#IC. ���˚·* when she can’t run she says: i’ll do what has to be done ∞ thread!

[carolmunson]

let's go, don't wait | part three

the end, y'all. thanks for waiting a year and some change for this. there are scenes in here that've been planned since april of 2023.

inspired by this prompt by @edsforehead  series masterlist chapter summary: after two and a half successful dates, eddie's feeling pretty sure about your connection. but skeletons from his past rear their heads from the deep end, and some of your old wounds need some healing. fluff/angst/comfort. also, beach episode. cw: 18+ pls. smut (p in v, oral both receiving, blah blah blah). not full body mention but some insecurity for reader. reader does wear eddie's clothes but they're sleep clothes. miscommunication. some mild drinking and smoking.

Eddie stands tall on the diving block above the pool, looking down at his legs covered in hair, seeing the end of one of his tattoos peek out from the bottom of his trunks. He wiggles his toes, running a hand through his long hair. No longer eight, but thirty-two, standing on the diving block while the tinny metallic sounds of the YMCA pool echo around him. The chlorine and subtle must of the room wafts through him, over him, the sounds of the water moving while his swim lesson classmates slowly kick their legs back and forth plays in his ears.  But it’s not his classmates from the 90s. It’s his friends now; Gareth, Jeff, Steve, Robin, Alycia, Tati, Nance, Dustin, Lucas – the rest. They’re all watching him get ready to dive. Some look impatient, some look annoyed, some look curious at what he’ll do next.

“You can do it, kid!” Eddie hears Wayne’s gruff voice call from the seating overhead, “You can do it!”  He turns to see Wayne in his old Carhart jacket, at least ten years older than Eddie is and with not one thread out of place. Ed smiles and waves at him, a shot of confidence pumping through his chest at the sight of his uncle’s worn and weathered smile.  But there you are behind him and his confidence wavers. You smile shyly from your seat on the bench, waving small from your chest. Eddie blushes pink when he sees you sitting there, he doesn’t wanna belly flop if you’re watching.  “H-hi,” he calls out, waving back with an awkward toss of his arm. Your mouth says ‘Hi.’ back but he can’t hear you; the echoes of the pool becoming too loud for whatever you’re starting to say to him.

“What?” he calls out again, cupping his ear. His best friend classmates kick their legs faster, a rush of splashes drowning you out.  “You can do it!” he finally hears you encourage alongside Wayne, “Show me you can do it!” 

At the sound of the whistle he turns his attention back to the water, seeing Miss Tiffany’s bright red swimsuit straps on her shoulders. But Miss Tiffany’s head has been replaced; Chrissy stares back at him treading water with the whistle between her teeth.  “Ready, Freddie?” she asks, hand on the whistle again. Ice runs through him now, nerves, watching while Chrissy watches him. Suddenly he isn’t sure what the position to dive is, where to put his hands, how deep he should bend his knees. It’s been so long since he’s done this, since he’s had to prove himself like this in front of so many people – and now you’re watching too. 

“Uh-um…” he stutters, shuffling awkwardly, “Y-yeah one second.”  “C’mon Ed,” Chrissy says from the water, “You’re gonna get cold up there. Aren’t your feet cold?”  “What?” he asks from the block, another chill running through him. “Are you really not gonna dive, dude?” Steve asks from the edge of the pool, “I’ll dive again if you’re not gonna dive.”  “C’mon dude, just do it!” Gareth smiles, “She’s watching!”  “Uh…” he swallows hard, eyes darting from the water to the stands back to his feet on the white plastic of the block. 

“Ed,” Chrissy sighs, “Seriously? Don’t be boring. People are watching.”  “I’m not boring,” he bites back, “We weren’t boring.”  “Do you think you can really do it? You couldn’t do it for me,” Chrissy blows the whistle again, “Ed just dive. God, just grow up.”  Grow up… Eddie wakes up with a thumping heart; his throat tight with anxiety while he slowly turns onto his stomach. His room is still dark, the apartment a wash with silence with no light coming through the shades on his windows. Still night, still more time to dream.  And you were there, you were watching. Watching him waste time on the block instead of showing you what he can do. Watching him fumble over himself in front of Chrissy who can only feel more annoyed. How much longer were you open to waiting for him to jump? Was it already getting boring? Is the fun part over? He swallows hard in real life, letting a breath out through his nose while he tries to calm himself back to sleep. Eddie reaches for his phone with a flailing search under the covers and pillows; finding it wrapped in his sheets by his hips. His brown eyes squint into the light when he clicks the screen awake; four in the morning. Your name shines back at him in his text notifications, you messaged him two hours ago – he hates that you have so much trouble getting to sleep some nights. 

hey, i know you’re sleeping but i just wanted to let you know ahead of time that there’s a wrench in our sexy plans this weekend. i just got my period so i don’t think i can be very sexy. :( i’m sorry.

He doesn’t mean to, but he lets out a disappointed sigh that he’s glad you’re not around to hear. Getting older doesn’t mean the teenage boy in him that just wants to fuck isn’t disappointed to hear that there wasn’t going to be any fucking. 

This weekend was supposed to be different – you finally had a weekend where you weren’t on call for your boss. Eddie planned to spend every single moment of it in between your sheets so he could show you what he’d been thinking about since that first steamy phone call you had when you went to Arizona. And he knew you were thinking about it, too -- if your texts from last night had anything to say about it. Sending him Saweetie’s Back Seat on Spotify and Aaliyah’s Rock the Boat to give him an idea of where your head’s been since his own was between your legs. 

But he could only imagine it for now, both of your schedules not lining up again – either being too tired or not having time to settle in at each other’s places. Hiding away for a quick drink or two at the bar, kissing softly in the back where no one could see. Acting like two oversized kids who were trying to hide from their parents. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t spending his nights since Steve’s birthday playing the sound of your moans in his head over and over. Trying to remember the way your thighs quaked around his head, the way you gripped his hair, the way you tasted on his tongue. He can wait, he can totally wait.

Eddie wakes in the morning to the cool glow of a rainy day shining through his windows; feeling a giddy excitement reserved for 8th grade crushes on Valentine’s Day. Despite knowing that the weekend won’t be tossed in the throws of passion, he still spends at least forty five minutes in the bathroom, scooping body scrub out of Tati’s old tub of it when she got bored with the scent. In this life where Eddie always got someone's leftovers and hand-me-downs, these are by far his favorite ones.  His body is a new level of soft and smooth when he comes out, the closest shave of his face he’s ever gotten. As he spritzes his cologne, Tom Ford Ombre Leather, a gift from Steve, he looks himself over in the mirror before getting dressed. Two silver chains, small rings, a chain bracelet, skin nearly shimmering – tight black boxer briefs hugging his hips and upper thighs. He looks good. Hair waving perfectly, lips full and hydrated, lashes long and dark – he’d have a crush on him, too. 

Eddie stretches a bit, tugging on a pair of black chinos, still jingling with a layered wallet chain he forgot to remove before he washed them. He tucks the remainder into his back pocket when he hears his phone let off a ‘ding!’ on top of his dresser. He ignores it for a second, rifling through his closet for his favorite cut off tee that fits him just right. In his search he comes by a half empty box of condoms, boyishly sneaking two into his wallet with a snicker -- just in case. Eddie grunts when the phone dings again, walking over to see your name up on the screen. 

hey… His heart sinks, dream coming to reality – you’re gonna change your mind and say you don’t wanna see him anymore. You’re gonna tell him this was a mistake. You’re gonna tell him you don’t actually like him like that. You’re gonna tell him you have a crush on Steve. You’re gonna break his heart ten times over.

He lets out a breath or two to steady himself, fingers shaking while he texts you back.

what’s going on? you gotta work or something?

He watches while the bubble pops up of you typing back – disappearing and reappearing like you don’t know what to say. no, it’s not that. He sighs again, sweat forming on the back of his neck, heart thumping in his stomach. He never should’ve fucking dove, he never should’ve fucking kissed you outside the bar. He never should’ve bought you that fucking throw for your livingroom. what’s wrong? 

He watches the bubble start up again, dot-dot-dot, disappearing and reappearing. you didn’t respond to what i sent last night. i get it if you don’t wanna come over anymore.  He laughs, nervous release, running a hand over his face – he’s so fucking stupid. The release settles into guilt in his chest, you must be feeling as nervous as he is. He thinks about you waking up and seeing that he hadn't replied. Eddie chews on his lower lip while he types back.

oh no, no! i’m sorry. i saw your texts when i woke up in the middle of the night and forgot to respond. i’m not mad, you don’t have to be sorry. i still wanna come over.

is it okay if we don’t have sex? i just sort of feel like ass and like, tmi but it’s really heavy the first couple days why am i telling you this? wtf sorry

please stop being sorry, it’s okay if you want to just be by yourself that’s fine but i really would love to still come over, is that alright? i’d love to take care of you 

ew, you don’t need to take care of me

The speed that you send that makes him roll his eyes. He wonders if you know how clear it makes it that you want him so bad, how you're hoping he comes over and babies you the way you want him to.

i want to

🙄 gross, fine see you soon i guess key is behind the mailbox on the wall

He wastes no time getting in the Honda after he finishes getting dressed but a stir in his chest keeps him sitting in the driver’s seat while the car runs. As he holds the key to the ignition, Eddie takes pause. He swallows, a whisper of fear sitting in his heart – should he even like you this much? He knows you both said it, that you really like each other. But is this too much too fast? Is this too many cards on the table? He thinks to the dates before he met you where things fizzled out early. Maybe he should pull back a little, he doesn’t want you to get bored. He doesn’t want to be boring the way things started to feel boring with his ex-wife. He huffs, remembering his dream, Chrissy’s face in the water. Chrissy’s face while he helped her pack before she left. Chrissy’s face when she told him maybe they should start trying and he said maybe it was still too soon. Chrissy’s face when she told him she’d think it’d be better if they got a divorce.

He pulls in his cheeks, heart sinking while he thinks ahead to a fake memory he’s already convincing himself will happen. Imagining the day you pull away when he tries to hold you, the day he sees you in the morning and his heart doesn’t flutter. The day you tell him -- no matter how encouraging you'd been in the car, how interested you seemed in his life, how much you liked that he was so passionate about his friendships -- that he needed to grow up, too. What if he never grows up? What if he never dives again? 

He lets out a breath that still slightly steams in front of him in the cold air of early spring, giving his face a once over in the rearview before the car whirs to life. Megadeth’s We’ll Be Back jolts him back to the present moment, knowing that at least this weekend you really fucking like him and he really fucking likes you. 

“Hey Thumbelina,” he teases from the door frame of your bedroom, leaning against the doorframe with his overnight bag dangling off his shoulder. Your apartment is small and cozy, the radiator in the corner hissing quietly while your light curtains flutter in the breeze of your slightly open window.

“Hm?” you ask, looking up. Your sleepy face sends his heart hurtling, even more so when you make the connection of whose there – a smile breaking across your face. It makes his cheeks blush a boyish pink while he resists the urge to climb on top of you and smother your face in kisses. When you look at him and he looks at you, the fear he felt in the car feels like a false flag. The dream a reminder of hard feelings long past. When you're in front of him like this, nothing has ever felt more right in his whole life. He could get used to this.

“You’re laying down in the middle of a leaf,” he says, forehead tilting toward the monstera leaf print of your duvet while walking forward to sit at the end of our bed. He reaches out to grab your fuzzy sock covered foot and gives it a squeeze, “Like Thumbelina.” 

You roll your eyes and laugh, turning to your other side and looking at him. Your perfume or body spray wafts through the room, mixed with the scent of dryer sheets from your freshly washed bedding. It’s clear from the state of things that you spent most of your night last night making sure the place looked like it was never ever messy. 

“You look handsome,” you say softly, his blush reddens, “I feel ugly.” 

“You don’t look ugly. If you want, I can downgrade the ‘fit,” he offers, looking you over and smirking at your oversized men’s sweatpants and home-made cropped sleep shirt, “Want me to change? We can be twins.” You nod and laugh the way he likes, "Twins? You got a crop top in that bag?"

"Nah, I'm fresh out," he scrunches his nose, "It's at the cleaners."

"Lame," you shrug, "Well, m'sorry you gotta see me like this. I look like a troll."

“Trolls actually have a pretty high natural armour class so -- it's not the worst thing you can be,” he explains while opening his bag to grab his sleep clothes. "Oh, wow," you start, with a pitying voice, "You're like, really a nerd huh?" "They also can regenerate which like, for a monster of their type is pretty cool. Pretty great perception too -- which like, would make sense y'know considering their surroundings? Good for survival sk...I should stop," he turns pink when he sees your smile, lower lip tucking into your teeth to hold off a giggle. "I'm really cool," he says, "I swear." "I know," you nod with an assured look, laughing, "Go change."

He leans forward, running a hand over your back while he surveys your side tables. Eddie didn’t think the movies always had it right about the 'time of the month', but the litter of candy wrappers, snacks, Advil, and three different drinks made him stand corrected. He presses a kiss by your ear, murmuring a quiet reminder that he’ll be right back.

When he does, you’re back on your side, scrolling through videos on your phone, snuggled under the green throw blanket he bought you when you went on your Target date a few weeks ago. He apprehensively sits on the edge of the bed, watching you, teeth gleaming in a smile when you beckon him over with your hand. He molds to you expertly, knees curling in to tuck behind your own, arm snaking around your waist to pull your back to his chest.

“Is this okay?” he asks quietly. You nod, sinking into him while your body relaxes. He swallows when your body pushes back a little, your hips wiggling in a way that brushes against him just the right way – and he’s not wearing pants that can hide what that might do to him anymore. When you settle, he does too, taking you in. Your body heat, the way you feel against him, how you smell. You smell so fucking good. How do you manage to smell so fucking good all the time? He could eat you and never feel full. “What’re we watching?” he asks, chin resting on top of your head. 

“The scoopability of this week’s slimes,” you laugh. He reaches over to push your hair slightly out of the way of his view. Your neck stretches when his fingertips graze it accidentally, a wave of goosebumps appearing on your arm in front of him. Your neck, huh? He thinks to himself, a subtle smirk flicking onto his lips. He knew from last time you had a spot, but learning the intricacies of you was even more exciting. Where did you really like to be touched? How did you like to be held? There was still so much more to learn, there was no chance he could ever get bored.

“What does that even mean?”

“They make slimes, they scoop them, they rate the scoop,” you shrug, “It doesn’t get any more complicated than that.”

“Uh, okay…cool,” he nods, it’s clear he has no idea what you’re talking about. He watches while the soothing music plays, an ice cream scoop goes through multiple multi-colored and different textured ‘slimes’ with a rating ‘1/10’ flashing on the top of the screen. Some are smooth, some crunchy, some full of weird little add ons that he doesn’t understand. You play one video after another on your phone, thumbing through them on Tiktok like this is a regular pastime for you.

“This is actually kind of nice,” he says after the third clip, “Soothing.”

“Right?” you reply, “I think this account is my favorite, but, I’m never really paying attention to whose videos they are – just that they’re pretty.” 

“Yeah,” he agrees, hand slowly caressing the dip of your waist, “But also like, wouldn’t all those little glitters and stuff get stuck in your teeth?”

You pause, putting your phone down and turning your head to him slowly. He lets his hand slide further over your diaphragm while you turn to face him, your face contorted in confusion – you almost look concerned.

“I’m sorry…” you start with a furrowed brow, “Did you think they were edible?” 

“Are -- wait -- are they not?” he asks, genuinely bewildered. “It’s slime…” “Okay, well half of them have food names,” he shrugs, embarrassment building on his cheeks as he tries to explain, “Like, ‘mango peach slushie’, how am I supposed to think it’s not..that?”

“It’s not food,” you laugh, “Oh god, you’re so lucky you’re hot.” He gives you a little shove, laughing with you while you turn your whole body towards him under the blanket. Chest to chest. He breathes you in delicately, eyes coasting over your face in soft and sweet admiration.

“It’s sort of like silly putty.” “Oh, like, to play with,” he nods in understanding, noses nearly brushing when he peers into your eyes, "I'm really 0 for 2 today." “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s an easy mistake," your voice a calming rasp, pushing some hair out of his face,

Your fingers feel so soft against him that he shuts his eyes, trying as much as he can to savor the feeling of being so close to you. Finally a moment where he can hold you as close as he wants, kiss you as deep as he needs to, and there’s no bartender or bystander around to make either of you feel weird about it.

“I like that I’m here with you,” he says contentedly, “This is really nice.” 

“I like that you’re here with me, too,” you grin. His hand comes up from its place on your waist to slide to the back of your neck, thumb running back and forth slowly over the edge of your jaw. Eddie falters a bit when you relax into his touch, moving in closer to him. One of your legs hikes up, your plush thigh resting over his hip – he holds back a groan as you wrap yourself around him.

“Comfy?” he asks. His voice is gruff with the stretch of wrapping himself around you in return, nose tip to tip with yours.

You nod, hiding your face in his neck while he lays a short row of kisses by your ear where he can reach, “Good.”

You lay together like that for a couple of minutes in the cool dark of your room, semi-sheer curtains drawn on this cloudy day so you don’t feel so bad about not going outside.

“Can I kiss you?” he asks into the quiet, “Please?”

“You can kiss me,” you nod with a giggle, “Always." Always.

As he leans in, lips ghosting against yours as a precursor for a deep needy kiss, Eddie’s phone buzzes and he turns to your snack-ridden side table to check it. An unknown number glows back at him up at the top of the screen, “Ah, shit...”

“What’s up?” you ask, pushing up on your arms to stretch out your back and sternum. He smiles at you while he gets up from off your bed.

“I ordered Indian food. You said you’re a saag paneer girl, right?” he asks with a tilt of his head before heading out of your room to the front door. 

You lay there with full bellies, clicking through to soulDecision’s Faded music video on your journey of ‘Weirdo Hits from the 90s/2000s’. Back in your snuggling positions, he can tell you feel safe with him, your eyelids heavy while your head lays on his chest. “I can’t believe I knew every word to this song,” you mumble, “I was like seven.” 

“Liquid Dreams is worse,” he barters, fingers running over the side of your head, just above your ear.

“Oh my god,” you laugh, “I forgot about Liquid Dreams. That’s next.” 

You get through LFO and O-Town’s top hits, settling on Samantha Mumba’s ‘Gotta Tell You Tonight’ which bleeds into Mandy Moore’s ‘Candy’.

“Oh wow,” Eddie huffs a laugh, “Chris did this with her best friends for the talent show when we were super little. I think that’s when I started having a crush on her.” 

He feels your head tilt up to look at him and he looks down, “Who’s Chris?” 

“Oh,” he says, his chest deflates, “My um, that’s my ex-wife. Chrissy.” 

“Oh yeah, you said,” you nod, leaning up on your elbows. You flop to your stomach and stare up at him, the pad of his finger coming up to lazily tap you on the nose.

“I know you said things were like, okay – but do you guys still talk at all?” you ask, head dipping with an devilish smirk, “Or do we hate her? What’s the gossip?” 

Eddie lets out a hiss of a laugh, running his fingers through his hair from the temples upward, shaking his head, “Oh no, I don’t think I could ever hate her.”

“It’s not like she did anything wrong,” he explains, brows knitting together while he thinks about how to explain it, “We just wanted really different things. She really wanted to settle down and like, y’know, nest. She wanted to be a mom so bad and I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t ready for a lot of things she wanted. In a way, we just sort of outgrew each other – but y’know, sometimes that happens.” 

“It’s funny,” he says with a slight smile, licking his lips, “I was so nervous about being on the apps thinking I was gonna see her profile – forgot she’s fully engaged. Like, I’ve met the guy.”

“Engaged?” you ask with your brows raised, “Scandalous. When did you guys divorce?”

“Pfff, hmm,” he thinks, puffing a breath of air from his cheeks, “We broke up and separated in September of 2020, divorce was filed – hmm, I think officially in January 2021? It was such a blur I can barely remember, we count our divorce as September at least.” 

“And when did she get engaged? Or meet this guy? Is he cool? Or is he like – lame?” you ask, rapid fire.

“Is this a soap opera to you?” he laughs. 

“It’s your lore,” you say, flipping onto your back, “And let’s be real, your lore is kind of soap opera-y.”

“What about your tragic lore, hm?” he presses, “When am I gonna get some of that?”

“We’ll get there one day,” you say with a tilt of your head, lips tucking in breifly. You welcome his arms when they circle around you, his weight shifting as he mimics your cuddling from before. His thigh slings over your hips, wrapping around you like a koala while his lips press against your cheek. 

“It’s gonna be hot next weekend,” he says, nose nuzzling at your temple, “Steve wants to get the crew together to go to the beach. Do you wanna come?” 

Your eyes flutter closed but you nod just the same. “Good,” he smirks, voice dropping to something a little husky, “You can wear that little red suit for me.” 

“Ew,” you let out before you can stop it, your giggles shaking you in his arms, “Perv.” “Yeah?” he smirks, leaning in to kiss just under your ear, “Even though you sent me all those pictures?”

Your eyes shut when he kisses you there, a tiny gasp leaving your lips when he does it a second time. His tongue flicks out, tip of it drawing a thin line from the top of your neck to the hinge of your jaw.

“Ed, I don’t wanna have sex,” you pout.

“I know,” he smiles into your cheek, “I just like teasin’ you.” 

“Well don’t,” you pout, gently shoving his face away from your cheek in faux frustration,  “So unfair.”

You ease up onto your side, leaning over back to your laptop to scroll through the recommended music videos until you land on Savage Garden’s Crash and Burn. “Oh, fuck me,” he laughs, “I don’t think I’ve heard this song since 1999.” “The music video used to freak me out when I was little,” you settle back into him when it starts and he welcomes the weight of you against him. “Yeah it’s kind of freaky for a kid,” he nods, arm wrapping around you while darkness begins to find home in your bedroom, “I mean look how fucking blue this guys eyes are – terrifying.” The sound of your laugh bubbles like the girls at Forest Hills used to sound in the summer. The room starts to darken as the sun goes down, leaving you both in a glow of your laptop screen. “You know, we could watch these in the living room on the TV,” you laugh, sitting up. Eddie pouts when you shift out of his hold, pulling you back down into him. “Yeah, but I like this,” he mumbles, “I wanna hold you like this.”  “Okay,” you snort, flipping back to your side to face him, “But you never told me about the guy she ended up with. Is he cool? Is he weird? Does he suck? When did she meet him?”

“You’re so annoying,” he teases with a shake of his head.

“So cute though, unfortunately,” you shrug, “So you have to tell me.” 

“It’s true, you’re so cute,” he nods, leaning in to offer you a soft kiss on your lips and forehead, “I guess I’ll tell you.”  

“She met Derek I think – errr – six months after we separated? One of those, ‘when you know, you know’ type of things – she even called to ask if it was okay if she went on a date with him.” “That’s kind of fucked up, rubbing salt in the wound,” you shrug. 

“No,” he shakes his head again, sitting up with his back against the wall, “You don’t know her, so like – it sounds fucked up, but she just wanted to be courteous about it. Didn’t want me finding out through the grapevine or whatever. Anyway, they got engaged last May.” “Is he a tool?” you ask again, face scrunching like you might already know.

“No, he’s – he’s very much her kind of guy now that I think about it,” he laughs, “They live in Denver now I think, used to be Chicago, super outdoorsy. He cycles professionally, I think – works in tech. She’s running a yoga studio out there while she gets her masters.” “In what?” 

“Art therapy,” he recounts softly, a gentleness in his tone, “She’s a really gifted painter, it helped her through a lot of shit. Got her undergrad in psych so – she’s always wanted to get her license. She’s just really meant to make people feel good about themselves and help them, I’m happy for her.”

“Okay, so she’s Mother Theresa,” you joke, “Can’t relate.” 

“Mother Theresa if you put some strawberry blonde hair on her and made her a cheerleader,” he laughs, pulling out his phone. He pulls up a few photos, one from prom, a few from after shows, one from early Covid, “This is her.” 

“Oh, wow…” you say wistfully, the glow of the screen lighting up your face. Chrissy’s face and body reflecting back in your eyes like a mirror, “She’s gorgeous.” 

“Yeah, can’t believe she was obsessed with a dork like me,” he teases himself, putting his phone back in his pocket, “I couldn’t believe I pulled someone like that – still can’t.” 

“Hm,” you nod. The room creeps darker with the laptop screen blanking out to sleep. If Eddie was really listening, he would’ve heard the tinge of something aching in your response.

“Do you um,” you start meekly, hesitating for a moment, “...do you still love her?” 

Eddie’s quiet, leaning to his side to turn one of your side table lamps on. 

“I’ll always love her,” he nods with a shrug, running his hands through his hair to make a makeshift ponytail before letting it go again, “She’ll always love me. But like, not in the way that we did when we were younger. We’ll just always have love for each other, I think.” 

“Yeah, cool,” you mumble, taking out your phone, “That’s a cool way to look at it.” 

“Thanks,” Eddie grins, reaching out to put a hand on your head. You move out of his touch, leaning forward to wake your laptop back up to let the next music video auto-play. Fat Joe’s What’s Luv ft. Ashanti  popping onto the screen. You both watch for a bit, still half on your phone and half keeping your eye on the screen. Eddie sees you open and close your texts, your thumbs typing rapidly before quickly closing the app again. 

“It’s so weird how many people were so vocal about how much they don’t go down on women,” you huff at the screen, “Like, that’s not something to brag about guys.” 

“Yeah,” Eddie chuckles, “What is it you said before? Oh yeah – can’t relate.” 

You still don’t turn back to face him, but he sees you nod and let out a breath, “That’s true.”  

He slides himself back down on the bed, getting close to you in the way he was before, molding  to your body with an arm around your waist. The soft lingering scent of your perfume still on your skin when he presses his face into the crook of your neck – but it’s not there for long. The bed shifts as you get up, stretching again, enough for your shirt to right up to see the underside of your breasts. A blush kicks up in his cheeks. 

“Dinner and a show?” he quirks, “Don’t spoil me, sweetheart.”

“Sorry,” you squeak out at the end of a yawn, covering your chest, “I’ll be right back.” 

Eddie’s lips tug into a small frown when you make your way out of the room, surprised that you didn’t have a joke to throw back at him. He likes how easy it is to back and forth with you, he doesn’t think he knows anyone who’s as quick as him – not the way you are. He likes that you keep him on his toes like that. 

He checks his phone again in your absence, shooting his group chat with Tatianna and Gare with a regular check in. They left early this morning for a two week long trip to Aruba and he’s kept his phone on the loudest setting possible so he can be ready when he gets ‘the call’. They’ll come back as fiancés, but the only person who doesn’t know that is Tatianna. 

When you come back there’s a grimace on your face, “Um…look, I’m sorry but –” 

“Are you okay?” Eddie’s heart sinks. 

“No, eh, yeah but, I um – I just really don’t feel good,” you confess. 

“Can I get you something? You want some tea? Or I can run out and get ginger ale or –”

“No Ed, no I um…” you let out another long breath, “I think you should go.” 

“G-go?” he asks, sitting up straight on the bed, “Like, go home?” 

He watches you look him over, your shoulders sulking, “Yeah Eddie, you should go home.” 

“Oh…” he thinks for a minute before standing up, “Is it…did I do something?” 

“No, I just really don’t feel well,” you repeat, “I just want to go to bed.” 

“Okay, well, I can…I can go to bed, too,” he tries to bargain, “I can sleep on the couch if you – if you want the bed to yourself. I get it.” 

“Just go home,” you say with finality, not mean, not a yell – you just mean it, “Please.” 

“Um, alright,” his voice is drenched in confusion, brows furrowing while he packs up his overnight bag in the corner, “Y’know if I – If I fucked up you can just say something.” 

“You didn’t fuck up I just,” you deflate, crossing your arms protectively against your chest, “I wanna be alone.” 

“I understand,” he murmurs, heart thumping in his chest, sending disappointment coursing through him. He slings the bag over his shoulder, not even bothering to put on his jacket or change. Cautiously, he approaches you, looking into your eyes trying to find the answer as to why you're telling him to leave.

"Uh, I'll uh, I'll see you soon?" he asks hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe," you nod, avoiding his stare. He can hear the beginning of a cry starting in your throat.

"Can I kiss you goodbye?"

"Uh, yeah, fine."

Eddie leans in, cupping your cheek to kiss you but you barely kiss him back. Lips like rubber even as he pulls away.

It feels like he belly flopped. His eyes start to sting when you walk past him, crawling into your bed and pulling your computer onto your lap.

"Get home safe," you mumble out. "Thanks," he whispers, giving you a half hearted wave before heading out the door.

I don’t want to Miss Tiffany...Swimming sucks.

Eddie gets in the Honda and sits there for a moment in the dark, feeling his jaw tighten and his nose tingle. He rolls his shoulders, sniffling, trying to calm down but the feelings over take him, both hands coming down hard on his steering wheel.

"FUCK!" he shouts, smacking it again with a pained growl, "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

He feels sick knowing that you slipped through his fingers just as quickly as you fell into them. He should've seen this coming, he should've taken the dream from last night as prophecy. What's the point of making it to level 3 if you'll never make it to level 4? What's the point of diving if you're not watching? If he's gonna belly flop anyway? Eddie's breath comes in shudders, tears spilling over his dark lashes onto his cheeks. You're only about 30 feet away still, he can always just go back to your door. He can fix it like he did on your first date, he can just get out, he can do something.

Grow up...

The unease from his dream blooms black in his chest, Eddie looks at your bedroom window and watches the light snuff out through the curtains. His chest deflates, shoulders rounding while he turns the key in the ingition, car revving on, seatbelt light blinking while the 'ding, ding, ding,' to put in on rings in his ear.

With a final thick swallow, he sucks in his cheeks and bites down to stop himself from crying. Eddie rakes his fingers through his hair, wipes his eyes, looks himself over in the rearview. He wouldn't have a crush on this version of himself, he can't imagine you would either.

With a sigh, he tugs on the seatbelt, puts the car in drive, and pulls down the street. Feeling further away from you than when you were across the country -- different planets, a totally different universe.

In the late afternoon the next day Eddie checks his phone for the twelfth time in an hour. You still haven't texted or called, not even responding when he told you he got home okay. All you did was send a 'thumbs up'. With a quiet sigh through his nose he shoves his phone into his back pocket, pushing open the squeaking wooden doors to Calamity's -- a dive bar that Robin's been working at every Saturday for the last five years. Her sandy hair is tucked behind her ears while she pumps the shaker next to her head, chatting with Nancy who sits across from her on the bar.

