bayek Arno Jacob Evie Edward team gets Peaches)

[a-b-riddle]

Pen Pals Chapter One: Welcome to the Internet

I feel like most girls who claimed they loved world history either had a hot history teacher or a Percy Jackson obsession. Well, I'm not like most girls. I had both. I may have been failing math, but when I tell you I was passing history with flying colors...

It was 2009: I was a freshman in high school and at 14 years old, I was very impressionable. Full disclosure: I was not groomed. Well, by my teacher at least. My history teacher wasn't like that weird, over-friendly coach with the students. He was just hot. Very incredibly boring, but hot by my standards as a 14-year-old who up until that point had only kissed two boys, but read some very questionable fan-fiction. 

Our semester closed on the unit about World War II. It was the week of Christmas, we just finished our finals and we watched a movie I highly recommend called 'Pearl Harbor'.

That movie just kind of fueled my obsession with World War II. It's like those little kids who had a really nice nurse when they were sick and they grew up wanting to be nurses. I saw Ben Affleck in a WW 2 uniform and was fucking SET. 

Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed it besides the hot actors. I loved the stories. I loved the heroes. Second Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy: The most decorated soldier of the war. He was credited for killing over 200 Germans. Corporal Desmond Doss was a medic, never picked up a weapon and saved 75 men by lowering them down from a freaking cliff. I cry every time I watch his interviews and if you want to know his full story watch Hacksaw Ridge. Then there was Private Steven Grant Rogers. Started out as an E-1 and then promoted to a O-3 (or a Captain) and was renamed  Captain America.

Just like how people think of Tom Brady when they think of the Super Bowl, I did the same thing when it came to Captain America and the war. Now, I don't want to say I idolized the man, but I did admire the hero.

My obsession made me major in History and later get a Master's in Conflict Management. Now, I was applying to one of the biggest companies in the nation: Stark Industries. Now, that was partly because I could not find a job anywhere and someone that I went to college with started working in HR and was able to get me an interview. It didn't have to do with anything pertaining to my degree, but it had been a while before I was able to find a job that paid this well. 

I felt like I was running my sponsor dry with his support and I had applied several times to multiple colleges in the city. I mean I had a freaking Master's degree with intentions of pursuing my Doctorate for crying out loud and the best I could do was be a personal assistant.

I was going to be a secretary. Nothing important, but the pay was more than exceptional. 

Stark Tower was intimidating to say the least. Over 90 floors and reflective glass windows. It hurt my neck to look directly up at it. 

When I walked into the building, security instructed me what floor to go to. When I got there, I was greeted with an empty desk. I waited several minutes downstairs before a strawberry blonde woman with cute freckles came down to greet me. "Hi, you must be the secretary applicant." She smiled. "I'm Pepper Potts. So you're resume here is quite impressive and Harrison in HR highly recommended you."

"Yes, I was so excited when he told me you had a position available."

"Usually, I would be doing the interview, but I'm afraid I have to head out on some other business, so if you want to take the elevator to floor 82, Mr. Stark will be waiting."

"Of course." I said holding a folder that contained all the documents he requested I brought in.

"Hello, Mr. Stark." I greeted.

"You must be Pepper's replacement."

"Oh," I said. "Is she not-"

"She's been made COO." He clarified. "She can't leave that easily."

"Oh, good." I said. "She seemed really sweet."

"To you, yes. To me, I can't do anything. Don't put your life in danger, don't challenge terrorists." He mocked. "She's no fun." He walked further into what I assumed was a common room of sorts. It gave no indication that he lived on that floor. There was a full bar and it looked more of a place he hosted parties. "So tell me a bit about yourself." He began to pour himself a drink. "Something that isn't on your resume."

"Um, well, I'm taking a course in French and Greek right now. Just online classes, nothing too time consuming. I prefer dogs over cats because I think that its important if you die, for your pet to at least be sad and I am the first one in my family to live in New York, that I know of. I'm the first girl to graduate with their Master's. I plan on eventually getting my Doctorate, but not for a while. I don't like hot coffee and I'm terrified of snakes."

"Who would actually prefer cats over dogs?"

"Pepper?" I asked to which he laughed, even though it wasn't that funny.

"I like you." He took a sip of his drink. "It's not liquor. Pepper has this rule that alcohol should only be consumed during certain times of the day."

"I think 9:30 on a Monday is acceptable. I was debating on getting Mimosas after the interview if it went well."

"And if it didn't?" He asked.

"I would say tequila, but I got food poisoning from the limes once."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I had about 15 limes and felt terrible the next day."

"I prefer a good scotch myself."

"I like anything that doesn't taste like alcohol. I'm really impressed that a bottle of wine can cost thousands of dollar, but I guarantee it can't be as delicious as a Moscow mule."

"I haven't had a Moscow mule in forever." He said. "They were my go-to in college."

"Where did you go to school?" His response was to point at a wall that was covered in awards and accomplishments. "You went to Andover?" I asked looking at his degree.

"Seven years." He said. "I really liked the science department."

"I've given a few guest lectures there. It's a lovely school."

"What was the topic of discussion?"

"The North African campaign during World War 2, but specifically the Battle of Ramree Island."

"History nerd. Nice." Mr. Stark replied sarcastically when the elevator door dinged. "Speaking of historical nerds."

If my legs could have physically turned into jelly at that moment they would. None other than Steve Rogers walked in with a blonde following dutifully behind. "Tony."

"Capscicle and the ice queen." He whispered too low for them to hear.

"Rogers, meet our new secretary." Tony introduced and started to head toward the elevator.

"It is such an honor, Captain Rogers." I said taking his outstretched hand.

"Please, call me Steve." He insisted. The blonde beside him remained quiet and eyed me up and down with a stoic expression.

"Not that I'm trying to cut you off, but I'll let you two old ladies reminisce on the glory days." Tony clicked the elevator door and waited until it dinged opened. "I have somewhere to be. Congratulations. You got the job. Blah. Blah. Blah. Monday at 9, don't be late." He pressed a button I couldn't see and the doors began to close. "Or do. I really don't care, but if you're late, bring coffee."

"He's..." I began, but couldn't quite pick the right word.

"Arrogant." Steve finished.

"I was going to say interesting." I said.

"So what 'glory days' was Stark referring to?"

"Oh. I gave a few lectures about a few battles at the University he went to. Nothing exciting."

"Well Mrs.-"

"It's just Miss." I said. That was stupid. Why did I say that? That was rude to cut him off like that. "Sorry." I apologized. Why was I apologizing?

"Well, Ma'am. It looks like we'll be seeing you Monday morning. If you're late Tony gets a triple shot of espresso and a disgusting amount of sugar in it."

"Being late isn't really my style. My mother always said if you're not early, you're late." Why was a quoting my zealot mother right now. Jesus, stop it.  Not like Jesus Jesus. You know what, never mind. "I think I can find my way out." I said.

The walk back home I felt my cheeks burn the entire time. I haven't even started and I'm already flustered. Jesus, get a grip.

Suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was him.

*So how did it go?*

*I got the job* I replied back.

*That's wonderful. I'm so proud of you* I couldn't deny the pride that swelled inside of me at his praise.

*Thank you, although I did make a complete ass out of myself*

*How so?*

*Well, my new boss introduced me to one of his partners and I felt like I made a fool of myself.* I typed. *Not partner in the sexual way, but someone he works with. He called Mrs. and I corrected him and said 'no it's just MIss' like it didn't even matter, he was just being polite. Then I quoted my mother. I was just flustered, but I start Monday.*

C didn't reply after that. We were supposed to have a date tonight so I'm sure he would just finish the conversation later. I had a caprese salad, but ate mostly the mozzarella. I showered, shaved and waited until I got a notification.

 *Sorry. Something came up. Regardless, I think you'll do great.* I smiled at his message, but was disappointment that he was cancelling our date tonight. Well the closest thing we came to date nights which usually ended in me being in an unsavory position.

Initially, C and I met on a chat forum in 2016. I was working on my senior seminar and had sort of an open ended question regarding the war. It was something along the lines of taking the notion that if a war on that scale were to happen in today's world in what ways would American citizens contribute to the war effort at home? Back in the 40s most companies like Ford made strictly military equipment. It was an honor to have a government contract whereas now it's more like any other business deal.

