#Run Club

[liillyliilly]

Run Club

suna rintarou x reader words; 4679 synopsis; she's the best runner at inarizaki, he wants to spend more time with her- so the natural conclusion? offering to make a run club with her

It was practically 1,000 degrees outside and Suna was melting in the heat. The rest of the volleyball team was excited to finally be outside for once, the gym was beginning to grow old. Kita, in his ever intelligent wisdom, decided he wanted to do some more intensive cross training. Suna was covering his eyes with his hand, not even hooded eyes could deflect a boiling sun.

And there she was.

“Kita, who is that?” Atsumu got to the jump before Suna did, but Suna listened just a little more carefully to Kita’s words in response to Atsumu’s words.

“That’s L/N. She’s in my class. She’s the track captain, she’s also the one who’s going to help us with cross training today.”

In front of a group of other runners, including guys, was her. She was wearing a black sports bra and quite possibly the shortest shorts Suna had ever seen on a girl. She seemed to be leagues ahead of the other runners, yet she still was yelling at the kids to keep running. Keep pushing forward without thinking about the pain.

Suna thought she was crazy. Beautiful and crazy.

Eventually, she came up to the volleyball team, leaving her team of runners lying on the track practically crying and downing entire water bottles. She messed around on what appeared to be a fitness watch, frowned a little but then tapped around before finally walking over to Kita. Suna was thinking that she was going to kill the volleyball team with the same workout she must have just done with the track team.

Kita gave her a high five, an actual high five, and she mimicked a volleyball spike, laughing at Kita’s eye roll.

“Okay listen up, I’m going to put y’all through some actual training. Not any of this jumping around and diving bullcrap, but actual intensive running to build stamina and power.”

They ran. And then they ran again. They drank a little water, and then they ran again. Eventually even the Miya twins and Aran were sitting down on a grass patch picking strands out of the field and sweating so much that they could’ve produced enough liquid for a hydroelectric dam.

She was just stretching, preparing for one more lap. Kita thanked her for the help, and told the team to head back to the gym so they could go over a few plays. All the boys were leaning on each other and dragging their feet as they meandered back to their hideout. Suna wanted to stay though. So he asked Kita if he would just run one more time, and he could get the plays from Atsumu or Osamu the next day. Kita let him, on the condition that Suna wouldn’t try to outrun L/N.

“I’ve tried, it’s not something I can realistically say is possible for me. But I’m all for a good run, make sure you eat a good dinner when you get back to your dorm.” Kita waved him off and Suna snuck his way over to her.

He leaned his head over her shoulder, inspecting what exactly was on her watch, but she turned around before he could see anything.

“Ever heard of hello?” She poked him in the chest lightly. Suna shrugs. She continues speaking when he doesn’t make a move to leave her be, “This is my long run for today, 8 miles. Think you can stay on my pace? I’m not slowing down for you.”

“I’ll manage.”

So they ran, Suna got winded earlier than he thought, around the third mile. So he had to run slightly behind her, still trying to keep up and not get left behind. She talked to him, easily and without losing much steam. She talked mostly about running, Suna listened. At the end of the fourth mile, she paused.

She said something about stretching for a minute or two and then finishing the run and getting back to Inarizaki. He swallowed the gel tube she had offered him, letting the instant energy soak into his body. She did little hops and jumps, lunges and toe touches, Suna just sat down and tried to reset his energy.

He liked her shoulders, her legs, the way she did her hair, he especially liked the way she sweat. It wasn’t a waterfall like Atsumu and Osamu, it was a sheen on her body. The film of sweat coated her, and it made her shine, her face was flushed from the run, but she was still just smiling. Suna could finally care less about the single sun’s brutality, because she was worth a thousand vibrant suns in his eyes.

Screw Vitamin D, he needed Vitamin Her.

He kept up with her on the way back to Inarizaki, though he suspects that she slowed down slightly so he could keep in time and pace with her. Despite him being taller, and having longer legs, with the way she ran it was clear he was no match for her instinctive athleticism when it came to running.

With the stories she told about her failures in a bunch of other sports, and how she came to running in the first place, Suna was surprised. He hid it well, just nodding and trying to keep his breathing deep and long so that he wouldn’t croak like a fool in front of her. She liked to run because it was the only sport where she didn’t need to be good at anything besides breathing.

Her biology teacher, when she was in first year, said that the only thing needed for life is the ability to cellular respirate. To convert energy from sugars and food into ATP, the chemical reaction utilized breathing. Breathing allows the process to flow. Breathing to facilitate the conversion of sugar to ATP. Or something like that, Suna was getting distracted by the way her arm would occasionally brush his as she strode forward.

Getting back to Inarizaki was disappointing for Suna, he wanted to run with her for longer. Just to be with her for longer. Maybe that’s why he asked if she wanted to be in a run club with him. What he had meant to ask was if she wanted to run with him more often, but a run club comment came out before he caught it.

“Run club sounds like a great idea! It would be perfect for intra-athletic cross training, like volleyball did today at the track. I’ll talk to a few more of the other captains, I can be in charge and if you want, you can be second in command?”

“Yeah. I can do that.” He could not do it.

To call it a running club was a tortuous attempt at trying to tone down the reality of what it was. It was a group of boys who liked to watch her run. She knew that, and Suna knew that. She still beat them in every single race. The basketball captain, the tennis captain, even the swim captain came around and tried to beat her. She reigned on top of Inarkizaki’s holy track field. She was who they came to see. She was the shrine that the foxes would pray at.