At the squeak of the door they both turn to look at him, Robin's brows quirk, "What're you doing here, loverboy?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," he mumbles.

"You wanna drink about it first?" she offers.

He nods, climbing onto the stool next to Nancy and leaning on his elbows on the sticky counter top, "Hey Nance."

"Hey Ed," she says, hand reaching out to rub his forearm, "You okay?"

"Yeah," he nods, "I'll be fine, I just -- yeah, I'm fine."

His phone buzzes, immediately reaching for his back pocket only to see an Apple News notification and no sign of you. He checks your socials for any sign of life, but you haven't even posted anything.

Another sigh and he can't help himself, resolve weakening as stubborn as he'd like to be.

hey, haven't heard from you. you okay?

He puts his phone on airplane mode, going a step further to shove it into the inside zipper pocket of his beat up leather jacket and keeping it locked up. The less accessible the better, he couldn't become the guy that waits by the phone all night aching for you. Not the way he did last night, tossing and turning in bed wishing so badly that you were next to him.

'Should I feel this bad so soon?' Eddie thinks, 'We're not even dating and we're fighting? Is this even a fight? Would this be considered a fight?' He listens to the drone of their conversation, the bar is open but normally no one really shows up until the sun goes down -- at least on the weekend. Robin slides a Jack and Coke in front him, tossing a tiny straw in with flourish.

"Here, sad sack," she teases. "Thanks," he murmurs, toying with the straw, making his silver chain bracelet tinkle against the hardware of his jacket. "Rob, c'mon," Nancy urges, "Don't mess around." "What, I didn't call him a loser," she defends, shrugging, "He's being a sad sack. Right Ed? You're a sad sack?"

"I'm a sad sack," he nods, "Nailed it, babe." "Well, what happened?" she asks again, voice softer this time. She leans herself over the counter, resting her hand on her palm. Eddie matches her posture, lifting the drink with his other hand. "I'll tell you when I finish this," he offers, "Talk to me about literally anything else." "Well I thiiiiink I'm about to land this new creative lead gig," Robin tosses her hair, her violet amber perfume feathering off of it, "Do I love the idea of working for a start up? No. Is it remote and 68 thou a year? Yes."

"Sick," he nods through a mouthful of liquor, "That's awesome."

"Gives me time to still work on my art shit with Tati," she shrugs, sipping from her water bottle, "And we'll probably be able to afford studio space if I get it."

"She'll be thrilled, damn. First an engagement ring and then an art studio that's not her classroom? Everything's coming up Edwards," he smiles for the first time all day. "Wait, did he propose already? Did we miss it?" Nance blanches, clutching her chest. "So far no," he laughs, "I think he's gonna wait until next weekend so they have one full week away as engaged. They're gonna come back and tell me to pack my shit."

"Well, you can always sleep in the loft -- or y'know," Nancy shrugs, "Maybe things're looking really good with your new girl?" Eddie hums, about to open his mouth but the door bursts open hard on its loose hinges and with it, the grittiness of the old subwoofers blasting Lil' Wayne's Lollipop.

“Oh, shit that’s my sooooong,” Steve exclaims while he gets in the door. He walks in like he owns the place, Ray Bans covering his eyes while a strand of his coiffed chestnut hair falls onto his forehead. “Just like a refund, I make her bring that ass back, and she bring that ass back – because I like that,” he drawls along, opening his phone with a smirk while the song gets louder throughout the bar. 

“Shawty wanna thuuuuug, bottles in cluuuuub,” he goes on, walking forward toward Eddie whos chin his still in his palm. Eddie's face scrunches, not in the mood to play along, covering his ears when the bass speakers right above him start to vibrate.

"Turn it down, Steve!" Robin yells, but it's muffled against the beat. "Huh?" he cups his ear like he can't hear her, brows furrowing while he flicks his glasses up to push back his hair. "STEVE!" she shouts back. "What? I can't hear you?" he lies again, turning it up a touch more while he makes his way behind the bar. He snatches Robin's phone by the register before she can get to it to change the volume herself, laughing while he slips it into the pocket of his vest. 'Call me, so I can make it juicy for ya,' he mouths along, body rolling his way closer to her with every word, 'Call-Call me, so I can make it juicy for ya.'

The music cuts abruptly, Nancy now found by the stero with manicured nails lingering on the volume knob.

"I'm changing the fucking Spotify password, dingus," Robin snaps, "You can't do that every time you come here. I'm gonna get fired."

"Don't be such a bitch, Rob," he sours, tucking his sunglasses into the crew neck collar of his shirt, "Nobody's here."

"You're a bitch, Harrington," Robin snaps back. "The biggest bitch I know," Nancy adds, taking her seat back next to Eddie. Steve sits at the end of the bar on the other side of him. "What's the matter, sad sack?" Steve asks, cocking his head toward Eddie, "Mad that it wasn't the Framing Hanley version?"

"Aw, fuck off, dude," Eddie rolls his eyes before running his hand over his face, palm catching on his five o'clock shadow. "He hasn't told us yet," Robin explains, "We're waiting until he finishes his first drink."

Two Jack and Coke’s in, the conversation bumps to the potential art studio, to Nancy’s potential promotion, to Steve’s latest project at work. A few regulars have trickled in, using the TouchTunes to their advantage since Spotify ‘isn’t working tonight’ as per Robin’s punishment for Steve. 

It gives Eddie a good reprieve, he’s glad he went out – beats being home alone and sitting there wondering what happened in the dark. Beats typing it up to send to Tatianna and Gareth and asking what happened and then deleting it because he doesn’t want to bother them on vacation. Beats wondering what you’re doing and why you won’t respond to him. Beats the feeling of laying in bed and wishing he knew what you'd feel like next to him for another night. Beats wondering what he did to deserve potentially losing out on something that felt more right than ever. Beats wondering if maybe you're it and how now he might never know.

“Okay, well, I let you get through two Jack and Coke’s – you gotta spill now, brother,” Robin sighs, leaning back down in front of him on her forearms. 

“Oh yeah, weren’t you supposed to have your wet hot American weekend at her place? What’re you doing here?” Steve inquires, smirk pulling on his lips, “Performance issues?” 

“Steve, come on,” Nancy sighs, “Are you serious?” 

“Nah, nah it’s fine,” Eddie shakes his head, “He’s just coming from experience, right?"

“No um, I really don’t know,” Eddie shrugs, “I went to her house and y’know it’s her time of the month or whatever – so maybe th–” 

“I’m gonna stop that thought before you finish it,” Robin puts a finger up, pink lips pulling into a smile, “Once sec while I pour this guy a beer.” 

Eddie sheepishly takes another sip of his drink, feeling the dull weight of it in the front of his skull – not drunk, but if he’s not careful he won’t be able to drive home. 

“Okay, continue,” Robin says when she gets back. 

 He takes his time walking through the night, retracing his vocal steps, the emotional ones. He talks about the slime videos, getting Indian food, how you didn’t want to have sex. The music videos, the kisses, the way you wrapped yourself around him – how everything seemed fine, perfect even. He was so excited to sleep next to you, to make breakfast in the morning, maybe shower together – maybe fuck in the shower if you were into it. But not…not this, not whatever happened. 

“What did you guys talk about? Like, did she talk about her past or anything? Did she seem off? Did a subject come up that she seemed weird about?” Nancy presses. 

“Yeah, you’re not giving us anything, just like – the highlights. We need the play by play, Munson,” Robin gestures with her hands, now nursing her own beer. 

“I mean, we were watching music videos,” he shrugs, “And Chris came up but like, she knew I was married. She asked about the divorce and whatever, we talked about how she’s with her new guy in Colorado.” 

“And?” 

“And I don’t know?” he shrugs, heart starting to pound a little in his chest, “I mean I showed her a picture of her and like, sort of ragged on myself like – like how I couldn’t believe I pulled someone like Chrissy.”

“Oh dude,” Steve sighs, “Dude, you fuckin’ dumbass.” 

“What? How am I a dumbass?” he asks defensively, hands out, pleading. 

“Cause she’s not Chrissy,” Steve explains, “Like – god, come on. Imagine she showed you a picture of fuckin’ – I don’t know – Jon Bernthal? And was like ‘Yeah, can’t believe I pulled this hot, sexy, manly strong man. I guess you’ll do as a follow up after him.’” 

Eddie blanches, guilt forming a ball in his throat, “But that’s not…That’s not how I meant it. Like, she’s – you’ve seen her. She’s gorgeous. She doesn’t have to look like Chris.” 

“Yeah but, after you talked about her, did she seem all quiet after?” Robin asks, eyes flicking to him and then Steve. 

“Well…well yeah–” 

“See, told you,” Steve shrugs, “I might not have a girlfriend but I still know how ladies work–” 

“Okay, okay, enough from you,” Nancy waves him off, “Did anything else come up?” 

“She asked if I still loved her and I said yeah but like, not romantically. We just will always have love for each other – y’know? I mean, we were like – we were married,” he tries to explain, “Do you think – do you think she thinks I just wanna be with Chrissy?” 

Robin grimaces, sipping her beer. Steve gives him a half hearted cock of the head. 

“I think…” Nancy starts, voice of reason as present as ever, “I think she doesn’t know your history very well and you don’t know hers. It could be that things went left with her ex or she’s been hurt by stuff like this before. She might not have known how to talk about it to you – but I definitely think talking about Chrissy like she was some prize you had and now you’re settling had something to do with it.” 

“But that’s not what I’m doing!” Eddie urges, hand coming down on the bar counter, “I’m not settling! I wanna like – I wanna be with her. I only talked about Chris so much because she asked I – I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. And I asked! I asked if I did something or said something and she said it was fine.” 

“Girls always say it’s fine Eddie, come on, you’ve been divorced. You should know,” Steve says with gravitas, “That’s like, what all women who are actually upset say.” 

“I have an idea,” Robin says with a breath, “First, don’t listen to Steve. That’s obvious. Second, give it another day, send her a message saying something along the lines of ‘Hey, I think I might have said some things that didn’t come out right. I’d love to talk it out with you. When’re you free?’ and see where it goes.” 

“Maybe you guys can hash it out at the beach next weekend? You think she’ll still wanna come?” Nancy asks. 

“Maybe,” Eddie shrugs, moping now, “If she ever wants to see me again.” 

“Don’t be so dramatic, Ed,” Robin rolls her eyes, sandy bangs tickling her lashes, “You just gotta give it a day or two.” 

He only has to give it until later that night, tucked into the couch with a slasher on to ease the ache of his broken heart. On the coffee table, his phone buzzes face down and with a shaky hand he reaches for it, not wanting to be too hopeful. But when your name lights up with a new message he feels his heart leap in his chest. 

i’m okay. thanks for checking in. 

He lets out a slow breath through an O in his lips. Eddie takes a beat, rings tapping against his phone case before he starts typing his response: 

look, idk what’s going through your mind but i really like you. i think i might’ve messed things up here. i’m happy to give you some space if you need but would you wanna talk about this soon? 

He stares at the message for a minute or two, heart pounding. There are so many ways you could respond. You could say no, or cuss him out, or tell him to fuck off. You could say you knew he was shit. You could, at the absolute worst, not even respond. He runs his hand over his face, covering his eyes while he presses send and tossing his phone onto the recliner across the room. Out of sight out of mind. 

If only for a few minutes when he hears the buzz against the leather. 

yeah, we can talk about it. work is kinda busy this week though.

He’d wait for you for months. 

would you still wanna come to the beach? steve said he’s still down to pick you up. 

yeah, i can still come to the beach

A grin sprawls across his lips, cheeks tight. He can still see you, he can still see you in that red suit. He can still talk to you. You still want to see him. It’s not totally ruined yet. 

He hesitates at first, but ultimately sends out the offer. 

tatianna and gare will still be away. if you want, you can stay the weekend at mine? maybe we can have a re-do.  He watches the three dots bubble in and out of the text conversation, watching as you type something and then delete. Type and delete. Type and delete. It’s only when he hears the tinkling of the standing lamp in the corner of the room that he realizes how hard he’s been bouncing his leg while he waits. 

i’ll think about it Well it’s not a no. It’s something. It’s a maybe. It’s a could be.

But if it ends up being a yes, he’ll make it better than what last weekend at yours could’ve been.

The week passed in a slow blur, Monday and Tuesday were a thousand years long – all of his students on his nerves when they caught on that he wasn’t on his phone as much. "Just take the L, Mr. E. You keep looking at your phone. She's obv not gonna text you." "Yeah Munson, you can't have a phone rule for us and then keep looking at yours." "You're giving negative aura points, Mr. E. Just admit you don't actually have any rizz."

He didn't know what any of them meant, but it didn't help the sting. Since Gareth was away there was no band practice on Wednesday, so instead he went to the studio by himself and plugged into the loudest amps he could. Shredding his frustration out through the strings until tears spilled as much as the melodies that leaked from the speakers. Being carried by the frustration that kept building from the way you haven't messaged him or called, from the fear of having to hurt the way he hurt three years ago all over again. From the way this couldn't be it.

By time he finished, his fingertips stung -- raw and red from hours of playing. It still didn't hurt has bad as the lump in his throat. As the dry phone in his pocket.

It’s Thursday afternoon when his phone finally pings and you ask what you should bring for the beach. Time speeds up again. He blinks and it’s Saturday morning, he blinks and he’s sitting behind Steve in his Escalade. He blinks and realizes he wishes he had more time to prepare himself for this, the prepare how to ask you to talk, to prepare for seeing you again after all this. All the rehearsals in his head had fallen away as they drive through your part of town.

“I LIKE A LONG HAIRED THICK REDBONE, OPEN UP HER LEGS, THEN FILET MIGNON THAT PUSSY.” “Oh my god, Steve please don’t say pussy like that.” The car rolls down your street, Robin in the front as always, and Nancy behind Robin. And sure, they could have picked up some of the younger crew but, in Steve’s words – ‘I’ve driven them around enough.’ EveryGirl in the World rumbles achingly loud through the speakers that he just got upgraded, making the leather vibrate under all of them. Lucky for Steve, none of the sound leaks through in your sleepy streets, lazy with the steamy haze of 7:30 in the morning. “I’mma get in an on that pussy, If she let me in, I’mma own that pussy.” “Steve,” Robin groans, “You’re so obnoxious. This is why nobody likes you!” “Everyone likes me – now come ‘ere let me dope you, You should be a dope fiend, your friend’s should call you Dopey. Tell ‘em keep my name out they mouth ‘cause they don’t know me.” “Do you think you sound cool when you rap?” she asks, pulling her sandy hair into a ponytail, “Look in the rearview, do you think you look cool?” Steve’s Ray Bans find the mirror, looking back at Eddie who grins at him while they ease into a stop in front of your place. “My sex game is stupid,” they both start, making Nancy laugh – Robin’s eyes rolling into the back of her head. “You’re both so insufferable,” she groans, but a smile pulls at her soft pink lips.

“My head is the dumbest, I promise – I should be Hooked on Phonics, Hah, well anyway, I think you’re bionic.” “Stop!” Robin shouts, laughing now while Steve tips his sunglasses down his nose and Eddie leans over the seat. Both faces eager with faux sincerity while Nancy giggles in solidarity behind her. “And I don’t think you’re beautiful, I think you’re beyond it.” Steve grins, Eddie unbuckling to get out of the car to get you. “And I just wanna get behind it –” “STEVE!” “And watch you back it up and dump it back, back it up and dump it back…” Eddie looks at your house, a nervous thrum in his chest while he gets out. The last time he was here he watched as you turned your bedroom light out after making him leave. You didn’t even respond to his ‘excited to see you, tomorrow’ text last night. You just ‘hearted’ it. He gets to your door ringing the bell and waiting for you, feeling as sheepish and awkward as a kid on a first date. When you open the door he can hear his heart beat in his ears. "Hey," he says quietly, "G'morning." "Morning," you say back. You both smile tightly at each other and then both of your gazes reach the ground. Eddie thinks to lean in and reach for you but retracts, you still feel so far away from him. The familiarity from before -- from Barcade, from showing up at your house last week -- long gone. A stranger he's meeting for the first time. He wonders if the group can even sense it from the car.

“Can I get those for you?” he asks, seeing you hoist your beach bag over your shoulder, a mini cooler in your other hand. “No, it’s fine,” you wave him off as you walk through the door, shutting it behind you. He rolls his eyes, easing the bag off of your shoulder and the cooler out of your hand.

With how things feel, he doesn’t want to get his hopes up and ask if you packed to stay with him for the weekend. But the weight of your bags gives him a soft flutter of ease in his chest that he might get a chance to fix this afterall. "Go ahead and get in the car," he says softly, "Everyone's excited to see you."

He watches you get in while he settles your bags amongst the others in the trunk, everyone says their hellos and he begs for it to not be weird considering they all know what's going on. Nancy takes a cue to move to the bench seat further back so you can sit next to each other, Eddie offering her a grateful nod when he gets back in behind Steve. 

“Alright, so now that we’re all accounted for we’re playing a game,” Steve says, turning the music down, “One by one we’re gonna pick our songs of the summer from when we were kids. We're going summer mode.” 

“That’s cute,” Nancy smiles, “That’s a cute idea you have there, Steve.” 

He shrugs one shoulder, dropping his Raybans down his nose to look at her, “Only cute ideas from the cutest guy here.” 

“Alright, relax,” Eddie grumbles when Steve steps on the gas, arms crossing over his chest. You’re looking at your phone, probably checking to see what song you want to pick, but he wishes you were looking at him. Half of him wants to reach over and rest his hand on your thigh like you’re his, but right now he knows you’re not. He slides his phone out from his pocket, shooting you a text at an attempt to try and salvage the car ride.

hey. you look really pretty.

He watches you while you look at the notification banner pop up on the screen, a soft smile flickers across your face when you open it. Eddie’s phone buzzes in response.

thanks, you too.

And he does look pretty – black shorts and a cut off Hawkins, IN t-shirt from some time in the early 90s. Well worn but still starchy. His tattoos bounce off his skin, a thin little heart outline peeking out from the top of his jeans, wallet chain still shining and silver. He had his hair pulled back messy, bangs and tendrils still flowing in his face – but for the first time you get to really see the curves and slopes of his jaw line, the tension in his neck. He blushes, putting his arm on the back of your seat, close enough where he doesn’t think he’s pushing it. Sunny Came Home flows through the speakers of the car. 

“Pristine choice, Rob,” Eddie nods, “Damn.” 

“Right in the chest, right?” Robin scrunches her nose, “Like sitting in your mom’s back seat on the way home from the grocery store in July or something.” 

Steve’s pick is unsurprising, Nelly’s Ride Wit Me shaking the car while he pulls onto the highway. You skip over yourself, unsure at what to pick, passing the phone to Nancy behind you who settles on Sheryl Crowe’s Everyday Is A Winding Road. Eddie loves how easy it is for you to fit in, like you’ve always been a part of the group – screaming the lyrics with Nancy and Robin so loud that Steve opens his window to let the sound leak out. 

When Eddie get’s the phone he smirks, typing in his choice before passing it back to Steve who chuckles when he presses play. 

“Oh yes,” Robin laughs when the opening riff of Santana’s Smooth booms against the leather interior, “You would.”  “Of course I would,” Eddie grins, tossing you a look for your approval. You nod back at him, mouthing along with the lyrics, rolling and shimmying your shoulders to match Robin’s dancing in the front. He gulps silently, knowing that there’s still a conversation to be had. Do you always hide your disappointment like this? Are you over it? Are you okay? And if you are -- why does it feel like this? Like you don't want his attention? Like you don't want him to touch you? 'Cause it's all he can think about with you next to him, looking pretty the way that you do. Looking perfect. Feeling like an old sweatshirt he wants to be covered in. “It’s the same as the emotion that I get from you, You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it.”  He doesn’t notice at first that his fingers twitch along with the chords when the solar starts. "Wait, tell her the story about Wayne banning this song from your life," Robin says, turning back towards the two of you behind her. "Banned from his life?" you ask in surprise, but your attention is on Robin, "Does he just really not like Rob Thomas?"

Eddie rolls his eyes, biting his lower lip before recounting why it's banned from ever playing at Forest Hills, “I was obsessed when I was little. Sat in my bedroom for weeks listening to it over and over so I could teach myself by ear. Wayne – my uncle – he told me I could never listen to it again. He threw my stereo out the window that summer, he was so pissed – so sick of it, and then got even more mad that he had to buy me a new one. But I had to promise to never play it again at his house for as long as he was alive. And no one else is allowed to play it at the park either.”

“Can you still do the solo?” you ask, eyes finally landing on him. His breath hitches when your eyes meet, mouth going dry.

“Oh yeah,” his voice cracks awkwardly, fingers still playing an air guitar on his lap, “Learned to play a lot of his stuff when I was a teenager. John Mayer too, if you can believe it.”  “Very toxic soft boy of you,” you tease.  “Listen sugar, it was a hit with the ladies,” his voice is soft, but still teasing -- desperate to recreate the banter you've had over the past few weeks. You get nervous, he can tell by the way your knee bounces and a flick of another smile tugs at the corners of your mouth. Sugar, he thinks, s’that all it takes? When you get the phone you make your pick, certain of it now. Steve nods in agreement when he presses play on Aaliyah’s Are You That Somebody?  “I knew I liked her,” Steve says, catching him in the rearview again, “She better be sticking around.”

Eddie is silently thankful for the encouragement.

The rest of the surrounding towns must’ve had a similar idea because the first half of the beach was full by the time you got there despite the early wake up. Steve’s SUV strolls down the expansive parking lot while It’s Gonna Be Me plays, the boys and Robin screlting along with the music – singing into the straws of their iced coffees.  The bridge hits near the end and he doesn’t want to be obnoxious but he does want to impress you so he hits the runs where he can.  ‘Don’t wanna lose it, but I’m not li-ii-ke that, When finally, finally, You get to lo-oo-ve, Guess what, guess what…’ Steve finally finds parking and you all hop out onto the asphalt, the sun already hot on your skin. The woosh of hot air hits his face, catching against the nervous sweat on his forehead and neck. Macho is as macho does, Eddie and Steve make their way to the trunk, taking all of the coolers and bags of beach games while leaving the chairs to the ladies. 

“We brought you an extra,” Eddie smiles, “In case you didn’t have one.”  “I brought you an extra,” Steve corrects, eyes falling on you from behind his Ray Bans, “You can thank me later, angel.” 

“You do not have to thank him,” Eddie scrunches his nose while you all walk to the wood planked entrance covered in sand. This area was at least less crowded but far from the bathrooms and food stalls by the front of the parking lot. He can feel your eyes on him, following the way his cut off shirt rides up revealing the end of a snake and sword tattoo off his side and oblique. Lingering on the top of his jeans, on the ways his biceps and forearms flex at every move of the load he’s holding. He swallows hard, suddenly so aware of himself and what he looks like – do you like it? Do you think he looks good? 

The blankets get placed and so do the chairs, Steve and Nancy expertly get the umbrella in – she reads the directions out loud and Steve does what she says as she says it. When everything is settled you kick off your sandals and put it by your canvas tote, taking out your sunglasses. Eddie sits on the blanket below you, watching you get yourself together. You reach for the bottom of your shirt, a tee from some time in your life when he didn’t know you. Eddie’s mouth falls open when you pull it up over your head; his tongue curls up in his mouth when he sees the soft arch in your back, the way your breasts press up against the edge of your suit. That red suit. 

He licks his lips absentmindedly, unable to look at you when you start taking your shorts off because if he watches the jiggle your ass and thighs he won’t be able to deal. He’s lucky he’s wearing aviators big enough to cover his saucer like eyes – embarrassed by the way his body react like some teenager reading a Playboy. He's a grown man for god's sakes.

“H-hey Rob,” his voice cracks awkwardly, “You uh, um, you wanna check out the water?” “Yeah, gimme one sec,” she calls out, tossing her hair up in a claw clip from her back pack. “That’s mine,” Nancy argues, “How long have you had that?!”  Robin shrugs, “Long enough that you didn’t miss it.”  “You do this every time you come over. You always steal something,” she huffs, Robin popping her gum between her teeth in response.

"It's a little something to remember you by, Nance," she shrugs with a smirk. “You wanna come?” he asks you, shrugging off his shorts and throwing his trunks over his boxer briefs.  “Not yet, want it to get a little hot before I check it out,” you explain, taking your sunscreen out.  He huffs a laugh, trying a hand at being flirty despite the distance he feels between you, “Well, to be honest sugar, you’re already lookin’ pretty h–”  “Don’t embarrass yourself,” Robin breathes, patting him on the back, “Let’s go.” 

He takes a look back at you smiling at you over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” “I’ll be here,” you wave him off while you start to spray your sunscreen on your arms. He turns back towards the water, crashing in waves and sliding up the shore. The sun kissed his skin over his crop, still not ready to take it off yet. 

“You gonna make it, Ed?” Robin asks, bumping her shoulder against his, "You're fumbling bad. She looks good."

“I just – fuck Rob,” he shakes his head, looking down at their feet while they step over shells and seaweed on the bank above the shore, “It feels ruined. Like she came to like, to check to see if she still likes me."  

“I don’t know what it is. It just doesn't feel easy like it was before,” he shrugs, “How I’m supposed to bring up last weekend or like, how to talk to her anymore.” “She seems totally fine,” Robin says with a look, “Maybe you’re just over thinking it.” “She seems totally fine with you guys but I don’t know – it feels like for me there’s a wall there. Like the insane connection we had before just doesn’t matter because I’m a dumbass. Maybe this should’ve just been a fling and after today we’ll just end it,” he rambles on, “Am I making sense?”  

“You are making sense,” she agrees, “But I don't think you ruined it. I think you're being kind of down on yourself about it and you're doing it on purpose." "What does that even mean?" he snaps. "It means, she wouldn't have come if she didn't want to work it out with you. Like, why would she come hang out for the day with your friends if she wasn't trying to make an effort to fix things?" "Well I mean--" "Not done," she says, putting her hand up, "And further, I think one little hint of something not going totally perfect makes you so afraid that you're gonna get hurt bad like with Chrissy. And it's clear that you really like this girl -- like, really like her. And that freaks you out, so you don't want to go through the motions of fixing it just in case things go left a second time."

“It doesn’t freak me out,” he shuts it down quickly but he knows she’s right, sighing when he considers it, “Maybe it does. Maybe it's scaring me that I'm already thinking about her like that.” 

“Like what?” 

“I dunno, like I wanna be with her. Like really with her,” he shrugs while they step into the foaming leftovers of a wave receding. The water is freezing, not yet warmed up from the heat of summer since the ninety degree weather is such a mid-spring surprise. 

“Fuck!” they both hiss in unison, stepping ankle deep into the water. 

“Be with her like…marry her?” she asks, crystal blue eyes squinting into the horizon, "You sure you're not simultaneously thinking too far ahead?"

“Maybe,” he says, pulling his hair out of its ponytail and shaking it out at the root. The curls at the base of his neck already starting to get tight and coiled with sweat. 

“I should probably start by being her boyfriend first,” he laughs. "You should probably start by working through this little snag first," she corrects, "You can be her boyfriend some other time." "Not all of us want a perpetual 'will they, won't they' relationship like two idiots in bikinis that I know," Eddie teases her, pulling his hair back up in the scrunchy he also stole from Nancy when they went to her house for a movie night. 

“Don’t let Wheeler see you with that,” she warns, reaching out for his hand while they turn back towards the sand. Eddie takes it, savoring the reassuring squeeze she offers in understanding. 

“What’s she gonna do, Buckley?” Eddie raises a brow, “Eat me out about it?” 

“Don’t be a fucking asshole,” Robin snorts, letting go to give him a shove in the shoulder while sand kicks of from their heels. 

Back where the towels and beach blankets are set up, you’re on your stomach, leaning your head to one side in a conversation with Nancy that has you giggling with each other. He nudges Robin with his shoulder who nudges him back. He wonders if Robin feels the same way about Nancy as he feels about you. He wonders if Robin will ever tell her. 

“How’s the water?” Nance asks, propping her chin up on the heel of her hand. 

“Freezing,” Eddie grimaces, “Like, bone chilling.” “I’m not surprised,” you shrug, “It’s not real hot yet.” “Just fake hot?” he asks back. “Yeah, just fake hot,” you agree with a scrunch of your nose. Still quick. 

Nervously, he makes the commitment of pulling off the cut off tee he came in, never normally thinking much about his body until you were right there in front of him but lightyears away. Eddie didn’t think he looked bad, but compared to Steve’s tanned, defined chest and abs he thought maybe he left more to be desired. It had kind of always felt like that, he thought, even when he was married. He wanted to feel like someone worth bragging about, and by the end of his relationship with Chrissy – she wasn’t really doing much bragging. With the way he could feel your eyes on him earlier, he was more self conscious now than he had been in years. He folds it up the shity nice, tossing it down on the beach blanket by you before sitting down and fishing into his bag for some sun screen. He’s meticulous with it over his tattoos, standing back up to get the snake and sword on his oblique fully covered.  

“This is kind of cliche but would you be down to get my back?” he asks hopefully, turning toward you, “I can do yours.” 

“Steve did mine,” you reply, face quirking from behind your sunglasses. “Oh um, wow,” he tries to shake it off, but the comment stings.Thinking about Steve having his hands on you in this suit before he ever even got the chance. 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” you assure, “Nancy got my back, but I can do yours.”  He frowns, “Don’t joke like that, please.” 

You get quiet and nod, taking the sunscreen from him. “Sorry,” you say in a whisper. Miles away. He wants to apologize for your apology. 

You’re gentle when you rub the sunscreen onto his back, taking extra care of the ink on his shoulder blade flowing down and wrapping into the tattoos on his ribcage. You can tell by the depth of the ink that he takes good care of them, feeling him relax under your touch. Eddie leans his head to the side while you continue, seeing two girls making their way down the sandy banks just by where their crew was set up. They lay out their towels while awkwardly trying to get their umbrella in place – laughing while they keep getting it wrong. When you’re done with his back, he thanks you softly – happy to see that you settle back down next to him. 

“How long do you think it’s gonna take them to finally get it in?” you ask. If he was a stupid boy he’d say ‘That’s what she said’, but he’s not so–

“That’s what she said,” Steve jokes. Eddie turns to see that Steve’s lifted up his Raybans, enjoying the show as the girls dig and shove their umbrella into the sand – losing sight of one of their towels now blowing over in the wind. 