I received a lot of interesting responses, but a user named CR0876 replied that shifting the current American ideal of self-preservation to what we had before which was sacrificing for your country was the only way in which today's America could possibly aid in a war. I messaged CR0876 to further discuss the topic. 

He wrote me: All I am saying is we now live in a day and age where you have people who won't vaccinate their children simply because they choose not to. They don't have an issue with you vaccinating your kids, but not theirs. We eradicated some of the deadliest diseases that are still present in some third-world nations and you have entitled people who don't trust science to preserve the health and well-being of not only their children, but everyone they come in contact with. The reason that our life expectancy has shot up isn't because of ground breaking medical break throughs like chemotherapy, it is for preventative measures. Getting vaccinated. Getting checkups. Wearing sunscreen. Washing your hands after wiping your ass. 

A few minutes later he sent an apology for getting so riled up in his rant and I told him that no apology was needed and I completely agreed with him. From then on our friendship started to blossom. 

Most of our conversations had something to do involving the war, but then it got more personal. I felt comfortable with him. I talked about my time at college and what I was studying. We went from a few messages a week to communicating everyday. Eventually when graduation came around, I offered him a graduation ticket. I was a little disappointed to find out it was too far for him to travel. He asked for my mailing address. That he felt guilty for missing such a big event and he wanted to make it up to me. I was a little apprehensive. I mean, we were taught to never give your stranger your address, but I was an RA in a college dorm. I would be out into the real world soon and he wouldn't know my room number or what I looked like.

So I sent it.

A few weeks passed and I got a pair of beautiful pearl earrings with a card that read. A beautiful girl always needs a set of beautiful pearls. Congratulations on all of your hard work. -C

Four and a half years later and I still have that card. We still talk about the war. I recommend him movies, while he recommends books then we both point on the inconsistencies. It was stupid, but it was fun. Now, I just sort of tell him about my day to day life and he tells me small tidbits about his. It was earlier in 2020 when the pandemic hit that things started to get... well things just changed.

I had just moved to New York in early February to start teaching at a local college. I was going to start with May-mester classes, but then Covid hit and the world stopped. 

I had moved in with little to nothing. I had a few pieces of stuff for the kitchen and a bed. It wasn't much, but it was mine and I was damn proud of it.

My pride was short lived when I got the e-mail. In a panic, I sent him a message.

Hey can you talk?

Sure. What's up?

Is there anyway you can call me? I'm kind of in a bad place right now and I really don't have anyone else to talk to. I felt guilty as soon as I hit the send button. I'm not like going to hurt myself or anything I am just super stressed and if you have the time and energy, I just need to unload some stuff.

Seconds later my phone began to ring.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I took a deep breath. I can't believe this was the first time hearing his voice. It wasn't what I was expecting. I expected almost a pompous scholarly tone in his voice. But instead he was borderline on being batman. His voice was deep.

"They rescinded my offer." I took a deep breath. "I just spent all of my savings literally to move to this stupid freaking city and they told me over an e-mail 'we are sorry to inform you that your offer for employment has been rescinded until further notice due to the impending pandemic and the unforeseeable circumstances it holds. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and wish you the best in your future endeavors.' They said sorry and good luck." 

There was a pause and I heard him sigh. "Sweetheart, I am so sorry." 

"Thanks." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Looks like that chapter closed before it got any good. I guess I can see if maybe I can do virtual learning for a high school, but I don't know if my degree is enough. I think you need an education degree to teach."

"But you always wanted to teach college..." His disappointment matched mine.

"I know..." I looked down at nearly clear streets of New York. "But I need a job, C." I sighed. "It's either that or call my parents and I would literally rather be homeless than ask them for help."

"How much?"

"What do you mean?"

"How much was your job going to pay you?"

"80k a year starting." I said and felt another wave of nausea wash over me. 80k wasn't much to some, but it was a lot for me and it would be doing something I loved.

"Tell you what, that is about 6 and a half grand a month. I will pay you 7 grand a month if you promise me not to give up."

"What?" I couldn't believe this. "There is absolutely no way I could ever accept that kind of money."

"It's not like I don't have it, Princess." He can't be serious. That's crazy. He never mentioned having money or being well off. 

"And what do you want in return?" The butterflies in my stomach began to churn. God I hope he wasn't wanting to do anything... unethical. "Surely you wouldn't do that just because you want me to be a college professor."

"Nothing." He said. "Absolutely nothing. I just want you to be taken care of and pursue your dream."

"I really can't let you do that."

"It's only temporary." He tried to assure me, but I still felt guilty. 

"C-" He was always so argumentative and authoritative over messaging and he matched it over the phone.

"I promise." He interrupted. "It won't put a dent in my wallet."

"Only until I have a full-time job." I tried to say.

"Until you become a professor."

"No," I said. "As soon as I get a job and can support myself."

"Sweetheart, it's not polite to argue."

"I appreciate it." I said. "I really do."

"So does that make your day a little bit better?" He asked.

"It does."

"Anything else gone wrong you need help fixing?"

"No." I responded and felt like a child and and adult came up to fix the mess I had made.

"Good." I heard him sigh. "I'm glad that was easy to fix and now, that I got you on the phone... it's nice to finally hear your voice."

Chapter Two: Confessions

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

frank, do you think you could draw me something fun? anything you want!

I'll see what I can do (but I'm just going to take "draw me something" as "tell me what you want me to draw")

What could you see in a future where you had complete artistic control over the next three hours?

When have you experienced a major transformation or radical change to your way of thinking?

What's your strangest dream?

Which do you think is better: to be loved by someone, or to be feared by them?

What's your opinion on the best way to have sex?

Did you do any good deeds this week?

Are you a happy person?

What do you want for your birthday?

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

What's your least favorite word?

Is it easier to forgive someone who's wronged you or someone who's wronged someone else?

Which is better: pain or danger?

Which is better: to conquer something or to be conquered?

What made you have the most sex of your life this year?

What's your ideal form of government?

Have you ever loved someone to the point of obsession?

Are you a romantic or a cynic?

Are you a good artist? (do something impressive and show it to us, if you've got the time and the skill)

Which is better: the present or the past?

What's your relationship status?

What's your ideal vacation?

What's your favorite name?

What's your favorite name?

What's your current relationship status?

What's your longest relationship with someone?

If you could see any of your favorite musicals, which one would you see and who would you want to see you in it?

Have you ever been in love?

What's your favorite quote?

When's the last time you've had a nice day?

Do you like being called baby?

Are you a good singer?

Do you like taking walks? If so, where do you like to go?

Are you afraid of heights?

Do you have any piercings? Do you want any?

Do you miss anyone right now?

What do you think about when you are having sex?

What kind of music do you listen to when you masturbate?

Do you have an alcohol problem?

Do you have an smoking problem?

Would you ever take ecstasy or speed?

Describe your personal style in one word.

How do you deal with loss of love?

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Have you ever changed into something different in the middle of the night?

Do you miss anyone? Who?

What's the best decision you've ever made?

Have you ever cheated on someone you loved?

Would you rather have children or a pet?

Have you ever been arrested?

Where was your last vacation? Why did you go?

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Have you ever been on a plane?

Have you ever wanted to die?

Where would you most like to die?

Is there anyone who can always make you laugh?

Is there anyone who can always make you cry?

Did you go somewhere this year that you never expected to visit?

Have you ever been called down to the principals' office?

What's the last thing you ate?

Is there anyone you are not close to but would like to be?

If you are single, are you happy? If you are in a relationship, are you happy? What about a new relationship?

Name something you wish you were famous for?

Have you ever felt like dying?

Have you ever regretted something? If so, what?

Are you happy with your life?

What is one thing you wish you could change?

What kind of movies do you watch?

Do you have any siblings?

When is the last time you were happy?

If your life had a soundtrack, what song would be playing while you are talking to me?

Do you miss anyone?

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

Would you ever get involved with someone who was married?

If the person you wish to be with were here, would you stop and talk to them?

How often do you read? Do you prefer to read in public or alone?

If the person you wish to be with were here, what would they say to you?

Name a person you love.

Name a person you're protective of.

What's your favorite drink?

What do you wear to bed?

What time do you go to bed?

Are you a patient person?

What's the best advice you ever got?

What advice would you give to your 12 year old self?

How do you relax?

How is your family?

If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for?

What's on your mind right now?

What would your last words be?

[bluenet13]

When there is no place safe and no safe place to put my head

Fandom: NCIS Los Angeles.

