#She LOVES him too she gets so excited when she realizes she's going to Grandpa House

[zepskies]

@lamentationsofalonelypotato

The angst was so real (in the best way)! 😭

She does, she's just afraid to admit it to herself and afraid to have those feelings for someone who doesn't love her back. And it really makes you want to hit her over the head with a frying pan LOL. And thank you! That's how I intended it to be, which is even more heartbreaking 😭

It does make sense, poor thing. 😭 She's so unwilling to believe he could love her the way she wants/needs, while he's hesitating to allow himself to do it. And I'm thinking he's fighting off some self-doubt/self-worth issues as well?

I love this journey of self-discovery for her, both with her brother and past, and with her expanding powers. It's pique Hero's Journey stuff! 💚

Plus, I really think that the creature is adorable, well, besides the murder tendencies. (I guess we could also say that about Ben LMAO)

LMAO factssss. Who could say no to that adorably confused grandpa face?

The reader is killing me tbh. I know I've said this before, but writing slow burn is literally almost as bad as reading it. Don't get me wrong I LOVE slow burn, but oh my stars sometimes it's so frustrating for them to both be in so much denial lol. I shouldn't complain because I did this to myself and now it really is "oh look the consequences of my own actions" lol.

LOLL the slow burn is a killer for both of us! "The consequences of our own actions" is so deeply relatable for the writing process. 🤣🤣

Thank you so much!💗 For me there really is something wonderful about reading/seeing creative chaos in a home, and also looking at creative spaces that people have. I think that there is warmth and comfort in a home that looks lived in. It's why I don't love minimalism, because it looks cold if that makes sense lol.

Aw you're welcome! I totally agree. I love seeing that as well -- it's like getting a window into a person's mind through their living space. I don't like minimalism for that reason either!

Again, I was so on the fence about Soothsayer, but what you said about her being in "an even better position to give her advice when it comes to that man" is exactly why I decided to include her.

Honestly it was a great twist! It makes her friendship with Ben more fleshed out and her own past, and how it serves to help the reader now. Especially now that it seems she's going to help get the reader and Ben together! 😂

I know 😭 She is going to realize it soon and I am so excited about that reveal. Oh plus I do think that she does know deep down that she does love him and care about him, but she's afraid to admit it because she doesn't want to fall for someone who she believes doesn't value relationships like she does.

God I can't wait!! lol And I totally get that. She really does seem to realize how deep her feelings run for him, but she's afraid, for the reasons you said. 🥲🥲

Mayyyybbbbeeeee...😉 Honestly, as much as I love reading fics where the reader isn't a supe, there's always a little part of me that can't help but see the reader growing old and Ben staying the same, and it always breaks my heart. There really is something so intimate and romantic about being able to truly spend your life with someone else, not just your life and then they go on for another few centuries.

Ooooh yesssss. 😏 And totally agree with you there! It's too bittersweet for me when you know one of them is going to die someday and the other keeps living on, carrying the weight of their memory. It's why I had to come up with that twist in BMD loll. Thank you for noting on that! It took some head scratching and BS science (and some inspo from my love of Smallville), but I think the reasoning was convincing enough on how the reader in BMD "caught up" with his longevity of life. 😂 I also love the idea of the plants giving her healing abilities and prolonging her life through that cell regeneration. 💚💚

It's my favorite line too! That and the bundt cake 😂. But you're right, he's afraid of everything that he's feeling and after Countess, he's not sure if he should fall for someone again.

Can't forget the bundt cake!!

Oh yeah, Countess sure fucked him up. 😬 That, along with the torture and years of being treated like a god in all other respects. 🫠

Oh Ben, he'll get there. He just needs some actual love in his life, and someone stubborn enough to not only put up with his shit, but like you said, "take a chance" on him. 😉

It's always my pleasure to read your stories, hun! Giving the feedback is the least I can do. 💕

Chapter 14: Don't Be A Bundt Cake

Pairing: Soldier Boy x f!reader, Reader POV, Soldier Boy POV

Summary:  When you decided to work with Butcher and his merry band of supe hunters to take down Homelander, you never expected to be saddled with a sullen, grumpy, jerk like Soldier Boy when the job was done. The more you're around him the more you hate him, but you can't help but wonder, is he really as big a jerk as you think? Reader is a supe with plant powers. This takes place in an AU about a month after the end of The Boys Season 3, in which Butcher has let Soldier Boy continue to work with him on his team.  (I'm real bad at summaries, please forgive me!)

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers (Not in this chapter), Slow Burn, Age Difference (Reader is in her 20s), Soft Ben/ Soldier Boy, Protective Ben/Soldier Boy, Miscommunication Trope

Word Count: 13.1K

Warnings: I'm going to label this 18+ because Soldier Boy (he's a warning and everyone knows it), Swearing, Mentions of Sex, Sexual Innuendo, Talks of Death, DENIAL, Idiots in Love, Pining by the Reader (and SB, but he won't admit it) Depressing Thoughts, Mentions of sexual assault/rape (not detailed at all, really just in passing) Talks about weed, Sexist comments, Ben makes derogatory comments, Threatening Ben/Soldier Boy might be a little bit OOC.

Note: This is told from Reader's perspective. Any references to the reader is made using you or your. There is minimal use of y/n. I tried my best to proofread, but nobody's perfect. If you don’t like, don’t read, but if you do like, you’re my favorite!

Internal monologue is in italics and is in first person.

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

A/N: I am so sorry this one took me a bit longer. The writers block was fighting me the whole way, but we are very closely nearing the end of this series and the moment the reader and Ben stop being so stinkin' stubborn.

Reader POV

You lean your forehead against the cool window, watching the world flash by in a flurry of color. The wooded forests had vanished hours ago and all that was left were the yellowed sprawling fields of corn and grain and family farms that were laid sporadically along the interstate. Each one a little world that caught the flecks of golden sunlight as the sun began to peak above the horizon.

The bus rolled smooth and steady over the weathered pavement towards it's destination and was filled with an odd assortment of people young and old. There was man with a brightly colored parrot that had been singing "It's A Small World After All" since you left NYC, a woman with a little boy playing with an iPad and who refused to turn down the volume no matter how many times his mother asked him to, a group of teenagers a few seats up that continued to pass around a flask, and due to how far back you were sitting on the bus an uncomfortable smell emanated from the bathroom each time the door was opened.

But you didn't notice any of it.

The only thing on your mind were the events that happened almost twenty hours ago. They continued to circle your mind, playing over and over again like a perverted cassette tape making you sink further into the worn cloth covered seat at the back of the bus. The images were haunting, some new and some old, but all the more still horrible to re-live.

The song "Nights In White Satin" floating into the backseat of your family's car, the flash of unnatural light you knew was never lightning, the caskets at your parent's funeral covered in flowers that were much to pretty to lay on something so morbid, Elijah's body succumbing to the poppies that ripped him apart, the proud sneer on your brother's face when he admitted to killing your parents, Darren's broken and bloodied body strewn in pieces over the street with the creature standing over him with a dripping red maw, the ruined building that housed "Please Don't Die" reduced to nothing more than rubble, and the look on Ben's face when you turned your back on him and fled the scene.

For some reason that particular image seemed to cling on to you and refused to fade. You'd never seen him look that way, almost… helpless and a little fearful. In all the time you'd known him, Ben had never looked at you that way. Sure you'd seen him proud, angry, cocky, lustful, mischievous, but never fearful. And you were sure that it wasn't an emotion that he was used to feeling, but that begged the question… why?

Why was he looking at me like that? Why wouldn't he let me go? And what was he afraid of?

The creature curled in your lap snorts something in it's sleep, turning it’s head further into the cradle of your elbow to shut out the brilliant early morning sunlight. It was now the size of a toaster and had warranted several odd looks whenever you got off to change buses, but you didn't care.

You weren't sure about anything anymore. Everything your brother confessed to you made you feel like you were living a lie and the revelation of exactly what your powers could do- take life from plants to heal yourself, create whatever the hell it was on your lap, and speak to plants… it scared you.

You thought for so long that you knew everything about your powers, that you were in control, but now you weren't sure.

You felt different, as if something had unlocked deep down that you couldn't shut up again.

You'd felt different after you killed Elijah, but this was more alive, weaving and twisting in the pit of your stomach. You felt more connected to the earth, to the world outside the bus even though you were divided by glass and metal. You could feel the energy that thrummed through the body of the creature on your lap, bending to your will, the life force of the plants it was formed from molding with you, becoming a part of you.

You felt so different than the person you had been before Darren entered the shop, so uncertain, and there was only one place you wanted to be when you felt like this… home. You couldn't wait to run up the worn front steps of your grandmother's house and into her arms. She always knew what to say in times like this.

And you desperately needed the comfort of her embrace.

The phone in your pocket buzzes again and you flip the screen to see the ridiculous selfie Annie and you had taken on Halloween last year. The one that you'd both spent dressed up as the two brothers from your favorite paranormal tv show. It wasn't the first time she'd called. Annie had called and texted you more times than you could count over the past twenty hours but you didn't answer her. You didn’t want to.

It was the first time that you didn't want to talk to her, but talking to her meant that you'd have to re-live all of it again and you were clawing at the last shred of sanity you had left to keep it together.

The overwhelming waves of emotion kept pummeling you, dragging you deeper beneath the white surf. Each one brought the memories of what happened surging over you and were followed by everything that Darren said to you. Years of taking care of Darren and doing whatever he wished were tearing at your soul, years of giving up little things in your life to make him happy, and years of taking care of a man who you thought cared about you, but hated you enough to kill your parents and try to kill you too.

It made your skin crawl. Each time your brother told you that he loved you was an even bigger lie and now that you knew the truth and saw him for what he was, it felt like you were drowning. The darkness that ebbed just on the edge was begging you to leap into the abyss, but you were resisting the best you could.

The tears had stopped falling miles ago, but you couldn't stop the memories or the emotion that formed a cold ball in the pit of your stomach.

A sigh works it's way up and you pull your legs on the seat underneath you, jostling the creature on your lap that raises it's head for a moment to blink it's black eyes at you sleepily.

It was surprisingly docile right now, especially considering that twenty hours ago it had ripped your brother to shreds. In fact it seemed to understand how upset you were and had spent the better part of the last twenty hours rubbing it's head against your arm as if trying to bring you some comfort. It was settled on your lap, the weight of it a comfort, almost like a weighted plushy that gave you something to focus on.

"It's alright buddy." You whisper, scratching him under his chin. "We're almost home."

The phone in your jacket pocket buzzes again, but when you pull it out to turn it off, you catch a glimpse of the screen, and you hesitate. Because this time it's not Annie who's calling, it’s Ben.

The picture that flashes on the screen under the contact name "Gramps" is the picture of Mr. Fredrickson from Up. It always made you smile whenever he called you and you saw the picture because Ben did often remind you of him. He was certainly just as grumpy as Mr. Fredrickson and just as out of touch, but you thought it was cute.

Your thumb hovers over the answer button and you think about talking to him.

But what would I say?

You weren't sure what to say to him, or why you wanted to speak to him so badly, why you wanted him to be sitting here on the bus with you as you went home, and why you wanted him to hold you against his chest while you allowed yourself to break, but you did. You wanted to feel his awkward shoulder pat and his awkward version of hand holding and you wanted to hear him try to tell you to "buck up" or whatever he thought that a comforting word should be.

He's really not the best at that.

You smile to yourself at the memory of how he tried to comfort you back at the hospital, but the longer you sit there and look down at the picture on the screen the worse you feel.

Maybe that scared you more than your newfound powers, how much you were realizing that you needed him, how much you depended on him when things got too much for you to bear. The memory of him appearing as soon as you needed him back at the shop, another of him grabbing Darren and throwing him into the street as soon as Darren insulted you comes in a flash, and finally followed by the memory of Ben carrying you out of Elijah's office while you curled into his chest. You couldn't remember too much from that moment, in fact you'd thought that Ben had kissed you on top of your head, but you ascribed that to the haze of pain you'd been in from your broken arm.

What you did remember was how wonderfully warm he was after you'd been trapped in that damn freezer and how nice it felt to be in his arms. Another memory of Ben sleeping on the couch at the hospital bubbles up and you feel something in your chest begin to crack open. And you try your best to tell yourself the same thing that you always do when you feel like Ben might care more about you that he was letting on.

Ben doesn't want that. He's made it perfectly clear. He doesn't want a relationship. He's only wants one night, that's why he goes out with all those women-

You hesitate, thumb still hovering over the answer button as you do, the memory of the week you'd spent at the apartment with him flickering in the back of your mind. The week where he refused to leave you alone in the apartment, where he refused to do any jobs for Butcher, where he took care of you the best way he could, when he sat with you on the couch and made you laugh with his ridiculous movies, and the week where he hadn't had one date.