The coaches saw her outstanding dedication to helping all the kids at Inarizaki, she won a coaches’ award for Most Dedicated Student Athlete. Suna thought it was extremely well earned for her.

Run club died down, and eventually it was just Suna and L/N again, the other boys got tired of just running all the time. Albeit, the sports teams were objectively just a little bit better that year. Running had shaped the teams into stamina beasts, Inarizaki could outlast any other team for the most part.

Suna had begun asking Kita more and more frequently to do running as an alternative to other conditioning routines. Kita agreed every single time. Suna supposed that Kita knew the real reason why he took breaks from training with the team, it was so he could spend more time with her.

Freaking track kids. Always freaking running around thinking they owned the place. Especially Ito Yuuta, freaking Ito always running with freaking Y/N. Even going as far to be freaking duo partners in all the freaking track competitions.

“If you sulk anymore I think your face will stay like that.” Aran then took a picture of Suna sitting on the bleaches with his shoulders hunched into himself and a disgusting scowl on his face.

“I just don’t know why we, as the volleyball team, have to watch the track competition.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re just mad because Ito gets to run with L/N instead of you running with her.” Osamu could suck an egg for all Suna cared.

Atsumu wanted to play a little game with Suna, just to see his reaction. Atsumu was also glad that Kita was with all the other sports captains cheering the runners on.

“I heard from a very reliable source that Ito copped a feel of her thigh before one of the races yesterday, and that he got a kiss from her when he won in his category.” Atsumu told Omimi just loud enough for Suna to hear.

The way Suna spun his head around was almost enough to have Atsumu falling to the ground in delight. Suna stood up and went right down to the field, folding his arms and shifting his weight from side to side.

She came barreling down the track from her race, giving high fives to her friends and hugs to her even closer friends. She had just won another first place prize, which made Suna unbelievably happy, but also he was seething.

Kita had finally caught wind of what was about to occur, and he tried to get down to the track to get Suna away from the track. But one of the adults had stopped him from going down, so Kita and the rest of the team just had to sit back and watch as the horror was about to unfurl.

Ito Yuuta also had just finished his race, giving Y/N a hug and twirling her around, which made her laugh.

Suna snapped.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Ito held up a hand in shock, clearly not understanding what was going on. “Celebrating a win?”

“Bet you’re thinking you’re going to celebrate with more than just a hug.”

She caught on faster than Ito did. She began to tell Suna to get back to the stands.

“So, you’re hiding stuff from me too? Is it because he’s a runner? What does he have that I don’t? I have like four inches on this guy.”

Suna was miserable now, completely distraught. He was only moderately calm when she pulled him away and sat him down on a bench reserved for the track kids.

“Let’s just take a deep breath Rintarou. Look, it's easy.” She inhaled deeply and then let out a breath.

“It’s not fair.” He whined. Suna didn’t think he was capable of whining. He also didn’t think he was capable of being so blindsided by his own jealousy. He dragged his hands down his face and realized he had fallen for bait given to him by Atsumu. He had fallen for a trap set up by a notorious jokester.

Only when Suna saw Ito kissing his boyfriend did Suna really get embarrassed. “I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not, you just acted like one for a few minutes.” She was rubbing his back and he felt even worse, he had acted like a complete child and there he was getting soothed by the same girl he had wanted to fight for.

“Just forget I said anything, I did anything, just forget I even exist please.”

“But you had at least four inches on that guy?” Suna groaned and ducked his head down even further. “That one was actually kinda funny, Rintarou.” She ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it.

She wanted to get one more kick out of the whole situation, “I think you have some kind of teenage hormonal rage going on, but based on Ito’s reactions, I fully believe you won. So, are you gonna celebrate with more than just a hug?”

“Y/N!”

Atsumu had to do 100 diving laps per Kita’s instruction as punishment for causing an embarrassment out of the volleyball team and for pushing Suna to his mental limits.

Suna always liked to lurk around her, even when she was tired of him. Getting asked how you were doing multiple times a day by the same person could in fact grow slightly old. When he got a hold of her number, he had made her number his personal journal.

Everything from complaints to worries were sent to her. One time, in class, she had her headphones in and was solving some problems. Kita, her seatmate, was getting slightly annoyed by all the buzzing from her phone that he just had to check and see what was going on. Kita did not expect to see twenty messages from Suna. So that's what he was doing on his phone during practice.

She did like having him around though, despite his clingy nature. Sometimes he wouldn’t even talk to her, he just wanted to be where she was. She could be in the library doing some research for a class, and he would ask if he could come and work on homework with her. She would be in her dorm folding clothes and he would be sitting at her desk trying to bask in the smell of her room without seeming like a creep.

They were sitting on the field, and the sun had just gone down. She used a flashlight to keep some light around so they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark. She was reading a book, for fun, which made Suna more intrigued. She had a small booklight, attached to the novel, lighting the pages in yellow. She would ask when it was good for her to flip a page, so Suna could read along. He was a slower reader than she was, he remembered that she shared classes with Kita, so obviously she would be smart.

It was a book about a younger guy meeting an older girl, and he was hopelessly in love. How ironic Suna thought. Fate was truly ironic, it loved to play little games on Suna like this. All the time, any chance it got, attempting to make Suna play along with the games at hand.

A few pages of reading together passed before Suna decided to stick her bookmark back into the book, taking it from her before she could complain. He set it aside, using his arm to push it far enough away so that she couldn’t just grab it back.

Sweat was still on their bodies from the run they had finished. But this was far more heart-rate inducing than any run they had ever gone on.

“I think I like you.” Suna used a hand to hold her face, looking right at her.

