#Josie Mama

[iamrizaka]

Hecate doesn't really like to be alone with someone. Especially if this "someone" is someone who is deeply unpleasant to her. Especially if this "someone" is an Olympian. Especially if that "someone" is him.

Hecate keeps her demeanor calm and reasonable, Hermes is carefree and cheerful as usual, they both know that this is a pretense. If they could, they would bite their teeth into each other's throats. They always didn't get along, now they're probably cursing each other.

He does not forgive her for being on the side of the Titans, although she rarely expressed loyalty to anyone while remaining neutral, she hates what he is doing now.

"How is she?" Hermes asks after all, after an empty chatter for decency. Hecate feels the ashes on her tongue. "She" seems as wrong and mean as possible in relation to the golden-haired child who played with her daughters and sons and whom Hecate treated to melomakarona.

This golden-haired child was a boy, not a girl. This golden-haired child deserved a normal childhood and a full life. This golden-haired child Hecate, she was pathetic and helpless, broke with her own hands.

"The child is fine," Hecate primly mints, straightening the folds of her cloak, she tries to look detached and disinterested.

What part of her is still elated that she was able to at least temporarily shield the boy from Hermes, by making the cause the severity and tension of the procedure the boy was going through.

Since it started, Hermes has "visited" Will only once every 10 days and that's only for 7-10 minutes and only under her supervision. It was a temporary respite that was actually vital for the child.

"It's wonderful" Hermes' face brightens and acquires a gentle, almost loving expression, his smile is thin and soft, and his eyes are warm. Hecate wants to spray liquid fire right in his face. "I missed her, I hope she can come back to me soon."

Hecate does not respond, turn her attention to Weasel, her sweet girl Josie, who had been sleeping on her shoulder before. Her Josie perched on Hecate's neck like a scarf and looked around with impenetrable black beady eyes.

Hermes apparently takes this as a sign to stop being nice to her and finally get down to business. Hecate doesn't want to think about what kind of disgusting horror will come into his head.

"I want to give her a new name," Hermes' voice is surprisingly serious, Hecate feels as if Boreas has covered her insides with ice, "Will's name sounds cute, but it won't suit her at all when the procedure is over and she will be a lovely Kore."

Hecate gives a silent, imperceptible sign and Josie, understanding and obedient, gets off her neck and runs away on her fast tiny paws. She's probably going to visit her sweet Lou Ellen. Hecate does not want to accidentally harm her pet in the heat of anger.

The air around her crackles with her feelings, Hermes, in his Olympian arrogance, ignores her anger, perhaps even finds it funny. Hecate feels her nails getting longer and sharper.

She comes close to him, as she did when they were angry children, and grabs his chiton, she feels the fabric crackle under her fingers. Hermes remains indifferent to this, as a child he looked at her with an unkind gleam in his eyes.

"Where is it?" hissed Hecate like a snake, viciously and subtly, vibrating from the walls and ingrained in head. It was a mistake to think that Lamia was not born a snake monster.

"What?" it sounds easy and kind when he pretended to Maya that he was being nice to her. He always knew what, in what form, and at what exact moment he could make her most angry.

Hecate feels like the cracked and collapsed ice inside her has turned into a burning, all-consuming fire, it is this kind of anger that has always made her remember that she is not only the daughter of the gentle star Asteria, but also the child of the titan destroyer Perses. She exhales and her fingers only tighten on his clothes, the fabric still rips.

"Your sympathy," she exhales through clenched teeth, "Even in ancient times, when people knelt in front of you and burned the best cattle in your honor, you had it... Where in the name of Chaos is it now!? He not she, He a fucking tortured baby!".

"It's still there, O meli" his fingers gently touched her hands, Hecate wanted to peel the skin off them, "she just doesn't need to sympathize. She lives in the best position she could have and I take care of her diligently, it's just the difficulties of the initial stage, in the beginning it's difficult for everyone."

He easily pushes her away from him and she sticks to the wall out of surprise and leaves without even wanting to listen to her answer, maybe he went to do divine things or choose another shiny jewelry and silk dresses that he could send as a gift to Will.

She is a minor goddess who has already seriously screwed up and whose few children are tightly squeezed in the Olympic vice, he is an Olympian with power and might, who is in favor of his father. Hermes can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants, and Hecate hates it.

Melomakarona - ancient Greek honey cookies. Kore - ancient Greek word for "virgo" or simply "girl". O meli - ancient Greek word is "dear".

Little Hecate and Hermes meeting each other and yelling "I don't like you!" is hilarious to imagine.

Hecate and other deities who joined Titans' side of the war are not going to forget about it any time soon. Not only because of their children being tortured, but because the Olympians will never change their opinions about them, not after the war. They would forever be some minor deities who thought they could win against their power.

Hermes referring to Will as "she" and "Kore" makes me so angry. He doesn't see anything wrong with it: in fact, it's completely opposite! He's giving his mistress a place to live, tasty food, pretty dresses and beautiful jewelry. He found someone who looks like his old love. He had lost May all those years ago — his sweet and gentle May went insane because of the Oracle, but now he has a second chance to make everything "right". He can have his May again, but he needs some time and make sure that his mistress is healthy and ready.

Hecate, meanwhile, takes a moment to get who he is talking about. Because she sees Will as Will, not as some girl and woman Hermes wants to make out of him. She tries not to touch the subject at first, instead calling him "the child" and not using pronouns. It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, but she has to remain calm. She can't let any of the major gods get another advantage over her; they already have too many.

But Hermes doesn't stop. He continues talking about "the girl" and even wants to change the child's name. And that is when we can see Hecate break her façade, when she grabs him and growls into his face. When she tells him about sympathy and robbing a boy of his person.

But the thing is — Hermes is being sympathetic! He is giving a girl the best life she can ever have, something he couldn't give to May. And he knows how the girl lived before; he's basically doing charity!

And then he reminds Hecate again of why he is the major god, and not her. He reminds her of how more powerful he is than her, and she has nothing else to do but accept it. It's shown by the way he easily pushes her and doesn't even answer her; she's not significant enough for him to do it.

And Hecate is left like this: with memories of her children, of their friends and comrades. Of how she is single-handedly destroying the life of one of them, and of how she had a hand in ruining other children's lives as well.

Being a daughter of the Titan Perse, "The destroyer", has two sides. Just like how she tears down her enemies in her anger, she leaves her family wrecked.

[whyislenaluthorsohot]

Caroline: Nice work, Hope.

Hope: Thanks mom.

Super Squad: *staring at Hope* 😳

Hope: …The last person still staring at me is going to lose a limb. 

Kaleb: You just called Caroline mom. You said ‘thanks mom’

Hope: What? No I didn’t. I said ma’am. I said ‘thanks ma’am’ 

Caroline: Do you see me as a mother figure Hope?

Hope: No. If anything I see you as a bother figure. Because you’re always bothering me.

Penelope: Hope! Show your mother some respect!

[bcolfanfic]

curt and ken don’t get it and she finally snaps like of course you don’t get it but who was i SUPPOSED to talk to, my mom you bought me from and shooed off????

how do curt and ken react to this :(

i think they just kinda stand there all :o :( for a minute. dealt with bry having that flavor of angst as a teenager but it never came up w/ meadow so they kinda thought it never would. esp with how close she is with helen. they kinda thought their quasi-mom/daughter relationship was a get of jail free card of sorts which. was shoddy thinking on their part tbh, but no one's perfect.

eventually curt is kinda /: and asserts that she's just trying to get under their skin but ken is like no, i don't think she is. they have a little squabble to the effect of "okay, but what are we supposed to do about it /now/?". which kinda fair on his end bc there isn't exactly an easy way to handle it. can't go back in time and have kids differently, and wouldn't even *want* to do that because they love the kids they have and it's a real "changing history/fate is a mistake" thing in their heads too.

tldr i think bry is more useful in this specific issue than curt or ken is. has spent years since her lil freakout as a teenager figuring out how to process and make her peace with it all so. a good guide for her sister in handling those hard feelings <3

[fandoms--fluff]

Hey I was wondering if you could do another os yn mikaelson Hope baby sister we’re when Hope has to go to school like something happen and yn appears magical in Alaric office and scream like a little girl that scared yn and macke her cry the super scuad hires and go to se what happened and Hope sea her baby sister

The Best Big Sister

Flufftober, October 7th

Baby female Mikaelson reader x Hope Mikaelson

Warnings: none

a/n: I cant tell you how much I love writing big sister hope

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You crawl around the house, you've been crawling for what seems like forever, and still no sign of your big sister. Where is she?

Your Mama and Dada seem perfectly fine and they don't seem to be worrying about where Hope is. But you are, and you want to make sure she's okay and she's not gone forever and you want her. You feel lonely. You have your parents and then your uncles and aunts, but it doesn't compare to your big sister.

You slump back down onto the ground, your back leaning against one of the walls in Hope's bedroom.

As you think of Hope and how much you want her, a tingly feeling goes throughout your entire body. One second you're on the ground of your sister's room, and the next you're sitting in a small office room. It kind of looks like Uncle Elijah's study.

You hear a scream from across the room, only to see a grown man that you have never seen before.

"Holy shit!" Alaric explains, jumping up from his office chair, and walks towards you.

Hearing the unknown man's loud voice makes your face freeze up before big tears start falling down your cheeks. Not long after, your silent tears turn into wailing.

Alaric's face pales, not knowing what to do. Sure he's had twin girls that he raised, but he doesn't know what to do with a baby that just magically appeared in his office.

Before he knows it, five teens fill the office in alert. That is until they see who's making the noise and that the headmaster is doing nothing about it.

"Why do you have a baby?" Kaleb asks, breaking the silence. "Well, she just appeared and when I sort of yelled, she burst out crying.

Hope makes her way to the front of the small crowd and recognizes you instantly. "Oh my god, y/n, how are you here?" Hope says quietly and kneels in front of you.

Your wailing comes to a halt upon hearing your sister's voice. She picks you up into her arms and cradles you against her chest before standing back up. She turns to face the others who have confused looks on their faces.

"How exactly do you know a baby?" Lizzie asks, wanting to know straight away.

"She's my sister, I'm pretty sure it would be weird if I didn't know my baby sister" Hope answers her with a raised eyebrow. "You have a sister?!" Lizzie exclaims.

"I thought you knew?" Hope turns to Josie to confirm it. Josie was the one who had found out when she walked into Hope's room while she was on a video chat with Hayley, and you were in your guys' mother's arms.

"She does. I did tell you, Lizzie, that Hope has a little sister" Josie turns to her twin. Hope told her that she was only allowed to tell Lizzie and to make sure that no one else would find out except the two siphoners.

"I thought you were joking about that" Lizzie states, staring at you. You look back at her, making eye contact.

Hope sighs and rolls her eyes, it's ironic how the one in this school who basically knows everything about everyone thought that a crucial fact her sister told her, was a joke.

"Why didn't we get to know any of this?" MG speaks up, referring to Kaleb and himself.

"I'll let you think it out, you'll get there eventually" Hope quips, before walking out of the office, ignoring the protesting calls from Alaric that she can't keep a baby in the school.

Like she'd ever keep her sister here with no one to watch over you 24/7 because she has classes.

When she gets up to her room, she shifts you to her hip and brings out her phone to call your guys' dad. As she dials the number, you nuzzle into the front of her shoulder, rubbing your cheek against the soft fabric of her shirt.

"Hey Dad, by any chance are you missing a cute little baby that goes by the name of y/n?" Hope smirks, noticing Klaus' distressed answer to the call.

"Yes, why?" Klaus answers immediately. "Don't worry anymore, and stop looking. She's with me. She somehow did a spell by accident, im guessing, and wound up in Headmaster Saltzman's office. She's alright and byt the looks of it is about to fall asleep, so I can maybe drive up back to the house and drop her off tomorrow?" Hope asks since she wants to spend a night alone with you, and she secretly has a bin of things for you if you ever happen to have come here anyway.

Klaus agrees after some persuading, and she hangs up. "Time for some big sister and little sister time!" She quietly exclaims and kisses the top of your head.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Garden of Secrets - Epilogue

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and support throughout the story my darlings! I hope you enjoy the epilogue as well, ILYSM! ❤️

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, some gender specific language and terms, mentions of sex.

Thank you to @theskytraveler for helping me with the story and the chapter!

Series Masterlist

3 YEARS LATER

��And this flower right here is called a mock orange, any idea why?”

The cheerful babbling was the only answer you got and you felt yourself smiling wide, turning to look at her better. Camellia was the cutest baby you’d ever seen and you were pretty sure it wasn’t just because she was the most perfect combination of you and Benedict. The only person in your life that remembered you as a baby was Josie, and she swore up and down that she looked more like you than Benedict but you weren’t so sure.

“Very good!” you said. “Because it looks like an orange flower!”

Camellia clapped her hands excitedly, as if congratulating herself for guessing right, kicking her legs back and forth in her high chair, accidentally dropping one of the many pencils on the table in front of her but she didn’t even notice.

“And what about this one?”

“Fwo?”

“Flower, yes,” you said, nodding fervently and she gave you a huge grin. You went to pick her up from the chair and approached the table in the middle of the huge greenhouse.

 “This is your flower my sweet, see? Middlemist Red Camellia.”

She gasped when she heard her name. “Me!”

“Mm hm, the most beautiful and precious flower in the entire world!” you said, tickling her stomach while kissing her cheeks, making her happy giggles echo in the greenhouse. You fixed her hair, still smiling bright and took a look at the paper she was drawing on before, full of different colored squiggly lines.

“Perhaps your papa is right, you are to be a big artist,” you said as you walked to the glass door. “A painter like him hm?”

“Papa!”

“And your aunt Lottie says you will be a writer and your uncle Teddy says you’ll be a sculptor…” you said as you stepped out of the greenhouse into the huge garden, the sunlight falling upon you. You grabbed the little hat by the door and placed it upon Camellia’s head while she held onto you, playing with your necklace.

“So many ideas!” you told her as you passed by the winter garden, enjoying the chirping of the birds. A couple of butterflies flew by you, no doubt because you were very close to the butterfly garden and Camellia held her breath, pointing at the blue butterfly.

“Mama!”

“I can see that my love,” you said, pressing a kiss on her small chubby hand, and walked past the orangery. “They’re very beautiful, are they not?”

She nodded fervently, making grabby hand motions as if trying to call the butterflies to her.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” you said, still walking through the main garden. “They all think like that but do you want to know what I think?”

She nodded her head again, still listening to you very intently.

“I think you might just become the biggest botanist in the world,” you whispered. “I mean it only makes sense, no? You already know so many flowers!”

Camellia pointed at the pear tree and turned to you. “Mine? Mine?”

“Let’s get you one then,” you said with a small laugh, reaching up to grab and pick the pear off the branch. You dusted it off, then gave it to Camellia who made a happy cooing sound, trying to dig into it. You raised your head to look up at the house, a warmth spreading through you as your gaze fell upon the window of Benedict’s studio, then you turned to Camellia.

“Let’s go see papa, hm?” you asked her, then made your way to the house to enter the foyer. You hummed a song and climbed up the stairs, then put Camellia down when you entered the hallway leading to Benedict’s studio.