Your finger itched to answer the phone, but you couldn't, because you didn't want to feel this way about Ben, not when he'd told you countless times that you kept romanticizing him, not when he told you that he didn't want a relationship, and not when you could feel yourself beginning to fall for someone you thought was the wrong man.

For just a moment you tried to pretend that it was different, that he was different, but you didn't want to. It only made it hurt more.

The phone stops ringing, but the pit in your stomach still gapes open at you and for the first time in twenty hours you feel tears begin to fall. You didn't know why you were crying about this, why the thought of not picking up Ben's phone call seemed to hurt more than everything that had happened, but something made it hurt.

The bus driver announces over the overhead that you're reaching your final destination as he takes the exit for your hometown. The familiar buildings that line the streets are sheathed in a honeyed glow from the sun, the long shadow of the bus darkening them momentarily as it rumbles down the small streets to the bus station.

When it rumbles to a stop at the bus station you wait for everyone else to get off, trying to summon the strength to stand, and swipe the back of your hand across your face to rid yourself of the remaining tears.

The bus station was about a thirty minute walk from your grandmother's house, and you still hadn't called her. You didn't know what to say, didn't know how to tell her that Darren was dead and that he was the reason why your parents were dead.

The creature crawls up your body to drape it's warm body over the back of your neck as you stand. It wasn't bothering to hide, besides the people in your hometown already thought that you were odd because you were a supe and you'd always welcomed it. You give him a scratch on top of his head and his warm tongue flicks on the bottom of your earlobe as if thanking you before it curls further into the side of your neck, seeking warmth.

The first few steps on solid ground are shaky, but you find the strength while taking in a deep cleansing breath of the outside world, letting the gentle warmth of the sun and the tickle of the autumn breeze pull at your coat. You hadn't stopped at your apartment before coming here, instead you had stumbled your way to the bus station covered in dust, flecked in blood, and demanded the first ticket back to Illinois. It was lucky that the next bus was leaving immediately, because you didn’t want to spend another second in NYC, not when all you wanted was to be home.

Plus you were worried that someone had recorded what exactly happened outside the plant shop and you didn't want to get arrested.

It was self defense anyway. Maybe Jake would represent me in court.

The thought of Jake makes you twinge. You hadn't checked to see if he was alright before you ran from the scene. Not to mention you'd destroyed the shop he'd put all his life savings into after he stopped being a lawyer.

Oh fuck, what if he sues me? He can't exactly sue Darren…

You hear someone call your name and you open your eyes.

Your grandmother is standing in front of the same baby blue pickup truck that she'd had longer than you've been alive, wearing a long multicolored skirt and a pressed white blouse tucked elegantly into it. Her silver hair is loose and long, curling over her shoulders in gentle waves. She looks the same way she looked one week ago when she left, and you've never seen anything so beautiful in your life.

You're running before you can stop yourself, crumbling into her warm embrace, with more tears streaking down your face, but she doesn't mind.

"Shh. It's alright honey." She whispers, rubbing her hand over your back, her embrace steady and surprisingly strong. "Let's go home."

Her home is the same as it's always been. A two story Victorian house painted in a happy yellow shade, with a white wrap around porch and two white rocking chairs sitting empty on the front porch. You'd spent more nights than you could count rocking silently beside her with a crochet project in your lap listening to the rain fall and soak the world outside, while the plants sang praises with every gentle bend beneath the heavy droplets.

You could barely remember the home you spent in your early years with your parents, not when you'd spent most of your childhood spending the night here and after your parents died living here permanently. There was still a large oak tree were a wooden swing swung in the slight breeze on the left side of the yard, a gardenia bush that stretched as high as the second story on the right side of the house and brushed it's soft leaves against the sunshine colored outer walls, a garden filled with both flowering plants and herbs that perked up on both sides of the front yard as you walked up the path, and a cobblestone path that Annie and you had spent hours of your shared childhood covering in chalk art.

Neither of you were good, but when the rain would fall and smudge the clean lines, you'd jump in the puddles that pooled along the walkway singing the lyrics to ABBA's "Cassandra" not quite understanding what it meant.

Standing here outside your house made you miss Annie and feel worse about not calling or texting her back, but you didn't feel like talking about what happened and you were sure that Butcher filled her in. The only thing that you wanted was to collapse in your bedroom upstairs and curl under the comforters.

Despite everything the house was a welcome sight, but at the same time it was different. You could feel the plants calling out to you, asking for you, bending towards you just to touch your shoes as you walked by. You'd never felt so connected with them before, not even when you were in your apartment or working at the shop.  It was overwhelming.

And although a part of you was frightened by it, another part of you rejoiced in it. You didn't feel alone, didn't feel weak, and you knew that you never would ever again.

The creature nuzzled into the side of your neck with a sigh, soaking up the sun's healing rays as you walked up the front steps with your grandmother following behind you silently. She hadn't spoken since she picked you up at the bus station and you hadn't supplied anything in the ten minute car ride back to her house.

You didn't know where to start and you were still trying to process everything yourself.

The inside of her house was just as cozy and warm as it was the day you moved out. There were photos of your parents and you covering the walls (Darren's had been placed in the closet long ago), half-finished knitting projects sorted in different baskets on both the dining room table and the living room coffee table, spools of yarn were strewn over the couch sorted by color, and the fresh smell of gardenia wafted through the open windows on the breeze.

It was home. This was what you'd been missing the moment everything began to crash over you, but as you stood there in the familiar living room it felt like something was missing. Something tugged at the back of your mind, but you couldn't put your finger on it.

There was something or rather someone that should be here, but you didn't know what or who. And your mind supplied Annie, but you weren't sure that's who you meant.

"Let's have some tea." Your grandmother says from behind you and you feel her soft hands come down on your shoulders to steer you through the familiar creative chaos and into the large kitchen at the back of the house.

The kitchen isn't spared from the madness, it rarely was. There are boxes upon boxes of cookies in different stages of being packaged all over the counter, dirty bowls and a measuring cup stacked in the sink, and a large opened bag of chocolate chips spilling over the flour covered kitchen island.

It wasn't unusual to find the kitchen or the house in a state of chaos, your grandmother always said that a house should look lived in and that the mess was part of the fun of any major project as long as you were responsible enough to clean it up.

"Bake sale?" You ask as you sit down in the breakfast nook, uttering the first words that you'd said to another human being in twenty hours.

The next breath that you inhale was supposed to be cleansing, but you can still feel a weight pressing down on your chest, the same one that settled in the moment everything happened with Darren.

You contemplate again how you're going to tell her that Darren is dead and was the reason why your parents died.

Damn it Darren.

"Mhmm." She hums, filling the well used red kettle. "Annie's mother practically cornered me in the supermarket yesterday and begged me to make cookies. I love Annie, but her mother needs someone to pull that stick out of her ass. It's been up there for so long that I'm sure it's rotten."

The creature crawls down from your shoulders and down your arm to sniff at one of the chocolate chip cookies nearest you. It hadn't eaten since…

Darren.

You wince slightly at the thought and hope that you hadn't created something that needed and craved human flesh. The last thing you wanted to unleash on the world was Audry two especially in the wake of Homelander.

Truthfully you were waiting for the guilt at killing your brother to come, but it never had and you wondered if it ever would.

Probably not. He deserved that, he killed our parents, he tried to kill me, he tried to kill Ben.

The thought of Ben again makes a lump form in the back of your throat. You didn't know what was happening to you only that you felt guilty for leaving him like that, for yelling at him to let you go, and just vanishing on him when he probably thought that you were going back to the apartment.

He doesn't know where I am. Maybe that's why he tried to call, because he got back to the apartment and couldn't find me there and he was worried. You press your lips together. Yeah. Worried. Right.

"Honey?" Your grandmother says in a soothing voice

You look up from the box of chocolate chip cookies that you didn't remember picking up. Even the creature is looking at you with an expression that you can only explain as worry.

"Yeah?" Your voice shakes slightly.

She's leaning back against the counter, arms crossed over her chest, head tilted slightly to the side, her beautiful grayed hair pulled up in an elegant bun, but in her eyes you can see genuine concern. "Fuck." She sighs after a minute.

You blink in surprise. It was the first time that you'd ever heard her say that word in your entire life.

"I shouldn't have left." She breathes. "I told Ben to look out for you. I told him, that little bastard was bound to show up again and what did he do? He left you at that plant shop alone with no protection!"

You'd only seen her really angry a handful of times in your lifetime. Like you, your grandmother often had a gentle disposition and didn't get angry unless the situation called for it.

I mean, Darren admitted to killing our parents and then got fucking ripped apart. But how does she know about any of that? I haven't told her…

"How did you know that he left me there? Did Ben call you?" You ask putting down the box of cookies.

An odd expression crosses her face, as if she's contemplating something. "No." She hesitates again. "I saw it."

"No." Your grandmother hesitates. "I saw it."

"You saw it?" You repeat, confused.

What's going on?

"Too late of course, but I'm a little rusty. I was able to warn Ben that Darren was coming back. That's how he got there so quickly or rather-" She shrugs sheepishly. "He got there in time to make sure that Darren didn't get you to forgive him. Which you shouldn't have at all, but I know he's always had a talent for manipulating you."

"What?"

Is she saying what I think she's saying?

Instead of explaining further your grandmother walks out of the kitchen, leaving the kettle behind on the stove and you in a state of utter confusion.

Is she saying that she can see the future? Because that would mean that she's a supe and there's only one supe in history that I know of that can do that. A supe that no one has seen in over forty years.

You can hear her open the door to the closet under the stairs and the sound of her sifting through all the junk that the two of you had shoved in there over the years instead of finding the right place to put it.

When she comes back into the kitchen, she's holding a giant cardboard file box that you'd never paid attention to each time you opened the closet to find something. Your eyes shift from the box to her still not comprehending exactly what she was saying.

"I probably should have told you this a while ago, but…" She trails off and nods her head at the box before turning back to the kettle on the stove that has begun to scream. "I kept putting it off."

The box is old, worn at the edges, and theres a musty black fabric beneath a collection of yellowed photographs. You pull out the one on top to examine it.

Ben is standing there in his full Soldier Boy regalia outside of Vought tower and the woman standing next to him is Soothsayer. The outfit she wore was familiar, a black-skin tight suit with a blind fold tied over her eyes.

Soothsayer was a supe who could see the future and who was apart of Payback, a supe that had vanished a year before the mission in Nicaragua and no one knew where she went. There were rumors that she'd died and that she'd been a Russian spy, but you'd never believed them. You'd heard Butcher talk about how he tried to find her when he was trying to figure out what happened to Soldier Boy, but he never had. Said that the trail went cold.

But now you knew where she went, because she was standing directly in front of you.

She's Soothsayer? Holy fuck that's why Ben kept accusing her of cheating in the poker game because he knew that she could see the future.

"You were Soothsayer?" You gasp. "But why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me?"

She continues to measure the tea leaves. "I didn't tell anyone."

"Grandpa didn't know? But he was alive when you were a supe?"

Your grandfather had never spoken about a history with supes that you remember.

"No." She turns to look at you, a hurt expression crossing over her face for a minute. "Well, I know that I said I was going to have tea, but if we're going to talk about this I'm going to need something a little bit stronger."

Your grandmother opens a cabinet under the stove an pulls out an enormous bottle of scotch. Truth be told you'd never seen her drink more than just a glass of wine, to see her like this was about as shocking as seeing a polar bear sunning itself on a Florida beach.

"Do you still want the blueberry tea or do you need something a little stronger?" She looks back over her shoulder at you as she pulls down a glass for herself.

"I think I need something stronger." You answer honestly.

Learning about everything Darren had done was one thing, but finding out that your grandmother used to be a famous supe and that she never told you about it was another thing. It was like looking at another person. You'd always loved your grandmother's gentle way, her care for her community and her family soft, but now you weren't sure you really knew who she was.

She sits down across from you and hands you a glass of the amber colored liquid. There's a heavy silence that hangs between the two of you as she tries to find a way to start. The photo of her and Ben is laying on top of what you realize is her uniform inside the box and she smiles down at the photo, just a little twitch at the corner of her lips.

"I met Ben when I was twenty three years old." She begins taking a sip from the glass. "Legend 'discovered' me. I had the injection of Compound V maybe two years before that, not when I was born, but I hadn't gotten popular. Other powers were much more flashy and by then there were so many heroes coming out of the woodwork that someone with the ability to see the future didn't seem as marketable."