“Come the fuck on,” one of them groans, but they are laughing too hard to be mad, too hard to grip the umbrella tight enough. It’s not lost on Eddie that Steve is watching because the girl with the umbrella in her hands, with her black suit and cat eye sunglasses, is nearly bursting out of her bathing suit top with a cleavage that even makes his own eyes widen. 

“Be right back,” Steve says, getting up out of his beach chair.  “Don’t be embarrassing,” Robin begs, “Please.” Steve flips her off while he walks by her, taking a few more steps past the beach blankets and running a hand through his chestnut hair. 

“Ahoy ladies!” he calls out, “Need a hand?” 

“Ew,” Robin mumbles, “He’s so weird.” 

“He’s gonna come back with both of their numbers, just watch,” Nancy says, “Every time.” 

“Is he really that much of a ladies man?” you ask, “He’s kind of – I don’t know. He’s kind of goofy.” 

Eddie laughs hard, Nancy and Robin joining in. Hard belly laughs. Not because of just the question, but the way you asked it. The genuine curiosity, the admission of how you felt. It was the exact thing Steve needed to hear, a shame he wasn’t around to hear it. It’s here that he knows he needs to just bite the bullet and work things out because you’re so sweet. You’re so – you’re just so you. 

“Don’t worry, we don’t get it either,” Nancy laughs, wiping her eyes. 

“Ooh, I needed that, that was good,” Robin breathes, “But you’re right, he’s super goofy.” 

Steve had come back an hour later, putting together their entire set up and taking some time to sit and talk to him. Without fail, he sat back down in his beach chair with two new numbers in his phone; breaking into one of the Yeti coolers and pulling out the canned mixed drinks he packed en-masse. 

“Whose partaking?” he asks, holding one up. It’s only 11 AM but hot weekends are a means for day drinking, and if anyone needs to take the edge off it’s Eddie Munson. Between the awkward half smiles and some back and forth and the way his heart dips and leaps at any given moment while next to you, he’d take any relaxer he can get. 

You all grab a drink, and he watches fondly as you talk about beach reads with Nancy and Robin. Sitting in the sand while the three of you make semi sand castles with each of your cans in dug out cup holders. He admires the way the sun bounces off your shoulders and tries to not admire the way your suit rides up on your hips. He doesn’t want to fix things just on account of being horny. 

Eddie checks his phone for signs of life from Gareth and Tati – they sent a few photos from Flamingo Island. Tatianna feeding the birds while looking like a supermodel and Gareth keeping a distance from the birds while looking awkward and pale. Another, a live photo of a selfie of Tatianna glowing with the beach in the background. Eddie holds his thumb on the picture, letting it play to Gare reaching over from behind to kiss her on the cheek. He smiles, watching them be in love through the photos, eyes flicking from you to them. Wondering when you’ll both be next. 

Robin sparks a pre-roll and you all sneakily split it like kids hiding from the cops. When you pass it to him, your fingers brush, and he can’t help but flash a bright smile at you while he takes it. 

“Thanks, sugar,” he drops his voice purposely, watching as your posture changes – a fluster running through you. 

“You’re welcome,” you mumble, going back to your sand and conversation. 

Eddie pulls his notebook out, a hybrid for a DnD and lesson plan scrap paper for when he thinks of something fun to do that the board will say no to. He takes their no and does it anyway, it’s not like they check. 

He gets up from the beach blanket, opting to set up his chair under the umbrella to get a break from the sun and so he can see the paper in the bright light. Some time passes and he’s knee deep in planning a new campaign when from above the notepad you’d made your way back from the sand, settling back down. 

“I want fries so bad,” you complain. 

“There’s a stand at the end of the beach,” he offers. 

“I don’t want to go get fries,” you sigh, “I would like the fries to be here already.” He licks his lips nervously before closing the notebook over his thumb, “I’ll go with you.” 

You look up at him from your spot on the blanket and he looks down at you, both knowing that being alone together will only bring upon the inevitable. Maybe you both need to grow up. 

“Um,” you hesitate before nodding, “Yeah, yeah okay. Let me just get my shorts on.” 

Eddie puts his notebook away, grabbing his wallet and putting it into the pocket of his trunks before slipping his shoes back on. You throw on your shorts, sliding into your sandals reaching for your bag. 

“You don’t need your bag,” he says gently, “I got it for you.” 

You smile, it’s small, “Oh, well – thanks.” “C’mon,” he says, ticking his head back toward the planked walkway for an easy walk back up to the asphalt. As you walk ahead of him, Robin, Steve, and Nance all exchange glances knowingly. Robin offers him a thumbs up before he turns around, following you up the beach. 

Without the buffer of everyone else, the tension feels worse. He’s not sure whether to reach for you, but when you tuck your hands in your shorts pockets it becomes obvious that you don’t want him to hold your hand. 

“Weather’s pretty wild, huh?” he asks. 

“Yeah,” you nod. Your shoulders bump while you keep walking, not continuing the conversation but muttering a soft apology when you collide. 

Eddie sighs, a little too audibly because your shoulders sulk a bit when he lets out the last of the breath. He can’t really take this anymore, biting his cheeks for resolve and guiding you over to the concrete barrier that separates the boardwalk from the beach. 

“Look,” he begins, voice shaking, “Before we get fries we – we really need to talk about the other night.” 

“I said it was fine,” you respond, but you don’t meet his eye. Your tone lacks energy, like you’re just trying to push it away; but he doesn’t want that. His rings clink against the concrete when he pats the top, “Sit.” 

When you oblige, he stands between your knees, “It’s not fine. You were really upset. I wanna talk about it.” 

“It’s stupid, it doesn’t matter,” you reply, your eyes landing on his shoulder, looking at the people walking past him, “I’ll get over it.” He tentatively puts a hand on your leg, letting his thumb run over your soft skin. A rush runs through him when you don’t pull away, soothingly running his hand back and forth.

“It matters to me,” he says, moving his head so he can catch your gaze. It’s clear now that whatever is part of your own tragic lore has a lot to do with how you approach stuff like this; how you don’t really want to tell him that he hurt your feelings. 

“Is it because of me talking about my ex?” he asks. 

You’re quiet for a few minutes and he’s patient, watching you mull over the night in your head and finding the courage to let the words out. His hand travels from your thigh to where your hand rests on the barrier, interlocking your fingers with his.  

“She’s just so pretty,” you say, voice strained with emotion – weak like you’re swallowing a cry, “And I don’t look like that.” 

“I don’t want you to look like that,” he says gently. 

“It’s not just that…it’s just – I –” you roll your eyes at your own ridiculousness, “I just…I’ve been the rebound a lot, before my ex. Always for people whose partner before looked like your ex-wife, and was perfect, and pretty, and graceful, and all of the nice things you said she was. And I’m sure she’s great, I really believe you.” He squeezes your hand with gentleness while you continue. 

“I just don’t want to like you this much just to be your rebound,” you confess, “And I know you said you like me and that what we’ve been doing so far has been so good, but that’s like – that’s how it always starts out. These guys will act like I’m so great for them just to y’know – toss me when they get what they need. And you just sort of went from talking about how amazing and caring she is to like – talking about my body.” 

His brows crinkle, a frown pulling on his lips, “Why didn’t you tell me I was making you feel like that when I asked?” 

“I didn’t want you to be mad,” you mumble, a crackle in your tone, “Or tell me I was being stupid or get defensive because I just…I didn’t want to ruin it. But I – I ruined it anyway.” 

“No, no,” he shakes his head, taking his sunglasses off, round eyes pleading to you, “Sweetheart you didn’t ruin it. I’m – I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could tell me. I wouldn’t have been mad.” 

“I just really don’t wanna get hurt,” you plead, “I don’t want to waste my time.” “You’re not I – babe, I don’t wanna get hurt either,” he sighs, “But you’re not a rebound. It’s…it’s been three years since I even considered seeing someone seriously. That’s not what I’m looking for. I already told you that night after Barcade how much I like you.” 

“Yeah but people say a lot of things just to get laid,” you shrug. 

His chest deflates, “Is that really what you think of me?” 

“I don’t know,” you shrug, “Maybe we just don’t really know each other yet.” 

It dawns on him slowly, you don’t really know each other yet. He knows how he feels about you, and how it feels like he’s known you his whole life. But he doesn’t know your ins and outs and you don’t know his – there’s a patience and excitement about the idea of learning it all.

“I don’t just wanna sleep with you,” he says earnestly, “Hell I was – I was so nervous to kiss you at Little Spoon, and even after Steve’s birthday…I – I’ve been thinking about you for weeks. And when things went left y’know I just – I was waitin’ by the phone for you to say something. I didn’t wanna push because I figured maybe you needed a minute.” “But sugar, I really felt awful,” he continues, letting his hands cup your cheeks, “I really was scared that you just decided you were done with me.” 

“I don’t wanna be done with you,” you say through squished cheeks. 

“I don’t wanna be done with you, either,” he says, “Cause getting started has been really great so far.” 

“I still really like you,” you profess. 

“I’m kind of obsessed with you,” he laughs breathily. 

“Yeah, I know,” you laugh, almost a little teary, “I tell you all the time.” 

“I’m gonna kiss you now, okay?” he asks, running his tongue over his lips. 

“Okay.” With his hands on your cheeks, he pulls you into him, letting his nose brush your first before pressing his lips against yours – no longer rubbery and despondent in their response. He feels weightless, not even caring about the people walking by who might be staring when he slips his tongue into your mouth. Kissing you feels more right than ever. Kissing you feels like coming home. 

When he breaks away, breathless, his eyes coast over your features, “Shit…” 

“What?” 

“I just…I really fucking like you.” 

You lean forward to bless him with a kiss again, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be afraid to steal one from you whenever he wants now. 

You continued your talk on the remainder of the walk to get fries, explaining your insecurities that he quelled with each thought that passed your lips. He confessed to the tears in his Honda and how he didn’t mean to come off so in love when talking about Chrissy – just that she was important to him, and that part of him will love her in a fond way, always. You confess you have a few people like that in your life too, but you’ll talk about that in ‘another episode’. He lets you know you only have to talk about things when you’re ready. 

On the way back, you hold hands, Eddie holding the bag with your fries in the other. He presses kisses to your temple and cheek every few intervals – laughing at you when you stop at the sound of Return of the Mack to hit a groove. 

“Truthfully, this is one of my favorite songs of all time,” you tell him, “And I played it all week to try to make myself feel better.” 

“Did you dance like this in your house each time?” 

“I did.” 

“I’m sad I missed it, I could’ve used a laugh,” he teases. 

“You’re very cruel,” you concede, hip bumping him while you continue on, “You’d die to have me give you a lap dance.” 

His ears turn pink at the thought, “Heh, well um…well if you’re offering…”

“It’s on the table,” you shrug, giving his hand a squeeze. 

“It can be anywhere, sweetheart – table, chair, in space – you name it I —” 

He stops when he notices the way a guy looks at you as he walks by, eyes scanning from the top of your head down to your thighs. Eddie’s head tilts, following the guys vision even as you pass – the man getting a good look as your ass with abandon. 

“Hey,” Eddie snaps, a touch of pride swelling in his chest. The guy looks up and meets his eye. 

“Yeah, you,” he continues, holding eye contact with a furrowed brow, “See somethin’ you like, chief?” 

“Listen man, I’m not startin’ trouble here I was – I was just –” 

“You were just walkin’ the other way,” Eddie finishes for him, “Get fuckin’ lost.” 

You tuck your lips into your teeth, while Eddie guides you away, hand wrapping around you to slide from your waist to your ass with a firm squeeze before settling in your shorts back pocket. You turn to look at him while you walk and he shakes his head. 

“Don’ look at me like that,” he huffs a laugh, grinning slightly, “Look, this is my ass.” 

“Well, technically it’s my ass but um, y’know, whatever you say,” you respond, a little breathy. He remembers the way you mentioned tipsily at the bar that you liked that streak in him. And if anything this true now, after these conversations, he wants everyone to know you’re his. He’s not playing around. 

When you get back to the group there’s another set of blankets next to yours, and a collection of more friends that you remember from Steve’s party. 

“Oh, hey freaks,” Eddie chimes when they all say their cheery hellos to the both of you. He nods at Erica in respect, “Miss Applejack.” 

“Nerd,” she hums out, fishing out a Nerf howler from Steve’s bag to play with Max and Lucas. Steve, of course, is back over making a fool of himself by the girls from earlier while Nancy, Robin, Dustin play cards. Mike, who you haven’t met, is stuck in a book under the umbrella. 

“What’re you reading Wheeler?” Eddie asks, taking you hand in hand back to the blanket to sit down. 

“It’s called The Ethical Slut,” he murmurs, “Me and El are practicing Ethical Non Monogamy while she’s in LA with Will.” 

“Practicing what?” he asks through a mouthful of fry. 

“Ethical non-monogamy,” he sighs, peering over the pages, “My guys at Oberlin were telling me about it. It’s like, it’s like being open.” 

Eddie pulls a face and take the book out of his hand, hitting him in side of the head with it, “Don’t be fuckin’ weird, dude.” 

“It’s not – ugh it’s not weird, you’re just old and don’t get it,” he sighs. 

“You’re old and don’t get it, tool,” Eddie clicks his tongue, “This is why you’re both always fighting.” 

“Oh my god, we’re not always fighting we just–” “Alright twerps, meet my friends,” Steve says with a game show host smile, hands showing off the two girls from before. They introduce themselves, everyone going around to offer their names, too. 

“And over there is Lucas, Max, and Erica,” Steve says, pointing at the three closer to the edge of the shore. He motions for them to sit, offering them drinks from the coolers while they make themselves comfortable. 

“I think we should play never have I ever so we can all get to know each other,” Steve offers, sitting between the two women who giggle whenever he looks at them. Clear from the look on their faces that he definitely snuck one of Robin’s pre-rolls over to spark up before bringing them to the group. 

“No, Steve, we’re not playing that,” Eddie waves the suggestion off like a bad smell. 

“How come?” you ask with a laugh. 

“Cause we’re in our fuckin’ 30s, what is this, a high school beach party?” 

“You just don’t like it ‘cause you always lose,” Steve teases, catching your eye, “He’s a sore loser, angel.” 

“I believe this,” you nod. 

“Okay, well, I still said what I said,” Eddie huffs. 

“There’s no way, look, I’ll start with an easy one,” you offer, “Never have I ever um…spent a weekend in jail.” 

Eddie scowls with a gravelly sigh, bringing a beer to his lips. Steve barks a laugh, “See, I told you – sore loser.” 

Max, Lucas, and Erica come back to the blankets when they see the newcomers sitting with the group. Max tosses Robin and look and Eddie knows that means they’ll be double teaming to make sure Steve looks like a tool at every given moment. Lucas asks if it’s a round of ‘Never Have I Ever’ and everyone excitedly agrees except for Eddie whose stewing, and Mike whose chest deep in his book. 

“Okay, we don’t have to play,” you soothe, running your hand over his bicep, “But damn, you spent a weekend in jail?” 

“I have spent,” he sighs, taking another sip of beer, “A lot of weekends in jail, sweetheart.” 

“Like – for bad stuff?” 

“Like, for stupid shit,” he explains, “I was a dumb kid, it was all dumb shit. But yeah, I got a little record. Nothing crazy enough to keep me from teaching.” 

“Sooo mysterious,” you tease, laying down on your back while you snag a fry from the back, “Very bad boy of Dawson’s Creek.” 

“Mean,” he glares playfully, laying next to you, “Tell me somethin’ I don’t know about you, then.” 

“Hmm,” you think, turning to look him over, “I am lifeguard and WSI certified.” 

“WSI?” 

“Water safety instructor,” you answer, “I teach swim lessons. Well used to.” 

“You know like, first aid and stuff?” he asks. 

“Yeah,” you nod excitedly, “Like CPR and stuff.” 

“Hm,” he hums, leaning on his side, propping his head up, “Like you could give me mouth to mouth?” 

“Don’t be horny and gross,” you laugh, “I could save your life.” “It would save my life to have your mouth on my mouth, I promise,” he says with a hint of seriousness. 

“Tell me somethin’ else I don’t know about you, jailbird,” you prompt, matching his posture. 

“Ummm, ah!” he snaps, “I um, I speak Spanish.” Your brows furrow, “Like, fluently?” 

“Sí, con fluidez,” he smirks. 

“Show off,” you grin.

“Ooh, you think it’s hot, don’t you?” he laughs, “You think I’m so sexy.” 

“You’re somethin’,” you sigh, “How’d you get fluent in Spanish?” 

“I took it in high school and college,” he shrugs, “But I worked at a pretty authentic Colombian restaurant for like, five years while teaching before getting to the private school. I was in the kitchen and all the guys spoke Spanish so I sorta committed. And y’know, a lot of my kids’ parents speak Spanish so it’s helpful to be able to communicate with them too. I don’t wanna lose it, so I practice a lot.” 

“Look at you,” you encourage, “What else would surprise me?” 

“Oh I don’t know,” he shrugs, feeding you a fry, “Maybe – hmm – I love Sza.”  “The singer?” you ask through a mouthful. 

“Yes,” he nods, “She’s my celebrity pass I’m, wow, I love her. She’s so fine. But also, I dig her sound – Ctrl is one of my favorite albums of all time. We even do a cover of The Weekend at our sets sometimes.” 

“How does that work? Like, is it just a screamo version?” 

“Screamo? Don’t disrespect me like that,” he holds a hand to his chest over his silver chains, “We’re a metal band, baby.” “Sorry, please excuse me. Like, is it just a metal version?” you repeat back with a little bite. He rests the tip of his tongue by the sharp point of his canine when he smiles at you, flicking over your face before looking back into your eyes. 

“It’s kind of a Deftones-y version,” he shrugs. 

“Oh,” you nod, “Okay.” 

“What?” 

“Nothin’ just, would really like to hear that someday,” but there’s something in the way you say it, “Did you ever record it?” 

“Might’ve? Maybe just rehearsals,” he shrugs, “If we did, it’s somewhere on my hard drive.” “Well, maybe we can find it later.” “Later?” he asks, eyes glittering with excitement, “You’re – you’re gonna come over?” 

“Yeah, I – I packed a little extra just in case,” you giggle. He knew he was right, that feeling in his gut when he took your bag. He was gonna give you the re-do of a the century. 

“We’ll look for it when we get home and you can listen,” he promises. “It’d be cool to hear it live one day,” you suggest. He makes a note to put it back in rotation for the summer set list; even though they put the cover to bed some time last year. 

“You wanna see me play?” 

“Of course,” you nod, “You’re gonna be a famous rockstar, remember? We went over this.” 

“You’re right,” he nods back, leaning forward, tucking a fingertip under your chin, “I remember.” 

You both ignore the coos and aws from the group as he leans in to kiss you. 

‘After sun sleepy’ is what you called it in the car as the group of you piled in, the weight of the day heavy on your eyelids. Salt and sand coated both of you, a soft tinge of pink glowed off of Eddie’s shoulders where the sunscreen couldn’t hold out any longer. The ride home was less eventful than the ride there, everyone tuckered out and sun soaked from the day’s activities. Steve gave you both some parting teasing once you let him know he didn’t have to drop you off at your house once he pulled up in front of Eddie’s. 

“Use protection,” he calls out from the window. 

“Bye,” Eddie calls back out, “Don’t ever come back.” 

He’s much cooler about opening the door this time around, not speedily trying to get things done before the party made it back to his. No count down for when you had to leave. He has the rest of the night and all of tomorrow to have you to himself. This time he could take it slow, take his time, you could both relax. “I need to shower,” you mumble, slipping your sandals off in the entryway. “We can shower,” he nods, placing the beach bags down next to his Vans – he’ll deal with that later. You turn around on the balls of your feet, smirking while your arms fold across your chest. He tries to ignore the way your boobs push in and up, the top curve of tour cleavage  making him feel dumb. 

“We?” you ask. 

“Uhh,” he coughs to buy time, smirking to himself behind his hand, “I just – um – I don’t know. I don’t know why I said that. Why I said it like that.” 

You laugh, watching him sputter, “I think I know why you said it like that.” 

“Look,” he puts his hands up, “It may or may not have been something I’ve been thinking about at night when I’m trying to avoid grading papers. That’s all.” 

He guides you to the bathroom, stopping at the small closet down the hall to grab you both towels and washcloths; fresh from the dryer this morning. It’s when you’re both standing on the tile floor, water running, that he realizes what’s next and he’s…well, he’s nervous. 

He holds his breath while you take down your shorts, thumbs looping into the straps of your bathing suit to start pulling it down. He braces himself, watching some sand come down with the red fabric while you tug it further over your chest, down your stomach until it’s on the floor. Every inch of you available for him to see, and it doesn’t feel like the horny sexual guttural reveal he has imagined it to be. It feels different, eyes scanning over you, your decolletage, your breasts, the peak of your nipples, the dimples in your skin just above your stomach. Your belly, your thighs, the smattering of cellulite where they meet, following all the way down to your toes. Eddie regards you like a painting, like something too sacred to touch. A tug pulls in his ribcage, butterflies in his stomach, throat getting tight where he almost wants to cry. You’re so beautiful, he thinks. So beautiful that it’s unfair. 

“Wow…” he whispers, delicate and subdued. A smile spreads across your face, so bright and genuine that he melts. 

“I’m guessing that’s a good wow,” you infer, pulling back the shower curtain to step in. He catches a glimpse at the back of you, sucking in a breath at the curve of your thighs and hips, meeting to prop up a butt cheek while one foot stays on the lip of the tub. 

“Yeah, yeah it’s um, it’s a really good wow,” he answers, albeit dumbly. 

“You coming in, too?” you ask, stepping fully behind the curtain. 

“Yep, yeah,” Eddie nods, hurrying back to himself only to feel the aching tension in his pants. He groans internally, humiliation bubbling in his belly like he got called on in class to come to the board. This was going to happen eventually, right? You were going to see it eventually? So why is it so weird thinking about being in the shower with you. You know he has one, it’s not weird, it’s not…a surprise. 

Just take your pants of, Munson, c’mon, he urges to himself. He awkwardly shimmies his trunks down, folding down the boxer briefs beneath them where sand had collected uncomfortably in side. 

Sand in my fucking ball sack and now I have to go stand in the shower with her? Are you kidding? he grumbles internally. His shirt gets pulled over his head and he’s face to face with himself in the mirror over the sink. A dusting of freckles forming on his shoulders in the soft pink of the mild sunburn, a little burn on the bridge of his nose. Tattoos vibrant against skin that just never seems to get enough sun. 

Eddie leaves his rings in Tatianna’s jewelry bowl that they started to share when Tatianna taught him that his jewelry will last longer if he stops showering with it on. As his silver chains drizzle in next to his rings, he takes a breath, turning toward the shower curtain where he can already smell his body wash wafting through the steam. 

“Did you start without me?” he asks, fingers taking in the fabric. 

“You’re taking forever, and I hate feeling sandy,” you respond. He steps in, the warm water hitting his toes, seeing yours where the suds hit to go down the train. When he looks up to see you, he gulps – not only naked, but naked and soapy. 

Jesus Christ, he sighs in his head. Any sense of calming down his cock had long since passed now. 

“Sorry,” he says quietly, hand covering himself while he steps in.

“It’s okay,” you assure, turning your head to look at him from over your shoulder. Eddie’s cheeks redden when he watches you scan over him, a satisfied smile pulling your cheeks toward your eyes, “Hey, you.” 

“Hey,” he chokes out, the ease of talking to you and getting you flustered is suddenly harder than it’s ever been before. With a nervous step forward, he reaches for your hips, bruised and rough fingertips sliding over your skin from his assault on his guitar earlier this week. Eddie gulps when he steps fully behind you, his length pressing flat against him between the two of you with a friction that makes both get a hitch in your breath. 

He leans in to print a kiss on your shoulder, a waft of cedar, bergamot, and vetiver on your skin. Another kiss and he leans his forehead against it while you both stand in the stream of the water. 

“You are…” he trails off, taking a shuddering inhale, “You are so, so beautiful.” 

One hand stays on your hip while to other travels up to your waist, to just under your breasts. Slipping and sliding on the soap and water mixing on your skin with left over sunscreen to be washed down the drain. 

“Thank you,” you murmur, headiness deepening your voice. Neither of you move too quickly, letting him press kisses over you before finally kissing your lips to switch sides in the shower. He lathers up and you see it. Your brows raising in surprise while he lets the water soak his curls. 

“What?” he asks with a cheeky grin. 

“You know what,” you laugh. 

“No, I don’t know what,” it’s a tease and he knows that, but it’s still fun to watch you get like this. 

“You weren’t lying when you said – when you y’know…” 

“When I said…?” 

“Oh my god,” you roll your eyes, embarrassment evident on your face, “When you said it was big.” 

“Oh yeah,” he nods coolly, scrubbing shampoo into his hair, “Why would I lie about that?” 

And despite his half chill demeanor at the comment, he is fucking cheering so loud in his head that you think this about him and are saying it outloud. 

“Well don’t get a big head,” you joke, taking the remaining wash cloth from the edge of the tub and loading it with water and soap, “It’s more important that you know how to use it.” 

He tilts his head at you after rinsing out the shampoo, “Be honest, do I look like a guy that doesn’t know how to use it?” 

“Like I said before,” you reach forward with the washcloth, massaging it onto his shoulder, “We don’t know each other.” 

It’s the way you touch him and the mild scolding that makes his knees weak. You’re soft but deliberate, sudsing him up on his chest and back while he smooth conditioner in his hair. A muffled moan comes from his diaphragm when you ease the cloth over his lower belly, soap catching on the hair of his happy trail. Your eyes flick up at him mischievously, stepping closer to him to give him a kiss. Eddie sighs into it, letting the water pour down his back and rinse the conditioner out while he leans in rest a hand on your cheek, the other takes the wash cloth from you. 

“Do you not want me to do it?” you ask sheepishly. 

“I want you to do it way too much,” he smirks against your lips, quickly leaning down to get his legs and nether regions, “But thank you, you’re very sweet.” 

There’s plenty of hot water left, and it doesn’t go to waste. Both of you standing in the shower, soapy and fresh where you both feel safe enough to explore. His hands roam the expanse of you, trailing from the top of your neck down to your ass, cupping your breasts and with a gentle squeeze while you both gasp between kisses. His rigid length stays pressed between you, leaking pitifully while snuggly hugging your hip bone. 

You leave his kiss bitten mouth to nip at his jaw, down further to run your tongue from the base of his neck to the shell of his ear. Unable to hold back anymore, he whines. Needy and desperate, he does it again when your tongue flicks at his earlobe. 

“Mmm’god,” he breathes, slurring. He feels your smile against his skin when you go back to his neck, embarrassed at the reveal of his sensitive ears and jugular. Your tongue traces the tattoo on his right peck, some scratchy shitty demon head he got when he was sixteen from some older kid in his living room. Wayne would’ve made him sleep outside if it hadn’t gotten infected and needed attention. Eddie keeps meaning to get it covered, but by the way you’re kissing over it he thinks maybe he’ll keep it around. 

He twitches when you get to his ribs, a sharp inhale making him stand rigid while you move further down his body. Your hands rest on his stomach and glide to his thighs while you take your place on your knees in the cramped tub. His cock standing at attention straight out, reddening at the tip, in some way knowing there’s a girl staring right at it without his brain needing to send the signal. 

“This okay?” you ask, looking up at him with dew drops in your lashes. He nods, afraid that if he speaks he’ll just spill all over, one false move and he’ll end the night before it even began. 

You move slow, hands just under the swell of his butt. You bypass his erection and kiss his hip bone, then his pelvis. He shivers, hand gripping the shower curtain rod, white knuckling the ceramic coated metal while your breath coasts over his shaft. 

Your wet tongue runs flat from base to tip, making his eyes shut tight. 

“Shit,” he whimpers and you chuckle. He could just die, feeling the vibration of it on his head where your tongue stays. Your hand grips him gently, pumping him while you keep the top half in your mouth and against your lips. He cracks his eyes open to look down at you, mouth hanging open at the immediate eye contact he gets from you looking up at him. Mouth full and eager, wet and hot. 

“Jesus Christ,” he gasps, free hand delicately resting on the back of your head. You continue your double duty for a few more stroke before dropping your hand. Your eye contact stops, determination in your brow when he feels your mouth and throat open up around him. Your head moving further down his shaft with skill – snug and tight. He thrusts forward slightly, moaning as you work with his hips. Eddie feels himself tighten, the heat in his belly growing to a steady and churning thrum. 

You like the challenge of getting him off and he can tell by how you keep going, down far enough that you gag and as much as he hates himself for it the sound sends him hurtling towards release. With a cruel bite to his inner cheek he holds back, but the sight of you with spit trailing from your mouth to his shaft does little to aid in settling him down. Almost pornographic. 

You wipe your mouth, reaching your hand out to stroke him again, but as your mouth leans in to start up he pulls his hips back.

“Baby, baby, wait stop–” he whines, moving away. 

“Is everything okay?” you ask, putting your hands on your thighs. 

“I just..wow I –” he collects himself, offering his hand to help you stand up on the slippery tub floor, “I haven’t um – wow, I haven’t had my dick sucked in a – in a long time and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna cum yet.” 

Your worry turns into a cocky and confident smirk, “Oh, was that where that was heading?” 

He takes another ragged breath to steady himself, “Don’t get slick, we got all night.” 

You kiss until the water turns cold. 

Two boxes of pizza sit open on the coffee table in front of the couch you’re both snuggled up in. Both of your bellies are full and eyes drowsy in the glow of the TV. The sun had made its way down and the weather cooled off considerably, the breeze from the windows keeping you both under blankets with your bodies wrapped around each other in a cozy post carb bliss. 

“This is honestly all I’ve wanted for weeks,” Eddie murmurs. 

“What is?” you ask, tilting your head up so the tip of your nose hits his cheek. 

“This,” he says softly, “Being all snuggled up on my couch with you.” “You’re so cheesy,” you tease. 

“Yeah, that’s something you should get to know about me,” he says into a kiss, “M’super cheesy.” 

“Huge tool,” you nod, another kiss. 

“It’s really bad,” he agrees, “I’m so annoying.” “So annoying,” you mumble, tongue striping his lower lip. He grants you access with ease, tongue dancing with yours while you maneuver your way onto his lap like you had after Steve’s party. 

“Snuggled up on my couch with no one to interrupt us,” he says, looking up at you with desperate eyes, “Right?” 

