#I thought about Steves six nuggets towards the end | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

we-out-here-simping · 7 months

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You, Me, Lonely.

(s.h. x reader)

from the river to the sea (educate yourself and help however you can)

Summary: you love Steve, Steve loves you. But maybe you both want different things from life.

Warnings/tags: reader menstruates (reader has uterus), abandonment issues, the ‘six nuggets’ talk, suggestive

Word count: 3.4k

masterlist

a/n: huge huge huge thanks to @procrastinationprincesses for helping me out with this fic and giving it an ending (ur amazing sanjana <3)

writing and posting something because i might have to go MIA for a lil bit (miss me while I'm gone will ya?)

fic is inspired by ‘You, Me, Lonely’ by FIZZ i absolutely love this song like its so close to my heart ughh what can i say I'm a little bitter about the six nuggets scene

also if you couldn't tell already I have major abandonment issues and an anxious avoidant attachment style. It will reflect in what i write soz :(

In the quiet of the night, you wish for this to last forever. That you'll have him forever.

When you came out of the shower you found him asleep on his side of the bed. His side– the one closer to the door. ‘so I can protect you from anyone who'll try to steal you from me’, he had justified it when you asked him why he was adamant on that side.

you had turned off the bedside lamp ten minutes ago, slipped under the duvet, as quietly as possible so as to not wake him up. on your side of his bed. your bed.

He always sleeps on his stomach, one hand under his pillow and the other extended a little towards yours. His body moves with steady and slow breaths, back rising and falling under the covers, head peeking out from under the rumpled up duvet. his cheeks are squished against the pillow cover. His hair is a mess from the lack of hair product, and still damp from the shower he took before you. There's a few strands of his brown hair sprawled across his forehead too. With your softest touch you brush them away from his eyes.

You wonder what he was dreaming. you hope it was something nice. He looks calm, at peace, and very, very pretty.

You look at him and you know you love him. You want to love him forever.

Love had never seemed like the type of thing you’ll get– like it wasn't meant for you. But then you met him. This boy. This boy who you never thought to be your type. You never thought you even had a type. But his boyish charm and stupid grin won you over.

Your heart doesn't skip beats around him anymore, and you’d think that that means he doesn’t have that same effect on you anymore but that would be wrong. You don’t think you’ve ever loved anyone as much as you do to him. You don’t look at him and get butterflies in your stomach, you look at him and… you’re sure. your heart is quiet and sure. You don't think you’ve ever been sure before.

You want to be sure forever.

He feels like the comfortable still of rain after a scorching hot summer, like the calm and cold breeze that cools you down. Like standing at the top of the mountain, looking at the clouds and valleys below, he feels like the crisp air that fills your lungs. Like the comfort meal your mom makes– the one you can never really recreate, the one that tastes the best when it comes from her.

You love him and you know. You know. You know he likes you, loves you even.

Steve Harrington loves you like a dream, and you're worried that one day he’ll wake up, look at you and realise that he deserves so much better. He’ll wake up and he’ll leave for work and he’ll bump into a pretty angel of a girl with a disposition as bright as his. And he’ll never return. people fall out of love. People fall out of love all the time.

You wish for him to love you forever.

How long is a forever anyway?

You wonder what it'll be like. When you're older, with wrinkles, white hair and weaker limbs.

It's like you see it.

You and him in a bed– just like now but older, wiser, more tired. His back turned to you. There'd be distance between you two, you’d want to move closer and hold him– but you wouldn't. You’d just stare at the back of his head, counting all the grey hairs you’d memorised like all the moles and wrinkles on his skin.

You’d notice his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest and you would have known him so long and so well that you'd just know that he wasn't actually asleep. you'd know why he wasn't asleep.

there'd be a pain in your chest. You would know what it is, why its there. You would gulp and try not to think about it.

“Do you always stare at me in my sleep?” his groggy voice pulls you out of your own head.

You blink, multiple times. Forever, right.

He softly smiles up at you. You blink away before moving to lay on your back, the sheets rustling with your movement. “sorry I woke you up”, you mumble an apology, staring at the ceiling, you fail to hide the shake in your voice.

“Y’kay?”

“Yeah.” the sheets beside you ruffle but you keep your eyes trained on the ceiling. it seems inevitable. You know, one day it'll happen and despite having expected it, it’ll be the greatest heartbreak of them all.

“Thinking ‘bout somethin’?” he sounds a bit more awake.

“When am I not?” you shake your head and laugh hoping he doesn't notice that it isn't real, thankful that the curtains didn't let in any moonlight and that you had turned off the lights.

“What is it?” but this is Steve, he doesn’t need to see you to know how you’re feeling.

“Nothing.”

“Were you lying about liking the pasta I made?”

“No, Steve it was good”, a real laugh slips out of you, and you finally look at him. He’s leaning on his elbow, the messy head of hair in his hand, looking down at you. You suddenly wish it wasn’t so dark so you could see the colour of his eyes, the moles and freckles on his skin.

“Then what?”

“Nothing.” your gaze moves back to the ceiling.

“Must be something if it's keeping you up”, you feel him shift closer to you. He smells of fresh shower, mint, shaving cream and washed laundry.

“No, I'm just…. not sleepy.”

“Yeah?”, he raises his eyebrows with a sly smirk, “Well, I know a way to make you sleepy”, he leans down– both arms caging you in, landing a kiss on your neck before trailing further up to your lips. and its lovely, so god damn lovely, you don't want it to stop but this hurts.

“Ste– mmph– Steve stop”, you turn your face away, because if he keeps going, you think you'll cry, palm pushing flat against his bare chest, “I’m– I'm not in the mood.”

“Okay, I'm sorry”, he moves back onto his one elbow. The silence gestates for a while, you can feel his eyes on you. The ticking of the clock is the only thing heard through the room before he softly says, “Hey, please tell me what's happening?”

“Nothing”, you shook your head, “I’m just tired.”

“You just said you're not sleepy.”

“J– just go back to sleep okay? sorry for waking you up”, you turn onto your side, face away from him.

He sidles up behind you after a second or two, warm breath across the back of your neck, you squeeze your eyes shut. “yeah, like that's gonna put me to sleep", he mutters behind you.

His arms snake around your waist, pulling you in closer, “C'mon, you know I wont be able to sleep after fighting”, burying his nose in your hair– he sighed.

“Did you just sniff my hair?”

“Yeah, I do all the time. smells s’good."

"You pervert", you both laugh lightly at that, your hand going for his around your waist, before your smiles fall and silence takes over once again.

You lick your drying lips, you forgot to put on lip balm again, “We’re not fighting, Steve.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

You take in a deep breath in, fingers drawing patterns on the back of his hand, you breath out, “m’sorry.”

His arms squeeze tighter around you, he lets out a quick sigh before placing a kiss on your shoulder, “I’ll forgive you if you tell me what’s going on with you.”

“Steve…”, your voice trails off, you're not even sure what you were going to say.

“Is it— Is it your…. Uh, that time of the month?”

That makes you want to roll your eyes at him and smack his chest but you restrain yourself, you’re not sure if you want him to see your eyes right now anyway. Instead, you sigh, “I had it last week, Steve.”

You got it in this very same bed. Awoken by cramps in the middle of the night. and Steve, your lovely Steve had given you a hot water bag while he took off the sheets and put on fresh new ones and then gave you a soft massage that put you to sleep.

“right... yeah, sorry," he says all sheepish, “So what is it then? Did someone say somethin’ at work?”

“No.”

“Did I.. " he hesitated a little, "did I say something?”

“...no”, you curse yourself for pausing before saying it.

“I did, didn't I?”

“No, no. you–”

“honey, you should tell me if I ever say stupid shit– you should call me out immediately–”

“You didn't say anything stupid or whatever. I'm the one who's being stupid.”

his hold on you loosened, he shifted back to give you space to turn around, “What did I say? Hey, look at me,” you finally turn in his hold, facing him “what did I say?”

“We’d have the cutest little kids, won't we?”

“..what?” You stood infront of the kitchen sink. your hands stopped their scrubbing at the pot you were washing. You tilted your head towards him who had his head rested on your shoulder, his arms around your waist.

“Little Harringtons”, you could hear the smile on his lips.

“Harringtons?”

“Or maybe we get our names hyphenated. That works too, it’d be cute”, his hands hold your waist, his duty of drying the plates abandoned. “They’d have my fabulous hair, and your pretty, pretty eyes– cutest kids around the block”

“Our kids?” you repeated dumbly.

“Yeah, and six of ‘em. six little nuggets. They’ll make up half of a football team”, he giggled, warm air hitting the side of your face, “Doesn’t that sound lovely?” he smiled at you.

“...yeah. Yeah, it does.” you smiled back at him which only made him grin wider. His arms tighten around you again, and lips start a trail from behind your ears to down your neck.

You scoffed softly "You’re supposed to help me wash dishes you filthy animal."

“Oh, fine,” he gave you an over dramatic sigh, before his hands left your sides, skin feeling lonely as ever.

“No, it's fine. I’m almost done anyway", you went back to scrubbing at the bottom of the pot, "Just go and take a shower, you reek.”

“Alright, fine, I’ll go!” he groaned, playfully as a kid, before he leaned against the counter, looking at you with his ‘Harrington charm’. His voice is silky when he asks, “Will you join me?”

“Steve." you said it almost as a warning.

“I don’t hear a no.”

“Okay then, no.”

“Tomorrow morning…?”

“I have an early shift tomorrow, you horndog.”

“We'll make it work.”

“No.”

“Okay", he sighs, “come up quickly though, I wanna be the big spoon today”, pecking your cheek before leaving for the shower upstairs.

Looking at him, you brush the now mostly dry hair falling on his forehead, tucking it behind his ear. Your fingers lingered there, you smile, “nothing, Steve.” your thumb rubs back and forth on the apple of his cheeks. “You didn’t say anything. it's stupid.”

His hand reaches up to hold your fingers in place, he turns his head a little to kiss your knuckles, “okay, I didn't say anything” he kisses your knuckles again, gaze stuck to your face, “but could you tell me what it is you think you’re being stupid about?”

God, I love him, you think. “Don't worry about it”, your voice barely a whisper as you attempt to give him a smile. You move closer, planting a slow kiss on his lips which are so much softer than yours– he never forgets his chapstick.

And god, you needed this, your brain stops when you kiss him. thoughts quelled and its quiet again. After some time though, your throat starts to burn and your chest is on the verge of a sob. So, when you pull away, you fail to hide the stuttered breath that you take in.

Steve knew there was something to worry about, but when he hears your breath that almost sounds like a sob, he’s immediately on high alert. Before he can brush your hair out of your face to look at you, really look at you, you bury your face in his chest.

It takes him a second to realize that you’re crying and it breaks his heart because you’re trying to hide it.

“Baby..” he feels you curl in further, your face warm against his skin. He moves to pull you in closer, palm holding the back of your head. He just wanted to take away whatever it was that was bothering you. He tried to pull away to get a look at your face to help you calm down but you wouldn't let him. He settles on carding his fingers through your hair, rubbing circles on the little sliver of exposed skin between your t-shirt and shorts, hoping it gives you some sort of comfort.

"Honey", it is then that you finally let in a shaky breath. he feels the skin where you hid your face get wet maybe with tears, sweat, snot, he didn't care-- he just wanted to take all your pain away.

You both stay that way, and you're suprised by how much you sob, how hard you heave. You weren't sure how long you stayed that way, maybe minutes, maybe hours, however long. It feels like forever.

At this moment, encased in Steve's arms, breath hot against his skin, despite the nose plugged with snot, lashes clumped with tears, eyes squinted shut, you think this is comfortable. Yet it hurts. Because you'll have to pull away. It hurts so damn much because you know how this can go, you know it can hurt so, so much more. You know it will hurt.

You want this to last forever, however fucking long one of those is.

So, you hold on longer because, you’re selfish with your love for Steve. You're selfish because despite the heartache, you’ll have him, for as long as you can.

His hold on you gentle yet firm, as if afraid he'd break you. In your head, he already had. He tries to pull away again, to look at you but you can't. Your eyes still squinted close, willing it all to be a stupid dream. “Honey, I promise you whatever it is, you can tell me”, he says, voice soft as feather. Of course it's not a dream.

Your tongue betrays you, “Its…s–” stupid. Silly. It really doesn't feel stupid or silly, but god, you're so scared that you can't say it, you didn't want to say it because if you do it’ll come true, wont it?

“Whatever it is that you think is stupid," he assured you as if he could read your mind, "I still want to hear it because I know I won't think it's stupid."

suddenly it burns, and you need air. you sit up and try not to think about how ridiculously not pretty you probably look with snot running down your face, “What if- what if we- we end up hating each other?” you manage to say through hiccups.

“What?” he sits up as well, he says as if you had said the most ridiculous thing, “I'll never hate you, honey.”

For some reason, tears fill your eyes again at that, “Steve, you don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“No. Ste– people fall out of love, Steve- all the- all the time.” It terrifies him how convinced you sound of it.

“Do..... do you think you’ll fall out of love with me?”

The question startles you, its evident in your wide eyes, “Wha– what?”

“Do you think… you’ll fall out of love with me?" he repeats, "You think you’ll hate me?”

You shake your head, the tear that had been sitting on your lower lash finally slides down your already tear-stained cheek.

“Good." he wipes the wet trails left behind with his thumb, "then, why would I hate you?”

Your face twists into an expression that Steve wasn't sure what to describe it as. a deep frown on your lips, chin wobbly, brows scrunched up together, eyes red and tired yet nostrils flared. “‘Cause", you start but before you could continue another sob leaves you. you look down at your lap, trying to catch your breath. it takes you a minute before you begin again, "do you remember.... what you said about our kids?”

He nods, heart clenching at the way your voice breaks, “I don't think I can… do that”, he doesn't think he's ever heard you sound so broken. “I– I don't think if I– if I want that.”

He sits silent and you think this is it. maybe forevers aren't that long after all.

More tears fall, more sobs leave you, you don't bother to wipe them. What's it matter anyway? He hates you already. He's probably thinking of a way to let you down easily because he is kind like that “Honey.. I want a family..” you feel your heart ripping in two and you just can't look at him.

“And I want you to be a part of that family. I– I want you to be the person I built a family with, no matter the size." He wipes at both your cheeks again, making you look at him, "even if its just us.”

The relieved smile he expected from you isn't there, instead, you frown, the crease between your brows deepens. the part that hurt the most was that you push his hands away, “you’re saying that now, but what happens when years down the line, when we’re old, you– you end up resenting me. Y- you love me right now, I know. But how do you know you wont end up hating me like, ten years later?”

“I dont want to watch you grow old and hate me and then leave me, Steve. I’d rather end this now if we’re destined to just end up unhappy together.”

“We’re not. Okay? We’re not. I know I wont hate you, ever.” He reaches for your hands again. He kisses your fingers before continuing, “And I know that I want you, just you and whatever that– that that comes with. We could never have kids and I would never hate you for it.”

“You won't be happy", you say meekly, like he'd be mad at you for speaking what was on your mind to him, “You wont hate me but you wont be happy either”, you muttered, chin ducked into your chest.

“Honey”, he hooks a finger under your chin, tilting your head to make you look at him, to make you understand. “you’re what I need to be happy. You make me happy. And.. I’d hope you need me to be happy too”, a wet chuckle escapes you at that. A hint of a smile on your face despite the tears.

“You do, don’t you?” he clarified with a soft smile of himself.

You nod, "yeah", letting out a loud sniffle.

“Good. I know its scary but you’ve gotta put your trust in me. Trust me enough to believe in me when I say that you are what makes me happy. and I am happy."

He wipes away gently at your face, ridding it of the tear stains, “Sometimes, you’ve just gotta trust. I promise I’ll never break it.”

You sob again but it's lighter than before, you wrap your arms around his neck and feel the weight you felt get lifted, you sniffle into the crook of his neck, "thank you."

You feel his lips on your hairline, "Let's go back to sleep, yeah?"

"Yeah. You still wanna be the big spoon?"

"yeah, I think you need to be the little spoon today." he pulls you down with him, your back to his chest, kissing the skin behind your ear he finally settles in beside you.

You call out his name, he hums in response. "how long do you think a forever is?"

"I don't know, honey."

"Can we stay like this forever?"

"Um.. if you mean us staying forever then yes, definitely forever. But, if you meant me being the big spoon forever, baby, I'm not sure if I'll be able to commit to that."

You laugh, "I love you." you confess.

"I love you too."

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things #steve harrington x reader angst #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x you #stranger things x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfiction #Spotify

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andvys · 2 years

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Love will tear us apart // part sixteen

Warnings: angst, panic attack, anxiety, mentions of death, fluff, Eddie being scared and clingy

Pairings: Eddie Munson x fem!reader // mentions of Steve Harrington x fem!reader

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previous part

Steve and Mike watched you with surprised looks on their faces as you kept stacking up the presents in Mike’s hands.

“Got one more,” you mumble as you reach for the small box in your closet, placing it on top of the other presents “and, wait.” you walk towards your dresser, opening the top drawer.

“How many presents did you get?” Steve asks, raising his brows as he looks at you with surprise written all over his face.

“Yeah, it’s only Will’s birthday, y/n. Not Christmas.” Mike mumbles, looking down at the presents he’s holding.

“Well,” you pause, furrowing your brows as you rummage through the drawers “there’s also something for El.”

“You got something for El?” Mike asks, smiling at the mention of his girlfriend.

“Of course- ah, got it.” you smile as you pick up the small box, wrapped in pink wrapping paper “this one’s for her.” you say as you place the last present on top of the others.

“You’re spoiling them.” Steve says, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches you with a smile on his face.

You turn to look at him “well, I don't think that I’m ever gonna have kids so, might as well spoil these ones.” you chuckle.

“You don't want kids?” Mike asks.

“Yeah, you don't want six little nuggets running around?” Steve asks.

“Six?” you gasp causing Mike to laugh in surprise.

“Six little Eddie’s.” Mike grins, wiggling his brows at you.

Steve clenches his jaw at the mention of Eddie but he masks the unpleasant look on his face with a small smile. He looks down at his hands, tuning out the conversation between you and Mike. He knows it’s wrong but Steve has always dreamed of a future with you. Even when were never close to dating, Steve had always thought that you would end up together, somehow.

“Six little Eddie’s?” you snort, turning around to face Mike.

“Yeah, I'm sure Dustin would make a good babysitter.”

“And you?”

You chuckle when he starts shaking his head “nope! I’ll never babysit!”

“We’ll see about that,” Steve chuckles as he gets up and walks towards Mike, grabbing the presents from his hands, Mike lets out a sigh of relief “thanks, those are heavy.”

“Come on, I’ll drive you home.” Steve says, nodding towards the door.

“Yeah.” he mumbles.

“Have fun in California and don't you dare forget the presents.” you say, giving him a pointed look.

“I’ll put them in my backpack, right away.” he says, smiling at you before he leaves the room.

“Should I come back?” Steve asks, standing in front of you now. He looks at you with a soft look in his eyes, a longing gaze in them.

“Uh no, I’ll just grab some stuff and then I’ll leave.”

“To Eddie’s?” he asks.

You nod.

The guilty feeling in your chest eats you alive whenever he looks at you with those longing, sad eyes of his.

“Right,” he mumbles, he scratches the back of his neck “well, if you ever want to stay somewhere else, you know you can always come to me.”

“I know.” you smile.

He nods, “well, I better get going now.” he says, still looking at you with those sad eyes of his before he finally rips his gaze away from you and goes to leave but you stop him, taking his hand in yours “Steve?”

Steve hates the way his heart flutters in his chest at a simple touch like this “yeah?”

You step closer to him “are we okay?” you ask, worriedly.

The look in his eyes softens, he hates to see the worry and the fear in your eyes. You are scared of losing him, something that seems so ridiculous to him. How would you ever lose him? He would never leave you, even when it hurts to see you loving someone else, Steve could never walk out of your life.

“Of course.” he says, he lets your hand go and instead moves his arms around you, pulling you into his chest.

“I don't want to lose you.” you mumble into his chest as you wrap your arms around his waist.

“You won't,” he whispers “after all, we’re best friends right?”

A smile tugs at your lips as you lean back to look up at him “yes.”

“I’m not gonna leave my best girl.” he smiles. This time it’s not one he has to fake, no, it’s a genuine one. Because even though he doesn't get to love you the way he does, he is still happy that he gets to keep you in his life, even when he only gets to love you in the shadows.

Steve leans down, lips inching closer, so bad he wishes that he could just kiss you but he can’t and he knows it. He presses a soft kiss to your forehead instead, before he takes a step back “good night, y/n.”

“Good night.” you whisper, giving him one last smile before he leaves.

Only as he leaves do you realize how uncomfortable you feel to be back in your house. You know that your brother won't come back any time soon, he’s probably high on drugs at a party and won't be back until tomorrow noon but you still don't want to spend any minute longer in this house that has never been your home.

You grab your back and start packing a few more clothes.

It’s only minutes after Steve has already left that you suddenly hear the front door shut. You freeze in your spot, blood running cold as you drop the shirt you were holding in your hands. You take a step back as you eye the door in your room.

Footsteps echo through the house as you hear them inching closer and closer.

You feel the panic rising in your chest as you expect your brother to burst through your door and slam you against the wall just like he did a few days ago. No, you won't let this happen again.

Just as you make a run for the door to lock it. It suddenly slammed open and you jump back in surprise with a gasp.

It’s not your brother.

It’s Eddie.

Before you get the chance to react, he rushes towards you and pulls you in his arms, holding you tightly against his chest as he buries his face in your neck.

“You’re okay, you’re okay.” he whispers, more to himself than to you.

He holds you so tightly, you almost struggle to breathe. His fingers dig into your skin and he breathes heavily as he keeps repeating the same words, over and over again.

You lay your palm on his chest, eyes widening at the pace of his heart. It’s racing.

You furrow your brows, the fear inside of you is replaced by worry and anxiety “Eddie?” you whisper as you wrap your arms around him, rubbing his back gently.

His knees buckle and he begins to fall, you try to hold him up but it’s too sudden and you both fall to your knees. He still doesn't let go of you, if anything, his arms tighten around you, afraid of letting you go.

Your worry grows bigger and bigger as your own heart begins to race. You feel something warm on your shoulder and quickly realize that it’s tears, Eddie is crying.

“Hey,” you whisper softly “Eddie.”

“I-I thought, I thought I lost you.” he stutters as he begins to cry “s-she- I didn't know what to do.”

Confusion and fear runs through you as you struggle to understand what he is talking about.

“W-What?”

He tries to talk again but his words are incoherent, his crying and the panic that he’s feeling right now makes it hard for him to speak. All you manage to catch is the words ‘dead’, it makes no sense to you.

He clings to you as though he’s scared that you might just disappear if he lets go of you.

“I’m so scared.” he whimpers, fingers digging into your skin.

Your heart breaks as you hear him cry, you only hold him tighter in response and continue to rub his back gently “I’m here, Eddie.” you whisper.

You’re confused but you’re also anxious. You saw him just half an hour ago and everything was fine then.

“What happened, babe?” you ask.

He keeps crying, tears staining your shirt as he refuses to let go of you. He keeps repeating the same words.

‘I don't want to lose you’

‘I can’t lose you’

‘I was so scared that something happened to you’

You try your best to comfort him, you try to see his face but he won't leg go, keeping his face buried in your neck. His cries and whimpers make your heart hurt as your own tears begin to well up in your eyes.