There's something reflected in her blue eyes, the same eyes your father had, that you can't place. "I had just moved to New York, I had no money, and the way I was getting it was by pretending to be a fortune teller and betting on some sports events on the side. It wasn't hard to prove that I could see the future, the past was more difficult, but Legend somehow stumbled into my shop and figured out that I was a supe. And he didn't think I was too bad looking so he helped me get big."

"You pretended to be a fortune teller?"

She snorts into her glass. "Mhmm. People really will believe anything if they're desperate enough and back then there was so much turmoil going on with Russia that people were scared and wanted to feel comforted. My job provided some of that."

"But why did you walk away from it if you were such a big hero." You ask. "Everyone knew your name, you were-"

Your grandmother raises an eyebrow at you and you fall silent so she can continue. "When I got onto Payback that's when everything exploded for me, the films, the commercials, the ridiculous ads." She sighs. "That's also when I met Ben."

You take a sip from the glass in front of you, sputtering slightly. It was stronger than you were expecting. "And you two were-"

Please don't say dating, please don't say dating, please don't say…

"Friends. Just friends." Diana sits back against the back of the breakfast nook, sinking into the navy blue pillows. "But he is almost as charming now as he was then."

You cringe at the thought of Ben coming on to a younger version of your grandmother.

She taps her glass with her index finger deep in thought. "But I think that I was the only person that Ben actually talked to, the only person that he was comfortable being around."

"What do you mean?" You ask confused. "Didn't he talk to Countess and to Legend?"

Her expression hardens at the mention of Countess's name. "He didn't talk to her the way he talked to me. Ben is difficult, he always has been and I think that most of the people he meet him write him off as this asshole with a chauvinistic look on the world, but he's not. At least, not all the time. There are so many people that he's met that are never willing to take a chance on him. To trust that there is really something beneath all of that bravado."

It was what you had been thinking for the past week, that there was more to Ben than he was willing to let people see, but you were slowly realizing that Ben was letting you see those parts. In the quiet moments at your shared apartment when he sat with you while you read or made you laugh or walked you to and from work you saw another side of Ben that you never saw when he was around anyone else. The guilt rises again when you think of how you ran from him, how you turned your back and left him standing there to clean up your mess.

I shouldn’t have done that, but it was all just so overwhelming and I didn't want to talk to anyone.

"I think that Ben is the most loyal friend I ever had. No one ever seems to believe me when I say that. That we were just friends, but nothing happened between us."

"You didn't date? Or sleep together?" You ask cautiously. It was difficult to imagine Ben being friends with a woman and not having a sexual relationship with her.

Well. We're friends, but that's different.

The last thing you wanted to think about was Ben and your grandmother having sex.

I would need so much therapy after that. You sigh. Yeah, because after all the shit I've been through and found out about my life in the last twenty hours, the knowledge that Ben fucked my grandmother is what's going to push me over the edge.

"No." She shakes her head with a small smile. "About a week after I met Ben, I was running late to a movie shoot and I stepped off the crosswalk without looking. There was a car coming and I didn't see it. Ironic isn't it?" She laughs at herself. "I can see the future and I didn't see a car coming, but your grandfather did and he grabbed the back of my jacket and yanked me onto the sidewalk, saved my life. And the second my eyes locked with his I saw our future. I saw our wedding, our first house, I saw our son take his first steps and I saw how much I would love him and how much he would love me." She clears her throat for a minute, her fingers tighten on the glass, and her gaze drops to the wedding ring on her left hand. “The future is never set in stone, it’s fluid. It morphs and shapes with your decisions, but in the future I saw, I was so happy. And I didn’t want to lose that.”

Your grandfather had passed a few years ago, but you knew it weighed on her everyday. She had spent the week after he died in her room not saying anything to anyone. And sometimes she'd look out the window into the backyard with an odd expression, but you knew that meant she was thinking of him.

Growing up you'd seen how in love the two of them were, more so than your parents. Seen the flowers your grandfather always brought home just because he was thinking of her, watched him do little things around the house without being asked, saw how they never walked away angry from one another, and seen the soppy expression he'd get when he watched your grandmother move around the kitchen baking with a grace that you'd never possessed.

You reach across the table to touch her hand and she takes it gratefully.

"I didn't want to tell him that I was a supe, and at the beginning I thought I could balance it all, but then Ben started dating Countess." She takes another sip from her glass. "She hated me."

"What? Why?" You ask. The creature crawls across the table to sniff at the glass in front of you, before it snorts and falls into your lap, curling into a ball.

"Countess was a bitch." Your grandmother says mirthlessly, her expression hardening. "She wanted to possess Ben completely. Only loved how famous he was, how popular it made her, and he threw himself at her feet, in his own way, not understanding that love didn’t look that way. He’s never had a good example of it in his life. And she never understood that Ben and I were just friends. By then I had been dating your grandfather for a few months and things were getting serious. It was about a year before everything that happened in Nicaragua."

She presses her lips together as if remembering what happened to Ben there. "She was jealous, possessive, and she came to me one night. Ben was out of town for a film so she knew we wouldn’t be interrupted. She threatened to tell your grandfather who I really was and threatened to kill him.” Her jaw sets. “My powers were never really as offensive as hers were. And she said that Ben wouldn’t ever protect me over her because he loved her and would do anything to make her happy. So I left and I never looked back.”

And here I thought I couldn't hate Countess any more than I did for what she did to Ben.

“You didn’t talk to him ever again?” You wonder out loud.

She left without telling him goodbye?

“There was the occasional phone call. Sometimes Ben would ask me to see who was going to win a ball game or something so he could make a few bucks. He stopped by to say hi a few times because he was in the neighborhood. One time he brought your father a baseball glove that was way too big for a one year old.” She snorts, the memory flashing in her eyes. “I always thought Ben would be a good dad some day. But I think seeing your father was when Ben realized how much he wanted to have kids. And I think seeing the way your grandfather treated me made him start to feel conflicted about Countess. But he respected that I walked away, he saw that I was happy.”

“But what about Nicaragua?"

A dark look crosses her face followed by something that looks suspiciously like guilt. “I saw what they were going to do to him.”

“What? But why didn't you tell him what they were planning? Why didn't you-"

"I tried." She snaps, shoulders tense, but then they drop. "I called Ben, but Stan answered. By then your father was turning two, your grandfather had opened up his practice, and Stan threatened me, he knew where we were and knew everything about us. So I kept my mouth shut and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

You could feel your heart breaking for her.

Ben was her best friend and she had to sit by and watch them do that to him. She saw what they were going to do and they were going to kill her for it, kill my family for it.

The anger that surges in your chest makes the creature in your lap stir and grow a few inches, but you tamp it down before it gets bigger than a small dog.

“Does Ben know?” You ask her to distract yourself.

You didn't want Ben to hate your grandmother for this, didn't want him to hate her for something that wasn't her fault.

She nods. “Yes. I told him everything.”

“When?”

“The moment I saw him in your hospital room. I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I wasn't expecting him to be there, but it all poured out of me. I was so surprised to see him there. I hadn't seen a future where he came back."

“Was he mad?”

I mean… he didn't seem mad when I woke up, not to mention he was upset when she left to come back to Illinois.

“Not at me.” She shakes her head. “He knew how much I wanted a normal life and how much I loved your grandfather. He doesn’t blame me for any of it.”

“Good. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

The glass in front of you is still more than half-full but you don't want to risk another sip of what you're sure is gasoline packaged to look like Scotch. Your grandmother reaches to pour herself another glass.

“I didn’t want to until you were ready.”

“And when would that be?”

Your grandmother shrugs. “Maybe on my deathbed.”

You weren't angry for her not telling you, more surprised, but now that you knew everything about her it was hard to see her the same way you had.

 You snort. “And no one knew?”

“Your dad figured it out.”

“How? When?”

“The moment you made that strawberry plant grow from your high chair.” She shakes her head with a smile. “It skipped a generation. Don’t know why, but you got it all somehow.”

“I was never injected?”

“No. That was a lie your father created. He knew that your grandfather didn't know and he knew that I didn't want your grandfather to know."

“Darren thought I was.”

“I know.”

At the mention of your brother's name, you watch her expression harden and she takes another swig from the glass in front of her, not flinching as the liquid goes down her throat.

“Did you see everything that happened?” You ask in a small voice.

You still weren't 100% sure how it was her powers worked, but you figured that she was able to see some of what Darren did and what he said.

“Yes.”

“You heard everything Darren said?"

“Yes.”

You chew the inside of your cheek for a minute hoping that she didn't take it as hard as you did. “Did you know that he killed them?”

“No.” She breathes, rolling the glass between her hands for a moment. “The night they died, I got a vision a few minutes before the car ran off the road. I was the one who called the police and who told them where to look, but I never saw that it was Darren or that it was anyone causing the accident. All I saw was the three of you in the car. I should have known.” Her voice breaks.

“It’s not your fault.” You squeeze her hand.

“And it’s not yours either.” She squeezes your hand back.

The memories are beginning to float up from the recesses of your mind and your teeth clench together as you try to keep them at bay.

“I know.” You breathe. The memory of the ruined shop flashes through your head. “I didn’t know that I could do something like that.” You gently touch your healed right arm and glance at the creature that is nibbling on the edge of the cardboard box with its sharp splinter-like teeth. “I feel so different and I don’t know how to go back to the way I was.”

“I don’t think you ever will.”

"Really?"

The thought was unwelcome. You were hoping that all of this was going to blow over, but you knew it wouldn't. Your powers had changed. There was an energy that thrummed in your veins now, stretching out of the house to the plants that grew in the garden. You could feel them all if you concentrated.

She frowns. “When you told me that you were working for Butcher I was worried about you getting involved in the supe world. I didn’t want that life for you, didn’t want you to suffer the way I did-“

“Was it really that bad?"

“Not all the time, just at the end. But I think that’s why I loved your grandfather so much. Because he was different than all the supes. He was down to earth, not just normal but-“ She shrugs. “I think Compound V does something to our minds, makes them more susceptible and when you’re surrounded by people using their powers and thinking that they’re gods it’s easy to lose who you are. I was glad I left when I did."

“Great." You huff, thinking about how your powers had grown exponentially since you killed your brother. It was scaring you to think that you would reach a point where you acted like Homelander, where you saw yourself as a god and killed anyone who stood in your way.

As tired as the stereotype of you only being able to make the flowers grow, you liked doing that. You liked healing plants, tending to them, and helping them grow. For you it had never been about using your powers the way that you had to kill Elijah and your brother and had always been about spreading a little more joy and love like your grandmother did with her kindness in her community.

Your mind flashes back to the first night that Ben stayed with you in your apartment and he'd asked you why you worked for Butcher and told you that he thought you "didn't fit."

Before you hadn't. You knew that. You weren't intimidating to look at or fueled by revenge or had a bone to pick with supes. You'd joined because you thought it was the right thing to do and because you wanted to be closer with Annie. She had been so involved in the supe world and you'd felt like you were losing your best friend. When in reality being at "Please Don't Die" was the only thing that felt natural for you.

You could feel yourself changing and you weren't sure that you wanted to and you weren't sure if you were changing for the better. Deep down you still felt like you, despite everything Darren had revealed, but your powers were greater than you'd thought they could be.

“No.” She squeezes your hand pulling you out of your head. “I don’t see you losing yourself in this.”

“You’ve seen-“ Your eyes widen.

“The future yeah.” Her lips twitch up at the ends in a smile. “It is what I do.”

“That’s so weird.”

You hadn't meant to say it, but you really didn't want to know too much about your future.

Well, not all that much. Maybe just a little.

“You of all people have no right to judge what’s weird. Not with Godzilla sitting in your lap.”

"Godzilla" yawns, flashing a mouthful of his pointy teeth, before settling back down on your thighs.

You smile for the first time in twenty hours, but then it drops. “I don’t like losing control. I thought I knew who I was but now I don’t-“ The emotions were bubbling up again, chest tightening, and lungs beginning to gasp for air. “I don’t know who I am anymore or what I am or what I can do and-“

“There’s nothing wrong with not being in control.”

“But what if I hurt someone? What if I kill-“ You body shakes as you think about all the important people in your life, Annie, Hughie, Butcher, Kimiko, MM, Frenchie- and then your mind stutters on Ben.

“Your powers are growing and there’s nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of. If you’re afraid of them it won’t get easier for you. You have to embrace the fear to see the lights that line the path through it.”

"I killed Darren, I killed Elijah-"

"Not because you lost control. You did it because you were protecting yourself and protecting your friends."

"But-"

"Who is it that you're scared of hurting? Annie?" Her expression turns sympathetic. "Annie is a supe and understands what it's like to lose control. None of us are in control all the time and it's ridiculous to believe that you won't lose control at least once."