“That’s nice.” Suna shoved her shoulder, making her fall on her back as she started laughing and slightly rolling from side to side. Suna scoffed, rolling his eyes and falling onto his own back.

“That was and is going to be my only attempt at romance ever. I hope you know that. You’ve crushed any other chance for me being any sort of cute.” Suna mourned the fatality that had just occurred.

She pressed his shoulders down, and leaned over him. Then, she kissed him and ran.

Suna took chase quite quickly, stumbling a little at the shock, but he was racing for more than just training for volleyball. He had to win this race. Suna knew she let him catch up to her. She was spoon-feeding him all the right chances and opportunities, and he ate it all up.

“I need water.” He was holding her over his shoulder, and he was exhausted after running. He walked to the water cooler by the field bleachers.

“Let me down from here, I belong on the ground.” She kicked her feet a little, but he just clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

“You’d be on the ground if you didn’t make my heart sink into my stomach at your response to my confession.”

“I’d really truly not call that a confession. You just said you liked me, which is true for an awful lot of people. I think even Kita-”

He put her back on the ground and covered her mouth with his hand. He raised his eyebrows, just asking her to try that one more time. She raised her hands in surrender.

The rest of the year went by swimmingly (read: runningly). Run club almost every other day, which now featured eating at the dining hall together for the last call meal.

One of his favorite memories from that year was buying running shoes together.

When they went to buy running shoes, it had been a whole day affair. She took her crossbody bag and waited for him at the front of the school gates way too early in the morning. A disastrous nine in the morning meeting time, and on a Saturday too. He was tired only because he had made the unfortunate decision to call Osamu and Atsumu to his dorm that night for both outfit advice and behavior advice.

“I think you should nix the shoe-buying and just make-out the whole day while you’re away from school.” Atsumu ate another chip from the bag that was laying on his stomach, he was lounging on Suna’s bed without a care in the world.

Osamu took the chips and shoved them into the garbage bin. After throwing Atsumu the middle finger, he spoke to Suna, “Just be yourself, you haven’t started calling the pair of you a couple or anything yet, so as far as you know, it’s just a hang-out between friends.”

Suna held up a linen shirt in front of himself, waiting for Osamu’s genuinely constructive assessment. As he did so, Kita walked past the open dorm room and watched as Suna kept switching between the linen shirt and a regular Uniqlo grey shirt.

“She likes boys who wear basic clothes, go with the grey shirt. Linen can be for your first wedding anniversary.” Atsumu howled at Kita’s comment, and Osamu threw a volleyball at Kita through the door, which he caught effortlessly.

The grey shirt was the best decision he made, because their outfits ended up matching. Grey shirts and green cargo pants. She took a photo of them to celebrate a boy actually having fashion taste at their school. She was holding up a peace sign and Suna had his hand on the top of her head.

He didn’t mind that she took her time trying on all the shoes, every new pair she calculated and did little motions in. He just sat on the bench as she kept walking back and forth trying to imagine running in the shoes.

It was either the beige pair or the black and white pair. He was partial to the black and white pair because they looked like his own shoes, both for running and for volleyball. But the beige shoes had an appeal because she looked at them like they were just perfect.

So, he bought her the black and white pair.

They were sitting on the train and he was holding the shoe boxes on his lap, and she was holding her phone in front of the both of them, they were watching a video about volleyball. When he had expressed that his favorite team was EJP Raijin, she picked that as her favorite team too, and they watched all the games together. The video was a highlight reel of some of the best plays done by EJP Raijin.

She was leaning her head on his shoulder, and he thought that this was the best that life could get for him.

The worst was when she and all the third years on his team graduated. He had never been one for goodbyes. Especially since he knew she would still be around the next year going to university in central Hyogo, and she had been talking to her coaches about letting her be an assistant coach for the Inarizaki track and cross country clubs. It was just giving up on his close relationship with her so she could go and do her own thing in college.

Then his birthday rolled around, January 25th. It was cold outside and Suna was throwing his volleyball up into the air as he laid on his back. It had been a year since she had graduated. She visited frequently, but she was always so busy with only doing her job that Suna could only sit aside and pout.

She had never asked him to be her boyfriend, but he supposes that he never asked her to let him be her boyfriend either. He had been in a mood the whole day. He really did just miss being with her. He also missed running. The cold weather had made Atsumu ban everyone from staying outside too long, so no running in the fresh air, only in circles in the gym while Osamu just shouted out things that L/N was probably doing with other boys so Suna wouldn’t stop running from boredom.

Atsumu texted him and told him to come to the track field. So obviously, it had to be some form of a joke. Atsumu never encouraged his players to disobey the rules, especially the ones he made up himself.

Still, Suna put on his heaviest coat and stomped outside.

It was the best birthday present ever.

His favorite person was warming up on the track, stretching out her legs and doing her little hops that drove him crazy. He thinks he never ran faster.

“What are you doing here? Track season doesn’t start for another month?” He held onto her like she would disappear if he let go, playing with her hair and rubbing his freezing nose into her neck.

“It’s your birthday? What kind of friend am I?” She held her hands behind his neck. Somehow her hands were always warm, so the skin on his nape prickled for a second before he realized that he actually wanted her hands all over his exposed face.

“I would hope you’re not a friend at all, especially considering the things I think at night.”

“You murder me in your dreams?”

“You’re so annoying, I could actually just squish you right now.”

“Squish me?” She laughed and he could feel her whole body shake with joy. “And you said you’d never say anything cute ever again.”