Characters: Marty Deeks, Kensi Blye.

Summary: After hearing disturbing noises, Deeks and Kensi confront their neighbors suspecting the husband is abusing his wife. But when things escalate, they find themselves in a dangerous situation.

For the @badthingshappenbingo​ prompt: domestic abuse.

AO3 - ff.net

Hey all, long time no see. It's been a while. I wrote this fic the week they announced the show's cancellation, and, after that, it just didn't seem right to post it right away. I never like to close doors, but I'm not sure if I'll ever write another fic for NCISLA. So, if this is my last, thank you. Thank you to the show, to Deeks and ECO, and the rest of characters and cast, for changing my life. And thank you to everyone that read and commented on my stories in the past. If it weren't for all your support, I wouldn't still be writing fanfiction 5 years after that one time I took a chance and decided to post 'Gray'.

Kensi walks into their house and immediately knows something is off. Deeks is kneeling on the floor, ear pressed against the wall, eyes closed in concentration.

"Deeks? What are you doing?" she asks, setting her bag down on the kitchen table. "What's going on?"

He jumps at the sound of her voice, turning to face her with a look of concern on his face. His worry briefly flashes away, his eyes darkening when he traces her long legs, but it comes back tenfold when a crash sounds next door. "Shhh, it's happening again."

Kensi lets out a sigh of long-suffering, knowing exactly what he's talking about, but asking anyway. "What's happening again, baby?"

"He's hitting her again," Deeks says simply, blue eyes still darkened but for a completely different reason.

"We don't know that's what's happening here, we have talked about this," Kensi states, not wanting to dismiss Deeks' concerns but also not wanting to jump the gun. "For all we know they could be doing renovations."

Deeks shakes his head and gestures for her to come over and listen.

Kensi reluctantly nods and kneels down beside him, pressing her ear to the wall. She can hear the muffled sounds of a woman crying, and a man shouting in the background. "Maybe they're watching a very emotional movie?" She suggests.

"I know what house renovations sound like, and this isn't it," Deeks argues, abandoning his post by the wall and moving to the window. "I've also seen you watch Titanic a million times, and this is a different type of crying."

Kensi chuckles but shakes her head. "Maybe, but it's not something for us to deal with. We're supposed to be keeping our heads down," she pleads, joining Deeks by the window. She wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his shoulder, raising on her toes to kiss his cheek. Eventually she turns him away from the window and presses a kiss to his lips, trying to distract him.

Deeks deepens the kiss but just as quickly pushes away and looks at her, a pleading look in his eyes. "Kens, please. You know I've been hearing it for a few days now, and it's getting worse. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Kensi presses their foreheads together and whispers, "Since we got married, we've already moved four times. I know a couple were due to the job, but there's also that one time you thought our neighbors were smugglers, and then you were convinced the old lady next door was working for Kessler. And I really don't want to have to move again. I so happen to love this house, and Rosa is settling down. She's in a good school and is making friends."

Deeks sighs and smiles sheepishly at her. "Okay, I was way off about the smugglers, but I still think there was something off about Edith, we just moved before I could prove it." He drops his head on Kensi's shoulder and holds her close, some of the tension ebbing from his back.

She hugs him back and they stay like that for a few minutes, but then another crash sounds from the house, followed by a shriek and what appears to be glass breaking. Deeks tenses again and dislodges himself from her arms, turning back to look out the window.

Kensi sighs and runs a hand over her face, dropping on the couch with a grunt. "Deeks, it could be a dog playing and hitting some furniture, or kids running around the house. Or they could be having issues with their plumbing or replacing the carpet. I'm not saying it's not what you think, but we can't be sure."

Deeks shakes his head, and turns around, running a hand through his hair, pushing back the wayward curls that fall on his eyes. "Kens, I know what domestic abuse sounds like," he murmurs, holding her gaze. "I wish a neighbor had cared enough when I was a kid to try to interfere. Now I can do that for someone else and I need to do it. I need to stop another 11-year-old from having to shoot their father."

"We don't even know if they have kids," Kensi tries, but stops as she takes in his broken expression. His eyes are on her, but he looks haunted, and his mind's eye is clearly lost in memories of a long-lost past. "Okay, let's call the cops then. Let them handle it."

"Cops won't do anything. She will say it was an accident and they will go and turn a blind eye to what's in front of their eyes." Deeks keeps talking as he walks to the bedroom, coming back wearing boots, and a jacket, the outline of his off-duty weapon hidden enough for a civilian but not well enough for his partner to miss. "Besides, there's nothing an abuser hates more than cops showing up unexpectedly at their door."

"Yes, and I'm sure they will love a couple of federal agents instead," Kensi deadpans.

"I'm not an agent. I'm an investigator," Deeks says matter-of-factly.

"You say that like any of us even knows what the difference is," Kensi says, standing up from the couch and catching Deeks' wrist.

A fleeting grin crosses Deeks' lips but he quickly pushes it away. "I don't have to go like an agent or investigator, I can be a concerned neighbor wanting to know if everything is okay, or just a clueless neighbor asking for some salt." Deeks softly pulls his arm away and continues to the front door. He sets his hand on the handle and turns around, his expression still serious but a twinkle in his eye. "Or I can just say my wifey is baking a cake and ran out of sugar." He grins and her eye roll is so automatic, so quick and familiar, that he almost misses it.

Kensi tries to pin him with a serious look, but a soft smile breaks over her face anyway. "Yeah, right. Like I ever bake anything."

"Yeah, you just buy a cake and try to make everyone believe you bake it." Deeks's lips curve upward into a smile at the memory from so long ago. "But they don't know that."

Kensi's eyes crinkle in silent response. She worries at her bottom lip, like Deeks has seen her do a thousand times when he's trying to make her laugh and she's trying to resist. It's as distractingly sexy as it's telling, and his resolve almost crumbles, forgetting about the neighbors and taking her to the bedroom instead.

Kensi sees her husband run his tongue over his lips and feels her body respond. Her feet automatically carry her a few steps forward and her hands are suddenly on him. One hand tangles on his hair and the other braces against his chest as though to get her point across. "Are you sure you don't want to call the cops to deal with that and go have some fun in the bedroom? Rosa won't be home for a few hours," she whispers next to his ear, tickling the soft skin there, before she inches down and presses a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"I, uh, I-" Deeks is uncharacteristically at a loss for words, his mouth chasing after hers when she pulls back. He scrapes his teeth against her bottom lip and his eyes linger on them.

She laughs and tiptoes back towards their bedroom, her hands beckoning Deeks forward.

Deeks' first instinct is to follow, to not let her go so easily, but he has a duty that goes far beyond the LAPD oath he once swore and the NCIS manual he now follows. "Let's put a pause to this and we will continue later," he says, opening the door. "I'll be right back. You don't have to come."

Kensi groans and stops in her tracks, knowing she'd follow him anywhere he goes. "You're not going alone, Deeks. Give me a minute." She leans down and puts her shoes back on, then goes to grab her gun and badge and follows him out the door.

"Thank you," he says softly, his all-too-familiar grin finding its natural place on his face.

Kensi grins and squeezes his hand. "Anytime, partner. Now let's go bust down some doors."

"Wait, no, no. No busting down doors. We're just trying to help not cause more trouble," Deeks calls when he's left alone to chase after her, silently wondering why he thought it was a good idea to get his kickass wife to go confront their neighbors.

-x-x-x-

Together they make their way to their neighbor's house and softly knock on the door. As they wait, they take stock of the decaying plants on the sad looking pots on the porch and how all the curtains in the house are drawn. Eventually, a woman answers and they introduce themselves as neighbors, recalling how they met once why taking out the trash.

She reminds them her name is Cindy and tries to make some small talk but hesitates when her husband calls from inside the house demanding she turn the solicitors away. "I'm sorry, I was right in the middle of making dinner," she explains, blushing, but it's barely visible over the bruise already forming on her cheek.

"Is everything okay?" Deeks asks quickly as she begins to push the door shut. "We've noticed some noise coming from your house and wanted to make sure everything is alright," he says, trying to keep his tone light and not acussing.

Cindy's eyes flash and she inadvertently turns around back to the house. She opens her mouth but before she can say anything her husband, Johnny, steps up beside her. He instantly sets a hand on her hip and keeps the other behind the door, as if to limit their view of the inside.