Your throat clenches tightly, because when she asked the question you didn't see Annie's face, you saw Ben's. You knew that it was probably ridiculous to worry about hurting a guy with a nuclear reactor stuffed in his chest or a guy who'd been through every torture known to man, but you were. And you weren't entirely sure if you meant hurting him with just your powers.

Tears crest and fall down your cheeks as you sit there, throat thickening. "I don't want to hurt Ben."

"He's a little more indestructible than us sweetie." She cracks a smile, but you can't smile back and you don't answer because you're unsure how to.

She sits back against the breakfast nook and sighs, examining your face and slowly realizes what you mean. "Ben is complicated. He always has been. I like to think that most of it, is his father's fault. Has he told you anything about him?"

You shake your head.

"He was a dick. Made Ben think that he was a disappointment his whole life. I don't think that Ben has had someone love him unconditionally since his mother died. And loving Countess only made it worse for him. Her love was jealous, possessive, and I don't think that he's really come to terms with what real love should look like." She lets out a breath, tapping her index finger against the glass. "I never saw him as more than a friend, but I do love him. It's not a crime to love him."

"I don't love him." You say it immediately.

"Why not?"

"What?" You sputter. "I don't know what you're-"

"Tell me why you don't love him." Your grandma says methodically, as if she's trying to talk you through it.

"Because I-" The pressure was back in the back of your throat and you couldn't quite meet her eye. "Because-" You scramble for the answer, trying your darndest to keep your heart from clenching in your chest. "I want what you and grandpa had, what Annie and Hughie have, and what my parents had. A strong relationship with someone who sees all my flaws, the little parts, and the darkness and still choses to fall in love with me anyway. I don't want just one night I want every night. I want something real and Ben has said countless times that he-"

"So you've talked about it with Ben?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Only because he kept trying to sleep with me and I told him that I didn't want to have sex with him." You reply exasperated.

"You don't?"

"Gran!"

"What? He's attractive."

"It doesn't matter. None of it does. Because Ben has said that he doesn't have relationships, that he doesn't care about feelings, or emotions." Saying the words that Ben had told you countless times made something inside begin to shrivel up and die. "And I do. And I don't want to manipulate him into being something he's not or force him into a relationship that's doomed from the beginning. Ben is Ben. He's not changing or-"

"He has." She interrupts.

"What?"

"The Ben I saw in your hospital room is not the one I knew." She says it so matter of fact that makes it hard to breathe. "And neither was the one that I saw in your apartment when I stayed with you. I mean he is in essence Ben, but-"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"He is changing. Not completely, but he's acting differently than when he was with Countess. I mean, I saw all the things he did for her. The way he was around her."

"Why does that matter?"

"Because he loved her."

The words make your heart seize in your chest. "Ben doesn't love me. He's my roommate and my friend-" It was the same thing that you kept telling yourself on repeat to beat back the other feelings that you hadn't quite identified yet. "And he's told me that he doesn't want a relationship and that I should try to meet other people."

That last part was a lie, but you honestly didn't know where she was going with this conversation or why it was getting so hard to breathe.

"Have you thought that maybe Ben doesn't want to love you because he's scared?"

"He doesn't love me and Ben isn't afraid of anything."

"He is. It might not look the same way on him as it does on everyone else, but if you pay close enough attention you can catch it." She hesitates. "And I think if you pay attention to you, you'll see what it is that you're afraid of too."

What does she mean? What the hell am I afraid of? Ben isn't afraid of anything, he's practically shouted that from the mountaintops like Julie Andrews.

"I already told you what I'm afraid of."

"I'm not talking about you hurting someone honey. There's something else that you refuse to admit to yourself because you're scared." She smiles sadly at you. "You should though, because when you embrace it, what comes after is really beautiful." There's a far off look in her eyes and you realize that she'd seen something further ahead that she wasn't letting on.

"And it's all I want for you. To be happy." Your grandmother stands from the other side of the booth "I think you need some rest. You drove all night long and I doubt you got any sleep. And I have to package all of these before Annie's mother calls down the four horsemen of the Apocalypse on me."

"Wait-"

"Please sweetie." She lays her hand down on your arm. "I think you'll feel a little better about all of this when you've had some rest." Her fingers raise to push back some of the hair that's fallen forward into your eyes. "Hmm?"

You didn't want to rest, you wanted to talk about this, but you knew better than to argue with her. Not to mention she was right, you hadn't slept.

"And when you wake up I'll make your favorite for dinner, alright?" She smiles, but there's something behind it that you can't place.

"Okay."

And this time you don't argue with her. You go up the worn staircase that you have your entire life and collapse onto your bed, wondering exactly what it was she saw your future hold, and what it is that you won't admit to yourself.

Soldier Boy POV

There was no light in the apartment save from the burning red tip of Ben's blunt and the bluish glow emanating from the tv that caught the dips and sharp edges of his face. But it was nothing more than background noise.

His hand absentmindedly stroked along Bean's back, his eyes focused on the ceiling above the couch. He hadn't moved in hours. It had been over twenty four hours since everything that happened at the plant shop, since you'd summoned a creature from the depths of the store, since Darren had thrown Ben through the plate glass windows of the bakery, and since Ben had last seen you.

He didn't understand why you hadn't let him take you back to the apartment and why it was that you had to leave. Ben hadn't liked the feeling that stabbed him in the chest when you turned your back on him and ran away. He'd felt the urge to comfort you the way he'd watched Hughie do for Annie in the car a week ago, but you hadn't let him.

Instead all he'd done is stood there and watched you run, still covered in dust, rubble, and blood. Worse was you hadn't let him check you for injuries and Ben hated the thought that you were hurt somewhere and he didn't know where you were.

You were so much more fragile than he was. He was realizing that more every day, was acutely aware of it after everything that happened with Elijah. Honestly, sitting there in the hospital with you laying there asleep with nothing that he could do, but wait for you to wake up had been agony. Not to mention that looking at the bruises around your throat, over your eye, and the bright green cast only made him feel worse. He'd never felt so helpless in his entire life and he hated it. Because Ben wasn't some helpless damsel in distress, he was a man and a man shouldn't wait on anyone or feel out of control, or at least, that's what he told himself.

Ben hears someone walk down the hallway outside the apartment and he perks up to listen, hoping that it's you finally coming home. Ben's mind stutters on the word "home." He'd lived many places in his life, apartments that felt more like way-stations, and the drafty cold mansion back in Philadelphia where he grew up, but neither felt like home. And although he hated how small your apartment was, it was the first place that Ben liked living in. He was starting to understand the word home.

But the feet keep moving past the apartment and Ben sinks into the couch cushions. Even Bean seems to be disappointed. "It's alright buddy." Ben mutters. "She'll come back."

But he wasn't sure.

Ben also wasn't used to feeling this way. It was close to the way that he felt when he went to Boston and was sitting in that damn hotel room waiting for something to happen and he still didn't understand what it meant. He didn't understand why he couldn't stand it that you weren't back yet. It made him feel like a woman waiting for her husband to get home from work when he told her that he was "running late." He'd tried to distract himself by looking at some possible prospects on Tinder, but just like the week after you'd come home from the hospital and just like the date he had in Boston, no one held any appeal.

His mind was awake and roaming around, pacing back and forth. The blunt was supposed to help, but it hadn't.

His phone chirps and Ben picks it up to look at the screen, but it's not you, it's Jake.

Jake: I know that I'm not your favorite person, but thank you for what you did.

Ben huffs and turns his phone face down on the couch once more. "What a fucking pussy."

When you left Ben had realized that Jake was still inside the building and as much as he wanted race after you, he understood that you'd be even more upset if you'd killed Jake. So Ben had tromped back through the building and found him trapped beneath some rubble. Jake was okay, just unconscious, but Ben had carried him out and put him on the sidewalk before he high tailed it out of there. The last thing that he wanted was to be caught with a shredded body outside a ruined building.

I didn't do it for him. I did it for her. Ben thinks to himself, looking down at the text message.

As much as he hated the thought of saving your future boyfriend, he didn't want to see what it did to you if you found out that you killed Jake, so he'd done it to avoid watching you cry again.

Ben didn't understand why he hated watching you cry.

Women cry. They're damn emotional all the time. He tries to reason with himself taking a puff from the blunt pinched between his thumb and forefinger. And she fucking cries way too much.

The image of you crying outside of the shop in the wake of everything that happened pricks something under his ribcage. Fuck.

Ben didn't feel remorse for what happened, well, the only thing he regretted was not getting there sooner and getting to fuck Darren up himself. When Diana had called him to tell him that Darren was coming, Ben had practically ripped the apartment door off in his haste to get back to you. He hadn’t wanted to leave you at the plant shop, but Butcher had told Ben, that he had a possible location for Darren, but it came up empty and Ben had been at Butcher's apartment chewing him out for sending him on a fucking wild goose chase.

It only made Ben more angry to allow Darren to speak to you, but he was trying to let you handle it even though he wanted to handle him. But it had brought him an unholy amount of joy to throw Darren in front of that minivan and to watch that creature tear him apart while the final whitish blue pulses of electricity jumped and crackled down the street making the streetlights shower sparks everywhere.

But Ben was more upset that Darren had been able to land a few hits on you before you killed him.

Ben remembered the giant lizard that crawled out of what was left of "Please Don't Die" and felt his lips quirk up into a smile. As much as he hated the entire situation, Ben couldn't help but feel a little surge of pride at what you'd done to your brother. He'd never seen you look so powerful standing there in the street, your eyes glowing a brilliant green, arms outstretched, and the ground trembling around you as the world begged to be unleashed.

Of course he'd been just as surprised as you were at the fact that you'd healed your broken arm. He wasn't sure if you'd noticed it yet, but you looked different too. There weren't as many lines on your face and your hair was more springy, the few silver hairs that Ben had noticed in passing were no longer there.

He wasn't sure what that meant, but there was something that felt suspiciously like hope tingling in his stomach, hope that you weren't as fragile anymore and hope that it meant you wouldn't die.

When Diana had told Ben that her husband had died, he saw the pain in her eyes when she said it, saw her relieving the memory, and for some reason as soon as she said that he was dead, the first thing Ben thought about was you. Ben hadn't considered his inability to age as much in the past, hadn't cared about outliving anyone before. Seeing Countess as an older woman had made him more aware of it. Looking at the woman who he once thought he loved, had showed him what that was like. Not that he had a problem with daring older women, Ben always thought that women really did get better with age, but it was what came next that Ben wasn't fond of.

And for some reason thinking that one day he'd wake up and see the marks of age on your face or one day he'd wake up and he wouldn't be able to annoy you or hear you yell at him made his chest tight.

Ben takes another hit of his blunt. The longer he sat there the more then unnatural feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach, thrumming through his veins, the feeling that he was trying to avoid. He thought that the joint would calm him down, but he found himself jumping at every creak and footstep in the apartment building, perking up each time and hoping that it was you coming home.

He didn't know where you were. You hadn't answered any of his texts or calls and Ben was ashamed at how many times that he had tried to call you.

Get a fucking grip. He'd thought to himself when he typed out another text message to send you, stopping himself from sending it.

But he'd been so desperate to hear from you that he'd actually gone to talk to Annie who seemed upset that she couldn't get ahold of you either. When Hughie and Annie had seen how upset Ben had been, Hughie had laid his hand on Ben's arm and told him not to worry. Ben had yelled at him that he "wasn't fucking worried and to mind his own business" and had shaken off Hughie's comforting hand before stomping out of the shared apartment.

No one else seemed to be as concerned about finding you. Butcher, MM, and Frenchie were all deeply involved in trying to figure out the cover-up for what happened outside the plant shop. By some miracle no one had caught a picture of your face, but there was little they could do about Darren's body that had been strewn across the street. Annie was having to deal with the repercussions at work, trying to handle what the news was calling a "super villain threat."

Personally, Ben thought that since they froze Homelander, the Seven looked weak and Ben believed that the superhero team that represented America shouldn't look weak. Of course before Ben had also thought that they looked like a bunch of pussies and again felt himself sink deeper into the couch when he thought about what his supposed son had become.

He shakes off the feelings he has about it and his thoughts turn back inevitably to you.

Ben wasn't used to thinking about someone as much as he thought of you, but each time he settled back into the apartment and you weren't there he was hyperaware of how quiet it was.

Maybe I should call Diana. She might know where she is.

As soon as Ben thinks that, his phone begins to ring, but Ben doesn't bother to look at who it is before he answers it. 

"Hello?" Ben huffs out a breath of smoke that hangs in the air in front of his face, catching in the bluish light coming from the television.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The voice on the other side of the line yells at him.

"Di?"

"Yes it's me. Who did you think it was? Santa Clause?" Your grandmother snarks.