They went for a short jog, and Suna realized she had gotten even better at running. They stopped their run at a small convenience store, and she was picking through the hot drink section. Suna just rested his head on his hands that were resting on the length of a shelf, watching her inspect the different cans.

She bought two green teas and threw one to Suna as they sat outside the store, watching the snow begin to fall and make a frosted world the new normal.

“What did you get me as a birthday present?” Suna pushed his knee against hers. Tilting her head, she held up the green tea. “That does not count as my birthday present.”

“Okay, now that I make somewhat grown up money, what is it that my favorite Sunarin wants for his little birthday?” She made an effort to baby talk as corny as she could.

He started at her jaw, pressing small kisses, giving her an out if she wanted, but she just happily sipped her tea. He pushed the can down so he could finally kiss her the way he wanted to all those times he had chickened out.

When he licked her bottom lip, and tried to open her mouth more, she pushed him away, just slightly.

“Woah there buddy.” Suna bit her ear in response, “At least make me your girlfriend geez.”

“Done.”

He just wouldn’t let her break up with him. He committed so hard to that philosophy that she had a ring on her finger to prove it the very next year. It was just the engagement ring he said, he had another one planned for when they would actually get married.

She got even better at running, but her real passions lied in helping others advance their physical skills, which is why Suna got her the athletic trainer position on his team, EJP Raijin. Half so he could see her everyday, and half so that he could get mandated massages from her.

She still made him run though, and he enjoyed it more everyday.

It was a run club, with just the two of them.

8 YEARS LATER...

“Ryohei! Remi! Slow down!” Suna yelled after the twins. She was busy with a new workout for some of his teammates, so he had to take their sons out for a run. He was still trying to teach them how to pace themselves when it came to the longer runs. They were only 6 but they had the energy of firecrackers, at least for the first ten minutes of the run.

He quickly caught up and his kids were both panting and insulting each other.

“I beat you!” Remi put his hands on his hips.

“No way! I touched the tree years before you did!” Ryohei was close to punching the identical copy of himself.

Suna just rubbed his hands on their heads. Turning them around so they could make their way home. On the way back, they stopped at the bookstore so Suna could buy some of the books he remember Y/N had mentioned a few weeks ago. Ryohei was the bookworm out of the two, so he asked for a new book as well. Remi just poked around until he found the video game section and asked if he could get a new game. Suna was weak to resist.

They were dragging their feet and complaining. Suna could feel his eye twitching slightly, before he remembered what was planned for dinner.

“I think mommy’s got udon waiting for us at home.” That put the right amount of pep in their step to get them running again.

Ryohei and Remi were kicking each other under the kotatsu table until Suna pulled them up so they were standing and told them to go get sleep clothes on. Letting Suna kick Y/N instead.

“Stop it.” Suna nudged his knee against her’s. “I mean it, I’ll make you sleep in their room instead of ours.”

Suna shrugged.

“Did you run today?” Suna ate another bite of his food.

“No, I was too busy dealing with your ragamuffins until you got back from practice.” She rested her head on the table, finally enjoying a moment of peace and silence.

“I know just the right workout to make up for missing a run.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Easy there, I can see where our kids get their energy from. Because we both know it’s not me.”

She raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know about that, there’s a few times where you really let loose and went stir crazy. I recall multiple times when I was in college, oh and that time in high school when you chewed out a gay man because you believed Atsumu’s lies.”

Suna scoffed, asking her to let that one go, because Ito just had to tell that story at their wedding reception and his mom still called him about it for a good laugh.

When Suna and Y/N heard a crash in the upstairs bathroom, where their kids were supposed to be brushing their teeth, and then complete silence. They looked at each other and just laughed.

Maybe a run club of four was just a little bit better than a run club of just two.

[techdriveplay]

5 Tips for Preparing for Your First Fun Run

By Ben Lucas, Director of Flow AthleticSo you’ve recently joined a run club and have now been roped into doing your first fun run. Don’t worry, we’ve got you. Here are Ben Lucas’s top tips to get you ready and trust us, he knows what he’s talking about. Ben turned to running after he retired from Rugby League, and he has since completed 40 marathons before he turned 40. He has also just launched…

[kayandthegoldendays]

Oh it’s my favorite era ever. I feel so lucky to run. And I’ve kept it quiet mainly out of slight fear (the body truly keeps score) but I’ve been racing and I’ll likely (knock on wood 🧿) qualify for NYC Marathon.

It feels so different from last time I tried, this time I have a run club, my community and life look so different. I feel well surrounded and I just…feel really really grateful for how things turned out.

it’s peak racing season, and I have the world’s craziest calendar coupled with all my spring/summer babies but I feel capable.

today I replaced my sneakers, I logged 300 miles since November 😅 and quickly felt my shins telling me it’s time to replace! It wasn’t until I reached the run shop in my neighborhood that I realized my shoes were absolutely worn down.

anyways, here’s to this body. it’s done some pretty incredible things in the last three years and I’m so so so so grateful to be living inside of it.

P.s I cannot wait to run on the beach….in less than two days OMG

[victoriajacks]

run club views

[science-lings]

my dad saw ao3 open on my computer and asked if that was like my writing club and just so you know that's what fanfic writers are now, we're all in the same writing club where we all write about the same media and show each other our little stories and that's kind of cool actually

[runcoachmike]

Annual ice cream run with my awesome running club @raritanvalleyroadrunners here in central New Jersey. 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🍦👍

[dareduffie]

when will people learn that live-action remakes will never be good as their original animated counterparts because the glory of animation is the colour, movement, and fantasy that's just untranslateable to live-action

[theartsharki]

Let’s hope his bark is worse than his bite.