“Go ahead.”

“Papa?” Camellia called out, running as fast as her tiny legs allowed her, reminding you of a duck. She was still holding the pear tight in her fist, and you walked right behind her to make sure you would be able to catch her if she fell. “Papa!”

You let out a laugh as you heard Benedict’s footsteps and he stepped out of the studio, his jaw dropping as he saw her and he immediately leaned down to catch her before she could smash herself against his legs.

“Oh here’s my sweet!” he said as he hoisted her up into his arms, smothering her in kisses, making her giggle happily before he turned to you, that fond look crossing his eyes, a soft smile curling his lips.

“Hello my love.”

You smiled, and stood on your tiptoes to kiss him. “Hello to you too,” you said, letting out a small laugh as he stole another kiss from you. “I figured you needed a break or so.”

“And you were right,” he said, winking at you before turning to Camellia. “How is she always right, do you know?”

Camellia offered him the pear she was holding and Benedict gasped.

“For me?”

“More like it was for her but she’s willing to share,” you said and Benedict grinned.

“Come on,” he nodded in the direction of the studio and walked inside with Camellia in his arms, and you followed them.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” you sang in a teasing manner, pulling the hat off Camellia’s head and Benedict shot you a mischievous look.

“Mm, what am I doing?”

“You think you can turn her into an artist if she spends enough time here.”

“I can’t help if she’s naturally talented,” Benedict defended himself. “I mean have you seen her work?”

“The…the squiggly lines?”

“The squiggly lines!” Benedict nodded, rocking Camellia. “She’s a genius artist even as a one-year-old.”

“I still support my botanist theory.”

“Maybe she’ll be both?”

“As you can see my sweet, no high expectations whatsoever,” you told Camellia who was listening to both of you as if she could understand everything you were saying.

“You can be anything you want to be,” Benedict told her as she rested her head on his shoulder, yawning. “Including an artist. Just saying.”

You walked closer to the canvas to see that the background was almost done, and tilted your head.

“What’s this going to be?”

Benedict shot you a grin and pressed his lips on top of Camellia’s hair. You checked the clock on the wall, then rang the bell.

“That one is going to be her,” Benedict said, softly rocking her and you smiled.

“Aw,” you said gently, and walked to caress her soft cheek with your finger. “Did you hear that my sweet? Your own portrait?”

Camellia sucked on her thumb, her eyes closing slowly.

“Is she sleeping?” Benedict whispered and you nodded.

“She is,” you murmured, rubbing her back and turned your head when someone knocked on the door.

“Ma’am,” Paula said. “Mr. Bridgerton. Would you like me to take her for her nap?”

“That would be good Paula, thank you.”

She smiled and took Camellia from Benedict, careful not to wake her.

“I’ll be right there,” you told her and pressed a kiss on Camellia’s head before Paula walked out of the room with her. You turned to Benedict and he entwined his fingers with yours, pulling you into his arms.

“Hey,” you said as he buried his nose into your hair. “Is everything alright?”

“Mm hm, now that you’re here.”

You smiled softly and squeezed his arm. “Are you still tense about the gala?”

He heaved a sigh and you pulled back a little to look up at him.

“Ben, that painting got auctioned and sold in two minutes because everyone was outbidding each other,” you reminded him. “People are talking about you the same way you used to talk about Gordon, everyone agrees that you’re a genius artist, the whole ton—”

“Yeah but it’s different,” he mumbled. “Tonight, it’s only friends and family.”

“Shouldn’t that be comforting?”

“Technically yes but…” he trailed off and shook his head slightly. “Never mind.”

You cupped his cheek, raising your brows. “Tell me.”

“It’s easier when it’s just strangers,” he said with a small chuckle. “Museum owners and Academy directors and such. It’s different when it’s family and friends, and I’d hate it if they thought all those other people exaggerated—”

“Everyone in the Academy and countless artists and museum owners who were on the verge of a fight to get your painting, they all exaggerated?” you asked with a small smile. “All of those people at the same time?”

Benedict thought for a moment. “When you say it like that…”

You let out a laugh and stood on your tiptoes to brush your lips against his, and he heaved a sigh when you pulled back, resting his forehead against yours, his fingers caressing the sensitive skin of your neck.

“Tonight is going to be amazing,” you assured him. “I promise you.”

He shot you a mischievous grin, then leaned down hoisted you up into his arms, making you squeal.

“Benedict!”

“There’s no harm in starting the amazing night a bit early,” he said as he carried you to the sofa and you let out a laugh.

“Scandalous behavior!” you joked and he winked at you, then leaned in to kiss you.

                                                *

Of course the night of the gala went perfectly, as you knew it would. Both your family and Benedict’s had been so excited and were very proud of him, and you could see it melted away the last insecurity that had been gnawing at him before tonight.

His speech that he dedicated the painting -and his inspiration- to you was enough to bring tears into your eyes but you managed to hide it by burying your face into his arm, earning an “aww” from the crowd. After the speech, people scattered along in the gallery to talk to each other, and if you said so yourself, everyone seemed to be having fun. Benedict was talking to Gordon, Henry, Margery and Lucy by the corner, Anthony and Lottie looked like they were in their own world while Colin kept whispering things to Penelope’s ear, making her giggle. Eloise seemed to be in a deep conversation with Simon while Daphne watched them with a small smile, and you smiled at Lady Bridgerton and Lady Danbury as Teddy wheezed past you.

“Teddy don’t run!” you called out and he stopped for a moment.

“But I’m being very careful!” he assured you and returned to chasing Hyacinth and Gregory. Your aunt held up her hands, gesturing surrender as she gave him a fond look and your uncle chuckled.

“If he changes his mind about being a sculptor…”

“He can become a professional runner,” you joked and turned to Josie and Bess.

“So yes, we’re going to Paris before the season,” you told them. “Around like a month before, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Andrew will give you a list of things to bring from there, just so you know,” Bess said said and you let out a laugh.

“I’m alright with that. Wait, where is he anyway?”

Josie cleared her throat. “I think he and Felix are in the orangery—”

“The moon garden, my love,” Bess corrected her and you raised your brows, stifling a laugh.

“Of course they are,” you muttered and heard someone calling your name. You turned your head to see who it was, then made your way to Lottie and Anthony.

“Hello you two.”

“Y/N,” she said with a huge smile, still holding Anthony’s hand. “We already said goodnight to Benedict, we didn’t want to leave before saying goodnight to you.”

You tilted your head. “You’re leaving already?” you asked. “Is everything alright? Is Edmund—”

“Oh Edmund is fine!” she assured you quickly and Anthony nodded.

“He’s probably asleep already.”

“It’s just—I tire very easily nowadays,” Lottie said, making you pull your brows together. Anthony and Lottie exchanged smiles and Lottie bounced on the balls of her feet in an excited manner, making your frown deepen for a moment before the thought dawned on you and your jaw dropped.

“Are you serious?!” you whispered and Lottie giggled, nodding fervently.

“You’re the first to know,” she whispered and you let out a laugh, then pulled her into a hug.

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you!”

“To both of you obviously—” you said with a laugh, then hugged Anthony as well, making him chuckle as he hugged you back.

“We haven’t told Benedict yet,” he told you as you pulled back. “You know with the gala and everything.”

“Oh he will be very happy for you!” you said and Lottie bit on her lip.

“I wish to be the one to tell him if that’s alright.”

“Absolutely!” you said, waving your hands. “Go on then, go home and rest. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You’d better,” Lottie joked and squeezed your hand, then they both walked out of the gallery. You looked around, then took a step towards Eloise but someone touched the small of your back, making you look up.

“Well if it isn’t the genius artist,” you teased Benedict and he shot you a happy grin.

“Come with me?”

“As long as we’re not going to the moon garden because if I walk in on them again…” you muttered and he tilted his head.

“Hm?”

“Nothing,” you said and let him pull you out of the gallery. You both passed through the foyer and he led you outside, still holding your hand.

“Ben, where are we going?” you asked with a laugh and he stopped by the main garden, moonlight falling upon you both, showering the gardens in silver. Even though it was the thousandth time you were seeing this gorgeous view, it still managed to take your breath away.

Speaking of things that managed to take your breath away…

You looked up at Benedict, his handsome face under the moonlight, your heart skipping a beat before you giggled.

“Are we sneaking out of your own gala then?”

Benedict shot you a mischievous smile, then shook his head.

“No I merely…I wanted a moment with you,” he said. “Just you.”

You bit down on your lip as he pulled you closer, his fingers stroking over your hair. Your eyes fluttered close when he brushed his lips against yours and you smiled into the kiss, grazing your nails over the nape of his neck, making him heave a sigh.

“Congratulations Mr. Bridgerton,” you whispered. “Your gala seems to be a success.”

He smiled softly, pressing his lips on your temple. “Seems to be, Mrs. Bridgerton.”

You hummed. “Is it too early to say I told you so?”

He chuckled. “I don’t think so.”

“Well then, I told you so,” you said, sticking your nose up in the air. “And you should listen to me all the time because to be honest, so far I’ve—”

“I love you,” he said, and your eyes snapped up to his, a smile warming your face. You let out a giggle and pulled him down so that you could kiss him.

“I love you too,” you whispered and entwined your fingers with his, then took a step towards the house.

“Come on,” you said. “It is your gala my love. Let’s go and enjoy it.”

The End.

[gucciwins]

ok but now i’m curious about when and how jo call end yn mama for the first time

Golden Sparks Josie is ten. It's been fun revisiting this family 1.3k enjoy!

+

“Do you think Mom or Mumma is better?” Josie asked Harry as he finished braiding her hair. Josie didn’t like Harry doing her hair, but Y/N had an early morning. She didn’t want to wake Jo up early and instead had Harry promise to do his best. 

“Think Mom is normal and common here,” Harry answers, his ten-year-old daughter. 

She furrowed her eyebrows, “don’t think she likes normal.” 

“I’m normal,” Harry defends. 

Josie shrugs in the mirror, “not in my eyes.” 

Harry deflated because he is a dork at heart, but his daughter didn’t need to be so blunt. “You need to be nicer to your old man.” 

Josie laughs loudly in her bathroom. “You’re not old, Dad.” 

He pats her shoulders, gesturing he’s done, and follows her to the kitchen, where he will make her breakfast before her game. Y/N promised to meet her there and was sorry she couldn’t drive her there. Jo assured her it was okay. Y/N hadn’t missed a game and wouldn’t be starting now. 

“Do you think she’ll like that I call her Mum?” Josie asks Harry, returning to their earlier conversation. 

Harry nods, “she’s been in your life for two years. I’d say she fits the role.” 

“Just because she’s with you doesn’t make her my mother.” 

He sighs because he knows where Josie is coming from. After everything she experienced with her mother, he knows why she’s hesitant to call Y/N a name with so much meaning. After all, she had a mom once, and it wasn’t so good. Maybe calling Y/N Mum or Mumma would be another way of Josie to reclaim the word and give them all a new meaning.

“Y/N loves you, Josephine. She’s loved you since you opened up to her when you joined the team. Sometimes, I feel like Y/N knows you better than I do. And you’re my kid,” Harry shares. “She’s engaged to me, but it unites us all as a family when we marry. Even if we don’t share the same last name, the three of us will become one family.” 

“We can take hers,” Josie suggests. 

Harry kisses her head. “We’d have to talk with her about that too.” 

“Do you think she considers me hers–like her child?” 

Harry wishes he had all the answers for Josie, but he doesn’t, though this answer is one he’s confident in. Y/N talks about all of Josie’s accomplishments, sharing them with her family. “I can’t speak to her. I do know that every I love you she’s ever told you is real. She’s lived with us for over a year.” Y/N had been right by Harry’s side for every parent meeting open house and picked up Josie from school most of the time. She was a mother in all ways but one. 

“Didn’t we move in?” Josie corrects him.

“Alright, you smarty pants,” Harry shakes his head. “You can start walking to your game.” 

“Dad,” Josie drags out his name. 

He swings her bag over his shoulder, thankful he had already set the cooler in the car. “Kidding, now off we go. You’re mum,” he teases, is big on punctuality. 

Arriving at the field, Y/N is already there and has the first drill for warm-up set up. There is already a dad talking to her, and Harry’s sure it’s Dana’s dad who’s been chatting her up, even with the engagement ring on her finger. After last week's practice, Harry may have gone a little overboard with the PDA, but the guy can’t take a hint. Thankfully, Josie quickly runs over to her, and the man excuses himself. 

His heart warms seeing his two favorite people, Y/N quick to kiss her cheek and commenting on Josie’s lopsided braids. He tried, but there is no one better than Y/N, that’s for sure. Harry sets his chair close to the girls' bench because while Y/N is focused during the game, he manages to steal a kiss or two during a throw-in or a corner if he’s lucky.

Y/N is now crouched down, tying Josie’s shoes. They’re whispering to each other about something, but Harry doesn’t dare interrupt. Y/N pats Josie’s knees and tells her she’s all good to go. One last hug and his little girl is running onto the field, where the assistant coach stands with a few other girls. The girls always liked terrorizing Kate, wanting to know about her three cats.

“Darling,” Harry sings. “Missed you.” 

Y/N steps into his open arms, laying her head on his chest. “Love you, sorry I had to leave so early.” 

“All forgiven now.” Y/N grins. “Only if I get to pick where we eat?” Harry knows she loves choosing, but he wants today to be special. 

“Mexican?” 

Harry kisses her lips. “You read my mind.” 

“Did Jo seem a bit jittery to you?” Y/N changes the subject. “She’s usually calm before a game.” 

Harry frowns, “did she say anything new to you?”

Y/N shakes her head. 

“Then no, I have no idea.”  

Weird answer Y/N thought, but decided to brush it off. “Alright, love. I’m off.” 

“Hate to see you leave, but love to watch you go,” he whispered. 

“Dork!” Y/N shouted. 

+

The game went well, with Golden Sparks winning 3-1 with Josie giving two assists. Y/N was waving goodbye to her players when he spotted Josie lingering away. Juliet followed Y/N’s every move, still as in awe of her aunt as when Harry first met her. Juliet got called away by Xavier, who was dealing with two toddlers. Y/N kissed her niece goodbye, promising to see her tomorrow for the pool party Y/N was hosting to celebrate the start of summer. 

“Job well done, Jo.” Y/N swings Josie’s bag over her shoulder while Harry takes Y/N’s. She playfully tugs it back but lets it slip when Harry looks sternly at her.

“Are we eating at home?” Jo asks them.

Y/N smiles down at Josie. “Your dad wants Mexican. You alright with that?”

“Perfect. Can I have the keys?” Y/N offers her own, knowing Josie prefers to ride with Y/N after a game. 

Josie hugs her waist tight. “I’m riding with Mum, Dad.” 

Y/N freezes in place as she processes what Josie called her. Harry is right by her side, failing to hold back his grin. 

Josie called her Mom. She heard it clear as day. Josie said it so confidently it was as if she’d been calling her that all her life. 

“Did-did she call me?” She stutters. 

Harry laughs, “you heard her, baby.” 

Y/N’s eyes welled up with tears. She tries to hold them back but lets them fall as Harry embraces her. 