“I-I can’t-” he struggles to speak, making you even more worried.

“What’s wrong?” you ask as you try to pull back to look at him, this time he lets you, his hands leave your back and they settle on his own chest.

You cradle his face in your small hands and finally look at him, tears are streaming down his face, his eyes are glassy and filled with so much fear, his bottom lip is trembling. This sight alone is enough to break your heart.

“Eddie,” you whisper brokenly as you try to wipe his tears away.

“I-I can’t breathe.” he manages to croak out.

Your eyes widen as he starts to struggle, trying to take a deep breath.

“Hey, hey babe,” you whisper, taking his hands away from his chest.

Eddie has helped you through this before, he held your hand to his chest, making you focus on his heartbeat.

“Remember how you helped me once?” you ask as you take his hand and place it on your chest. He nods as he looks into your eyes, more tears escaping and staining his pale skin.

“Focus on me, focus on my heartbeat.” you whisper as you inch closer to your lover “focus on me.”

He leans his forehead against yours, needing to feel you. The fear he felt after what he just witnessed was nothing that he has ever felt before. The only thing that was on his mind was you. Eddie has found you in the same state that Chrissy was in before her body was hauled up against the ceiling and her bones started breaking.

So many things were running through his mind when he ran out of the trailer, so many questions and all he felt was fear. Fear of finding you dead.

But you are here and you are alive. Your heart is beating against your chest beneath his palm. Your eyes are still the beautiful color he loves so much. Your skin is warm, your minty breath hits his skin softly. You are alive, you are still breathing, you are still right here.

“Breathe with me, Eddie.” you whisper as you look into his eyes.

One hand covers his own and the other one rests on his cheek gently, stroking his skin with your thumb. You keep whispering to him, helping him calm down. It takes him a while but he starts relaxing slowly. The stiffness in his body disappears and his grip loosens a little.

“You’re here.” Eddie whispers as though he tries to convince himself.

“I’m here,” you say, brows furrowed as you stare at him “and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?” he whispers brokenly.

You don't know what happened while you were apart for these few minutes but you know it must have been bad. You have never seen him like this, so scared and vulnerable. His eyes were puffy from all the crying, his hands were still shaking and he refused to let go of you.

“I promise, Eddie.” you whisper, kissing his cheek gently.

You try to pull back but Eddie grabs your hands so tightly, eyes widening with fear “d-don’t let go, please.”

Your eyes soften “I won't- just, let’s lay down okay?”

He nods, he keeps holding your hands as you both get up, walking towards your bed, Eddie kicks his shoes off and you help him out of his jacket and put it over your chair by the desk.

“Do you need anything? Water-”

“No please don't leave, stay here.” Eddie says, weakly.

“Okay.” you whisper “hold on.”

You walk towards your door and Eddie almost jumps up, scared to see you leave but he relaxes a little when you only close your door and lock it before you walk back to him. He takes your hand and pulls you down with him, taking you in his arms. He needs to hold you, he needs to feel you, he needs to know that you are okay.

You pull the blanket over the both of you and tilt your head up so you can look at him “Eddie, what happened?”

He shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes again as he tightens his hold on you “I-I can’t, not yet.”

You sigh, worry growing more and more “okay but, you know you can tell me anything, right?” you whisper.

“Yes,” he pauses, sniffling “can you just stay here, in my arms, I-I need to know that you are okay.”

“Of course.” you whisper, leaning up to kiss his jaw “I love you.”

The ringing of your telephone pulls you out of your slumber. A groan leaves your lips as you snuggle further into Eddie’s chest, not wanting to get up yet. You open your eyes and take a peek at him, finally he has managed to fall asleep.

You and Eddie stayed awake for hours the night before and only as the morning light started seeping through your curtains did you fall asleep.

He didn’t talk about anything that happened and his so unusual quietness left you with an anxious feeling in your chest. He was never this quiet, for a moment you even thought that he fell asleep but when you looked up at him, he was only staring at you with an unreadable look in his eyes. It seemed as though he was scared to take his eyes off of you, even if just for a moment.

The ringing stopped only to continue a minute later.

“Are you kidding me?” you mutter under your breath as you push yourself up but the moment you try to get out of bed, Eddie suddenly wakes and pulls his arm tighter around you, not letting you go.

You turn to look at him, brows furrowed as you meet his eyes “Eddie-”

“Don’t go!” he says almost in panic as his tired eyes look at you in fear.

“I-I just gotta get the phone, babe.” you say, softly, taking his hands in yours.

He shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes once again. By now he knows that Chrissy’s body has been found and the police has been informed. In the early morning hours, he heard the sirens and he knew. The thought of Wayne walking in on that, made him feel so horribly guilty. He didn't even consider it when he ran away last night.

He should have never let Chrissy into his home. If he just told her to leave and shut the door, maybe none of this would have happened.

The ringing continued, echoing through the empty house. You looked towards your door. Eddie cradles your face in his hands.

Turning around, you look into his eyes, his dark brown eyes that are filled with nothing but fear and panic.

“Eddie,” you whisper almost desperately “j-just tell me what’s wrong, you’re scaring me.”

Eddie is terrified. He doesn't know how to tell you this. He knows you will believe him, without a doubt. But, he doesn't want you to think that Chrissy was there for something other than those stupid drugs she so desperately wanted. What if you think that he lied? What if you think that you aren't the only one? What if-

“Eddie.”

He blinks, the sound of your shaky voice breaks his heart and as he looks into your eyes and sees the fear in them, his facade begins to crumble even further. He’s not just scared about what happened, he is also scared about what is going to happen.

It’s the upside down. He knows it and he doesn’t want you to go through anything like that ever again but he has to tell you, he needs to tell you.

“Chrissy,” he starts and looks away “she came over last night, I-I don't even know how she knew where I live.”

You furrow your brows as you look at your boyfriend, already feeling nervous about whatever he will say next.

“I-I didn't want to-” he stutters, letting go of your face to swipe his tears “I didn't..”

“W-What are you talking about, Eddie?” you ask nervously. Tears blurring your vision, heart already dropping to your stomach. He didn't do anything with her did he? No. Eddie wouldn't do this.

Eddie hears the shakiness of your voice, the fear. Suddenly, he realizes how it must've sound. He raises his head to look at you, his heart aches in his chest. The tears and the heartbreak in your eyes is so clear.

He has to tell you the truth before he hurts you even more by causing you to believe something that didn't happen and something that would never even happen.

“She is dead.”

You blink, confused and shocked you stare at your boyfriend.

“She came for drugs, begged me to sell some to her, I didn't want to, I-I wanted her to leave but she kept begging and she looked scared, paranoid.” he explains.

You listen attentively, brows pulled together.

“She kept insisting and wouldn't leave so I let her in. I went into my room to get the stupid drugs she wanted but when I came back, she wasn't there anymore- well, she was but, her eyes,” he stops as his voice wavered “s-she was- like you, y/n.”

Your lips part, eyes widening in shock and fear just like his, he grabs your hand tightly.

“I-I called her name, tried to shake her awake but it didn't work,” he pauses as he takes a deep breath “her body just like.. lifted up into the air and she just like, hung there i-in the air and her bones-” he stops, closing his eyes, his grip on your hands tightens “her bones started to snap. Her eyes, y/n, it’s like there was something inside of her head pulling.”

“Oh my god.” you breathe shakily, not even hesitating to pull him into your arms again. Your heart drops and a cold shiver runs down your spine. You don't need to guess to know the reason behind all of this.

“I-I didn't know what to do, so I-” he cries into your shoulder “I ran and I just left her there!”

“Eddie-”

“All I saw, all I thought about was you in that moment and how close you were to ending up like her,” he cries “I-I needed to know that you are okay, baby, I was so scared of finding you d-dead.”

“I’m okay, Eddie.” you whisper as you gently stroke his back.

You eyes are staring blankly at the wall, eyes wide and filled with shock. Chrissy is dead, the upside down got her, just the way it tried to get you again.

So many things were running through your mind, so many questions that you had no answer to.

Chrissy is dead.

Chrissy is dead in Eddie’s trailer.

No, no, no.

The ringing of the doorbell startles you and you feel not only yourself tensing up but also Eddie, who pulls back to look at you, eyes filled with anxiety. Your own heart is racing in your chest but you don't try to show how nervous you are.

The doorbell rings again, accompanied by loud banging against the door.

“I’ll go look who it is okay?”

Eddie shakes his head, not wanting you to leave.

“It’s okay, it’s probably just my uncle or something.”

“No, please don't-”

The sudden sound of several footsteps coming up the stairs make you both turn towards your bedroom door. Eddie’s grip tightens around your hand and you squeeze his in response.

“Who-”

“Y/n?”

Dustin.

“Are you there?”

You let out a sigh of relief, closing your eyes for a moment, you take a deep breath and turn back to face Eddie, who looks just as relieved “I'll open the door okay?”

He nods but lets you go with hesitation, his eyes follow you as you rush towards the door to unlock and open it.

“Oh finally! We called you like ten thousand times!” Dustin exclaims, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Behind him are Steve, Robin and Max.

Dustin pushes past you and welcomes himself into your room “oh thank god, Eddie!” he mumbles as he rushes towards his friend, not even hesitating to hug him.

Steve walks in next and you eye his and Robin’s clothes in confusion, they are wearing their work clothes and that’s where they are supposed to be right now, at work.

He places his hand on your shoulder “are you okay?” he asks, eyes flickering over to Eddie who shakes his head at something Dustin has said.

You’re not okay but you nod anyways.

Everyone piles into the room and you walk back to join Eddie on the bed, he takes your hand in his right away whilst you put your arm around him, resting your hand on his back.

Everyone is silent for a moment, just looking around uncomfortably. Eddie won't meet anyones eyes, only staring at your joined hands.

You know why they’re here, of course you do. By now, Wayne must have found her body already and the case is all over the news, the thought leaves you more anxious than anything else. You know what it looks like to any outsider.

The pretty popular cheerleader dead in the trailer of a drug dealer who is considered a satanic worshipper by all of Hawkins?

“I’m guessing it’s on the news?” you ask, breaking the silence.

Steve nods.

“Yeah, there's no suspect yet but-”

“But they think that I did it, r-right?” Eddie asks as he looks at Steve.

“We don't know.” Max speaks up.

“Eddie, what happened?” Dustin asks, looking at his friend with worry in his eyes.

Eddie hesitates and looks at you, you nod, gripping his hand tighter “it’s okay, tell them what you told me Eds.”

He nods, closing his eyes for a moment, he takes a deep breath.

Eddie struggles to speak about it again, his voice is shaky and he has to take multiple breaks, shutting his eyes at certain memories. You rub his back and hold his hand tightly.

Your touch and your presence gives him the comfort that he needs.

“H-Her eyes they were like,” he pauses, not picturing Chrissy but you “like y/n’s when she was i-in that trance or whatever it was.”

Everyone tense up and Max turns to you with a confused look on her face “wait what?” she asks “w-what trance?”

Before you can even answer her question, Steve steps forward with a panicked look on his face “are you saying that this is what almost happened to y/n?”

Eddie raises his head to look at the other man, the expression in his eyes mirroring his own, Eddie nods “it was the same, man.”

Shaking your head “no! I’m here aren't I?” you mumble “n-nothing happened to me!”

“That’s bullshit, y/n!” Eddie suddenly raises his voice “I-I found you like that, your eyes- you weren't even there when I tried to reach you!”

“God.” Robin mumbles nervously as she runs a hand through her hair.

“That’s true y/n,” Dustin mumbles, looking at you with a nervous expression on his face “we saw you, t-that’s almost like what happened to Will when the mind flayer got him.”

“Wait, mind flayer,” Max mumbles as unpleasant memories of her brother come back to her “a-are you saying that the mind flayer tried to get her and Chrissy?”

“No.” you mumble as you furrow your brows and look down at your lap. That wasn't the mind flayer “t-that was something else.”

“You said they were like under a trance?” Dustin asks.

Eddie nods, furrowing his brows as he looks at his friend.

“What if it’s not a trance?” he asks “what if they were under a spell?”

“A curse.” Eddie mumbles.

“Vecna’s curse.”

You raise your brows as you look between them, not understanding what they are talking about. You turn to Steve who looks just as confused “who’s vecna?” he asks.

“An undead creature of great power.” Dustin answers, looking into blank space as fear starts to sink in.

“A spell caster.”

“A dark wizard.”

Silence fills the room, the energy in this room has a sudden shift and you can almost feel the fear radiating off of everyone. Eddie tenses up, holding your hand even tighter than before. A questioning look is resting in his eyes as he seems to think or remember something.

Suddenly, he turns to you, startling you a little “w-when the boys found you on the road, you told me that you saw a man.”

“A man?” Dustin asks.

Your friends turn to look at you with questioning looks on their faces.

You shake your head “w-what?”

“You said, that you saw a man w-when you were under that.” he trials off.

“Under that spell.” Dustin adds.

You blink as you try to remember that night. Somehow your mind has forced you to forget about what happened, or at least most of what happened. You remember how you ran away from something, you were scared, terrified before you ran into him, the different version of Eddie, the one who wanted to hurt you.

“N-No, t-there was just,” you pause, meeting his eyes again “there was just you, different version of you.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Robin asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

You and Eddie look at each other, you can see the guilt in his eyes, the shame, as if it was his fault.

“It- at first I ran away from something and then I heard Will screaming for help, he was calling my name,” you start, turning away from him to face your friends “and then I ran into, into something that looked like Eddie but it wasn't him.”

Steve is about to speak up, already suspecting what happened, what kind of version you saw of him but Dustin beats him to it “what else did you see? The first time you were under that spell?”

“Uh- I saw, or relived that night that I was taken,” you explain, remembering that very well, the fear and the pain, it all felt so real “everything happened the same way it happened that night b-but then- then I realized that it wasn't real and I heard Eddie calling out to me and then I was back.”

“Wait, so you realized that it wasn't real? Whilst you were under that spell?” Max asks with raised brows.

“Did you ever see him? Vecna.”

You shrug.

You don't know if you did. There’s so many missing pieces in your mind.

Why are you resisting y/n? Let me in.

The other’s must've seen the sudden fear in your eyes. It hit you like a cold wave, the memory of the creature behind you when you were standing in Steve’s bathroom.

“What?” Eddie asks in concern.

You’re gonna be a beautiful first sacrifice. A beautiful ending to a tragic story, don't worry, it will all be over soon.

Words that you couldn't even remember, repeated themselves in your mind, the voice, the same one that you have heard in your nightmares spoke to you. Suddenly, you remember that night, the things he said to you. Something that was still missing in your memory was his face though.

“Hey, what’s wrong baby?” Eddie asks nervously as he moves his arm around you.

“I-I think I saw him,” you say, raising your head to look at Eddie “Vecna?”

“What?”

“Yeah? What?” Steve exclaims, throwing his hands up, fear flickers in his eyes as he stares at you.

“W-When, what?” Robin stutters.

“That night, I saw a creature in your bathroom.” you explain as you turn to Steve who’s eyes widen at your words “it wasn't real but it tried to reach out to me and then, I-I saw this man when I was-”

“Under that spell?” Max asks.

You nod “I don't remember his face but his voice.. he- he said that I'd be his first sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?” Robin and Dustin gasp at the same time.

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie exhales, as if this couldn’t get any worse. Eddie has never felt so scared before, he has come so close to losing you and neither of you even realized.

"Wait but you broke the curse, y/n,” Dustin mumbles as he furrows his brows in concentration “I-I mean, it got Chrissy but it didn't get you, that means you broke the curse right?”

“I-I don't know.”

“Nothing happened ever since then right?”

You shake your head. After the night on the streets, nothing like that ever happened again, even the symptoms have stopped.

“That means you broke the curse! It- He didn't get you but how?” Robin questions as she eyes you slowly.

"Maybe it’s because you were aware that it wasn't real.” Max trails off, shrugging.

She’s right, you were aware of it, you knew that it wasn't real, that it was all in your head.

“Or maybe it’s because he wanted you to believe that you broke it, maybe he isn't done with you yet.” Steve mumbles nervously.

Eddie tenses up at Steve’s words, he thought the same thing. Whatever that was after you, whatever came after Chrissy, is still after you.

You and Eddie watch Steve as he starts pacing around the room, running his hand through his perfectly styled hair.

Dustin who's been awfully quiet watches you and Eddie closely. Eying your joined hands. He remembers the night, the way you have come back to your senses only to be pulled back into it, moments later until Eddie arrived and brought you back in less than a minute.

“It's you, Eddie.” he mumbles quietly as his eyes widen in realization “you brought her back.”

Steve looks confused, Robin and Max glance at each other and Eddie turns to look at you.

“Right?” Dustin says, looking right at you.

Right.

“We called out to you, every one of us but you didn't hear us right?”

You shake your head. You didn't hear them, you didn't feel them shaking you, you didn't feel them touching your face or your shoulders.

“But you heard him- you felt his touch, right?”

A warm embrace is what you felt when he touched you. A safe one, one that you could let yourself fall into knowing that no matter how deep you'd fall, he would be there to catch you. His voice called out to you and it was louder than all the noises around you, he didn't even have to try hard, he brought you back, just like that.

You nod “yeah, yeah, he saved me.” Again.

Eddie’s eyes soften and relief floods through him, he saved you and he will save you again if something like that ever happens.

“How’s that possible?” Steve asks.

No one has the answer to his question expect for Dustin of course. Somehow, he has all the answers.

“What’s stronger than evil, Steve?” Dustin asks, raising his brows as he waits for an answer from his friends but he only shrugs, the expression on his face growing more and more confused “Love, dude. Love is stronger than evil.”

Eddie starts blushing at his words, cheeks glowing red for the first time this day. He has yet to say the three little words but, you don't have to hear them to know that he loves you, he proved it already.

Steve rolls his eyes, scoffing at Dustin’s words “fine, love.” he mumbles.

Of course he feels annoyed at his words, Eddie isn't the only one who loves you, he loves you too and he would do anything to bring you back.

Max snorts at his reaction but quickly covers it with a cough as Steve glares at her.

Robin wiggles her brows at Eddie, an action that makes Eddie blush even more.

“Do you think there's a different way to save someone from this, spell?”

You tune out the conversation, eyes settling on Eddie. Your heart aches for him, you know what he feels like, what he felt like in that moment. You wanted to protect him from all of this, from the upside down. But now he’s a part of it, just like all of you.

And you know that it’s not the only thing you have to protect him from. Eddie is going to be a suspect in this case and they will arrest him once they had found him. They will arrest an innocent man, someone who has done nothing wrong.

You won't let that happen.

“You gotta lay low, both of you.” Steve says, pulling you out of your thoughts.

You furrow your brows “what? Eddie’s gotta lay low sure, but I gotta help you guys-”

“Uh, no.” Steve mumbles with wide eyes “you are not doing anything until we find out how to kill that-”

“Vecna.” Dustin mumbles.

“Yeah, Vecna.” Steve says, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, babe, I gotta agree with Harrington for once. If that thing is still after you-”

“Then you need to be together.” Steve says, finishing the sentence for him “I mean, if he’s the only one that can help you break the curse, or whatever, then you need to be with him.”

A surprised laugh leaves your lips as you look between them. Eddie and Steve agreeing on something? That’s a new one.

They share a look, nodding at each other. They might dislike each other and have many differences but some things that they share is the love for you, the protectiveness and the will to do anything for you.

Max and Robin turn to look at each other with an amused look in their eyes.

Dustin turns to look at you, a smirk on his face “is it just me or is this one of the big signs that the world is ending?”

“Not just you.” you mumble.

“You can’t stay here though.” Robin says “I’d offer you my place but my parents are there so..”

“Yeah, same here,” Steve mumble in annoyance “my folks are never there but now they're home all of the sudden.”

“It’s fine, guys.” you mumble “I know a place.”

The studio apartment above the hideout was a little getaway you used from time to time as a young teen, now you were old enough to rent it and actually move in but you decided to save up some money first, Dean always said that he wouldn't charge you for it anyways but you would've felt guilty, living here for free when he could have rent it to someone and actually get some good money for it.

Now, you didn't think that you would ‘move’ in under these circumstances but you were glad that you had this option. No one knew about the apartment your uncle owned, no one except for you, Eddie and your friends, now.

It wasn't exactly luxurious but it had everything you needed. A kitchen, a bathroom with running water, some old furniture that your uncle left here before he moved out into his house. It was cozy.

You closed the blinds and pulled the curtains close after setting up a few candles.

Eddie follows you with his eyes everywhere you go, as though he's scared that something bad will happen once he looks away. He didn't even want to let you shower alone. You ended up dragging him in there with you, for a moment you both stayed silent, just letting the warm water run down your bodies as Eddie held you closely to his chest.

He enjoyed the warmth of your body, the beating of your heart against his palm, your breath on his skin as his lips touched yours and he finally kissed you again.

Now you were laying beneath the sheets, legs tangled together as you both laid on your sides, facing each other. He was tracing your skin gently, brushing your wet hair away from your face as he admired your beautiful face. Remembering the way your face contorted into worry and sadness when he mentioned Chrissy coming over.

He speaks your name softly as he cups your face.

“Yes?”

“You uh- you didn't think that Chrissy was there for another reason right?” he asks.

You blink, shifting a little as you avert your gaze from his eyes. Guilt rushes over you. For a moment a certain thought did cross your mind but you don't want him to think that you think so low of him, that he would break your trust so easily.

You shake your head.

“Hey,” he whispers, tilting your head up so you look into his eyes again, his features soften when he sees the sadness in your eyes “you should never worry about anything like that okay? You are the only one I want, the only girl for me, the only love for me.” he whispers, leaning in to kiss your forehead “I don't care about anyone else, you know that right?”

You underestimate his love for you, Eddie understands why. After all this miscommunication and all the neglect from him, he didn't blame you for feeling this way but Eddie is utterly in love with you and he has always been. There was never a single moment where he has thought about anyone else but you, where he wished that he felt this way about someone else but you, hell, he didn't even want to touch anyone who wasn't you, even when he believed that you would never be his. He’d rather stay miserable and lonely for the rest of his life than be with someone else.

Eddie presses soft kisses all over your face, leaving no spot untouched as his thumb keeps rubbing circles on your skin.

You move your arm around him, a soft smile tugging at your lips one that mirrors his as he finally sees your relaxed features again “there she is,” he whispers as his loving eyes lock with yours.

He kisses your lips and places his free hand on your chest, feeling your heartbeat beneath his palm. A sudden wave of his emotions rush over him. He has taken you for granted, he has taken time for granted, time that was slowly running out, not because of this curse or because of the upside down but also just because of life itself. He has wasted too much time already, he won't be wasting any more.

“I love you.”

For a moment you think it's all just a part of your imagination. You have wanted to hear these words for so long.

“I love you.” Eddie whispers as he presses another loving kiss to your lips.

Tears well up in your eyes, your heart flutters in your chest and despite all the things that happened since the previous night, you can’t help but feel nothing but happiness.

Your eyes lock with his as you finally open them. A smile plays on his lips and his warm eyes that stare back at you with nothing but love and adoration soften further at the sight of your glassy eyes.

His flutters wildly in his chest, finally, he can finally tell you these words that have been on his mind for years. Why was he so afraid to say them out loud?

He keeps repeating soft ‘I love you’s’ as he presses soft kisses all over your face, your cheeks, your nose, your forehead, your chin, your lips. God, Eddie could kiss you forever.

“I’m so in love with you, y/n,” he whispers “I always have been.”