"We don't want whatever you're offering, you can go now," Johnny says, trying to sound polite but coming across as demanding.

"We're not trying to sell you anything, we're your neighbors," Kensi interjects, signaling to their house. "We came to see if everything was alright after hearing some concerning noises."

Johnny seems taken aback by her directness but quickly composes himself. "Oh, sorry. Everything's fine. Just a minor disagreement while organizing the kitchen." He waves his hand dismissively and begins to pull his wife back inside.

Kensi can tell that he's not being entirely truthful and doubts the wife would risk saying anything incriminating in front of him. She glances over at Deeks, silently asking how far away he wants to take this.

Deeks subtly shakes his head, and says, "All good then. We also wanted to know if you've been having problems with your plumping or if it's just us."

Both Johnny and Kensi turn to him dumbfounded but he just smiles in return. "We got a leak, and the guy said it was due to old pipes. We're still new in the neighborhood so we were wondering if you have had any issues like that."

Johnny narrows his eyes, his defenses up after the abrupt subject change, but he answers anyway, "I can't say we have. But anything like that should have come up in your inspection so why don't you contact your realtor and let us move on with our night."

"We did," Deeks explains, "he said we should ask some of the neighbors to see if it's a community-wide issue. If you come with Kensi, she can show you."

Johnny reluctantly nods and follows Kensi across their yards, calling behind his back. "Go back inside, honey. I'll be right behind you. And remember I don't like my steak burned."

As they near the house, Kensi turns to look at Deeks and lifts her brow in a way that would be entirely threatening if she didn't look so hot, silently asking what the hell she's supposed to show him.

Deeks shrugs and throws her a wink as if to say you're a federal agent specializing in undercover work, figure it out.

Once Johnny is out of sight, Cindy tries to retreat back into the house, but Deeks asks her to listen to him for a second. He makes sure to take a step back as he speaks, his tone as soft and non-threatening as he can muster. "I think I know what's going on here and I know it's hard. I've been there before." At Cindy's disbelieving look, he raises his shirt slightly and points to a faint scar over his ribs. "It was a beer bottle when I was seven."

"I'm sorry," Cindy murmurs, and blinks her eyes rapidly but they fill even quicker.

"Thank you," Deeks says honestly. He knows the husband won't stay away for long, so he steers the conversation back towards her. "We can help you, if you want. You just say the word."

"He's not- He's not really." Cindy stops and wipes her tears away, winces when she bumps her blackening eye. It seems to spur her on and she nods. "How?"

"First we start by getting you away from here. I have some friends who can take you in for the night, or we can pick a shelter. I've volunteered at a few around LA, I can get you a bed. Then I'll call some friends at the LAPD." Cindy nods again and Deeks smiles, daring to hope this story will have a happy ending. "He won't hurt you again, I promise."

But Johnny is not as easily distracted as Deeks hoped and he quickly realizes what they are trying to do. Before Deeks knows what's happening, Johnny is on his face, clearly having heard at least the end of what he said. He's past being defensive and full on aggressive as he shouts, "What're you getting at?" He pulls Deeks back so roughly that he trips and would have fallen down if not for Kensi steading him. "Are you trying to accuse me of something?"

Deeks stands up straighter and doesn't back down. "We've heard some noises that sound like domestic disputes and we're concerned for your wife's safety," he says, no longer concerned with keeping the conversation civil.

Johnny's expression turns murderous and for a moment it's not his neighbor looking back at Deeks but one Gordon Brandel. "You have no right to come into my home and accuse me of something like that."

As Johnny becomes more agitated, voice raising and arms flailing about, Deeks turns back to Cindy. She's no longer inside the threshold of the house, but fully standing in the yard and cowering behind Kensi. Tears stream freely down her face and she's hugging herself as her small frame shakes. Deeks takes that as his sign and pulls out his phone.

He tries calling 9-1-1 but the husband suddenly punches him in the face, making him stumble and fall to the floor. Kensi quickly steps away from Cindy and pulls out her gun, pointing it at Johnny and telling him to back off.

Kensi helps Deeks get up and he wipes the blood from his lip. He cleans his hand on his pants and reaches back, grabbing his handcuffs off the waistband of his jeans and taking a step towards the husband. "You're under arrest, dumbass."

"It was self-defense," Johnny tries to claim as Deeks pulls his arms behind his back.

"I never laid a hand on you. And we have two witnesses to prove it." Deeks pushes him down to sit on the steps leading up to the porch and proceeds to dial 9-1-1, addressing Johnny again once he's done with the call. "And you're not only going down for domestic abuse, but also for assaulting a federal agent." He pulls out his badge and smiles as he shows it to Johnny.

"Good luck getting out of that one," Kensi says gladly. With the husband taken care of, she goes back to Cindy and hugs her softly. The distraught woman sinks into her arms and finally lets all her anguish out. Kensi runs her hand over her back and lets her sob.

The next hour is a flurry of activity as LAPD shows up to arrest the husband and take Deeks, Kensi and Cindy's statements. A few cops who know Deeks joke about him missing them so much he had to get involved in their call, others snicker about NCIS clearly having no grooming policy if he still looks like that, and the lucky few who actually know him and his past walk quietly to him and squeeze his shoulder in understanding before texting him later that night offering their support.

Then Johnny is taken into custody, and they try to help Cindy clean out the mess in her house. She refuses for the night but accepts their help the following day and takes the business cards they offer.

It's past dinnertime when Kensi drapes one arm across Deeks' shoulder and they make their way back. They stay silent as they walk across their front yard, eyes locked down as they try to ignore the abundance of neighbors that came out of their homes to check out what was happening outside.

Once inside, Deeks sits down on the couch and leans forward, resting his head in his hands. While Kensi goes to the freezer, coming back a moment later with a frozen bag of carrots. "Thank you," Deeks whispers when she carefully pushes him back against the cushions and sets the bag over the bruised side of his mouth.

They sit like that for a bit, the icy cold soothing but not as much as the featherlike touch of her fingers running through his hair. "I'm sorry we have to move again. I really didn't mean for this to happen." Deeks lets out a sigh and tips his head back to look at her face.

"I know," Kensi says in an exhale, tugging his hair away from his forehead so she can press a kiss there. "This wasn't your fault, Deeks."

"It kinda was." He smiles sheepishly and tucks himself closer against her side.

"Maybe. But we did the right thing. You know I don't like to see you hurting, physically or otherwise, but I'll never fault you for putting yourself in harm's way to help others. It's one of the things I love the most about you." Kensi says genuinely, before adding with a smirk, "Besides, you will make it up to me."

"Is that so?" Deeks raises an eyebrow in question and teasingly pokes her side.

Kensi nods and grabs her laptop from the coffee table, pulling up Zillow before she sets it over Deeks' outstretched legs.

Deeks groans but starts searching anyway. "I promise, from now on, I'll be more careful so we can stay put for a while. And who knows, maybe our new neighbors will be a little more peaceful."

"Ha! The only chance of that happening is us moving into the countryside where we wouldn't have neighbors for a few miles," Kensi mutters, rolling her eyes, knowing that trouble seems to find them no matter where they go.

"Who's moving into the countryside?" Rosa asks, alarmed, as she pushes open the door, followed by a nonchalant Roberta, who's sipping what looks suspiciously like a Margarita.

Deeks can only groan again at the sight, realizing Kensi is not the only woman in his life he will have to make it up to. But as she grabs his hand and squeezes once, he remembers they're a team and he doesn't have to face any challenge alone, be it arresting one's neighbor for domestic violence or having to move to a new place because of it.

[wolves-etc]

thoughts on The Last Of Us episode one, largely in the order I had them:

[thoughts on: 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9]

(I have some spoilers from tumblr, a vague awareness of the older gays & younger gays situations, and a friend's recommendation that I'd really like this show. I didn't realise how evocative this would be in a mid-pandemic world. the show quickly set me right.)

— all kudos and respect to mr "I have an opportunity to infodump to a crowd about disturbing fungal diseases and I am going to make the most of it." loses points for warning people about hypothetical future dangers while actively smoking at them.

— the views we get of the crowd and the host during the second half of his speech are interesting - they're so still, all rapt attention, while he's talking about humans made puppets. it's unsettling.

— and the visuals during the theme music? gross. the guy who recommended this to me is squicked out by fungus. I may have used the words "wetly unfurling" while confronting him about this.