Drew some werewolf Richie and enjoyed every second of it.

[ace-lost-in-motherfucking-art]

certified boogeymen

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

oh hey! i was reading a fic the other day where Wangji was once misspelled as Wangu. which leads me to: MDZS Pingu-style??? noot noot!

Do you think love can bloom on the sea ice?

[stealyourmeal]

"why would anyone confuse you with me?"

@strawbrygashez

[tomasweetheart]

“...I’m sorry,” he comments simpy after a few long beats of silence, he still isn’t looking at you, “I do not have it in me…to talk about how I feel right now.”

It’s hard for him, being in a relationship, especially one this serious. One this vulnerable. He wishes it wasn’t, it seems to come so easy to you.

But you just don’t get it, he doesn’t think so at least.

His entire childhood was one filled with a very verbally imposing father. One who insisted he keep his mouth shut, talking or screaming over him whenever he tried to voice how he felt. A simple dismissive wave sent towards him for feeling any type of way. 

And he knows you, he knows you wouldn’t do that. He knows he’s safe in your arms, he knows his heart is protected by you and your hands alone, and the last thing you would do would be to crush it between your calloused palms at one disagreement. 

But the thought that you could, the simple idea that you could dismiss him just as quickly, makes him feel like that little boy with thick tears in his eyes as he begs to be heard again. And he won’t risk that.

He expects you to get upset, he expects you to sigh heavily and storm out at his refusal. 

But you don’t

“Okay,” you respond simply in your soft tone, offering him an understanding nod, “I understand, we don’t have to talk. But I’m here when you’re ready, if you are eventually.”

He doesn’t respond, he’s baffled only slightly. He pauses again before he nods, swallowing thickly as he finally meets your gaze.

Sincere, understanding, loving. 

His eyes mist over, and it’s not long before his arms are wrapped around your waist. His head burrows itself into the crook of your neck while the hot tears stream down his face slowly, and the feeling he gets when you hold him in return instead of pushing him away is indescribable. It feels like home.

URAMICHI (he was the main inspo), osamu, ushijima, daichi, cherry, ikuya, kakeru, leona

[headmaster-merle-ambrose]

I shed a tear for my fallen friends.

[kr-210-r2700-prime]

good morning i have been working on this for longer than i’d like to admit

[sp0o0kylights]

Adopt a Jock Part 1 

Part 2 

Part 4

Shoutout to @bloomingconflagration for the title!!! And a HUGE thank you to everyone who left comments or gave suggestions!! I love you all you amazing, silly humans <3 <3 

There comes a time during a long work shift were your average overworked and underpaid employee starts to think they’re hallucinating. 

In Gareth’s case, it was when Steve Harrington walked through the doors of Palace Arcade, making a beeline right for him. 

“Gareth?” Steve asked, like he was the one out of place. “What are you doing here?” 

As if people just randomly stood behind the counter of retail and entertainment spaces with a nametag on. 

You know, for fun.

With a great deal of restraint, Gareth managed to hold the sass back, instead opting for a far more polite; ‘I work here, Harrington. What are you doing here?” 

Because no matter how much Hellfire had adopted Steve into its fold, Gareth could just not see the guy choosing to spend his free time at the local arcade. 

Not of his own free will, anyway. 

“Pick up duty.” Steve said, proving him right not even a second later. 

“Of what?” Gareth asked, puzzled, right before Steve’s name was shouted in stereo.

A miniature stampede took place as several children proceeded to swarm him like oversized puppies, most of them trying to talk at once. 

“One at a time, we talked about this!” Steve barked, loud enough to be heard over the commotion. “You’re giving me and Gareth here a headache!” 

He waved his hands in a “calm down” gesture, shaking his head and looking at Gareth in exasperation. “Probably giving the people in the video store next door one too, lord.”  

“Wait.” A curly-haired kid said, looking between the two older teens like he was watching the laws of the universe rewrite themselves in front of him. “You know Gary? How?”

“We are not close enough for you to call me Gary.” Gareth said dryly, for what felt like the fifteenth time that day. 

This was a regular battle between him and the kids who haunted the arcade.

(One had overheard Grant call him Gary the last time he was in, and ever since, every single child that graced this fine establishment with Cheeto-dusted fingers and candy-induced sugar rushes had decided to replace his actual name with his nickname.

The fact it clearly frustrated him only egged them on. )

“We go to school together Dustin,” Steve said, as if he were talking to someone particularly dense. 

“Yeah? You go to school with lots of people. You bitch about most of them.” Dustin fired back.”Plus Gary’s a total nerd. I bet you call him names.” 

"Hey, language!" 

Gareth’s eyes narrowed as he glared down at the little fucker. He was definitely going to remember Dustin (and equally going to watch and see what arcade games the younger teen played-- and top the score chart of every single fucking one.

He might be a nerd but he wasn’t gonna take that shit from a middle schooler.) 

“Hate to break it to you brats, but your babysitter here just joined our D&D club.” Gareth replied, if only to finally one-up the little bastards. “Our DM is building him a character as we speak.” 

(Which wasn't even a lie. Eddie was building a character for Steve. The guy just refused to give any input on grounds that he "wasn't going to play anyways." )

Abrupt and sudden silence, as several stunned faces stared at him. 

“Oh goddammit.” Harrington cursed, as the entire herd of children turned on him in unison like some kind of hivemind horror monster. 

“You joined the D&D club,” Dustin said slowly, outraged. “And you let them make you a character sheet, but you won’t play with us!?” 