Eddie has loved you from the moments he had laid his eyes on you.

He leans his forehead against yours, his heart is fluttering and he feels so happy with you. He can forget about the bad things that happened, even if just for a moment but he can because you are here, in his arms where you belong. You make him feel warm, you make him feel safe, you make him feel loved, you make him feel weak but you also make him feel strong.

“I’m in love with you too, Eddie.” you whisper “always have been too.”

At this point both his and your hearts were going to explode from all this love.

“Yeah?”��

“Yeah.” you whisper.

“Even before all this?”

The upside down.

“I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you, Eddie. I didn't fall for you because of what happened, because you saved me, I loved you way before that.” you whisper “maybe my love for you o-or your love for me, is what kept me going even when we were nothing but strangers back then.”

“We were never strangers,” he says “there was always something.”

A connection. One that was always there no matter how much distance there was between the two of you. A kind of love that didn't need to be build or created, it’s the kind of love that was just there from the first moment, from the first glance, one that keeps growing stronger and stronger each and every passing second.

A love that would save you.

A love that would pull you out of the darkest places.

A love that would give you strength when you needed it the most.

A love that could withstand anything.

“Something.” you whisper, smiling as you brush your fingers through his hair “you are my hero.”

Eddie smiles at your word but it doesn't reaches his eyes, instead you see guilt in shame flickering in them “I'm not a hero.”

“Yes you are, Eddie.” you whisper “you are my hero.”

“A hero wouldn't have ran away.” his voice cracks and tears spring to his eyes. He feels so ashamed.

“Eddie, there's nothing you could have done for her! It’s not your fault.” you say as you place your hands on his cheeks “it’s not your fault.” you repeat.

He shakes his head “you would never run.”

“Uh- yes I would, I tried to run, hell, I did run when I was stuck there.” you tell him “I didn't have the strength or the courage to fight and I’m sure I would've died there if it wasn't for you. You saved me Eddie and you didn't even know it, you are a hero, you are my hero.”

Eddie’s eyes water as he looks into your eyes.

He hears those words before, not just from you but also from Will. Back then the words had a different meaning, or so he thought.

“Maybe you are her hero.”

To know that he was the one to save your life, that he is the one who can still save you, means everything to him. It means that he will do anything to protect you and keep you safe.

But he knows that you would do the same, you will try to do anything to protect him from all these horrors. You will do anything to keep him safe and the thought scares him.

He can’t lose you.

And, you can't lose him.

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aemiron-main · 2 years

Note

I have a few questions actually Mr...Aemiron? sure, anyway- my first question is 1: what specific powers do you think will is going to have?

2: will we see new monsters? if so, what will they be?

3: are the kids gonna still go to school?

4: what characters are you absolutely CERTAIN will die?

5: also this isn't a question but how COOL would it be to see Mike with a SWORD?!??! I MEAN IT WOULD BE SO COOL TO SEE MIKE ACTUALLY DO SHIT FOR ONCE.

6: and my last question, how do you think El is going to die?

AAAAA HELLO LMAO!!! <3 MR AEMIRON IS SO FUNNY BUT IN A SWEET WAY LIKE ITS WONDERFUL but please feel free to just call me Em or call me whatever you want LMAO like im happy to be called anything i just dont want you to feel like you Have to be formal ANYWAY IM RAMBLING LETS GET INTO YOUR QUESTIONS! 1.) OHOHOH THIS IS A QUESTION IM STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. Personally I think a lot of will's powers are going to be tied to the fact that so far he's the only person we've seen whose physical body can do the same thing in the real world and in the upside-down at the same time, and so technically that may also fall into time travel because if the upside down is really stuck in time and doesn't just look like it's stuck in time, then therefore, Will has been able to exist in two times at one during his upside down episodes in s2. I also think he might have healing powers, with him being referred to as a cleric regarding dnd (but also a wizard sometimes so hmm but i think its more that will the wise is a wizard whereas mike sees will himself as a cleric- and mike as a paladin- and so that would align w will having cleric-like powers). 2.) Absolutely. I feel strongly that we will totally see new monsters, and that one of them is going to be some sort of weird dragon creature, like what Nancy mentioned about a huge creature with a gaping mouth. 3.) THIS IS A GOOD QUESTION: I think it could go either way but seeing how the school gym's been converted into a relief centre for the time being, and how the storm was approaching the characters at the end of s4 and how the duffers talked about jumping right into the action in s5, I don't think they'll be in school because I feel like a.) theres too much happening and b.) story-wise, the duffers have already set it up in a way where them not going to school isn't a plothole/their absence wont really be questioned because even though the whole town doesn't know about the supernatural side of things, they DO know about the earthquake destruction. 4.) HMMMM I can't say I'm absolutely certain of anyone's death except for Vecna's (and even then i wasn't really certain of his until they had Will emphasize that they have to kill him and then thought more about the ways in which Henry's tied into Will's narrative and why he's gotta die/Will deserves to kill him), but I'm starting to wonder about a steve death considering that fire and rain, a literal song about death and mourning and suicide (which could tie into steve sacrificing himself and getting himself killed), played during steve's six little nuggets speech. I'm also definitely starting to lean towards the idea that Mike is going to die briefly and then come back to life because a.) s5 is seeming like it's going to tie back to s1 in a lot of ways/parallel it, which means that since will was the one who seemed to be dead in s1 and mike was searching for him, the roles will likely be reversed in s5 and b.) mike has too many death flags waving about his head for him not to die in some way but I can't see them killing him permanently. 5.) IT WOULD BE SO COOL IT WOULD BE AMAZING I WANT MIKE TO GET BACK TO DOING THINGS BC USUALLY HE DOES DO THINGS LIKE HES SMART HE FIGURED OUT THE UPSIDE DOWN AND THE HIVEMIND BUT SEASON 4 WAS MOSTLY GAY PINING TM FOR HIM SO HOPEFULLY IN S5 HE GETS TO GAY PINE WITH A SWORD!! 6.) I don't think that El will die in s5, I think that in a metaphorical way, the identity of "Eleven"/that superhero persona that's been forced onto her is going to die by the end of it once everything is saved and she has her independence and freedom! In regards to El's eventual death because she is a human being after all, though, I like to think that she'd be somewhere after living a long life, surrounded by people who love her in a place that makes her happy!

#stranger things #st asks

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buckys-little-belle · 2 years

Note

Hi hi 👋🏼 I really love your Eddie x little!reader series! I was wondering if Steve meets little fairy too and if they’d be friends? I just feel like fairy would immediately be one of Steve’s little nuggets and he’d help with the hellfire babysitting too by maybe passing cartoon vhs tapes to Eddie and Dustin for fairy or calling Dustin at school to check on them and his other nuggets. Or if Nancy and Robin find out about their regression too? They’d be such cool aunts 🥰🥰

Hellfire Babysitting Club (Part Six)

Little Nugget

Eddie Munson x Little!Reader (They/Them Pronouns)/ The Hellfire Club x Little!Reader (They/Them Pronouns)/ (Honorary) Steve Harrington x Little!Reader (They/Them Pronouns)

Warnings - Reader does eat food, (Chicken nuggets, carrots and some ketchup.), slight reader being sad, for like half a second, I think that’s it!

Notes - I love this series … That’s it

SFW - Please keep all interactions with this post, and with this blog SFW.

- - - - - -

“Are you sure they’ll like me?” Steve asked, standing next to Eddie outside of the High School, here to babysit Y/n while the club finish up the very important end of a very important campaign.

“The Little Terror love’s everyone Steve.” Eddie remarked, greeting Gareth with a smile as he arrived and went inside, meeting up with the rest of the group. “You’re fun, okay? I’m sure they will love you.” He said reassuringly, patting Steve on the back as the two of them turned to enter the school, the sun setting slowly.

“Yah, I know I’m ‘cool’” Steve scoffed. “But I don’t know, this is different!” He said, stopping in the hallway and crossing his arms, suddenly feeling self conscious about his babysitter abilities. “What if I mess up?” He asked genuinely, worried he may do something wrong in a critical moment.

Eddie laughed, running a hand through his hair and walking towards Steve. “I don’t think you realize just how much of a terror Little Terror is Steve.” Eddie’s smile radiated confidence as he spoke. “You will mess up, my first time looking after Y/n they pulled an entire baby tree out of the ground.” Eddie said, not breaking eye contact with Steve. “Just keep the away from anything dangerous and you’re already doing better than half of us.”

“You guys let Y/n around dangerous things?” Steve worriedly asked, genuinely concerned.

Eddie shrugged. “Gareth didn’t notice glass once, plants are all over the outside, the bathroom has soap, honestly with Y/n even the floor is dangerous.” Eddie began to walk towards the drama room once again, reaching the door and calling out a quick ‘Litter Terror’. Y/n hauling it out the door and into his arms. “Hey Fairy, causing any trouble?” He asked, giving Y/n a quick peck on top of their head.

“Jus’ spilled some water ‘s all.” Y/n said, looking around and eventually spotting Steve, offering a small wave.

Steve waved back, he assumed the Hellfire clubs honorary member would look the part, plaid flannels, leather, a jean jacket at least, maybe some pins of bands? Instead he was met with Y/n wearing a pair of loose jeans, and a hoodie, no shoes, just some fun coloured socks. Their outfit made them stick out like a sore thumb in the group, sure Dustin and Lucas wore more colourful clothing, jackets and things, but they still looked the part of a Hellfire member. Steve laughed, Y/n at least wasn’t as intimidating as he thought, which meant they were probably even crazier than he assumed.

“You’re gonna hang out with Steve while we play okay?” Eddie said, his hands on Y/n’s shoulders as he told them the plans. “You can show him all your toys hm?”

Y/n nodded, suddenly looking sad. “Yah b’not my bear.” They pouted, still reeling from their lost bear.

“Well maybe next time you see him you’ll have a new one.” Eddie reassured them, it had only been a day since they lost their bear, and with their hurt hand they needed a comfort toy more than ever.

Steve overheard the conversation, he had a few bears back at home from when he was kid, the bears too sentimental to get rid of, but just sitting in his closet for the time being. “Otay Steve.” Y/n said, snapping Steve out of his thoughts, holding onto his hand as they lead him to a room a few doors down. The drama club/class’s practice room, a small square room that was empty, now occupied by Y/n’s backpack and a few toys the boy’s had brought from their houses.

Steve waved ‘bye’ to Eddie, who ran into his own drama room, beginning the last leg of his campaign. “So what do you like doing?” He asked, Y/n letting go of his hand and sitting on the floor, pulling out a puzzle from their bag.

“‘m whatever I want.” They shrugged their shoulders, opening the box and beginning to sort the pieces as best as they could. “Well, not whatever I want. I can’t go outside alone.”

Steve hummed, confused as to what he was here for, Y/n seemed perfectly able to sit on their own for an hour or two.

“I feel lonely, can you sit pease?” They asked, looking at Steve with puppy dog eyes, his heart shattering at how adorable they looked.

“Yah of course, sorry.” He stuttered, sitting down opposite to them, his hands going to sort Y/n’s already sorted piles o actually be sorted the right way. He stopped suddenly. “Can I help?” He asked, wanting to make sure Y/n knew he wouldn’t cross any boundaries, he was a stranger to them after all.

“Mhm.” They hummed, their tongue sticking out slightly as they concentrated, a habit clearly picked up from Eddie. “I get the last piece though.” The murmured, Steve laughing as he nodded.

- - - - - -

And hour an a half went by, Y/n clearly not the ‘Little Terror’ Eddie insisted they were. Steve and Y/n spent the time colouring, finishing their puzzle, Y/n showed him their toys, and told them about a cat they saw on their way over. They seemed to be very calm, not at all what he had heard. Dustin claimed Y/n was super unpredictable, but Steve just didn’t see it. How was this the person who picked up glass? Or pulled an entire tree out of the ground?

He stood up, grabbing the snacks Eddie packed out of Y/n’s bag, some chicken nuggets and ketchup, as well as some carrots. “I’ll be right back okay?” He said, stepping out of the room and walking towards the loud drama room that held the Hellfire club currently. “How’s it going?” He asked the room, everyone turning towards Steve, expecting to see Y/n at his side.

“Where’s Y/n?” Dustin asked, trying to peek around Steve’s back to see if they were hiding in the hallway.

“Don’t worry, I distracted them with their snack, their fine.” Steve said confidently, slowly worrying about his decision as the groups faces dropped.

“You packed ketchup, right Eddie?” Gareth asked, turning towards the group’s leader. Eddie’s head hiding behind his hands as he subtly shook his head.

“I did, yep.” He sighed, the group following suit.

“What? It’s just ketchup?” Steve asked, confused as to why the group was being so dramatic over this little fact.

“To us.” Mike said, looking around the room.

“To Y/n ketchup could be lotion, or paint, or hair colour.” Lucas added in, looking at Steve with pure rage.

Eddie stood up. “I’ll be back in a second boys.” He sighed, walking towards the smaller room, hearing Y/n humming along to a random song in their head as he got closer. As he approached the room he expected to see red, literally red ketchup everywhere.

Instead he saw Y/n happily sitting down, eating the chicken nuggets and ketchup properly, the ketchup still in the small Tupperware it was packed in. “Told you Munson.” Steve laughed, patting Eddie on the back, a huge smile on his face.

“I don’t get it, what did you do?” He asked. “Did you bribe them? Threaten them to behave?” Eddie seethed, worried about what Steve did to get Y/n to behave so proper, their manners clearly on full display.

“No!” Steve exclaimed, slightly offended Eddie would think he could do that. “Y/n’s just a good kid!”

Eddie looked back at Y/n, who in turn looked at him, smiling and waving before going back to their food. “You’ve tamed the Terror.” Eddie whispered in shock.

“It might just be the chicken nuggets.” Steve suggested, pointing to Y/n who was happily eating.

“Nope, Fairy eats chicken nuggets all the time, the ketchup never stays in the bowl.” Eddie mumbled, still confused as to the sorcery that was Steve Harrington.

“Well I guess Little Nugget just likes me more.” Steve proudly said, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling like the proud babysitter he was.

- - - - - -

“Steve!” Y/n shouted, running out of the school, the last bell having just rung.

“Hi Little Nugget.” Steve said, hugging Y/n and shaking them side to side in his arms. “I have something for you.”

“Y/n!” Eddie yelled, running out of the same doors Y/n had just run out of, him out of breath and worried as Y/n seemed unfazed. “There you are, jesus, don’t run off like that again.” Eddie sighed, taking a deep breath as he stole them out of Steve’s arms hugging them to ground himself in his worry.

“‘m sorry.” Y/n said, scooching out of Eddie’s arms, holding his hand instead, turning back to Steve. “Stevie has something for me!” They exclaimed, their voice a little too loud.

Steve turned towards the pair, his hands behind his back. “Ready?” Steve asked, Y/n violently shaking their head ‘yes’, Eddie reaching out with his free hand to place it on top of Y/n’s head, holding it in place, something he found himself doing often. Steve revealed a medium sized bear, the bear a classic brown.

“EEEEEE” Y/n yelled, grabbing the bear from Steve’s hands, twirling around with it tightly in their grasp. “I’m gonna name him Ketchup!” They screeched, pure joy displayed on their face as they pet the top of the bears head.

“Ketchup?” Steve and Eddie both asked at the same time, both their voices laced with confusion.

“Yah!” Y/n said, as if the name was so obvious. “I’m Stevies Nugget, so I need Ketchup.” They explained, tucking the bear into their arms, giving Steve a one armed hug. “Thank you Stevie!”

“You’re welcome.” He laughed, not expecting the big reaction he got.

“Can I show da boys?” Y/n beamed, pointing to the group of Hellfire club members congregating near Mike’s sisters car.

“Sure, but then we have to get you home okay?” Eddie responded, Y/n nodding in agreement, running towards the boys and holding out the bear.

“I still don’t know how you get them to behave.” Eddie said in disbelief, watching as Y/n caused havoc on the boys, ruffling their hair, and now tying Gareth’s shoe laces together, just seconds ago being on their best behaviour for Steve.

Steve just shrugged, Robin walking over and getting in his car, yelling at him that they would be late for work if he didn’t hurry up, Steve hopping in the car shortly after. Maybe it was Steve’s hair, or his charming personality, or maybe Y/n behaved so well for him because he slipped them a lollipop … Something he would never admit out loud, it would stay his and his Nugget’s secret, the others could deal with the sugar rush, as long as Y/n behaved for him.

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londonharrington · 2 years

Text

peace | steve harrington x fem!reader

Steve tells Y/N his dreams for the two of them but she isn’t sure if she’s the right person for the job; she is.

notes: st4 volume 2 spoilers

i’d give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me

“You know, I’ve always dreamed of this.”

The adults (Y/N, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie) and the kids (Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Erica) were on the way to commence their plans that they made in other to try and hopefully kill Vecna. They were currently inside the van that they stole from Eddie’s neighbors. Steve in the driver’s seat as Y/N sat on the passenger’s seat and the rest of them in the back.

“You’ve always dreamt of driving a stolen van in order to kill a monster from the upside down?” Y/N asked, laughing.

“No. I mean driving a van like this,” he said while grabbing one of her hands and kissing the knuckles. “Yeah, it's silly, but I've actually, I always had this dream that I'd have this really big family. I'm talking, like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids.” he continued.

“You want six kids?”

“Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and… just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.”

“That sounds really nice, Steve. Except for the six kids part. You trying to build a basketball team of something?” she laughed.

“I mean, we had some practice, didn’t we?”

With this, Y/N just smiled at him but kept silent. She knew why he was telling her this. She was part of this dream of his. But Y/N cannot help but feel out of place with this dream. Sure, she would love to be part his dream for the two of them in the future. But she cannot help but feel a little insecure about all of this.

Her thoughts were suddenly pulled away from her as they stopped in front of the Creel house.

Y/N cannot help but pray to whatever god is out there to help them succeed in whatever plan they have.

♡ ♡ ♡

Y/N, Steve, Robin, and Nancy were on their way back toward where came form, after being strangled by one of Vecna’s tentacle things for god knows how long. After being let go by said tentacles, Y/N cannot help but hug Steve as he soothed her back, whispering sweet nothings to her ear.

The four of them suddenly heard Dustin shout for help as they saw Eddie on his lap, trying to fight for his life. Steve suddenly let Y/N go as he helped Dustin carry Eddie back to their Hawkins.

When they got to Hawkins, Y/N and Nancy immediate started to contact the people they knew who worked for the government (with the years they’ve spent in dealing with the supernatural things in Hawkins, obviously they have contacts in the government).

“Hey, they said they’ll clear Eddie’s charges and they’ll compensate him for his troubles,” Nancy said. Y/N sighed in relief as she sat down on one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs.

“You make him really happy, you know?” Nancy suddenly said.

“Huh? What are you on about?”

“Steve. You make him really happy.”

“You’re just saying that, Nancy.”

“It’s true! I’ve never seen him that happy! And he really loves you, like crazy. You know last night, when you were left to babysit the kids when we went to the upside down? The one where we got stuck? Steve kept muttering how much he wishes you were there so you can make the mood better! Eddie had to hit him in the head just for him to stop,” Nancy said laughing. She suddenly stopped as she quickly muttered a goodbye to Y/N as she left.

Y/N was confused until she saw Steve walking towards her.

“Hey, can we talk?”

“Yeah, of course. What do you want to talk about?”

“I think I scared you when I told you my dream. Listen, we do not have to do any of that. I just want to be with you until the end of time. With or without kids,” Steve rambled as he grabbed her hands into his.

“Steve. I would love nothing more than to fulfill that dream of yours, because frankly that’s also my dream,”

“But?”

“What if I’m not good enough for your dream? Like what if we do get married and have children, but in the middle of it, you find somebody much better than me?”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m not leaving you, Y/N.”

“You’re just saying that now, Steve. I’m not perfect like the other girls. Who knows what you’ll feel in five or ten years,” Y/N just rambled, trying to avoid his eyes.

“Listen. Y/N, I know you’re not perfect. Heck, nobody is. But you are perfect for me. And that is enough for me to know that I’ll be yours forever and ever,” Steve smiled as he placed his forehead onto hers, rubbing their noses with one another.

“Promise?”

“I promise, with all my heart.”

“Can we name one of our children after my mom?”

“As long as we get to name one of our children after Dustin,” Steve replied, kissing her forehead again.

“Huh, why?”

Steve went on a story that happened even before they got together. Y/N felt reassured that Steve will be there for her, no matter what.

Nothing and no one will stop them from loving each other. Not now, not ever.

♡ ♡ ♡

taglist in the reblog

add yourself to my taglist

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things imagine #st4 imagine

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shadowbriar · 2 years

Text

Backburner - Eddie Munson

Pairing : (F/M) || Eddie Munson x Reader, Unrequited! Steve Harrington x Reader. Word Count : 3.2k Warning : Angst. You know what happened to Eddie. Notes : Inspired by Niki - Backburner. An ever ending loop of she’s chasing another, while he could only wait and love her in silent, praying that one day she’ll turn on her backburner.

Her breathing was hitched. Steve's telling of his six little nuggets dream was a clear confession of his undying affection towards Nancy. Even when he mentions no name, the way his eyes were glued on her as each words roll out of his tongue was a clear giveaway. No matter how many years have passed, he is still utterly and undeniably in love with her.

She averts her gaze to the road, trying to distract her mind from pitying herself too much that she might burst into tears How silly of her to have hoped that Steve might have changed his view of her. That he might tweaked his heart a little and piqued interest on her. The late night calls, how he sounded so lonely and sad every time he rings, were giving her the idea that perhaps, at last, he might have found comfort in her.

The kind of comfort you find in someone you.. Love.

A hand rests gently on top of hers. Eddie's calloused finger tips brushes her skin as he makes small circles, trying to show support. His eyes were evidently filled with worry.

She smiles at the gesture, silently grateful that he's lending her a shoulder to lean on. Though their friendship may have just bloomed, no thanks to Jason and his friends who are dumb enough to believe that he's killed Chrissy, Eddie is surely one of the few people who could read her like an opened book.

It was as if he's always known her.

"Are you okay?" Eddie whispers, careful not to let the children hear and draw more attention.

She nods, flashing a weak smile, "Never better."

He sighs, looking as if he’s feeling the shared heartbreak.

When Eddie felt that 1986 would be his year, he didn’t think that it would go anyway near his current reality. He was supposed to be with her after he graduated, gather up enough courage as he feels he’s more worthy after to finally confess his harboring feelings. Her trying to help save him as the whole town hunts him down and plaster him as a murderer was certainly not in his list.

But at the very least, he’s grateful to finally have the chance to be close to her as he is right at this very second.

Not with the fact that she’s having her heart broken right now of course.

“I’m sorry, Eddie.”

He raises his brows, a friendly smile still tucked on his lips, “What for?”

“For thinking that you were a freak.” She says shamefully, shrugging her shoulders “I mean now that I think about it, I couldn’t even find one reason why I was friend with Jason let alone believed his mean words about you in school.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Eddie says lightly, brushing it off “Besides, I’ve grown into it. Being boxed into the freak show gives me more peace and space to.. Observe.”

“Observe? Observe what?”

“Everything. Things, people, stuff.” He lists, trying not to spill her as one of it.

She teases, resting her chin on her hand as she stares at him more comfortable, “Well, did you ever observe anything related to me?”

“No, not really.” He lies, licking his lips as he tries to subdue the heat that is growing on his cheeks. She is the only one he has eyes for after all.