— I'm struck by the apparent ritual of joel setting his alarm, sleeping through it or ignoring it, and having to be alerted by his daughter anyway. he's a mess. (<3)

— there's something very real and unsanitised about their home environment. sarah's presumably not the worst cook in the house, but still they're eating eggshell. there's takeaway in the fridge that tommy sniffs before having any (though I wish he didn't decide against it then put it back.)

— and joel's shirt is on inside-out. bless him.

— sarah and joel passive-aggressively siccing the neighbours on each other is bitchy and great

— the first glimpse of the unrest of the pandemic being someone visibly panicking, closing the shop, herding sarah out, telling her to go straight home? I'm trying not to do too much real-life comparing. but that's ouch.

— we have a dog!! a border collie!! mercy I love you I am giving you up for dead given the genre we're in but I very much hope to be proven wrong <3

— "three nails plus one cross equals four-given." please, please tell me people don't speak like that. lie if you must

— the mental shift from "that blurry old lady in the background needs medical attention" to "oh. oh this is a horror show, the characters just don't know that yet, oh no" was a fun one

— "and you were never gonna [get the watch fixed] for yourself" OH BOY

— it's functional depression vibes in joel and it's intense. he won't get the watch fixed for himself, and he probably wouldn't celebrate his birthday for himself either - I'd buy that the pancakes could have been more for sarah than him, but then she insists on cake, and he doesn't suggest anything he'd enjoy better. still, he seems willing to make an effort because she wants to, and that's nice.

— that moment, sitting down to watch a movie together, sarah falling asleep against him? joel's a mess, but he has a good relationship with his daughter, and that's refreshing to see. there's real love there.

— mercy is a very good dog and sarah COULD DO WITH MORE ANXIETY SLASH SURVIVAL INSTINCT, FRANKLY,

— and we get the first glimpse of joel being brutal and unhesitating when it's called for. the sense that he's already made a shift in thinking that sarah's slower to - she's scared, crying, not yet really believing that it was necessary.

— sarah in the back of the car being smart enough to put together - given what she knows - that any one of them could be infected. it's awful.

— "[they've] got a kid, joel." "so have we. keep driving." fuck

— (how must that feel for sarah? if she's the thing to be protected, it must be her fault.)

— okay the infected's too-quick movements and bird-like head tilts? very "inhuman software on human hardware." it's cool.

— this scene here, though. there's a lot here. they're saved, in the nick of time, by a soldier. the soldier receives orders that he has to double-check. joel calls him sir, says please don't, has to know what's coming. it's unfair and it's horrible and there's nothing he can do.

— and I had a lot of thoughts about that. about how the US military - quite aside from the huge wrongs it does to other countries - promises people to chance to do some good, and to be a part of a family, and betrays them on both counts. leaves its soldiers with trauma and no way to manage it. leaves them, perhaps, with chronic depression, in a job I don't even want to speculate about because neither the military nor construction work are kind to the body. it's betrayal on top of betrayal as standard. and it's cruel, very cruel, that the military betrays joel again here. (edit for reasons and for at least one "article" possibly lying to me)

— and it's a fucking needless way for sarah to die. fuck.

— okay. okay.

— we get this little reminder that the birds, the trees, the sunlight, they all keep going. no matter what goes on with humans. and I, for one, find that comforting.

— and that comfort is VERY NEEDED because holy shit it's twenty years later and joel barely even hesitates to throw a bound child's body onto the fire. (practical and brutal, when it's needed. I don't even want to wonder whether he's done it before.)

— he's still wearing his broken watch and he is very much not okay.

— tess is all steel. I'm a little scared of her as a person and I love her as a character. what the fuck are they both up to that they can handle criminal dealings like this.

— "I promised him you wouldn't hurt him, but I would very much like for you to hurt him." CLEAR AND TO THE POINT.

— no but that's a lot of fun though. clear communication, what seems like no real lies when she's negotiating with her captor, just a forthright attitude that's so easy to believe and a comfortable willingness to mislead him.

— "you don't have a fucking ear on your fucking head" would be a fun way to accuse someone of not listening

— "y'all talk it through, but please remember that I'm bleeding out." I LIKE MARLENE

— and here we see joel's fight response to trauma, which will, I hope, serve him well. that flashback was evil though.

— what the FUCK is the expression on ellie's face. is that awe. is that delight. miss, you're very fucked up, do you know that

things I expected: ellie being a murder child; joel being a traumatised badass with a soft spot for her. did NOT expect ellie to be THAT much of a murder child, or joel's soft spot to be that well-armoured. this is gonna be interesting to see.

and I didn't expect tess, who's interesting, and scary in her own right, and rugged in a way women aren't generally allowed to be in the zombie genre. this was a really pleasant surprise.

[wolfiemcwolferson]

Reflections on Grief

When I was 13, my mom went through my email (something she learned about in her Women’s Bible Study group) and she found my emails with my “girlfriend”. I only use quotes here because we lived one hour away, saw each other a total of three times in public and neither of us identify as girl’s at this stage in our lives.

But, overnight I became her greatest fear. The devil. Someone who would ruin her other children and so it was determined that I would go away. 

She called my aunt, but determined that California was too dangerous for me when I had already strayed so far from God.

She found out about one of those camps - the ones in the mountains where we hike daily and live outside and have to earn our freedom or whatever and the only thing that kept me from being put on a plane was my grandparents refusal to give my parents the money for this.

So, I went to live with them instead.

I won’t bore you with what happened from there, but I found a love and acceptance with my grandparents that allowed me to become the person I am today because they taught me what love and devotion and kindness are.

Today, I sit in my house on a Wednesday night in March and I eat ice cream from a coffee mug.

Because when I lived with my grandparents, they went to play dominos with a group of friends on Wednesday nights and I got 20 dollars to order myself a pizza and then I watched a movie and ate ice cream out of a coffee mug.

And sometimes it is not enough to hold them in my mind. 

Sometimes I go and dig a tin of pipe tobacco from my sock drawer and open it up on my coffee table because it smells like love.

Sometimes I go to the store and I buy a jigsaw puzzle that I’ll never finish just to lay it across the table for two days because it was our rainy day activity.

Sometimes I hold a mug of hot tea between my hands and I remember how my grandmother looked me in the face at 14 while we sat on her back porch and told me that it didn’t matter who I was or what I did or where I went, she would love me until I was nothing more than a memory to the world. How she was the first person who ever said that to me. 

Because sometimes.

Sometimes, the grief bowls me over so suddenly that I’m clutching my kitchen sink and thinking about how I wasn’t there when my grandfather died. How he called out for my grandmother in the end and how I had to watch it through FaceTime.

Sometimes I write a series of words that are so starkly my grandmother that I have to close my laptop and sit down and think about the last conversation we had before she was unconscious - about how I wanted her to die at home.

Because I was selfish and thinking about how I wanted to stand in the kitchen in 20 years and make the rice pudding she taught me to make and I could tell myself that she was peaceful in the end - and at home. 

Sometimes I hear an Elvis song and I think about the bake sale she helped me with when she and I stayed up until 4 AM baking and singing and my grandfather drove 30 minutes in one direction to get us hamburgers at 1 AM because we were hungry.

And it doesn’t feel like enough to eat the ice cream or smell the pipe tobacco or play Elvis in the house when I bake or carry the name that i took from my grandfather.

But then I look across the living room to my own children who have been told from the time they took their first breath that I will be the one going to war for them and that nothing they ever do will make me love them less and I know that my grandmother’s words are living through me.

I get up at 4 AM to pack my partner a warm muffin for work and I think about the countless mornings my grandpa brought me a cup of coffee from the gas station because I like crappy burnt coffee with that overly sweet syrup that comes from that machine.

I cry sometimes when it starts to ache right under my ribs and I know that the best bits of me are the bits of them and that nothing i do will ever be completely devoid of their spirits, yet I still mourn.

Grief is an all-encompassing thing and it comes and goes at the strangest times and I am desperate for others to not feel alone in their grief.

Anyway, I say all of this because I started writing a silly little fic recently that was meant to scratch a fandom itch and it’s gotten away from me in a massive way and I am still writing it, I’m just taking it slow.

I’m being respectful of my grief and the desire to do right by the story and the characters and also to all of you who will someday read it and understand and feel what I’m saying through my words.