“What the hell Steve!” The sporty-looking one whined, clearly hurt. “You won’t sit in on our games! You said they were lame!” 

“They are lame.” Steve defended immediately, pushing at sporty-kids head. It was fond though, the kind of gentle shove an elder brother gave to a younger one. It caused the kid's camo banana to fall into his eyes, which he adjusted quickly with a grumble. “Turns out the high school version’s cooler.” 

“He’s lying.” That from the bitchy one, whose arms were crossed over his chest, a glare on his face. “Steve probably paid Gary to say that” 

Gareth had seen that exact same stance on Steve at lunch that day, and wondered if the little asshole knew who he was copying when he did it. 

“Who cares about D&D?” This from the redhead, standing with another girl giggling in her ear. “I’m just amazed Steve has friends.” 

“Really Mayfield?” Steve said, looking almost betrayed. As if he thought she was going to be the one to defend him in this weird little showdown.

The girl leaning on her giggled harder, making Mayfield grin (even if she tried to hide it.)  She whispered something, which the redhead outright laughed at before repeating; “Adult friends even!” 

“Okay.” Steve said, clearly cutting the kids off before they could embarrass him further. “Thank you, unwanted peanut gallery, for all of that lovely commentary. Now go back to playing the games you little shits robbed me of all my quarters for, or we’re leaving.” 

Henderson’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were here to pick us up?” 

“Oh I’m sorry, did Jonathan magically appear behind me in the last five seconds?” Steve turned around pretending to search the parking lot through the windows. “No? Then I guess we’re still waiting. Unless you, Lucas and Max want to leave first.” 

“You’re such an ass.” Dustin huffed, rolling his eyes. “Why aren’t you waiting in the car anyway?” 

“It’s raining, it’s cold, and I thought I’d come in to say hi to my friend.” Steve replied, so quickly it took Gareth a moment to realize what Steve referred to him as. 

He'd gotten the friend title before Eddie. 

His best friend was going to fucking freak. 

“Are you done drilling me or are you going to let Max kick your ass at DigDug again?” 

“Shit!” Henderson cursed, spinning to intercept the redhead as she bent to put a coin in said arcade machine. “Max, you said you’d let me keep my leaderboard score today! Max!” 

“I know you said you watched kids, but this wasn’t exactly what I was imagining.” Gareth said, slumping against the counter.  

(He'd been thinking of Steve watching much younger kids for one, and two, he was starting to get the idea the babysitter thing was used as an insult. 

Gareth knew a big brother vibe when he saw it.) 

Steve gave him a tired look. “Me neither man. Me neither.”

 Then; “You fucking owe me for that D&D comment, they’re never going to shut up about it now.”

Gareth winced. “Sorry. I was trying to help.” 

Steve blew out a breath. “I know. I appreciate the attempt.” 

Which was better than Steve bitching at him for it, not that he’d really ever done that to Gareth. 

The two of them hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to be playful like that with each other, though they had occasionally jumped in on opposing sides to arguments Eddie caused. Gareth figured they’d get there in time, but even with all the progress Steve made, he still had more off days than on. 

It was a fragile line to walk with him. Especially when there wasn’t a single member of Hellfire who wanted to ruin the progress they made. 

(Even if half of them would never admit to it.) 

“Steve?” A voice interrupted, quiet in a way that contrasted directly with how loud the rest of the brat pack was. 

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand as if to starve off a headache. 

“Yes, Baby Byers?” He asked after a long, painful pause, turning to look at the saddest looking kid in the bunch. 

“Is there actually a D&D club at the high school?” 

The kid looked at Steve like he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to hear the answer, but was hopeful for the outcome he wanted anyway. 

It was the kind of thing that pulled even on Gareth’s heartstrings, and he was almost immune to anything involving giant, sad eyes after a solid year of working at the arcade. 

(Never mind Eddie’s own puppy dog looks.)

Steve’s voice gentled, in a way Gareth had never quite heard him use before. “There is. You’d love it, it’s called Hellfire. I’m sure it’ll still be there next year when you come in as a freshman.” 

He nudged him with his shoulder playfully, smiling when the younger boy perked up. “If you’re nice, Garebear here might even put in a good word for you.” 

“Garebear?” Max repeated with a burst of laughter, appearing behind Steve like a fucking ghost. “Oh my god.” 

“No.” Gareth said, bolting upright from his slouch as he stared at her in horror. “Do not call me that.” 

“Sure thing, Garebear.” She outright cackled, as Steve sent him a wide-eyed, apologetic face. 

“What did you just call Gary?” The sporty one--Lucas, asked, a wide grin overtaking his face. 

“I swear to God.” Gareth threatened, as Steve took another dramatic look over his shoulder. 

“Hey look Jonathan’s here!” He yelled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as he started quickly walking backwards. “Come on, dipshits, we're leaving!” 

“Bye Garebear!” Lucas and Max sang together, following after him. 

“Harrington!” Gareth howled, as Steve mouthed ‘Sorry’ over his shoulder, all but bolting out the door. 

“I like Garebear a lot better than Gary.” Another, random child informed him with a grin as he sauntered past, arcade tickets in hand. 

Steve Harrington, Gareth decided, was a dead man. 

Not even Eddie’s fucking crush on the guy could save him now. 

xXx

“Did you know Harrington has a literal pack of kids he watches?” Gareth asked a few hours later, messing with his drum kit as he set up for band practice. "He even drives them around." 

More than that though--he’d seemed almost normal around them. That was the most Gareth had seen the guy banter or act relaxed since Eddie had dragged him over. 