“That’s a shame.” She fake pouts, looking dejected “I thought I make quite an eye-catching cheerleader.”

“No, you are! Honestly, it’s hard to take off of my eyes from you.”

She squints her eyes, smiling as he takes her bait.

“I mean, I’ve never been to any game and watch you cheer, but if I did, I’m sure I would’ve seen you.” Eddie stammers, trying to figure out words that could best portray his meanings without spoiling his own secret “And then I might observe your right after.”

She smiles, nodding to his words.

Sometimes, when tranquility hits, whether its in the middle of the night or from a fraction of times like this, she wishes that Eddie would see her a little bit more than a friend. Have him as her safety net once she finally grow tired of chasing Steve. A very selfish wish of hers, but the comfort she’d felt ever since Eddie came to her life has been hard to ignore.

Secretly, Eddie wishes the same thing too.

____

The four of them walks through the Upside Down forest in darkness. Robin and her was walking far front than Nancy and Steve, who seem to have a whole load of problems to talk about. Their quiet conversations, how Steve tries to show his devotion to Nancy even as the world rips apart, were becoming her last straws. She could no longer be the fool who try to reach for the stars when his universe have obviously gravitates towards another.

“Steve,” She calls as the two of them finally caught up to her pace “Can I have a talk with you?”

Steve’s brows were furrows, confused at the sudden seriousness in her tone.

“I’ll go and catch up Robin.” Nancy says, nodding as she gives the two some space.

“Is everything alright?” Steve asks, his eyes filled with worry now “Are you feeling okay? Do you need something?”

“That talk, in the van, about your dream and how you wanted to have six little nuggets,” She started, going straight down to business “You were talking about your dream with Nancy, weren’t you? You dreamed of building a family with her.”

Steve licks his lip, nodding ever so lightly as if he’s afraid to admit it.

“Why are you so cruel to me, Steve?” She asks, forcing a half-hearted chuckle “You know how I feel about you, how I’ve loved and cared for you all these years and yet- Yet you’re toying with me.”

“I never meant to do that to you.” Steve says gently, trying to ease her pain “I’m trying, I really am. I’m trying to return your feelings but the more I try, the harder it is for me to breath because I know that I’m only hurting us both.”

She shakes her head as she forces a smile, “You never tried, Steve. You were only ever kind to me because you fear you’ll lose me, just like you lost Nancy.”

Steve gulps, trying to find a word to utter.

Her chest were hung heavy with every passing second. The guilt visibly bleeding out of him was slicing her heart though she’s always known of it. That she was just stalling for reality to catch up and burst her bubble of hope. That her legs finally grow tired of running on the same spot, never a step closer to him. That he was never hers to lose.

“I think I’m on the wrong team. I’ll be with Henderson and Eddie instead.”

____

Eddie has to rub his eyes when he saw her running towards the trailer. He’s heard that being in the brink of life might make you see things that aren’t necessarily there, things that are too good to be true. But seeing that very smile he’s always adored in distance as she waves closer were a bigger enough fuel to make him get out of the trailer and see her for himself.

And to his pleasure, she really is here.

“Change of plan,” She says between her panting “I’ll be supervising you two. None of you get to act hero and die under my watch.”

Eddie grins, instinctively pulling her into a hug.

She froze at the sudden embrace, the unfamiliar gesture made her body malfunctioned and turned as still as stone. It took her a moment before finally finding her way to hug him back, giving him the very same comfort he’s giving to her. Given the circumstances, a hug is certainly what they need.

As they prepares for the metal showdown, she finds herself sitting next to Eddie. Dustin was busy elsewhere with the cords, talking to himself in means of calming down. Everyone was on edge, waiting for their signs to be echoed through the radio.

"You know, if we’re not dying and the world is not ending, this place is actually not that bad.” Eddie says as he points at the sky “I mean, look at it. Bats flying around, snowflakes, scarlet thunder lighting the sky. Romantic.”

She chuckles, “Your idea of romantic is pretty alarming.”

“Well it sure is better than a date at Benny’s Burgers. That place is overrated.”

She nods, agreeing his statement with a smile.

Eddie knows that her presence now isn’t anywhere caused by her worry for him nor Dustin. It must have stemmed to something to related to her and Steve. A bigger part of him wanted to ignore it and just cherish the fact that she’s there with him, having small talks and hearing her laughter though the state of current affairs were grim, but letting her brood in her own distress was never his character. He’ll break himself first before letting the girl he loves be heartbroken alone.

A bad habit he’s done more frequent lately.

“What happened out there?” He asks, secretly bracing himself for another strike to the heart “Did you have a fight with Steve?”

She bites her inner cheek, shaking her head, “No, not really. I just realized how much of a fool I’ve been for begging him to love me and just- You know, kinda bolted after that.”

“You’re not a fool. Everyone wants to be loved by the people they love, it’s in our nature.”

“Yeah, but not everyone has been hoping for their crush to notice and return their feelings for years. I hoard my devotion for him for three years. Three whole years, can you believe that?”

Eddie smiles, shaking his head. If she thinks liking someone for three years were long, wait until she knows that he’s been admiring her ever since middle school.

“I just- I don’t know. Sometimes I can’t help but to wonder if it was just me. If I was the problem. If I’m simply not worthy of love.”

“Don’t say that.” He argues, his facial expression turns to slight anger “You’re worth every love there is in this world. Harrington is an a hole who don’t understand what true love is.”

She turns to see Eddie, a slight hope raising in her heart.

“You are the most beautiful babe of Hawkins High. Hell, in all of Hawkins you’re the only one who matters. You might not see it but others do. You deserve all the love you give to others and more.”

“You talk too nice of me, Ed.” She says with a smile, rolling her eyes “You barely know me. We’ve only been friends for like a week.”

“I know you more than you think I do.” He argues, unintentionally showing his cards “I know how you always put yourself last when it comes to friends and family. How you always try to lift everyone up, though it might heavy you down and drown you deeper in your own struggles.”

She remains quiet, certain pieces of puzzles coming to its place in her mind.

“I just- I just wish that you could see yourself the way others see you. The way I see you.” Eddie continues, trying to make a point “You don’t see how beautiful you are when you laugh, even when you try to cover yourself. You don’t see how beautiful you are when you do that little dance everytime you eat some food you love. You don’t see how beautiful you are when you run to me just now, waving your hand like an idiot as if it’s hard for me to see you. In any given place and time, I would always be able to see you.”

The storm inside her was raging with every words he utters. He was telling every single thought that has ever crossed her mind every time Steve calls her and wonders if he was unworthy of love.

Eddie’s words were her words to Steve.

“Eddie..”

“Shit.” He mutters as he processes her reaction, looking down with a force chuckle “I’ve completely out myself, didn’t I?”

She takes a huge gulp, trying to swallow down the block in her throat.

Her wish of having Eddie to hold feelings for her have come true. In fact, it has always been true without her knowing. It’s just that with everything that’s happened, having to let go of Steve just an hour ago, she doesn’t have the capability to respond to his confession.

Eddie forces a smile, “You don’t have to say anything. I walked myself into that trap.”

“Eddie..”

“I better check on Henderson.”

Spending no other second, Eddie walks away. She could tell from his words that Eddie has hold this secret for quite sometime. The despair and genuineness of his tone shows that it’s been a ticking bomb he’s tried so hard to diffuse. How his eyes were glued on her, whispering all that his words could not touch, she understands it clearly.

But she wasn’t in the right state of mind to give a respond. The last thing she’d want to do is to hurt him, though evidently she’s done it unknowingly. All these times ranting about Steve must have wound him.

Perhaps, when the night ends and morning comes, they could find the time to talk about this.

____

“Go, go, go, go!” Dustin yells as they run from the swarm of demobats.

The plan has worked. Thousands of demobats are now flying around the trailer, clawing on every window and doors as they try to enter. She watches at the side with a smile as Eddie and Dustin geek over how metal it was. It’s true, it was the most metal ever.

Eddie tries to compose himself as he hears her soft laughter, trying not to ruin his image after just looking so metal out there. This might have been his only chance of getting out of the freak box and show his real worth to her. Better not mess it up.

As the screeching grows louder, the three of them then runs further inside the trailer, standing right by the portal. Their backs are touching each other, trying to cover each other’s blind spots should the bats enter. Their hearts were beating fast, skin laced in nervous sweat as they alertly try to hear the bat’s movements.

“They can’t get in through there, can they?” Dustin asks worriedly as their eyes meet the vent by the roof.

As if on cue, the swarm of demobats enter the trailer. The three of them tried to stab them with their weapons, yelling in fear as more and more demobats try to come in.

A close call was made as Eddie slam the nailed tin shield to the roof. Though the victory was short lived as the demobats try to enter from different vents. In a short time, large number of demobats have entered the trailer, pushing them to go through the portal.

She went first, reaching safety she lands on the mattress on the other side. She then quickly help Dustin who’s mouth is never shut from cursing and panicking over the given condition.

“Eddie, hurry!” She says as Dustin finally landed “Come on now, we can’t fight all of them!”

But instead of reaching for the rope, Eddie only stood and stares at her. His eyes look around as if trying to figure something out.

“Eddie, what are you doing? Just jump!” She says frantically, afraid that he might pull an impromptu stunt “Eddie!”

Answering her nightmare, Eddie grabs the spear and cut the rope. He puts away the mattress on his side, making sure that she and Dustin wouldn’t be able to return as he reaches for the tin shield.

“Eddie, what are you doing?!” Dustin yells in horror.

“I’m buying more time.”

“No!”

Her wail echoes.

Eddie was out of sight, running back out to fight the demobats. Her tears were spilling, running her hands through her hair as she tries to think this through.

“Desperate time calls for desperate measures.” She whispers as she grabs a chair and put it under the portal “Dustin, give me a lift.”

“What?”

“Hurry up!”

Crying himself, Dustin tries to help her get through the portal. Being a cheerleader, it wasn’t hard for her to make a jump but the difference in gravity surely made her off balance. She groans as she fell on the other side, possibly fracturing her shoulder blade. But she couldn’t wince too long in pain. Eddie needs her.

“Wait, help me!”

“Sorry, Dustin.” She says in pain, standing up “I’ll come back to you later.”

Taking the left spear, she runs outside the trailer. She calls for him, frantically looking for the brunette boy. As she run out, she could see the storm of demobats with Eddie standing on its eye taunting them as if he isn’t in enough trouble.

She tries to scream and get the demobats’ attention as she runs at them but they don’t budge. It was as if they have had their minds settled on Eddie.

Her scream gets more frantic as they begin to fly at him, ripping his flesh with their horned tails and fangs. Eddie’s scream feels louder than the thunder blaring on the sky. The sight of him being tortured is making her cry even harder.

After what seems to be eternity, the demobats suddenly fall to the ground. Phase four has finally been executed. But victory was still out of reach as she sees Eddie lays limp on the ground. She reaches to him, pulling him to her lap and trying to ignore the excruciating pain from her shoulder as she tries to hold him close.

“Eddie, you dipshit!” She snarls, her anger and worry fusing into one “I told you no improvising, why can’t you just listen to me for once?!”

“I’m sorry.” He says in between his chokes, blood coming out of his mouth “I only did what I thought was necessary.”

She shakes her head in disapproval, crying.

“And I also wanted to impress you.”

She sniffles, chuckling, “You little shit.”

“Are you impressed?”

“I am.” She nods, tears still flowing down her cheeks “But please stick to your guitar the next time you try to impress me.”

“I don’t think there’ll be a next time.”

“Don’t say that.” She says fast, pulling him close “We’ll get you to a hospital and have you patch up.”

Eddie’s breathing was getting heavier. His chokes were more apparent as more blood come out of his mouth. Her clothes are now covered in his blood.

“You’ll hate me for this.” He says between his choking “I love you.”

“No, not now.” She shushed him gently, placing her hand on his cheek “Tell me that later, when we graduate. Kiss me after we get that diploma, okay? This is your year, remember?”

Eddie nods faintly, smiling, “It’s finally my year.”

She nods, unable to find other words to utter.

Eddie smiles, staring at her. This is perfect. Dying at the hands of the girl he’s loved more than anyone. He knows that he’s being selfish, finding comfort in her tears but for once he wanted to be selfish and chose the way he departs from life. He wanted to be selfish and have her cradle him, telling him that everything will be alright.

“I love you.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female oc #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson angst #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson oneshot

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haleyrude · 2 years

Note

You should write something about having 6 kids with Steve and driving in the camper through the US

Title: Our Six Little Nuggets

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Disclaimer: there is mention of miscarriage. Otherwise this is wholesome

Words: 1.7k

Being young and in love was so beautiful yet so hard. Adults say ‘falling in love this young won’t last. Just wait until you grow older before you make a choice. You’re just setting yourself up for heartbreak.’ That wasn’t the case for you and your beloved Husband Steve. You both fell in love in highschool. At first you thought you were just a rebound after Steve’s breakup with Nancy Wheeler but it was so much more than that. Fighting alongside with a group of kids you’d come to love to save your beloved town of Hawkins from demogorgons and mind flayers. Not only being highschool sweethearts it was the trauma you two shared that made you both inseparable.

No one saw the love you both had for each other besides your group of kids. Steve was always there for you when things got hard and you were right there for him, each other's rocks, someone to always have and to hold. Right after the star court mall was destroyed by the mind flayer and things had calmed down Steve had asked you one of the most important questions of your life which was ‘Will you marry me’ and without hesitation you said yes and flung yourself in his arms.

Not long after the wedding Steve and you moved into a cute townhouse together. College wasn’t something you were both interested in going to so you both made ends meet working in shops around Hawkins whether that was working at video stores, clothing shops, anything that brought in money. After a few months of married life you had the best news. You came home and made a gourmet dinner for your loving Husband.

****

“What’s the special occasion?” your husband chuckled after slipping his shoes off, going to the kitchen to wash his hands. “I can’t cook a meal for my handsome husband?” you walked over to Steve with a big smile on your face wrapping your arms around him from behind. He chuckled once more as he turned around putting his arms around you feeling that his hands were still wet from the water. You looked up at him and he gently touched his lips to yours, “I appreciate it baby” you smiled big at that nickname in particular. You had sat down to eat talking about both of your days when you said you had a gift for him. He looked at you with confusion in his eyes as you went to get the tiny blue gift bag handing it to him. Hesitantly he took the tissue paper out and retrieved the small box. “You didn’t have to get me anything” he shook his head opening the box as you held your breath. He picked up the pregnancy test looking at the lines carefully before his eyes filled with tears. “Is this real?” He put the box down and looked toward you. You couldn’t help the tears in your eyes as you nodded your head. You both got up and he wrapped his arms around you lifting you from the floor and spinning you around to then smash his lips to yours. You both parted breathlessly as you chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I’m so excited I love you so fucking much”

*****

You both were blessed with a baby girl. You both were absolutely ecstatic with your newborn. Baby Sophia Harrington from the start was a daddy's girl. It was so sweet seeing Steve so gentle and loving with her. You thought you couldn’t love him more than you already did but that day you proved yourself wrong. Almost a year later when you found out you were pregnant again both of you were so excited but unfortunately in your second trimester you took a turn for the worse and had miscarried leaving you and Steve absolutely devastated. You couldn’t help but blame yourself saying you should’ve watched yourself and been more careful, it brought your mood down, almost in a depressed state that would worry Steve to know end. Days went by where you didn’t want to eat or move but Sophia and Steve were the light source that kept you going.

Steve had come up to you one day suggesting that you both look into adopting and giving a child a chance with loving parents that they didn’t have before. You smiled at how big of a heart your husband had and that’s how you ended up with Spencer Harrington. Younger than Sophia by a year and you promised yourself that you would do everything in the world to protect your children with your life.

After that rollercoaster, you and Steve worked on buying a house that was bigger with more rooms knowing sooner or later you’d want to try for kids again. Steve had landed a great job with an electrician company that paid very well. Things were getting easier for sure. Your third pregnancy came around and Steve and yourself had a long talk and decided it would be best for you to leave your job and stay at home with the kids. You could’ve easily gotten a babysitter but with Steve’s job being so good, you wanted to spend all the time with your kids. During your delivery there were thought to be complications but it was a blessing in disguise when the doctor said there was another baby. That whole pregnancy you had no idea you were pregnant with twins. You and Steve cried your eyes out as you welcomed Sean and Scotty Harrington to the world.

People in town warned you that having more than 2 kids was going to be too much, but these were also the people that told you, your relationship with Steve wouldn’t work out either. You honestly believed after the twins that you were meant to be a mother. Sure the sleepless nights with new babies were hard but Steve was right there to help you whenever he could. You’d both take turns getting up at night and Steve would drop Sophia off at preschool in the morning before going to work. Your life couldn’t get any better.

You bit your lip when telling Steve you were pregnant yet again. You bickered a little bit saying you were done after this one but seeing the little face of Steve Harrington Jr you looked up at Steve who looked at you with adoration in his eyes asking for another. 1 girl and 4 boys. Sophia and Spencer officially in elementary school the twins in preschool and you spending and loving every minute with Steve Jr.

There were nights where you cried in Steve’s arms asking how he thought you were still pretty. He would kiss the tears on your cheeks saying that he was blessed with the most beautiful woman in the world that gave him the gift of all his wonderful children. He’d kiss your stretch marks and the pudge on your stomach loving each part of your body. As time went on both you and Steve talked about traveling. As much as you loved Hawkins you wanted to see something other than the small town.

You bought a camper that would fit the 7 of you with ease but plans had to come to a halt as you felt off and found out you were pregnant again. Steve had talked to you saying he thought it was time to think about getting a vasectomy since as he put it his ‘seed was just too good’. You hit his arm but agreed saying as much as you loved having his kids your body had enough. Everytime you’d get back into shape or where you’d feel happy about your body you ended up finding out you were pregnant. You both were blessed with a baby girl thankful that Sophia would have a sister this time rather than another brother. Samantha Harrington would be the last puzzle piece to your beautiful family. “My 6 little nuggets” Steve said as Samantha had her hand wrapped around Steve’s pointer finger.

You and Steve had revisited the idea of using the camper to go around the United States once all the kids were in school. It gave you the whole school year to plan for it. It would be easiest to travel during the summer so as to not take the kids out of school. You knew all of you wouldn’t be able to go around the entirety of the United States in one summer so you vowed to see the entire country with your family for as many summers as it took. Family time was everything to you and Steve had accumulated a lot of PTO over his career to be able to join for the whole thing.

This is where you found yourself now. Sitting in the passenger seat of the camper as Steve drove, the kids in the back murmuring to themselves trying to keep themselves busy as you made your way to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. “You know I always dreamed about this” you looked to Steve who glanced at you before looking back at the road. “About what?” he shrugged, “Finding the girl of my dreams and driving around the country with my 6 nuggets” you rolled your eyes, “exactly 6, that seems hard to believe” Steve chuckled, “I swear it’s all true and I’m just blessed to be living out my dream with my favorite girl” your heart swelled hearing him say that about you. “Yeah, well I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world if I couldn’t be with you” you leaned over and Steve quickly turned his head to meet your lips as you got a chorus of “eww mom and dad” or vomit noises coming from the back making you and Steve laugh aloud.

That’s where you found yourself every summer. You and Steve, traveling the United States with your kids looking at what the country had to offer in every state. It was the feeling of getting to experience all these firsts with your family and it was the most important thing to you. Your family was strong and not one person could ever come between that. You, Steve and your six little nuggets.

#steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #wholesome #imagine #stranger things #stranger things imagine #fluff #cute

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spaceyaceface · 2 years

Text

Shining Like the Sun (Steve Harrington x Reader)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!Reader

Warnings/Cliches: Friends to lovers, idiots in love, (mutual?) pining, def a fix-it fic, everyone is fine what are you talking about, very minor spoilers for vol 1

Summary: A week after realizing he's in love with his best friend, Steve is going crazy trying to figure out what to do next. (Part 2 to He Fell In Love, not necessary for this part, but it gives a bit more context if you want to read it here)

A/N: I honestly really liked how this turned out! If anyone has a request, feel free to send it my way! I also have a series called History that I'm working on, so check that out if you like this! :)

WC: 1.7k

TAGLIST OPEN

REQUESTS OPEN

It had been one week since Steve had made the realization.

It had struck him like lightning in a thunderstorm, and the heat of it still burned every time he saw her.

She came into Family Video a couple times during that week. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, eyes tracing over her lips, her checks, the hair tucked behind her ear—habits he’d made ages ago without realizing it.

Nothing had changed, but everything was different. There was a pain somewhere in his chest now—it was different than Nancy. That had been an ache wishing something was still his. An ache that faded until it disappeared. This was a throbbing pain of wanting something he might never have. It grew every time he saw Y/N—and it would grow until it consumed him.

It felt like it was about to as she stood across the counter, pushing a movie toward him.

His eyebrows rose as he looked down at the title. “Better Off Dead? Again?”

She folded her arms. “Yes again. Eddie moved D and D to tonight, around his band stuff, so the dweebs aren’t going to be there. It’s just me, you, and Robin. And Robin has a thing for Monique, so I can win her over.”

Robin sidled up to Steve. “I’m won over.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “What if I don’t agree.”

“Two against one. You don't have to.”

Steve groaned, as if he was against watching it. He wasn’t, though. It was Y/N’s favorite, and at some point in time, that became more than enough for him to love it, too.

“Fine. Come by at seven, I’ll have it set up by then.”

Y/N grinned as he checked out the movie, handing it back to her. “Wouldn’t miss it.” She skipped out of the store, extra pep in her step as Steve watched after her.

Robin smirked a bit. “Monique isn’t the only reason that I like Better Off Dead. I really like how Lane mans up enough by the end to get over his ex and realize he has it bad for the new girl.”

He glared at her. “Is that supposed to imply something?”

“No. Unless it means something to you. Then maybe.”

He buried his face in his hands. He hadn’t told Robin anything, but she had him all figured out. He knew he’d been acting off this last week, and that it would only be a matter of time before she called him out.

She had taken his action as his surrender. “I could find an excuse to ditch tonight.”

“Robin.”

“Be sick, have a date, break my leg, I don’t care.”

“Robin—“

“She knows how clumsy I am, a fake injury wouldn’t be suspicious. I mean, I probably will get injured in the end somehow, so—“

“Robin!”

She finally shut up, looking at him. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts. Because for one week, he had finally thought about it. About her. About how he wanted to hold her hand, feel the electricity he felt bouncing between the both of them. How he wanted to brush her hair behind her ear and kiss her for everything he was worth. How great she would be with six little nuggets, sitting shotgun in an RV.

About how empty everything would be if he ruined it all.

He took a deep breath. “Look, Robin. The last time I… I felt this way about someone, I screwed it up. Big time. I can’t do that to Y/N. I won’t get over it. Not her.”

Robin looked at him, something akin to pity in her eyes. “You won’t screw it up.”

“What if I do?”

She let out a sigh. “Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, she wants the same thing?”

“Should I?” Truth is, he hadn’t dared to let himself entertain the idea.

Robin shrugged. “Monique sure liked Lane, didn’t she?”

He shook his head. “I’m done talking about this. You’re coming tonight.”

“Fine. But I reserve the right to leave if I sense the need to.”

He didn’t have the energy to argue with her.

——————

Steve’s leg bounced up and down as he waited. Robin had done most of the heavy lifting tonight—she gathered the snacks and blankets into the living room and was now sitting on the other sofa, arms folded.

“I can feel the anxiety from here.”

“Shut up.”