You bite your lip nervously, the confidence from the shower ebbing away even in the heat of the moment, “Right.” “Come with me,” he says, voice sweet and slow like molasses. Eddie eases you off his lap, taking your hand to bring you into his bedroom – which he scrubbed to sparkling the night before. At the foot of his bed he kisses your cheek, fingers running over the hem of your sleep shirt, no longer a sputtering idiot but smooth in his movements while he eases it off you. 

He leans down to kiss your neck, earning him a breathy sigh while your back arches into him. His thumbs tuck under the band of your sweats and panties, letting them fall to the floor by your feet – easing you on to your back on his comforter. 

He takes down his own sweats, half hard as he climbs onto the bed on his knees, kneeling between yours. Your arms come up to snake under his, wrapping around his back, hands landing on his traps. He relents leaning down on his forearms so you’re skin to skin, chest to chest. Your noses brush, Eddie using his to angle your face to him, pressing your foreheads together, the tops of your lips touching. 

“This is okay, right?” he asks, the warm white glow of the rope light on his far wall illuminating the frizz in his curls like a halo. It cradles your face, bouncing off your eyes that look so sweet at him. 

“I think if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be naked under you right now,” you say back, barely audible. 

“Right, right,” he chuckles, lips attaching to yours with needy hunger. He stiffens below the belt, groaning when your hips roll up to meet his, when your legs wrap around him. But he can’t just start like that, pushing up again onto his hands. 

“I gotta go down on your first,” he huffs. 

“I mean I’m not gonna say no,” you laugh, he laughs too. A pepper of pecks following from your lips and down your chest, he takes fond care of your nipples on the way down. Tongue and teeth gently nipping and licking while his fingers explore between your legs. 

“Eddie…” your breathy call of his name sends a shiver through him, feeling how wet you are already just from having him pressed up against you like this. 

“That feels good?” he asks tentatively, meeting his fingers between your thighs. 

“Mhm,” you sigh, back arching slightly while his face disappears and all that can be seen are the tops of his curls. He dips and swirls his tongue in all the ways you liked before, burying himself deeper the more you react. Each desperate cry spurring him on to continue, each pump of his fingers inside you making you clench around the digits. 

“You taste,” he starts, replacing his fingers with his tongue at your entrance for a bit before breaking to your inner thigh, “so, so good.” 

“Please do that again,” you whine, weak and pitiful. He obliges without hesitation, keening into your touch when you grip his hair at the crown. It stings but he likes it, it stings and he wonders how hard you can pull. When you start to get loud he lifts his head up, brows raised under his fluffy bangs. 

“Wow,” he smiles into a snicker, “Y’know, I got neighbors sweetheart.” 

“Oh my god,” you laugh shakily, covering your face, “M’sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” he says with a shake of his head, crawling back up your body. He moves your hands away, looking down at you, “You’re not fuckin’ with me, right?” 

You shake your head no, “I’m not fucking with you it’s — yeah, even better the second time.” 

He shrugs with a cheesey grin, “Well y’know I’m kinda—”

“Don’t be a dweeb,” you put two fingers to his lips, “Shut up and fuck me.” 

Eddie chokes on his words, “Oh, yes uh — yes ma’am, absolutely.” 

He nervously climbs over you to get to his side table drawer, the box of condoms he found last week sitting undisturbed. He rips the foil open with his teeth, taking his time to roll it on while you turn to your side to watch him. 

“It’s bad for your teeth to do that,” you note. 

“Is that your concern right now?” he asks, looking up from under his brow while he finishes the task. 

“I’m just saying,” you shrug. He motions you further up the bed, settling between your legs again, taking a chance to admire you below him. Soft curves and skin, legs pressed against your chest and splayed open for him, a peace offering after years of not getting it right. You were right. 

“You’re just saying?” he replies with the tilt of his head, smoothing back down to press himself against you, a bruising kiss in his wake, “S’that it? You were just saying?” 

“Mmmhmm,” your response is muffled against his lips, a low whine bubbling through your kiss as his tip catches between your legs. Neither of you take pause, his hips buck forward, still wrapped up in you and again until he feels it. The firm pressure of your core wrapped around him, sucking him in to the hilt. 

“Jeeesus Christ,” he groans in your ear, pressing his face into your neck. He can tell he’s stretching you out, feeling your nails dig into his back in a sting that feels just as delicious as you pulling his hair. 

“Oh my god,” a strangled moan leaks from your throat in a head voice. Eddie’s eyes flutter closed, letting himself rock into you steadily, supporting himself on one arm and the other making it’s way behind your knee to keep you spread open. He pushes up a little, hair falling forward on one side, curtaining one side of your face. 

It’s more than he could’ve imagined, kicking himself for not getting it right in all the day dreams he had of this moment, you look serene. Brows slightly pinched, mouth open to let out all your little huffs and sounds. Your arms let go of him as he raises over you, laying back with your palms up toward the ceiling by your head. He watches as your breasts bounce on your chest, the gentle jiggle in your arms, the arch in your back. 

“Kiss me,” you breathe,aching, “Please.”

And how can he deny you when you ask like that? Maintaining his position he cranes his neck down to latch himself onto you, feeling your hands cup his face. Eddie grunts into the kiss, speed picking up while he chases the pleasure beating like a drum in his body, each lewd smack of skin against skin making him hungry for more. 

You moan wantonly into his mouth, making him moan in return, trying to find any angle and speed to make you keep making those sounds. Neighbors be damned. He pulls out to pull you by the thighs flush to him, pushing back in without a breath and you wail. He can feel your walls squeeze down on him, warm and tight, even tighter when he pushes your legs back up against your chest. From here, he can tell this position works for you – which is perfect because it’s working even better for him. 

“Sh-i-hi-hit, baby,” he grunts, sweat starting to sheen across your skin, “This good?” 

“Yeah.” He has to shut his eyes again, think of something bad so that he doesn’t bust at the sound of you whining like that. Like an amateur porn star who never fakes it. 

“Yeah?” he teases, snaking back down to kiss your neck. 

“Oh god…” you nearly blubber. 

He coasts his lips over you until landing at that spot that he found on his couch a couple weeks ago. The tip of his tongue teasing at first before letting his teeth graze it with his lips. 

“Oh! Oh fuck,” you yelp. He holds in a laugh, nipping and sucking on your neck while your hips meet his thrusts. 

“Oh god, fuck - fuck more,” you groan, voice ragged while he keeps the pace in his hips. Another bright sting accosts him when one of your hands drags down the expanse of his back from under his shoulder blade. 

With a growl he feels you cum, clamping down on him – but you’re so slick that it doesn’t deter his thrusts. You pulse, moans and cries peeling off into a high pitched whisper while he slows down inside of you before coming to a stop. 

“You okay?” he asks. 

“Y-yeah just…need a sec,” you sigh, “Need a breather.” 

“That’s okay,” he soothes, running his hands comfortingly over your thighs. 

“Are you having fun?” you ask between deep inhales. 

“Oh, I’m having a blast,” he confirms with a laugh, settling back on his calves while you collect yourself, “Are you?” 

“God,” you reply, exasperated, “I knew you were trouble.” “Doesn’t answer my question,” he says with a quirk of his lips. 

“I’m having a lot of fun,” you nod, a sleepiness pulling at your eyes, “Can I say something?” 

“Always.” 

“I thought you’d be a sex playlist kind of guy.” 

“Excuse me?” he asks. 

“You just gave me a ‘has a sex playlist�� vibe,” you shrug. 

“Why do you think that? What vibe?” Eddie’s tone falls under bewilderment, “Do you think I need music on so I can fuck?” 

“I don’t know, you’re a music teacher maybe that’s just your thing,” you laugh at his surprise and mild offense. 

“I don’t need a beat to know what I’m doing, babe, that’s just disrespectful,” he jokes. 

“I was a little surprised when you didn’t go to your stereo to be like ‘Let me just set the mood,’” you’re teasing him on purpose now, it makes his heart skip a beat. That quick mouth of yours coming back full force – he likes you like this. He could love you like this. 

“Set the mood? I’m not setting the mood enough for you, hm?” “You just have a very ‘let me play grunge while I get it on’ sort of energy going on–” “Listen, listen, enough,” he waves you off to shut you up, “Your break is up if you’re gonna use it to make fun-a-me, flip over.” 

“Flip over? Yeah?” you challenge. “Yeah,” he challenges back, gripping you at the hips, “Flip over.” 

Seeing you in an arch like this turns his brain to mush, ass in the air with hips that follow down into your waist and back out again. He smirks, readying himself behind you while his hand smooths over the swell of your hip. 

“I could get very used to this,” he murmurs to himself. 

“Nice view up there, Munson” you ask, cheek pressed up against his pillows. You wiggle your hips against him, tantalizing and slow. 

“Very, very nice,” he assures. He guides his still aching length to your entrance, and he can tell even half way in that this is a position that works for you. Already gripping the sheets next to you before his hips make it align with yours. He doesn’t let it deter him, backing up to give you a not so delicate thrust all the way into you. 

You let out a surprised huff. 

“See what happens when you make fun?” he coos. 

“I will make fun of you all the time if this is what I’m getting out of it,” you smirk. This playfulness is something he missed, feeling familiar, even in this position. He looks you over again, your body a stunning expanse infront of him – not afraid to do what he needs, not afraid to break you. 

Things with Chrissy had been fine, sure. But there felt like there was so much more possibility here, snug tight inside you. 

“Hmm, I’ll make a note of that,” he grits out, steadying himself before starting up a rhythm. He leans his head back with a desperate groan, fingertips sinking into the fat of your hips harder with every ‘plap! plap! plap!’ of his pelvis against your backside. The downside is not getting nearly as good of a view of your face, but if it saves the neighbors from ringing the bell he’s all for it. You’re loud enough with your face in the pillow. 

He sputters, hands moving from hips to waist when you bounce back against him. 

“Shit, doll,” he growls, watching your ass bounce in double time. Every meeting of his thrusts tugs on him quicker, his resolve faltering when you start to come undone under him again. He has no qualms with how easy it is to get you there, in fact, he makes a mental note to try to beat the high score every time. 

Your thighs and hips give way, pressing back down into the mattress where he follows. Eddie readjusts while you catch your breath, letting you lay flat on your belly with your legs together. 

“Stay like this, hm?” he says in a whisper in your ear, kissing your temple. 

“Hmm,” you respond, eyes fluttering closed. 

He settles over your thighs, reaching down to part your lips that are soaked and puffy with latent need. He’s close, and knowing he’s essentially fucked you to sleep is doing nothing but getting him closer. Pushing in slow, with your legs together, makes him shudder. You squeeze your thighs and while he can’t see you he knows you’re smirking to yourself. 

“Hmm, keep doin’ that for me,” he mumbles headily. 

“S’it feel good?” you ask. 

“S’real good, baby,” he murmurs back tightly, still quiet. The ends of his hair tickle your back while he leans forward over you, drilling you hard into the mattress. 

“Oh god, fuck,” he growls when you squeeze your thighs and walls again, “Fuck, baby, just like that.” 

He lets his breath run through his nose like a bull, groaning and grunting before an aching moans pools of out him – spilling into the condom while inside you. 

Pulling out, he takes a heaving breath, taking care of the condom and collapsing beside you. 

“Holy shit,” he sighs, looking at you with glassy eyes. 

“You gonna make it?” you ask with a raise of your brow. Body like dead weight, he wills himself closer to you, wrapping you up in his arms over the covers. 

“If not, that’s totally fine,” he says into your temple, “Dying right now would be totally fine.” 

“Well don’t,” you say back, “I’d prefer you didn’t.” 

“Okay, I won’t," his eyes close with the scent of you in his nose, lulling him to sleep. “Thanks," your sleeply reply vibrates against his chest where your face stay planted in comfort. “You’re welcome.” 

Eddie wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing in the living room, eyes peering open blearily to the sun pouring in from his window. He flicks his eyes over to you, seeing your bare back and steady breaths. Fast asleep. 

He eases out of bed, grabbing his boxers off the floor before making it to the living room on the balls of his feet so he doesn’t step too loudly. At the flip of his phone he’s assaulted with the reflection of himself on an incoming FaceTime call. He answers it, rubbing his eyes when a happy scream echoes through the speaker of his phone. 

“I’m a FIANCEEEEEE!” Tatianna screams from behind her hand, the rock on her finger front and center in the camera.

“Congratulations,” he sing songs, speaking low, “Hold on, hold it a little further away from the camera so I can see.” 

Tatianna flips the camera to show off her ring in the sunlight, Eddie’s heart flutters when it glitters and catches in the rays. She flips the camera back to her, beaming from ear to ear. 

“Did you know?” she asks. 

“Of course I knew,” he says matter of factly, “I’ve known for months. I helped make it happen.” 

“He did so good, Ed,” Tatianna smiles, “Sunrise? He really like – he knows me. That’s my husband! AHHHH!” 

Eddie laughs again but shushes himself, remembering you’re still asleep in the other room. 

“Why’re you being quiet? Oh shit – she’s there huh?” she grins. Gareth makes his way into frame, passing her a glass of champagne. 

“Yeah, guys, she’s here,” he nods, “And she’s sleeping. Otherwise I’d be screaming too.” 

“Sure there was plenty of screaming last night if she’s sleeping,” Gare nudges Tati who nudges him back. Eddie let’s them laugh at him because it would be even worse if they were actually there.

“Everything’s good though? Rob texted me saying things kind of went left but I didn’t want to bring it up if you didn’t bring it up to us,” she asks, sun gleaming off her skin and bright blue bikini top. 

“Everything’s good, we’ll talk about it when you come back,” he assures. 

“Well we don’t wanna interrupt, then,” Gare says, leaning in to kiss Tati on the cheek and then her lips, glossy with champagne. 

“It’s more like I don’t want to interrupt you,” Eddie says back, “I’ll call you later. Love you both.” “Love youuuu,” Tatianna calls back, “I’mma fianceeeee!” 

They cut the call with their mouths on each other and he’s sure he won’t hear back from them for at least a day. He’s glad it at least all went off without a hitch. 

Leaving his phone on the coffee table, he makes his way back to the bedroom where you’re wrapped up in his covers. Running a hand over your shoulder, he gently shakes you awake. 

“Hey pretty,” he coos when your eyes open, “Was gonna make some breakfast, if you want.” 

“Wassonthemenu?” you yawn out, stretching. 

“French toast,” he offers, “I’m kind of a connoisseur.” 

“Ooh that sounds good, I don’t think I’ve had french toast in years,” you say with your eyes closed. 

“Take your time,” he kisses your forehead, “Just meet me in the kitchen.” 

When you do, he’s cracking eggs. Your slow shuffle gets his attention, turning to look at you he sees you picked up his sweats and shirt by mistake. 

“Hello, good morning,” you say stiffly, “It appears I am dressed to impress.” 

“You certainly are,” he jokes back. 

“I’m happy to get some coffee together while you make breakfast,” you offer, “Just let me know where everything is.” 

He points out where you can get started but grabs the mugs for you, giving you a sweet kiss good morning while he does. You don’t talk much, just the sounds of him cooking and the coffee machine whirring while the town wakes up around you both outside. He tells you about the engagement and that they can call again later so you can congratulate them too. You of course, gave him a reproachful look for not waking her up to start with. You pour the coffee while he plates the toast, thick and crusted over with brown sugar and cinnamon. He sets the butter and maple syrup on the center of the kitchen table while you grab plates and silverware. The domesticity makes his heart ache, because with you, it feels like this could be your house together. With you, it feels like it’s a future where he doesn’t live with Tati and Gare, and he wakes up to you every day.  He swears he smells chlorine in the air. 

“You don’t like cream or sugar, right?” you ask, putting the mug in front of him while he sits at the table. 

“I don’t, but we have some. There’s milk and cream in the fridge door and I thiiiink some stevia packets in the cabinet with all the baking stuff. That one.” 

He points to the cabinet next to the stove and you snatch a couple like gold. He sips his cup while you prepare your coffee, giggling to yourself. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“It’s just, this outfit is not what I had in mind to be wearing in front of you after a night like that,” you laugh, “I thought maybe I’d have a sexy robe on or something and instead I just –” You take a sip from your mug, shaking your head, “I look like a teenage boy from ‘07 whose about to do a kick flip for the ladies.” 

Eddie barks a laugh into his coffee cup, “You do, you look just like that.” 

“I know,” you laugh back, “But then again, I’m in your clothes. So I guess it’s you who looks like a teenager from ‘07.” 

“I can do a kick flip,” he admits. “Yeah, I’m not surprised,” you say into your next sip. 

Eddie swears he can hear the rush of water while his classmates kick on the side of the pool, his own toes on the edge of the block. 

“You know who you look like, almost exactly?” he asks, putting his mug down and meeting you at the counter. “Who?” you ask with a smile. 

“You look just like Eddie Munson’s girlfriend,” he says, hand falling on your hip. 

“Yeah?” you reply, a little taken aback, “Just like her?” 

“Spitting image,” he nods. 

“You know, before I said that thing about looking like teenage boy, I was gonna say ‘Hey, you know something? I think I look just like Eddie Munson’s girlfriend,” you beam. Your response makes his heart race, such a goofball, so like him, so easy, so right. 

He cocks his head, peering at you, “Wait, I think – wait – are you…the lead guitar player’s girl? Eddie Mnson’s girlfriend?”

You smirk, falling into the bit with him, “Oh my god yeah, that’s me – can’t get you in the show though, sold out. He’s like, a totally famous rockstar now.”

“Ah, that’s okay,” Eddie shakes his head with a winning smile, hand splaying over your waist to pull you in, “I know someone in the band.” 

A coffee flavored kiss seals the deal. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind he hears the shrill call of Miss Tiffany’s whistle. 

He nails the dive every time.

[amsznn]

can you do one with dad matt?

him and the reader have a potty training toddler who walks around with a naked bottom half for easier access to the potty 😭 .

the kid has to tell the reader or matt when they need to use the potty so they can take them and theres a lot of accidents and stuff and its really cute

ACCIDENTS - m. sturniolo

it was a regular sunday evening for you and matt. at least, it’s your regular. typically if it was two years ago you and matt would be cuddled up on his bed enjoying the sweet silence and each other’s company.

well those times have changed. especially with your new edition to your family. your baby girl, aria, brought a whole new world to you and matt’s life. bringing joy and sometimes destruction.

and as of right now? she’s bringing destruction.

all you were trying to do was relax a bit on the couch. no matter what anyone says, parenting was not easy. especially not chasing around a toddler that refuses to use the bathroom.

“aria, baby, i need you to go potty.” you try and plead with the stubborn two year old. but she only pouts and turns her back on you letting out a stern, “no!” before running off again.

you heavily sighed before walking towards your daughter. swiftly picking her up, you removed the diapers that were on her. she needed to learn how to use the bathroom on her own eventually. you set your baby down, now bottomless, watching as she ran towards her dads room.

aria bursted into matt’s room as you followed behind, plopping down on the bed. “dada!” your girl’s sweet voice rang through the room before she collided with matt’s leg as he was seated on his desk chair.

“hey my beautiful girl, where are your diapers?” matt questioned softly before holding her up by her armpits. aria only pointed at you that was nearly passed put on the bed from exhaustion.

“she didn’t wanna potty.” was all you mumbled before dozing off. matt could only chuckle but somewhat felt bad since youve been battling with the girl to potty on her own for weeks now.

matt rose up from his seat and carried his daughter to the bathroom before stopping infront of her potty that was next to the big toilet. he sat her down and she only looked at him in confusion.

“sweetheart, if you go potty ill give you ice cream, okay?” maybe bribery wasnt the best parenting technique, but hey, you seemed desperate and worn out so if this could work maybe it could help you. at least thats what matt thought.

“okay, dada!”

matt smiled and nodded before walking out towards the door, making sure to leave it open just in case. “i’ll be right here sweetheart.”

a couple of minutes had passed before matt heard aria yell out, “done!” matt smiled to himself before yelling back. “did you wipe?” the girl answered back with a yes and matt walked into the bathroom.

lets just say..

she did go potty,

she just missed.

the potty.

after cleaning up both the bathroom and his daughter, matt made sure to put a diaper back on aria to avoid the same outcome. by the time he was done you had already woken up to see both your husband and your daughter eating ice cream on the kitchen island.

“guess what?” matt said as he saw your figure emerged from the room. “i went potty, mommy!” your baby proudly said with a mouth filled with ice cream. you couldn’t help but smile and give her a bunch of kisses on her chubby cheeks that you loved.

you also gave matt a bunch of kisses as well as one on his lips, as a thank you.

“i can’t believe you did it.” you said in disbelief as you also grabbed a bowl for ice cream.

“yeah well, there were some accidents.” both your husband and your daughter started giggling like a secret was shared but just for the two of them. you only shrugged, just happy about this milestone.

-

a/n: ugh this was so cute chat i love dad matt

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Naughty or Nice?

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Warnings: smut, fem!receiving

Summary: This year, you’re going to ask Santa for something only you have been able to give you thus far. Orgasms.

Square Filled: Christmas (2021) for @spndeanbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

Normally, the mall is a place you and your friends avoid during the holiday season, but you heard that they were hosting auditions for Santa this year. Rumor has it, that someone super attractive got it. Again, you’re not one to go man-hunting at a crowded mall with children and families running everywhere, but here you are.

Your dating life hasn’t been all that great. It mostly consists of hookups and one-night stands that can never get you to orgasm. Only your pink ice cream clit vibrator has ever been able to do the job, so you’re hoping to come here and maybe meet a willing Santa to take home. Maybe if you sit on his lap and wish for orgasms, he’ll be inclined to give you one.

It’s worth a shot.

“I can’t believe you’re going to do this,” your friend, Beth, says.

“What? Men who audition for Santa usually aren’t men from this town. They’re all married and they don’t want to take the joy away from their kids. Whoever it is, is from out of town, which means he can be hot, single, and eager for a hookup.”

“I thought you were done with those.”

“No, I am done with hookups from men who only think about themselves. I’ll be able to take one look at this Santa and know if he can jingle my bells if you know what I mean.”

Beth laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t think parents would allow their children to sit on a sexy man’s lap.”

“Only one way to find out. Come on.”

The area where kids are meeting Santa is already crowded with families, and the line is already three stores down from the start. When Dean heard about the Santa auditions, he put in his name when he was drunk. What harm would it do if he decided to be Santa for a night? On one hand, he can make a lot of children’s days by being Santa. On the other hand, he could meet a kid’s single mom or their sexy aunt and take them home. It’s a win-win.

“Okay, I thought you were joking before, but you’re really going to do this?” Sam asks his brother.

Dean pulls on the red coat and smirks at his brother. “Hot chicks, Sammy.”

“Kids, Dean.”

Dean shrugs. “It comes with the job. Just go find something to do. This shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.”

“You’re relentless.”

“Dedicated, Sam,” Dean smirks.

Sam rolls his eyes and leaves the room. He decides to head back to the motel room instead of sticking around. Dean finishes getting ready and walks out with one of the mall coordinators. As soon as the kids see him, they cheer at the thought of being with Santa even for a minute. He stays true to his character and plays the best Santa he can be for the kids also while looking out for anyone single and willing to go home with him.

“Looks to me like he’s a regular guy,” Beth says to you as you inch closer to the front of the line.

“Beth, you are married so I don’t expect you to see this but I caught a glimpse of him as he was putting his costume on. I think he was carved by the Gods themselves.”

“You’re relentless,” she rolls her eyes.

“What? I am just trying to participate in Christmas traditions.”

“You don’t even have any kids.”

“I’m practicing…?”

“By asking Santa for,” she lowers her voice to a whisper, “orgasms?”

“Yes.”

Beth laughs, and you get closer to the front of the line. Dean takes a picture with one of the little girls who just asked for a pony when he locks eyes with you. For just a few seconds, it’s like time has slowed down just for the two of you. Even from where you’re standing, you can see how green his eyes are.

“Next!” the mall attendant yells.

“Good luck,” Beth whispers and steps off to the side where the parents wait.

The mall attendant gives you a weird look, especially when you step up on the platform where Dean is. She doesn’t say anything because she doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it even though you’re getting some dirty looks from parents in line.

“Well, who do we have here? What’s your name?” Dean drawls when you sit on his lap.

“Y/N.”

“And have you been a good girl this year?”

You smirk when you hear the double meaning in his words.

“Oh, I’ve been a very bad girl.”

Dean’s eyes darken. “You know the deal. Bad girls don’t get presents.”

“Might you make an exception?”

He licks his lips, and you can’t help but watch his tongue. “I might. Depends on what you want.”

You lean in so that your mouth is close to your ear. You don’t need everyone in the mall to hear this.

“Orgasms.”

“Bad girl or not, I think I can help with that.”

“I’d hope you would,” you grin.

“Meet me after in front of Barnes and Noble.”

You forgo the picture and leave to give the kids what they came here for. Dean shifts in his seat to hide the erection you gave him. He’s not trying to scar any children or piss off any parents.

“Did you ask him?” Beth asks when you walk away from the place.

“Yes. God, he was so much more attractive up close. He was so… firm. I’m going to meet him after he’s done. Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime. I have to get back to Jared. He already started drinking eggnog without me.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know how it goes,” you wink.

You wait anxiously in front of Barnes and Noble until the very last child has had her turn with Santa. The more you’re by yourself, the more you psych yourself out. Was this a good idea? You don’t even know the man. He could be a murderer for all you know. Okay, maybe not that but he could have dark secrets in his closet.

Before you can convince yourself to leave, a man who you believe is Santa walks over to you wearing flannel, jeans, and a black jacket.

“So, have you decided if you want to be naughty or nice?”

“Whichever is more fun,” you grin.

“Naughty it is.” He holds his hand out and you take it. “I’m Dean.”

“Y/N, but you already know that.”

He even has a hot car. Once you see the shiny black Impala, you decide you’re going to milk Dean for everything he’s got before he leaves. He might very well be the best one-night stand you’ll ever have.

Dean takes you back to his motel room where Sam is reading a lore book. He looks up when the door opens, and he shakes his head when he sees his brother isn’t alone.

“Out, Sammy.”

“Dude.”

“Would you rather watch me fuck her?”

“That’s something I’m not opposed to if you’re into that sort of thing,” you say.

“No, thanks,” Sam pouts. “I’m going to get a room far from yours.”

As soon as Sam leaves, Dean pulls you into him and presses light kisses down your neck.

“So, are you going to unwrap me?”

“Damn right, I am, and I’m going to take all night to do it.” Dean lays you down on the bed and runs his hands down your legs. “Are you wet for me?”

“Undress me and find out.”

Dean practically rips your clothes away, and you don’t even think about needing them tomorrow at the moment. All you want right now is his mouth and fingers on you. Dean cups your pussy and runs two fingers through your slit to confirm that yes, you are wet and ready for him. He falls to his knees and you spread your legs open wide for him.

He grips your thighs and pulls you to the edge of the bed before burying his face between your legs. Some of the men you’ve been with hated going down on you, so you haven’t had a man down there in a while. Just the simple act of Dean sliding his tongue through your folds is enough to bring a squeal out of you.

“Fuck, Dean, that feels so good,” you moan and grab his hair.

“Good. I’m not stopping until you’re dripping down my chin.”

Dean massaged your clit with his tongue before sliding down to your entrance. He tongues you rapidly while rubbing your clit with his thumb. You can’t come unless your clit is stimulated, but you honestly think Dean could just lick you and you’d explode for him. Maybe you’ll test that theory later tonight when you go for another round. Dean is the kind of man you go multiple rounds with.

“Shit, Dean, that feels so good. I’m gonna come.”

“Come all over my face.”

You don’t wait another second before exploding around his tongue, and he laps up every drop you’re giving him.

“God, you taste like Heaven,” Dean moans.

He kisses your clit once before standing up. You stand and kiss him even though you can taste yourself on his lips. You undress him until you’re both naked, and he turns you so that you’re facing the bed. He gently pushes down on your back until you’re on your hands and knees, and he grips your hips and tugs you hard enough for you to lose your balance. You fall face first on the bed with your ass in the air, just how he wants you.

He grabs the base of his cock and squeezes to prevent his release from coming too soon. He pumps twice before sliding the head of his cock between your pussy lips.

“Dean, skip the formalities. Please, fuck me.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”

He grabs both sides of your hips and slides into your pussy slowly so that you can feel every inch. You gasp from the stretch but he doesn’t stop until you’re completely full of him. You grip the sheets and push back into him as much as you can from your position. Dean pulls out only to slam back in, and you can’t help the loud moan from coming out.

“Fuck, Y/N, how are you so tight?”

“You feel so good, Dean,” you moan.

Thankfully Sam isn’t next door or else he’d hear the sound of skin slapping against skin and your beautiful moans.

“Rub your clit for me, baby. Get yourself closer to the edge. I want to come with you.”

You reach down and rub your clit in fast hard circles. It’s been so long that you’re approaching the edge faster than you’d thought you would.

“Fuck, Dean, I’m close again.”

“Come all over my cock.”

You do as he says and explode all around him. You squeeze his cock several times which brings Dean over the edge. He slows his thrusting to ride out both of your highs until neither of you can give anything more. He pulls out of you and falls onto the bed next to you.

“I hope you’ve got more than one round in you.”

He smirks. “Baby, I can go all night.”

You love Christmas time.

x

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[tortillamastersblog]

Back To You | Sam Carpenter

Pairing: Sam Carpenter x reader

Warnings: mentions of violence, death, blood, injuries, and swearing

Summary: When Sam left after turning eighteen, you were devastated. You’d been in love with her since you were kids and her leaving meant you never got to tell her how you truly felt.

Fast forward a couple of years, Tara gets attacked and Sam returns. . .

Next Part | Masterlist

________________________________________________

“C’mon, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!”

Coach Mason’s voice makes me grit my teeth and push harder, skating as fast as I can even though my legs are numb and my lungs are burning.

He’s had us doing suicides for the last five minutes and if I wasn’t as out of breath as I am right now, I’d curse him out so bad.

“One more!” I stop right before hitting the wall, spraying it with ice before pivoting and sprinting back. “Aaannnd DONE!”

I fall to my hands and knees and cough. That was the worst. The others are panting as well and from the looks of it one of my teammates, Percy, is about to throw up.

“Good job, guys. We’re done for today. Go shower and enjoy the rest of your day.” Coach Mason pats my best friends Liam and Paige on their backs before stepping out of the rink.

I groan and get back up after a moment, and skate over to Liam and Paige. They’re wheezing and trying to catch their breath as well, but when they see my face they burst out laughing.

“Look who’s back P, it’s Tomato,” Liam says, taking off his helmet to reveal his sweat slicked hair.