“He’s mentioned it multiple times.” Grant replied, tuning his bass. “You have ears Gareth, use them.” 

“Gareth? Listen?” Jeff teased as he dragged an amp into the garage. “I don’t think I’ll live to see the day.” 

"Oh screw you guys.” Gareth growled, winging a drumstick toward his friends for the insult.

Grant, long used to Gareth's tantrums (and Eddie's dramatics)  didn't look up from his bass.

Not even when the drumstick hit the wall with a bang!-- allll the way near the opposite end of the couch, entirely opposite of either him or Jeff. 

"As usual, your aim is dead on." Jeff appraised sarcastically. 

"Like I'd ever actually hit you." Gareth grumbled with a pout. "I was gonna say the kids are older than I expected."

He reached down, blindly fishing for another drumstick from the bucket of them next to his kit. 

He came up empty. 

"Hey Grantman." Gareth asked, tone changing to something mildly embarrassed. "Could I uh, could I get the drumstick back?" 

He got a flat stare back. "No." 

"What did I do to get stuck with such dramatic friends?" Jeff joked as he began moving all the amps he’d pulled in back into their usual places. 

They hadn't had time to unload anything other than the drums after their last show and the regret was real. 

"Eddie’s been standing on tables since seventh grade, you knew what you were getting into." Gareth fired back, making grabby hands for his drumstick. 

"And you never grew out of being that dorky middle schooler who snuck into Hellfire games and screamed we were all going to die every time anyone made a bad play." Jeff shot back. "Yet here I am, once again wondering if I should just permanently confiscate Eddie's snacks, your drumsticks, and now Harrington's fricken spatula." 

"One year. I am one year younger than you and you act like it's an entire century!" Gareth muttered, as Grant relented and leaned over to fetch said drumstick. 

"We all know Eddie chucks food at people, but what'd Steve do with a spatula?"  Grant asked as he tossed it back to Gareth.

He missed and nearly took out a cymbal in the process. 

"He had a snit while we were making chocolate roulade cause it wouldn’t roll right. Flung the spatula around so much it splattered whip cream on his ceiling." Jeff shook his head as he finished hooking an amp up to his guitar. "I had to rescue it from him." 

"His ceiling?" Gareth said in disbelief. "Wait, you were in Harrington’s kitchen?" 

"Yeah?" Jeff looked up to find his friends staring at him. 

Grant blinked. "The fuck?" 

“Can we just play?” Jeff complained, just as embarrassed as Gareth had been.

“No.” Gareth said, retrieved drumstick nearly falling from his hands in shock. “You don’t get to casually drop that you went to Harrington’s house to help him bake and then try to get us to play right after!” 

Jeff, who had done exactly that, blushed, skin darkening as he fiddled with his guitar.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” He said finally with a shrug, as if this was something he did all the time and not the groundbreaking revelation that it was.

“Did you meet his parents?” Grant said, sitting up from the couch. “What did his house look like?”

Jeff finally gave up the pretense of playing his instrument.

“I didn't, and it was kinda sad, actually.” He said, as if he didn’t live for this kind of shit. 

Gareth knew better than anyone how much of a fricken gossip Jeff could be. 

“His house was enormous. I only saw the first floor, and his kitchen is huge.” He set his hands apart at a good distance, showcasing just how large “huge” was, before continuing. 

“But it was weird. It was like a model home. No pictures on the walls, no art, no personality to the place at all.” 

“What are we talking about?” Eddie asked, finally returning to Gareth’s garage from where he’d been gathering up all the wires they’d thrown haphazardly into his van. 

“Jeff went to Harrington’s house.” Grant and Gareth tattled as one. 

“To help bake stuff for this Friday!” Jeff defended, the blush creeping back onto his face. “I was curious about his chocolate roulade recipe and he invited me over!” 

“When was this?” Eddie asked, staring at Jeff like he’d grown a second head. 

Or more likely, Gareth knew, in jealousy. But he wasn’t going to call Eddie out on that just yet. 

“Yesterday. We got to talking about it in the parking lot after school.” Jeff said with an embarrassed shrug. “He said he wasn’t the best at explaining how to do things and that he’d rather show me instead.” 

“Kinky.” Grant deadpanned, making Jeff sputter. 

“You sure you didn’t see his bedroom, Jeff? It’s okay if you fell for the ‘wanna see my music collection’ line. We won’t judge you.” Gareth waggled his eyebrows, ducking with a laugh when Jeff went to whack him. 

“Shut up, we just made the chocolate roulade!” Jeff’s ears were red now, and huh, maybe Eddie wasn’t the only person with a crush.  

“Guys.” Eddie reprimanded, tone warning. 

“Sorry Eds, you know we don’t mean it.” Gareth soothed. Of course, his best friend's anger was less about the gay comments or Steve’s reputation as Hawkin’s man whore than it was about Steve fucking Jeff (and not Eddie) but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated if he pointed that out either. 

Eddie didn’t respond, eyes already back on Jeff. "Details, Jeffery, give us the details!"  

He dropped onto the couch, flapping his hands at Jeff in his version of a "sit down" gesture. 

Jeff sighed, but repeated what he'd just said for Eddie as he took a seat on the edge of an amp, placing his guitar down gently. 

 "I think Wayne was right. I don't think anyone else lives there but Steve. Not full-time anyway." He finished. 

Which sounded like the best fucking thing ever until Gareth thought about it for more than two seconds. 

Tried to imagine what his life would be like if his parents and siblings were gone. Not for a day, or even a weekend, but always. 