She drops the bag on her shoulder, knowing Harry would pick it up, and tells him to make their food order to go. Y/N kisses Harry, muttering against his lips how much she loves him, and then takes off running to her car, eager to see her little girl and see if she’d call her Mom once more. 

Y/N swings open the door on the right side where Josie always sits. She’s singing along to the radio, the AC on blast, and Y/N hugs her. 

“Mumma, what’s going on?” 

“I love you so much, baby. So much. You’re the best thing to have ever happened to me and your dad. Don’t know what I did to deserve someone as amazing as you to choose me as their Mom.” Y/N cries, not able to hide her emotions. 

Jo hugs her tiger, “I love you too, Mum.” 

Y/N wants to live in this moment forever but knows they should get home. “Let’s go home, Jo.”

“Stevie Nicks, Mum?” 

“Perfect choice.”

[hauntedhokage]

Day Two: Bunny Kisses

March/Reader

word count: 525

flufftober on ao3

“Mama called Mr. March your boyfriend, but I’ve never seen you kiss. So he can’t really be your boyfriend, then?” The accusation from Maple has you pausing on your way to the general store, then slowly turning on your heel to face her and the rest of the Dragonsguard. 

“But kissing is gross anyway, so I really don’t care!” Dell pipes up, Luc nodding his agreement while adjusting his glasses. 

“For starters, kissing in public doesn’t mean I’m not in a relationship with March.”

“Yes it does!”

“Don’t you three have some reading to do?”

“Not on Sundays!” Dell is extremely proud of that, but you’re sure it’s more because she remembered what day of the week it was more than anything else. “But we were asked to find out more about what March likes to eat in winter. It’s our quest for the day.”

“And Miss Josie sent you to me?” Three excited nods have you signing through your scarf, grateful it’d been so carefully bundled around your neck that you could hide your cheeks in it. The fresh color blooming across the bridge of your nose could have been excused away by the cold, but hiding it from the children who were excellent at reporting the details of their quests was certainly for the best to avoid further teasing you’d receive on your next trip to the inn. 

“Mama wants to do something special for him, since he does so much at the forge for Mistria.”

You nod at that, your eyes catching a familiar head of red hair coming your way. He wasn’t wearing the earmuffs you’d given him, that would need to be addressed when not among the prying eyes and ears of the Dragonsguard. The last thing he needs was getting teased by three children over earmuffs, even if it would be cute to see him so flustered over something so small. 

“Hey you,” your greeting is simple, and you get a nod in return but surprised with how close he chooses to stand to you. “The kids were wanting to know your favorite winter meal.”

As expected, March asks no questions and simply answers the question before asking you if you wanted to eat at home or grab dinner at the Inn, then tells you he’d meeting with Ryis and Landen but would see you for dinner. Each child is left with a gentle hand on their head, Dell’s getting an extra little shake that has her giggling, before he leans in and leaves you with a nuzzle of his nose against yours that you reciprocate with a grin as the three children gasp. 

“They’re dating!”

“That’s not a kiss!”

“My mom and dad call those bunny kisses!” Dell argues, looking between Luc and Maple as the two try to figure out an argument to that. The Dragonsguard erupts into debate as they head back into town, and you can only shrug when March quirks a brow in question. He gives his own, lining his arm through yours as he tells you he was going to walk you back into town on his way to meet with the carpenters. 

[salchica]

tender love is blind

In which Eddie dies, Steve lives, and the two of them finally get their happily ever after. -- For the Steddie ABO Valentine's Day Exchange!

Published: 02/08/2024 | Words: 5,462 | Rating: Mature | Link: x

Eddie doesn’t believe in the afterlife, not really. 

Years ago when the paramedics wheeled his mom’s body away, Eddie had sat at the window in their shitty little apartment building and stared up at the night sky. He didn’t even know what he was looking for-- a sign maybe, like a shooting star. Something to let him know that the heroin was worth it and Josie Munson was in a better place. 

There wasn’t anything, of course. Eddie’s Dad had stumbled into the apartment high off his ass, like the solution to his wife’s overdose was to follow in her footsteps. He shoved Eddie into a car and somehow got him to Hawkins in one piece. In hindsight maybe that was the sign, his mama’s way of doing him one last solid from the beyond. Wayne is the best thing that’s ever happened to Eddie, and if the grizzled Beta could be believed Eddie was the best thing to ever happen to him, too. He thanks a god he only sorta believes in that Wayne is safe in Normal Hawkins, that none of this shit will ever touch him. Eddie tries to smile, but then he remembers that he’s dying. 

“Please, Eddie--”  That’s Steve, fuck. He hadn’t wanted Stevie to see him like this. He tries to talk, but instead of ‘I love you’, iron and copper flood his throat. 

Eddie regrets a lot, but right now not mating Steve is the biggest one. Eddie had wanted to wait-- until he’d graduated, until he'd saved enough money, until until until. He regrets not taking his chance at happiness when he could. Steve had wanted Eddie’s bite, had made that abundantly clear every heat and rut they’d spent together over the last year. It had been Eddie that got hung up on wanting to give his Omega the best start at their life together… and now he’ll never get the chance. 

“He’s gone, Steve, we gotta go--” That’s Nancy, probably. She seems like the type to compartmentalize. 

“Eds, you can’t leave me, please baby get up. It’s your year, remember? You gotta just get up for me, just sit up--” Steve is spiraling. Normally Eddie would distract him, would have already pulled Steve into a hug and probably scented him a little. Make them both smell like clove-honey, cinnamon-vanilla. 

“Wakeupwakeupwakeup,” There’s pressure on his chest, but it keeps sliding off because from what Eddie remembers he doesn’t really have much of a chest anymore. He feels a mouth on his, realizes that Stevie is giving him CPR. “Nancy you gotta do something!” That’s Buckley. Killing Vecna must have gone well then, if all three of them are here and alive.  

“Shit,” Nancy says. And then she growls, “Steve, let’s go.”  All Alpha, a tone Eddie’s only used on Steve to snap him out of a panic attack. Usually Steve is thankful, but this time he makes a sound Eddie’s never heard before; a high, keening wail that breaks what’s left of Eddie’s heart. He hears a scuffle, like Steve is being dragged away. The wail doesn’t stop. 

Eddie really  hopes there’s an afterlife, if only so he can see Stevie again. He imagines them meeting in Heaven; Steve will be like 98 with crow’s feet and gray hair that’s full but maybe a little shorter and he’s been happy and they can dance and kiss, even though Eddie is frozen at 21. It’s a nice dream. Eddie really wishes he could smile. 

Robin holds Steve, after everything. 

She’s the only thing keeping him together when his body threatens to shake apart, and now that Steve is almost officially out of secrets he feels numb. The entire Party witnessed him trying to claw his way back into the Upside Down, screaming for Eddie to come back. They’d known he was an Omega-- it was hard to hide, after Starcourt and the Russian drugs-- but they hadn’t know about SteveandEddie. 

Eddie had thought it was funny, to keep them a secret. Dustin kept pestering them about meeting each other, and the kid was insufferable on a good day.  They’d wanted a big reveal; something to give the kid a heart attack when they finally told everyone they’d been dating for a year. Besides Robin and Uncle Wayne, no one had known, and now everyone’s found out in the worst way possible. In hindsight, Max probably knew the whole time. She’s a smart kid, and if the whole Vecna thing is any proof, really good at keeping secrets. 

Over the next few days the Party curls up in the pack nest in the Harrington living room, everyone filtering in and out in shifts so Steve and Robin are  never alone. Robin only gets up to make food and use the restroom; she pumps out a constant stream of calm and steady pheromones even though Steve can tell that she’s grieving, too. Steve hasn’t taken off his scent patches since before Vecna. They make his neck and wrists itch, and he knows wearing them this long isn’t healthy but there’s so much he’s not ready to face. 

Everyone talks to him, even though he can’t bring himself to respond. Max has a broken leg, but she’s fine. Dustin has a sprained ankle, but he’s fine too, at least physically. Hopper was never dead, just held captive by Russians. Eleven has her powers back. Erica and Lucas are rattled, Mike and Will are being awkward, and Jonathan has a new friend named Argyle. Nancy is busy as always, running around helping with the town’s relief efforts. 

They all pepper Robin with questions whenever they think Steve is out of earshot. 

“He smells like my aunt after my uncle died,” Mike asks. “He smells like a widow. Were they--  I mean I don’t see a bite mark, but… were they mated?” 

“No,” Robin says. “Eddie wanted to wait until graduation.” 

“Oh. ‘86 was going to be his year.” Mike makes a punched out noise, like it just dawns on him. 

That night, Steve burrows into Robin’s side. Her scent is lavender and lemon, soothing yet sharp. Steve knows he’s not going to like what she has to say when she starts smelling nervous. “Babe, look at me for a second,” She says. She pats his hair until Steve looks up. “Dustin said he saw Wayne putting up posters at the school, looking for Eddie. Looking for the both of you, actually. Someone has to tell him.” 

Steve closes his eyes against a wave of despair. It threatens to crush him, to pull him under until he can’t tell up from down. “I can’t, Robbie,” Steve says. He’s never been more at war with himself; his Omega feels far away, only mildly distressed even though Steve has never felt further from peace. “I can’t stand there and tell him I couldn’t bring Eddie home.” 

“I know for a fact Uncle Wayne would never blame you,” Robin tries. Steve doesn't answer, just wraps an arm around his stomach. Robin sighs. 

“I’ll ask Joyce, or Nancy.” Robin says finally. 

He nods. He shuts his eyes. He quietly wishes to float away and never come back. 

Steve has only been to two funerals in his life. One when he was eleven;  his Grandpa Otis passed away, and the Harringtons had thrown a memorial fit for a small-town king. The coffin was shiny, the food was catered, and the choir was hand-picked from among local unpresented pups. The ceremony was gorgeous, and at the end of it people came out of the woodwork to shake hands with Steve’s parents and tell them how much of a pillar of the community Grandpa Otis was. Little Steve had fixated on the flowers-- even though he was an alpha, Grandpa Otis always loved roses, and had had a huge plot for them in his backyard. He’d said they reminded him of Steve’s grandma, a society Omega that always smelled like roses and rainwater. Otis had taught Steve how to weed and pluck and prune his rose bushes, but at his funeral, there were only hydrangeas and gardenias.

“Where are the roses?” Steve’d asked his mom. 

Vivian Harrington rolled her eyes, “Roses are so… common.” She sniffs at the word, her perfect face wrinkling in disgust. “Don’t you want everyone to know how much we loved Grandpa Otis?” 

Even then, Little Steve had known to read between the lines, that what his mother was really saying was Don’t you want everyone to see how much money we have? He’d bitten his tongue, but later when his parents were away on another business trip Steve snuck into the cemetery with a handful of roses and spent the night curled up by Grandpa Otis’ headstone. 

The second funeral Steve had gone to was for Dustin’s cat, Mews. It was actually more like a candlelight vigil, and Mrs. Henderson had bawled, clutching at a guilty Dustin who’d  given a very heartfelt speech. It was all very moving if not a little uncomfortable, but Steve can’t imagine that Mews actually gave a fuck that in lieu of a body they’d buried a can of his favorite food. 

Both instances cemented one thing in Steve’s mind; funerals, they’re for the living. 

So when Wayne tracks Steve down two weeks after Vecna and asks if Steve will come with him down to the church to plan Eddie’s service, Steve can’t help but think of the way Wayne welcomed him into his home with open arms; the grizzled Beta rarely asked for anything, but gave Eddie and Steve everything in return. Of course Steve says yes. 

Wayne’s truck squeals as they pull into the church parking lot. His fingers grip the steering wheel, the white of his knuckles the only thing giving away his nerves. Like Steve, Wayne is wearing a scent patch-- Steve can’t pick out any of Wayne’s emotions, only catching  hints of tobacco and orange. 

Hawkins only has one church still standing, and it’s unfortunately been run by the Carver family for the last 70 years. Pastor and Mrs. Carver had gone on the morning news and invited all of Hawkins to use their church to say goodbye to their loved ones that died in the “earthquakes”. They were the picture of the perfect alpha omega couple, eyes red-rimmed and mouths spouting bullshit like ‘it’s what Jason would have wanted’. As if their kid hadn't died during a manhunt for an innocent person. Steve knows this whole thing is useless, but he respects Wayne for trying anyway. 

He thinks that if Eddie were here he probably would have insisted on the church, actually,  if only to scandalize the ‘fine upstanding hypocrites of Hawkins, Indiana’. Steve lets himself imagine it-- instead of hymns, they’d shake the walls with Metallica. The Party would all wear their Hellfire shirts, and Steve would wear the cropped prototype Eddie had made for him, even though it was cut right under Steve’s nipples and entirely inappropriate. Eddie had always loved Steve in that shirt and would always cut it incrementally shorter, and Steve would pretend not to notice. Maybe his ghost would appreciate the show. 

Wayne doesn’t move to get out of the car. The silence weighs down on Steve, this heavy thing that isn’t even being offset by the mellow croon of Dolly Parton on the radio. Wayne turns towards Steve, his mustache twitching oddly above his lip. 

“Steve--” Wayne starts. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve blurts out. “If I hadn’t… after Starcourt, if Eddie hadn’t found me, and then with Vecna it was Eddie’s first time with the Upside Down and if I hadn’t left Eddie and Dustin alone--” Steve hasn’t been able to stop crying in two weeks, and this time isn’t any different. It’s like he gets three seconds of peace before the fact that Eddie is gone slams into his chest and sets him off again.

Steve fists his hands in his sweater, rubbing harshly at the fat tears rolling down his face. His stomach somersaults but he holds back the nausea, not looking Wayne in the eyes. 

“Harrington,” Wayne says again. He clears his throat when Steve flinches at the use of his last name-- “Steve, please, can you look at me, son?” 

“You don’t have to say anything, Wayne, I know it’s my fault--” 

“Steve, I don’t blame you,” Wayne says. 

“You should,” Steve scoffs. 

It’s true; he’d had a bad feeling about their plan but he’d let everyone go through with it anyway. A not-small part of Steve was convinced that if Eddie had never met him, the Upside Down would have never come into the Munson family's lives. It’s like the Upside Down was a disease; once you’re a part of it, anything and everyone you get close gets infected. 

“You should hate me,” Steve says. 

“I don’t,” Wayne says. “I can’t.” 

Even though Wayne isn’t a man of many words, the Beta has always been kind to Steve. He’s never given Steve  a shovel talk, not even when he caught Eddie  sneaking Steve out of the Munson trailer more than once in the early hours of the morning. And when they were officially introduced around a dinner of pizza and Coke,  he’d welcomed Steve into their family with open arms even though he’d had no reason to trust a Harrington. Even when he seemed confused that Steve seemed to be sticking around.

“You should hate me,” Steve says again. 

With a frustrated growl, Wayne lifts his scent patch. The truck is a three-seater, so it doesn’t take long for his scent to flood the carriage with the expected citrus-tobacco-grief.  But underneath that… love-protectiveness-affection. Steve’s nose twitches, heart stuttering. 

“You made my boy the happiest I’ve ever seen him. The way Dustin Henderson tells it, Eddie went out a hero. Protecting one of those pups you care about so much.”   