“You sure you want me to stay? I’ve still got time to book it out the back.”

“Robin—“ A knock at the door interrupted him. He shot to his feet, pointing a stern finger at his friend. “Stay.”

“I’m not a dog, Harrington.”

“Stay!”

She threw her hands up in surrender as Steve walked to the front door. He opened it and nearly went breathless.

Y/N had changed at some point before coming. Her normal T-shirt had been replaced with a collared blouse, open a couple of buttons and tucked into her favorite pair of black jeans. Her hair had been done, too, tamer than normal.

His stomach flipped as she smiled up at him. “Hey, Steve.”

“H-hey. Come on in.”

Did he really just stutter?

She took off her shoes as Steve shut the door behind her. He led her to the living room and was relieved to see Robin still sitting there.

“Hey, Y/N!”

“Hey Robs! Glad you made it; I missed you last week.”

Robin put a fairly convincing grimace on her face. “You’ll be sad to hear I’m not here long tonight. Vickie wanted to hang out again.”

Steve glared daggers at her. Robin chose not to notice.

Y/N laughed. “Can’t be too mad. You have to make your move soon, or you’re going to miss your chance!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be the only one.” Robin finally looked at Steve, the expression on his face mutinous. He cleared it as Y/N glanced over at him. Were her cheeks a bit red?

Steve pointed at the movie in her hand. “Better get started if she can’t be here long.”

“Right!” She got the movie started, sitting next to Steve on the couch. For a moment, he struggled to know what to do with himself. Put his arm around her? Would she feel the difference like he did? He couldn’t stay stiff like he was, it would be obvious something was wrong. In the end, his arm went behind her, resting on the cushions just inches away from her shoulders. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his internal battle.

Robin passed them some snacks as the opening credits rolled, but he didn’t eat anything. His head was spinning. He could feel Y/N’s warmth beside him, though they didn’t touch. He wanted to pull her closer, into his side and press his lips onto her temple. He wanted to—

Robin stood up abruptly. “It’s almost 7:30, I better go,” she said, fighting the smile from her lips.

Y/N grinned at her. “Have fun!”

“Oh believe me, I will.”

And suddenly, it was the two of them.

The same quiet continued as both of them let the movie play. He wasn’t watching, really. He would’ve noticed that Y/N wasn’t either if he wasn’t so lost in his head.

The white nose of the movie stopped suddenly, shaking Steve out of his trance. The remote was in Y/N’s hand and she was looking up at him.

“Steve,” she said, voice full of concern. “You’ve been acting off. Are you ok?”

He pressed his lips together in an attempt and a comforting smile. “I’m fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, I know you better than that. I held off until Robin left because I didn’t know if you wanted to talk around her, but all week you’ve been… distant.” She glanced over at his arm, still carefully positioned where they wouldn’t touch. “Ever since I dropped you off last week. I’ve… I’ve been worried about you, Steve.”

He could have laughed. All week, he’d been trying to play it all cool, pretend he wasn’t losing his mind when he saw her, and she managed to see right through him—and she was doing the most Y/N thing he could think of. Worrying about him.

“What happened in the car?” she asked softly. “I know something happened. You looked… scared.”

He finally met her eyes. It was like she could see right through him.

“You’re right. I was scared. Still am,” he replied. His chest shuddered as he drew in a breath. “I’m terrified, Y/N. And it has nothing to do with a stupid evil dimension.”

Her brows furrowed, but he continued, hand running through his hair. “That night I finally opened my eyes, and there you were. Sitting right in front of me, shining, like, brighter than the damn sun.” A humorless laugh escaped his lips. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. You, and the way you bite your lips when you’re thinking. You do it a lot, and it’s always driven me crazy and now I finally know why. And you do this thing with the kids, they adore you, and maybe I should be jealous but I’m not because it’s you. And you’re gorgeous, way out of my league. I almost lost it tonight when you showed up. But I’m destined to mess it up, because that’s what I do best but I don’t want to lose you, and what I’m really trying to say is I love you.”

He swore she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Her eyes were wide and shining, and he couldn’t help as the words tumbled out again.

“I love you, Y/N.”

There was only a brief moment before she was crashing into his chest, face buried in his neck and arms wrapped around him. His own arms tightened around her waist like his survival depended on it.

“I didn’t think—I didn’t dare hope—“ she drew in a breath. “I love you, too.”

He felt the words against his skin more then he heard them. He laughed, a hand tracing it’s way to her cheek. He guided her face closer to his, resting their foreheads together.

“Well thank God for that,” he said softly. “But I’m still terrified.”

She grinned. “Too scared to kiss me?”

He laughed, feeling her breath on his lips. “I think I can get over it.”

Their lips met, and he swore he could fly.

-----------

TAGLIST:

@multi-obsessed-fanfic-writer @mess-in-side

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #stranger things x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfic #ace writes #friends to lovers #mutual pining #love confession #first kiss #love confessions #light angst #angst with a happy ending #steve harrington request

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hersterical · 2 years

Text

Hear me out on this, Stranger Things How I Met Your Mother au where:

Robin (Buckley)=Barney

Steve=Ted

Nancy=Robin (Scherbatsky)

I’m undecided who would be Marshall and Lily. Some of the options I came up with were Jonathan and Argyle, Eddie and Chrissy (sorry steddie shippers), or Max and Lucas/El. I’m kind of leaning towards Jonathan and Argyle with Argyle being Lily and Jonathan being Marshall though.

I’ll put my reasoning under the break.

One of my all time favorite hc’s is Robin and Steve moving to a big city together after everything’s calmed down in Hawkins where people are more open minded and they can go to gay bars and stuff together. Based on where he’s at in season 4, Steve would be looking for “the one” who would love nothing more than to raise six little nuggets with him. Robin on the other hand would be able to openly flirt for the first time in her whole life and quickly realizes that she is very good at it. The more confidence she has the more women would flock to her and she spends at least a year in a player phase. All the while Steve and Robin would, of course, be the most ride-or-die wingmen for each other.

That’s when it clicked. Steve and Robin in the big city are (mostly) non-douchey versions of Ted and Barney.

Once that connection was made, the similarities between Nancy and HIMYM Robin were almost stupidly obvious. They’re both career driven, girlboss reporters who are good with guns and aren’t crazy about the whole white picket fence and 2.5 children American Dream thing that is their (ex)boyfriends entire purpose in life. (I also wouldn’t put it past Nancy to have been a pop star as a teenager and has been desperately trying to bury any mention of that time of her life ever since)

As for Marshall and Lily, I couldn’t find a perfect match for them so I just put the most solid ST couples that weren’t Jopper. I love them, Jopper just doesn’t match the vibes. Also, as soon as I thought it I haven’t been able to get the idea of kindergarten teacher Argyle out my head because that’s objectively hilarious. (He’d call all of his students his little dudes or something like that. And can you imagine parent-teacher conferences!?)

Obviously in this au swarkles/ronance don’t break up and The Mother (Eddie? Someone we’ve never met before? Tammy Thompson?)(that last one was a joke)(but what a plot twist, right?) doesn’t die. Because that ending is one of the all time worst endings ever. I also don’t think it matters if this is modern au or not. Just depends on how open you want them to be about their relationships and if you want them to be able to text or listen to Taylor Swift and other modern stuff or not.

Let me know what you think. Or don’t. Whatever works for you

#stranger things #how i met your mother #himym #robin buckley #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #ronance #It feels dishonest to tag any other characters or ships #Please help me tag #platonic stobin #steve and robin #platonic soulmates #fruity four

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goddessvicky · 7 years

Text

Soul Spark - Chapter Eight - Answers

Guys! I actually mapped out the rest of the piece! I can't believe it! All fifteen parts, 1K each day, ready to post! WwwoooooowwwwwwWWW! Thanks for all the great comments! I'm so happy everyone is enjoying it as much as I am!

Today's Charity: The Animal Welfare Institute! The safety and welfare of animals are near and dear to my heart and this charity makes sure the money you donate ACTUALLY GOES to the animals. If you have the means, please donate!

Chapter One - 62%

Chapter Two - Dreamer

Chapter Three - Slow Down

Chapter Four - Separation

Chapter Five - Challenged

Chapter Six - Boundaries

Chapter Seven - Summer Haze

Read on AO3!

_____________________________________________________________________

“You need to eat something.” Darcy didn’t look up, even after hearing the ‘mom’ tone Jane had used. She continued to push the broccoli around her plate. “I thought you hated broccoli.”

Darcy did look up then. “I do hate it. Or I did.” She dropped her fork to the plate, the sound drawing several eyes in her direction from the other tables in the mess hall.

No, not mess hall. The cafeteria. Darcy buried her face in her elbow, slumping. This was all a level of fucked up she hadn’t thought possible. Bruce ‘please stop calling me doc’ Banner had tried teaching her some intradimensional meditation (transdimensional? No, transcendental!) to quiet the new terrifying part of her, if only to ease the symptoms, but she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it.

“Darce, you’re glowing. Are you sure you’re okay?” Darcy lifted her head and looked at Jane, then glanced around the room. Everyone was staring at her. She was sure she made quite the show; glowing amber, wave distortions like heat on a highway floating around her body, eyes bleeding from hazel to orange.

“I’m just going to head back to my room. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to get Bruce?” She could see Jane’s worry, bleeding into space, and she wished she could give her friend the answers she wanted, but she couldn’t.

“I’ll be fine. Just tired. I’ll eat a poptart later. Promise.” She knew Jane didn’t believe her, but she left her there, the stares as she went making the skin between her shoulder blades itch. She’d walked these halls for months now (not her, Bucky) and she made it to her room without a thought. As she pressed her finger to the lock, she risked a glance over her shoulder at the door that faced hers.

He wasn’t there. Hadn’t been there. The space was slowly losing his color, like it was hemorrhaging gold the longer he stayed away. Me too, room. Me too.

She collapsed on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest. After allowing herself to wallow for a few seconds (a good, heavy, impressive bit of wallowing, if she did say so herself), Darcy sat up. Rolling her eyes, she could practically hear Bruce’s voice in her ear. ‘When you’re the lowest, that’s when you close everything else out. Go to the quiet place inside yourself.’

The joke was on him, though. She wasn’t sure she had any more quiet places inside herself.

Shaking her head, Darcy placed her hands on her knees, straightening her back. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn’t think of the universe, or the threads that tied her to it all, or even the souls in the compound; she thought about her soul. It was so small compared to all the others (infinitesimal, really), but it was hers. She focused on it, the nugget of emerald, a vein of crimson jutting through. Even a month ago, the idea of a soulmate was laughable.

Now? Now she could see the undercurrent of cobalt between all that green and red, and it wasn’t funny at all.

It just hurt.

Everything had gotten so complicated so quickly. But what had Bruce said? ‘Unpack it. Make it easier to see.’ Right. Unpack it. As if it was that easy.

Sigh.

I touched a gem and, because I’m some kind of special snowflake extra human, I absorbed the stone. I used the stone to turn Grape Kool-aid Man into nothing.

The stone made it so I can see all souls. I can see them, trap them, destroy them. I don’t want to do that, but the stone does.

I almost let something bad get into me, but instead ended up sharing my soul with Bucky and he shared his soul with me and now we have some sort of soul bond? For fucks sake, this is stupid. I love him, and it should scare me, but it doesn’t. But he loves Steve, and I love Steve but Steve knows nothing about me other than I stole Bucky from him and I am a horrible, horrible fucking garbage person!

Darcy leaned forward, screaming into the pillow. “This is so fucked!”

She jumped to her feet when she heard pounding on her door, incessant relentless banging, as if someone were throwing themselves against it. “Friday?”

“Captain Rogers is outside. He would like to enter.”

“Fucking let him in, then!”

The lock clicked over and she jumped as Steve barrelled into her room, his blue eyes wide with surprise when they landed on her, her mouth open and gaping at him. “What’s wrong? Friday said something’s wrong with your heart!”

She blinked rapidly at him. “I don’t -”

They both jumped when her door slammed shut, Steve spinning toward it. Bucky had his arms crossed over his chest, t-shirt straining against his muscles, jaw clenched as he narrowed his eyes at the blond.

Fuck. He wasn’t kidding. Monumentally stupid achievement unlocked, Buck.

“You getting Friday to lie for you now?”

“Wasn’t a lie, punk. Something is wrong. And we’re going to talk about it.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Just sit your ass on that couch, Rogers.”

Darcy tried to make herself look smaller when Steve turned toward her with a coolness in his eyes. “You in on this, too?” She shook her head emphatically. She wasn’t, but she knew for a fact this was exactly the type of shit she would pull.

“Sit. Now.”

She sat down heavily, immediately.

“I was talking to him, Darce.”

“Oh.”

She watched them stare at each other in silence before, finally, Steve carefully took a spot on the couch, as far away from her as he could get.

Fuck.

#darcy lewis #bucky barnes #steve rogers #Bucky/Darcy/Steve #Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers #Jane Foster #Marvel #Marvel MCU #Soul Spark #WinterShieldShock #Infinity Gems #Infinity Stones

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the-chubbiest-dumpling · 7 years

Text

Endings and Beginnings: Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Hellfire

Summary: You’re just an ordinary 25-year-old photographer working in a small studio in downtown Toronto. Your life is as normal as it could possibly be, except the fact that you are given an opportunity most people only dream of.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 8840

Warnings: Swearing. There will always be swearing.

A/N: Fight scenes are not my forte but I did my best 😅

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Epilogue

Tags: @shamvictoria11

A few hours later, the lights are back on, and Nat, Steve, Wanda, and Vision returned during that time. All the same questions and answers were given. "Why are the lights off?" "Sam and Bucky had a fight and they broke the electrical panel." Cue a disappointed dad look from Steve.

You're sitting in the kitchen like you usually do when you're bored, twirling your phone in your hands. Everyone is scattered about around the compound. Steve's either talking with Tony or Bucky and Sam. Natasha and Wanda are taking a shower, and Vision is... Somewhere. You're still in your battle uniform, because you were too lazy to change out of it. Plus, it's pretty comfortable.

Your ringer scares the life out of you, and you hastily answer the unknown number.

"Hello?"

"_______? It's Phil Coulson. We spoke earlier today."

"Oh. Hi. Um... How did you–"

"I have an assignment for you if you're interested."

"An assignment?"

"A solo assignment."

That catches your attention. A solo assignment already? Only after participating in one mission? They think you're ready for that? The thought scares you to death. You don't even have enough confidence in yourself to take on something alone. You need at least Natasha or Wanda or Steve. You need someone to help you out. You bite your lip at his offer.

"I'm not sure," you reply honestly. "I've only been on one mission. And it was with Steve and Natasha and Tony. I don't think I'm ready for a solo mission yet."

"I understand." It's hard to tell if he's disappointed or not. "Maybe think it over a little, and get back to me by eight o'clock tonight."

He hangs up without explaining any further. You stare at your phone as you process what just happened. An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. just offered you an assignment, a solo assignment no less, and you turn it down? There's nothing bad about going alone. Make your own rules, no one to slow you down or trip you up. Not following Tony's pretentious orders. It sounds like a pretty good deal. The only thing holding you back is the mission itself.

Something unpredictable? Probably. Dangerous? Of course. A matter of life and death? No doubt. Complications? When are there not? Would you tell the team? Nope. You're a skilled liar. You can take their attention away from you.

This is an opportunity to prove yourself, as well. To the team, to S.H.I.E.L.D., and to yourself.

Could you do it? Of course. If you had more training. You can't simply say something cheesy like "believe in yourself" because one, it makes you cringe saying something like that out-loud, and two, it doesn't work. Not all the time. You'd rather be pessimistic 24/7, because then if something works out you can be happy about it.

You have an hour and a half to think things over. Which also means you have an hour and a half to have the anxiety kick in and suffer for that time. Might as well get started early. You make a bowl of fruit before sitting on the couch and mulling things over.

Turns out, you're braver than you thought you'd ever be.

You call agent Phil Coulson about an hour later, accepting his solo mission for you. You know you need to think of an excuse to tell everyone about why you're leaving so late. It's simple enough: you're going for a walk. Or a drive. And if you encounter anyone on the way out, you'll think of another lie. Your battle uniform will be under your clothes, so they shouldn't suspect anything. They know you're a weird one sometimes. It shouldn't be a problem.

"Shouldn't" being the operative word.

You make sure none of your suit is peeking out under your clothes, keeping your hands in your pockets and your head down. You take one last look in the mirror, and breathe in deeply. This is it. Your first solo mission, which is also only your second mission. Better late than never. Grabbing your lighter, you head out of your room and to the front entrance. Running into anyone else other than Tony would be a blessing. Tony would tell you to stay, no matter what you were going to do.

You speed-walk down the halls, and again, you're wondering where everyone is. During this time of night, they're usually holed up or their rooms or wandering around, looking for something to do. You can't worry about them right now. Right now, you just need to get out of the compound and drive to your meet-up destination with Phil. You cannot get distracted. Not tonight.

You skip down the steps to the foyer, and you can see the doors from where you are. You dig your nails into your palms and brace yourself. You keep up the speed-walk, and you reach out for the door handle when a voice stops you.

"Where do you think you're going?"

You retract your hand and turn around. Sam has a questioning look on his face. You smile, because Sam is easy to lie to and a little gullible at times.

"Going for a drive," you say confidently.

"Where?"

"Around."

"Where are you really going?"

You feign being caught and look at the floor in embarrassment.

"Late night McDonald's run. Want anything?"

He perks up at the sound of that, momentarily forgetting about his suspicion.

"20 nuggets with a rootbeer."

"You got it."

You give him a wave and walk out the doors. That was almost too easy.

Jumping in one of the cars in the driveway, you zoom out of there and head towards a mini mart a few miles down the road.

When you pull up in the parking lot, you can see a fancy looking van to your right. You stay in the car until you can see Phil lingering around, or any of his other agents. The car next to you rolls its window down, revealing Phil. You nod at him and get out of the car, locking it as you round the corner. You lean against the passenger door and stick your hands in your pockets as Phil emerges and hands you an iPad.

“This the mission?” you ask, unlocking it.

“Mostly,” he answers.

It’s a picture of a pretentious looking man. Coiffed hair, five-day stubble, structured face. You don’t like him already. And he also seems kind of brutish, but that’s only because there’s a nasty looking scar on his neck. You don’t want to know how it got there.

“Marko Snyders,” Phil explains, crossing his arms. “He’s been a bug in our side for a while. He’s gathered too much information on S.H.I.E.L.D. and has a fair interest in weapons of mass destruction.”

“That’s never good,” you comment as you flip through his surveillance pictures.

“There’s a whole list of things we can arrest him for,” Phil says.

“So you want me to capture him then?” you guess.

“Correct,” he affirms. “Infiltration comes first. You need to get him to trust you. Get close to him. He’ll have his bodyguards with him, so you’ll have to get past them. If worse comes to worst, you can use as much force as you want.”

“As much as I want?” you repeat, pulling a face at the photos of his bodyguards. They’re nearly as big as Steve.

“As much as you want. Within reason.”

“Of course. I’ll enjoy burning the place down and finding their bodies in the ashes.”

The smile you’re making is a little eerie to say the least, and Phil clears his throat to divert your attention back to him.

“We have something for you to wear,” he says. That immediately catches your attention.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” you ask, looking down at your black attire.

“The location you’re going to is a high-end club,” Phil clarifies.

“So that means low lights, alcohol, and lots of people mushed together?” you ponder.

“Exactly.”

“Then what I have on is fine, really. No one will even notice me dressed like this.”

“They will.”

“They won’t. Listen, how many girls have come up to this guy, dressed to the nines, and send him winks and flirtatious vibes? Dozens, probably. Maybe I can do things a little differently. Act like a normal person and ‘get to know him’ like you want me to.”

“You won’t get through the front door looking like that, _______. The club is named ‘Death Row’ for a reason. So trust me, I suggest you take the clothes we’ve arranged for you.”

You narrow your eyes at him, biting your cheek. Is he serious? If so, then Natasha is perfect for this mission. She’s done countless missions where she had to dress for the target and seduce them before breaking their neck. She hasn’t taught you how to act in these kinds of situations yet, so you’ll have to improvise. Sighing in defeat, you hand the iPad back to him and nod your head.

“Fine, I’ll wear whatever you got,” you agree. “It better be a goddamn dress.”

“It is,” he says quickly.

“And I’ll have you know that my flirting skills are in the negatives,” you comment, watching his reaction. He doesn’t budge. “So if something goes wrong, or is he suspects that something’s up, then I won’t hesitate to drag him out of there.”

“Understood,” Phil says. “We will be waiting on standby. Did you bring your gun?” You shake your head.

“Thought my power would be enough. Plus, if it’s crowded and dark, I don’t want to injure someone that isn’t the desired target. I can fight, I can tell you that. I can’t say that there won’t be complications, because there will be, since this is only my second mission. So, please bear with my eccentricities.”

“Already in progress,” he says. He opens his car door and tosses you a plastic bag. “Suit up.”

The dress they gave you isn't that bad. It's a strapless, deep red cocktail dress with ruffles along the bottom. You honestly like the dress, and will probably keep it afterwards if they ask for it back. Your lighter is tucked away in the boddess, and you pray that it stays there with whatever happens. It’s a disappointment that you had to leave your battle uniform in your car, but what must be done must be done. They even brought you simple black heels for the occasion (You don’t want to know how they got your shoe size). And, of course, they had to fix your hair and face. Some light curls, a little foundation, red lipstick, and you're good to go. You were able to get through the front door; it's not a "you're not on the list" type of club, which is pretty convenient, because you didn't know if you could flatter your way inside.

Right now you're sitting at the bar with a small glass of tequila in your hand, scoping out the place. Phil gave you an ear piece so he can give you directions and when things get too heated. You know you can't get too wasted, or else your movements will slack and lose effect. For now, one glass is enough.

You look up from the bar, and see Marko strolling in with his bodyguards, face serious as he looks around the room. His eyes land on you for a split second before going to the back corner of the club and sits on a loveseat.

That must be where he always sits.

You keep looking at him, in hopes at getting his attention. You cross your legs and raise your eyebrow, taking another sip of your tequila.

“I see him,” you say to Phil.

"Go to him," Phil instructs.

"Or how about I get him to come to me?" you counter.

You set your drink down on the bar and fix your body language, facing the bar completely. You look over your shoulder several times, smiling sweetly in hopes that Marko will look over. On your fifth attempt, he does.

You try to pull your best seductive look, and he responds by stretching his arms over the couch and spreading his legs, smirking all the while.

Fuckin' pervert.

You bite your bottom lip, and swing in your stool to face him. You nod your head to the side, silently asking him to come over. He gestures the empty spot next to him, but you don't back down. You cross your other leg over the other and lean on your thighs, squeezing your arms together so your chest pops out for him. You'd rather not be doing this for him, but you have to if you want to call this mission a success.

He licks his lips and leans forward in his seat. He looks like he's contemplating on whether or not to join you.

Take the bait, asshole.

You twirl a piece of your hair between your fingers and keep smiling like he wasn't the most disgusting thing in the world. He doesn't have an unfortunate face, which only peeves you off even more. He's not your type, but he's certainly everyone else's. After the longest minute of your life, he gets up from his chair and struts over to you, pushing his body guards away as he shamelessly eyes you up and down.

Gross.

You sit up straight as he plops down next to you and orders two shots of vodka. You raise an eyebrow at the order. Vodka? You treat vodka like a juice box, chugging it down no problem. You can't have too many of those, or else you're really going to lose it as the night goes on.