“Fuck you.” I gasp and take off my helmet as well before sticking up my middle finger. I know my face gets red every time I exercise. “You’re just jealous you’re not as fast as I am.”

“Ha! Never. You’re not even that much faster.” Liam pokes me with his stick and turns to Paige who’s giggling at our antics. “C’mon back me up here.”

Paige raises her arms and shrugs. “Nah. I’m not getting involved.”

I laugh at Liam’s offended frown and smack him with one of my gloves before skating to the rink’s exit where our other teammates are already taking off their skates.

“So, are we still on for dinner tonight or what?” Paige asks when she gets off the ice after me. “And if so, are we ordering in, or cooking?”

“I say we cook something. It’s been a while since we cooked together,” Liam says, taking a seat on a bench to take off his skates.

Paige looks at me for confirmation and I shrug. “Sure. I’m fine with whatever.”

“Perfect. It’s settled then, but our fridge is empty, Lee, so we’ll have to go grocery shopping. Care to join us, Y/N? We can head straight to the store, buy what we need and then spend the rest of the afternoon watching movies before cooking together,” she suggests.

I check my watch for the time and frown apologetically. “I’d love to, but I can’t. I have to pick Tara up from school and I promised her I’d help her with a history project, so rain check on the movie marathon?”

Paige smiles and says, “Of course.”

Liam nods and stands back up. “Yeah, no problem. Just text us when you’re coming over.”

I take off my skates and check the time again.

Shit, I have to hurry. If I don’t I’m going to be late and Tara will think I forgot about her.

“Will do. Thanks guys! I’ve gotta run. I’ll see ya later!”

Liam and Paige give me a thumbs up and I smile gratefully before rushing to the locker rooms.

“Hey!” Tara jumps into my car as soon as I come to a stop in front of Woodsboro High School. I’ve managed to make it just in time. She throws her bag on the backseat and immediately accepts the aux cable when I hand it to her so she can play some music.

“Hiya, how was school?” I ask, waving at Chad, Mindy, Wes and Amber. They smile when they see me and I smile back before starting our drive to Tara’s house.

“It was fine, but we got a shit ton of homework.“ She pulls out her inhaler after putting on a song and takes a drag of it. “How was practice?” She glances over and smiles when she sees my face is still a little red. “Did Coach Mason make you do sui’s again?”

I glare at her playfully and stop the car at a red light. “Do you even have to ask?”

Tara laughs and takes another drag of her inhaler. “No, not really, but I like annoying you.” She smirks and drops the inhaler into the cup holder.

I grumble, not even half as annoyed as I’m pretending to be. “Mhmm. I can tell, you little shit. You know, if you didn’t have asthma I’d make you walk the rest of the way home.“

“No, you wouldn’t,” she quips confidently and turns up the volume of the music.

I raise an eyebrow but sigh a moment later, whispering, “Yeah, no. I wouldn’t.”

The rest of the drive is uneventful and before long I’m pulling into the Carpenter’s driveway.

“Is your mom home?” I ask when I get out of the car. My eyes momentarily dart to the house on the other side of the street.

My house. . . I square my shoulders and look away. No, it’s no longer my house. I sold it because it stopped being mine the moment my parents died in the accident.

Tara grabs her bag from the backseat and shakes her head, snapping me out of my thoughts. “No. She’s in London.”

I frown. “For how long?”

“Don’t know,-“ she turns to unlock the front door-“don’t care. It’s not like it’s the first time she’s left for an extended period of time.”

“Right. . .” I clench my jaw and step inside the house after her.

Christina Carpenter has been a shit parent ever since Tara’s dad left. I don’t dare to dwell on it though because if I did that woman would get an earful of how bad of a mother she actually is. It would be the truth, yes, but I know it would upset Tara which is why I stay quiet and take my frustrations out in the rink.

“So, what’s this project you need help with?” I ask, following Tara into the kitchen.

My gaze lands on the pictures on the walls, but I’m quick to look away and ignore the hurt that constricts my heart.

They’re nothing but memories now. Painful memories of what once was and reminders of what could have been. I’m in several of those pictures, alongside Tara and her family, but the face staring back at me, my face, is one I no longer recognize.

“I have to write a paper on the Cold War, but I don’t know how to start,” she says, pulling two bottles of water out of the fridge.

I cringe and take one of the bottles when she offers it to me. “Phew. Okay, I was never really good in history, but I’ll try to help as best as I can.”

Tara smiles and takes a sip of her water. “Thank you. Should we get started?”

“Sure. After you, ma’am.” I bow playfully and gesture for her to lead the way upstairs to her room.

“Idiot.” She smacks my arm as she brushes past me which makes me laugh.

We go to her room and plop down on her bed, getting started on the paper.

After skimming the instructions, I realize it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be. We work together, going through textbooks and using the internet to gather all the information we need before Tara gets to work on actually writing the paper.

I keep her company and proofread everything she shows me until, finally, after two and a half grueling hours, she’s done.

She saves the Word document on her laptop before shutting it and falling back on the bed with a dramatic sigh.

“Urgh. Finally. That was the worst,” she complains.

I chuckle and toss a pillow at her. “It wasn’t that bad.”

She sits up again and hurls the pillow back at me. I catch it with ease and stuff it behind my back to make myself more comfortable.

“Maybe for you it wasn’t. All you did was help me research. I did all the writing,” she argues, dragging her hands down her face.

“Yeah you did because it’s your assignment. I just said I’d help, not that I’d write the damn thing for you.” I nudge her playfully which makes her roll her eyes.

“Whatever,” she whispers before pulling out her phone. “Hey, it’s already pretty late. Do you want to stay for dinner? Amber’s probably going to come over as well.”

I check my own phone to see that Paige texted me that she and Liam managed to get everything to cook Spaghetti Bolognese together.

I sit up and shake my head with an apologetic smile. “I’d love to but I already made plans with Liam and Paige.”

Tara doesn’t seem fazed by my rejection and just smiles. “Alright. So, you’re leaving now?”

I get up and nod. “Yeah. Is that okay? Or do you want me to stay until Amber gets here?”

“No, no. You can go, I’ll be fine,” she says, getting off the bed as well.

“Okay then.” I pull her into a hug and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Call me if you need anything.”

She breaks our hug and shoves me gently with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, yeah. Just go, I’ll be fine.”

“Fine. I’m leaving.” I go to the door and open it. “Love ya!”

Tara snorts, but says, “I love you too, idiot,” before I make my way down the stairs and out of the house. I lock the front door with my spare key and get in my car, texting Liam and Paige that I’m heading to theirs now.

There’s quite a bit of traffic, so it takes longer than expected to drive all the way across town and to make matters even worse, right before I get to Liam’s and Paige’s, I catch sight of Tara’s inhaler in my cup holder.

Shit. She needs that. She mentioned two days ago that she lost her backup inhaler.

I make a U-turn and call Liam.

“Yello?” he says after picking up.

“It’s me, Lee. I have to turn back around because Tara forgot her inhaler in my car.”

“Oh, no worries. Take your time. Paige and I are going to start cooking though, is that okay? I’m starving.”

He groans and I laugh. “Of course. I won’t be long.”

“Yeah okay. See you in a bit. And tell Tara I said hi.” I can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“Ew, gross dude,” I say, adding, “She’s like five years younger than us.”

This time it’s Liam’s turn to laugh. “Relax. I’m just joking.”

I huff and make a right turn. “You better be.”

“I am, I swear,” he defends. Silence. Then. . . “For real though, tell her I said hi.”

I roll my eyes and hang up. I know he’s only joking, but it gets on my nerves sometimes. I continue driving, listening to the radio until fifteen minutes later, I’m once again pulling into the Carpenter’s driveway.

I grab the inhaler and get out, frowning at the absence of Amber’s car for a moment.

Shouldn’t she be here by now?

I shake my head and make my way around the front of my car.

Maybe she decided not to come over after all.

I skip up the stairs to the front door, only to freeze a second later when a muffled scream pierces through the silence.

“Tara. . .” I drop the inhaler and rush to the door, unlocking it as fast as I can before bursting inside.

Another blood curdling scream echoes through the house and I dash toward the kitchen where it came from.

There’s blood on the floor and a handprint on a nearby door and when I round the corner I see a cloaked figure standing over Tara.

She’s on the ground, sobbing and coughing. Her pink shirt is covered in blood and one of her legs is twisted in a weird way, obviously broken.

Looming over her is a cloaked figure and when she turns around to crawl away, he raises a blood covered knife and stabs her in her lower back.

“Tara!” I jump into action and tackle him to the ground.

He grunts, surprised by my arrival and manages to twist around underneath me. The sight of his infamous Ghostface mask me freeze for just a split second, but that seems to be all the time he needs to get his arm free and swing the knife at me.

I’m quick to react, leaning back just in time to avoid getting my throat slit. When he swings at me again though, I’m not as lucky and with a grunt he manages to stab me in the shoulder right next to my neck.

I scream and topple off him, raising my hand to my shoulder when he pulls the knife back out. My heartbeat is loud in my ears, and I think this is it, this is how I’m going to die, but then I hear the sound of police sirens.

No, this can’t be it. I’m not dying unless I know Tara is safe.

Ghostface grabs the front of my hoodie and lifts his arm to land the killing blow before making his escape, but he never gets the chance to bring the knife down on me because I kick against his knee, making him stumble.

That’s it. That was his chance. If he doesn’t get out now he’s going to get caught, I think, and I’m right.

Ghostface limps out as the sirens get louder. I know he’s not going to return, so I turn my back on the doorway and shuffle to Tara’s side.

“Y/N,” she sobs, clutching at her side. My eyes widen at all the blood and when I see she got stabbed through the hand I feel sick.

“I’m here, Tara. I’m here,” I croak. I pull off my sweatshirt even though I can barely move my shoulder, and press it against her stomach to slow the bleeding.

She hiccups and whimpers, and I slip my free hand underneath her to also apply pressure to the stab wound on her lower back.

“You’re going to be fine,” I whisper. Warm blood soaks the shirt around my own stab wound, making it stick to my back and chest, but I don’t stop applying pressure to Tara’s wounds.

She’s all that matters. She has to survive.

After what feels like hours, the front door flies open and police officers swarm into the house.

“You’re going to be just fine. I promise.”

The constant beeping of Tara’s heart rate monitor keeps me from falling asleep even though I stayed up the entire night. She’s been out of surgery for about half an hour now and the doctors said it’s going to be a while until she wakes up.

She looks so pale and small, it makes my heart hurt, so I carefully take her hand in mine and move my chair even closer to her bed.

It’s a little bit of a struggle because my right arm is in a sling since my shoulder was stitched up, but in the end I manage to get the chair to where I want it to be.

I let out a defeated sigh and lower my head. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice breaking as tears prick my eyes. “I should have stayed. I shouldn’t have left.”

No one knows what would have happened if I had stayed. Maybe the attack wouldn’t have happened at all. Maybe Tara would be fine now, or maybe we could have ended up exactly where we are right now. The truth is, no one knows, but at least she wouldn’t have been alone and that is the part that gnaws at me the most because I broke my promise to her.

After Sam left, she was heartbroken. She was alone and lost, so I promised her that I’d never leave her.

She’s always been like a little sister to me because Sam and I were best friends and we used to look after her together, but after that promise, we became inseparable.

“I’m sorry.” I whisper again, shutting my eyes and ignoring the tears that drop down my cheeks. I squeeze her hand in mine and rest my forehead against the edge of the bed.

It’s an uncomfortable position, but I’m too tired to move. I stay like that for a couple of minutes, listening to the heart rate monitor until the door slowly creeps open.

I shoot up in my chair and hiss at the stinging pain in my shoulder.

“Sorry.” Paige’s soft voice makes me relax again and when I turn around I see her standing in the doorway with an apologetic smile on her face.

Liam is right behind her and, for once, he has a serious look on his face.

“Hey.” I sink back in the chair and send them a tight lipped smile.

“How are you feeling?” Paige asks, entering the room. Liam follows her and closes the door.

I don’t even have the energy to scoff at that, so I just whisper, “Like shit.”

Usually Liam would make a joke about it, teasing me by saying I also look like shit instead of just feeling like it, but given the severity of the situation, he doesn’t. He simply places the bouquet of flowers they brought onto the bedside table and joins Paige at my side.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, squeezing my uninjured shoulder.

“Thanks.” My voice is gruff, but I couldn’t care less about that right now. I keep my eyes on Tara, watching her chest rise and fall steadily.

“We were so worried about you,” Liam says.

I hum in acknowledgment, but don’t say anything. I called them using the hospital’s phone last night after the doctor’s took care of my shoulder, and filled them in on what happened.

They were so worried, they wanted to come to the hospital immediately, but I told them to stay at home and come back in the morning which it apparently already is now. I also called Amber and Wes, telling them to stay at home and go to school until Tara wakes up.

“Is she going to be okay?” Paige asks, bringing me back to reality.

I nod and tear my eyes away from Tara to look at her. “Yeah. The doctors said she’s going to be fine, but she almost didn’t make it. . .S-she could have died, Paige.”

A sob claws its way out of my mouth and almost instantly Paige and Liam pull me into a hug.

“Yes, it was a close one, but she’s going to be okay,” Liam says. “I’m sure if it wasn’t for you, she’d not be here right now.”

His words shatter something in me and suddenly, my entire composure crumbles. I begin sobbing uncontrollably and break down, clinging onto both of them as best as I can without letting go of Tara’s hand.

A groan makes my eyes snap up from my lap. Liam and Paige left a while ago after making sure I had something to eat (a disgusting protein bar from the hospital’s vending machine) and something to drink (an entire bottle of Gatorade).

They were reluctant at first when I told them to go to class, but gave in eventually when I convinced them their note taking (and then sharing said notes with me) would be more beneficial than their being here.

Now, my eyes widen at the sight of Tara waking up.

“Y/N?” she whispers, opening her eyes slowly.

I get to my feet and grab a cup of water from the bedside table. “Yeah, I’m here.”

I take a seat on the edge of the bed and smile softly when her dazed eyes land on me. I offer her the cup and help her drink from it when she takes it.

“How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?” I ask, taking the cup back when she’s done.

“N-No,” she says quietly. She moves her uninjured hand to her stomach where she was stabbed. “But. . . I’m scared.”

I nod and put the cup on my chair, not wanting to get up to put it back on the bedside table. “Me too.”

Tara’s eyes clear up a little and when she properly takes me in for the first time, she shudders and brushes her fingers over the sling my arm is in. “Your shoulder. . . You’re hurt.”

I grab her hand and squeeze it gently. “I know, but we’ll both be fine.”

Tears well up in her eyes and her chin starts quivering. “You came back. H-He was going to kill me, but you came back. Why did you come back?”

I nod and don’t bother swallowing the growing lump in my throat. “Because you forgot your inhaler in the car and then I heard you scream and—“ I gulp and decided mid sentence not to finish that though. “I’m not leaving your side again until that fucker is either behind bars, or dead, okay?”

A tear streams down Tara’s cheek and I let go of her hand to pull her into a gentle hug. “Okay,” she breathes, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”

“Here you go. One Red Bull and a Snickers,” I say, handing Deputy Vinson the snacks he asked for when I offered to get something from the vending machine.

Wes, Mindy, Chad and Amber got here a couple of minutes ago and I decided to step out of the room for a moment to give them a chance to catch up with Tara alone.

“Thanks.“ Deputy Vinson opens the Red Bull and takes a big sip. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t mention it.” He took Tara’s and my statement earlier and was then stationed outside of her room by Sheriff Hicks.

We share a little smile and I walk past him to go back into the room, only to feel my heart drop when I hear a familiar voice as soon as I open the door.

No, it can’t be. . .

I step into the room and swallow harshly when my eyes land on her.

________________________________________________

[wolverigrl]

Scorched Earth

Logan Howlett x mutant reader

!Disclaimer! Y/n is a mutant with the same skills as the human torch! Let me know if you'd like to read another part!

Warnings: mentioning of alcohol and death, angst

Enjoy!

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

“Bobby, for real, you can’t possibly think that’s better than mine!” I laughed, leaning back on the chair in the kitchen, feet propped up on the table. Across from me, my brother grinned, folding his arms over his chest with that cocky smirk of his.

“You’re just jealous I got the better nickname.” Bobby replied, his voice light, teasing. “Iceman? It’s sleek, it’s cool - literally - and it fits me.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Oh, please. ‘Iceman’ sounds like the title of some second-rate action movie. Meanwhile, I’m lighting up the sky over here.”

Bobby raised a brow, feigning offense. “That’s a lot of talk from someone who’s still stuck with ‘Firecracker.’ ”

I punched him lightly on the arm. “I’ll take ‘Firecracker’ any day over your ‘cool’ puns.”

Our banter was easy, the kind that came naturally after years of being siblings. Bobby had always been the steady one, the one who could calm everyone down with a joke, while I was the hothead - pun intended - never one to back down from a challenge. It’s what made us a good team, even if we drove each other crazy half the time.

The way he carried himself, his calm demeanor, and his unwavering sense of control over his powers - everything I wasn't.

I was the fire to his ice, the chaos to his calm. We clashed often, but it wasn’t because we didn’t care. It was because we cared too much. And despite all the bickering, all the teasing, there was a bond between us that no one could break. I’d die for him. He was my anchor when my temper flared, my tether to reality when my powers spiraled out of control.

Just as I was about to throw another sarcastic remark his way, Logan walked into the room, his usual gruff self. He barely acknowledged us, heading straight for the fridge. Typical.

“Hey, Logan!” I called, a mischievous grin spreading across my face. “Did you finally get that stick outta your ass, or is it still lodged in there pretty good?”

Logan froze mid reach for a beer, then slowly turned his head, giving me the look - the one that said 'I am not in the mood for your crap right now, bub.' But that just made it more fun.

“Don’t you have somethin’ better to do, hotshot?” he growled, slamming the fridge shut and twisting the cap off his beer with more force than necessary. “Or do you just live to run your mouth?”

I smirked, unfazed. “You know, it’s funny you say that, because I’ve noticed you love listening to me. Maybe it’s because no one else has the guts to call you out on your eternal grumpiness?”

Bobby snickered from beside me, enjoying the show. “She’s got a point, man. You’re not exactly known for your sunny disposition.”

Logan shot Bobby a glare before turning his attention back to me. “Maybe I’m grumpy ‘cause some people around here don’t know when to shut up.”

“Oh, come on, Logan. You’d miss me if I didn’t poke at you every now and then.” I said, leaning forward with a grin. “Admit it - you secretly love the banter.”

Logan let out a low, frustrated growl, shaking his head as he took a long swig from his beer. “The day I admit that, is the day hell freezes over. And even then, I’ll blame Bobby.”

Bobby grinned, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, don’t drag me into your weird dynamic. I’m just the innocent bystander.”

I shot Bobby a mock glare. “Innocent? You? Yeah, sure. Tell that to the last five people you pranked.”

Logan huffed, clearly done with the conversation, but I wasn’t quite finished yet. “You know, Logan.” I continued, leaning back again and stretching my arms behind my head, “You really oughta work on that sunny disposition. You’re gonna give yourself wrinkles with all that frowning.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, jaw clenching. “Why don’t you mind your own damn business and keep that fire of yours under control?”

“Oh, I keep it very controlled, thank you very much.” I said, flashing a smile. “Besides, you seem to enjoy living dangerously. Why else would you keep hanging around us?”

Logan shook his head, muttering something under his breath before retreating to his usual corner of the room, beer in hand, grumbling the entire way. Bobby leaned in toward me, his voice low enough so only I could hear.

“I still think you’re his favorite.”

I laughed quietly, watching Logan brood from across the room. “Nah, he just hasn’t figured out how to handle all of this yet.” I gestured to myself with a playful smirk.

“Sure, that’s what it is.” Bobby chuckled, leaning back with a relaxed sigh.

Despite Logan’s gruff attitude and my constant teasing, there was a kind of unspoken respect between us. He was the first to step in when things got dangerous, always willing to put himself on the line for the team. And even though he’d never admit it, I knew he appreciated having someone who wasn’t afraid to challenge him, to call him out when he was being extra cranky. In a way, it kept things balanced.

Bobby and I exchanged another look, both of us knowing exactly how this dynamic worked. I teased Logan, Logan growled, and the world kept spinning. It was our version of normal - a delicate balance of sarcasm, snark, and the occasional grumpy Wolverine glare.

It was one of those rare moments when everything felt light, even if just for a little while. Days like these, with Bobby teasing me, and Logan grumbling from across the room, were the best. I’d give anything to hold onto them.

But life as an X-Men had a way of reminding you that those moments could be fleeting.

And I didn’t know then just how fleeting they would be.

Todays mission was supposed to be a standard takedown. Another mutant extremist group, radicalized and bent on 'mutant supremacy'. Charles had briefed us thoroughly, and we had faced worse before. Or at least we thought we had.

It went south almost immediately. We were outnumbered, and it was clear that our enemies had intel we weren’t prepared for. They knew where we would be, how we would strike, and worse - they knew how to separate us. That was when things really started to fall apart.

The battlefield was a mess of chaos and screaming. Blasts of energy, ice, and fire lit up the sky, while the air howled with the sound of Storm’s winds tearing through enemy lines. I was a blur of fire and fury, every step a combustion of flame as I ripped through the chaos, throwing up walls of fire to keep enemies at bay. But no matter how hard we fought, there were too many. We were getting spread thin. Too thin.

I caught sight of Bobby ahead of me, just in time to see him raise an enormous ice wall to shield a group of our teammates. His back was to me, and before I could shout a warning, a blast from one of the enemy’s weapons slammed into him, sending him sprawling across the ground.

“Bobby!” I screamed, my heart lurching.

He struggled to get up, one knee bent, but the blast had been too much. His walls of ice began to crack and crumble around him. Panic rose in my throat like bile. He was surrounded, the enemies closing in.

I pushed forward, flames erupting from my palms as I blasted through the mob, trying to reach him. “Hang on, I’m coming!” I shouted, but my voice barely cut through the cacophony of combat.

But I wasn’t fast enough.

Before I could get to him, a second blast hit him. The impact was devastating. I saw his body jerk violently before he collapsed, crumpling like a rag doll on the cold, scorched ground. Time seemed to slow, my breath caught in my throat, and everything else faded away.

“No!” My scream tore from my chest, broken and raw, but there was nothing I could do.

He was still, too still.

I scrambled toward him, my flames fizzling out as I dropped to my knees beside his body. I reached out, hands trembling as I gently touched his face. His skin was cold, colder than it should have been. His chest didn’t rise. His eyes were closed. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I couldn't hear anything except the roaring silence in my own head.

He was gone.

“Bobby, please…” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Please don’t leave me.”

I don’t know how long I sat there, holding him, begging for him to come back. I couldn’t save him. I. Couldn’t. Save. Him.

Then, something broke inside me.

The grief, the rage, the helplessness - everything surged at once, overwhelming every rational thought. The fire inside me, the power I always tried to control, flared up in an instant. It wasn’t just fire anymore - it was fury, pure and uncontrollable.

Flames erupted from my body, hotter and fiercer than they ever had before. I screamed, the sound ripping through the air as fire exploded in all directions, a supernova of heat and light. The ground beneath me cracked, molten lava seeping from the earth as the intensity of my power burned through everything in its path.

I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t want to.

The flames raged out, consuming everything they touched. The enemy soldiers who had killed Bobby screamed as they were incinerated, their bodies turning to ash in mere seconds. The ground smoked, trees around us igniting in a blaze, and the air became thick with heat.

Jean’s voice echoed in my mind, faint, as if she was shouting at me from the end of a long tunnel. “Y/n, stop! You have to stop!” Her voice was desperate, but I couldn’t listen. Couldn’t hear her over the roaring firestorm inside me.

Storm tried to summon her winds, pulling clouds thick with rain to douse the flames, but it wasn’t enough. Even the sky couldn’t hold back the inferno that had taken over me. I felt her power strain against mine, but my emotions fueled the fire, making it burn hotter, stronger. I was losing control completely, my body heating up like the core of a star.

“Y/n! You’re going to kill everyone!” Scott shouted through the comm, his voice barely audible over the roaring flames. I could see them, all of them, struggling to get away from the heat, the fire spreading in every direction.

Charles reached out, trying to touch my mind, but I was beyond reach. His calming presence couldn’t get through the thick walls of grief and rage that had consumed me.

I was going to burn everything. Everyone.

Then, through the haze of heat and fire, I saw him.

Logan.

He was moving toward me, slow and steady, ignoring the screams of the others as they begged him to stop.

“Logan, no! You’ll die!” Jean’s voice, frantic, but he didn’t listen.

“Logan, don’t!” Storm shouted, the wind whipping around her, but he kept walking, one foot in front of the other, his eyes locked on mine.

I couldn’t stop the fire. I was too far gone, too lost in my own power. The heat radiated off me in waves, scorching everything in its path, and yet he kept coming.

His skin started to blister almost immediately. The heat was unbearable, even from where I stood. I could see his face contorting in pain, could smell the sickening scent of burning flesh as he got closer. His clothes were already charred, the leather of his jacket melting and fusing to his skin. But he didn’t stop.

I wanted to scream at him to get back, to stop, but the words wouldn’t come. All I could do was watch in horror as he walked into the flames, his healing factor struggling to keep up as his body was scorched by the heat I was putting off.

And then he was there, standing right in front of me, his skin bright red, his hands trembling as the fire licked at his skin. His face was a mask of pain, sweat and blood mixing with the charred burns that covered his arms and neck. But his eyes, his eyes were steady.

“Y/n.” he said, his voice low and raspy, strained from the pain. “You need to stop.”

“I can’t!” I gasped, my breath catching as the flames flared up again, fueled by the storm of emotions inside me. “I can’t control it. I-I’m going to kill you, Logan!”

“I don’t care!" he growled, taking another step closer, his boots melting into the molten ground. His body trembled, his skin bubbling and cracking under the heat, but he didn’t back down. “I’m not leaving you.”

Tears streamed down my face, evaporating the moment they hit the air.

His eyes locked onto mine, unwavering, even as the flames licked at his skin. His face contorted in pain, but he didn’t stop.

“Bub.” he rasped, his voice hoarse from the heat. “You need to let go. I know it hurts, but you gotta stop.”

I couldn’t hear him over the roar of the fire. I was too far gone. The heat, the flames, my emotions - it was all consuming me. I was a supernova, and there was no pulling back.

Logan took another step. His healing factor was working overtime, but even he couldn’t withstand this for long. Yet, he didn’t hesitate.

“Y/n!” Logan yelled, louder this time, and I felt his words cut through the haze. “I know what it’s like! To lose someone - hell, to lose everyone! You feel like you’re gonna burn up inside. You feel like it’ll never stop, like you’ll never breathe again. But this ain’t the way!”

I felt the fire flare around me, almost as if it were trying to drown out his words. I wanted to listen, but the grief, the rage - it was still so raw. Bobby was gone. How could I stop the fire when everything inside me was screaming to let it burn?

But Logan didn’t back off. He stepped into the heart of the inferno, his arms opening, and wrapped me in a hug. The flames surged as they met his body, and I could feel his skin burning under my touch. I could smell it. His face twisted in agony, but he didn’t pull away.

“Let it out, hotshot. Let it all out,” Logan whispered, his voice softer now, almost tender. “But don’t burn yourself with it. You ain’t alone. I’m here.”

I could feel his chest rising and falling rapidly, his breaths ragged from the heat, but his arms around me were steady, grounding. In that moment, the fire faltered, flickering as my mind struggled to grasp what was happening.

Logan - the one person who could barely stand to be in the same room as me without a sarcastic remark - was holding me, burning alive in my fire, all because he wouldn’t leave me alone in my pain.

And then, I felt it.

The fire started to die down, the flames retreating into my skin as I began to sob against his chest. The heat that had consumed me so completely, so violently, began to ebb, leaving behind only the suffocating weight of grief. Logan’s chest was soaked with my tears as I clung to him, my body shaking with the force of my cries.

“I couldn’t save him, Logan." I choked out between sobs. “I couldn’t- ”

“I know." Logan murmured, his voice rough but soothing. “I know, bub. It’s not your fault.”

The last of the flames flickered out, and the air around us was suddenly cooler, still. Logan’s body, still blistered and burnt in places, didn’t move. He just held me tighter, letting me cry into his chest, never once letting go. I buried my face into the fabric of his ruined shirt, his heartbeat the only thing keeping me tethered to reality.

After what felt like forever, I became aware of the world around me again. The sounds of the battlefield had quieted. Jean, Storm, and the others were slowly approaching, their faces a mix of worry and relief.

“We need to get back to the mansion,” Scott said, his voice soft but firm. “Y/n, Logan… let’s go.”

Logan didn’t move to let me go, and I didn’t want him to. The thought of being alone right now, without the steady warmth of his presence, was unbearable.

“Can you walk?” Hank asked me.

Logan shook his head, giving a low grunt of pain as he stood up, still cradling me in his arms. “I got her.”

I felt Logan’s arms adjust under me as he began to walk, carrying me like I weighed nothing. I should’ve been worried about him, should’ve told him to let me go, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I pressed my face into his chest, feeling the burn marks on his skin, the roughness of his wounds. He was hurting because of me, but he didn’t care.

The journey back to the mansion felt like a blur, the sounds of the battlefield fading into silence as Logan carried me, step after step, his breathing labored but determined. I clung to him, my body exhausted, but my mind still racing with grief and guilt.

When we finally reached the mansion, Logan carried me straight to my room. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and laid me gently on my bed. His face was tense with pain, but his movements were careful and protective.

I reached out, grabbing his wrist as he turned to leave. “Don’t go... please.” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “I-I don’t wanna be alone.”

Logan’s eyes softened, just for a moment. He gave a small nod and sat down on the edge of the bed, his weight making the mattress dip slightly. He didn’t say anything, didn’t try to offer any more words of comfort, and for that, I was thankful. I didn’t need words. I just needed him to stay.

I curled into his side, my head resting against his chest once again. His heartbeat was slower now, more even, though his body was still warm from the burns. He didn’t flinch when I pressed closer, seeking the comfort of his presence. His arm wrapped around me, holding me close, and for the first time since Bobby died, I felt a small flicker of something like peace.

As I sobbed into Logan’s chest, my body exhausted from the emotional and physical strain, I felt his hand gently stroke my hair. He didn’t say anything, just let me cry. His presence as steady as the heartbeat beneath my cheek.

The tears slowly began to subside, my body relaxing into his as the exhaustion took over. I was grateful for the silence, grateful for the way Logan just was - strong, unyielding, and never pushing me for more than I could give.