“Yeah, yes,” Steve is quick to agree. “He was a hero.” 

Wayne nods and takes a deep breath. 

“Eddie is… Eddie was  used to people leaving,” Wayne says. “His mama, his daddy-- that boy was accustomed to giving people his heart and then watching as they stomped all over it. I knew as soon as I saw you two together that you weren’t like that.” He sniffs and clears his throat. 

“I knew that boy like the back of my hand, and I don’t know if I would have been able to put him back together, if he had lost you. I know you weren’t mated, but you’re still family.” 

Steve realizes, then, that Wayne probably understood. Mike was right-- Steve, when he lets himself take off his scent patches, smells like he’s been widowed. Eddie wasn’t Wayne’s kid, and he wasn’t Steve’s mate, but he still held those places in both of their hearts. 

“Thank you,” Steve chokes out. 

Wayne gives Steve a pat on the shoulder, rubbing his wrist against Steve’s arms before sticking his scent patch back into place. “You might be family, but I’ll thump you if you ever make me talk that much again,” Wayne laughs wetly. “Now let’s go.” 

-

-

In the Upside Down, Eddie Munson  opens his eyes. 

The line for the church moves agonizingly slowly because people keep jostling in front of them once they recognize Wayne. People shove past with barely concealed snarls, and Steve’s glad his scent patches are on; the scent of distress-anger-omega would have probably made the situation worse. 

As it was Steve already had to breathe through his mouth so he wouldn’t be able to smell the shock-disgust-confusion radiating off of the people of Hawkins as they wondered at Wayne’s audacity. Even though the government big-wigs had swooped in and cleared Eddie’s name, it wasn’t enough when people had already decided that Eddie had invited evil into Hawkins by simply existing. 

“Won’t be long now,” Wayne says.

Two hours pass. Wayne keeps his eyes forward, his scent never wavering beyond his stoic citrus. All the different scents layering over each other give Steve a headache. It bursts into existence from behind his eyes, and Steve isn’t sure if it’s a result of repeated head trauma or… well, something else.  

After that everything is blurry. 

Steve knows they get to the front of the line, remembers Pastor Carver baring his fangs and yanking the ‘Funeral Request Form’ out of Wayne’s hands. He remembers laughing, humorless; for all that Jason Carver Sr. preached about religion putting him ‘above his base instincts’, he was halfway feral at the very sight of Wayne Munson. 

Steve remembers Wayne tilting his head, submitting, and  snatches of a conversation-- 

 “I figured you know what it’s like, losing a son,” Wayne had said. “I’d like to bury mine, please. Near his mama, if that’s alright with you.” 

He remembers Carver Sr.’s fangs extending, eyes shifting into a bloody, Alpha red— 

“My son,” Pastor Carver spat, “was not a murderer.” 

“Neither was mine,” Wayne growls.

Steve remembers letting out a whine as a sharp pain shot through his stomach, accompanying the one in his head,  Wayne turning, looking at him with concern-- “Steve, are you okay?” 

And then, nothing. 

Eddie can’t tell if he’s in Hell or the Upside Down. 

He also hasn’t decided if he’s dead or not, but that seems like a secondary concern, honestly. He kind of hopes he’s in Hell, because at least then there’s bound to be other Damned souls hanging around if he looks hard enough. But if it’s the Upside Down that means that his friends left him. And if they left him, that means they didn’t think he needed a way out in the first place. 

Of course, there’s the possibility Hell only looks like the Upside Down because that’s where Eddie beefed it… he doesn’t know. Everything’s all jumbled together, and to be fair maybe-dying hasn’t left him a lot of time to parse through the maybe-Afterlife logically. 

Fact: He’d woken up surrounded by dead demobats. Their bodies were all twisted and broken, like they’d fallen mid-flight instead of landing. Point for the Upside Down. 

Fact: Eddie’s room in Wayne’s trailer is still stuck in 1983. It’s almost hard to notice-- Eddie has always been in the habit of adding more things to his room, layering posters on top of each other. Stevie used to joke that if Eddie added any more layers, he’d be boxing himself in.  The biggest difference, though, is the absence of Steve’s nest. It makes his Alpha panic, actually;  his instincts are screaming for him to find his Omega and make sure Stevie’s safe. 

Fact: He’s hungry. He feels like Tantalus, hunger fogging his mind until he can’t even fucking think. His fangs are longer than they’ve ever been, even for an Alpha, and combined everything is pointing to something Eddie doesn’t even want to think about. 

So he’s decided that he’s probably haunting a parallel dimension. Maybe. It’s still unclear. 

He’s doomed to live out his afterlife in a parallel dimension because he saved a fucking freshman. Not that he regrets it-- Dustin was Eddie’s favorite, and Steve’s favorite even though Steve claimed not to have any-- but Eddie can’t help but relive the moment he died over and over again. He can’t help thinking that instead of cutting the rope and trapping Dustin in the Rightside Up, he could’ve jumped down with him. Instead of standing on top of his trailer and playing Master of Puppets, he could’ve hooked his radio up to his amp and fucking blasted it. 

Luckily he has time, an eternity even, to really think about all the ways he’s fucked up. 

At some point, Eddie adopts a demobat. It’s rare to find one that’s alive -- all the ones that used him as his last meal were 100% dead, thankfully -- but this one’s a baby. He’s calling it Dustin II, because it’s annoying in a cute way, using its feet to bop along and walk behind Eddie instead of flying.  As the only other thing Eddie’s seen alive, he’s kind of attached to the little guy. 

“Never let society tell you that drug dealing isn’t good,” Eddie says. Dustin II flaps his ears, and Eddie takes that as a nod. “Nothing can be that bad, especially not when it introduces you to the love of your life,” Eddie says. 

“Stevie called me one day, just like super out of it. He said he got roofied by Russians. I thought he was kidding, but now I know he was most definitely not--” 

Eddie’s in Melvad’s, trying to find food he won’t throw up. He’s gone through cans of beans, cans of vegetables, bags of chips… nothing sates his hunger, and even though Eddie thinks it might help, he avoids the meat section entirely. It’s probably all spoiled anyway. He ignores the fact that it still sounds delicious.  

“He calls me over to get some strong painkillers, and asks me to stay with him in case he freaks out. Of course I do it-- King Steve calling me? I’ve been half in love with the guy ever since he was a fucking freshman, of course went over immediately. I show up with drugs, he actually does freak out. I talk him down, and as the kids say, the rest is history.” 

Eddie picks up an apple. It’s more than rotted, it’s practically mummified. He considers it, weighing it in his hand. His stomach revolts-- this won’t do him any good. Eddie shakes his head and throws it away. 

Dustin II chitters. “I know, man,” Eddie nods. “Finding out King Steve was actually Stevie, that he’s a good guy who takes care of a gaggle of kids and likes fucking ABBA-- it rocked my fucking world. Falling in love with him probably goes against the natural order, but I dare you to find anyone that wouldn’t love that man.”  

Somewhere an aisle over, there’s a crash. Eddie flinches and ducks into a crouch. He was stupid to think that Dustin II was the only thing to survive in the Upside Down-- what if it’s a Demogorgon or a Demo-something else… Eddie’s too hungry, he’s too tired, he can’t do this… 

He creeps up the aisle, peeking around the corner. He jumps out with a yell, claws and fangs hyperextended-- 

--There, in front of Dustin II, is a thick, reddish membrane.  Dustin II chitters again. If Eddie didn’t know any better, the thing would look fucking smug. “Holy shit.” 

--

The first thing Steve sees when he wakes up is Robin’s worried face. It immediately shifts to relief, and she goes to punch his arm before she hesitates, her hand spasming before she rubs his shoulder instead. She holds a glass of water up to his lips and he sucks it down, greedily. “What happened?” Steve says. 

“You passed out at the church, dingus. Apparently Wayne had to actually catch you before you got another concussion.” 

“Oh.” 

“Steve… They called the ambulance. The EMTs took off your scent patches.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Robin says. She brushes her wrists over Steve’s neck, his sides, filling his nose with lavender. “Everyone’s waiting downstairs.” 

Steve Harrington is officially out of secrets. 

--

The thing is, Steve never planned on saying anything. When the pregnancy test came back positive, Steve had immediately gotten into his car and driven out of Hawkins. Not even twenty minutes later he’d had to pull over and throw up his lunch. 

His Omega wasn’t happy-- he could feel his instincts rebelling against his very human, very urgent need to get the fuck out of Hawkins, Indiana. Steve had looked down the highway, eyes roving over the Welcome to Hawkins sign. It mocked him in happy yellow letters, like Hawkins wasn’t a hellmouth that’s already taken everything from him. He’d leaned back against the cool metal of his car, letting the soft rumble of the idling engine sooth his sour stomach. Eddie’s battle jacket was warm around his shoulders, and Steve had stuck his nose in it letting Eddie’s clove-honey scent soothe and calm him down the rest of the way. His hands had passed over his stomach as he got back into the front seat. 

He makes a U-Turn and drives back the way he came. 

--

Steve walks downstairs.

As one, all eyes turn to him. Everyone’s there-- all the kids, Hopper, Joyce, Murray. Even Wayne. Steve turns to him, first. He doesn’t care if everyone hears, he needs to make Wayne understand. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. “I wanted to tell you, but I figured you’d eventually want to leave Hawkins and I can’t be the reason you’re stuck here. This whole place, no matter how much they hated Eddie and the way Eddie hated them… He’s just, he’s all over Hawkins, and I can’t leave him when he’s here or in some version of here, and I know you don’t owe me anything because we weren’t bonded, not really, and we’d just talked about it--” 

“You’re carrying my grandpup,” Wane interrupts. His eyes are misty. 

“Yeah,” Steve says weakly. Wayne crosses the room and pulls Steve into a hug, passing his wrists all over Steve in a way more intimate scenting than they’d had in the parking lot of the church. This time it’s more than a light touch; it’s borderline parental, in a way Steve’s parents never were. 

He sees the happiness in Wayne’s eyes, his joy at having a piece of Eddie that isn’t locked behind the gate to a hell dimension. Wayne has said a million times over that he sees Steve as his own kid, but this is the first time Steve actively lets himself feel it. Wayne finally lets Steve go but hovers at his side as he turns and faces the rest of the kids. 

“So yeah,” Steve smiles sadly. “I’m having a baby.” The room erupts into cheers. 

Eddie Munson laughs as he bursts into the Rightside Up, taking huge gulps of fresh air. “YES! ‘86, baby, what did I say! It’s my fucking year!!!” At his side, Dustin II screeches, feeding off Eddie’s energy. 

So. 

Fact: Eddie Munson is a vampire. 

It’s the only explanation, really-- he survived for weeks in the Upside Down without food, raw meat is the only thing that sounds even remotely edible, and his fangs are so long they probably belong in a record book somewhere. His first instinct is to find Steve, to claim him right then, to make up for all the time he wasted. He lets himself imagines it: 

It’s the afterglow of Steve’s heat and they’re sweaty and practically glued together-- 

Steve looks at him, his face breaking into a smile that makes Eddie’s favorite moles scrunch together, practically touching, and Eddie will lick his lips, he’d be nervous, probably-- 

It’d be evening, hopefully sunset, so the sun can outline Steve in a halo of yellow light. He’ll look angelic and fucked-out. His blush’ll spread down his chest and over the sharp planes of his stomach, and Eddie will take his hand in his jaw and he’ll nuzzle at Steve’s throat, popping out his fangs--  

Sticky blood runs down his fingers, and he’s trying to prop Steve up and Steve’s eyes go from trusting to horrified and it’s too late and he can’t move and nothing he’s pressing his fingers to Steve’s neck but the blood won’t stop but instead of being horrified… His knot expands, pushing at Steve’s belly from the inside and he’s killing him and he wants to stop and he can’t, and he wants to save Steve but he can’t, and then. And Steve is lifeless,  a broken, bloody thing, contorted and dead in their nest.

Eddie shakes himself out of it. That can’t happen, that won’t happen. His laughs peter off into sobs… 

He doesn’t think he  can ever see Steve again. 

-

-

Steve’s Omega wakes him up that night. 

He shimmies out of Robin’s hold, steps over the pups and out of the backdoor of his house before he’s even fully shaken off the haze of sleep. He walks into the first behind his house, following the scent of clove and honey. Steve thinks it’s his mind playing tricks on him. It’s Eddie’s scent but something more piggybacking on it, something that smells like blood, an undercurrent of iron.  

He feels stupid, but-- “Eddie?” The trees in front of him rustle. 

Steve whips around, tiny fangs bared and hand hovering protectively over his stomach.“Stop,” The shadow growls. Steve can feel a whine in the back of his throat. His Alpha is ordering him away, doesn’t Eddie want him anymore? Logic is gone, there’s just sadness. 

“Eddie, is that you?”  Steve’s shaking, he’s unraveling, he’s coming apart why can’t his Alpha see that. “Eds, talk to me please.”

“Don’t come any closer,” He says, but his voice cracks on the command. Steve has fallen asleep to that voice too many times to not recognize it.  For the first time since Vecna his Omega and his heart are on the same page. Steve feels despair, but more than that he’s angry.  

The shadow moves further into the forest. Historically it’s the Alpha that chases an Omega, but Steve’s nose isn’t lying to him, his heart isn’t lying to him. He holds his hand over his stomach, the barely-there swell comforting him. He’s about to do something so fucking stupid-- 

Steve runs. 

The shadow is impossibly fast, almost teleporting through the trees, but Steve is determined. He ignores that he’s barefoot, even though the ache in his feet is already catching up to him. Maybe-Eddie might be fast, but Steve grew up in these woods, mapping them every summer since he was old enough to walk. Steve sniffs-- smells iron and blood, clove and honey-- there. 

He launches himself at the shadow, and they tumble to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Steve’s legs wrap around Eddie’s waist, pinning him to the ground in between his knees. It’s Eddie, but… the first thing Steve notices is that Eddie’s fingers are different, long and skinny and pitch black at the tips. Steve thinks it’s a trick of the light until they move to cover Eddie’s face. 

“Alpha, how are you here?” Steve says. 

“Surprise,” Eddie says. He moves his hands, finally, and Steve tries to catalog every change in his face. He’s skinnier, gaunt almost, the circles under his eyes making them look impossibly wide and dark. Steve brings his hands up to Eddie’s face, cradling it. They’re both crying. Salty tears drip down Steve’s nose and onto Eddie. “Why did you run from me?” 

“Stevie, you saw me die,” Eddie says. “You saw me die, and then I came back wrong.” Eddie’s shaking. Steve holds him tighter. “Nothing about you could ever be wrong, Eds,” Steve says. 

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure I’m a vampire now.” 

That gives Steve’s pause. But… it’s Eddie, impossibly kind, impossibly wonderful Eddie. The guy who takes spiders out in his palms even when it would be easier to kill them. Again, Steve and his Omega are on the same page. 

“Okay, so you’re a vampire. There is a literal child with superpowers in my nest as we speak,” Steve says. “I know you, Eddie. You’d never hurt me, and you’d die before hurting our baby.” 

A beat. Steve is just so happy now, and it bubbles out of him as he laughs at Eddie’s dumbstruck expression. “Wait, huh,” Eddie says. “Come again?”  