"Why are you calling me and why the fuck are you so mad? What did I do?" Ben answers slightly annoyed.

As much as you got under his skin, your grandmother had been the same way. He actually thought that it was amusing that even before he figured out that she was your grandmother that he had often compared you to her in his mind. You had the same mannerisms, the same defiant and stubborn attitude that drove Ben up the wall, and you were just as beautiful as she was.

Ben was okay with admitting that he was attracted to you. To him that felt normal, it was the other feelings that he was conflicted about, the ones that he'd never felt before stirring in his chest that made him feel "too emotional" and "woman-like."

Truthfully, Ben was sure that if your grandmother had given him a shot that maybe he would have felt that way about her too. She was the only person that Ben actually trusted in the 80's, the only person that was brave enough to call him out on all his shit. You did that now. But he liked her husband also, so Ben was content with letting her go. He liked how happy that Henry, your grandfather, had made her. He knew that she wasn't happy as a supe and seeing her so happy and in love made Ben feel something that was close to happiness.

And it was seeing the way the two of them were together made Ben wonder if what he had with Countess was the same thing. Because he did have feelings about her that were different, but each time he went to visit Diana and saw your father playing on her lap he felt that there was something missing in his life.

It was the same way that he thought something was missing when you weren't in the apartment, but Ben hadn't realized that yet.

"Because I don't understand what the hell you're doing!" Diana replies and Ben honestly doesn't know why she's angry with him.

"About what?"

"My granddaughter."

Ben sits up the blunt in his fingertips forgotten. "Is she there with you?"

"Yes." Her voice softens for a moment.

Ben relaxes and leans back onto the couch, sighing in relief. "Good.  That's good." Relief swelled in his chest when he thought about you staying with her, safe.

That's what she meant when she said that she wanted to go home. Home is with her grandmother. Ben stopped the next thought before he could go there.

The thought that home wasn't with him.

Ben was trying not to think about that or think about you hating him. He didn't think you did, well, didn't think you did anymore. At first it really was touch and go, but now he was almost eighty percent sure after you'd told him more than once that you weren't afraid of him and didn’t hate him that you sometimes wanted him around.

"No, not good."

"What do you mean? Is she okay?" Ben's grip on the phone tightens so hard that he's sure that he hears the screen cracking.

"No."

"What happened?" Ben's voice is a growl, the feelings of relief evaporating as soon as they had begun to bloom in his chest. He mentally calculated how long it would take him to get to you.

"Her entire life fucking fell apart and where are you? Not here!"

Oh. Ben relaxed a little bit.

"I don't need to be there." He says on an exhale of smoke.

"Yes you do!" Diana presses.

"No, I don't. She a big girl she doesn't need me there, she's-" Ben takes a puff from the joint.

“If you were any denser you’d be a Bundt cake Benjamin!” She says exasperated.

"What the fuck are you talking about doll? I am not-"

“Let me guess." She interrupts and Ben can imagine her tapping her foot. He hated when she did that. "You’re moping around smoking a blunt on the couch probably with a glass of something that you're hoping to numb whatever the hell it is you're feeling."

Ben's eyes shift to the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table that he hadn't touched in a few minutes.

“I’m not fucking moping and stop spying on me!” He snaps back at Diana.

He hated how well she knew him. She was his best friend in the 80's through all the shit, she had seen him at his worst and at his best too many times to count.

“I don’t have to use my powers to know what you’re doing. I know you Ben.”

"Sorry to disappoint you sweetheart.” Ben grits his teeth, temper flaring hot. “But if you know me as well as you fucking say you do then you then you know that this is-“

“You avoiding your feelings by acting aloof and brooding like a fucked up version of Mr. Darcy.” She interrupts.

She certainly hasn't changed.

“I am not avoiding-“

“She needs you here Ben.” Diana stamps her foot, the same way you do when Ben pisses you off, and Ben can hear it.

“She doesn’t need me! She said that she wanted to go home, that she didn’t want to be here with me! I tried to-“ Ben shouts back standing up. It was the exact thing that he'd been thinking for the past twenty four hours, that you didn’t need him and that you didn't want to be any where near him.

That last thought made an uncomfortable sensation prickle in his gut when he thought it, because all it did was remind him of how you acted when the two of you first met, when you didn't want him to live with you and tried your darndest to make him go away.

He didn’t want to and he wasn't sure why that was.

“Try harder.” Diana interrupts him again and frankly it was pissing him off.

Ben clenches his jaw. “I think that you’ve confused me with someone else baby.”

“Don’t you 'baby' me Benjamin! We both know that you’re doing what you always do when things get hard for you.”

“And what’s that?”

“You pretend not to care and shut out everyone who tries to care for you. Not to mention you drown yourself in drugs, booze, and women.”

“She doesn’t care about me!” He spits.

“She does!” Diana snaps back. “And believe it or not she needs you here and she wants you here.”

"But-"

"Ben please." It was the first time that he'd heard Diana sound softer and almost pleading since the conversation started. "Don't do this to her. She's worth more than Countess and all those other women you've fallen into bed with."

"Do you really think I don't know that?" He roars. The answer surprises himself. "Do you think I don't know that she's different?"

Wait what?

"If you know that, then why aren't you here?"

He hesitates.

Everything you said to him the night of the party comes roaring back. You looking beautiful in a dress that made his throat tight, and you telling him that you just wanted to be friends and that you understood that he wasn't the type of guy to have relationships. He didn't understand why it stung a bit when you said that, but it had.

Ben thinks about the week that the two of you spent together after Diana went home, when he tried his best to take care of you, distract you from everything that happened with his movies, and would sit with you and try to make you laugh. He'd never wanted to take care of someone before.

Not to mention he kind of liked the way you laughed. He wouldn’t admit that to anyone, but each time you did, it made him want to laugh too. That had never happened to him before. But he wanted to make you laugh to forget everything that happened with Elijah. His fist clenches when he thinks of exactly what Elijah tried to do to you and it makes him feel so mad that he feels close to spontaneously combusting. Ben might not be the best role model when it came to women, but he couldn’t imagine the type of man who would force himself on someone else.

It had made him angry when he thought that you were suggesting that he would try something when he first moved in, because he wasn't that type of man.

Ben was trying to be better for you. He wasn't admitting that, but he really was trying to be better. He didn't understand why. You'd told him countless times that you didn’t want to be with him, that you wanted to be with someone else like Jake.

Ben frowns when he thinks about the man he'd pulled from the rubble of the shop. And again thinks to himself that you should be with someone different, someone who was a supe and could understand you. Ben had seen how difficult it was for Diana when she was keeping her supe life a secret from your grandfather and he didn't want you to have to do that with someone.

"Because I'm not-" Ben begins to say, but he holds his tongue. It was too honest, too raw, too unlike him to admit this to anyone.

Because I'm not this guy. Because I'm not the one she wants. Because I'm not some knight on a white horse. Because she's everything right with the world and I'm just a fucking asshole who sleeps on her couch.

"Ben." Diana breathes and he can practically hear her pinching the bridge of her nose. "In all the years I've known you, you've never done what you did for her with anyone else. You carried her out of that warehouse, you stayed with her in the hospital even after she woke up, you took care of her when she came home, you protected her from Darren. You can't ignore all those things."

"I'm not ignoring them. She's my friend." The word sours in his mouth as he says it. "And she would have done the same thing for me." He knew it was true.

She's a good person and she wouldn't let me chase her away if any of that shit happened to me and I told her to leave me alone.

"Yes she would. Because she cares about you." Diana sighs.

"She doesn't."

"Why don't you believe me?"

"Because she's told me what she wants!" Ben shouts so loudly he can feel the room shaking. "She wants to be friends-“

"Because she doesn't think that you want a relationship you nitwit!"

"I don't." Ben spits the words before he can stop them, but as he does something tightens at the base of his throat.

"How is it that it's been forty fucking years and you're still able to dance on the grave of my last nerve?"

Ben chuckles. "I missed you too sweetheart."

She sighs into the phone again making it crackle in Ben's ear. "She needs you.” Diana repeats. “And I think you need her too.”

His temper was flaring again, the thoughts that his father pressed into him surging up before he can stop the words. “I don’t need anyone. I’m Sol-“

“If you say that you’re Soldier Boy, I’m going to reach through this phone and slap you silly.” She snaps. “And you do need her, but you’re still just too stubborn to admit it.”

“I-“

“Ben I know that everything that happened with Countess was fucked up, but my granddaughter she-“ Diana pauses before she changes the thought.  “You say that you know she’s different, but right now you’re treating her the same way you treat all those other women.”

“I’m not-“

“My granddaughter has decided you’re important to her and once that’s happened it’s hard to make her let go. You saw the way she was with Darren and that guy was a manipulative asshole. Imagine what she thinks of you.”

“I-“

“Stop making excuses!”

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say!” Ben shouts.

“And I don’t need to! Think what you want Ben but if you’d stop acting so stubborn and so ridiculously blind to what’s right in front of you. I promise that what comes next is worth the risk.”

“Don’t go all fucking mystical on me doll.”

“And don’t go all macho- no feelings asshole on me! So stop being so damn stubborn, get on a plane and get your ass here.” She retorts. “Don’t fuck this up Benjamin because if you do I’ll fuck you up.”

The line goes dead.

Ben sat there for a minute in the silence still holding the phone up to his ear, listening to what your grandmother said to him ring around in his head for a second.

No one ever spoke to him that way. In fact, Ben had never allowed anyone to speak to him the way that she did, well, not until you came along. You reminded him so much of her that it was astounding and he wasn't going to admit that maybe it's why he liked being around you so much.

Ben frowns at what Diana said, thinking about the unusual feelings that were swirling in the pit of his stomach. He felt wrong and the feelings were odd for him. He hadn't felt anything remotely like this ever in his life, not even for Countess.

And although Ben refused to be afraid of anything, the feelings he was having scared him. He didn’t understand and he wasn't sure that he wanted to. He wasn't sure that he wanted to see where this ended up. He felt like he was in too deep.

As much as he wanted to go to you like Diana ordered him to, he wasn't sure that he should. Something was holding him back, digging it's heels in and refusing to budge.

But why do I feel like-

His phone rings and he doesn't look at the caller ID when he picks up, expecting it to be Diana again, yelling at him.

"Di I-"

But it's not Diana.

"Hello Ben. It's nice to hear your voice again." The familiar voice says, sounding calm and collected.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ben snarls.

 "I thought it was time the two of us had a chat.”

A/N: At this point Diana is really just trying to give both Ben and the reader the kick in the pants they need. And yes I know another cliffhanger, but you know you love it. 🤭😉 We are quickly reaching the end of this series, but that means the confession scene is coming and I am so excited about it!!

As always thank you so much for reading! Reblogs, likes, and comments are not required, but are always appreciated. I love hearing what y'all think! If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this series let me know. 😊

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[prolibytherium]

My dad was very against me getting a dog and then IMMEDIATELY fell in love with her. Like he absolutely adores her. He started off like 'uggh I don't want to end up having to take care of it' and now he REQUESTS to babysit her every couple weeks or so just for fun. He will just sit there petting her and chuckling and saying "She just makes me laugh :)" to himself. He calls himself her 'grandpa'. The bond between an aging father and the pet he didn't want is probably the deepest love on earth.

[kimi240302]

Come back to me

Part 3

A/N: Before you read this, I want you to know that my native language is different. So I am very sorry for any mistake. Nevertheless, I hope you will like my story and enjoy it.

Summary: The love story between Alec Volturi and Y/N Swan, was an unexpected one. Both didn't know what to make of each other when they found out they were soul mates. But they worked on it and created a beautiful strong love that not even Bella's hatred for the Volturi could destroy. But as in any good love story, tragedy was impossible to avoid in theirs. It came as unexpectedly as their love itself, and made the Cullens and Bella seem to win, while Alec and the Volturi were losing their light in the darkness.

Alec Volturi x Swan!Female!reader

Main Post / Twilight Masterlist / Come back to me Masterlist

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"I will meet you at the graveyard Where you lay down, where you stay now Faced up, cold heart, no longer by my side now Wish we were together, now I don´t know when I will see you" - Cleffy

Y/N smiled towards the sun and ran her hand through the high grass as she followed the man in front of her.

"It's still funny to see you in the sunlight." She laughed. "No one can see us behind the castle, the perfect place… what do you always say? To twinkle in peace and undisturbed ." Y/N nodded with a smile, pausing for a moment, thinking. She started to smile, then ran and jumped onto the man's back.