You decide not to open up with your name, so you make "friendly" conversation instead.

"What's a man like you doing in a place like this?" you ask, sipping down the last of your tequila.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replies, downing his vodka as soon as the bartender slides it over. He gestures to yours with a raised eyebrow.

You pick it up, smiling kindly.

“Here’s to people like us.”

You toss is back, then slam the shot glass back on the bar. It burns your throat, but it’s actually kind of calming at the moment. You’re a lightweight, which makes you more verbal. And that is exactly what you need right now.

“Seriously though, what are you doing here?” he presses. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

Thinking of ways to kill you.

“Trying something new,” you respond, your smile faltering a little. You can see the scar on his neck without even directly looking at it; his bodyguards have their eyes on you both, hands folded in front of them, expressions serious. You gulp nervously. “I don’t get out much.”

“Such a shame for a pretty face like yours to be kept hiding,” he smirks, waving his hand at the bartender.

That is not what I want to hear from you.

“Keep the conversation going,” Phil says. “More talk means more trust. Get him outside if you can.”

“Got it,” you answer quietly.

You think back to all the movies you’ve watched in the past about seducing men in a crowded club like this one. The woman is dressed to lure the man in, getting him to order her a drink, they skip off to one of their apartments to hook up. But does that honestly happen in real life? And on specific missions like these? You’re skeptical about the Hollywood film industry and its plotlines, but you might as well take a shot, right? Literally and figuratively.

Phil said the club is called “Death Row” for a reason. A lot of murders must have occurred here. That’s the only reason you can think of for it’s particular name. The red glow of the lights really fits the theme.

Saving that question for another time, you clear your throat and pay attention to the situation at hand. You have a dangerous man sitting in front of you. And you need to get him to Phil.

“So what about you?” you ask curiously. “You seem to come here often enough to know that I’m a newcomer.”

Mark huffs a laugh and leans against the bar, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah, I do come here often,” he replies without missing a beat. “Probably a little too much.”

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“I sort of have a reputation,” he explains, ordering another round. “Not the good kind.”

“Oooh you sound pretty dangerous then,” you coo, licking your lips. “Leading a dangerous life seems like your style, misterrr?”

“Snyders,” he replies, holding out his hand. “Marko Snyders.”

“Nice to meet your acquaintance, Mr. Snyders,” you reply, shaking his hand. “I’m _______.” You thought about using a different name, but you’re not sure that would’ve been a good idea. Might as well use the truth once in a while.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” he comments. You smile sweetly, despite wanting to punch the guy in the face.

“Thank you,” you reply shyly.

“No problem.”

It’s getting harder to figure out ways to get him outside. It’s too early on to invite him back to a hotel or to go to his place. There’s only one exit in the entire club, besides the entrance. And it just happens to be in the back corner, right beside Marko’s goons. Your eye twitches in annoyance. Of course. Out of all the places for an exit to be, it just had to be beside two men that could snap your neck faster than you could say “poptarts”.

Nevertheless, this mission is about keeping the clubbers out of the line of fire, and to get Marko in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands. That is all you’re here to do tonight. Hopefully you’ll come out of this unscathed.

But to do your job right, you’re going to have to bump up your game. Even if it means getting drunker and losing your sense of judgment and mobility. That’s what it means to be an Avenger. Or something like that.

You order another round of shots, and quickly slide them down your throat. The effect of the alcohol may not happen immediately, but knowing that it will assures you enough to open up more and smile. You also order a margarita to give your hand something to hold on to.

“So, Markoooo Snnnnnyders,” you slur, trying to act cute. He smirks and raises a playful brow. “Mr. Dangerous. Mysterious Man Sny. How did you come to find this place? And what makes you stay? It seems like any club I’ve seen lining the streets of the city.”

Not technically your best angle, but you’ve got to keep him talking to think of ways to get him out of here. Maybe if you act like you’re actually into him and not trying to dropkick his ass to Phil, you may have a chance of getting him to leave with you. It’s worth a shot; but you’ve got to get to know him first. You’re not an expert at reading facial expressions and body language, but you know enough. Wait for a moment for him to drop his guard. But even that may not even be enough. What would you threaten him with? Un-promised sex? He probably has men surrounding the place and a bomb placed underground to the city’s main electrical cables. God knows what else this man may have up his sleeve.

You just hope weapons of mass destruction are not on his list tonight.

He takes a sip of the Corolla he ordered earlier as he ponders his answer. You flit your eyes all around you, just as a precaution. You don’t know if you’ll need more space than you have to beat his ass.

“I built this place,” he finally responds, setting his beer down. You’re visibly shocked.

“You’re kidding,” you say, looking at him in complete surprise. Phil didn��t tell you that. Maybe it was to make your reactions more authentic. Smart strategy. Sneaky.

“’Fraid not, miss,” he replies, clearly enjoying your disbelief. “Back in ’89, I did that sort of stuff. It was my most proud work. It’s been through a few renovations since then. I’ve never stopped coming to this place because it’s my first establishment. It’s good to see that it’s still racking in the dough and customers. Its reputation is sketchy to say the least because of all that it’s been through. That may all be in the past, but people tend to not forget.”

“Wow. That’s… pretty awesome. The design is amazing, by the way. Everything is sleek and in style. Very impressive.”

“More pretty words from the pretty girl.”

Yikes.

Another sip of the margarita, please. Honestly, you don’t know how much longer you can keep this up. The whole of the mission has been making your body tremble, and the thought of getting shot, or someone being killed in your place is mortifying. But, the more you drink and let go, everything seems… actually calm and a little fun. It’s a little scary to be thinking like that, but you just can’t help yourself. The first thing to do was calm your nerves, and you did. The next step was getting Marko to do the same thing. You feel like you’re getting the tiniest bit closer, but you wouldn’t count on it. It all depends on how he reacts and what he says.

After a decent gulp of your drink, you slam it down on the bar and lick your lips. You stare at him with lidded eyes, solely focused on him. You tap your foot on the floor with the beat, and dare yourself to ask him to dance. Leaning back against your seat, you flick your hair to the side and cock your head as you look him up and down.

“Wanna dance?”

He smiles obnoxiously, and twists his beer on the bar. His eyes squint in caution, though. He gives you a once-over, wondering if he should. Phil hears silence, other than the loud music and thrush of the crowd.

“_______? _______? What’s going on?”

“So,” you start, after hearing Phil’s voice. “What will it be? Shall we have this dance, Mr. Snyders? Or shall I find myself a new partner?”

Coincidentally, being the dominant, alpha male he is, Marko frowns and his eyes narrow. The thought of another man having you to himself pisses him off. Just the mere sight of the men dancing behind you on the floor makes his stomach churn in discomfort. He’s not about to let another man’s hands on you. He gets out of his seat, straightens out his shirt, and takes your hand, dragging you to the dance floor. He grips your hand tightly as he spins you into him, just like in the movies.

Good god. I’d rather do this with Tony.

His face is inches from yours, but your line of sight is on his neck. He sees you eyeing it, and answers your question directly. Not like you had it in the first place.

“I got into a horrid knife fight a few years back,” he explains, swaying his body against yours. “And a nasty fight means nasty scars.”

“You don’t say,” you whisper, trailing your eyes back up to his face. This is way too close for your liking. You twirl yourself back out before he pulls you back in and places his hands on your waist. He squeezes, and you gasp.

That tickles, you prick.

However, he takes your reaction as permission to do it more, and to press himself against you. Swallowing your pride, you wrap your arms around his neck, and move your body in time with his. The beat of the music thumps in your ears and courses through your bones. You can hardly think straight. Now you’re sort of regretting drinking so much. You can feel your decisive mind waning as the alcohol spreads to your head. Here’s to hoping to a weak hangover in the morning.

Marko runs his hands along your body without a care. How indecent. And gross. You feel like you’re being molested. Your fingers tremble around his neck. No. You cannot let your nerves get the best of you. Thinking on your feet, you imagine it’s not Marko feeling you up like this, but Bucky.

It’s kind of shameful and creepy to be thinking of him like that in a situation like this, but desperate times call for drastic measures. Bucky is a much better person to be doing things like this, and you like the guy, so it’s not like you can help yourself. You close your eyes, and imagine it’s Bucky standing behind you, gently swaying your hips side-to-side, whispering sweet thoughts in your ear instead of having heavy, hot breath violating your neck. Your imagination seems to do the trick, because you relax against Marko and let the beat carry you.

Meanwhile, Phil and his team are outside in a black van, listening in to everything that they can hear. Unbeknownst to you, there is one more agent inside undercover. Phil thought about letting you know about her presence, but he stopped himself. He also stopped himself from telling you about the miniscule, hidden cameras as well. He wants to see what you’d do if you thought you were alone. A cruel tactic to see what you’re made of, but he trusts his judgments. And if things go downhill, he’ll make the call for his other agents to take action.

But for now, he and his team simply observe.

You take the time to pull yourself from your Bucky-induced thoughts to think of more ways to get Marko out of here without raising alarm. His bodyguards have got to be the first ones to go. But how would you do that? Their number one priority is the safety of Marko, and they can secure him pretty easily. It’d be two-against-one, and your odds of winning would be slim. A few months of training isn’t going to cut it against bulky meat suits like them. Natasha sure, Wanda definitely, since she can bring a man to his knees without even touching him. Unnecessary envy isn’t going to get you out of this right now, so you need to think of your options.

Option One: You flat-out ask Marko back to your apartment. Lead him to Phil. Job done. No causalities.

Option Two: Try to take down agents Meat and Meatier before Marko. If that goes well, threaten Marko with fire and lead him outside. No causalities.

Option Three: Pull off mission impossible and take down three men twice your size in a crowded club full of innocent civilians without any causalities.

Option Four: Call off the mission and let Phil do it himself. Professional and clean. No causalities.

When it all comes down to it, you can only take one path. So which is it going to be? Standard procedure, or go by the one less traveled by? There is no time to hesitate. You must choose. Otherwise this whole mission will turn out to be a failure and innocent blood will be on your hands, not to mention that–

“Wanna get outta here?”

Well. That certainly wasn’t an option you were expecting to arise. Your eyes fly open and you tilt your head up to face him. You can’t believe that this moron is getting you out of your own sticky situation. Luck must be on your side. Your lips quirk up into a flirty smile.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

You tuck your hair behind your ears and brush it to your back in attempt to cool yourself down a bit. Years of renovations and he didn’t have the money to put in some A/C? The heat coming from all the other people in the club makes you light-headed. Or maybe it’s the alcohol. Probably both. You look around again, just to make sure that everything is under control. Marko’s bodyguards slowly start making their way towards you. They probably won’t let Marko go with some random girl, always keeping a close eye on their boss. That’s fine by you. Three birds with one stone, job done.

Or so you thought.

As you turn your head, Marko looks back at you, and his eyes instantly narrow from seeing the earpiece you’ve been wearing. He’s not going to second-guess himself because he knows exactly what they look like, big and small. He stops walking, making you bump into him. You stumble a bit, but his now iron-tight grip keeps you from falling over. You look up at him in question.

“Marko? What’s–“

A second later, he has you turned around, with what you can only guess is a gun shoved against your back. You sober up as your heart beats a mile a minute in your chest. You feel like it could burst through your ribcage right now. You thought you were scared when you thought an intruder was in the compound when Bucky and Sam destroyed the electrical panel. This doesn’t even compare. The lives of you, and everyone else are at stake now. And all because of one clumsy move.

“Here’s how it’s going to go,” he whispers in your ear, pressing the gun hardly against you. No one else in the room seems to realize that Marko has pressed a gun against your back. They’re all too wrapped up in their own drunken stupors to notice your distress. Tremors course through your hands, and you can’t control how fast your throat is closing up.

“We’re going to take a little walk,” he continues, now making his way to his bodyguards. “And you’re not going to make a scene. You’re not going to call for help, and you’re not going to try and contact any of your other friends. Got it?”

You can’t speak; you can only nod. No matter what, you cannot let a single person get injured, or god forbid, killed, because of you being naïve and thoughtless. However, you cannot let yourself be captured so easily. You have to prove yourself that you are capable of thinking and acting on your own. Now would be the time to do it.

Forcing yourself to take deep breaths, you analyze the situation. The bodyguards don’t seem to be carrying guns. Though, they could be concealed under their jackets. Your lighter is tucked away in your chest, but you’d have to disarm Marko before dealing with his beef squad. Everything would be much easier if you had one more person with you. If only Phil was smart enough to bring another person inside so you wouldn’t be alone. You hear a click, and Marko comes to a stop. You can only guess that he’s ready to pull the trigger, and you shut your eyes tightly, ready to feel the blow in your back.

“Stand down or I’ll spill your brains.”

Your eyes shoot open at the new voice. You hesitantly look over your shoulder, and see a woman a few years older than you standing behind Marko.

Is she–?

She nods at you, which can only mean she’s on your side. You can’t sigh a breath of relief yet, since the situation can still go south. And you’d do anything to avoid a catastrophe on your first solo mission.

Let’s see. Three on two. She has a gun, and I have my lighter. These two puff pastries probably rely on their brute strength to keep Marko safe. I could take on those two, maybe while the other agent deals with Marko. But these people need to get out of here to avoid a gunfight. But I’m sure once they see what’s about to go down, they’ll find their way out. Fast, I hope. Think, _______. Think.

Shit.

I better not regret this.

There’s no time to second guess yourself. Seeing as Marko’s not holding on to you, you make your right hand into a fist and quickly elbow him in the neck (though you were aiming for his face). He stumbles to his left, but he doesn’t let go of his gun. He takes aim at you as you rush towards his bodyguards, but the other agent grabs hold of his wrist and points it upwards and makes him shoot the ceiling. The instant it fires, people are screaming and scrambling to get out of the club. The undercover agent wants to leave with the rest of the clubbers to secure their safety, but given the situation, it may not be necessary.

She elbows him in the ribs and chops his neck before kicking his feet out from under him. He falls to the floor, but it doesn’t end there. He’s had years upon years of training. He knows how to get himself out of a sticky situation.

Meanwhile, you’re up against two tank engines. You avoid using your lighter unless completely necessary. If you can’t subdue them by yourself, then you’ll rely on your power to get you out of this mess. The weak points are easy to go for, like the groin and face, but your personal favourite is punching people in the neck. And it’d work out perfectly if they weren’t so goddamn tall. Your defence training with Natasha has been sufficient, all things considered, so you might as well put it to the test.

You have no choice but to take down two people at once, as hard and fast as you can. You try giving him a right hook, but he easily stops it by grasping your fist. You grunt and do not hesitate to smash the end of your heel into his foot. Then comes the kick to the groin, and two knees to the face when he bends over. He groans in pain before you give the strongest kick you can muster to the side of his neck. He goes tumbling down the wall, giving you a single second to breathe before the second guard wraps his arm around your neck and starts squeezing.

Leverage.

You move your left leg back behind his right foot, making your hips behind his. You then open your left arm across his chest and use all the strength you can to force him backwards. He’s a big guy, but even big guys have weaknesses. You kick his Achilles’ tendon to make sure he goes down to the floor. He manages to keep a grip on you, and you go down with him; but that only gives you the chance to elbow him in the throat. Hard. While he strangles for breath, the first guard you took down pulls a gun attached to his ankle.

Line of fire.

You scramble off the ground, adrenaline coursing through you, and charge at him. You duck your head down and raise both your hands up, grabbing onto his wrists, and kick him in the groin again. His grip lessens on the gun and you tear it away from his hands. He tumbles backwards again and you point the gun at him.

“Don’t move! Stay where you are!” You look behind you at the ground, and see the second guard still struggling to catch his breath. You back up to get both of them in your line of sight, moving the gun left and right, finger hovering over the trigger in case they try something. You hear a yell from your left, and turn your attention there instead. Before you have time to process what happened, another gunshot goes off, and you feel a sting in your thigh. The force sends you to the floor, and you end up laying on your side, the gun flying from your hands. The adrenaline keeps the pain to a 5, on a scale from one to ten. You look up, and see Marko pointing his gun at the other agent on the floor.

Goddammit.

While they both look worse for wear, Marko got the better end of the beatings. There’s blood splattered along his forehead and cheek, and at least three good cuts on his arms. The agent, however, just has a bruise forming under her eye socket.

Men are pathetic.

Marko breathes hardly as he looks back at you with a careless expression. The gun is too far for you to grab; he would kill you before you fully outstretched your hand. So you stay where you are, and focus on breathing. Bullet wounds are a major punch to the tits.

“This was fun,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “But I still got business with the black market and international sellers. People would pay big bucks for an arm or a leg of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. But I prefer them alive and fresh. Makes for a better show.”

He pulls back the hammer on his semi-automatic, and keeps his gun trained on the agent. The agent has no line of defence; her only chance is you, or Phil, if he has the heart to come in and do something about this. He hasn’t said anything in a while. Not that it matters. It’s best not to have a distraction while you’re trying to save the life of yourself and another. Just to be sure, you take the earpiece out and toss it away. You try standing up, but your body is so shaky that you fall back to the ground. Marko looks back at you again as you try to push yourself off the floor. He laughs.

“You almost had me fooled,” he says, kneeling in front of you. He waves the gun around along with his hand movements as he speaks. “Do you know how many women have come up to me, batting their lashes and spreading their legs to get my attention? And because I’m the big man, you must think that I’m into that sort of thing. But you know what? It’s annoying as fuck. Same old game, same type of woman. But you. You. You seemed authentic and natural. A shy little girl trying to attract the alpha male in the room. Your game was so weak, I felt bad for you. So I came over, had a few drinks, and dealt with it.” He reaches forward and grabs your chin when you look away from him. “You had such a baby doll face that I couldn’t resist myself.”

That comment earns him a nasty glare. He raises a brow in amusement.

“Oh? Did I hit a nerve?”

“Don’t fucking call me that, scarface,” you spit.

He “hmph”’s and lets go of your chin. His eyes travel down, and he smirks. “What do we have here?” He extends his hand down the front of your dress; when you struggle, he points the gun at your head. “Don’t fucking move.” You comply and let him take the lighter out of your chest. He inspects it before standing back up and pacing the room. You grip your thigh in pain, but you power through it. You can’t slip unconscious just yet. Not until these bastards are dead or captured, and the agent is safe.

“Going through all that trouble to conceal a lighter? Must be special. What. Your daddy give this to you as a parting gift?”

“Go to hell,” you snarl, wincing from moving your leg. You look at it. Just the sight of it almost makes you throw up. You turn your head away and pay attention to Marko.

Go on. Open it. I dare you.

He twists and turns the lighter in his hand, wondering why you would hide such a thing. If he’s stupid enough to open it and pull down on the lever, then you won’t hesitate to take your chance. You’ll add a few more scars to the one he already had.

“Planning to blow up the place?” he muses aloud. He shakes his head and laughs without humour. “How naïve. I expect no less from a little girl.”

You shrug. “Gotta keep all the options open.”

You’re getting more and more dizzy. You’re never to drink again on a mission. If you live through this one, that is. Marko flicks the lid open, then closes it. Then opens it again, then closes it. He does this a few more times, and you’re getting tired of him not doing what you want.

Come ooon. Just do it. Light a flame.

“You know,” he starts, opening the lid again. “I could go for a smoke right now.” He lights a flame. “I qu–“

The moment you hear the familiar flick of the lever, you take control of the flame, increasing its size and temperature, and blow it up right in Marko’s face. You engulf the right side of his face and forearm. His gun and your lighter fall to the floor as he screams in agonizing pain. The agent takes this chance to grab his gun and point it at him as you extinguish the flames. Marko is on his knees, grunting and yelling in pain. He looks up at you and squints.

“What the fuck are you?”

You bend down and grab your lighter. You flip it open and make another flame, then surround it around his bodyguards. You spit at the floor and look him in the eyes.

“Hellfire.”

You help the agent stand while keeping the fire going. She keeps the gun on Marko as she presses her fingers against her ear.

“Sir? The situation is handled. Send them in.”

Neither of you lower your guards as agents come pouring in the club to arrest Marko and his goon squad; only then do you douse your flames again. Your legs shake, but you keep yourself upright. No need to embarrass yourself. Even if there is a bullet wedged in your thigh.

“That was exceptional work, _______,” the agent says, clapping a hand on your back. “You kept calm, read the situation, and acted accordingly. Not bad for a newbie.”

“Tha-Thanks,” you pant, pressing your hands on your thighs. You curse when the adrenaline starts to wear off and you can feel the real pain from the bullet start to course through you. You stand back up again when however, when you see Phil walk through the door, and Marko getting escorted out in handcuffs.

“Good work, _______, agent Knox,” he says, his hands tucked behind his back. You blow the hair away from your face and shake your head in disbelief.

“You couldn’t have told me that I wasn’t alone in there?” you ask, anger lacing your tone.

“I wanted to see what you were capable of without any outside help,” he explains. “Working as a team is admirable and truly effective, but an individual must have their own strengths. I wanted to draw out your potential. You managed to take down two two-hundred-pound men and keep a weapons developer in containment.”

You put your hands on your hips and shake your head again. Sure, it’s true. You managed fine on your own. But without the help of agent Knox, then you probably would’ve been injured further, or even killed. There are the pros and cons, but you’re just happy that you’re alive.

“I guess,” you finally answer. “But I got shot in the leg.”

“We’ll take care of that.”

“Good. ‘Cause I feel like I’m gonna pass out. And throw up.”

Two paramedics come to your side as you step into the cool night air. You immediately wrap your arms around their shoulders, and limp with them over to a different black van that has medical equipment inside. They’re about to hook you up to an IV when you remember something crucial.

“Wait!” you yell. “Coulson needs to take my back to the compound.” Phil looks over his shoulder when he hears his name called. He watches you argue with the paramedics.

“We can’t do that, miss,” one paramedic argues. “You’ve lost too much blood and we need to get you to–“

“Just give me some damn morphine and let Coulson take me back,” you demand, not in the mood to fight. “There’s doctors and surgeons back at the compound.” When neither of them do what you asked, you glare at them. “Do it. Now.” They reluctantly comply when Phil nods at them. You’re given a powerful dose of morphine for the pain, and they securely wrap white bandages around your thigh before letting you go. You wobble over to Phil, and blink a few times to make sure it’s him.

“LLLLeeeeet’ssss gooooo,” you slur, the morphine taking instant effect. “Weeee got a pit stop to make.” You laugh as you look at his shiny head, before stumbling over to the passenger’s side and hop in the seat. Phil sighs through his nose, knowing he’ll have a hell of a car ride. He has two of his agents drive your car back home, while he takes you to your desired destination.

It’s been four hours since you last left the compound. And Sam’s been up and about, waiting for your return. He tried calling you, but you left your phone in the car. Asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. or anyone else for that matter wouldn’t help either. They probably don’t know you’re out doing… whatever it is you were doing. Sam’s about to go out and look for you himself when he hears a commotion from downstairs. He asks F.R.I.D.A.Y. to pull up the feed for the front entrance, and he sees you literally being dragged in by two men in stealth suits. Another man leads them up the path to the doors, but they’re locked. Sam doesn’t need to see anymore. He rushes downstairs.

You try to tell Phil the passcode to get inside, but you can’t stop laughing at nothing and everything to give him a coherent answer. You’re crying from laughter when you see Sam skid to a stop from behind the doors.

“Saaaaaaam!” you cheer happily, letting go of Phil’s men to press yourself against the glass.

“_______?! What’re you doing out there? What happened to you?!”