“You, Eddie Munson, would never hurt me or our baby,” Steve giggles. “I was thinking Winnie, if it’s a girl, and maybe Otis for a boy. What do you think?” 

“We’re having a baby?” Steve is right; even through all the changes, Eddie is Eddie. His hands flutter over Steve’s stomach, eyes searching Steve’s in the dim moonlight. Steve nods, grabbing Eddie’s hands and placing them over his belly. There’s nothing to feel, not yet, but  Eddie’s eyes are wide with wonder anyway. 

“You’re gonna be a daddy,” Steve says. Between one blink and the next, Eddie growls and pulls Steve down on top of him. They come together in a crash of teeth and tongues. Steve whines, a small thing in his chest that gets louder as Eddie’s attention shifts to Steve’s neck and chest, sucking and biting everywhere but where Steve wants him. 

Later, Eleven will go through Eddie’s mind and confirm what Steve already knew, that Eddie is still himself even if he needs a little blood once and a while. 

Later, they’ll welcome their baby girl, a sweet little thing with Eddie’s curls and Steve’s moles. They’ll give Wayne his ‘worlds best grandpa’ mug and he’ll get tears all over all of them. 

But right now, under the moonlight, they have all the time in the world. 

THE END. 

Notes: Dividers by @strangergraphics

[mamaestapa]

Bedtime Stories|| Joe Burrow x reader

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•prompt #71: “and that’s how daddy got mommy to marry him” (this is from my wattpad NFL imagines)

•summary: Your daughter wants a bedtime story before she goes to bed, so Joe decides to tell her the story of how he proposed to you

•warnings: Children, pregnancy, so much fluff🤍 dad joe is my absolute favorite

"Alright Josie Lee, time for bed." You said to your four year old daughter, who was currently coloring a picture of a tiger.

"But mommy," she looked up at you, pushing out her bottom lip in a pout, "can I please finish this picture for daddy?"

You sighed, brushing your fingers through your daughters dark blonde hair. “Be quick." you said, smiling at her.

She squealed, "Yay! Thanks mommy, you the best."

She went back to coloring the tiger, careful not to color outside the lines. You smiled as you watched her. You decided to fold some laundry before you had to put Josie to bed. As you were folding bath towels you heard a squeal come from the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Josie squealed. Joe started to tickle her little sides, making the little girl giggle uncontrollably. You couldn't help the smile that appeared on your face as you listened to your little girls giggle. You put down the towel you just folded and walked back into the kitchen. The sight in front of you made your heart swell with love.

"I love your tiger baby girl, she is very cute."

"It's not a she daddy, it's a boy!"

Joe put his hands up in defense, "Oh! Sorry, sorry, forgive me."

She giggled, "I forgive you daddy. Look!" She held up the paper showing him the drawing. "He's wearing your jersey."

Joe gushed, "Oh my goodness, look at that! He’s wearing a number nine jersey like daddy.”

"His name is Joey."

Joe kissed her forehead, "I love it, Josie girl."

She smiled, reaching out to hug Joe, "Thanks daddy. I love you."

"Oh I love you more."

You walked over to both of them, wrapping an arm around Joe and an arm around Josie. "And mommy loves you two the most."

Joe leaned down and kissed your temple, squeezing you softly.

"What about baby sister?" Josie asked, her mouth gaped open, “don't you love her too!?

You placed your hands on your belly, rubbing your bump. You and Joe were expecting another baby girl in the early fall. In just a few short months your little family of three, would soon become four. Joe was meant to be a girl dad, and adding another little girl into his life made him so happy. "Of course I love baby sister." You said, a slight frown on your face as you ran a hand through Josie’s hair. Josie smiled and put her small hands on your bump, rubbing it, softly, “I love her too."

"Me three." Joe said, placing his veiny hand on the center of your belly. You smiled, putting yours on top of his. "Are you ready for bed now Josie?"

She frowned, "Can I make a picture for Uncle Sammy? I think he'd want a Joey tiger, but with his number instead."

Joe smiled, "I think he would too. But," he picked her up from the barstool, making her giggle, "you can make him one tomorrow, okay? It's getting late sweetheart."

She nodded, her little ocean blue eyes lighting up as she looked at her father, "Otay daddy." Joe smiled at his daughter as he set her down on the ground, "You lead the way princess."

Josie ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom. Joe held his hand out to you, "Come on Mama, let's go put the princess to bed so you, me, and the little one can watch another episode of Yellowstone."

You chuckled, taking his hand, "Sounds good to me. Lead the way, daddy."

Joe wiggled his eyebrows, "Oh, maybe we should save Yellowstone for another night."

You shook your head, "No, no. I love you, but I can't, I'm too huge." You said as you gestured to your six month protruding baby bump. Joe wrapped his arm around your waist, supporting your belly as both of you walked up the stairs. "You're not huge baby, you look sexy. Even more sexier now that you're carrying my baby, again."

You couldn't help but blush at his comment. You shook your head at your husband and continued to walk up the stairs. Once both of you were upstairs, you went into your daughters room. She was laying in bed, patiently waiting for you and Joe to tuck her in. "Alright peanut," Joe sighed as he sat on the edge of her bed. Josie smiled and laid down in her pink sheets. Joe pulled the soft pink cover over her little body. She snuggled further under the blankets, smiling up at her daddy. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I love you Josie."

She leaned up and kissed Joe on the tip of his nose, "I love you daddy. Can you tell me a story?" she pouted her little pink lips, "I'm not sleepy yet."

Joe glanced over at you before turning back to Josie, "A story huh?"

You smiled, climbing into bed next to Joe's mini me. You wrapped your arm around Josie and she immediately snuggled into you. She placed her small hand on your belly, hoping to feel her little sisters kicks. "Yeah daddy, tell us a story." you said, your smile widening as you saw Josie's excitement when she felt a kick to her little hand. Joe smiled and got off the bed. He grabbed Josie's unicorn beanbag that sat in the corner of her room, and placed it down next to her bed, plopping himself into it.

"Get comfy ladies, this could be a long one."

Josie looked up at you and smiled. You squeezed her gently and scrunched your nose. Both of you turned your attention back to Joe as he began telling a story.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman named Y/n."

Josie gasped, "Like mommy?!"

Joe couldn't help but chuckle, "Yes, like mommy." He continued his story, "So Y/n, this beautiful woman, was dating a man named Joe."

She gasped again, "Like daddy?!"

You laughed, "Yes, like daddy."

Joe just smiled at you before continuing, "Joe and Y/n had been dating for four years."

"That's as old as me!" Josie whispered in shock. You and Joe chuckled at your daughters reaction. She was going to have a comment to make about every part of the story, and you and Joe loved it. "Now, Joe knew as soon as he met Y/n that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But Y/n was too good for little ol' Joe." Josie giggled, making a smile grace Joe's features. His baby girls laugh never failed to put a smile on his face. "But Joe got the courage to ask out the pretty lady, and to his surprise she said, 'why of course i'll go out with you!' That made Joe very happy."

You laughed lightly as Joe told a dramatic story of how the two of you met years ago during your time at LSU. If anything, you were the one that thought Joe was too good for you. But boy did he prove you wrong. And you definitely didn't say "why of course i'll go out with you".

"So Joe and Y/n went out on a date. He took her to his favorite places in Baton Rouge, the city they met, and they had their first kiss right in front of the ice cream shop. The first date turned into a second date, and the second date turned into a third, until eventually Joe asked Y/n to be his girlfriend."

"What did she say?" Josie asked, her small voice full of curiosity as she sat up in your embrace. "She said yes, of course!" Joe exclaimed, making you giggle softly. Josie smiled and nodded, "Good." She laid back in bed once again and listened to her father continue his bedtime story.

"And as the years went on, the two of them were so in love with each other. Joe picked out a ring, but not just any ring, an engagement ring. With a gold band and three small diamonds. It was beautiful, just like his Y/n." Joe looked up at you with a smile as he spoke, his blue eyes full of love, "He wanted to ask her to marry him, but he didn't know how. He knew it had to be special because Y/n deserved the best proposal ever. So, Joe asked some of this good friends from his old school, Nick and Sam-."

Before Joe could finish, Josie gasped, "Like Uncle Nick and Uncle Sam!?"

Joe nodded, laughing softly as he spoke, "Yup. Now, Nick and Sam had some ideas for Joe. Nick told Joe he should take her out to the same places they went to on their first date. Joe liked the idea, but it didn't stand out to him. Sam suggested he take Y/n on a trip somewhere with a beach, like Hawaii, and propose to her on the beach—which was one of her favorite places." It's true, the beach has always been one of your favorite places. "But that idea didn't stick out to him either. So Joe waited. He waited weeks, which turned into months, until the perfect moment came to propose to Y/n. Joe had just gotten the best news of his life, he was going to be a daddy. A daddy to the most beautiful little girl in the whole world."

Josie smiled up at you widely, making you squeeze her gently. She giggled and leaned in closer to you as she listened to her daddy finish the story.

"When Y/n told Joe they were having a baby, he was so excited! He couldn't wait to have a baby with the woman he loved so much. It was when Joe was hugging Y/n, with his hand placed gently on her belly just like this," he moved so he could place his hand on your baby bump. You placed your hand over his and smiled warmly at him. "That he knew he was going to propose to her, right there. And that's what he did. He got down on one knee and asked Y/n if she would marry him. Y/n started crying, which made Joe cry too."

"Why were they crying?" Josie asked, sadness lacing her small voice.

"Because they were happy. They were so, so happy. Y/n said 'yes' and Joe swore his heart grew ten times bigger that day. He was going to marry the most beautiful woman in the world, and soon he was going to be a daddy to the most beautiful girl in the world. His Josie Lee."

Josie sat up abruptly, her jaw dropping open, "Josie!? That's me!"

You laughed, rubbing your daughters back, "You're right Josie, that is you." Joe smiled as he stood up from the bean bag. "And that, that was the story of how daddy got mommy to marry him."

"I knew it!" Josie smiled, pointing her small index finger at Joe. The three of you laughed, happily. "That was a good story daddy."

"It was, wasn't it?" Joe asked, reaching out to grab your hand as you both smiled. The story of yours and Sams relationship never gets old.

You sighed, "It's one of mommy's favorites. But it's getting late peanut," you tucked a strand of Josies dark blonde hair behind her ear, "you need to go to bed so you can draw a tiger for Uncle Sam in the morning." Josie squealed, "Yes! Can you tuck me in now so it can be morning soon?" she asked in her sweet little voice.

Joe chuckled, "I like the way you think." You rolled out of the bed and walked, well more like waddled, over to the other side of Josie's bed. Joe pulled the covers over her body, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I love you Josie. Sleep tight, peanut."

She smiled, grabbing her tiger stuffed animal and snuggling it close to her. "I love you daddy." Joe stepped away so you could say goodnight to your daughter. "Goodnight my love." You kissed her forehead. She leaned over and kissed your belly. "Goodnight mommy. Goodnight baby sister. I love you." You smiled warmly. "I love you more peanut."

Josie laid back down and closed her eyes. You turned her bedroom light off and walked out of her room, closing the door behind you and Joe. He grabbed your hand, squeezing it gently. "You still up for some Yellowstone?" You nodded, "As long as you'll rub my feet and feed me ice cream?" Joe chuckled and placed a chaste kiss to your lips. "Of course, anything for my girls."

You were the luckiest woman in the world. Joe Burrow was truly the best husband (and daddy) ever.

hey loves!!

in honor of father’s day here’s a dad joe imagine i’ve had sitting in my drafts for weeks lol

hope you all liked it! dad joe is my favorite to write, it’s so so sweet🤍

that’s all i have for now! ;)

[jflemings]

jessie having their daughter as a mascot when she’s like 3/4 for canada and she’s gets overwhelmed/nervous and starts crying in the tunnel so jessie carries her out on the walk out :(

— shy

jessie fleming x child!oc

blurb

josie tugs on piper’s shorts to gain her attention as tears brim her eyes.

jessie pouts and places her hand on top of her daughter’s head “aw jose” she coos as she picks her up “what’s wrong?”

josie doesn’t respond and instead tucks her head into the crook of jessie’s neck like she’s trying to bury her head in some sand. it doesn’t matter how much coaxing jessie does, josie doesn’t remove her face from her neck.

“it’s okay. all we have to do is walk out and stand on the pitch for the national anthem and then you can go back to mum, okay?” the canadian says softly “it’ll be quick and you don’t have to look at the crowd”

“what’s going on little miss” kailen asks softly, brushing her finger over josie’s tightly closed fist that’s caught up in jessie’s canada jacket “are you a bit shy?”

josie nods and peers at the keeper from over jessie’s shoulder

“can i tell you a secret?” her voice drops to a whisper “sometimes i get shy walking out too. and so does your mama”

josie shakes her head “mama doesn’t get shy”

jessie chuckles shortly “sometimes i do”

“you should ask sincy about your mama’s first camp, she’ll tell you how shy she was”

jessie turns around and shoots her teammate a pointed look, continuing to comfort her daughter in her arms. she leans her head on josie’s and turns back around.

“it’s okay to be shy. everybody gets shy sometimes”

josie pulls her head out of jessie’s neck and wipes her few stray tears with the back of her hand. she sits up in jessie’s arms more confidently and peers over her shoulder at the rest of the team lining up.

the familiar faces of the canadian women’s nation team seemingly give her a boost of confidence. she gives jessie a small smile.

jessie shifts her hold and swipes a thumb under josie’s eyes “you ready?”

she nods “i’m ready”

[icyg4l]

PAC: Are You Getting Kisses This Pride Month?

Hello beautiful people! Tonight’s reading is hella self explanatory. This reading is apart of my Pride Month series. I will be using my Pride Tarot Deck in honor of this lovely month. This topic is dedicated to my queer folks who haven’t gotten as much action as they've wanted to and want to know if they’ll get some luck this time around. There will be some 18+ moments in these readings but nothing too extreme. There’s no need to talk too much so please! Without further ado, please select the image that resonates with you the most.

Top Left-to-Bottom Right: (Pile 1-9)

Pile One: For some reason, I am channeling that hand clapping game called ‘Mama’s Having a Baby’. I think that this pile is real fertile this month, lol. Or you could be feeling very playful and nostalgic this month. I also channeled the “trick or treat, smell my feet” song. So with that being said, I would say that you are getting kisses this month. Some of you could be kissing an old childhood friend. Perhaps you are rekindling with an ex that treated you very well. I am getting the energy of a cool down period. I feel like you will be hanging out with this person all day in public, but afterwards you go to their place or vice versa. This person is clean cut, has great manners and is very compassionate. They’ll treat you like royalty. There is a bit of teasing that comes with this kiss though. It does not come easy, you will have to work for it. It will be sloppy, hot and completely worth it. Congratulations, Pile One!