Gasping slightly in surprise, he placed his hands on Y/N's legs so he could carry her better and laughed softly. "You know you can't make me fall, right?" Y/N wrapped her arms around the black-haired man's neck, "It's still worth a try. I didn't realize there was so much space behind the castle and I've almost been here a year." The black haired one shrugged his shoulders, "You weren't supposed to know either since we were going to build you something nice on a piece of this land and don't get off topic. You're just too lazy to walk. That's why you jumped on my back." Y/N looked at the back of the black-haired man's head and stuck his tongue out at him. "Sticking your tongue out is for 5 year olds." He laughed. Y/N rolled her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like 'grandpa'. Before the black-haired one could say anything to that, Y/N interrupted him, "You said something about building and beautiful and for me."

The man did not answer, just shook his head in amusement, removed his right hand from Y/N's leg and pointed at something in front of him. Y/N looked up and couldn't believe it. She lightly tapped the man's shoulder, who understood her sign and let her off his back. "You're lying this isn't for me, is it?" Y/N looked at the large glass building in front of her, shaking her head in bewilderment. In the meadow stood a huge glass greenhouse, the kind she had drawn over and over again in her notebook.

"Go on," her companion whispered to Y/N. Smiling, she looked at him, paused briefly and blinked. Y/N looked closely at the man in front of her, but she could only blurrily make out his features, his eyes, his nose and his lips. Confused, she shook her head, but turned around again and walked towards the entrance. She paused in front of the doors, slowly, her hands trembling with excitement, she grabbed the door handle.

"What's wrong?" said the man behind her, "I'm scared." "Of what?" "Of the future." Cold hands wrapped around her waist. She was pulled against the black-haired man's body. "As long as I and the others are with you, nothing will happen to you. I will protect you for the rest of our lives. I love you Y/N." The young girl leaned against the body behind her, feeling protected, safe and loved. "I love you too."

The man released his arms from around her, kissing her cheek. Smiling, Y/N pushed the door handle down and took a step into the greenhouse. But as she took that step inside, darkness fell around her and the ground beneath her gave away. She fell as she was swallowed up by the darkness. Y/N screamed, but her screams simply echoed back to her. Just as the young girl thought she would fall forever, her fall was caught by the surface of a lake. Y/N floated on the same spot for a few seconds and looked around in panic. She didn't know where she was, just as she was about to scream for help again, she felt a tug on her ankles. Panicked, she tried to swim away from the spot, but the tug turned into a pull. Y/N's body was pulled into the depths of the lake, while the girl tried helplessly and with all her strength to swim back to the surface. Her lungs filled with water, her arms became limp and the cold of the water began to suffocate her.

Y/N woke up gasping for air and screaming. She immediately looked around in panic, relief spreading through her as she recognized the outline of her room. Y/N realized that it was just another one of her all night nightmares, which made the feeling of relief disappear immediately. Her hair was wet with sweat, her clothes were sticking to her body, tears began to stream down her face again and her breathing wasn't slowing down, it was speeding up. Y/N felt lost and exhausted. She wanted everything around her to disappear so that she could finally be at peace.

"Y/N!" Carlisle had entered her room and looked sadly at the girl. Wrapping her arms around her body, Y/N looked up and towards Carlisle. The tears slowly took over as she tried to form a sentence. The blonde-haired vampire didn't know what to do. Ever since Y/N had left the hospital and moved to Alaska with them, there were hardly any nights when she slept through the night. Every night the young Swan would wake up screaming, let herself calm down, only to spend the rest of the day hiding in her room staring or drawing. Carlisle's thoughts were interrupted when Y/N whispered barely audible to herself, "What's wrong with me Carlisle." She repeated this sentence over and over again, beginning to sway back and forth. The vampire took several steps towards her bed, sat down next to her and took the young girl in his arms. Y/N immediately clawed at him and hid her head against his chest. "I wish I could tell you." He whispered to her, tightening his embrace slightly.

"Do you hear that Bella?" All the Cullens were sitting downstairs in the living room, listening to what was going on in Y/N's room, as they always did. Rosalie had jumped up and was pacing back and forth. She could no longer bear the pain of the girl she loved like a sister. "It will get better eventually…" Bella tried to keep talking, but Rosalie wouldn't let her. The blonde turned to Bella, "Better? This has been going on for a year! It's not getting any better." "She needs time." Bella looked out the window, watching her daughter with Jacob and smiled. Rosalie followed her gaze and let out an annoyed snort. "What?"

Rosalie only shook her head. "When Edward left you, you suffered for five months. Nightmares, no hunger, no sense of life anymore. Now you have your happy ending. Edward by your side as a husband, a child that is not only protected by vampires, but also by a wolf. You live your life, while with a good feeling of conscience you let Y/N experience the hell you had to suffer for only 5 months. Y/N will not get better as long as you keep her away from Alec. It's going to get worse and the reason for that pain is you…." "Rosalie enough!" Esme intervened and tried to calm her daughter down. But she could no longer bear to remain silent, so she just kept talking. "Do you want to lock Y/N up forever and hide her from the world? I don't know if you've noticed Bella, she'll get older, we won't. Y/N will have questions. What do you want to tell her?"

Bella jumped up, "Y/N will have no involvement in this world anymore!" Emmett, who had let his mate speak, laughed, "That's not a decision you can make for her." "I've already made that decision." "That's right and look what you've done Bella." Rosalie literally spat out her name. "Y/N is unrecognizable. All life has drained out of her, any joy she felt has died with your decision, as has the future the universe had made for her."

Bella laughed mockingly. "You want me to take her to him? To that monster?" "He wasn't a monster, not with her." Startled, Bella looked at Jasper. "You too?" He nodded. "We all do Bella, we all think you didn't have the right to decide for your sister." "But…" Bella was interrupted. "Did you know that all the drawings your sister has done in the past year are of Alec? She only draws his outline, his hair and the contours of his face, never anything else. Because she can't remember his features, his lips, his nose or his eyes. That is exactly what hurts her the most. She sees him every night, every night he makes her feel whole again and then she wakes up and can't remember his face and the feeling of being whole again is gone."

Edward looked at his wife, he was always on her side but not this time. Bella sat down in defeat. "I can't leave her to him. He's a monster to me." "I was that to those around me too, until the day Alice came. Alec had changed for Y/N, as had all the Volturi. Just like I changed for Alice." Jasper looked at his lover and she placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him. "Besides, it's not about what you want Bella. It's about your sister and what's best for her." Emmett looked at her urgently. "How do you think I should do it, take her to Rome and drop her off with the Volturi?" "No, you've interfered enough, we all have. Let her go her way and don't stop her anymore." Esme walked up to Bella and placed a hand on her cheek, "Y/N and Alec belong together, the universe has foreseen it. Even if you don't want it to be true, you can't stand in the way of it. You see what this has brought you. One soul is suffering in Alaska and the other is suffering in Rome."

"If he's suffering so much, why hasn't he ever been here to get her? Why did he just give up on Y/N like that?" Bella looked at Esme questioningly. "Because you confirmed his greatest fear. The reason being that something happened to Y/N that would cost her her life and even if it didn't this time, it could still happen from his point of view."

Alec stood in the greenhouse, as he often did when he had no tasks. He could still remember the day he brought Y/N here for the first time. The first time she walked across the stone-paved path, smelling every flower that had been planted around her. He remembered how Y/N had reached the end of the path and looked with fascination at the fountain with the four pools. Alec remembered how she had jumped into his arms when he had shown her the little corner where she could sit down and paint, draw, read or write. He remembered the evenings he'd spent here with her, how often he'd come here after his duties as High Guard only to find her lost in a book or covered in paint because she'd spent hours drawing on a painting.

Alec had to smile, those were the good memories he associated with this place, but they were no longer the only ones. In addition, there were the bad memories, the ones he had never thought possible in this place, and with these memories Alec's smile disappeared again.

The vampire remembered destroying the fountain with his own bare hands, the same way he had ripped out every single flower when he realized that Y/N's laughter would never echo off the glass walls again. He realized that he would never walk in here again and find his mate covered in paint or so engrossed in a book that not even the end of the world could tear her away. He would never again be able to watch her sleep under the stars, would never again be able to feel her warmth.

All he had left was the greenhouse, which had been repaired after his rampage. But instead of the colorful flowers, it had turned into dark colors. Instead of the fountain, there was now a large pond with a statue built by Master Caius on a pedestal in the center. The statue bore the face of the love of his life, wearing a beautiful dress, while her hair perfectly framed her smiling face. On the pedestal on which she stood, the words "In memory of the sunshine that changed our lives forever and reached every cold heart" were engraved. Leaves with candles floated in the water in the pond, as they had done since the day the statue had been placed there. The greenhouse was no longer a place of joy, it had become a memorial to Y/N. Alec loathed it and yet he came here every spare second to stand in front of her statue and mourn.

"Why do you do this to yourself every day?" Alec flinched, but recognized the voice and relaxed again. He turned his head to Marcus, looking at his master, who was watching him with sad eyes. "Because by now it doesn't matter where I am in the castle, I see her everywhere." Alec paused, looking back at the statue. "I'm standing in the throne room, waiting for her to come in with her face and fingers stained with paint to pull Master Caius from his throne to look at her new painting or because she needs some urgent advice from him. I stand in the library looking for her bored face as Master Aro tells her the same story for the hundredth time. I stand in the ballroom expecting you to give her piano or dance lessons. I look through my bedroom window and wait for Demetri, Felix, Santiago and Y/N to fight and shoot each other with Nerf guns all over again. I walk past the secretary and wait for Afton, Chelsea and Y/N to scare her. I go into the kitchen and expect her to stand there with my sister cooking something for herself while she and Jane make fun of something." Alec's voice failed him. He turned to Marcus, looking at him helplessly. "She's not here and yet she's everywhere. Some days it feels like the walls of the castle are closing in on me, trying to crush me as they whisper her name."

Marcus took a step towards him and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "It almost sounds like you're being haunted by someone who isn't dead, but still alive." Defeated, Alec hung his head. "I'm tired, Master. Ever since I left Y/N at the hospital, I've been wondering if I did the right thing. I just wanted to give her a second chance, as a normal person, to protect her. But the more days go by, the more I long for her." Alec stopped talking, which made Marcus look at him questioningly, realizing that Alec's next words were difficult for him. "Y/N and my almost forever. Will haunt me for the rest of my immortal life and I don't know if I can take it."

"Then why don't you do something about it?" "I'm afraid." "Of what?" "That she won't feel the same way I do about her, that if I take her back. Back to the world of vampires, especially the world of the Volturi, that this incident will repeat itself and she'll die this time." Marcus tightened his grip on the black-haired man's shoulder, looking deep into his eyes. "You loved her, she loved you and you'll never be the same again, we all know that Alec. If you feel that way and you can't get rid of these fears to bring Y/N back to us, then you have to let her go. Otherwise it will kill you. I had to learn that lesson the hard way." With that, Marcus let go of him, turned and left the greenhouse, while Alec sank to his knees and placed a hand on his chest just above his heart. Even though it wasn't beating, he felt it breaking in his chest again.

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@kisekihany @sparklybuildingsdesign88 @alecvolturiswifeforever @rosedpetal @bofadeezs @xcharlottemikaelsonx @urgirlmoon @julesofvolterra @itsmytimetoodream @smiling2204 @demogorgon-master1 @megaprincesscakes @moonmark98 @silencionyx @valsobsessions @aylinbsx @nessjo @just-a-blue-nerd @lunajay33

[taetaespeaches]

“Are you really not going to complain even once?”

yoongi x reader (oc) genre: fluff word count: 1.8K

a/n: Hi lovelies! Here’s a little handyman Min helping reader/Kid with some simple home improvement projects. He’s super sweet and adorable about it and she’s annoying but he’s endeared. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading! :)) 

p.s. Happy birthday to our favorite honey boy! It’s Yoongi day!!! 

Observing your boyfriend from the bathroom doorway, you smirked at the little grunts that echoed through the room. Every twist of his wrench was accompanied by a low grumble from Yoongi’s throat. If he wasn’t fixing your sink out of the goodness of his heart, his undying love for you, and your complete inability to do it yourself, you’d tease him for being a grandpa.

When he arrived at your apartment fifteen minutes earlier, you had ambushed him with the home improvement project. He left a sweet kiss on your cheek as he entered your living room, immediately pulling his eyebrows together when you flashed him a pout. “What?”

“My bathroom sink is leaking,” you sighed.

The man glanced toward the bathroom in thought, a small pout taking over his own mouth. It just naturally did that. “Are the tools I left for you still in the hall closet?”

“If that’s where you left them,” you smirked, drawing your boyfriend’s attention back to you. He gave you a gummy smile and a slight shoulder shake as he laughed silently.

“You mean you haven’t touched them?” He asked, widening his eyes in feigned shock.