How silent his normally loud house would be. 

Thought instantly that he'd be inviting Eddie, his friends, and hell, l even Wayne, over as often as they could handle. 

"The way he looked when I showed up, and how quiet he got when I left I just…" Jeff fiddled with his guitar’s strap. "I think he's lonely." 

The four of them sat in silence for a long moment as they digested that. 

“Hargrove kicked his ass right? And Byers?” Grant said finally, breaking the silence ad he stared up at the ceiling. 

“Old news.” Eddie replied absently, jiggling his leg.

“You think his parents were around for that?” Grant continued, slowly.

No one answered outside of Eddie's leg loudly jiggling faster. 

 "Did you see the kids hug him or anything?"

"They're like thirteen. I seriously doubt they're pestering Steve for hugs." Gareth answered flatly.  

 "So he got his ass kicked, his parents are gone, he was supposed involved in that whole has leak thing…" Grant trailed off with an air of someone who expected the end of his sentence to be obvious. 

“You’re doing that thing again where you think what you’re saying is obvious and its fucking not.” Eddie grumped. "Just spit it out." 

His friend's head finally tipped back down from the ceiling, to face the rest of them. “Maybe the flinching is because no one ever touches him anymore unless it’s to kick his ass.” 

“Oh.” Eddie blinked, body going rigid. “Oh shit.” 

“That…would make sense. A lot of sense.” Jeff said slowly. 

Grant put on a face that read “Duh” loud and clear. 

“So what do we do about it?" Gareth asked after a moment. 

"Touch him, obviously." Grant replied, like he couldn't believe the drummer was even asking.

Gareth and Eddie shared a look while Eddie rolled his eyes.  

"The guy almost fell down the stairs last time I tried that." Gareth pointed out. 

Never mind any other time Steve got weird over the lightest of touches. Eddie couldn't even clap the guy on the shoulder without getting major side-eye. 

"No."  Eddie cut in, sitting up suddenly. His eyes had gone bright, "We're going to trick him into it." 

"We're going to trick Harrington into being okay with, what? Shoulder pats?"  Gareth echoed, like Eddie might hear himself if his words were repeated back to him. “You realize how stupid that sounds right?" 

"Shut up, listen. It's like getting a stray to trust you. You just gotta be calm and so obvious about it that they get confused and let it happen." Eddie had begun practically vibrating, causing his friends to trade uneasy glances. 

They knew that look. Eddie only got it when he thought up a plan that was going to cause problems. 

"Eddie, that makes zero sense." Jeff told him.

Gareth just shook his head, because only Eddie Munson could compare Hawkins golden boy with a fucking stray animal. 

Even if the guy kinda acted like one sometimes. 

"I just need an opening." Eddie continued, the little hamster wheel spinning in his head so fast the rest of the band could almost hear it. 

If Gareth had been told two months ago he was going to be sitting in his garage, discussing the best way to acclimate Steve Harrington to casual touch, he’d have actually smacked whatever idiot dared spew such nonsense with his drumsticks. 

"I did tell tell the kids today you were making him a D&D character." He said, before his best friend could truly go off on some half cocked plot. 

Eddie lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Gary, I could kiss you."

Gareth made a face. "Please don't."

He clapped hard before springing to his feet. "Huddle up boys, I've got a plan." 

"God help us all." Jeff muttered. 

(He huddled up anyway, any thoughts of playing guitar that night fully forgotten.) 

Bonus: 

"Why don't you just get high and watch a movie with Steve? You're a fucking cling-on when you're high." Gareth complained the next morning, when Eddie swung by to pick him up for school. 

Mostly because the plan Eddie had come up with was ridiculous.

 Eddie took both hands off the wheel, pressing them against his chest in mock offense while he stared at Gareth and not at the street. “That would be taking advantage of him and I, as a gentleman, would never." He gasped, dramatically. 

In his normal voice, he added: "Plus it doesn't count." 

“Eyes on the road!” Gareth yelped, swatting an arm. “And you know I didn’t mean it like that. People relax more when they're high and maybe Steve needs something like that as an excuse to allow it. Hell he doesn’t even need to be high, just you.”

Which Gareth personally thought was a very insightful thing to say, so of course he had to ruin it with; “or whatever.” 

"Do you recall how you kissed Jeff on the cheek when you were high and then spent the entire next month swearing up and down that you weren't attracted to men last summer?" 

"That was different. I was discovering myself." 

Eddie outright cackled. "Discovering yourself? What self help book did you pick that gem out of?"

"I was quoting you, you moron!" Gareth sputtered. 

"If I said anything like that then I was definitely high and it just proves my point. Steve would just be uncomfortable."Eddie stuck his tongue out. "So there." 

"Fine." Gareth sighed. "If we ever get high with Harrington, I'll sit in his lap."

Eddie's eye twitched. "No you will not."

Thrilled to have something to tease the elder metalhead about, a smile graced Gareth's face. "In fact, I'm calling dibs." 

"You can't call dibs on a lap! And besides, you don't even like him like that!" 

"So?" Gareth retorted. "It's a nice lap, looks comfortable. You don't want it, so I'll take it."

Eddie grit his teeth, grasping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white. 

"I know what you're doing Gary. This is some bullshit reverse psychology shit and I will not be falling for it." 

"Oh contraire, this is sibling bullshit, Munson. You want it, so I want it." Gareth crossed his arms and looked at Eddie smugly. "And unless you do something about it, I'm getting it." 

"I hate you." 

Gareth grinned, delighted. "I know."