Cards Used: 6 of Cups, King of Cups, The Sun, King of Pentacles, Queen of Swords, Knight of Wands, 8 of Pentacles

Pile Two: I am seeing someone fold their arms and close their legs. So, this is a no for you, Pile Two. For some of you, you could be starting your abstinence journey this month for personal reasons. The top reason being you’re just not feeling the dating scene. The feeling of disgust is coming up. You’ve been in this predicament before, Pile Two. I feel like you will have the opportunity to get some kisses but you’re not all the way sold on going that way with whoever. I am getting that whoever this is, they just want to fuck you. But you are choosing to withhold your sexual/lustful urges because you can sense that they only want what you have for one night. Good for you for choosing yourself. You are not a doormat, Pile Two. Sniff out the bs and be done with it!

Cards Used: 5 of Pentacles, The World (RX), 6 of Wands, 3 of Wands, 9 of Wands, Strength, 8 of Wands

Pile Three: Well, it all depends, Pile Three. How bad do you want to kiss them? It’s all in your hands. I feel like everything will be set up for you to have the perfect kiss with them. Just don’t fuck it up. I feel like you will need to loosen up or be alone with them for a while in order for it to go right. Don’t rush anything and just be yourself. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone else. I am channeling the energy of Josie from Bottoms. Use her strategy to get you and your person alone. I get the feeling that you are coming with someone in mind. This person is someone that makes you feel at home and safe. The kiss itself will make you two closer. Don’t be surprised if some type of promotion occurs in the dynamic a couple days after the kiss. I don’t blame you for feeling so nervous but avoid acting as if you do not care. It will not manifest the way that you want. And once again, loosen the hell up, Pile Three!

Cards Used: The Devil (RX), Judgment, 4 of Cups, 7 of Wands, The Hermit (RX), King of Wands, 6 of Swords, 4 of Wands, 2 of Cups

Pile Four: I feel like you are traveling to a different city this month. D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, Manhattan, Atlanta and San Francisco come to mind. I feel like you could be into some taboo shit when it comes to the bedroom. You might be into swinging, visiting sex clubs or be an avid collector of sex toys. When you visit this city, you will be enjoying the single life, just minding your business. I am seeing a club/party scene in my third eye. The scenario I am thinking of is someone buying you a drink and because of that you two will be acquainted throughout the night. This person could also invite you to dance with them. This is someone who is very friendly. If you are visiting a friend in this new city, this will be a friend of your friend. I feel like you don’t typically kiss someone when you first meet them, but on this night you will. It will be well-needed. This kiss will start off as innocent and you two will match each other’s freaks, lol. I feel like they might end up taking you home, lol (please be safe). In the morning, you’ll be worn out but will feel neutral about the situation. It won’t be something that you regret, but it will be something to talk about amongst your friend group, lol. The Carrie Bradshaw energy is very strong here, lol.

Cards Used: 4 of Swords, The Hanged Man, The World, 9 of Pentacles, 2 of Swords, 8 of Wands, 3 of Cups, Knight of Cups, The Star, 10 of Pentacles, Page of Cups, 3 of Pentacles

Pile Five: Your energy is conflicting, Pile Five. It feels like if you are kissing someone, then you will be kissing them for the last time. But I am also getting a scenario that you will be with someone but they are going to reject your romantic advances. In both scenarios, you are being led on/lied to/lovebombed unfortunately. If you do get kissed however, I feel like it will not be good. The kiss will be mid and it will make you question the state of the relationship. This is a wakeup call for you, Pile Five. If you’ve been feeling like they’re not being clear and sending mixed signals, this will be the sign that you are waiting for. This person is selfish and does not put in the effort to see things from your perspective. They have narcissistic tendencies and for that, they feel it is easy to manipulate the situation. I think you will have enough of this person sooner rather than later.

Cards Used: 9 of Cups, King of Wands, 3 of Swords, The Magician, 10 of Swords, Ace of Wands, 8 of Pentacles, Page of Swords, The Moon, 7 of Pentacles

Pile Six: Well duh. You knew you were going to get the kiss before you clicked on this post, Pile Six! I heard “She said yes!” as I was pulling for you. I feel like you have been waiting to make this person your significant other and this time, they will finally say yes. The reason for their delay is because they wanted to do things on their time. They did not want to rush anything. They wanted to make you feel included in their schedule. Others of you are already in a relationship and will actually be getting engaged. So, the kiss will happen after the question is popped! I believe that this proposal will happen in public (whether it’s for the position of marriage or not). This person means a lot to you and it makes sense why you two are together. The kiss feels like magic; like one of those kisses in the movies where someone gets picked up and twirled. Congratulations, Pile Six!

Cards Used: 3 of Swords (RX), 2 of Cups, 4 of Wands, 10 of Wands, The Emperor

Pile Seven: Now listen, you will get your kiss but it will be under one condition. You have to impress your person’s circle. I feel like this person puts you under a lot of tests. They’re kind of childish but if you feel like you can handle it, go ahead. I see you have a lot of faith in this connection. This person values their friendships a lot so your scenario makes sense. But there’s some type of disadvantage for you here. I feel like they will get their friend to flirt with you to see if you’re actually faithful. Maybe they will purposely start an argument with you in front of their friends to see how you will react. There is something about this scenario that feels abrupt. But you will pass the test and win your person’s trust. Be patient with them and take them serious, please! I think that the actual kiss will be “small”. It will be a peck on the lips, something innocent. The kiss itself could be abrupt as well, but at least their lips are soft, lol!

Cards Used: 7 of Pentacles, Ace of Cups, 6 of Pentacles (RX), 7 of Swords (RX), 8 of Swords, Queen of Swords, 2 of Cups, Page of Wands, 3 of Wands, The Empress, King of Cups (RX)

Pile Eight: There’s nothing blocking you this time, Pile Eight. Go for it! I feel like this could be your ex or this could be your partner who you’ve been on bad terms with. You could even feel like you are growing distant from your partner. This kiss will be sweet like honey. It’ll happen at the right moment. You’ve been meaning to do this but perhaps you’ve gotten rejected in the past. Another scenario I thought of is someone interrupting the kiss or there being some external circumstance preventing you from actually doing it. Somebody could be a cockblocker, lol. This kiss will seal the deal. It will be reassuring. This will be the ‘oh we’re definitely getting back together’ kiss or the ‘we’re back on good terms’ kiss. It will happen after a long talk. It could happen after a dance with them. Either way, this feels very intimate and it should have happened a long time ago.

Cards Used: Justice, 6 of Cups, The Devil, 7 of Wands, King of Wands, 6 of Swords, Judgment, 10 of Pentacles, The Lovers (RX), 10 of Cups, 5 of Pentacles

Pile Nine: Your pile is so interesting, Pile Nine. As I was pulling for your pile, I channeled the Funkadactyls theme song??? If you used to/still watch wrestling, this is definitely for you. But you have the tendency to let your thoughts get the best of you. Unfortunately, I do see this tendency getting in the way of you kissing your crush. This person has mutual feelings for you but damn will your nervous system get the best of you. I feel like you will unfortunately fumble the bag temporarily. But the opportunity will still be there. It’s not all the way off the table. Afterwards, you will get the kiss when you feel more ready and prepared for the event. You’re so cute omg. When the kiss finally happens, it will be intense. This is making me think of those Wattpad books where the smut starts and the writing goes like, “Their tongues danced for dominance”. The nerves will be shaken off in the moment. I feel like your crush will be stingy though or at least a bit of a tease.

Cards Used: The Moon, 2 of Pentacles, The Magician, King of Cups, The Star, Page of Cups, 7 of Pentacles, 5 of Wands, 9 of Wands (RX), King of Swords

[paintyoureyeswithavividmind]

close to home | chapter seventy seven

close to home | chapter seventy seven

plot: the reader fights to protect the Hilltop

series masterlist

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x f!reader Word Count: 4,982 Warnings: violence, blood, typical twd, explicit sexual content A/N: Sorry for the late update, I finished Kingdom of Ash by SJM and have been in a depressive state since. Also I'm gonna be traveling a bit these next two weeks so updates will be slower than usual sadly (sorry!)

Daryl stood silently in one of the bedrooms of the Barrington House, gently rocking his screaming daughter. His own tears leaked from his eyes as he tried his best to calm down Josie. 

“I know, Josie baby,” He tried to soothe her. “I miss ya mama, too.”

His anxiety around the predicament they were in was at an all-time high, and he had half a mind to take Josie, Judith, and RJ and run before the horde showed up. He felt like an idiot for asking Aaron to send for his daughter, Judith, and RJ with the party coming from Alexandria. He thought Hilltop would’ve been safer. And he needed Josie to be somewhere safe so he could look for you.

He spent two days looking for other entrances into the cave system only to come up empty. Until he found Alpha and observed her before his anger got the better of him. After nearly dying in the woods and Lydia helping him back to Hilltop this morning, he hadn’t let Josie out of his arms once. 

Josie had finally settled and he set her down in Hershel’s old crib when he heard his name being called. He sighed loudly and stared down at Josie’s innocent face. A face that looked so much like yours it killed him. If Josie was the last thing he’d have from you, he’d fight like hell to keep her alive. For you, and for him. 

Daryl only made it halfway down the hallway when Rosita was jogging up the stairs, screaming his name in a frenzy that scared him. 

“She’s here,” Rosita said as soon as she saw him. 

Daryl’s face dropped as the air was knocked away. He quickly ran past Rosita and down the steps. He could hardly breathe as he pushed past the door and flew down the steps. 

That was when he saw you, still kneeling in the dirt, throwing up. He ran the length of Hilltop until he dropped to his knees in front of you. 

“Daryl…” Your arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and he pulled you tight into his arms. “Water, I need water.” You coughed. 

“Here, here,” Rosita rushed, and you pulled away from Daryl to grab the canteen and drink quickly. 

“The horde,” You said after drinking half of it. “The horde is coming.”

“We know,” Daryl said, setting his hands on your cheeks. “We know.”

You were breathing deeply and looked like you’d been through hell and smelt even worse. But he didn’t care. You were alive, right in front of him. 

“You mean I ran here for nothing?" You choked on the lack of air. "Where’s Josie? Where’s my baby? Tell me she's at Alexandria.” You asked, and then your face dropped when Daryl hesitated. “No. No.”

“You should see the doc,” Rosita said.

“No, I need to see my baby.” You said, struggling to stand up on wobbly legs. You dropped the bag on your back and took a step but stumbled, and Daryl was there to steady you in a second. He wrapped his arm tightly around your waist. 

“Have the doc come up in ten,” Daryl told Rosita. He knew nothing was going to stop you from seeing your daughter. 

***

A few minutes later, you were on your knees, cradling Josie as you sobbed. Daryl knelt beside you, his arm around your waist and his forehead against your shoulder. His mind was playing catch up of you actually being here, alive. And he couldn’t fathom it. 

“My baby,” You whispered, pressing kiss after kiss against Josie’s forehead. Then you turned and cupped Daryl’s face. “I thought about you two every single second I was in there. You’re the only reason I’m here. I couldn’t give up.”

Daryl’s face softened, and he kissed you for a long moment. “I tried findin’ ‘nother way in. Tried to go after Alpha.”

“Of course, you did,” You shook your head and pushed back his hair. You knew that without you there to keep him from doing something stupid, he would do something very stupid. “I love you.”

“I lova ya, more, darlin’.”

You smiled and kissed him again before returning to your daughter and slowly stood up. You kissed the top of her head and closed your eyes, breathing her in. 

“We tried to get ‘em out. Roads were blocked. Remind ya of anyone?” Daryl told you as you put the baby in the crib. 

“Negan.”

Just as the door opened, he nodded, and Judith and RJ ran into the room. They both engulfed you in a hug, and you cried happy tears at the sight of them. You dropped down onto your knees and cupped each of their cheeks. 

“Aren’t you guys a sight for sore eyes,” You smiled at the two of them. 

“We missed you,” RJ said. “Mommy’s gone. She went to help people.”

Your eyebrows furrowed together, and you looked at Judith before looking at Daryl. “What?”

“I’ll tell ya ‘bout it later,” He reassured you. 

Then the door opened, and the doctor came in, and you stood so you could get checked out by him. 

***

You set a pair of clean clothes on Maggie’s old bathroom counter. The shower was running, and you stared at yourself in the mirror. God, you were a mess. You couldn’t remember the last time you looked this awful. You weren’t sure if you ever had, not like this. You had blood, dirt, and mud caked in your clothes, your hair, under your nails, and your mouth tasted like them. 

It was revolting. 

The shower water was cold when you stepped into it, but you didn’t care. It felt like heaven after your journey through hell. Dirt and blood circled around the drain as you scrubbed old soap into your hair and rubbed down your body with a washcloth four times. You were rinsing out your third shampoo when you heard the door open. 

“Josie’s down. I brought ya some food. Ya need to eat after.” Daryl said. 

You poked your head out of the shower curtain, “Thank you, honey.” You watched Daryl start to undress, and you raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Ya nearly died in that damn cave, ya think I ain’ joinin’ ya in the shower?”

You snorted and closed the curtain, stepping back under the water. You shut your eyes as you heard the shower curtain open, and then you felt his hands wrap around your waist. You smiled to yourself and leaned backward so his chest was against your back. 

“I thought ya died. I really did.” Daryl said, pressing his lips against the back of your head. “How did ya get out?”

“I nearly didn’t. But Magna and Connie. We kept pushing forward. I kept pushing them. I didn’t give them a break. I needed to get home. We ended up in the horde just as they were leading it out, I guess. I was able to break away, but Magna and Connie… we got separated.” 

“We’ll find ‘em.”

You nodded and turned around. You pushed Daryl’s wet hair out of his face. “We should really be out there helping get the place ready.” 

He nodded and rubbed his thumbs in circles on your waist. “Just need to be with ya right now.”

You stood on your toes to give him a kiss. You had just fallen back onto your feet when Daryl pushed you backward and reconnected your lips. Your back softly hit the wall, and you moaned against his lips, letting him deepen it. 

His tongue ran along your bottom lip, and his hands gripped tightly on your skin. That same ache for him ran through you, and you wrapped your arms around his neck just as he lifted you from the back of your thighs. 

“Daryl,” You moaned when you felt how hard he’d gotten in while just kissing. You locked your legs against his waist and ground against him. 

“We gotta be fast, baby girl, and quiet,” Daryl said against your lips. 

You nodded as you wrapped a hand around his wet cock and lined it up. You couldn’t remember the last time you had sex with him, probably before the fire at Oceanside. “Now, honey.” You whined. 

Daryl groaned loudly as he pushed into you. Your eyes shut, and you leaned your head back at how he filled you up. You wanted to scream at how good it felt, how impossibly good it felt with him inside you. He took you against the wall with that sense of desperation because he thought you were dead. 

“God, ya feel so fuckin’ good, baby girl,” Daryl groaned. 

You dug your fingernails into his shoulders as he thrust hard into you. You were dizzy before, but now you are dizzy with sex. Your legs were practically jelly, and you were already shaking. He was hitting so deep inside of you that you swore you could see stars. 

“Harder.” You breathed out, using your legs to pull him closer so each thrust was even deeper. 

He did exactly as you asked, hitting you deep and hurt in a relentless rhythm. You had to bite down on his shoulder to keep you from screaming how good it felt, how good he felt, as you came. And then he kept going until he spilled inside of you. His movements slowed, and he carefully put you back on your feet. 

And then he was kissing you desperately and running his fingers up along your center. You clutched the handlebar on the shower wall as he pumped his fingers inside of you. 