“Oh sure I have, I’m always fixing things around here,” you joked, nodding your head in exaggeration. “The… fridge,” you started listing, nearly laughing at the way Yoongi’s jaw dropped open slightly as he played along. “The window-”

“The window?” He asked in surprise and amusement.

“The…” you glanced down at the hardwood, “floorboards.”

“Wow, now that’s impressive,” he teased you, already leaving you to go get the tools you definitely had not touched since he brought them over with the justification of, just in case you need them.

“I know it is!” You shouted down the hall at him.

“You just didn’t fix the sink,” he pointed out, looking back toward the living room at you to find you standing with a stumped smirk. “Too busy patching up the floorboards.”

“I had to leave something for you,” you shrugged. “I’m charitable.”

Nodding and chuckling at you, he raised the tools so you could see them. “They’re dusty, by the way,” he noted, teasing you further. “Thanks for leaving the sink, you know how I love a plumbing project.” The sarcasm was thick but so was the fondness as he spoke.

“I know you do, I know this about you,” you continued joking as he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving you smiling like an idiot as your chest felt warm with affection.

Now, here you were watching him finish up the task you stuck him with, still cozy with that same sweet affection. “I should have made you cookies or something,” you suddenly realized. “Or some fresh squeezed lemonade,” you added with a saccharine and very bad southern accent. Yoongi looked up at you with a small smile, shaking his head at your antics.

“You mean to tell me there are no cookies?” He teased, making you frown playfully in response. With a huff, he dropped the wrench to the floor and leaned back on his hands, pretending to go on strike. “I would quit right now but,” he shrugged, “it’s done.”

“Oh my god, really?” You gasped in excitement at your essentially new sink. Rushing over, you turned it on and peered underneath, your face level with his, as you watched the pipes. “Look at that, not a leak in sight,” you awed, facing Yoongi and smiling at his pretty features as he watched you. “Thank you.”

He simply shrugged, brushing you off. Leaning toward him, you hovered over his lips, watching as Yoongi’s mouth quirked upward slightly, unable to hold the small smile back. He was the one who closed the gap, pushing himself forward just enough to catch your lips in a sweet kiss, your hand meeting the side of his face as you brushed his hair behind his ear and your lips continued to move against his appreciatively.

When you pulled away, the man’s eyelids fluttered open slowly, his eyelashes looking long and delicate, and so very pretty.

“Would you mind doing one more thing for me?” You asked tentatively, a guilty grin on your face. He gave you a soft close-mouthed smile with a single nod, letting you know it was no big deal. “My towel rack keeps falling off every time I pull the towel off.”

“The screw probably just needs to be tightened,” he guessed, his voice turning into a bit of a grunt as he lifted his body off the ground. Again, you thought about teasing him for his old man antics, but thought better of it.

He tugged on the pole, the bar coming off in his hand, making another adorable pout fall on his lips. So cute, you thought. Pushing the towel rack back onto its hinges, he sat underneath it and turned his screwdriver into- something- a few times. The whole thing took him about thirty seconds, and when he tugged on the rack again, it stayed attached to the wall.

“That’s it?” You asked in surprise, Yoongi flashing you a gummy smile.

“I’m just a pro, it would be tougher than that for a less skilled person,” he playfully gloated, making you roll your eyes as you beamed at him.

“Well, Mr. Handyman Min, my shower is also draining really slow,” you challenged him, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I don’t have a drain snake,” he suddenly snapped into true handyman mode, looking at the shower thoughtfully. “But I have one at the dorm. Do you have some drano for now? I can bring the drain next time I come over.”

Staring at him in thought as you squinted your eyes, a smile lifted on the man’s mouth. “I don’t know, do I have drano?” You asked, fighting back a giggle at yourself.

“I left some for you,” he nodded down the hallway. “Under the kitchen sink.”

“I knew that,” you quickly recovered, hurrying to the kitchen and opening the cabinet doors to search through the cleaning supplies. The surface cleaners and glass solutions were used often, but anything to do with plumbing was a mystery to you. Finally finding the bottle, you rushed back to the bathroom, holding it up in victory. “I told you I had drano.”

Scoffing at you, he took the bottle from you with a small, “thanks, Kid.”

Once again, the process of using the drano took about thirty seconds, making you feel silly for never trying to fix these before handing the chores off to him. “I would do these things myself if it didn’t take you a total of thirty seconds,” you smiled softly. Yoongi grinned back, shaking his head to brush you off yet again. “Work smarter, not harder,” you added jokingly, earning a chuckle from the man as he nodded in agreement.

Standing up straight and turning to face you, the man stared at you from across the room in anticipation. You stared back, pulling a look of confusion. “What?”

“What’s next?” he shrugged. If he wasn’t Yoongi, you’d think he was being sassy about all the projects. But he was Yoongi, and you knew he was just genuinely asking if there was anything else he could do for you. He loved this shit. He loved being able to take care of you through these small acts of service. And therein was the true reason you never looked into tightening the towel rack yourself. Why would you want to rob him of the opportunity to look after you? And why would you want to rob yourself of the privilege of being looked after by him? You loved this shit too. And when he would eventually come over with a drain snake in hand, you’d greet him with a batch of cookies, just to further the bit, but also to say thank you.

“My closet door is squeaky,” you told him, feeling your chest warm up once again as he started toward your bedroom. As he walked by you, he stalled, holding out the bottle of drano.

“Can you put this back for me, Kid?” He asked, a gummy smile planted on his face as you nodded.

“Of course, Handyman Min,” you teased, taking the bottle. Before he walked away, however, he pressed his lips against your forehead gently, the touch lingering as he took his time. Your eyes fell closed at the touch, appreciating the feeling of his affection. When he pulled away, his body was shuffling down the hallway to your bedroom before you even opened your eyes.

Glancing after him, you watched as he disappeared into the room, and only then did you realize you were hugging the bottle of drano against your chest like a lovestruck idiot. Rolling your eyes at yourself, you dropped the product to your side and trudged toward the kitchen, however, stopping yourself when you got to the bedroom.

Leaning against your door frame, you watched as he inspected the door, opening and closing it to figure out where the squeaks were coming from. “Are you really not going to complain even once?” You suddenly questioned him, Yoongi’s attention snapping towards you. His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly ajar as he waited for you to elaborate.

“What’s there to complain about?” He simply asked in response, making you smile at him from across the room as you shook your head.

“Yoongi,” you said, as though the answer was obvious. Because it was. He had been stuck with household projects since he arrived at your place.

“The better question is, why haven’t you called me a grandpa even once?” He countered, a gummy smile curving on his lips as your grin widened into an amused beam.

“I held myself back!” You informed him. “I didn’t want to insult you as you were saving me and my entire apartment.”

“You’re so dramatic,” he spoke quietly through a breathy clicky chuckle. “I made my last grunt intentional just for you.”

Gasping, you then tsked at him, shaking your head. “You’re such a tease.” His shoulders shook in silent laughter as he looked back at the door and opened it a bit wider to hear the squeak one more time. “Do you really not mind all this?”

“What?” He asked, looking at you in genuine confusion for a moment. You nodded at the door and held up the bottle of drano to emphasize the meaning of your question. “No,” he shook his head, the answer simple and sincere. “It’s no big deal.”

“Ok,” you spoke quietly through a small smitten smile, nodding your head. “Good, because let’s be honest,” you started, Yoongi’s eyebrows lifting in curiosity and anticipation for a sassy or ridiculous comment. “I’m doing most of the work.” Yoongi’s eyebrows lifted even higher as he waited for your explanation. “Supervising is so hard,” you playfully whined, Yoongi instantly chuckling at you.

“It is, I believe you,” he flashed a feigned pout at you. Smiling at him, he returned the expression, a genuine moment of gratitude and care passing between the both of you. “My hardworking girl,” he whispered, breaking eye contact for a moment as he looked to the ground shyly, still wearing that smitten adoring gummy grin.

[disturbedbeautywrites]

Next thing you know - Jake Seresin Imagine

A/N: This is a super cute imagine that I could not get out of my head. It is super fluffy and follows your relationship with Jake

Warnings: Pregnancy and tooth rotting fluff <3 Also, this is unedited so I'm hoping there aren't too many mistakes

“Rooster, just hit the damn ball.” Jake’s eyes rolled as he leaned against the wall of the Hard Deck. It was a typical Friday night and the bar was buzzing with the excitement of the upcoming weekend. The dagger squad was all there as was tradition after a long week and this weekend was no different.

As Rooster was taking his time, Jake let his eyes wander around the bar. His gaze landed on you, a super pretty girl he had never seen before. You were wearing civilians and leaning against the bar next to some other female aviators. You caught his attention immediately. Your smile lit up the bar and your laugh was absolutely infectious. He had to know your name.

He approached, a smirk on his lips as he leaned against the bar beside you. He ordered a beer for himself before asking you what you were drinking, which you told him happily. The two of you sat there flirting back and forth all night, laughing and carrying on. “Can I take you on a proper date?” Jake was hopeful as he leaned closer to you at the bar, his words in your ear as you giggled and nodded, kissing his cheek before you left with your friends.

He was smitten from that first date, though he wouldn’t admit it. But, when he showed up on your door step with the prettiest bouquet of flowers you had ever seen, you were pretty smitten with him too. The two of you became serious fairly quickly and you spent all your time together.

“When is she moving in?” Phoenix’s words were laced with teasing as you walked up to the bar at the hard deck, ordering drinks for your boyfriend and the rest of the squad. They had welcomed you in with open arms, insisting that you made hangman bearable. “Not for a while, guys. We’re not there yet.” The words left hangman’s mouth as he watched you, an easy smile on his lips. You were a new light in his life and he was already so in love with you.

However, a few months later he would eat those words as the two of you sat in his living room. You were cuddled up to him, your head on his chest and his arms lazily thrown around you. “Move in with me.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement. The minute he said the words you looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, trying to judge his facial expressions. Once you realized he was serious you burst out into a bright grin and nodded, agreeing as you kissed him hard.

You started to slowly move your things in, finding a place for everything. You had talked to Jake and had decided on throwing out his old rug in his room and replacing it with yours, but he had one stipulation, his deer head got to stay. It was from his last ever hunt with his Grandpa, and it was special to him. You agreed, deciding to decorate it randomly with hats and things for the holidays. You made it fun. You made the space both of yours and you couldn’t have been happier.

The next few months went by smoothly as you and Jake got used to living together, each day an adventure that the two of you couldn’t wait to go on. You got to wake up next to each other and go to sleep together every night. You had late night conversations, morning cuddles, and afternoon kitchen dances to old country music. It was everything you didn’t know you needed. Life was going absolutely perfect.

“Mom was in such a hurry for us to get here, I don’t know why.” Your confusion laced your words as you and Jake walked up to your parents house. You were knocking on the door when you turned to look at Jake and you saw him down on one knee, a beautiful box and ring in his hand. Your moms door opened and she was sitting there grinning, tears in her eyes as you immediately said yes and threw your arms around Jake. You were getting to marry your best friend and the love of your life.

The months leading up to the wedding were a dream come true. Jake wanted you to have the best of everything. Anything you wanted, count it as done. You were able to plan your fairy tale wedding down to your Prince Charming. He would be standing across from you at the altar, his navy dress whites making him look handsome as ever across from you. There were lots of tears shed and more smiles and laughs had.

At the reception, it was considered the party of the year. Rooster was already half drunk during his best man speech, but he made sure that you knew how special you were to everyone. He saw how happy you made Jake and that’s all that mattered. The speech brought you to tears and Jake helped you to carefully wipe them away. The night was absolutely beautiful. It was everything you could have wanted. Jake loved showing you off as his new wife, calling you Mrs. Seresin as much as he could and constantly bragging on you. The two of you radiated so much love for each other that it was like you were glowing.

After all the wedding excitement, you were headed to Hawaii. You guys were excited to spend a week on the beach, forgetting sunscreen existed. You both got pretty bad sunburns the first day. However, you had never felt so content. You had a week of relaxation with your best friend and husband by your side. No navy to interrupt, no rooster (you loved him, but he could be a lot sometimes), and no responsibilities. You just had to enjoy your time with Jake, and that was the easiest thing in the world.

Once you two got home, you started looking into buying a house. Jake had one in mind and he knew you would love it. It was one you had said you loved and you had looked at it a lot. Well, Jake had taken it upon himself to make sure that you got that dream home. He hired a realtor and the two of you bought the house and turned it into a home. It was a dream come true.