Eventually, my eyes grew heavy, the grief and pain pulling me into a restless sleep. The last thing I remembered was the feel of Logan’s hand still in my hair, his quiet strength wrapping around me like a protective shield.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself drift into sleep, safe in his arms.

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

[yup-thats-me]

My heart goes out to all the (anime) fathers!

Men who will one day come to you while you’re chopping up some vegetables for the meal, men with the guts to stare at you straight in the eyes and say, “Y/n…let’s get a divorce. I found someone much better than you.”

He asks for a divorce. You have a knife in your hand.

Without thinking, you rush after him. “Who’s the other woman, goddamn it! I swear to god I’ll kill you then I’d kill myself!” what else was your husband expecting after you spent eight years of your life together, not to mention you even have a five-year-old daughter for heaven’s sake!

“Mama, stop!” your daughter called out, her little eyes filled with tears. “You cannot kill my husband!”

Did she say “My husband’’?

Oh so that’s what made your husband say that. Looking back at the man, you almost killed him off with that stare. He had no choice but to shrug, gesturing to your daughter.

“Baby, can I ask why Daddy is now called ‘my husband’?” The little girl stayed silent, looking at her ‘husband’ who was instantly by her side and picked her up.

“Woman, I cannot have you make my lovely bride-to-be cry!” He would say while smirking.

Sighing, you soothe your daughter. “Baby, see this ring? Daddy has one on his finger too,” The girl’s eyes almost popped out at the revelation.

“That means Mama and Daddy are married. You cannot marry Daddy, baby.”

Loud wails filled the house. It took an ice-cream and a cookie to make her stop. When she did, the terrifying news was brought up again.

“That’s why, Daddy can’t marry you.”

“…then will I get my own ring too?”

Her question made one of you giggle while it made the other’s vein pop on his forehead. “Of course! My little princess will find a lover who will get on one knee and give the ring to her.” The little girl was relieved.

“NO! I won’t let it happen!” Your husband cried, making the girl cry again. He received a smack on the head and the laundry for a week.

tr: mikey, shinichiro, baji, chifuyu, kokonoi; kny: sanemi, zenitsu, tengen; jjk: gojo, yuji, inumaki, sukuna; bsd: ranpo, dazai, nikolai; windbreaker (aged up, ofc): umemiya, kiryu, sakura + your favs!

Men who wakes you up with coffee on bed. It’s no special day today but it was decided that the family of three would go out for a picnic, and the weather could not have been any better.

Men who would not even bother to ask you to make preparation of food and other requirements for the picnic. They would get up at dawn when it is still dark outside and silently begin the preparations for the day.

They would make countless dishes, each one better than the next, and pack them up so beautifully. When done with cooking, they would pack the blankets, wine, and juice for the kid(s), and get your favorite book packed and of course, he cannot miss out on his camera! He has to take many pictures of his family on their day out.

Men who would choose a quiet flower field away from the bustling city; perfect for a quite yet enjoyable trip. They would even lay out the food and help feed them to you.

They would lay in your lap while you read your book and your son close by, doing something with flowers. Your son would run up to the two of you, a flower crown in his hand and ask for your husband to sit up.

The little boy placed the crown on his father’s head, giggling all the while. “Daddy looks so pretty!’’

“Yeah, doesn’t he?” you agree with the boy. “But what about mommy?”

“I’ll make mommy a flower bouquet! Wait your turn!” The boy ran away again, skipping in his track.

Your husband’s lips found yours; soft and sweet. “I love you,” they would say softly. “And our soon,” with a chuckle.

“And I love you two, too.”

tr: draken, mitsuya, inupi, kazutora; kny: tanjiro, rengoku, muzan; jjk: NANAMI, geto, yuta; bsd: chuuya, akutagawa, fukuzawa, poe, atsushi, sigma, fyodor, kunikida; windbreaker: hayato, togame, hiragi + your favs!

do not copy, steal, or translate my work on any other sites. all belong to yup-thats-me on tumblr

[twice-inamillion]

Forever Jihyo

Fluff, Smut (Wedding, lap dance, deep penetration, doggy style, creampie)

Chapter 210

5,180 Words 

(Jihyo and OC’s wedding celebration in Hawaii. Consists of a small group of people close to the members and OC. Also a special performance from OC.)

Mina enters Jihyo’s room and sees a sleeping Jihyo, “Unnie, wake up.” After some poking, Jihyo slowly opens her eyes and asks, “What time is it?”

“It’s ten in the morning. We need to get ready. Today’s the big day,” as Mina opens the large blinds and the sliding door to let some fresh air in. 

Jihyo stares at the window and mumbles, “Yes, today’s the day.

“Breakfast is ready,” shouts Momo. Today was her turn to make breakfast since you left early in the morning to meet up with your friends. 

“How do you feel, Jihyo? Excited on being the first one to get married?” asks Nayeon. 

“I’m happy but nervous. I want everything to go well.” 

Chaeyoung shouts, “What’s there to be nervous about? Oppa can’t runway even if he wants to, haha.” 

The members glare at Chaeyoung for her comment, and Tzuyu says, “Daddy wouldn’t run away; he loves us too much. Right?”

Mina responds, “Of course, he loves us and the babies.”

After breakfast, the members head out to the venue in golf carts, racing to be the first ones there. “Wow, the venue looks so pretty mommy.” 

Jihyo replies, “Your daddy and I chose it for that reason, and it’s really private.”

After all the members arrive, they head inside and do the last-minute check on Jihyo’s dress and get their makeup done. During their makeup session, the members take selfies and photos of each other as memories. Jihyo smiles, watching her members having fun, and Jisoo comes to mind.

Suddenly, she hears small footsteps that make her think of her baby girl, and she looks at her phone for pictures of Jisoo. The footsteps get louder, making her a bit emotional, when she hears, “Umma!”

She turns around and sees Jisoo standing by the door. Jisoo holds her hands up and cries after not seeing Jihyo for a few days. “My baby,” running to Jisoo and picking her up. “I missed you.” Jisoo kisses Jihyo on the cheek, “Umma! Umma!” 

“Jisoo was excited to see you, Jihyo,” says Jihyo’s mom. “I really missed her.” 

Not long after, Ari and Hina also come along, holding hands with each other, Mina’s mom behind them. Ari tried to go with Jisoo, but Hina wouldn’t let her go, especially since the place they were was foreign. It wasn’t until they saw a glimpse of their mother that Hina let go of Ari’s hand. “U… Umma,” Hina rubbed her eyes and was about to cry. Not too far behind, Ari shows excitement to see her mother again, as well as her other aunties. 

Mina hears Hina’s cry, hops off the high chair, and waddles (runs) her way to her children. She picks both up and is attacked by kisses from both of them. 

“Seems like Hina is willing to put some extra effort is it’s for her mom. I haven’t seen her this active,” says Mina’s mom. 

Mina walks to her mother, kisses her, and thanks her for watching her children while she was gone. 

“Where’s Daeun?” asks Dahyun, wondering where her baby was. 

Jihyo’s mom replies, “Chaeyoung’s mom is with her. She was sleeping and didn’t want to wake her up, so she has her in the stroller.” Dahyun gets off the chair and heads out to meet Daeun, “I’ll be right back.”

“What time did you all arrive?” asks Jihyo. 

“Just before midnight. We didn’t want to call since we were tired and just wanted to rest, but these little ones woke up early, excited to see their mothers,” as Jihyo’s mom looked at the babies. 

“Is that true?” asked Jihyo. Jisoo nods and gives her mother a big kiss. “Aww, my baby missed me.” 

“Alright, girls, let’s give your mommies some space to prepare for their pictures. How about having some shaved ice. Your grandpa went to go get some.” 

“Down… down….” the children wanted to be placed back on the floor. They hold their grandma’s hand and walk back towards the patio to meet their grandpa with the shaved ice.

The day continues, and the members are done with their makeup. They take selfies and pictures of each other throughout the day. They try to take photos of the beautiful landscape, the big ocean in the background, and the amazing view of the venue.

You have also been busy and have done some last-minute preparations for the ceremony when you hear a knock on the door, “Can I come in?” 

“The door is unlocked,” you respond and see Samatha, “Hey, what’s up?” 

“Just wanted to see how you were doing. Can’t visit my best friend?”

“Yeah, just surprised it took you this long.”

“You know how it is, the girlfriend wanted to stay in longer,” and gives you a smirk.

“Yeah, I know,” smiling back. 

“Excited for your wedding?”

“Of course, but nervous too.” 

“Why, scared that your harem is going to get jealous?”

“Haha, don’t jinx it.” 

“I’m just kidding. Anyway, why didn’t you invite your siblings? You know your older brother and younger sister have been asking about you. Your relationship with them wasn’t that bad, right?”

“We’re okay. We speak here and there but I wouldn’t want to see them, don’t want to get involved with my family if I can help it. You know how they are, remember.” 

“Yeah, you’re right, but they are still your family.” 

“Not by choice, just born into it. Why have they been talking about me?”

“Well… they know. Just the two.”

“You mean… about the wedding?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Fuck, how did they find out? I just hope they don’t show up. I don’t want them to make to complicate things.”

“You know how they are, your brother and sister like messing with you; maybe they keep tabs.”

“I don’t want them interfering with my personal life, especially with the members.”

“Oh yeah, that would be troublesome, especially with Sana since that’s her type, haha. They asked me how you were doing, but I just told them I didn’t know.” 

“Thanks, even if they know I just want them to stay away.”

“Alright, man do sound too gloomy, it’s your wedding day. Just enjoy and make the most of it. You already have your honeymoon planned out, right?”

“Of course. We are heading out once the wedding is over,” showing a slight smile. 

“Make sure to enjoy your honeymoon, but don’t go too crazy,” as she waves goodbye. 

After the photoshoot, the guests begin to arrive at the venue. It isn’t a large wedding like those on television but enough to see friends and family. 

The first to arrive are Jihyo’s family, consisting of her mom, dad, two sisters, and Jisoo. Then Mina’s mother, father, and the twins. The third person is Chaeyoung’s mother and Daeun who is in a stroller. The fourth group is Sana’s mother and father, who goes to check up on Sana’s condition. 

It doesn’t take long for the rest of the guests to arrive and make their way to their seats. Watching the seats get filled makes you a bit nervous and gives you an idea of how the members feel when they perform. 

“Alright, everyone, gather around and start taking your seats. The ceremony is about to begin in a few minutes,” says the wedding planner.

As the groom, you’re the first one to make it to the altar and see familiar faces: Momo’s family, Tzuyu’s mom, Jihyo’s friend Sejeong, Somi, and other close friends. 

Next to you is manager unnie, who has covered for you since you arrived at the company, your friend and now the person to ordain the wedding. 

You wait before the altar as the music plays, signaling the bride and bridesmaids to come in. In comes the members in pairs in order from oldest to youngest, smiling at their parents and making their way alongside the altar. 

Out comes Jihyo and her dad, walking at a slow pace. You can’t help but be in awe of how beautiful Jihyo looks. The closer she gets, you reminisce the memories you have made with her, happy ones and sad ones, each holding significant value to you both. Your heart beats faster, your hands start to sweat, and your eyes become watery. 

They stop inches from you, and Jihyo’s dad walks to you and grabs your arm, “I know you’ll make her happy and protect her with all your might. You’re a great guy, but please don’t hurt her.” You place your hand on his shoulder and reassure him, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect her with my life.” 

He walks towards Jihyo and says, “I don’t know what your future holds for you, and I know that twenty years from now, many things will have happened that we can’t predict. But whatever happens, and wherever you go, your Mum and I know you’ll always have each other’s love, and you’ll always have ours.” Jihyo tears up and hugs her dad, giving him one last kiss as his little girl.

He holds both your hands, “I know Jihyo will be an amazing wife, and I know that because if she’s anything like her mother, she’ll still be making you smile even 50 years on,” with a teary face and walks to his seat.

“Today is a happy day as we come to celebrate the union between two people who will become one. I’ve known these two for a long time, and I can tell you that their love is pure and real. I remember scolding them when they got together, but I eventually accepted the fact and assumed it was just a fling; over time, I would see how much in love they were. I’ve seen their relationship deepen over the years and bloom (looking at Jisoo). I am happy that they asked me to officiate their wedding here today,” and the audience clapped. “Thank you.” She continues her speech and eventually signals you for your speech. “Now, we will hear from the groom.”

You pull out a card from your pocket and look at Jihyo, “I remember the first time we met, you and Jeongyeon were playing a panic on Nayeon. She was chasing you around the hall, and I thought you were somewhat of a wild person. I was somewhat timid, but you easily approached me and invited me into your group. It was weird at first, but over time, I got used to having you around and thought of you as a little sister. Eventually, I left and didn’t think our friendship was going to last, but I was wrong. You messaged me often while abroad and kept me company during my loneliest times. Our relationship deepened, and we secretly became boyfriend and girlfriend, not telling anyone about it, even your closest friends. When I came back, I was scared of our relationship because of your job, but you said our love is what mattered. We had our ups and downs, but we always got through it, and look at us now, us standing here in front of our loved ones. I promise to make you happy and protect you and our family forever.” You see Jihyo tearing up and holding her hand. 

Jihyo is given the mic and pulls out her card, “I remember the first time I met you; you were timid when you arrived at our company. I wanted to welcome you and invite you to our group, which I am thankful for because it was one of my best decisions. You were so nice to me, shared your snacks, and even helped us sneak in food while we were on a diet. I felt safe having you around. I know you saw me as a little sister, but I wanted to be more than that. While you were abroad, I knew it would be hard to keep in touch, but we made it work. You might not have known them, but having you around, even if not in person, kept me going during my most challenging moments. I remember the encouragement when I would share my bad days with you and how I should always look ahead. I remember how happy I was when you accepted being my boyfriend; it was the first time I asked a boy out, haha. I gave you hints, but I know you can be dense sometimes, so I took a leap of faith and looked at us now. We have made wonderful memories together; we even have our own bundle of joy (looking at Jisoo). 

I know our relationship might not be typical, but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Thank you for being my best friend, being there during my happiest and toughest moments, for cheering me on, and assuring me that everything is going to be okay. I’m the luckiest girl in the world for having someone like you in my life, and I want to spend it together with you, forever.”

“I know the both of you will make each other happy. If there is no objection, I will make this official and announce you both married by the powers given to me. You may both kiss the bride.” 

The crowd applauds as you and Jihyo share a passionate and heartwarming kiss. You both wave and start to walk down the aisle and see Jisoo running, carrying a pouch of flower petals and throwing them in the air, “Umma, appa!”

Jisoo sits between the both of you while dinner is served and is having the best moment of her life after the photo session. She looks at the large amount of gifts placed on the table nearby, which is getting her excited. “Do you like it when they bring the presents?” asked Jihyo. Jisoo nods, “maybe we can open them later.”

Jihyo’s mother then stands up, grabs the mic, and says, “Let’s give a round of applause to the newlyweds.” Jihyo and you stand up and wave to the audience. “Thank you for being here today and being part of this beautiful moment. We also have more surprises to come, so please enjoy.”

You and Jihyo head to the back and get ready for your first dance as a married couple. Slow music begins to play, and you both walk to the middle of the stage. You hold her hand, place the other on her waist, and move back and forth to the rhythm of the music. “I love you, Jihyo.” “I love you, too.” “We are finally together.” “Yes, you're finally all mine.” She places her head on your chest as you continue to dance. 

On the other side, the members can’t help but tear up watching the both of you together as husband and wife. “They look so happy together; it’s cute,” says Sana. “I wonder who’s next,” asks Chaeyoung. The members look at each other and giggle.” The dance ends, and everyone goes back to their seats.

“I want to give a toast to the newlyweds. I’m so happy for both of you on this special day. I know that my daughter, Jihyo, really loves him. I would hear his name often when they were younger and even more after she debuted. I remember when I met him for the first time, the way he would look at her, I knew they would last. Please treat each other with love and respect. You may have ups and downs, but as long as you both are there for each other, you will overcome any situation. Welcome to the family!” and holds her glass up. Everyone cheers. “Oh, by the way, I want more grandkids, so let me know if she isn’t treating you right. I’ll talk to her,” which makes everyone laugh, and Jihyo dies of embarrassment.

The night continues as people give their own toast, sharing memories of both the groom and the bride. Some of them are nice and sweet, and others are just funny. 

After finishing their speech, they announce the father and daughter dance. You watch as Jihyo dances with her dad. During the dance, Jihyo gets emotional as her father tells her how much he loves her. “I love you so much, my little one; you grew up so fast. I still remember when I held you in my arms. I hope he makes you happy; just know I’m here for you, always.”

After their song ends, it’s your turn to dance with Jihyo’s mom and Jihyo with her younger sister. You grab onto her hand and her waist and begin to dance slowly. “Thank you for marrying Jihyo. She was such an active child that I feared she wouldn’t find anyone. Thank you for coming into my daughter’s life and giving us Jisoo. Please treat them well; I’m entrusting my little babies to you.” You hear Jihyo’s mom voice crack as she tries to hold back her tears. “Of course, I love her and will protect them with my life.”

The music ends, and the both of you walk back to your table. Dinner continues, and everyone is enjoying the food and waiting for the wedding cake to arrive. The members come up to your table, take selfies with both of you, and wish you the best. You then hear a subtle comment from Dahyun, “When will it be our wedding, but before you can say anything, Mina pouts, “You still need to give me my ring and point at her ring finger.” Jihyo laughs and says, “You still haven’t proposed? You’re bad. You can’t make a girl wait like that,” in a devilish manner. You look at Jisoo eating next to Jihyo in her high chair, “Jisoo, help Daddy!” Jisoo looks in your direction and laughs, which results in her noodles falling out of her mouth. She looks at noodles that fell on the floor and starts to babble while making a serious face. The members laugh and say, “Looks like Jisoo is mad at you too.” 

After enjoying the food and the atmosphere, the announcer shouts, “It’s time for the groom to take off the garter from the bride!” Everyone looks with anticipation as Jihyo sits on the chair. You slowly get on your knees and aim for her left leg, going up her dress. You can see the nervousness on her face, but it changes completely when she feels your fingers aiming higher than just her garter. With a surprised face, she held your arms, “Oppa, not here. There’s people watching.” You look at her with a smile, “you’re not nervous anymore, right?” Her attitude changes, and she seems more comfortable. You continue to slide her garter down her leg until it reaches below the knee. For the last part, you use your teeth and cause everyone to laugh as Jihyo smacks your back, “Oppa, my parents are watching!” Jihyo turns around to see her dad laugh and her mom covering her sisters' eyes. 

With the garter in your hands, you spin it around in the air with excitement. The crowd cheers, especially the members. Jihyo’s mom brings a chair for Jihyo; she gets on and holds her bouquet, “Who’s ready? Most women come up to the stage, including the members and the member’s mother, just for fun. Everyone waits for Jihyo to throw the bouquet of flowers, the people surrounding Jihyo from behind. She teases them by pretending to toss the bouquet but laughs when they reach up high to catch it. After a couple tries, she finally tosses the bouquet up high in the air, making everyone’s head look up in the air. The flowers fly across the stage from Jihyo’s force, missing the people next to her, and landing on Jeongyeon’s arms. Everyone looks at her with a surprised look as she seems shocked by what just happened. “Wait… I don’t want it,” and hands it over to Nayeon. The members laugh at Jeongyeon’s reaction and tease her at their table. 

The music begins to play, and some guests come up to the stage to dance. Sana approaches Momo and Nayeon, grabs their hand, and pulls them to the stage. They dance to the first song, and when it is over, they return and get Dahyun and Chaeyoung to join. Jihyo laughs as she watches the members dance to the music, “Want to dance?” “What about Jisoo?” you ask. “Let's take her with us!” 

You carry Jisoo in your arms and make your way down the stage. Jihyo moves towards the stage and dances with the rest of the members. With Jisoo in your arms, you grab hers and move along to the music. She laughs every time you spin around and asks you for a hug. Jihyo comes towards you and dances along with Jisoo. 

After a couple of songs, Jisoo and the rest of the children fall asleep and get taken to one of the rooms to rest.

You perform a dance for the last two songs and have some of the members as backup dancers. The first dance is a mashup of various songs, both in English and in Korean. The guests are surprised by how well you move and applaud when you dance, as well as the dance machine. For the last dance, it's a solo dance, and you have a chair placed in the middle of the stage. This dance was something that the members chose for you as a bet and were first hesitant about. After some convincing and practice, it's time to do your solo performance. The announcer says, “We need a female volunteer for this performance!” Chaeyoung raises her hand but is told by my Nayeon that they must give someone else a chance. Immediately, Chaeyoung’s mom extends her hand, then some of the other of the mothers, including Samantha’s partner who immediately gets shut down, Sejeong, and Jeongyeon’s sister. 

“Chaeyoung’s mom, chaeyoung’s mom,” shout the members while Chaeyoung herself is covering her face of embarrassment. “Please, no, don’t do it.” 

Momo runs and escorts Chaeyoung’s mom to the chair in the middle of the stage. She places her arm on the armrest. “Alright everyone, this performance by the groom is something that the members choose, be advised.” 

The music starts slowly, and you massage her shoulders behind the chair. She gets goosebumps to your touch, and you knee in front of her, grabbing her hand and kissing it. She covers her mouth, trying to stop herself from shouting but can’t stop herself when you hover over her thighs and place her hands on your butt. You put your arms around her shoulders and behind to grind above her. You can hear the members shouting, “It’s so hot! Grab his ass!” You let go, back up a couple of steps, rip off your white dress shirt, and throw it to the ground, causing the audience to shout even louder.

Meanwhile, chaeyoung can’t help but feel completely embarrassed watching her mother getting a lap dance from her oppa. Jeongyeon’s sister whistles when she sees your toned abs, causing Jeongyeon to glare in her direction. “I baby Sana found herself a good man; look how hot his body looks,” says Sana’s mom. 

You walk around the chair, grab her hand, stand her up, and spin her around. Holding her hands, you get behind her and show her off to the audience. You turn and sit on the chair with her on your lap, making everyone scream again when you pretend to kiss her neck. You can hear her breath heavy and switch positions. You get on the floor and grind just above it, flip, and lay flat on the ground. You get up quickly and, in front of her, place her hands on your abs. She can help but look around and see the audience cheering for her to touch the abs. She caresses your abs, and once she gets comfortable, you get on top of her thighs, wrap your arms around her shoulders, and grind on her. She grabs your butt and gives it a couple of smacks. After a couple of seconds, you make her stand and guide her hands to wrap around your neck and you on her waist. The members shout in disbelief when you easily pick her up and wrap her legs around your waist. You talk a couple of steps to the side of the stage towards the member’s view and slowly place her on the ground. With her legs in the air, she tries to cover her face when she sees you grind on her in a mating press position. The audience again goes wild as you grind on her in different positions, and then the lights go dark.

The music stops, and there is a slight silence. The lights turn back on, and you can see Chaeyoung’s mom fanning herself with her hand and her face completely red. 

The members can believe how good your performance was and are jealous of Chaeyoung’s mom. The mothers laugh at what they just saw, and the dads are glad their wives didn’t go up there. On the other hand, you take a couple of shots to cool yourself down and get positive feedback from multiple people. “Oppa, when will I get a dance like that?” asks Sana and Momo. “Haha, let me just process what I just did. I can’t believe I actually did that. 

The party continues, and people have a good time. As time goes by, people begin to leave and say their goodbyes. “It was a great wedding; congratulations to you both.” 

———

You and Jihyo take a helicopter ride to one of the other islands to get to your honeymoon house. Once you arrive at the location, you see your belongings in the living room as you carry Jihyo in your arms. You head to the master bedroom, open the door, and place Jihyo on the bed. Being both tipsy, you undress each other until you both are completely nude. With Jihyo flat on the bed and her beautiful body fully exposed, you give her a night to remember. 

Jihyo moans as you play with her breast; she grabs your cheeks and says, “Just fuck me around. I’ve been horny since the lap dance.” Holding your member with your right hand, you align yourself to her entrance; she wraps her arms around your waist and pulls you towards her, causing your cock to penetrate her. She arcs as she feels your feel length enter her tight body and shouts when she feels the head of your cock in the deepest part of her womb. “Fuck me rough, show the world that I’m your woman, your wife.” Seeing the lust in her eyes, you start out with a fast thrust. “Yes! Just like that, fuck me with your huge cock!” Hearing her moaning gets you pumped even more. 

“Ahh, ahh, your fat cock feels so good!”

“You like being fucked by this cock?”

“Ahhh… yes! Your cock is so big, it stretches me out so well. Ahh fuck!” 

“What about this?” You pull out your cock, only leaving the tip, and shove it back in.”

“Fuck… YES! Fuck me faster, harder, breed me!”

“Where do you want me cum?”

“Inside… cum inside.”

“I didn’t hear you. What did you say?”

“I…I said cum inside; fill my cunt with your seed.”

After thrusting for some time, you both reach your orgasm. Jihyo shakes and arches her back when she reaches her peak. “Ahh…I…I’m cumming!” 

You beat your meat stick enough to see her finish her orgasm, and once it's over, you get on top of her and penetrate her in one go. Her eyes go wide when she feels your length split her open. “I’m cumming!” Hearing that makes her grab onto your waist, ensuring you fill her up with your load. Jihyo’s eyes roll back when she feels her womb fill up with your baby batter, “Ahh… it feels so warm.” 

With the first round being over, you focus on her breasts and attach yourself to one of her breasts. With her nipple in your mouth, you start to suckle, drinking her precious clear liquid and going down your throat. 

After quenching your thirst, Jihyo turns over and gets on all fours, “Ready for the second round?” You give her a smile and a nice smack on the ass, making her moan. She wiggles her butt around, ready for your meat to pound again. With both hands, you open her cheeks and get a good view of her leaking slit and pucker hole. “I know what you’re thinking, but not today. Remember, we have a long day tomorrow.” 

“Dang, maybe another time and slap her ass once more.” With your cock in hand, you collect some of the mixture of nectar and cum as lube and align yourself to her entrance. You push Jihyo’s back, making her ass lift up even more, and press your body on top of her. With your whole weight on her, Jihyo whines, “Ohh fuck, you’re heavy.” You don’t give her time to adjust as you thrust deep inside her. With every movement, she grunts, “Hmmm… fuck, hmm… so good.” 

After much thrusting, she demands, “Get off; I’m going to ride you.” You pull out your cock and get off of Jihyo and turn over. Jihyo slowly gets on top of you, grabs your hardened cock, and aligns it to her entrance. She interlocks hands with you and watch as her cunt slowly swallows your cock. The feeling is euphoric, her walls tightening up as you invade her insides. “I can feel your cock going up my tummy,” as she traces her finger from her pelvis to her belly button. “Look, you can even see the bulge of your cock inside of her,” pointing at the tip of your cock. “It’s because your body is so tight.” She likes your compliment and starts to ride you at a medium pace. She likes watching you enjoy her body which makes her even more horny and increases the speed. With her body bouncing, you can’t help but admire her two pairs of melons as they jump and sway from side to side. 

“Oppa, I’m about to cum, let's finish together.” You nod as she lifts herself and slams back with such force that it causes her to arch back and you to choke up. Her legs get tighter as she releases her love juice on your lower region, “Ahhh…I’m cumming!” 

“Fuck! I’m cumming too!” as your floodgates open and gush into Jihyo’s womb. Jihyo then slips off your cock and onto the bed right next to you. “That felt so good, honey,” and rubs her head to your chest. You pull her next to you and cuddle until she falls asleep, “I’m going to make you the happiest wife.” 

[lewkwoodnco]

i have an imagine request!

Lockwood has a particularly bad panic attack during an investigation and reader helps him to get through it.

panic attack - anthony lockwood x reader

“Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought. Quick,” she said, shoving her hand in his face, “how many fingers?”

He rolled his eyes and pulled her fingers out of the way. She tried not to focus on how gently he wrapped his hand around hers.

“I thought you liked my ugly mug. No, wait - you like my coat. And how it flaps behind me when I run. You think it’s cool.”

“No, you think it’s cool.”

He creased his forehead comically. “No, no, I distinctly remember us discussing my coat and how cool it was. I got us coffee right after, remember?”

“Delusional. Add that to your list of symptoms.”

a/n: I know, I know, what a creative title. I really have outdone myself haven’t I (/s) this can be read as a stand-alone fic but I wrote it as a sequel (ish?) to my you are in love fic, so there's some references back to that one! sorry this took so long and enjoyyyy

tropes/warnings: descriptions of a panic attack, self-loathing, angst, only a little bit of fluff at the end

wc: 1.9k!

you are in love fic | MASTERLIST | TAGLIST

Winkman was glaring at her, clearly saying something she couldn’t hear over the blood roaring in her ears. She had no idea what she was doing. Dousing them in gasoline had been a split-second decision, and now that she had done it, she wasn’t sure what to do next. Surely she couldn’t actually want to set them on fire, could she? They had a child, for crying out loud. A very creepy, undoubtedly messed-up child, but he was still just a kid. Was she really going to orphan him?

He took a step towards Lockwood, and her survival instincts kicked in. She flicked the lighter on, looking more sure of herself than he felt.

“Don’t you dare.” She stepped closer. She needed Winkman like a rat in a corner. “Touch him, and I’ll burn your decrepit little house of horrors to the ground with you, your wife and your freak of a son.”

He watched the flame, weighing his choices before he retreated reluctantly. She felt giddy with power. She clumsily crept over to Lockwood’s chair and started fiddling with the leather straps. Her hand brushed against his - cold as ice. Once the straps were undone, she waited, but Lockwood remained seated, seemingly transfixed on Winkman.

“Lockwood,” she hissed in his ear, one eye still on Winkman. “Come on. Forget Winkman, let’s go.”

Winkman’s mouth curled into an unpleasant, thin-lipped smile.

“You know I’m right, boy.”

“You shut up.” She waved the lighter menacingly in his direction and he scowled. Her palms were suddenly feeling clammy. What did Winkman mean? She hadn’t been paying attention. What was he supposedly right about, and why did Lockwood look like he believed him?

Once Lockwood was out of his chair, she wrapped a hand around his wrist, gently pulling him along as they backed out of the warehouse. Luckily, whatever spell he had been under seemed to have broken. From what she could tell from the few glances she dared to pull her eyes away from Winkman, save for a few scratches and cuts, Lockwood was mostly undamaged.

“- this is the last time I go along with any of your ridiculous schemes, Lockwood. For God’s sake, we could have d- Lockwood?”