[moiravim]

Chapter 6

•bucky x yn

•platonic Clint x yn

•platonic Nat x yn

•Zombie apocalypse AU

2 years ago

I sit on the couch of me, Natasha and Clint's apartment. I watch the television, patiently waiting for news on the infection. It was recommended to stay inside, but my best friends Nat and Clint went out to get some groceries.

"The infection is spreading rapidly. Stay in your home at all costs." The news reporters ramble about The dangers and effects of the infection.

I anxiously wait for them to come back home when I hear screaming coming from the hallway. I rush up opening door to see what's happening. Natasha's running towards me screaming as Clint chases her.

I immediately realize that Clint had been infected. I watch in horror before running to grab a knife. Natasha continues to run as I get closer to Clint, gaining his attention.

I quickly stab him in the neck, killing him. I look down in disbelief eyes watering as I look at my best friend. Natasha speeds to my side before stuttering out a thank you.

I dropped down to my knees and grab Clint's head, resting it on my lap. I put my hands through the hair of his lifeless body before bursting out into tears.

"Oh my God, oh my gods what have I done.." I stutter in fear.

Natasha sits down next to me and puts her head on my shoulder. She comforts me and tells me; "it's not your fault. It's not your fault. You were just saving me, you did the right thing."

"Hey we need to get out of here YN. it's not safe anymore. Come on we can make a base in the old movie theater. It's closed up years ago, so there should be no people there. Will be safe then. Come on, let's hurry up and pack." She tells me, ushering me to leave with her.

I quickly agree knowing that there's no better options and that I'd rather spend my time with Natasha rather than alone and dead.

So we set up a base in the abandoned movie theater. We boarded up all the windows brought in mattresses and found weapons to keep us safe. We'd go out looking for food once a weak and other than that would spend all our time together.

We got closer than ever over that time. I think Natasha for teaching me how to survive through this apocalyptic world.

One year Later

Over time we had moved to many new bases. But one thing stayed the same. We always stick together. Currently Natasha and I are living in a cabin in the woods. It's right outside the city so we have close access to stores in the area.

This is the happiest I've been in a while. The cabin feels so safe, especially with Natasha. That was until I heard a familiar sound. Scratching on the door. It was definitely a zombie trying to get in. I went to warn Natasha who had been sleeping.

The two of us immediately run out preparing to fight the infected. But by the time the zombie gets in we're not ready. Neither of us have our weapons out when It launches itself at Natasha and bites her.

It continues to eat her as I stare in shock. I run to go get my knife. I come back and kill the zombie with my knife.

I cry looking at Natasha groaning. I go on to my knees, begging her to wake up. Natasha does wake up, but some things wrong. "Please, please. You'll be okay come on!" I beg her as she locks herself in the bedroom.

I begin to sob as I yell "Please Natasha!! Come out, don't leave me here please.. please". I start to cry louder as I hear growling coming from the room.

I know what's happening. She's changing already. I sob in fear of being alone during all of this.

I hear the door being broken again as my cries grow louder. She runs at me and I immediately stab her in the shoulder, killing her.

I run out of our base planning on never coming back. I don't look back as I continue to run as far away from the cabin as possible. I keep running until the cabin is out of view and I'm in an unfamiliar area in the woods.

I had killed both my best friends and it was all my fault. What did it matter if I survived any longer. But I sure as hell didn't want to be killed by those things. So I just ran. In search of places that were at least half safe.

Present time

"Hey yn, after we find Natasha there's this hospital-"Bucky begins to say. "Bucky-"I cut him off but he continues to talk. "We can finally be safe again and-".

"Bucky!!" I shout to gain his attention.

"What? It'll just be the 4 of us-" I roll my eyes as I take a deep breath and say; "Bucky. I haven't been truthful with you

....

Nat is dead."

[daughter-of-sapph0]

ranking my predictions on a scale from 1-5 based on how well I did predicting them

- Liz dies (3/5 this one was pretty obvious. unfortunately she wasn't already dead in 2021 and they just refused to announce it.)

- Mario movie flop (1/5 it was delayed. and unfortunately, apart from chrisp rat, it looks decent)

- Bezos rocket explosion (1/5 I'm crying right now)

- meta gets hacked (2/5 while it didn't get hacked, it did completely flop and literally no one uses it. the only one who wasted billions was zuckerberg)

- crypto/nft/vr crash (3/5 I feel like the general public has realized that nfts suck ass. but they took all their love for nfts and put it into love for ai art. which is arguably just as shit)

- Lego star wars (2/5 I played it for two weeks when it came out, had a good time, and didn't touch it again. I don't even know if the quanatic dream game even came out. I haven't heard about it at all this year)

- Joe Biden senior moment (1/5 unfortunately. it would have been funny though.)

- Texas power outage (2/5 while we are in the middle of a massive country wide winter storm, barely anyone is protesting or even admitting that climate change and poor infrastructure is to blame for this)

- stupid super bowl commercial (?/5 I didn't watch the super bowl. I don't give a shit about sports. I'm assume no, since I didn't hear anything noteworthy about it.)

- suez canal blocked again (5/5 I fucking predicted it! the affinity v got stuck in the suez canal on August 31st. it was only there for like a day. but still, this is the closest one I predicted to actually being accurate)

- covid variants (1/5 I don't think any new covid variants were widespread enough to be infectious or dangerous. this prediction was mostly a commentary on how the us would ban travel to countries with good covid protection, but not to countries with terrible covid protection, because the us is racist. but honestly, it seems like travel and shit has dramatically increased.)

- China gold is communist propaganda (1/5 I literally forget everything that happened at the Olympics. I do know that a lot of right wing people were angry that the us didn't win a billion gold medals in every event. the Olympics aren't important. what's really important is Argentina kicking Frances ass in the world cup baby!)

- gavle yule goat burning broke curse (1/5. no.)

- tesla stock drops after elon musk twitter moment (4/5. I was pretty close with this. I thought it would be something small and stupid like retweeting furry porn. not something so idiotic and expensive like making himself god king emperor of twitter and doing absolutely everything in his power to make the site unusable)

- gameboy switch games (1/5. no. I doubt they ever will. Nintendo doesn't give a shit about their fans and never will.)

- indie game is goty (2/5 tbh I wasn't expecting elden ring to be as good as it was. although, stray getting nominated is close enough to give myself at least some points on this prediction)

- tears of the kingdom delayed (5/5. but I feel like this one was obvious.)

- reddit sellout (2/5 I don't use reddit, but I do feel like it's slowly becoming more and more unusable. not full on censored to oblivion like tiktok. but still kinda shit. tbf, tumblr and discord are the only usable social media websites anyway.)

- India discovers et life. musk bros mad (1/5. I really doubted it this year, but I do honestly think that some time in the future, smaller space programs will surpass shit like spacex and be far more successful in research.)

- biologically engineered nft monkey (2/5. I'm giving myself a point for the almost unrelated fact that his neurolink has killed almost every single test monkey they used.)

- Disney's 24th first queer character (5/5. again, this was obvious. honestly strange world was pretty good. people are saying it flopped because of the gay mc. no, it flopped because they released it thanksgiving weekend with apsolutely no advertising while wakanda forever was still playing, all so they could say "oh wow I guess people hate movies with gays. fine, no more queers in our films then.")

- star wars shit (1/5. honestly with all the shit star wars has been announcing, I'm surprised this wasn't a thing. whatever. andor was the only good star wars show ever, and probably will be the best star wars media for the next ten years)

- bush dies. (1/5 I'm really sad about this one.)

so in conclusion, the only things I got right were the really obvious shit and the suez canal being blocked again. other than that, most of my predictions were just meh. I was hoping this year overall would be better than 2021. and personally, for me it was. I got a nice job and am well off financially. but other than that, it's been pretty average.

I would say that in the past year, I've definitely grown and matured as a person, artist, teacher, and friend. I hope that 2022 was a good year for you, and I wish you the best in the next year.

predictions for 2022

-queen Liz kicks the bucket (bonus points if she's already dead but they won't officially say she is until February)

-the Mario movie is a box office failure, and Chris Pratt has his legacy ruined.

-Jeff bezos dies in a rocket explosion on his way to his space yatch

-Facebook / meta has its servers hacked and people lose access to their virtual house that they spent thousands on.

-extension to the last one: general public realize that nfts and metaverse and crypto and creating the matrix is stupid as hell. the vr market faces a crash similar to the video game crash of 83.

-Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga is a better game than any other Star Wars game before it. the other Star Wars game by quantic dream flops, and they go bankrupt.

-Joe Biden has a senior moment and Kamala Harris takes over as president for a couple days, rather than just 80 minutes when biden had a camera up his ass

-Texas faces another power outage because literally nothing changed in the last year. people start a riot and protest outside of the mansions of electricity ceos.

-a commercial from the super bowl spikes international outrage after using imagery from the 2020 BLM protests to try and sell Pepsi

-international trade is interrupted by another Evergiven level event.

-three new variants of covid are discovered by scientists in Brazil, but the variants are most common in France. the us bans travel from Brazil, but not from France.

-China wins the most gold at the winter Olympics. some guy on fox claims they had an unfair advantage because they were communist (accidents mixes up his transphobic and anti-communist arguments). a meme is started that communism makes you good at sports

-the year overall turns out better than the past four years combined, and it's joked that burning down the gavle yule goat broke the curse.

-summer heatwave causes damage for infrastructure and some republican politicians houses literally being to melt. they then suddenly begin to care about climate change.

-spacex and tesla lose most of their stock after elon musk retweets traced furry porn. news articles make a bigger deal about the image being stolen then they do about the subject matter of the image, which is the correct response to that situation

-Nintendo adds Gameboy games to the switch online service. it's sold as a separate package like the n64 games, and costs twice as much as the n64. they also release a stupid fucking controller that's just a Gameboy with a non-functioning screen. they charge $50 for it.

-an indie fan game that was part of a weekend game jam wins game of the year, because everything else was shit.

-breath of the wild sequel gets delayed.

-reddit sells out and becomes all "family friendly" or whatever. tumblr and discord are the only places left where you can say the word "kill" without censoring it to "unalive".

-microscopic life is discovered on an asteroid in our solar system by ISRO / India Space Program. racist space bros get mad that spacex didn't discover it first.

-elon musk uses DNA modification or whatever to make the nft monkey real.

-Disney anounces their 24th first LGBT character.

-star wars anounces a live action clone wars show focusing on the clones, staring Temuera Morrison as 80% of the cast.

-George Bush dies of covid. hundreds of millions of people celebrate.

[direwombat]

3, 6, 16, 21, 26, 29 -> for both ships in case some don't apply etc etc <3

ahhhh thank you <3

3. Jealousy issues?

jkfas;ldfkjasdfadsf jealousy issues? with a jacobship? 100%. Jacob will never admit it, but his possessiveness does stem from jealousy...at least a tiny bit. I think jacob's got some self-worth issues, and on a certain level he's aware of them. he knows he's not a good man, so part of him does worry that syb will wise up and leave for someone...better...

6. Double Date? Thoughts? Who?

afl;kjafdl;fjaf no. you think jacob is going to share syb's attention with anyone? no way

but...au where syb doesn't kill shaw...the idea of a jakesyb/shawstaci double date is soooo funny to me. I think they'd go bowling and to spice things up syb and Staci would be a team while jacob and shaw are another. jacob and shaw lose so fucking bad, it's almost sad (but mostly its funny)

16. Who cooks most?

syb. she's better at it than jacob is. since she'll...you know...actually season things. I firmly believe jacob's cooking skills begin and end at the grill. man is eating unmarinaded grilled chicken and unseasoned steamed veggies and plain white rice and that is it. syb takes one look at that and goes "no thank you, I'd like to enjoy my meal" and cooks something else lmao. not that Jacob minds. he likes watching her cook. it's what she was doing when he had his oh moment. and once she joins the cult, she'll occasionally work the kitchens at st. francis and help give the chosen and the hunters some actually good food when they do a good job/have earned it.

21. Movie Night?

jacob strikes me as more of a reader, and so is syb, so movie nights happen less often (also what are they gonna watch? I don't think either of them are really into whatever cult propaganda films john wanted to make). they're far more likely to read together. but I think every now and then, if they're able to get their hands on some old reels, they'll watch some stuff from the earlier decades of cinema.

26. If they have kids, who named them? What would they name them?

in the bunker buddies au, they do have a kid! but they're both bad at naming things (animals...objects...people...). due to her combat injuries, having a child is unlikely and dangerous, so the fact that she was able to carry their baby almost to term before having to have an emergency c-section is a miracle. and that's what they call their child for a long time. their "little miracle." after a few months of this they're like "we should probably give her an actual name, huh?" and syb is like "well...what about mira? short for 'miracle'?" and Jacob said "yeah, sure, that works for me."

29. Who said I Love You, first?

r;fkjafsd;aldfskj so real talk, I don't think they actually verbally say "I love you" until after they're reunited in new dawn. like...they know they love each other. they've proven it time and time again before the bunker years. they never felt the need to say it, they just knew. but after the bunker years, when they find each other again, I think "I love you" is one of the first things they say to each other when they cling to each other. Jacob says it verbally out loud while syb is tapping it in Morse code against his back. both of them are crying.

3. Jealousy issues?

no not really. both of them are pretty comfortable in their relationship. sure, eli worries about the interest Jacob takes in syb, but that's less jealousy and more genuine concern because uh...he knows what Jacob does to people and he doesn't want syb to be conditioned to serve the cult.

6. Double Date? Thoughts? Who?

oooh. idk why but my initial thought was joey/mary may. in the universe where sybeli happens, the disaster of sybjoey never happens so she and syb remain close friends in that timeline. I think they think double dates are fun on occasion, and having the company of another couple is nice when they're actually going out-out, but for the most part they keep to themselves.

16. Who cooks most?

when they actually have time/ingredients? they're cooking together. I like to think that eli is really good at cooking whatever game he catches and has family recipes memorized. and syb isn't a terrible cook herself and is a master when it comes to seasoning and marinading things, so they're a pretty good team in the kitchen.

but for the most part (in their "canon" verse anyways) they're eating MREs and instant noodles lbr

21. Movie Night?

awwww now I'm just imagining Wheaty organizing militia movie nights <3 tbh I think syb and Eli are fans of 80s action/sci-fi movies. Indiana Jones, John carpenter films, terminator, robocop, the og mad max movies. stuff like that.

26. If they have kids, who named them? What would they name them?

lol realistically they would adopt, take in some poor kid and raise them as a member of the whitetails/in the bunker. but assuming an au where syb successfully gets pregnant and carries a baby to term, eli ends up naming the baby. syb is awful at naming things (see the jakesyb answer to this question), so after she exhausts all the little pet names she's just like "eli...help..."

that said, considering their animal symbolism (syb a hare and eli a white tailed deer) I consider their baby a jackalope so...I hereby name their child "jacqueline (jackie) palmer"

29. Who said I Love You, first?

Eli. Syb is almost physically incapable of saying the words herself. she'll always answer "you too," whenever he says it. she does mean it though. she just has a difficult time verbalizing her emotions and is much more likely to express her affection in other ways (ie...acts of service or physical touch)

[damon-loves-pie]

“I’d Get You Anything Sweetheart.”

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader.(plus size but can work for any.) 

Word count: About 2,200 words

Warnings:18+,crying, feeling of loneliness. 

 Requested by: salenorona23 

Summary: Eddie x plus size reader who asks for a dog and Eddie gets her one for her birthday. 

Author’s note: Imagine written for salenorona23, I hope you enjoy it! I loved creating a way I thought Eddie would approach giving someone a dog! Thank you so much for your request! 

Writing Masterlist

It's just another day you thought to yourself as your eyes opened. You knew you should be excited because today was all about you but you couldn't be. Even though it was your birthday,  you knew there was no way you were going to get the one thing you wanted. A puppy. To be honest, it didn't even need to be a puppy, you would be fine with an older dog from the pound even. You sighed, turning towards the sleeping boy. Eddie's bangs were sticking slightly to his head as he snored quietly. While admiring his features you allowed yourself to slip back into your thoughts.

You just wanted a friend for the lonely nights when Eddie works at the plant with his uncle. After graduation, he managed to get hired on, and sometimes it gets quiet at home. Which is also a little creepy, making you weary of any noise inside or outside the trailer. Most people ask you what to do you have to be afraid of, especially since you don't look like the usual person someone would attack. It doesn't bother you much when your parents or whoever makes comments though, you knew you were beautiful. Plus your weight didn't mean you shouldn't feel like you didn't deserve to be safe.