“You said we have to be quick,” You mumbled as Daryl sucked on the spot below your ear that drove you crazy. 

“Just a bit more, baby,” He nearly begged. You were nodding before you could even think of an answer. 

Daryl knelt down on the ground, the water spraying over your body now. He lifted one of your legs so you had it on the tub’s ledge. When you felt his tongue around your clit you buried your hands in his dripping hair and moaned loudly. Your legs were shaking with each delicate and precise swipe of his tongue. You had to lean against the shower wall to keep yourself steady. 

“Ya know how good ya taste?” You heard his voice over the water, and you lightly tugged on his hair. You felt his thumb circle around your entrance before he pushed in, and you shut your eyes. 

“Daryl… oh my God,” You moaned. 

Time both stood still and ran on and on in that moment. You were lost in his tongue and his fingers. All you could focus on was his tongue against your clit and his thumb rubbing that spot so deep in you. And after he pulled another orgasm out of you, he was there, kissing you desperately.

“See how good ya taste?”

You moaned against his lips and tugged him closer by his waist, feeling how hard he was already. You had no sense of time. He could’ve been eating you out for an hour. 

“Fuck me,” You begged. “Again. Now. Please.”

Daryl grabbed your waist, spun you around, and lifted one leg up again. You barely had time to grab the handlebar before he slammed into you. His grip on your hip was so tight, and his other arm wrapped around your chest to keep your back against his chest. 

“This what ya want, darlin’?” His voice was so deep in your ear. 

“Yes, yes.” You moaned. You couldn’t think of anything else to say. The speech had left your mind entirely, and all you could focus on was how good your husband made you feel. 

You heard the screech of the curtain being pulled back, and then Daryl grabbed you by the jaw and turned your head. 

“I know how much ya like watchin’ me fuck ya.”

“Jesus Christ,” You groaned as you watched him fuck you from the mirror. It was too much. Everything was too much, and your release hit you so hard that he had to keep you steady. Through it all, you couldn’t stop watching from the mirror. You could see him perfectly as he fucked you from behind you. 

“Honey…” You moaned and reached up to press your hand on the back of his neck. 

“‘M right here, darlin’. Ya doin' so good, honey.”

Daryl fucked you so hard that you finished another time before he did, and afterward, your legs were so wobbly that you needed to sit on the ledge as you calmed down. Daryl cupped your face gently and kissed you before he turned the water off. 

“Aren’t you going to shower?” You asked. 

“Nah, cleaned myself up when I got back earlier.”

You snorted. “You just came in here to fuck me.” You watched his backside as he got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. 

“Ain’ seem like ya had much of a problem with it.” He helped you stand up and then handed you a second towel. 

“No, I guess I did not.”

***

Later, after Daryl made sure you ate until you couldn’t, you walked with him around Alexandria to inspect everything that was being done to fight the incoming horde. The community must’ve been working tirelessly all day, and you felt silly for running the ten miles it took to get here. But you got here before the horde, and that was worth it. 

You and Daryl made an agreement not to leave each other’s side, no matter what happened. And if one of you went down, you’d get Josie, Judith, and RJ, and get out. No matter what. No matter who you had to leave behind. You felt uneasy about it but it was the only thing you could do. Neither of you could protect everyone. 

So you and Daryl loaded your weapons together, your arrows in a new quiver and Daryl promised to fix your other one after this was all over. It made your heart flutter, even as you grew nervous about the impending horde. 

Carol avoided you and you knew she was guilty over what happened. You decided with tonight being unknown, you didn’t want to let this sit with the two of you. So you told her that you didn’t hate her, and that she had made a mistake. But she needed to pull it together to get through tonight. 

By nightfall, everything was set up. Aaron was leading practice drills outside the walls near the makeshift fence. You were standing aside Yumiko and the other archers. Carol was next to you. In front of you were Eugene and Rosita, who you nodded at both. It was quiet as you all waited. The anticipation alone was enough to make you sweat. 

Your bow was heavy in your hands, and you had shoved in as many arrows as you could. You’d wiped it clean early and the blades reflected the moonlight. It would be one hell of a weapon to go down fighting with. 

Daryl, who had been grabbing a last minute weapon, walked past you and grabbed your arm for a moment, silenting telling you to follow him. You did so, standing in front of the line. 

“Anythin’ happens to me,” He whispered to you. 

“I get the kids and get out. And you do the same.” 

He nodded and let the flail swing between the two of you. 

In the distance you saw movement. You steadied your breathing and squared your footing. This was it. Probably the biggest fight of your life. The Governor, Terminus, the Wolves, even the Saviors. None of it compared to this. To the walking dead that had always been the greatest enemy. 

“We don’t leave each other’s side. Promise me.” You said. 

Daryl looked at you with an intensity that he never had before, and you could see he was scared, which scared you. “I promise ya, darlin’.” 

You swallowed the lump in your throat as Aaron started yelling out formation ranking, the same you worked on in Oceanside forever ago. The spark from the hot wire went up as walkers pressed into it, and you prayed it would hold. 

But it didn’t, and the wire and the posts fell, and the dead pressed on. Aaron was yelling out commands and you followed Daryl closer to the makeshift fence. You gripped the bow tight as walkers hit the fence, and you and Daryl attacked it together. 

Your blade found a home in each walker’s skull, blood and brain matter spraying you in the face with each pull. Arms and hands of rotten flesh reached for you, and you brought down every one that did. 

But when you heard someone screaming about the fence not holding you cursed loudly and hit another walker as hard as you could. Just then, something rained down on you. Your hands were coated in something stinky, and you brought it to your nose to smell. 

“It smells like… like pine!” You yelled to Daryl. More of it rained down and your hair was soaked with sweat and whatever the liquid was. 

Before you could figure out what it was, fire lit up the fence about five yards from you and you backed away from the blast, bringing Daryl with you. 

“It’s like gasoline!” Jerry yelled. 

Your eyes widened and you pulled Daryl back even further from it. 

“Get ready to fall back!”

You looked at the chaos around you and then looked at Daryl. You shook your head, and he understood exactly what you were saying. You were all, incredibly, deeply, fucked. 

“Back inside,” Daryl yelled as he grabbed your arm to pull you. “Come on!”

Everyone retreated at once, and you didn’t hesitate to follow Daryl. Especially when you heard the fence break, and walkers streamed in. 

Explosions of fire hit the ground in front of you and you skidded to a stop. You collided right into Daryl, who grabbed you to steady him. 

“No,” You whispered to yourself, watching the walls of Hilltop go up in flames.”We gotta get inside! Come on, before it spreads!” You yelled. 

You ran toward the gate, leading everyone. They slowly pulled open and you covered your mouth as you ran through the smoke. Arrows of fire still rained down from above you, and everything inside the community was starting to go up in flames. 

“We gotta jam ‘em up!” Daryl yelled. 

“Keep the shields up,” You continued his thought. “Block the entrance. We need to pile them so they can’t keep coming in.”

You took a few steps back as walkers flooded in behind you all, and you looked back at the house where your daughter was. It was okay for now, and you had to make sure it stayed that way. So you turned back toward the impending walkers, twisted the weapon in your hand, and fought back. 

Each walker that crossed your path met the end of your blade. You spun and dodged, ducked and kicked. You pulled arrow after arrow when you could, and swiped the blades until you were soaked in blood. You left a pile of bodies in your wake.

Everything was on fire and in chaos. You could hear the screaming of your friends, of people being pulled apart. You could hear the contact of your blade pierce body after body, taking down walker and whisperer alike. 

Aaron was calling out orders as bodies started piling up. The plan was working. Less and less walkers were getting through. 

A sudden explosion sounded behind you and you looked toward the house. “No!” You screamed, watching flames engulf it. You didn’t think before you took off toward the house, you thought only of your children. A strong arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you before you could run into the burning building. You turned around to see Daryl. “Ezekiel got the kids out! They’re headed toward the rendezvous.”

“Josie… I can’t…” You struggled to say over the smoke.

Daryl pointed across the way and you saw him and Earl running with the kids behind him, and you could see Josie with them. 

“Ya wanna go with ‘em?” He asked. 

You hesitated and looked at Daryl. You knew if you said the words that he would leave with you. He would abandon Hilltop and run with you. But then you looked around at the overwhelmingness of death and destruction. 

Your friends were bleeding out on the ground, being consumed. A place that you loved, a place you considered a second home, was burning to the ground. And it was all because of Alpha. 

A burst of flames sounded from your right and you looked over to see one of the walls collapse. You stared at it in horror and stumbled backward. 

You weren’t supposed to be here. You weren’t supposed to be in this life. This warzone. Where you could hear your friends fighting for your lives. Where your loved ones were lying down their lives to give the community a chance, to keep it standing. 

Aaron was fighting like hell and his daughter was here, too. 

“Daryl… I…” You didn’t know what to say. 

“Ya say the word and we go,” He told you. 

The words formed on your lips. Get me out of here. Let’s get our kids and go far, far away from here. But then you heard a blood curdling scream and it went straight through your bones. 

“Rosita!” You screamed, your feet moving instantly as you ran toward your friend. A walker was laying on top of her as she struggled against it, and you aimed your shot as you ran, swinging the blade up and slicing the head in two. 

“Are you bit?” You asked as you helped her up. 

She shook her head. “The walls are down. We need to go help.” 

And there was your answer. 

You, Daryl, and Rosita raced toward the broken wall. Walkers were already flooding in. They were everywhere. Scattered in the chaos. But you selected your target and brought it down each time. 

But they were flooding in by the dozen, and the fighting line kept getting pushed further and further back. There were now hundreds at the broken walls, and you heard more and more explosions along the walls. 

“Daryl!” You screamed over the chaos. He was by your side in a second and you grabbed Rosita’s arm before she could keep fighting. “We need to run.”

You fought as you evacuated the community, collecting any and everyone you could as you did. Tears burned your eyes as you fought through one of the broken walls, clearing a way out. You weren’t sure how long it took. It could’ve been hours, days, years. Your muscles ached. You were slick with sweat and a good amount of walker blood. 

But your party managed to break away. The walkers were more scarce, as the fire drew most of them in. You tried not to think of who was left behind. You prayed everyone made it out safely. You didn’t see Carol, or Eugene. You had no idea where Aaron was. And you didn’t see Yumiko or Kelly anywhere. 

Daryl’s leg wound was getting worse as you all fled, and you eventually had to help him walk. You couldn’t imagine the pain he was in after the stab wound he received fighting Alpha, and then the fight he put up here. 

In the dead of night, your group managed to put a good distance between yourselves and the horde. You’d have to take the long way around to the rendezvous point because of how you left the community and kept getting pushed further and further out. But you were on your way by daybreak. 

You kept thinking about your kids. About Josie, Judith, and RJ. You thought about the conversation you had with Daryl while preparing for the fight, and learning why and how Michonne was gone. In a single conversation, you and Daryl were now the parents of three children. You had three babies that were cut away from you. Each step closer made it harder and harder to breathe. 

As soon as you saw the houses that Daryl told you they’d be in, you left Rosita to help Daryl and took off. You had your bow with an arrow nocked and you were ready for anything. But you couldn’t stop yourself from kicking down the door. 

You didn’t have time to scream when a walker reached for you. You let the arrow fly and it’s body fell to the ground with a thud. 

“No, no,” You started to panic as you searched the house.

But the house was empty. 

“They aren’t here,” You fell into Daryl’s arms as you cried. “Where are they? My baby…” Your body was a wreck of sobs and your knees went so weak you fell to the ground. “My babies… Josie… RJ… Judith.” You sobbed. 

A slim arm wrapped around your shoulders and Rosita embraced you tightly. You could hear Daryl's angry reaction as he slammed things around inside the house but you couldn’t focus on anything except the fact that your children were missing. 

“Where are they?” You sobbed to Rosita, who was trying her hardest to soothe you.

“We’ll find them. We’ll find them, babe.” She rocked you back and forth. You could feel the anger radiating off of her. You could also hear Nabila going through the same emotions as you, and Jerry trying to calm her down. 

Your hands fisted in the dirt below and you felt like screaming. You could feel it bubbling up in you, only to be released in choking sobs. What if they didn’t get out? What if they were gone? Josie was only four months…

“Oh God,” You sobbed, holding tightly onto Rosita. 

Then Daryl was kneeling in front of you and he cupped your cheeks. You could see the panic on his face, the anger and desperation. He was on the verge of crying but you knew it was anger holding back the tears. “‘Mma find ‘em, okay? Ya hear me. ‘Mma got get ‘em and bring ‘em.”

You couldn’t form words. You couldn’t say anything as you nodded, and then he and Jerry were gone. Rosita stayed with you on the ground, soothing you by rocking you back and forth, and telling you that everything was going to be okay. But the truth was, she’d never seen you break like this. And it scared her.

***

You had a vague idea of your group setting up camp at the rendezvous point. You were sure you heard Dianne setting up a perimeter and someone talking about the food that had been left in preparation. But you couldn’t focus on anything. 

You stayed on the ground, with tear soaked cheeks, and Rosita to sit with you. She didn’t say a word as you both sat and waited. But she held your hand and when you started crying again and again, she held you. 

The waiting was torture. You would revisit being tortured by Alpha and Beta again and again if it meant you didn’t have to live through this. You’d gladly do it if you knew your children were safe. You’d do anything to see them again.

“(Y/N),” Rosita’s soft voice broke the silence and you raised your eyes from the dirt. 

In the distance, you saw them. You saw Daryl, Ezekiel, and Jerry, with the children. You cried with relief as you moved for the first time, running as fast as you could. 

RJ was running toward you, screaming your name. He jumped into your arms as soon as you reached him, but you didn’t stop walking. You cried as he wrapped his arms around you and you carried him, kissing his teary cheek, until Judith collided with you, hugging you tightly. You used your other hand to wrap around her shoulders and you leaned down to kiss the top of her head. 

And then Daryl was there with Josie in his arms. And another sob hit your body as you stared down at your daughter’s face. You gave RJ another kiss before you set him down and then Josie was in your arms, shrieking in her way that she only did when she saw you. 

Judith was still clinging to your hips and you had one arm around her as you kissed Josie’s face over and over again. 

“Thank you,” You said to Daryl, who was looking down at you with shiny eyes.

Your husband grabbed RJ and lifted him onto his shoulders. You cried harder at the sight of them and then you knelt down, still holding Josie tight, and looked at Judith. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” You asked her.

She nodded, but you could tell something was wrong. You cupped her cheek for a long moment before you pulled her into a hug. “You did so good. You kept them safe. I know you did. I’m so proud of you, my love.” You whispered in her ear. 

Judith hugged you back tightly and when she stepped away you noticed she was wearing the cloth you used as a sling for Judith. “Did you take that from my room?” You laughed through your tears. 

“I had it in my bag. I wanted to give it to you when I found you.”

Your face softened and you hugged her again. “My sweet girl.” You said to her before you stood up. 

Daryl was staring down at you with a smile on his face, and you could see the look of love radiating off of him. You felt like crying all over again as you stepped closer to hug him. You pulled Judith into it as well, and laughed loudly when she made a face. But you didn’t care. Your family was here in one place, and they were safe. 