Only Lockwood wasn’t beside her anymore. Once they had exited the warehouse, they had taken off running into the dead of the night. She spun around to see him slumped against a wall a few feet behind her, clawing at his throat.

“Lockwood?” She walked over, warily eyeing his every twitch and death-rattle gasp of air. “What’s - you alright?”

He didn’t seem to have heard her. One of his hands dropped to his chest, directly above his heart, while he dragged the other down the brick wall roughly enough to make her wince. She stepped closer, watching every fibre of his being flicker with nervous energy.

“Can’t - breathe,” he finally choked out.

“Did Winkman give you something?”

With some difficulty, Lockwood shook his head. Everything seemed to take a second or two for him to process through whatever fog was in his head. His flinching was oddly reminiscent of something, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Then wha…” Oh. Oh. A panic attack. As his fingers scrabbled uselessly at the knot of his tie, it became more and more clear. She was watching Anthony Lockwood have a panic attack.

“Lockwood…listen to me. The world isn’t ending. Just breathe.”

“I’m trying!” He coughed a little as he forced the words out.

“For the love of -“ she yanked him closer and smacked him across the face. The rambling stopped, and so did the restless wandering, and the look in his eyes told her he could actually recognise her now.

“Hey! Enough! Snap out of it.” She distractedly brushed a hand over her eyes. Tears. “This is all in your head.”

“No. You heard him. Don’t you see, Y/N? It doesn’t matter what I do, or how hard I try. I’m always going to be a burden and I’m always going to weigh you down.”

She thought she felt her heart break a little. It was all she could do to keep herself from breaking down too. “Lockwood, that’s not true.”

“Like hell it isn’t!” That last outburst seemed to sap away what little of his energy was left. He slid down the wall as he struggled to catch his breath, head between his knees.

“Why didn’t you let him kill me?”

Because I wouldn’t have been able to bear it. Because I would be stupidly empty without you. Because you keep this god-awful picture in your desk of me fighting a broken nose and I’m too much of a coward to accept the only possible explanation. Because I love you.

“Think of it this way. You wouldn’t have let him kill me no matter how much I begged, right?”

“No.”

“And why not?”

He pulled his head out of his knees and gave a humourless laugh. She didn’t see anything all that funny herself.

“Why not? You…you’re like the sun.”

She cleared her throat awkwardly. It was the adrenaline, she told herself. Plus the panic attack. He didn’t know what he was saying.

“You’re my best friend, Lockwood. Do you really think I’d appreciate someone killing my best friend? Huh?”

He managed a small flicker of a smile. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. It was getting late. She turned and walked down the road until she found a cab to flag down, before running back.

“Come on,” she said as she breathlessly dragged Lockwood up. She stumbled under his weight as she steered them both towards the waiting cab, already trying to forget what she had just seen. The cabby took in their gear and Lockwood’s wan face, and shot her a sympathetic look. She looked away.

The whole drive home, Lockwood either dozed or stared into space with this vacant look in his eyes. She had never seen him look this lost.

It made her want to cry.

Back at Portland Row, she sat him down at the kitchen table and pulled out their first aid kit. George was passed out on the couch in the living room, and he looked so exhausted it seemed cruel to wake him. Bit by bit, she tenderly dressed Lockwood’s scrapes.

“I just -“ Lockwood started, then grimaced. “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.”

“Well, you head an agency that makes the world a safer place, one Visitor at a time. As far as life purposes go, it’s not half-bad.”

“Do you think,” Lockwood asked in a quiet, somewhat strangled voice, “do you think he really knew my parents?”

She scoffed half-heartedly, trying to ignore the troubled look in his eyes. “Of course not. He was just trying to get under your skin.” Lockwood winced as she pressed a damp cloth to a nasty scrape on his forehead. “Don’t tell me it’s working.”

“I’m not asking why he said it. I’m asking if you believe him.”

The denial sat ready at the top of her tongue, and yet, she couldn’t bring herself to follow through with it. She wanted to wave away his worries, roll her eyes at the very thought of any of it being remotely true, but she couldn’t lie to him. Not when it was just the two of them and there was no dancing around the fact that he didn’t look at anyone else the way he looked at her, and he never whispered a word of the secrets he shared with her in confidence. His eyes flicked from the hesitation in her eyes to where her lips were pressed thin.

“You heard the way he said it, Y/N,” he murmured, like he was coaxing an admission out of her. “He wasn’t lying. And he was bloody proud of it.”

She swallowed hard, her throat feeling inexplicably constricted as her eyes dropped to the rough grain of the kitchen table. If he wanted to, Lockwood could hold the piercing sort of gaze that felt as though he was peering right into your soul. She dug the heels of his palms into her eyes. Oh, why did he have to read her like an open book?

“So?” She dropped her hands. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I know I'm right.”

“Maybe he did know your parents. But he doesn’t know you.”

Lockwood’s gaze darted around the room moodily as he stubbornly refused to look at her face or the scrape on his palm she was disinfecting. “Maybe he doesn’t need to.”

She pulled her hand away and scoffed. “Oh my god, do you hear yourself? You’re really going to take the word of some bitter, violent washed-up relic man over mine?”

His brooding faltered. “Of course not.”

“It’s like I’ve never waded in questionable waters to fish out Sources you were too excitable and butter-fingered to handle properly.”

Lockwood had the decency to look mildly embarrassed. “That was one time, and I thanked you like a billion times for the rest of the week. I gave you three whole biscuits too.”

“Or maybe I just dreamt up all those times you had me fib about your whereabouts, like for that TV interview - brilliant plan, by the way.  Took George all of two seconds to switch on the telly and see your ugly mug plastered all over it.”

“How was I supposed to know which channel he’d pick?”

“You were on national television.” Two months on and it still hadn’t seemed to sink in. “And I guess that beehive that you were too scared to get close to in the Smiths’ case just never existed.”

“Hang on, now -“

“No, no, it’s too late. Next time I’ll just let you fall seven stories and break your neck.”

“Alright, I get it.“

She finally let herself laugh as he pulled her down into the chair next to his, her legs an undignified heap of limbs from where they were tangled with his. She tilted her head as she considered him from up close, the sheepish ghost of a smile playing at his lips and the familiar embarrassed tinge of pink to the tips of his ears.

“I’m sorry, I promise. Don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought. Quick,” she said, shoving her hand in his face, “how many fingers?”

He rolled his eyes and pulled her fingers out of the way. She tried not to focus on how gently he wrapped his hand around hers.

“I thought you liked my ugly mug. No, wait - you like my coat. And how it flaps behind me when I run. You think it’s cool.”

“No, you think it’s cool.”

He creased his forehead comically. “No, no, I distinctly remember us discussing my coat and how cool it was. I got us coffee right after, remember?”

“Delusional. Add that to your list of symptoms.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Lockwood hadn’t released her fingers from his grip. She wasn’t about to remind him either. He lazily stroked his thumb over her knuckles, and the movement was soothing enough to put her to sleep.

“Thank you.”

She peeled her eyes open. He was staring at their hands clasped together in her lap. He pressed a featherlight kiss to her knuckles and she felt herself flush.

“Erm, time for bed?”

“Bed.”

TAGLIST: @neewtmas @midnight--raine @ahead-fullofdreams @how-to-stuff-and-things @cielooci @mohinithoughts @that-choir-girl @snoopyluver20 @ell0ra-br3kk3r @elenianag080 @avdiobliss @houseoftwistedspirits @mischivana @dangelnleif @mitskiswift99

[harrywavycurly]

I love the banter with Niall and reader! Could we see how they talk on the phone or something? 😇

Hiii babes!! So happy you like their banter 😂 I will happily give you some random phone/facetime convos between the two of them! I hope you enjoy 💖

-find all things boyfriend Niall Horan here✨

“Why do you even read that trash?” “It’s not trash Niall it’s how I keep up to date on my celebrity gossip…oh god…why do they always use the most unflattering photos of me in these things?” “No such thing as an unflattering photo of you babe…definition of beauty you are…broke the mold they did when they made you…no one even comes-” “that’s enough thank you…oh guess what I just found out.” “Uh Harry has six nipples and an eleventh toe?” “No…but apparently we’ve been secretly married for two years.” “Huh and here I was thinking that I’d always remember my wedding day…” “oh and you’ll love this…I haven’t been seen drinking in a few weeks so that means I’m pregnant.” “Come again?” “I’m pregnant.” “You’re what?” “Oh god no…no like I’m just reading you what they are saying in the teen magazines Niall I’m not-” “you’re fucking pregnant and you’re telling me on FaceTime? What the-” “breathe Niall! In and out…deep breaths okay? I’m not pregnant…I’m just telling you that the world thinks I am because I haven’t been drinking-” “I can’t feel my legs…I’m gonna pass out.” “Jesus you’re so dramatic…” “I’m dramatic? You’re the one who cried and stomped your feet in the middle of a pub because they didn’t have anymore fucking chips.” “I was drunk and upset okay?” “Yeah well my secret wife just told me she was secretly pregnant so I’m also upset okay?” “That brings me to the question apparently everyone wants to know the answer to…why do you hide me so much Niall? Are you embarrassed of me?” “Oh right I hide you so much that I bring you everywhere with me and even talk about you in interviews and post you on my instagram…but yeah you’re my little secret…” “I love you…wanna hear about Brad Pitt’s newest love interest?” “I love you too…still not over him and Angelina splitting…that shit was messy.”

“These are your options lover and if you don’t see one you like too fucking bad I’m not going to another shop.” “You talk so sweet to be Niall…oh is that a magnum bar?” “Uh…yes…yes it is…that the winner?” “Yes that’s the winner…oh is that cookies and cream?” “Nope…your eyes are messing with you babe.” “Did you just lie to me Niall James Horan?” “No….yes?…but only because I know you’re gonna make me pick one for you and I’m gonna end up picking the wrong one and you’re gonna be annoyed and…I just say go with the first one you saw and…and you know what? fuck it I’ll get both…I’m good for it.” “Yeah…you’re good for it.” “I’ve got a few spare dollars for the love of my life’s ice cream addiction…”

“Oh hello there my darling girl…I just got your little to do list thingy and I have questions.” “Okay lover of mine…what questions do you have?” “Number one…why the bloody fuck is this list called my lover’s list of things to try when all it has on it are errands you need me to run and like…chores and shit? That title would make one think this list is full of…other…things like…for the bedroom.” “Because you haven’t ever done anything on that list so therefore you’re going to be trying it…hence the name my lover’s list of things to try.” “I beg your fucking pardon? I have mowed the bloody lawn before thank you very much.” “Oh have you?…really? Wanna tell me when?” “Uh..when…I lived in that house in uhm L.A by myself…” “You’re so full of shit…you got half way down one side of your lawn and gave up because you didn’t have the blade dropped properly.” “Oh I love it when you talk lawn care to me baby…it’s so sexy.” “Did you see what was last on the list my little handy man?” “Uh no let me take a gander….Jesus fuck you can’t go writing things like that on a list I’m meant to take out in public.” “Sorry next time I’ll send it to you via email then is that better?” “You really want me to try that on you….again? It didn’t go very well last time…” “that’s because you have no patience and tried to rush it.” “Okay that’s….yeah I did do that but you can’t fucking blame me I was just excited.” “Do you have any other questions Niall or can I get back to work?” “Yeah uh…is this list in any sort of order or can I do them as I want?” “Do them in the order they are written please…and thank you.” “At this rate I’m not gonna get to the last one till bloody Christmas.” “It’s six things Niall…don’t be such a ninny.” “God I love it when you’re mean to me…just does something to me.” “You’re so annoying…I have to go now okay? I love you and I’ll see you when I get home.” “I love you too…have a good rest of your day my little pet.”

“Hello? Baby? Are you okay?” “Uh yeah I’m fine why?” “Uhm well I’m on hole six and you normally don’t call me while I’m golfing unless you’ve run out of snacks or you’re hor-” “as if I’m the one who calls you when I’m in the mood you’re the one who calls me Mr. Small Talk…” “Baby…please don’t be offended but…do you need something?” “Oh shit I’m sorry no…I was just on my way home from target and you know how I like to talk on the phone while I drive.” “Target huh? How much did you blow on pointless shit?” “That’s none of your business….but sorry I’ll let you get back to your little uh…game?…round?…session?…thing…” “it’s amazing how little you know about a sport I’m so involved in…” “awe you think I’m amazing? You’re so sweet Niall.” “How far from the house are you?” “Why?” “I can spare a few minutes to keep you company till you get home.” “I am pulling into our neighborhood…who’s winning?” “Why do you ask such rude questions like that?” “Ah…it’s Harry isn’t it?” “No…not by much anyway…I still have time to come back and kick his lanky ass.” “That’s my man! Kick that Styles ass.” “If I win what do I get?” “Uh you get to rub it in his face and add a tally to your side of the scoreboard in the game room?” “How about if I win I get a proper blo-” “oh look at that I just got home…have a good rest of your game…love you! Bye!”

[galexystern]

all's fair in love and chicken

pairing; eddie munson/reader

rating; T

warnings; lots of fluff, a tiny bit of angst, love confessions, pining, getting together

word count; 2.1k

desc; robin and steve dare you and eddie to a game of girls vs. boys chicken. eddie has something up his sleeve that changes everything.

masterlist

The first thing you see after stepping inside the Harrington mansion is Robin looking guilty as sin. It makes you uneasy, and you immediately want to walk over and demand what the fuck that expression is for, but it’s the annual pool party bash and you’re carrying the first bottles of booze its seen and Steve is already ushering you to the backyard so you can set them down on the makeshift bar.

“Thank god you’re here,” he mutters under his breath. “People have been clamoring for drinks for half an hour.”

“Only like a fourth of them can legally drink,” you point out. When you reach the table, he helps you unload and set up so guests can pour their own concoction.

“And they’re bossy as fuck.”

You laugh, half-forgetting Robin’s mysterious guilt, and arrange the liquor just so. Steve excuses himself and runs into the house to get ice, and another boy almost instantly takes his place.

“Hey, princess,” Eddie says, surprising you and making you knock a bottle of vodka over. He deftly catches it and stands it upright.

You turn to him with a look. He’s grinning devilishly, loving that he spooked you. You��re notoriously easy to startle, and despite the fact that you’re secretly in love with him and have been for two years, the trick got old a long time ago. You hold back the smile threatening to bloom and narrow your eyes in annoyance. Eddie’s eyes get wider in response, doe-like, and his mouth turns down into the cutest pout. After a few seconds, you sigh and finally grin, forgiving him quickly. It’s a tried-and-true routine you two have done since you became friends.

“Hi, Eds,” you reply, hoping your lovesickness doesn’t ooze too obviously. You always think you sound so gooey, but he’s never picked up on it. This time is no different.

“Get you a drink?”

“Yes, please. Our usual.”

“One Munson Special coming up.”

You chuckle and take a few steps away to claim a free beach chair. You set your bag down and shuck off your clothes, stuffing them away. You test your bare feet on the concrete, but it’s too hot, so you keep your flip-flops on for now.

“Here you go–”

You spin around in concern as the end of Eddie’s sentence turns into a choked sound. You find him staring at you with huge eyes and a slightly open mouth. You move closer to him. “Are you okay?” You ask worriedly.

He blinks and then nods jerkily, practically throwing your cup at you. You avoid the liquid that splashes over the edge and take it carefully. You’re still looking at Eddie, unsure what could be wrong, but he just swallows and smiles reassuringly. “Something in my throat,” he explains, and you exhale in relief.

“Good. You can’t choke here otherwise Steve will be the one doing CPR.”

He barks out a laugh. “I’d sooner die.”

Your mouth twists, wanting to smile but holding back somewhat. “Be nice,” you chide half-heartedly. “He’s our friend now.”

He makes a disgruntled face. “I guess.” You look at him with petulant sternness and his expression softens. “I’ll try. Only for you, princess.”

Your heart flutters and you take a gulp of your drink to hide your quick breaths. He can’t just say things like that. He takes a sip as well, and you two settle into a comfortable silence. You take a look around the party, watching as the kids splash around and play Marco Polo in the pool, and eyeing as Steve and Robin bicker while she throws obvious longing glances at Vickie, who is sitting with her feet in the water and both pretending not to notice and trying not to blush. Nancy and Jonathan are sitting in the hot tub, having what seems to be a lively discussion with Jeff, Grant, and Gareth. Hopper, Joyce, and the rest of the adults are at the back, manning the grill and pointedly avoiding the shenanigans everyone else is getting into.

You turn back to Eddie to find him looking at you. Your head rears back a little, not expecting his gaze, and he quickly averts his eyes and takes a drink. A light blush spreads across his cheeks and towards his ears. You want to pull his hair away from his face to see if the tips are red as well, but keep your hands to yourself.

You’re admiring how tan he’s looking, the deep tone of his skin gleaming golden, when Robin shouts your name from across the patio. Both you and Eddie turn towards her; she’s speed-walking over with an annoyed Steve in tow. “Dingus here thinks we can’t beat him and Eddie in chicken,” she says when she arrives.

You blink. “What?”

“The game chicken, where two people fight while on the shoulders of other people?”

“Okay,” you reply slowly.

“Steve thinks boys would ‘obviously’ win over girls.” You raise your eyebrows at him and he shrugs, shy now that his and Robin’s argument has involved more than just them. Robin continues, “‘Obviously’ he’s wrong. But he won’t accept it until you and Eddie actually join us for a round.”

You glance at Eddie, who shoots you a grin. “I’m down if you are, princess,” he says cheekily.

At his smug tone, your competitive spirit comes alive. You look at Robin and nod. “Let’s wipe the floor with them.”

She whoops and drags you both to the pool. She and Steve slide in and stand at the edge so you and Eddie can sit on their shoulders. There’s a lump in your throat when you swallow; you didn’t think it’d be you two on top and fighting so close. But you can’t back out now, so you just focus on balancing as Robin walks further in.

She turns and there Eddie is, smiling mischievously, surprisingly stable atop Steve. His eyes sparkle in the sun and his tattoos stand out like they’re three-dimensional. You lock stares, and he runs a finger across his neck in a threat. Your eyes narrow as you mouth, You’re going down.

“Alright, are we ready?” Steve asks, sickly sweet. It’s purely for Robin’s sake, and she immediately replies, “Go!”

You lunge forward and grab Eddie’s biceps, his hands clamping onto yours. You grapple, pushing and pulling in any effort to destabilize the other, Robin and Steve compensating for your movements below. It’s a tough battle, but at some point, you’re leaning all the way into Eddie’s space and he’s precariously teetering backwards. You feel a triumphant smile start to form when he does the unexpected.

He kisses you.

It’s a soft, short peck, but it shocks you so much that you fall back, all the way off Robin’s shoulders and into the water. Once you’re submerged, it’s like time slows down, and you try to comprehend that Eddie just kissed you. 

Eddie kissed you.

All to win this stupid game.

“That was definitely cheating!” Robin is yelling when you surface, inhaling oxygen desperately and pushing your hair out of your face.

“It was not!” Steve shouts back. “All’s fair!”

The two continue to argue, and you look at Eddie. He’s mysteriously quiet but half-grinning, and your fury grows. You stalk away–as much as you can while underwater–and pull yourself out of the pool. You detour to your chair to grab your towel, and then you’re racing inside, up the stairs to Steve’s guest room, where you’ve stayed a couple times after late nights. You slam the door shut behind you and sit on the bed, not caring if you’re dripping on the duvet.

You’re shaken and upset, and you can’t believe Eddie would do something like that to win a game of chicken. If you didn’t like him romantically, it would be misleading and give the wrong idea, and Robin was right–it is cheating.

A knock comes on the door, and it slowly swings open to reveal the man himself. “Princess? Are you okay?” You just glare at him in response, and he steps inside and closes the door behind him. “What’s wrong? Did you inhale water?”

If you weren’t so upset, you’d be touched by his concern. “You’re a fucking asshole,” you seethe. “I can’t believe you would do that just to win. That’s such gross bro behavior.”

He’s wide-eyed. “What? No, I’d never do that.”

“You just did!”

“No!” He runs a hand over his face. “That’s not why I did it.”

“Then why?” You grit out.

“Well, Robin told me that you liked me–”

You suddenly remember Robin’s face from the beginning of the party and understand. She’d blabbed to Eddie that you were in love with him and felt guilty for doing so. Well, she fucking should.

“That’s worse!” Your face burns in embarrassment and anger. “You used my feelings against me to win instead. Real nice.”

“Will you listen to me?” Eddie pleads. “I didn’t believe her, you’re way out of my league, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And when we were playing, you were so close and you smelled so good and your lips looked so nice, I couldn’t help myself and kissed you.” His entire face is tomato red. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you lose. I wasn’t even thinking about the game, just you.”

“I don’t understand. Are you saying you like me now?”

“Now? I’ve been in love with you for two years, princess. I just didn’t think you’d like me back.”

You stare at him. “What?”

“Yeah.” He sighs. “I’m sorry. I can leave.”

But before he can turn away, you’re leaping forward and pulling him into a heated kiss. He’s surprised by it, stiff and still, and you think wildly that you’ve finally gotten him back for scaring you all those times. Eventually, his brain catches up and he melts, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you flush against him. His lips are soft and warm, and it’s leagues better than the kiss in the pool, and you don’t want to stop but you’ve gotta breathe at some point. You two break apart panting, gazing at each other for a minute until you both burst into laughter. Your foreheads meet as you shake with it, and when the giggles fade away you’re still resting against each other.

“You’re an idiot,” you tell him fondly, and he chuckles. “I’ve been in love with you for two years too. I thought I was so obvious about it.”

“No, you’re right. I’m just an idiot,” he replies, making you snort. “But I could tell after Robin told me.”

“That doesn’t count! If she hadn’t, you still wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

You’re about to argue some more when he captures your mouth again, and you sink into the kiss. You run your hands through his hair, pulling inadvertently, and he moans a little. You pull away with a smile, hands poised to do it again, but he holds them still.

“Don’t give me a boner at a pool party,” he begs. “I’d never live it down.”

You laugh. “Alright. Only for you, Eds.”

He smiles softly. “I love you, princess.”

“I love you too,” you reply with heart eyes at full power.

He steps back. “We really gotta go back now, or I will have a boner for the rest of the night.”

You shake your head with a grin and take his outstretched hand. You two walk downstairs and out to the backyard, where the festivities are in full swing. Steve and Robin are near the doors, still bickering. When she spots you, she gasps your name.

“Are you okay?” She asks worriedly.

You nod. “I’m fine. But we will be talking later.” She blushes and that guilty expression returns. But then she sees your hand intertwined with Eddie’s and it retreats somewhat. She smiles triumphantly, and you can already tell your stern talking-to will go in one ear and out the other. “And,” you continue, “I want a rematch.”

“Let’s do it!” Eddie shouts and pulls you towards the pool. He pushes you in, but you hold tight to his hand and drag him under with you. Once Steve and Robin have joined, you maneuver yourselves on their shoulders. You and Eddie make playful threatening motions, you wrestle heatedly, and then there’s cheering from you and Robin as the boys topple backwards into the water. They surface, spluttering from the impact, and Eddie immediately goes after you. You screech with laughter as you weakly attempt to run from him, and he catches you around the waist and lifts you above the water. You squeal with the movement, and after lowering you, he kisses you. You beam with love in the summer sun.

[sereneres]

“sunshinez being the loveable...” ²˙⁵

danielle marsh x 6th member!reader / 1.38k

summary. — “sunshinez being the loveable sunshines of newjeans and tokkis.”

warnings. — rushed at the end / video format is originally by @/jihyoruri

🎬 — sunshinez cheering up their members

“i can’t believe it’s raining.”

[rain D:]

hanni, danielle, and hyein all collectively sigh, having been more excited for the outing than you, haerin, and minji.

“why did it have to rain on today of all days.” hyein continued, slouching in her seat, going so far down that the seatbelt was under her chin. “why couldn’t it have rained when we were busy doing stuff inside?”

“because that’s not how life works.” haerin murmured, staring out the window with a blank look on her face.

[our haerinie is suddenly so mature-]

“sit up, hyein, that isn’t safe.” you told the younger girl as you patted her leg, making her reluctantly sit up, before turning to your members. “and don’t worry, i’m sure the staff has already found something else for us to do.”

“but that’s not the problem.” hanni whined, crossing her arms with a pout on her lips. “i wanted to go outside, y’know, and feel the sun and stuff.”

“you make it sound like we don’t go outside ever.” you deadpan. “besides, i doubt that they’ll scrap the idea of having a picnic. we’ll probably just go on one on another day.”

[optimistic yn to the rescue (?)]

“ynnie is right.” danielle said, smiling. “why whine about not going today when we’ll go ? i bet they prepared something just as fun for us to do today!”

“but…” haerin started, looking skeptical. “what if-”

[a few moments later]

“whooooo!”

“yipee!”

“yahoo!”

“who- who says yahoo?”

“i do. do you have a problem with it?”

“…no.”

“good morning, bunnies.” minji greeted quietly, smiling tiredly and giving the camera a small wave. “it’s currently…” she trailed off, picking up her phone and turning it on. “eleven o’clock. we’re doing some shoots outside that need to be done at night, so…”

[oh she’s so cute–]

“cheer up baby, cheer up baby–”

[TWICE?????!!?!!/$/]

minji blinked, turning her head before looking back to the camera with an exasperated look on her face. “that was danielle trying to keep the members awake. she’s singing the song and yn’s doing the dance moves…”

“jom deo himeul lae~”

“it… looks like it’s working?” she shook her head and sighed, the corners of her lips turning up ever so slightly. “honestly, those two… we don’t even need coffee anymore with them around.”

[danyn are happy pills confirmed.]

“yeojaga swipge mameul jumyeon andwae~”

“speak for yourself.” hanni muttered, walking into frame with a clear, plastic cup filled with what looked to be coffee – iced coffee, to be specific – in her hand. “i don’t think i can go a day without coffee.”

“geuraeya niga nal deo johahage doelgeol!~”

“didn’t you sleep the entire ride over? why are you so tired–”

“well, i tried to sleep – tried being the keyword here – but with those two talking next to me…”

“oh.”

🎬 — sunshinez hugging for warmth (or just hugging)

“ynnie, come join us!”

you perk up at the call of your name, turning away from the camera to see danielle gesturing for you to come to where she and hyein were hugging.

“hurry, yn-unnie!” the younger of the two whined, shivering so hard that you could see her body shake despite being at least twenty feet away. “it’s cold!”

“hold on, i’ll be right over there!” you turn back, an apologetic smile on your face. “sorry, duty calls.”

waving goodbye at the camera, you run over to where the two girls were, arms spread before wrapping around their shoulders.

“ynnie~”

you smile, squishing your cheek against hers as you tighten your arms around her. “danielle~”

“unnie, what happens if two suns collide?” hyein asked, looking away from the two of you. “like, do they just explode?”

“if they’re big enough they will.” minji responds, crossing her arms. “i’m pretty sure that if they’re both small, though, they’ll just merge together and form one big sun.”

“they’re big enough though.” haerin said as she pointed at the two of you, looking up at the older girl. “shouldn’t they be exploding and not… merging together?”

“they’re killing us without the exploding.” hanni muttered, shooting glares – whether they were playful or not, though, no one knew – at you.

danielle smiled, either oblivious to what the girls were saying or just ignoring them. “ynnie~”

“dani~” you coo in response before giggling, prompting the older girl to also start giggling

“…i sort of want them to explode.” haerin says bluntly. “is that bad?”

hanni blinks, a look of disbelief on her face. “uh, yes??”

“kang haerin.” minji says sternly, her brows furrowed and her arms crossed.

“ooh~ mom’s mad~”

“shut up.”

🎬 — sunshinez being… sunshinez

“oh my god, look ynnie, that cloud totally looks like a bunny!”

[…a bunny? it looks like a duck to me-]

you hum, brows furrowed as you studied the cloud danielle was pointing at. “no, it looks more like a cat.”

“i think it looks like a bunny.” minji muttered, squinting at said cloud before turning and pointing at another cloud. “that one is more like a cat.”

“no, that one looks like a dog, minji-unnie.” haerin sighed, shaking her head in mock disappointment. “this one is more like a cat, and the one dani-unnie was pointing at is definitely a bunny.”

[are they srsly having an argument over the shapes of clouds???]

hyein huffs, rolling her eyes. “of course you would agree with dani-unnie.”

“and what’s that supposed to mean?”

[haerin: 😾]

“well, for starters–”

“i think you’re all wrong.” hanni cuts in, interrupting what would have been a debate between their two youngest members. “to me, they all look like clouds.”

[…]

“you’re not even looking at them.” danielle says, pouting. “how do you know they look like clouds?”

“…because they’re clouds?”

[LMFAOOOO]

you sigh, shaking your head as you patted danielle’s back. “don’t worry, dani-unnie, it’s not your fault hanni-unnie lacks the imagination a normal person would have.”

“seriously?”

“actually, that would explain a lot of things…”

[?????]

“yah, what things?!”

“shopping, shopping~”

[introducing: childish yn that only comes out when she’s just with danielle]

danielle giggles, swinging your arms back and forth as the two of you walked. “you sound pretty excited to go shopping, ynnie. is there a certain store you want to go to?”

“maybe guxxi?” you suggest, tilting your head slightly. “or chxxxel?” you sigh happily, eyes forming crescents as you smiled at her. “honestly, as long as you’re with me, i don’t care where we go.”

[🫠]

“aw~” the older girl smiled at you, reaching free hand up and pinching your cheek. “i didn’t know our ynnie could say such flattering words~”

you chuckle, your happy smile turning into bashful grin. “i really mean it, though. if you want to go anywhere, just tell me and we’ll go there.”

[oh wow-]

“ah, isn’t that like one of the lines from uh, what was it called?” danielle frowned, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember. “aladdin?”

“huh?” you blink, visibly confused. “aladdin? what’s that?”

“you know, the movie with a blue genie, a magic carpet, and a monkey?” when you shook your head, the Aussie raised a brow, her frown deepening. “ynnie, did you not watch aladdin?”

you shake your head, an apologetic look on your face. “sorry, unnie, but i didn’t really watch movies as a kid, much less disney movies.”

[i mean, me neither-]

“what?” the older girl gasped, looking as though she had been physically struck. “you haven’t watched snow white?” you shook your head. “the little mermaid?” a frown. “not even cinderella?” another shake of the head.

“alright, well, i guess when we get back to the dorms, we’ll have to do a disney movie marathon.” danielle said, sighing. “i just can’t believe you’ve never watched a disney movie before…”

“i mean, i’ve watched some clips on txktxk.” you mutter, laughing sheepishly. “it’s not a lot but it has to count for something.”