There had been endless arguments about whether or not you two should get a dog. Eddie had told you over and over again he didn't want a dog. He stated he wouldn't have the time for it, and would rather spend his free time with you. You understood knowing it would be his job to watch the dog and take it out while you worked during the day. You just hoped though that he might have changed his mind. Apart from that he also didn't think the trailer park was that dangerous to need the dog for protection. Which he's right, it really wasn't but you wanted him to want to make sure you were safe.

After the last argument two weeks ago you never planned on bringing up getting a dog again. At least not for the next few years. The fight you two got in was heated and there were voices raised. Eddie finally having had enough put his hands into the air before emptying his lungs to you. "Do I not do enough? Do I not make you feel safe? If I don't then why the fuck do you stay with me?" Surprised at the turn this argument took, you raised your voice, not wanting the argument to go father but also wanting to get your point across. "That's not it Eddie, you do make me feel safe. It's just how are you supposed to keep me safe when you're working almost every night leaving me alone in the trailer? You aren't here to protect me Eddie." The argument ended in silence and with you crying in the bathroom. You didn't want to lose Eddie, especially over a dog.

"Morning beautiful," Eddie mumbles, rubbing his eyes as he lets out a yawn. "Morning baby," you tell him as the boy sits up, grabbing a shirt off the floor. He smells it before throwing it on. You watched him, waiting for him to tell you happy birthday like the years before. You felt taken aback as he just stands up, grabbing a pair of pants off of the dresser before putting them on.

"I promised Steve and Robin I'd give them a ride to work and that I'd help Dustin put some furniture together." Eddie informs you, grabbing his keys. "I'll be back later tonight and we can watch a movie like we do most Saturday nights. I love you." Eddie shouts, as he leaves the room, door closing behind him.

Your jaw drops shocked that he just left you here, not even asking you to come with. Also surprised with how quickly he had left. He didn't even say happy birthday, did he forget it? How could he? Especially after you two almost broke up about it when discussing getting a family pet two weeks ago. You wondered if you really meant that little to him, you knew he's been tired from work but this wasn't something anyone would just forget. You turn over, tears falling as you quietly sobbed in the pillow.

Eddie was stressed driving to Steve's house, it was killing him to have just left like that. He wanted to love on you, pulling you close, feeling your soft belly against his. He wanted to kiss you, telling you happy birthday and how happy he was your parents had decided to have sex. You were the best thing that ever happened to him, he didn't know where he would be if you hadn't came into his life.

You were new at school his third senior year, having been seated next to him in Chemistry. No one else in the class wanted to be seated with Eddie the Freak so the only remaining seat got placed with you. You didn't seem to mind and actually engaged with him. To be honest, if it wasn't for you he wouldn't have paid attention to anything in that class. But he didn't want you to think less of him that you might had already thought by learning he was in his third senior year. So he studied, wanting you to know he was capable of learning something.

Thank god he did study, because it ended up with him getting his diploma plus giving him more confidence to talk to you in class. All of the studying lead him to where he was today, in love with you almost 2 years later. He wanted to do whatever he could to make you happy and he was going to that today. You had been begging him for a dog so he was finally going to surprise you with one. He had been wanting to for a while but hadn't been able to find the correct time which lead to a lot of begging for the animal from you.

Two weeks ago you two had gotten into a pretty bad fight and he wasn't sure why he reacted the way he did since he wanted to create any kind of family with you. He was okay with getting the dog, if anything maybe the constant asking is what got to him. He felt so bad and decided that today was going to be the day, he wasn't going to wait any longer. He could of just brought the dog home, but with how bad you wanted it he wanted to do something special. Eddie walked right into Steve's house when he arrived to see everyone seated across his living room. "Ready to do this?" He asks as the group nods, standing up. They had little time to get this done.

It had been legit 9 hours where was Eddie? Your mind raced, tugging on your hair slightly. He left at a little before 10 this morning and it was almost 7 at night. You had spent your birthday all alone and bored in the house. You also had barely talked to anyone besides some calls from your family. You tried to get ahold of Steve or Robin at the store to see if he got any movies but the line was busy every time. No one answered over at Dustin's either, just leaving you hopeless.

Today was legit one of the worst birthdays you had ever had, and it's not something you would of ever had expected out of Eddie. This would have been your third birthday with him, the second one since officially dating. He had been amazing to you every single one of them surprising you with such thoughtful gifts. You wondered if he wanted to break up with you and did this on purpose. Hearing a knock at the door, you wipe your tears.

"Happy birthday (Y/N)!" Nancy shouts as you open the door. You felt so relieved to had finally see someone that the tears started back up as Nancy pulled you in for a hug. "What's wrong (Y/N)?" Nancy asks you, worried. Nancy didn't want you to cry, and especially not on your birthday. "I've been alone all day, so it was nice to see a face." You say as your voice cracks, pulling away to wipe your eyes again. "Eddie is working?" She questions as you let her inside. Nancy follows you to the living room, quietly behind you.

Shaking your head you tell her no. "He left this morning saying Steve and Robin needed a ride to work and that Dustin needed help building furniture for his mom." You explain, sitting down on the couch as she sits next to you. "His car is still in the shop?" She shakes her head, upset that you were left alone. "I guess, it's not even him needing to help any of them. I'm happy he helps the people he loves. It's just that-" You stop. "Just what?" She urges, wanting you to finish your sentence worried about the thoughts forming in your head. "He didn't wish me happy birthday either." You sigh, tears welling up again. She stares at you for a moment, heart aching because you felt alone. "Why don't we go out?" She smiles, as you nod just wanting out of this trailer.

The sun was starting to set as you both got out of Nancy's car. You two were walking towards the arcade, her having suggested it knowing it reminds you about back home where you grew up. "Thanks for this Nancy, I need this." You tell her as she holds the door open. "You don't have to thank me (Y/N)." She smiles, closing the door behind her. You still looking at her hadn't noticed the setup in front of you.

"SUPRISE!" You hear, making your head snap quickly towards the arcade. There stood Eddie and all of your friends waiting for you. Streamers and balloons decorated the arcade as your friends stood around a giant cake. You didn't expect to see this, not ever and especially not today. Eddie walked towards you, pulling you into a hug. "Happy birthday sweetheart." He whispers, kissing your head. The small action breaks you as tears fall hot and heavy down your face. You couldn't believe this, that everyone here cared enough about you to be here tonight. You had thought that you hadn't mattered to any of them.

"Don't cry baby, you still haven't seen the best part yet." Eddie pulls back, running his thumbs over your eyes. He wanted to make all your tears stop, hoping they were from happiness but also worried there may be some leftover from earlier. He knew that you had to of been hurt all day, he hoped all of this would make up for it. "What's better than this?" You giggled as he smiled, knowing you were feeling better. "Well, the gifts of course." He tells you, giving his eyebrow a wiggle. You let out a laugh as he wraps his arm around you, pulling you towards the rest of the group.

Eddie orders you to open your eyes as he lifts his hands off your face. In front of you stood a decent size box, not super huge to make you think much about it. "Open it please," Robin says excitedly as Eddie takes a seat next to you. You look at the group questionably, wondering what could be in the box. All of their eyes glimmered under the lights, watching your every move and reaction.

Your hands move to the top which wasn't taped shut, just folded close. That's a little weird you thought. Nervously you closed your eyes slightly, not being able to see much as you undid the box. You didn't want to see something and ruin the surprise before the whole box was open. The box started to move, making your heart race. Am I shaking that bad you wondered? Are we having an earthquake? Your eyes open up to be met with a pair other than your own.

There was a puppy right in front of your eyes. You jump up squealing at the small dog lets out a bark. "Eddie you got us a dog! I can't believe you actually got us a dog!" You babble as he watches you, both of your eyes shining bright with love. Quickly you sit back down petting the fluffy creature behind it's ears. The dog excited licks your hand, wagging it's tail.

You felt whole seeing the animal in the box, knowing Eddie cared about you more than you believed a few hours ago. The dog barked asking to be set free as you place the puppy onto your lap. It's little claws digging into your skin slightly as it licked your face, squirming in your lap.

Moving closer Eddie wraps his arm around you. The dog looked at him jumping onto his chest, causing  a laugh out of him. "You got me a dog Eddie," You smiled softy at him as he looked into your eyes.

"I'd get you anything sweetheart." He states, watching as you pet the newest member of your little family.

------

Thank you for reading! As always please leave love if you enjoyed it!