You look down at yourself. There was no time to change back into your battle suit, so you were stuck with wearing your bloody, tattered cocktail dress. You’ve seen much better days. And so has Sam. You shrug indifferently.

“I got into a fiiiight,” you drawl, smiling stupidly at him. He opens the door and lets you fall against him. He sees the bandage around your thigh, and the blood seeping through it. He looks up at Phil, who is very surprisingly calm.

“She’s correct,” he says before Sam opens his mouth. “Her first solo assignment was a success. Please relay the message to Mr. Stark. I apologize for her return home. She wanted to pick something up first.”

You perk up when Phil says that. Of course! How could you forget? You push yourself off of Sam and let one of the men come forward and hand you something. You face Sam with the items behind your back. You smile widely at him before bringing them forward and presenting them to him.

“You thought I forgot, didn’t you?”

Sam has to huff a laugh. He can’t believe it. Out of everything you've been through tonight, and you still manage to think of him.

“My nuggets and drink,” he says quietly. “Goddammit, Spyro.”

He takes them and you happily clap your hands.

“Time to gooooo~ Bye bye Phyllis!” you call behind you as you limp inside. Sam watches you pathetically drag your wounded leg behind you. He turns to Phil, his serious demeanor returning.

“What the hell happened?”

“Complications arose, and we took care of them. The criminal is in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands now. She has proven herself to be very useful and quick witted. She’ll be just fine on her own.”

He turns around and is about to take his leave when he stops and says one more thing.

“For future reference, don’t tell her no when she wants all the toys,” he says.

Without giving him any other details, Phil leaves without another word. Sam looks down at the McDonald’s in his hands, still in disbelief that you actually got his order while looking like that. He manages to relax for a minute before he’s on high alert again; but only because you start shouting about your return home.

“Choo choo motherfuckers! Guess who’s hooooome!”

You managed to make it to the kitchen, despite the limp in your step. You’re so excited about being home that you want everyone to know. Sam comes running up behind you, and sets his late night dinner on the counter before covering your mouth.

“Quiet, Spyro!” he says. “Now’s not the time for this.”

You lick his palm to get him to uncover your mouth. He pulls away and wipes it on his shirt while you continue your own welcome home party.

“Steviiiiie! Wandooooo! Tonyyyyyy! Everyooooone! Come say hiiiiii! I feel lonely here with just Sammyyyyyy!”

Sam holds his face and shakes his head at your antics. This is not going to be pretty. Steve appears first, and he immediately shakes off his drowsiness when he sees the state you’re in. He rushes forward and looks from Sam to you.

“_______? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Awwww Steviiiiie. I’m okayyyy~ Look! I got shot in the leg!”

You pull up the bottom of your dress to reveal the bloodied bandage. You give Steve a dopey smile as he stares at you in concern and anger. You lean against the counter and nod your head repeatedly as he tries to gather his thoughts together.

“What happened to her?” he questions Sam.

“Look, I know about as much as you do,” Sam replies. “All I know is that she was in a fight and got shot in the leg. Nothing else.”

“How could this even happen?” Steve says aloud. He glances at you, but you’re too preoccupied with bouncing your head and swaying your shoulders to answer him. He sighs and shakes his head.

“It doesn’t matter right now. She needs to g–“

“The hell is this?”

Your head whips around when you hear the familiar tone of snark.

“Tooooonaaaayyyyy,” you say, swinging around to face him. “So kind of you to j-join u-us.” You start laughing again at the incredulous expression he’s wearing. Wanda, Vision, and Natasha emerge from their hiding places to see what’s going on so late at night. A whole flurry of conversations and emotions erupt before you, but everything sounds like white noise. You can’t understand what anyone is saying. All you can see are some pretty furious expressions. You stumble around a bit, making your way across to the living room. But a curious eye catches your attention.

Bucky is silently watching from behind the wall, arms crossed and brows furrowed. You make the same expression and stare at him. He doesn’t notice you’re looking until he glances to his right. You sputter a laugh when his face drastically changes from fuming to trepidation. He stands up straighter and uncrosses his arms as he gives you a once-over. You wave at him, but he can’t even raise a finger, let alone speak. He’s so shell-shocked that you look like this right now. Tattered, dirty, and wounded. He never thought he’d see you like this, and quite frankly, he’s outraged to see you in such a state.

“Y-You need to t-turn that f-frown upside d-down, mister,” you giggle, lazing your way over to him. “Frowns a-are not a-allowed. Y-You… y-you gotta… pffffffttttt!” You can’t even take him seriously. His usual gruff and grumpy behaviour seems a thousand times funnier to you right now. You point a shaky finger at him as you close the distance.

“Y-You got me outta t-that shitshow t-tonight, Mr. B-Barnes,” you continue. “So thank you f-for that. Y-You’re t–“

Before you have time to finish your sentence, you fall unconscious and land in Bucky’s arms. The morphine has taken its hold on you, so you won’t be waking up any time soon. He holds you carefully and delicately, moving the hair away from your face. You’re still breathing, which is good. But that bullet in your leg is not.

“Hey!” he shouts, gathering everyone’s attention. “She needs medical attention now.”

Bucky’s tone immediately grasps the likes of Tony; he stops his spat with Steve to get things rolling. He calls out to F.R.I.D.A.Y., telling the doctors and surgeons to be ready by the time he gets down there. He orders Bucky to follow him to the med lab, and he obeys. Everyone else follows close behind, worried out of their minds. Some more than others.

Bucky places you on the bed when he reaches the lab, and is then ushered out of the room. He stands behind the glass like the rest of the team, and watches on, hoping for your surgery and recovery to go well.

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paulisded · 7 years

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Live Ledge #314: Best Records of 2017

As I was putting together this year’s list of my favorite records I came across a article from a music journalist claiming that lists such as this are idiotic. Since it’s impossible to hear every single album that was released over the year, nobody has the needed knowledge to proclaim anything as the year’s best records.

Come on. This is ridiculous. Nobody is claiming to have the definitive look at the year in music. I’ve never read any music critic claim to have heard each and every record.

But that doesn’t mean these sorts of think pieces aren’t worthwhile. Every writer, fan, or publication has an area of expertise, and if they’re honest they’ll admit to their cultural shortcomings. Mine just happens to include pop, hip-hop, and bro-country. I know that the new Kendrick Lamar is probably the year’s greatest musical achievement, but it’s not my thing. At the same time, I don’t need to hear the latest records by the likes of Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, or whatever Jonas Brother that still makes music. Why would I waste my time when I know I’m going to hate it?

The purpose of these lists aren’t for people to proclaim themselves as the world’s biggest music expert. They exist mainly because as fans we want people to discover records they may have overlooked. I look at dozens of these types of articles, from giant publications to local music nerds, hoping to discover something that I’ve missed. Inevitably, I find quite a few, and I hope that my yearly list does the same for others.

This is a good year for this type of exploration. It’s been the best year in music in quite some time. Oftentimes, finding 40 records worthy of inclusion is not easy. This year, I started with over 80 candidates, and it took quite a bit of soul-searching to cut it down to my usual length. It’s such a good year that artists that routinely reside near the top (The National, Spoon, Steve Earle) didn’t make the cut.

What is it about 2017? Why was this a fertile year for music? Given the state of the music industry these days, there really shouldn’t be such an abundance of fabulous tunes. My theory is that as the possibility of fame and fortune fades away we’re left with artists who just HAVE to create. It’s in their blood. A musician and/or songwriter is who they are, and they’ll carry on as long as they can.

What’s even more surprising to me is the number of great releases by veteran artists. So many of my favorites from years past came out with their best records in decades. Who would have predicted the return of The Jesus and Mary Chain? Or that Robyn Hitchcock would put out one of his best records? Or that Guided By Voices would release not one but two albums that weren’t full of half-assed, seemingly unfinished tracks?

So here are 40 records that I consider the best albums of the year, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on my picks. Let me know what records have turned your crank this year. Tracks from each of these albums were also aired on Live Ledge in a reverse, countdown format. Click here for Live Ledge #314, or nab it via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, or many other online spots.

1. Bash & Pop, Anything Could Happen. Anybody that knows me well probably knew this would be my favorite record of year. Yet the return of Tommy Stinson’s first post-Replacements band is even better than I ever predicted. It’s every bit as good as the 1993 Bash & Pop debut. In fact, it may be even better, as the original was Stinson’s first serious stabs at songwriting. Almost 25 years later, Stinson’s skills as a tunesmith has deepened, and combined with the Faces-ish feel of his outstanding bandmates this would have been towards the of any year’s list.

2. The Courtneys, II. The best description I’ve read of this great Canadian trio is “fuzzy, slacker pop”. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Yet that would be meaningless if it wasn’t combined with sugary, singalong melodies. There’s a bit of a Blake Babies influence, but I also hear elements of late 80’s post-Jesus and Mary Chain bands such as The Primitives.

3. Ty Segall, s/t. James Brown used to be called the “hardest working man in show business”, but he’s a slacker compared to what Segall accomplished in a given year. Besides his usual album and a handful of singles, he’s involved with at least a half dozen other bands, and is inevitably a contributor as a musician or producer on a ton of his friend’s records. This year’s main release is also among his best, as it flows in and out of a number of styles.

4. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Damage and Joy. It was a big enough surprise that the warring Reid brothers reunited for a tour in 2007, but few thought that would result in a new album by the groundbreaking 80’s noise-pop veterans. The fact that it took a decade for it to happen is probably a sign that not all wounds have healed over the years. Yet this album is a pure joy for any fans of the original run. Yeah, it rarely deviates from the patented J&MC formula, but if it works why fix it?

5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound. Easily the most acclaimed Americana album of the year, and it deserves each and every accolade. Isbell is at the top of his game, as rousing anthems comfortably sit next to heart-wrenching looks at crumbling relationships and the difficulties of chasing the American dream.

6. Guided By Voices, August By Cake/How Do You Spell Heaven. Robert Pollard has always been one of rock’s most prolific songwriters, and is also quite possibly the worst at quality control. Each and every year has seen a handful of albums that are frustratingly dominated by half-baked song fragments. 2017 saw the release of his 100th and 101st albums, and both of them Pollard’s best efforts in well over a decade.

7. Juliana Hatfield, Pussycat. How can a record of bitter politics sound so sweet? Juliana Hatfield is not happy with what’s happening these days, but it’s somehow inspired her to write some of her catchiest songs ever.

8. Warm Soda, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up. Let’s get this out of the way. Matthew Melton found himself dropped from his label earlier this year for comments he and his musician wife said about immigration. Having said that, the final record by Warm Soda is easily the best power pop record of the year. Can one separate the music from the opinions of the person who creates the music? That’s definitely a major question these days, and I’m not sure that’s entirely fair.

9. Kevin Morby, City Music. One of my favorite new finds of this year. Formerly of Woods and The Babies (not the 70’s pop band), Morby’s fourth album has been described as a tribute to New York City. While there is a definite nod to the Ramones (“1234”), the record’s nods to the metropolitan experience works with almost any skyline.

10. The Feelies, In Between. Hoboken’s greatest band’s first album in six years actually feels like a sequel to 1986’s The Good Earth. Those same loud/quiet dynamics are again the focus, but not in the Pixies/Nirvana way. Instead the record’s best songs feature a gradual buildup that ultimately turns into a cacophonic roar.

11. Beaches, Second of Spring. Certain albums deserve to be played in full. This is one of those records, even if it’s a 17-track double album. Each and every song of the all-female Australian psych rockers’ third album perfectly fits with what precedes and follows it. Sonic landscapes of fuzzy instrumentals dissolve into catchy pop nuggets, which then spins into more experimental fare.

12. L.A. Witch, s/t. This fabulous new trio is pretty much impossible to pin down. There are elements of 60’s girl groups, but it’s mixed with surf, rockabilly, psych, and garage rock. It’s sort of like if The Runaways had a bigger record collection (and minus the dictatorship of Kim Fowley).

13. Matthew Ryan, Hustle Up Starlings. Only a handful of songwriters can create intense environments with (relatively) quiet sounds. Matthew Ryan is one of them, and it’s simply because he completely inhabits the identities of the subjects of his songs. Those subjects tend to be the forgotten members of society. The people who struggle to find work, let alone keep their jobs. The people with regrets over past mistakes. People who need their voices heard.

14. Danny Dodge, Baby Let Me Be Your Mess. I know next to nothing about Danny Dodge except that I love this record. Discovered via bandcamp, the only information I’ve been able to find is that he’s a veteran of various garage and glam bands in Portland. This album definitely has elements of those genres, but there’s also a does of sugary jangle pop.

15. Waxahatchee, Out in the Storm. I’m not going to lie. I’ve found most of Kate Crutchfield’s prior releases to be a bit hit and miss. However, her fourth album under the Waxahatchee name is great from beginning to end. Credit may have to go to producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth), who primarily recorded the band playing live in the studio.

16. John Moreland, Big Bad Luv. After the success of 2015’s mostly acoustic High on Tulsa, it would have been pretty easy for Moreland to just copy the sound and production of that record. Instead, he wisely expanded into a full-band sound that accentuates his hook-laden songs of heartbreak.

17. John Murry, A Short History of Decay. Murry has lived quite the life. A second cousin of William Faulkner, his childhood was marked by undiagnosed autism. He eventually turned to drugs, and was hospitalized for both psychological and drug issues. Music may have saved his life, but it also led to other issues too numerous to list here. His second solo album was recorded in five days with help from members of Cowboy Junkies, and his heartbreaking songs detail much of his life’s lower moments.

18. The Cairo Gang, Untouchable. Discovered due to his summer appearance in town, Cairo Gang leader Emmett Kelly is best known for his presence on the last two Ty Segall records along with various Bonnie “Prince” Billy releases. The fifth album under The Cairo Gang, produced by Segall, is truly a solo album, as Kelly plays that vast majority of instruments.

19. The Buttertones, Gravedigging. Another great bandcamp find, the debut release by this Los Angeles band is sort of like rock and roll history condensed into one full-length album. What other record combines surf, rockabilly, post-punk, garage, and psych with elements of The Clash and Cramps?

20. Meatbodies, Alice. I’m not going to lie. The name Meatbodies threw me off a bit. Yet once I heard this latest album by Chad Ubovich and crew I was itching for the rest of their discography. A little bit of research explained exactly why. Ubovich has spent time in Mikal Cronin’s band, and also plays in Fuzz with Ty Segall and Charles Moothart. Yep, it’s part of that L.A. orbit of musicians and bands.

21. Hurray For the Riff Raff, The Navigator. This record could have easily made the top ten, as the first half is about as exquisite as one could expect. Most of the second side doesn’t live up to that standard, though, so while it contains one of the year’s most inclusive record. Inclusive? Yes, leader Alynda Segarra combines various elements of Latina styles with classic American doo wop, folk, gospel and Motown sounds.

22. Alex G, Rocket. Alexander Giannascoli started off as a bedroom singer/songwriter who somehow got the attention of Frank Ocean. This led to his guitarwork appearing on a recent Ocean album, which has given him a weird notoriety that has very little to do with the lavish dream pop-ish sounds of his latest album.

23. Together Pangea, Bulls and Roosters. I first discovered this great band thanks to Tommy Stinson, who recorded their 2015 EP, The Phage. Their sound is firmly established in garage rock, but a bit quirkier than most bands of this type.

24. CFM, Dichotomy Desaturated. Here we go again. CFM is Charles Francis Moothart, who we’ve already noted is Ty Segall’s drummer. He’s also toured in Mikal Cronin’s band, is the guitarist/vocalist with Segall in Fuzz, and also participates in other Segall side projects. CFM is his band, though, and this second album is a great companion to that self-titled Segall album at the top of this list.

25. Old 97’s, Graveyard Whistling. After a few albums where the alt-country veterans took some mini-detours, this year’s model harkens back to the mid-90’s revved-up country roots. Leader Rhett Miller is still a master at turning a clever phrase, and the rest of the band has not lost a step.

26. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta See Lice. This is something I’d love to see more often. Two critically acclaimed songwriters befriend each other on the festival circuit, and decide to collaborate on an album. Each of them brings some new tunes, and they both sing a song written by the other. Plus they cover a Belly song, and another tune written by Barnett’s girlfriend, Jen Cloher.

27. John Wesley Harding, Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding. Let’s get everything straight. The artist known as John Wesley Harding was born Wesley Stace. He uses his birthname on his novels, and has also put out a few records under that name. This year’s album, his best in decades, attempts to clear up the confusion over his name. His writing is still full of wit and snark, and who can’t love an artist who makes fun of the music industry? It’s also worth noting that his band on this album is The Jayhawks, who do a masterful job at staying out of his way but adding whatever elements are needed.

28. Flat Worms, s/t. Flat Worms would be considered a supergroup in some circles, as everybody in the band has played with artists such as Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Kevin Morby, and Dream Boys. Regardless of where they’re from, this collaboration doesn’t rely on the usual sounds that generally come out of the Segall/Cronin/Thee Oh Sees circle of friends. Instead, this is a bit of a tribute to the heavier postpunk bands of the past. There’s a bit of Wire, later Buzzcocks, and even some pre-grunge Seattle in their sound.

29. Wand, Plum. You know what I love about this band? First off, they’re prolific, as this is their fourth album in three years. They’re also a band that’s constantly changing, as none of their albums sound the same. Plum may be the best of the bunch. It’s certainly their most varied, which makes it next to impossible to describe as it flows in and out of various subgenres.

30. Dream Syndicate, How Did I Find Myself Here? Here’s another band I never expected to see release new music. And I certainly would have never predicted that anything they did record would be so great. Their first new studio album since 1988 is similar to the new Feelies record in that it’s like there hasn’t been any time between releases. It’s a perfect companion to their neo-psychedelic classics The Days of Wine and Roses and Medicine Show.

31. Palehound, A Place I’ll Always Go. Palehound leader Ellen Kempner recently lost her grandmother and best friend, and poured all of her grief into her second album. While that may sound depressing, it’s tempered by the fuzzy, alt-rock guitar rock that fans of Waxahatchee should love.

32. Son Volt, Notes of Blue. It’s been quite some time since anybody but the biggest Jay Farrar fans paid any attention to Son Volt. Weirdly, it took a recent obsession with Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell that led to a record that’s reminiscent of the band’s classic early records.

33. Robyn Hitchcock, s/t. Again, a veteran artist puts out his best album in decades. For his 21st album, Hitchcock actually gives a few nods to his Soft Boys power pop days, and that energy permeates through the entire album.

34. Ne-Hi, Offers. Chicago’s place in indie rock circles has certainly grown in recent years, thanks to the likes of Twin Peaks, Whitney, and our very own The Kickback. As they told me in an interview before playing Total Drag earlier this year, Ne-Hi originally formed to record a soundtrack for a friend’s film, and it worked so well they decided to become a “real” band. After a debut recorded in a basement, they hit an actual studio for this record, but the resulting still feels like the result of a marathon jam session.

35. Micah Schnabel, Your New Norman Rockwell. Two Cow Garage is one of our country’s most underrated musical jewels that took Americana and gave it a Replacements-ish edge. This record may be a solo record, but it’s really a more stripped-down version of a typical Two Cow Garage album. Which means, of course, that it’s brilliant.

36. Daddy Issues, Deep Dream. This list doesn’t have enough snotty all-girl punk rock, even though it’s been a great year for bands such as this. As my friend Gorman Bechard says, they’re so good that they can even make a Don Henley cover (“Boys of Summer”) sound great.

37. POW!, Crack an Egg. This is a record that one needs to hear on vinyl. The first time I heard this was a digital version, and it was way too dominated by their propulsive synths. The vinyl version, though, obviously still has this despised (by me) instrument prominently in the mix, but the analog version is highlighted by the deeper, fuller sounds of the entire band.

38. Damaged Bug, Bunker Fun. John Dwyer is another artist who obviously had little to no free time this year. Besides running a busy, successful indie label that’s well-represented on this list, Dwyer released records under the names Oh Sees and OCS. (Thee Oh Sees name was retired after two 2016 releases.) He also had time for his solo side project that relies more on electronics than his other bands. His third release under this name is a bit heavier, a bit funkier, and heavier on prog elements than his main band.

39. Greg Ashley, Pictures of Saint Paul Street. Although a veteran of Texas garage-punk bands, along with a number of solo records, this record was my first hearing of this interesting songwriter. From the very first song, I heard a bit of Flowers-era Stones, mid-period Kinks, a pinch of Dylan, and even a touch of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. Ashley’s songs may primarily deal with despairing, hopeless characters living on the fringes of society, but he manages to turn them into messengers of righteous anger.

40. David Nance, Negative Boogie. Describing this lo-fi Omaha musician is next to impossible, as he’s anything and everything. There’s a bit of Crazy Horse at their one-take coked up best, quite a bit of Pere Ubu-weirdness, and maybe a bit of the Velvets and The Chills, and even a touch of 70’s outlaw country. Yet it somehow works, even when he throws in a surprise shambolic cover of Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings”.

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everettwilkinson · 7 years

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COHN: ‘I have come under enormous pressure both to resign and to remain in my current position’ — TEXAS HURRICANE could be Trump’s first major natural disaster — PLAYBOOK ON THE ROAD: KARL ROVE at Machu Picchu

Good Friday morning. TWO THINGS we picked up on yesterday in our conversations. The Office of Management and Budget just sent up a list of provisions and programs that expire at the end of the year, which will help kick off crafting a short-term spending measure to avoid a shutdown. So, in other words, the White House isn’t totally out of the game. But it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the administration is itching for a shutdown fight over border wall funding. It’s just not clear if they want that fight in September, December or both. …

… AND KEEP AN EYE ON TEXAS — Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall in Texas Friday night or early Saturday morning. The Houston Chronicle says it will hit the Lone Star State as a Category 3 storm, per the Weather Channel. http://wxch.nl/2gbVIr3 Storms, as we know, often morph quickly into political issues, so look for Trump to get involved (Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have already spoken by phone). http://bit.ly/2wtUXju

Story Continued Below

— AP’s Michael Graczyk in Houston: “The hurricane with the potential for up to 3 feet of rain, 125 mph winds and 12-foot storm surges could be the fiercest such storm to hit the United States in almost a dozen years. Forecasters labeled Harvey a ‘life-threatening storm’ that posed a ‘grave risk’ as millions of people braced for a prolonged battering that could swamp dozens of counties more than 100 miles inland.” http://bit.ly/2vvByKI

THIS COULD ALSO IMPACT THE GOVERNMENT-FUNDING DEBATE. Natural disasters typically force bipartisan cooperation.

**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/2lQswbh

GARY COHN SPEAKS TO THE FT — A FEW INTERESTING NUGGETS YOU SHOULD READ …

— THE WHITE HOUSE IS MOVING THE GOALPOSTS ON TAX REFORM … AGAIN: Cohn now says he believes tax reform will be done by the end of 2017. “‘They have been holding hearings [on tax] for years … It’s not like they are just starting the process now,’ Mr. Cohn said. ‘I do think it can pass both of the tax committees and both chambers in 2017.’” KEEP IN MIND: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said tax reform would be done and signed into law by the August recess. Then Marc Short, Trump’s top Hill liaison, said Trump would like a bill by Thanksgiving. This is another punt.