[bcolfanfic]

craving some soft domesticity and romance....do you have any h/cs for the young vets Clegan when they first set up house? who's the cook? who likes to decorate? what's their sunday morning routine? do they bicker over what to watch? who's the little spoon? etc etc etc <3

sweet babies. this is the zillow house i decided they move into once they find somewhere in sheridan and move out of staying with gale’s sister immediately after getting home post-war.

they’re there when they first get josie/convert the upstairs into her room- and then once the adoption is finalized they move somewhere a little bigger.

but that’s all down the line. to your actual prompt,

- gale copes with being back in civilian life by throwing himself head first into it. always cooking, kinda goes full throttle house husband mode for a while while he’s looking for work. john isn’t making him fill that role, it just helps him feel like he has all his ducks in a row. gives him something to focus on.

- not that john is complaining either. he thinks gale is so damn sweet. and loves getting to see that domestic side of him that it wasn’t even really possible to see overseas.

- john has some stuff in boxes that he took from wisconsin when they stopped through there that it makes him feel Good to put around the house. books, photos of him and his sister when they were little, a bunch of throw pillows and blankets and ~homey~ things that his mama kinda unloaded on him to take back to their house.

- the only way you’d know either of them were in the military just by walking around their house is if you were looking close enough to see a challenge coin holder on the tv shelf. the coins stay out because they look nice, but everything else goes into a drawer or a box. it’s mostly john’s doing- but gale is 100% on board. out of sight out of mind (: right (: loud incorrect buzzer

- their neighbors are a very sweet older couple with horses and are always inviting them to church. with the stipulation that we won’t let anyone give you boys any trouble, but they still opt to not go together and just go individually with those neighbors every now and then. they’re good boys and know those folks mean well.

- but if it’s a morning when both of em stay home they just take the morning real slow. sleep in, half asleep wander around in their pajamas. before john’s doing Bad and can’t be left by himself gale will sometimes go out and pick up breakfast from a little local place a couple minutes away to bring back to the house. brings it back home instead of the two of them going out to eat so they can stay in their jammies and eat on the couch and pet each others hair and snuggle <3

- gale is biggg into documentaries but john’s opinion on docs is that there needs to be some good Reenactment scenes or he finds it hard to pay attention lmao (me too buddy). when he has tv control he likes binge watching older shows. gonna project for a minute and say that he likes cheers (: and gets Passionate about how sam and diane’s plot line ends even when he’s seen said plot line like seven times.

- gale is the lil spoon most of the time and once john starts struggling with his mental health more those roles kinda reverse. but before that gale lovesss curling his lanky self as small as is possible for him and feeling john press up against his back. lovesss the sensory input of that. makes him feel grounded and safe (:

[bluefirewrites]

Blue's Ultimate JATP Tumblr Masterpost

Hey guys, it's been a while! Been combing through my blog and realized I wrote a lot of fun ficlets over the years (mostly AU's and mostly Juke). It's probably hard to find all of them without a lil' help. Below is a masterlist of all the Tumblr drabbles I've made for Julie and the Phantoms

*- requests/asks; appropriate warnings will be in posts; ♡- favorites of mine Any AU is a Juke AU

50's AU (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) ♡

Angel and Demon/ Good Omens AU

Baby Driver AU (Part 1) (Part 2)

Celebrity Fake Dating AU

Celebrity/Fan AU*

Celebrity Neighbor AU*

Desk Pen Pals AU*

Church/Youth Group Leaders AU (Part 1) (Part 2)*

College AU* (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Con Artist/ Leverage AU (Part 1) (Part 2)

Diner AU

Enchanted AU ♡

Florist AU (Part 1) (Part 2)♡

Halloweentown AU

Hero/Villain Roommates AU *

High School Theater AU*

Hologram/ Pixel Perfect AU (Part 1) (Part 2)

Imaginary Friends/Pen Pals AU (Part 1) (Part 2)

Jam Skater AU

Josie and The Pussycats AU

Knowledgeable Local AU*

Lip Synch Battle AU

Long Distance AU* ♡

Mall AU ♡

Met in the Back of A Cop Car (also full fic on AO3) ♡

Prince Protection Program AU (Part 1) (Part 2) ♡

Pizza Delivery Boy AU*

Prostitute/Client AU*

Record Store AU

Sense8 AU

Space Opera/Body Swap AU

Speed Racer AU

Stranded on Island/ Flight 29 Down AU ♡

Uber Driver AU

Wayne AU

We Bought a Zoo AU ♡

Western AU (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Willex AU

Con Artist/Leverage AU (Part 4) Petal Palace/ Handyman AU Traveling Pants AU (Part 1) (Part 2) ♡

In-Universe Juke

Angsty Juke

Back to the 1991/ Time Travel

Caleb's Dream Spell ♡

Emily Gifts Julie Luke's Guitar* ♡

First I Love You*

Juke Kisses*

Julie's Unfinished Business*

Luke Follows Julie Around School ♡

Music Lessons

Prom Night

They Still Can't Touch?

While You Sleep (also full fic on AO3)

Wicked Beauty

In-Universe Willex

Alex and Willie Adopt a Ghost Child* (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Alex Braid Willie's Hair

Alex: The King of Hugs*

The First Kiss* ♡

Willie LOVES Drummers

Willex Hugs*

General Drabbles

Alive!Mama Rose and Alive! Sunset Curve* (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)

Julie Crosses Over* ♡

Julie's Sacrifice ♡

Luke's Birthday Candles*

Ray Molina and the Casseroles

Rose's Deal with Caleb* ♡

Rose and the Petal Pushers (own masterpost about Rose Molina's band) ♡

[fandoms--fluff]

Hello sorry to bother you can you do of baby Mikaelson we’re hope she takes her to the school with her because ther parents are doing something’s .

Mine

Flufftober, October 23rd

Baby female Mikaelson reader x Hope Mikaelson

Warnings: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're going to have so much fun here, Y/n/n" Hope tells you as she walks with your one year old self in her arms around the school's hallways. You giggle in return, snuggling into her shoulder as you watch all the scenery and students pass by.

As everyone passes, most of them give you and Hope weird looks, never seeing Hope with a baby before. But Hope pays no mind to them, instead going along her way down to the library where she's meeting Josie and Lizzie.

When she steps into the library, she immediately spots the Gemini twins. Josie's sitting on one side of the couch and Lizzie in an arm chair. No one else seems to be in the library which makes Hope lighten up a little more on her grip on you. She wants to make sure nothing happens to you, and the less people around, the better she thinks. Especially at the school where apparently no one likes to keep to their selves and own business.

"Hi girls" She says sitting next to Josie on the couch. They both respond back and Josie's the first to acknowledge you when you peek your face out of where it was nuzzled into Hope's neck

"And you must be Y/n. You're so cute" Josie's face scrunches up in cuteness as you smile up at her. You usually don't like people outside of your family, especially when you have time with Hope, but it's clear you're taking an interest in the brunette siphoner.

Hope smiles at your reaction and how you're seemingly interested in Josie. "You want to hold her?" She asks her.

"Really? Yeah, please, if you don't mind" Josie lights up while lizzie just watches with her head tilted at the interaction. Josie has always loves babies, weirdly, so she's not going to step in at the moment.

"Of course not, here we go" Hope lifts you into Josie's arms and lap. She takes care in how you react to being switched over to someone else's arms, and you're not fudding so she let her grip go on you and sit back down.

"Hi, Y/n. My name is Josie, and the other girl over there is my sister, Lizzie" Josie points to Lizzie sitting in the armchair a couple feet away.

Your eyes follow where Josie points to the blond siphoner and do a little wave like you've seen your sister do many times before. "Hi" Lizzie says awkwardly.

Hope chuckles at the blonde, "You okay Lizzie?" "Yeah, sure, she's not gonna cry right?" Lizzie looks back to where Josie is playing patty cake with you. You're a giggling mess in the new girl's lap. You really like her. She's way better than the other people your Mama and Dada have introduced to you before, at least from what you can remember of those people.

"No, she won't. She's not really a crier all that much" Hope answers Lizzie as she watches you have fun with the brunette. "That's....good. What are you doing?" Lizzie asks her sister from where she was making funny faces and you burst out laughing.

"I'm not sure how to respond to that. Making funny faces?" Josie turns to her sister confused. You follow, turning to the blonde and tilt your head to the side in confusion.

You then reach out your arms, hands in a grabby motion. "What?" Lizzie's face goes blank. Josie rolls her eyes and turns to Hope for permission. The auburn nods her head in answer and Josie gets up and carefully places you on Lizzie's lap.

"Oh, no, no, no. You see I'm not good with babies. What are you doing? Oh okay uh what do I do?" Lizzie's eyes widen as you reach up and grab her hair into your tiny hands, feeling the softness of it.

"It's alright Lizzie, no need to freak out. She's just trying to get to know you is all" Hope tries to reassure her. "Okay, okay, I'll just stay like this and, yeah you're good, go ahead" Lizzie says as you lean against her chest, her hair still clutched in your fists.

Hope and Josie chuckle as Lizzie get's used to you. And eventually you end up starting to doze off in her arms.

"I think it's time for me and Y/n to go up to my room" Hope says, getting up from beside Josie. "Alright, no problem, we'll see you later?" Josie says. "Yeah, of course" Hope responds before she bends over to take you from Lizzies lap.

When she tries to pick you up from the blonde, your grasp on tighter to the girl's hair. "Ouch, quite a grip she's got" Lizzie winces as her hari gets pulled again.

"Yeah, sorry about that" Hope says in sympathy before prying your hands away from her hair. "There we go" She brings you into her arms, you pouting from being pulled away from Lizzie.

You settle down again once your cuddled against your sister's chest, nuzzling into the warmth radiating off of her. "Bye, girls" Hope smiles before walking to the exit of the library.

As she takes you upstairs, you start to whine, getting cranky. "I know, I know you're tired, we'll be at my dorm in just a minute. And then we can get all comfy and take a nap." Hope rubs her hand up and down your back.

Once you guys are in her room and she sits down on her bed with you still nuzzled into her chest, you start giggling. "What's so funny, huh?" She chuckles.

"Mine" You say one garbled word, grasping onto her shirt tighter than Lizzie's hair. "Yeah, I'm yours. I'm your big sister" She places a kiss on the top of your head.

You started talking a couple months ago, a few words here and there. Which was surprising to your guys' parents when you said your first word a couple days before your first birthday. The word being 'Kol' because of your uncle spending so much time with you to make sure your first word is his name. Which was one of his priority weird main goals. But at least it was a harmless one.

"You want wolfie?" She asks, leaning over to grab your stuffed wolf. You look up at her and nod. "Here you go" She places the wolf in your arms, which you snuggle with immediately before cuddling back into Hope's chest.

That's how you guys stay for the rest of the afternoon, Hope taking a nap with you. There is assignments for classes she should be really doing instead, but it can wait for the last minute. She'd rather prioritize you and spend time with you. Especially since the classes are rather boring anyways.

You guys don't wake up until dinner time, eating all the ice cream for dessert. Which is something she will not be telling her parents about because she doesn't really feel like being reprimanded for feeding you too much sugar.

[bitchinbarzal]

Forever my girl | Jamie Drysdale: two

summary: jamie meets billie

-

Jamie was staying in a hotel, knowing he wasn’t welcome back at his parents house especially not by Charlie.

He got breakfast down at the cafe, still owned by the old couple just like when he was a kid.

“What can get- well as I live and breathe Jamie Drysdale is that you?” Lola, cooed and Jamie smiled

“It’s me Lo”

“Hank come out here! Our Jamie’s home!”

The couple stand fawning over him “do you guys know where I’ll find y/n?”

Lola’s face softened “The flower shop”

He thanked them both, paying for his food and headed out. Hank picked up his cheque, $200 stuffed in the book.

“That boy… let it all get to his head”

Standing outside the flower shop, Jamie looked up at the sign that now read SWEETPEA’S FLOWERS

Through the window he could see you talking to a customer, pointing to the various arrangements on the countertop.

He waited until the shop was empty before he headed inside, your back was turned to him.

“That was some slap you gave me yesterday” he mumbled.

You turned with a scowl “That was just a warning shot”

His eyerow raised “Oh really?” He has an amused grin on his face.

Your back is facing him once again “uh huh”

Jamie stands, taking in his surroundings “So this is where you work now, eh?”

You slam down a bunch of daises rather aggressively “I own it”

“Bought it after Mrs Richards died five years ago”

Jamie’s eyebrows furrowed “Oh”

You stop what you’re doing and look at him, tired “Yes Jamie, I actually did something with my life after you walked out on me and a lot has changed round here since you left, my mama passed did you know that?”

His heart drops, your mom had always supported Jamie since he was little.

“No… no I’m so sorry I didn’t know”

You laugh, almost mocking him “Have you noticed that since you’ve been gone, Jamie that nobody here has ever spoken to any of those tabloids or the media about you and your life here… about what you did?”

He anxiously scratches the back of his neck “yeah because I left you”

It’s not like he hadn’t thought about it since he left.

You chuckle “No, you left us all that day Jamie… nobody’s spoken about what you did that day because here in Hope we’ve got each others back and I’m not sure you belong here anymore”

“y/n-“

“Just leave Jamie, don’t you have some big city model to get back to in California?”

He decided not to push you, not after the slap you gave him yesterday so he turned to leave.

“Hi mama!” Billie shouted as she pushed open the door to the shop, Josie and her boys following close behind.

In a rush, you push past Jamie and down to Billie’s level “Hi Sweetpea! How was school?”

“Meh same old, same old” she shrugged to which both you and Jamie chuckle. She was so mature for her age.

“Jamie” Josie growled, her baby boy on her hip.

Jamie nodded at her “Josie”

You noticed Billie becoming aware of the tension “Hey, so aunt josie is gonna take you all to get cupcakes from Lola’s ok? My treat”

She smiles “but only a little bit I don’t wanna ruin dinner, my grandma and poppy are coming over”

Then she looks at Jamie “Hey, I know you! You’re that hockey player my mama watches on the television my grandma has pictures of you in her house”

Jamie smiles softly “I’m Jamie”

Billie holds her hand out “I’m Billie”

You watch Jamie’s face falter “Billie?”

“Uh huh”

Jamie then looks at you “wow… that’s a, really pretty name”

You interrupt “Okay sweet pea time to-“ 

“Hold up a second” Jamie stops you, standing infront of Billie “How old are you, Billie?”

You see her curl into herself, anxiety prevalent

“I’m not very tall for my age but my poppy says I’ll grow… I’m six”

Jamie’s eyes widened “Six, eh?”

“Okay! Time to go!” Josie announces, wrangling the kids out the door.

Billie heads out, stopping to wave “Bye mama! Bye Jamie!”

“Bye Sweetpea!” You shout through the tears forming in your eyes.

You stand, still looking out the door as your babygirl walks away. You don’t want to look at him.

“Six, eh?”

You sigh, pinching your head “I think we should talk”

hi jamie, it’s me again.

I think this is the last time I’m calling. I can’t keep doing this. I watched your debut, I’m really proud of you but I need you to call me back… please jamie you want to hear what I’ve got to say.