[relatable. movie clips are everywhere on tiktok.]

“don’t worry, ynnie, we’ll fix this transgression immediately.” danielle took out her phone, sending your members a quick message. “it’s just going to take a while.”

“uh, why is it a transgression, exactly?”

[it’s not-]

“because i said so.”

[nvm.]

“…okay.”

previous. / pairz. / next.

[snwycde]

Connected (Bang Chan) part 2

Pairing: BangChan x fem reader

wc: 2.2k

warnings: none

summary: angsty - slow burn of Chan and fem reader. Chan runs into his past, how will it affect the present and his future?

This is NOT the first part!!! Here is part 1

-----

“Hyung, what do you mean you’re going to make a new solo song?!” Han sits up from the couch, “Would the company even allow that? We’re supposed to release this album literally this year.”

Chan leans back into his chair and grabs at his hair, “I just don’t feel like my song is as…it just doesn’t fit the vibe that I want it to give.”

Han put his hands onto his face, clearly stressed. 

“Why don’t you like ‘Roads’?” Changbin swivels his chair around to look at Chan, “I think it’s good and the lyrics are good?”

‘Roads’ was Chan’s song that he wrote for stays, it’s his solo song in the SKZ-Replay album. 

“I just don’t feel like I spent as much time on the song as you guys did with yours. Literally everyone has deeper meaning to their own songs, even Lino!”

Han looks up and turns to Changbin, “He has a point there. Lee know hyung isn’t one to be emotional and then he literally wrote 나지막이 (limbo).“

“Besides, the company will probably allow me to change it, it’s only June and we’re releasing it in December.” Chan sits back up, “And I’ll just release ‘Roads’ if I don’t come up with anything.”

Han shrugs at Changbin. Now it’s Changbin’s turn to lean back into his chair, “Why not. It’s not like we’re going to be able to change your mind.”

Chan starts packing up his things, “Good.”

“Where are you going?” Han questions his sudden movements.

“We’re done here… so I’m going?” he says as he places his laptop into his bag.

Another shared glance between Han and Changbin, a state of confusement since their hyung is never first to leave. 

“Look I’ll meet you guys back at the dorm.” giving a peace sign before exiting the room, leaving Han and Changbin baffled.

----

You have arrived, announces the car’s GPS. 

Chan parks on the street outside of a building, Connections, a cafe. Chan looks at the outside before entering, he hasn’t been here in years. 

----

“Yeah, I’m gonna surprise him at the ice skating rink,” You say while getting in the car, “He doesn’t know that I came back during spring break.”

“I can’t believe you flew back for him, don’t you ever learn your lesson,” your friend announces after your phone connects to your car.

“Look it’s been rough between us for a while and I want to clear things up, I feel like we just need to see each other and things will go back to normal.” You turn on the car, “Jihyo, I know you’ve never liked him but you didn’t even give him a chance!”

You can hear a sigh on the end of the line, “Whatever babe, I love you. I’ll be back home later tonight.”

You return an I love you and end the call.

----

“How long do you want to pay for?” an employee asks.

You check your watch, 11:30am, “I’ll stay for 2 hours.” 

As you sit down and put on your skates you check your phone to see your boyfriend’s location, he’s been here for 30 minutes already.

You remember he said that he was planning on going ice skating with his friends today when you had called him last night, and since you didn’t know how to surprise him, why not here while he’s with his friends…?

The ice skating rink is filled with people, so you look before getting on the ice to see if you can see your boyfriend. You see him, wearing one of the jackets you had bought him, and warmth rushes to your cheeks. 

As you step onto the ice you start towards him, the rink is quite large so you decide to call out to him, “Jae-”

You stop yourself once you see someone slide into him. A girl. Maybe it’s just an accident, you tell yourself. Jaebum, your boyfriend, wraps his arms around her, hugging her. You stop skating towards him, watching from a distance as he laughs and kisses her forehead. 

Your heart stops, as your eyes follow the girl as she gets off the rink and walks towards the restroom. 

You don’t even realize you're following her until, “Your hair is so cute!”, you say. 

“Ah, thank you!” the girl blushes as she touches up her short black hair in the mirror, “I love your long hair, it's gorgeous!”

“You and your boyfriend look so cute together,” you take out your lip oil, what am I doing?

The girl notices your lip oil, “Omg I have that one too!” as she takes out the dior lip oil to show you, “yeah, he’s actually not my boyfriend…yet!”

You turn to her, heart breaking since she’s so sweet, “oh really?”, from your intuition, you know she doesn’t know you, she seems like a good girl.

“He’s taken me on a few dates here and there, but I haven’t decided if I want him to be my boyfriend,” she leans in to whisper, “he is just a bit older than me, haha.”

You pretend like you don’t know that and gasp, “Omg how old is he, how old are you?”

“He's only 3 years older than me, I’m 24.” she smiles.

“Me too!” you exclaim, suddenly all you want to do is scream at Jaebum.

“Well it was wonderful meeting you!” you say before waving bye and quickly exiting. 

You spot Jaebum on the ice talking to one of his friends. As you get on the ice, his friend spots you before he could, “Y-Y/n?”

Jaebum turns around, color slowly leaves his face, “Y-y/n! What are you doing here!” He pretends to act excited as he looks around. 

“Surprise!” you act, forcing your whole body to hug him back when he hugs you, it makes you want to throw up. 

“What are you doing here?” he asks again breathlessly, “shouldn’t you be overseas?”

“Wouldn’t you like that,” you say under your breath before looking up at him, “Jagi, you’re wearing the jacket I got you! It looks so good!”

As you pretend to check him out in his jacket he starts to panic, “Aren’t you tired? You’re probably tired, you should go home and rest. I’ll bring dinner tonight!”

You stop and hold his hand, “omg jagi, I was in the restroom and I met the sweetest girl! You have to meet her.”

At that moment whatever color was left on his face left, it looked like his soul left his body, “jagi,” he starts, you wince at the nickname.

“Jaebum?” The voice behind you makes you smile.

You turn and look at the girl, on her face is pure confusement, you see her look at you holding his hand. Jaebum quickly wiggles his hand out of yours, your heart breaks a little. 

“Miyeon-ah.” Jaebum takes place in between you both, “Look, I can explain.”

“Miyeon… what a cute name,” you sadly smile before looking at Jaebum, “I saw you hold her.”

“J-jagi, I didn’t mean it,” Jaebum puts his hands up.

“Jagi?” Miyeon questions, her face trying to put the pieces together, “Are you guys dating?”

You look at Jaebum waiting for him to answer her but he just stays silent, “Jaebum was my boyfriend.”

“Was?” Jaebum looks at you, but you’re still looking at Miyeon as she realizes the situation. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know he was in a relationship.” Miyeon’s face drops, “I should leave.”

“No don’t,” Jaebum then turns to her, “can I explain?”

“Please don’t, you have nothing to explain to me.”  Miyeon replies before she waves to you and skates off.

Jaebum just watches her leave, “Y/n, I didn’t mean it, we were just good friends.”

You scoff at his words. You see his friend Jackson turn away not even believing him because he’s clearly in the wrong.

“How long?” That's all you wanted to ask, that’s all you wanted to know, maybe.

“Y/n please.” Jaebum takes your hands into his.

“How long, Jaebum.”

“I only took her on 5 dates. It started in June. It’s only been a month.”

“Only?” you look at him slightly hurt, “we’ve been dating for almost year and you’re gonna throw it away to have some fling?”

“I didn’t plan on getting that close to her, Y/n. you have to believe me.” Jaebum waves Jackson off to go elsewhere, “It was just a little lonely for me, you’re all the way overseas doing your stuff and you’re always busy nowadays.”

You pull your hands from his, “you’re blaming you cheating on me being busy?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say, Jagi. I just want to say I’m sorry and that we can move on from this and grow stronger.” Jaebum holds your shoulders, “I didn’t mean to kiss her, it was always out of stress and loneliness, I just really missed you.”

“Kis– Jaebum don’t touch me.” you step away from him.

Jaebum moves to try to hug you, but his bracelet on his wrist starts going off notifying that his time on the ice is over. 

“Look, do you want to go somewhere else and talk about this? Let’s try not to make a scene.” Jaebum sees Jackson getting off the ice, trying to move towards the exit.

“Make a scene? Seriously.” 

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

You look at Jaebum, then check the time, you still have 45 minutes left before your time is up, “You should go.”

Jaebum looks at you, then his bracelet, “text me whenever you’re ready okay? I love you.”

You cringe at those words, yet watch his back as he heads out to leave in sadness, not wanting him to go.

---

You’re in shock as you skate alone around and around the rink, trying to waste your time. You get a notification from your phone, Jihyo: 

I get off a little late today, so I’ll bring some food home ;P

You decide to text her and tell her what happened, when you hear a voice say, “Bin I’m actually gonna leave you, you’re embarrassing me.”

This wakes you up from your deluded thoughts, and you stare at the two people who happened to be in front of you, one gripping onto the wall and the other, slightly taller than the other, blonde hair peeking out under his beanie. 

“Chan?” you hear yourself whisper.

But you’re completely drowned out by another boy taller than them both coming by to completely push the one gripping onto the wall. As he’s desperately trying not to fall, that's when you hear it. 

Chan’s laugh. The sweetest and most contagious laugh you’ve ever heard, it makes your heart ache yet feel so warm. 

The laugh distracts you from your thoughts so well that it also distracts you from reality, you’re able to snap out of it, when you’re suddenly hit and falling to the ground. 

“Ouch,” you grab onto your wrist that you fell on.

Your nose is suddenly filled with the scent of his cologne, bringing back memories you did not want to feel right now. Feelings starting to worsen your current heartbreak with a past heartbreak.

He starts, as he rushes to get up and off of you, “I'm so sorry. I am truly so sorry.” He stretches out his hand for you, “are you okay?”

Does he not recognize me? You wonder as you start to get up using the wall, “You don’t have to apologize, it’s okay.”

Chan tries to make eye contact with you, “Do you need help or do you need anything?”

This is embarrassing, he’s the exact same as before. His actions start to irritate you, “”N-no, it’s really okay.” 

I’m done here. This is the worst day ever. You’re thinking as you skate off.

You walk and text Jihyo, Jaebum cheated on me and I just literally ran into Chan.

You find your shoes and start taking off your skates. Your phone’s notification starts to go off, thinking it’s from Jihyo you pick it up, instead it’s from Jackson. 

Hey y/n, look I know we’re not the closest, but I just wanted to say that I didn’t know you guys were even dating still. Jaebum told me and the guys that you guys broke up a little after you flew back to the States. I’m sorry that he’s been lying to you. - Jackson

This makes your eyes start to water, you’re not sure whether to be angry, hurt or –

“Hi I’m the guy who fell into you earlier”

5 years Chan, trust me I know you.

“I really am sorry about that, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

You scoff at his words, they’re so familiar, “You want to make sure I’m okay?”

“Um yes,” hesitation in his voice, “I just want to know if I hurt you badly and you’re just hiding it.”

Hearing this from your ex is not the best feeling. Especially when he doesn’t even remember you, or does he? So you decide to make eye contact with him, feeling pathetic yet angry as you still have tears in your eyes, “No Chan, don’t worry you didn’t hurt me at all.”

His face suddenly drops, from the nice guy act he was playing, as he steps back a little he questions, “Shit, Y/n?”

“Sorry you might’ve forgotten me, my bad.” You stand up and brush his shoulder as you walk out.

author's note: OKAY so I think I'll release every day until this story is done, around 10-11 pm PST time 👍 I'm not entirely sure honestly but I'll try to be active as long as people want more 🙏

[observeowl]

Second Chance | Chapter 20 - New Found Excitement

Series masterlist

When your father came back, dinner was almost ready. Your mother called out for you and Natasha but there were no replies. She tried again repeatedly until she was frustrated with your nonreplies. 

“Y/N, what are you doing? I have been calling you multiple times.” She entered your room and stopped after seeing you asleep cuddling with Natasha. “Well, that explains it.” She shook her head and went back down the stairs. 

“Where is Y/N?” Your father asked as he began eating. 

“Sleeping. It seems like she fractured her arm in an accident.”

“What?!” 

“She’s fine. I talked to her earlier. Her friend brought her home. And she’s asleep with the same friend. Seems like they are dating.”

“How did she get into an accident?” 

“The driver wasn’t paying attention.” 

Your father shook his head as he continued eating. “Who is she dating?” 

“Some friend from school. They seemed really close together. I think she has a great future ahead of her. She wants to be a lawyer.” 

“She? That means a girl? My daughter is dating a girl.” Your mother nodded her head. Your father remained silent for the remainder of the meal as he thought about the situation. 

A few hours after they finished their meal, you woke up feeling hungry and noted it was time to take your medication. “Are you feeling hungry?” Natasha asked next to you as you nodded sleepily. “Do you eat in your room or the dining room?” 

“Dining room.” You mumbled. 

“Alright, let’s go then. I’ll grab your medication for you at the same time.” She helped you out of the bed. 

She poured a glass of water for you as you went to heat up the food that your parents have left for you. 

“Hi, Mr Y/L/N.” Natasha said as he saw your father enter the kitchen to grab a beer. 

“Just Derrick is fine. I heard from my wife that you bought this?” He lifted the beer in his hands and she nodded. 

“It’s not much and I know it can’t take away the fact that I hurt your daughter because she was riding on my motorbike. But I hope you will give me a chance to date your daughter.” Natasha stood tall and confessed her intention about you to your father. 

“And what if you hurt her again?” He questioned.

“There is no again. If she’s hurt because of me in the future, I give you the permission now to ruin me. You can cause a scandal, shame me in public and I will not retaliate.” He narrowed his eyes before taking a sip of his beer and left. 

“Not too bad. But I will also remember your words.” You said as you took the plate out of the steamer and she quickly nudged you aside and took it out of your hands. 

“Sit down. I will take care of it.” She brought the dishes to you and even brought your ice tea to accompany it apart from the water for your medication. “Can you handle it? Should I feed you?” She asked, seeing how you have to use your left hand to scoop the dishes. 

“Maybe not feed me in front of my parents. Just help me put the food on the spoon.” She nodded and quickly helped take a bit of each before placing the spoon down for you. “You don’t have to be so hard on yourself. You’re not going to last that long otherwise, it’s going to be very tiring.” She shook her head immediately and continued her actions. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The dinner went as smoothly as it can get with one arm. Definitely slower than it used to be, with Natasha having to help you and for her own. 

“Are you free tomorrow, say 4pm? Want to come over to my house? Since I met your parents, it’s time for you to meet mine.” 

“Are we speed running this?” You raised your eyebrows. She could only cheekily smile as she nodded her head. 

“Do you think we can get married by the time we graduate?” 

“By the time we graduate?” You repeated to make sure you heard correctly. “That’s in a year’s time! We hardly have any time to prepare!” 

“So, that’s a yes? You’ll marry me?” 

“Maybe not if you’re going to ask me like this. I have standards, you know. Especially having done this once. I know what I want.” You retaliated. 

“That’s fine. Think about how you want the wedding to be. Just be prepared to say yes to the best proposal ever.” 

She stayed for a few more hours after helping you clean the plates and insisted on bringing you back to bed before leaving and saying goodbye to your parents. 

I’m home. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Nat texted you when she finally got in bed. She was ready to text you the entire night if you were awake but unfortunately, you were sound asleep by the time she texted. 

In fact, you slept for a long time until it was almost time for lunch and your parents had to wake you up. “Are your meds that strong?” They knew you liked to sleep, you were usually the type to wake up and continue lying on the bed, but this time, you were really dead asleep. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” You mumbled as you reached for your phone to check the time. You noted Natasha texted you last night so you gave her a quick reply before changing into your day clothes and heading down. 

“Natasha told us you’ll be heading to her house later?” Your father asked. 

You wondered how he knew but you figured Nat must have told them when she went to say goodbye yesterday. “Yeah.” 

“Do you need a ride there?” He asked. 

“Sure. I’ll give you the address when we head out later.” 

Waking up so late into the day meant that you only had to wait a few hours before it was time to head to Nat’s house. 

You don’t actually know the address to Nat’s house nor the landmarks around which could provide you with the address, but you remembered how to get there from your memories. Therefore, you ended up directing your father from the passenger seat where to go. 

“I cannot tell you what to do nor restrict you. Just don’t do anything you’d regret and cause me to do things I won’t.” He said before driving off as I got out of the car. It took you a while to understand what he was saying. It would be the closest thing he would ever say to show his care towards you. 

“Y/N! What are you standing there for?” You turned your head when you heard Nat calling for you. 

“I was just watching my father go.” You said as you approached her. 

“Come on, time to meet my parents officially, again.” She pulled you closer by the waist and didn’t give you anytime to prepare before bringing you in front of her parents. 

“Mom, dad. Meet my girlfriend, Y/N.” 

“Hi nic-” Before you were able to complete your sentence, Alexis brought you into a tight hug. 

“Y/N!! You must be the one that is keeping our daughter up last night. She couldn’t stop talking about you since this morning.”

“Dad! Don’t hug her too tight, she’s still injured.” She hurried to pull you back. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep her awake throughout the night.” You rushed to explain yourself. 

“Don’t worry about him. He’s just exaggerating. But Natasha was sure gushing about you since this morning. I’ve never seen her this motivated to clean around the house.” You turned to see Nat hiding behind your body in an attempt to hide her red face. 

“Whipped.” You heard Yelena’s voice from the stairs. “Hi, I’m Yelena. I’m the better and younger version.”

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Y/N.” You said as you watched Yelena circle and inspected you.

“Yelena!” Natasha pushed her away from you. “What are you doing? Stop being a creep.” 

“Well, I’m just seeing if she was the reason for your strange behaviour. You have been very weird since a few months back.” 

“That’s enough, Yelena. Let your sister and her girlfriend head up until dinner.” 

“Come on.” Natasha held your head and brought you up. She clearly has no problem showing public displays of affection.

“You know, if you ask me…” She turned around to face you as you entered her room. “I am really liking this life.” She said with a huge smile. “It gives me the chance to be fully in love with you from the beginning.” She gave you a quick kiss before pulling you to sit next to her on the bed. 

You felt bad for pouring water on her dreams but it wouldn’t be realistic to have the wedding by the time both of you graduate. “Nat…” You said as she flicked through Netflix for a show to watch. “I don’t think it’s possible for us to get married right after we graduate.” 

“What?” She looked at you like a kicked puppy. “You don’t want to marry me anymore?” 

“No… I do… But a wedding takes a lot of preparation and money which we both don’t have. Right now, our focus should be on our studies.” You tried explaining to her. You couldn’t bear to see her so sad and gently took her face in the palm of your hands. “But hey, but we can still get married, or maybe even earlier. We can sign the papers without having a ceremony. That’s a lot cheaper.” 

That seems to do the trick as her eyes light up. “I can call you my wife earlier?” You nodded and that had her smiling like a Cheshire cat.

“I gotta start planning for the proposal soon. Maybe I should get the papers ready so I can call you my wife straight away.” 

You laughed at her enthusiasm. “I’m not sure if we can do that, but I’ll leave the research to you, babe.” She nodded eagerly and started the show she had chosen. 

“Do you want to stay over tonight?” Nat asked you. 

“Should I?” 

“Why not? It’s the holidays. You don’t have anything tomorrow, do you?” You shook your head. “Then it’s decided.” 

You got comfortable in Natasha’s embrace as you watched the show that was being projected onto the wall. 

Series masterlist

@queen-of-chaotic-surprises @esposadejoyhuerta @gemz5 @natsxwife @dyslexic-dreamer @unexpected-character @eternalnight410 @leenasayeed @oh-thats-sad @skz-xii @gay-frogs-dancing-around @justspance

[authorautumnbanks]

Brainstorm: Brat Tamer (?)

“What do you want?” Kagome asks as she waves Ijichi away. The hotel is falling apart. It must have been abandoned decades ago. Satoru smiles as he throws an arm over Kagome’s shoulders.

“Can’t I be curious about how the newest sorcerer is getting along?” Truthfully, when Yaga mentioned Kagome was the latest hire, he laughed his ass off. Kagome? Out in the field? “You know this is a grade one mission. Can you handle that?”

Kagome smiles. Something about that smile screams danger. Satoru swallows and stands upright.

“Not calling ya weak…” he clucks his tongue. “Alright, you are, and the higher ups must want to kill you off. Look, I don’t say this to everyone, but sorcery ain’t for you.”

Kagome tilts her head to the side. Assessing. “You’re a brat.”

“Just quit while you’re ahead. Though if you really want to get yourself killed, then fine.” He shrugs.

“You think I can’t handle it?” This time when she looks at him, he sees pity.

Satoru gnashes his molars. How dare she pity him? “Tell ya what. If you go in there and exorcise that curse, I’ll do something for you. But if it lands even one hit, then you pack your bags and quit.”

There. She has no choice. The energy coming from her might not be cursed energy, but the amount is pathetic either way. Grade one? With that amount, she should be a grade three sorcerer. Even Utahime is stronger than her and her curse technique is terrible.

“I’ll kill it in one shot.” She flicks her hair and then walks into the hotel. Satoru stuffs his hands in his pockets and trails behind her. Is she serious right now? Pride is going to get her killed. Kagome notches the arrow. The movement is so fluid, it’s clear she’s done this before.

His heart pounds. The hell? Satoru clenches his fists. Where did this surge of energy come from? In one blow, with just one arrow, the curse is exorcised.

Kagome turns and smiles sweetly at him. “You’ll do anything?”

Satoru runs his tongue over the top of his teeth. “Within reason,” he says, ignoring the pit forming in his gut. Okay, so he was wrong. She’s stronger than she appears.

“On your knees.”

Satoru freezes. “You don’t…” he swallows.

Disappointment.

“At least take me out first,” he jokes as he sinks to his knees. Kagome walks around him. She smells like lavender. Her energy is back to that pitiful amount. A shame. “Cat got your tongue?”

Kagome stops in front of him. Her energy flares and fuck! Satoru’s mouth pops open.

“I enjoy seeing you like this,” she murmurs. “Helpless.”

“Hilarious,” he chortles. “You should quit and go into comedy.”

Kagome reaches out and caresses his cheek. Something in him snaps. She’s touching him. That’s impossible.

“Do you like it?” Her energy washes over him this time like a lover’s caress. It’s gentle. Soothing. And his cock is straining in his pants.

“The hell did you do?”

Kagome blinks and then pulls away. The loss of her touch feels like he’s been plunged into a bath of ice water. He blows out a breath, exaggerating it to disguise how disoriented she has him.

“Nothing,” she quips. “I just wanted to see you on your knees since you do nothing but talk down to everyone.” Kagome shrugs one shoulder. “You can leave. There’s no reason for you to stay and watch me handle missions I’m more than qualified to complete.”

Is she dismissing him?

Satoru rises to his full height and flashes a smirk. “So what? You took out one curse. Doesn’t make you all that.” Something about her makes him want to pick a fight with her. She’s too calm. Too put together.

Kagome’s eyes drift down, and she stares at his groin. “Handle yourself first before worrying about me.”

His face warms.

Kagome walks out of the hotel without a look back. He jogs to catch up to her. “Wait! I think there’s been some misunderstanding here.”

“You constantly push at my buttons because you want attention,” she says, pulling out her phone. “I stand by what I said earlier. You are a brat. I’m not here for your amusement.”

But everyone is here for his amusement.

Satoru sighs. “What can I do to make this right between us?” If he could, he’d punch himself. Okay, he could punch himself, but he doesn’t need Kagome going on about how he has issues. “You want me on my knees again?”

Kagome stops. Her thumb hovers over the phone. “Not good enough,” she says.

“I’m good with my tongue,” he half jokes.

Kagome glares at him. He takes a step back. “Sorry, I was…” What was he trying to do? “Look, that came—”

“Quiet.”

He snaps his mouth closed. Kagome sends a message to someone and continues to ignore him. The longer the seconds tick by, the antsier he gets. He doesn’t get ignored. Satoru fidgets. He opens his mouth and then closes it. Kagome told him to be silent.

Why is he even listening to her?

Fuck this.

“Good job, Satoru.” Kagome smiles at him and the anger nestled in his throat dissipates. “I’ll see you back at campus.” The car drives up and Kagome hops in.

Satoru stands there watching the Ijichi drive off with Kagome in the backseat. His chest is light. Much lighter than before.

Good job, Satoru.

Shit.

***

A/N: Just trying to get a feel for the story. Wrote this real quick(ish) on my phone. Might continue, idk.

[bitchinbarzal]

Forever my girl | Jamie Drysdale: One

summary: when the news hits, Jamie has to go home

first few chapters are gonna be short!

-

Jamie just got done playing three back to back games, ended up at the club now he’s got a blonde in his bed he doesn’t know the name of.

The tv was still on from last night, he doesn’t like having to listen to them talk to him when he’s just trying to get laid.

The news was playing and through his sleep covered eyes he saw something familiar, his hockey rink. His home hockey rink.

He reached over the girl and grabbed the remote, turning it up.

“Last night around 11:35 locals witnessed the car flip after sliding on the ice after colliding with a drunk driver, The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Ryan was from port hope known to locals as just simply hope, they will hold a vigil tomorrow for the deceased”

He watched the picture on the screen, Ryan, his best friend. Dead.

Jamie moved himself out of the bed to pick up his phone, googling the news for more information.

Then he called the team

“I gotta take a few days off”

“Jamie, what we’re literally in the run up to the playoffs you can’t just leave”

“I’ve got some stuff to deal with at home, I’ll be back in a week” He snapped “Listen… I have to go, I’m not asking I’m telling you”

Then he slipped out the room, leaving the girl alone in the bed with a couple hundred dollar bills on the nightstand with a note ‘for an uber’

The whole time he was in the airport, he was ignoring the phone calls and text messages from personnel and teammates asking him if he’d lost his mind and that he had to come back to Anaheim.

You were getting Billie ready for the vigil “Do I gots to wear this dress, mama?”

“Yes, uncle Ry loved this dress on you babygirl”

She sighs “I miss him”

And you smile softly and kiss her nose “we’re all gonna miss him sweetpea, now let’s go or we’ll be late”

She nods and holds your hand, squeezing it

“C’mon let’s go”

You were still running late, regardless of trying to get there on time. You only had enough time to park the car before pulling Billie out and running to the church.

“C’mon now and your remember when we get in there you give- oh!” Turning into the stairs of the church you stumbled over someone sitting on the stairs.

You stood back “I’m so sor-“

Your words failed you as you made eye contact with him. Neither of you said anything, you just pushed Billie “C’mon”

Inside the church, you sat by Charlie, frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

You shook your head before you said “Jamie’s here”

“What?”

“Jamie… he’s outside��

You saw the way Charlie held onto Billie’s arm, almost subconsciously his way of protecting his niece from his brother.

After a lot of tears and shared stories of who Ryan was, you were leaving the church listening to Billie tell you how much she loved him.

You saw Jamie sitting on the bench on the other side of the garden.

“Can you take Billie?” You ask Charlie who nods and says “Y/N you don’t have to-“

You were already half way across the front lawn by then, Jamie stood up now waiting for you to come over

“Hey y/n-“ his sentence was cut off by your hand slapping him across the face.

“You shouldn’t be here, Drysdale”

hi jamie. it’s me, y/n

I’m calling, again. you haven’t called me back yet but I’ve got something really important to tell you so please I’m begging you to just call me back. please. I love you, whatever has happened we can work through it together I promise you that whatever you have to say won’t shock you half as much as what I’ve got to say.

[autumnslance]

FFXIV Write 2024: 26 Zip

C’oretta zipped up the loose Alexandrian-style jacket, then leaned down to put the shoes on her feet, delighting in the ripping sound of the velcro fastenings a few times before securing them and bouncing out into the hot, sunny streets of Ul’dah.

Hamon gave her a side-eye as he took in her latest eye-searing outfit—the Alexandrians knew how to get a fantastically bright neon pink—and then shook his head before handing her a hefty basket. “We’ve got just enough time before the matches start, so run your little butt up to the top box and make sure all the refreshments are set out for the VIPs.”

“Yessir!” C’oretta cheerfully replied. Violet did not follow as she used her dancer skills to zoom up the coliseum stairs to the fancy boxes where the wealthy gathered.

Coming to town at the same time as a major match meant she would get press ganged by Hamon, Mylla, or both, into helping ensure the stadium was ready for the crowds their fighters drew in. C’oretta truly didn’t mind, as it reminded her of times in her childhood when she had done the same, initially while her father was a contender.

She swiftly set out the ice crystal-chilled drinks and fire crystal-warmed pastries in the royal box. Her Majesty and some of her Royalist supporters on the Syndicate would be attending today’s sport, and several of Nanamo’s known favorites had been prepared. C’oretta also left a hastily scribbled note, letting the Sultana know she was present and promising to drop in close to the end so they could visit and Nanamo could get news of Tural.

Also fashion information. She and the Sultana, along with Tataru, were part of a particular club of specific color enjoyers, and just had to keep each other in the loop, after all. And Nanamo would share with her in return so when C’oretta did return to Tural and met with Aeryn and Dark again she could let them know…

The bells dinged and she cursed and sped back down the stairs, ignoring shouts of concern from various coliseum staff as she skid to a stop in front of Hamon again. “All finished!”

He sighed. “Gonna break your neck like that one of these days.”

“Nah I know what I’m doing oh hey is Aldis participating today or Mylla since there’s an exhibition before the actual blood sports?”

Hamon laughed. “Sure are. There’s even an open spot if a certain zippy lil’ miqo’te lass wanted to get in on the fun!”

C’oretta thought about that. “It has been awhile I suppose and it’s usually fun I can definitely run rings around anyone they set me against not too many know how to deal with a combo of the Fist of Rhalgr and the kriegstanz.”

“Indeed, indeed,” Hamon said, exaggeratedly stroking his chin. “We know what the professor will say, if he deigns to attend, but wonder what your dance instructor’d think of our games here. Say, I don’t suppose you could introduce me to—”

“Absolutely not she’d eat you alive and not in the fun way,” C’oretta cheerfully said, giggling as Hamon sighed again.

“Can’t blame a man for trying to get a meetup with a pretty lass like that!” he laughed. “Go on and get ready, Oretta.”

“Violet stay with Uncle Hamon and I’ll be back after I’ve kicked everyone’s arse in the exhibition okay!” And she took off again to prepare for the first match, a pink and blonde blur of excitement on an already exciting day.