— COHN SAYS TRUMP IS GOING TO LAUNCH A MAJOR PUSH TO PASS TAX REFORM. The FT reports Trump is heading to Missouri to begin selling his tax-reform proposal. “‘Starting next week, the president’s agenda and calendar is going to revolve around tax reform,’ Mr Cohn said in an interview. ‘He will start being on the road making major addresses justifying the reasoning for tax reform and why we need it in the U.S.’” OK, SURE. Trump was supposed to make August all about tax reform. Our colleague Colin Wilhelm pointed out yesterday that he hasn’t done squat to advance a tax code rewrite this month (http://politi.co/2xhVsel). Trump has spent the month agitating against the GOP leaders he needs to get this done. PLUS he has a government shutdown and debt-ceiling debate to engage in. We don’t doubt he’ll do a few speeches. But aides tell us all the time that they doubt his commitment to the issue because of his reluctance to get in the game months ago. ALSO: Can he last an entire speech without dumping on a Republican leader or key senator? Stay tuned.

THE REALITY: Cohn is part of the group negotiating a tax-code rewrite. He has impressed longtime aides and lawmakers, has dined with lawmakers in and around leadership and is fully engaged in the talks. But he spent his career at Goldman Sachs, not in government, which might help explain why he thinks this will be so easy.

— A+ FOR AMBITION: Boy, this is an ambitious timeline. Cohn says tax reform shouldn’t be so hard because Congress has been holding hearings on it for years. Yes, but those hearings involve the 40 members on the Ways and Means Committee and the 26 members on the Senate Finance Committee. Eighty-eight percent of Congress has only thought about tax reform as an abstract exercise. The FT story http://on.ft.com/2w3B2aq

COHN ON CHARLOTTESVILLE: FT: “Did you consider resigning after Charlottesville?”

COHN: “I have come under enormous pressure both to resign and to remain in my current position. As a patriotic American, I am reluctant to leave my post as director of the National Economic Council because I feel a duty to fulfil my commitment to work on behalf of the American people. But I also feel compelled to voice my distress over the events of the last two weeks. Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK. I believe this administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities. As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will not replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job. I feel deep empathy for all who have been targeted by these hate groups. We must all unite together against them.” Transcript of the interview http://on.ft.com/2vbKEkF

NOT IT! — “White House yielding to Congress on tax details,” by Ben White: “The White House does not plan to release its own version of a tax reform plan and will instead leave that to the congressional leadership and the major tax-writing committees, a senior administration official said Thursday. The decision to hand off the specifics of tax reform comes after the administration promised earlier this summer to release a full tax plan when Congress returned from its August recess. It also follows President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to deliver the biggest tax cut in American history.

“‘Our plan is to have a full-blown release of the plan in the beginning of September, with being able to vote and getting this passed before the end of the year,’ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told ABC’s ‘This Week’ in July. Instead, the so-called Big Six tax reform negotiators — a group that includes Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch — will essentially turn over what they have done to the committees and let them fill in the particulars.

“The move to turn over most of the detail work to Congress follows some progress from the Big Six to identify possible ways to pay for a cut in the corporate rate – to between 22 percent and 25 percent – including by capping the mortgage interest deduction, eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes, reducing the interest that companies can deduct and possibly taxing contributions to 401(k) retirement plans.” http://politi.co/2vc50Ku

NYT’s CARL HULSE — “Trump Fences Himself In With Border Wall Spending Threat”: “President Trump handed Democrats a gift this week with his vow to shut down the government if he doesn’t soon get money for his border wall. Democrats may be only too happy to let him follow through on his threat since it will now be easy for them to blame the president for any government interruption, which would probably aggravate many Americans. Rather than cowing Democrats, Mr. Trump’s tough talk is more likely to embolden the opposition in ongoing negotiations, particularly since he has now twice suggested he was willing to shutter government agencies if he didn’t get his way.

“It also puts more pressure on Republicans to find the votes internally to pass spending bills and an increase in the federal debt limit — two things hard-right conservatives in the House and Senate have refused to support in the past. That Republican resistance provides Democrats leverage — Republicans can either grant concessions such as no wall money or produce all the votes for the spending bills and debt limit increase themselves.” http://nyti.ms/2vmggjk

****** A message from Chevron: We’re piloting a program that uses drones to keep an eye on Chevron wells, tanks, and pipelines—all to keep DOERS and what they’re doin’ safer. Watch the video: http://politi.co/2vLsVyX ******

SOMETHING TO WATCH — “Ryan faces diciest stretch of his speakership,” by Rachael Bade in Racine, Wisconsin: “For all its power and prestige, the speaker of the House is one of the most thankless jobs in Washington — just ask John Boehner. Now, with Congress barreling toward major fiscal fights this fall, Paul Ryan is about to get a taste of the Boehner treatment — and then some. Consider what’s on the immediate horizon for the GOP wunderkind: President Donald Trump is ready to shut down the government over his border wall with Mexico. Breitbart has all but declared a renewed, Steve Bannon-led war on GOP leaders, with Ryan in its cross hairs. And conservative lawmakers are exhorting the speaker to play hardball on raising the debt ceiling — even as the White House demands a no-strings-attached increase to calm nervous creditors.

“‘Conservatives aren’t going to roll over when it comes to the debt ceiling,’ said Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.) in a Tuesday interview. ‘I can tell you: It’s going to be a battle.’ Asked about Ryan’s leadership on such matters, Walker added: ‘I would like to see his genius in policy manifest itself. … Behind closed doors, there are strong conversations when it comes to holding the line for the will of the bulk of the conference. And I would like to see some strength in that area.’

“When Ryan reluctantly took the reins of the House Republican Conference in late 2015, he went out of his way to say he was only heeding the call of duty and didn’t really want it. Two years later, he faces the most treacherous stretch of his speakership as September showdowns over the budget and debt ceiling approach. Like Boehner, Ryan will be forced to mediate the long-running hostilities in his conference — between the always-potent Freedom Caucus and a newly-empowered faction of centrists. Only this time, Ryan also has a demanding and unpredictable president thrown into the mix, too.” http://politi.co/2vlApGf

FORMER SEN. JOHN DANFORTH (R-MO.) in the Washington Post: “Trump is exactly what Republicans are not”: “Many have said that President Trump isn’t a Republican. They are correct, but for a reason more fundamental than those usually given. Some focus on Trump’s differences from mainstream GOP policies, but the party is broad enough to embrace different views, and Trump agrees with most Republicans on many issues. Others point to the insults he regularly directs at party members and leaders, but Trump is not the first to promote self above party. The fundamental reason Trump isn’t a Republican is far bigger than words or policies. He stands in opposition to the founding principle of our party — that of a united country. …

“In honor of our past and in belief in our future, for the sake of our party and our nation, we Republicans must disassociate ourselves from Trump by expressing our opposition to his divisive tactics and by clearly and strongly insisting that he does not represent what it means to be a Republican.” http://wapo.st/2ivfiiN

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS! — at 6:35 a.m.: “If Senate Republicans don’t get rid of the Filibuster Rule and go to a 51% majority, few bills will be passed. 8 Dems control the Senate!” … at 6:40 a.m.: “General John Kelly is doing a fantastic job as Chief of Staff. There is tremendous spirit and talent in the W.H. Don’t believe the Fake News” … at 6:44 a.m.: “Few, if any, Administrations have done more in just 7 months than the Trump A. Bills passed, regulations killed, border, military, ISIS, SC!”

— FOR THE RECORD: Senate Republicans have had trouble getting to 51 votes on major legislation. It’s not true that eight Democrats control the Senate — not by a long stretch. And the Senate GOP leadership has already said they aren’t changing the filibuster rule.

AXIOS’ JONATHAN SWAN: “Trump seriously considering ending DACA”: “Sources familiar with the deliberations tell Axios that Trump has made no final decision, and the White House continues to receive advice from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. Jeff Sessions strongly believes Trump should end DACA; DHS, however, has a more nuanced position, and Trump himself has said he’s sympathetic to the children helped by the program.” http://bit.ly/2xhTlqM

FWD.US PRESIDENT TODD SCHULTE’S DACA BRAIN DUMP — “DACA could end (meaning renewals are blocked) by either a court order or the administration could stop issuing new permits and renewals at any moment. Despite the President keeping the program in place to date, at the end of June 10 Republican Attorneys General, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, threatened to undermine the President by suing the administration if the President doesn’t end DACA by September 5th.

“Because the removal of these protections would force hundreds of thousands out of their jobs and make them subject to immediate deportation, this is a unique immigration policy moment — in terms of immediate impact and in terms of how it would be perceived. It is important to be frank — the President has had multiple opportunities to end this program, and has to date clearly made a decision that he wants to keep this program going. This is absolutely the right policy — and given the terrible consequences of a DACA repeal — smart politics. Seven in eight Americans believe Dreamers deserve a place in this country — this is as close to consensus as we get on anything.

“Picking a fight intentionally to start deporting Dreamers is a uniquely awful political position. This is why for years Republicans have said they want to find a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. If DACA were repealed in September, by January of 2018 – and for the next 2 years — between 5,000 and 10,000 Dreamers each and every week would lose the protections of the program. Not only would they be subject to immediate deportation, but hundreds of thousands would lose their jobs. The politics of repealing DACA without a fix would be uniquely painful for the administration and the President’s party, who they rightly believe would be blamed.”

COMING ATTRACTIONS — “Interior secretary recommends Trump alter at least three national monuments, including Bears Ears,” by WaPo’s Juliet Eilperin and Darryl Fears: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Thursday that President Trump alter at least three national monuments established by his immediate predecessors, including two in Utah, a move expected to reshape federal land and water protections and certain to trigger major legal fights. In a report Zinke submitted to the White House, the secretary recommended reducing the size of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, according to multiple individuals briefed on the decision.” http://wapo.st/2waffMo

TRUMP’S FRIDAY — TRUMP meets with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at 11:30 a.m. and then goes to Camp David at 3 p.m.

JARED’S PEACEMAKING EXPEDITION UPDATE: HEADLINE of ISRAEL HAYOM, Sheldon Adelson’s newspaper: “In Ramallah, they worry: Kushner didn’t say two states.”

— “As Trump’s Peacemaker, Kushner Finds Common Ground, and Complications, in Middle East Trip,” by NYT’s Declan Walsh in London and Peter Baker in Washington: “In his first solo trip to the broader Middle East as President Trump’s designated peacemaker, Jared Kushner has found both cause for optimism and reminders of just what a daunting task his father-in-law has given him. Over the course of two days, he met with leaders from several influential Arab countries and emerged encouraged by their stated eagerness to help him bring Israelis and Palestinians together. But his visit on Wednesday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt showed how other issues can easily complicate the initiative as both sides sought to paper over a dispute over American aid. … In their meetings with Mr. Kushner, Arab leaders signaled readiness to cooperate, forgoing the usual grievances against Israel and instead focusing on their common interests, according to officials from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.” http://nyti.ms/2vv4oLa

TOP-ED – DAVID IGNATIUS in WaPo, “Could this be a game-changer for Middle East peace?”: “The Trump administration is exploring new approaches for easing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that build on talks with a budding Sunni Arab coalition of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. Jared Kushner, the White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law, visited the leaders of all four countries during his Middle East trip this week. He was accompanied by special envoy Jason D. Greenblatt and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell. The group came away hopeful that the new generation of Arab leaders is a potential ‘game-changer,’ said a senior administration official. … The Trump administration seems to envision an ‘outside-in’ strategy for breaking the Palestinian-Israeli stalemate. The United States, it’s hoped, could eventually bring together Israelis and leaders of the major Arab states for a peace conference. Trump’s unusually close relations with both Israel and the Gulf Arabs are part of this strategy.” http://wapo.st/2wM16Yq

WHAT ONE TOP TRUMP SUPPORTER IS SAYING — REP. CHRIS COLLINS (R-N.Y.): “Mr. Collins stated that ‘no one in his right mind’ would hold a town hall meeting at this point, and he cited safety concerns as the reason with the Steve Scalise shooting as an example.” http://bit.ly/2wa1Nsc

THE JUICE …

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: CAITLIN MITCHELL is joining the Democratic National Committee in the newly created chief mobilization officer role. She will be in charge of the new “mobilization department” and manage its digital, marketing and online fundraising departments. Mitchell previously worked as vice president of digital at EMILY’s List.

— THE “NOT ONE PENNY” campaign is launching a seven-figure cable ad buy pushing lawmakers to not make changes to the tax code that “provide additional tax giveaways to millionaires, billionaires, and wealthy corporations at the expense of working families.” The ads in D.C. and on local cable are targeting GOP Reps. Rod Blum and David Young of Iowa, Martha McSally of Arizona, Kevin Yoder of Kansas, Bruce Poliquin of Maine, Will Hurd of Texas, Rick Crawford of Arkansas and Darrell Issa of California. The national ad http://bit.ly/2xxzenU

PLAYBOOK ON THE ROAD — Karl Rove: “enjoying the midday Playbook read after finishing a second day on Machu Picchu” http://politi.co/2gaxuO3 … Anne Brady Perron: “Stopping to get my Playbook fix while hiking The Upper Narrows trail in Zion National Park.” http://politi.co/2vcrgUi … Charmaine Yoest (@CharmaineYoest), HHS assistant secretary of public affairs: “Never miss @playbookplus – even @theyoestdog keeps up at the beach. #PlaybookLoyal @apalmerdc” http://politi.co/2wuocmw … Poppy MacDonald (@PoppyMacD), president of POLITICO: “Staying caught up w/ @playbookplus while @ #OregonCoast #haystackrock #PlaybookLoyal” http://politi.co/2w3J1UH … Daniel Roy, CEO of a software company in Utrecht, Netherlands: “reading Playbook from the heart of the Axis of Evil: Isfahan in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Apparently you haven’t antagonized the Ayatollah enough: I’m happy to report that you’re freely available over here (unlike among others www.foxnews.com – no surprises there).” http://politi.co/2vciHsN

— OTHER READERS sent in pix of themselves reading Playbook from the Scottish highlands; Mdina, Malta; near Bull Mountain, Montana; a palace in Milan; the Puget Sound; Punta Cana, La Altagracia in the Dominican Republic; fishing off Nantucket; the Solheim Golf Cup in Des Moines; Montauk, N.Y.; Cooperstown, N.Y.; Ayer’s Rock in Australia’s Northern Territory; Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.; San Francisco; Mendoza, Argentina; in the shadow of the Matterhorn; outside the Colosseum in Rome; Cancún; Grand Teton National Park; Fort Ticonderoga; Cuba; Koh Samui, Thailand; and Manhattan. LAST CHANCE — Send photos to Daniel [email protected], or tweet photos with #PlaybookLoyal for a chance to be featured next week in our last Playbook on the Road installment and be entered into a contest to win a signed Matt Wuerker cartoon. See the whole gallery of entries this week http://politi.co/2gaxuO3

PHOTO DU JOUR: White House senior adviser Jared Kushner meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Aug. 24 in Ramallah, West Bank. | Osama Falah/PPO via Getty Images

AT LANGLEY — “At CIA, a watchful eye on Mike Pompeo, the president’s ardent ally,” by WaPo’s Greg Miller: “As CIA director, Mike Pompeo has taken a special interest in an agency unit that is closely tied to the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, requiring the Counterintelligence Mission Center to report directly to him. Officials at the center have, in turn, kept a watchful eye on Pompeo, who has repeatedly played down Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and demonstrated a willingness to engage in political skirmishes for President Trump. Current and former officials said that the arrangement has been a source of apprehension among the CIA’s upper ranks and that they could not recall a time in the agency’s history when a director faced a comparable conflict. … ‘People have to watch him,’ said a U.S. official who, like others, requested anonymity to speak frankly. ‘It’s almost as if he can’t resist the impulse to be political.’” http://wapo.st/2vvgeVx

HMM — “Mnuchin viewed eclipse from roof of Fort Knox,” by WaPo’s Drew Harwell and Beth Reinhard: “It turns out that [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin did view the eclipse while he was in Kentucky, and from an extraordinary place: Just outside the path of totality, from the roof of the nation’s fabled Fort Knox, atop nearly $200 billion in American gold. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) posted a Facebook photo [http://bit.ly/2gbGVwC] of himself, holding a pair of eclipse glasses, and Mnuchin at the U.S. Bullion Repository, where he said ‘we viewed the #solareclipse from the rooftop today.’ But Treasury officials said Thursday that the trip was planned explicitly around ‘official government travel,’ rejecting the idea that the Fort Knox visit and the appearance at a luncheon for the local chamber of commerce were mere cover. They said the luncheon appearance had been planned for early August but was delayed when McConnell postponed the Senate’s recess, an account confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Louisville chamber, Alison Brotzge-Elder.” http://wapo.st/2vmhlrg

THE NEW ECONOMY — “Amazon Plans to Lower Some Prices at Whole Foods,” by NYT’s Nick Wingfield in Seattle and David Gelles in New York: “The era of Whole Paycheck, the derisive nickname for Whole Foods, may be drawing to a close. Amazon, which takes control of the upscale grocer on Monday, intends to slash prices the same day.

“The significance of the move goes well beyond the price of organic avocados, baby kale and rotisserie chickens, all of which will cost less on Monday than on Sunday. Rather, it is an outsize way for Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, to announce his plan to shake up the grocery industry and take on competitors like Walmart and Kroger. …

“Amazon plans to weave together its online business and physical stores by turning its Prime membership program into a Whole Foods rewards program, providing additional savings to customers. Amazon Prime is a $99-a-year service that gives customers faster free shipping, video streaming and other benefits. Whole Foods’ private-label products will be available through Amazon’s online services and Amazon lockers that will be installed in some Whole Foods markets. Customers will also be able to return online orders to Amazon through the lockers.” http://nyti.ms/2wDwIjs

****** A message from Chevron: This is a story about energy, safety, and some truly high-flyin’ doin’. We’re piloting a program that uses drones, HD imaging, and thermal mapping to help keep a close eye on Chevron wells, tanks, and pipelines—all to keep DOERS and what they’re doin’ safer. Watch the video: http://politi.co/2vLsVyX ******

MEDIAWATCH — “Pro-Trump Media Bristles As John Kelly Limits What Gets To The President’s Desk,” by BuzzFeed’s Adrian Carrasquillo and Charlie Warzel: “‘I’m scared that the military complex is taking over the formerly populist White House,’ said Lucian Wintrich, who writes for Gateway Pundit, one of the websites in the pro-Trump sphere, which has trafficked in conspiracies in the past. Longtime Trump adviser and occasional Infowars guest Roger Stone said Trump’s ‘news summaries have been sanitized, which means no Infowars, no Daily Caller, no Breitbart. As such, his views are shaped by CNN and FOX News. He watches network news as well, which is almost antiquated. That’s why he’s so mad about the Russia investigation.’” http://bzfd.it/2vuMjg8

— “AP names Asher to news editor position in Washington” – AP: “The Associated Press on Thursday named award-winning journalist James Asher as a news editor in its Washington bureau, where he will oversee coverage of the investigations into interference in the 2016 election and other key elements of President Donald Trump’s administration. … Asher is the former Washington bureau chief for McClatchy. His work on the worldwide Panama Papers investigation with a team at McClatchy was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in journalism for explanatory reporting. McClatchy shared that award with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Miami Herald.” http://bit.ly/2wajaZF

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: ROY and KELLY SCHWARTZ celebrate 10 years today.

— National Journal Editor Stephen G. Smith writes in that “Ingrid Goes West,” co-written by his son David Branson Smith, opens in theaters across D.C. today. Smith won the top screenwriting award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Washington Post review http://wapo.st/2vlKpzj … Trailer http://bit.ly/2vcird9

TRANSITIONS — Willow Bay has been inducted as dean of USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and as the Walter H. Annenberg Chair in Communication. … Former Washington Post deputy national political editor Rebecca Sinderbrand has joined Yale University as a Block Visiting Lecturer where she will teach courses on journalism and politics.

SUNDAY SO FAR – NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Ohio Gov. John Kasich … Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Michael Gerson, Danielle Pletka, Katy Tur

–CBS’ “Face the Nation” (guest host: Major Garrett): Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) … a foreign policy discussion with Tom Donilon and Ret. Navy Admiral James Winnefeld. Political panel: Amy Walter, Susan Page, Ben Domenech, Clarence Page.

–ABC’s “This Week”: Panel: Matthew Dowd, Roland Martin, Julie Pace, Jen Psaki, Chris Ruddy

–“Fox News Sunday”: Panel: Karl Rove, Catherine Lucey, Josh Holmes, Juan Williams

–CNN’s “State of the Union”: Va. Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Panel: Mary Katharine Ham, Jennifer Granholm, Michael Caputo, Karine Jean-Pierre

–CNN’s “Inside Politics” (guest host: Nia-Malika Henderson): Margaret Talev, Jonathan Martin, Manu Raju, Jeff Zeleny

BIRTHDAYS OF THE DAY: Steve Hilton, host of Fox News’ “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton” (Sundays at 9 p.m./ET) and author of “More Human — Designing A World Where People Come First.” How he views the Trump presidency as going: “His big mistake was to subcontract policy strategy to congressional Republicans. The fateful decision to attempt healthcare reform before progress on the core economic agenda was a disaster. So much that has gone wrong flows from that mistake. Time is running out to correct it.” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2xihk9h …

… Sara Sendek, associate VP at DDC Public Affairs and a Bush WH and RNC alum, “celebrating with my D.C. family: Scott Sendek, Tory Sendek and Conor Maguire with dinner at Rasika.” A fun fact about Sara: “Before my political aspirations, I had a dream of competing in the Olympics for figure skating and trained competitively for several years before I reached retirement age in my late teens.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2vcijul

BIRTHDAYS: Trumpworld’s Michael Cohen … Elsa Walsh … Dan Stein is 26 … Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is 75 … Jedd Rosche, CNN Politics Congress editor … Tom Squitieri is 64 … Daniel Barash … Sarah Peck, Sen. Kaine’s comms director and Hillary’s former Virginia comms director (h/ts Ian Sams, Miryam Lipper and Michaela Balderston) … Leigh Claffey, Sen. Ernst’s press secretary (h/t sister Lauren Claffey) … Zach Cikanek, VP of public affairs at FP1 Strategies … Robin Groulx, director of video at Axios … Mike Burns, comms director for Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., is 3-0 … Obama Treasury alum Lennon Duggan … Jeff Choudhry … Debbie Matz … Michael Wascom, SVP at The Moak Group … Ella Goodman … Ryan Dalton, deputy director of N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s D.C. office … Brian Wise, managing partner of Wise Public Affairs …

… Chris Hooton, chief economist at the Internet Association, is 32 (h/t wife Hadas Gold) … Politico’s Jonathan Halling … Terry O’Neill, who just wrapped up as president of NOW (h/t Kiki McLean) … Megan Clasen, HFA alum and digital director extraordinaire at JB for Governor (h/t Anna Rosenfeld) … Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) is 58 … Rep. John Faso (R-N.Y.) is 65 … Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) is 56 … Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) is 45 (h/t Alex Macfarlane) … former Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) is 72 … Dave Hoppe is 66 … Caroline Melo, a J.D. candidate at SMU Dedman law school … William Flaherty … Anna Mulrine … Sarah Lee … James Allen … Sam Michelman, MBA candidate at Columbia Business School … Clémentine Aymard Quinn … Politico Europe’s Christian Oliver … Ted Metzger, supervising producer at CNN International … Allison Davis O’Keefe … Courtney Robinson … Beth Burke … Joe Walker … Margo Hennigan … Brian Majorsky … Harley Mayersohn … Robin Johnson is 59 … PwC’s Michael O’Brien is 45 … Theresa Pagliocca … Brian Sweeney … Kim Warkentin … Eric Stern … Olivia Craighead (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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