The next few years went by fairly quickly, your new house becoming a home. Jake got a big promotion in the Navy and was home a lot more now; which was something you both loved. Jake was getting more and more used to being a husband and he loved every single moment with you. “I’m ready for kids.” His words were random as you laid on the couch one day, your eye brows furrowing together, a look of pure love on your face. “Really?!” “Really, baby girl.”

The two of you got too it and had been trying for months. You were taking pregnancy tests and hoping for the best; when one day it popped up positive. You were elated and you couldn’t wait to tell Jake. He was at work, but you had the test sitting out on the counter. As soon as he got home, you pulled him into the bathroom and waited for him to notice. He picked up the test and looked at you, tears rolling down your cheeks as you nodded. “I’m going to be a dad?” You felt him run over and pick you up, spinning you in his arms. “You’re going to be a dad, Jake.”

Your pregnancy flew by, Jake and you both being absolutely terrified yet excited for the new baby to come. You found out you were having a little boy and you were over the moon. You guys had decorated the nursery in planes and his new wardrobe was packed full of clothes from your family and Jake’s both. You guys had everything planned out, down to his name, Colton Lee Seresin.

It was bearing your due date and you felt like you were going to explode. Jake was a very dotting husband, your every wish his command as he tried to make things as easy as he could. But, as you stood in the kitchen making dinner one night, you felt your water break. You were in shock, Jake’s name barely leaving your lips as he rushes in to check on you. “It’s time.” And with those two words, he was rushing to get the emergency diaper bag ready.

He helped you into the truck, speeding as carefully as he could to the hospital. Once you were situated he was sitting next to you in the delivery room, his clothes replaced with scrubs and a sterile hat that covered his head. You were giggling at how silly he looked as he squeezed your hand, pressing a kiss to your forehead. It was an amazing moment and they soon told you to start pushing. “How you doing there dad?” The doctor asked, smiling at Jake as it fully sank in. He was about to be a dad.

After a couple of hours of pushing, your little boy was placed in your arms. You and Jake were instantly in love, the tiny bundle of joy eliciting big emotions from both of you. Tears of joy and happiness left your eyes as you held him close. He was your new purpose. He was the new light of your life.

Jake took the two of you home once it was time, an easy smile on his lips as he watched you try to show Colton around his nursery. “And look, this is the kind of planes your daddy flies.” Your voice was soft as you pointed at the F-18 on the mobile of planes, the tiny bundle making cooing sounds in your arms. “Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool too.” Your voice was hushed as you sat him carefully in the crib, walking over to Jake and into his arms.

Jake felt like he was falling in love again as he watched Colton grow up and become his own person. He was starting to walk and starting to talk and every single new milestone was beyond amazing to the blonde pilot. He was sitting on the floor of the nursery with the little boy when he heard the words Dadda leave his lips. Jake got teary eyed as he yelled for you, encouraging the boy to say the words again. When he did, you both had tears of proudness rolling down your cheeks.

He was growing like a weed, and you had been told repeatedly that kids grow fast. But, you never realized just how fast. In what seemed like no time, you were taking Colton to his first day of school. You were dropping him off and your social little boy waved bye at you and ran inside to make friends, your heart running off with him. You were proud, but you didn’t expect it to be this hard.

“Time is going by too quick.” The words left Jake’s lips as he watched his son, now 14 getting ready for his first date with a girl from his class. He had asked her out and was super excited to go to the movies with her. Jake had given him the speech already of how to be a gentleman and you had given him money to use to treat her tonight. Before he left, he threw his arms around the both of you and told you he loved you. It was enough to make you both emotional.

“Dad, I wrecked the car.” The words left Colton’s mouth as he walked into your room at half past midnight. You had been asleep, but had woken up when you heard Jake raising his voice. Colton had just gotten his driver’s license and his first car a couple of months ago. As you heard the fight get more heated you got out of bed and walked in, putting your hand on Jake’s bicep. “Honey, calm down. We can get him another car.” Your voice was soft enough to calm down your husband, a frustrated sigh leaving his lips. “We’ll finish talking about this tomorrow.” His voice was a promise as you walked over to your son, looking him in his eyes as you placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’re just glad you’re okay.” With that, you pressed a kiss to his forehead and told him to get to bed.

“I got accepted to USC!” You heard the screams of victory coming from the front room as you walked in and saw Colton excitedly dancing around the room with his girlfriend, Sydney. “We’re both going, I can’t wait!” He pulled her into a hug and you heard Jake inhale a deep breath. “That’s all the way across the country.” His voice was quiet and sad as you patted his back, walking into the living room. The conversation shifted to how far away the college was, and if they were serious about it. When they both reassured you it was what they wanted, you took the opportunity to console Jake. He would be okay, he was his boy after all.

Colton had gone on to USC and had taken an interest in becoming an engineer. You and Jake fully supported him and Sydney as the two continued to date through college. Once graduation hit, you watched as your son proposed to the love of his life and you got to gain a daughter-in-law. You welcomed her into the family with open arms, so excited for the two of them.

Their family continued to grow along with yours as you got word that Sydney was pregnant with twins, a little boy and a little girl. You and Jake were over the moon ecstatic to be grandparents, watching them go through all the milestones the two of you went through in your younger years. She went through all the same things you did, often coming to you for advice. You gave it gladly, treating her like your own daughter.

Once the twins were born and old enough to hang out at your and Jake's house, the two of you knew you did good. You were able to fall more in love with each other as you watched the interactions with the grandkids. The two of you often took them to church and then out to get icecream after, treating it as a tradition you were starting. Jake also loved getting to take them out fishing and teaching them just like he taught Colton.

"We made an amazing life for ourselves." The words left Jake's lips as you sat next to him on the porch, your grandchildren running around the yard and playing. Sydney and Colton were inside fixing dinner, telling you and Jake to relax. It was an amazing moment and you couldn't agree with your husband more. "I'm so glad I didn't just brush you off as a cocky pilot the day we met." Your words were teasing as he reached over to squeeze your hand, his laughter ringing out. "I love you, baby." You smiled easily at him, your head leaning back against your rocking chair. "I love you too."

[stardropsaloongossiptrain]

Bachelors and Having a Baby

I saw another hc blog do this and I wanna do my own take~

Sebastian --

Extremely shocked when you tell him you're pregnant, but would react with a blank face and "oh, huh. Interesting." It does not sink in for a few minutes to an hour, and then he's losing his fucking mind.

Never thought he would be a dad, and convinced himself he would be a bad one. Even if him and the farmer weren't using protection, it still blindsides him

He cuts back on freelance work to help more around the farm, especially in the last trimester. The farmer is NOT allowed to do anything more strenuous than play video games. He will prob call on Abigail and Sam to help, he's not exactly the most athletic guy in the world.

Despite his fears that he wouldn't do a good job, he certainly works to make sure they won't come true. Reads a lot of parenting books and talks to Robin a lot. Those talks heal a bit of the rift between them.

Robin jokes that she's too young to be a grandma, but Demetrius cries when he's given a World's Best Grandpa mug. Maru happily steps up as an aunt and will spoil the baby with custom made toys and a ton of STEM for baby books.

Abigail and Sam are the chaotic aunt and uncle I imagine Shane was to Jas. They will babysit (mostly Sam) but expect funny pictures and wacky situations.

Elliott --

He is overjoyed when you tell him the news. He's going to be a papa! Lots of hugs and swinging you around. He doesn't strike me as the type to seek parenthood, but would lovingly embrace it once given to him.

It doesn't hit him for a while that a baby is going to mean changing his lifestyle quite a bit. No more all nighters, he won't be able to write for hours and hours at a time anymore. He finds it worth changing that aspect of his life to adjust to this new addition, a physical manifestation of your love.

Starts to change his habits early on so he'll be better suited after the baby arrives. Fully supports when you go nest mode and will move the furniture around as much as you want.

Has had a list of names for years before you even meet him. And all of them are beautiful

Leah takes on an aunt type roll, and loves teaching the baby about art and colors.

Sam --

Panics hard at the announcement. It doesn't matter that you're married, he still feels like he's sixteen sometimes, and he's worried about getting in trouble

Jodi and Kent are overjoyed at becoming grandparents, and Vincent thinks it's cool he's going to be an uncle.

Abigail and Sebastian make fun of him for being so worried about it, and help him get ready mentally to be a dad. They may need to remind him how much he helped with Vincent.

Once he calms down and realizes his family isn't going to be mad and his friends will stick around, he's extremely excited. He helped make an entirely new person! Someone he can teach music to! Can you skateboard with a baby?

Happily becomes the stay at home dad and handles a lot of the childcare.

Absolutely writes banger after banger of goofy songs for his kid

Alex --

I think he would be the type that always wanted to be a dad, just to spite how bad his was. When you tell him he's going to be one, he's over the moon. One of the few times you ever see him cry is when you tell him about the pregnancy, and again when the baby arrives.

Immediately befriends all the moms in Pelican Town and joins their gossip groups so he can get their advice and help as you prep for the baby. They adore him. He's like their pet.

Gets into what-to-expect books and takes over farm chores basically as soon as you tell him. No, you don't need to be doing all of that. He's got it. Which, I do think he would be pretty involved on the farm. I don't think he's the type to slouch while his spouse does everything. You can trust that he'll do well.

Evelyn and George are shocked by the news. George especially didn't think they'd live long enough to see it. They both love the little one quite a bit, and despite George's general attitude, he only speaks sweetly to the baby.

Haley will absolutely bury you in baby outfits as gifts.

Harvey --

Probably the most panicked on the list. He's not an ob/gyn but he IS medically trained and knows how easily everything can go wrong.

This doesn't mean he isn't thrilled and amazed in equal measure. Sure, you knew it was a possibility, but... He's so happy. He always wanted to be a dad, and now it's happening! He gets very misty-eyed.

He starts taking over cooking to be sure you're getting all the nutrients you need. You will find snacks in your bag, all healthy.

He also wants you to cut back on the farmwork, maybe hire someone for a season or two to hold it down. He would take over if he could, but being the town's only doctor keeps him too occupied.

He will absolutely do every type of birthing partner class.

He also helps set up the birth plan. He handles your medical needs until the birth. The plan is to go to Zuzu City about when the baby is due, deliver in the big hospital where he can be by your side and let someone else be the doctor. This plan fails when you deliver early and he has to step up. Everything goes well.

Shane --

He never thought he would be a dad. He didn't think he was good enough to take in Jas, and for the longest time, he didn't think he was good enough to be involved enough to have a kid.

He's come so far since when you first met. He's still got his issues, but he has a healthy grasp on them anymore. He isn't filled with loathing when you tell him, but tears up and holds you close. He feels incredibly lucky to have someone that loves him enough to welcome a child from him.

He is excited to prep for the kid. He was around when Jas was born, so he still remembers a fair bit about the baby years.

Jas can't wait to be a big sister. She likes playing with Vincent, but it would be even better to have a brother or sister. Marnie tears up when you both tell her the news. She's already a great-aunt to Jas, but looks forward to welcoming your baby as well. If you call her Grannie she will melt.

Shane absolutely faints in the delivery room. Man thought he could handle it. He cannot.

He's a very attentive dad. He never, ever wants this part of him to feel like it's not loved or good enough.

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

VERY LONG shameless headcanon: rotc ian

so we know that ian joined rotc when he was in 7th/8th grade, but we also know he had a g.i. joe as a kid, and i get that’s not an uncommon toy but it made me decide that ian always wanted to be a soilder.

like, we know that monica was a military brat. her father served for his country, and so she must’ve known a lot about the military. we also know that she hated her father, and frank says that monica’s parents ruined her.

so lets say one day shortly after little debbie gallagher was born grandpa bill (as he insists on being called) goes into the gallagher house, demanding to see his four grandchildren. he’s a very cruel man who judges them for their poverty, but as he starts to ramble on about his experiences in the marines, however, ian is extremely interested unlike the rest of them. he can tell.

ian asks him questions and he answers, and they’re all surpised by the change of tone in grandpa bill’s voice. he sounds much more loving and sweet when talking to ian, monica grumbles something about how he never talked to me like that when i was ian’s age.

grandpa bill leaves the house, complaining about how disgusting it is, and shows up only one more time (the only time after being his daughter’s funeral in twenty years or so) to give ian a present, a g.i. joe.

the gallagher’s didn’t get the luxury of toys, the only other toy that ian had was a teddy bear that he got from the hospital when he was born, which was now missing an eye, some stuffing, and was soaked in piss and sweat. so when ian got this g.i. joe he was so excited and would not let go of it. he kept it in his arms for an entire day, once, while eating breakfast, at school, on the bus, at dinner, in the bath, then to bed. it was his. so when he lost it on the train one day, he started sobbing so hard he was hyperventilating. frank called him a drama queen and monica was too high on coke or whatever she had taken to care, so they refused to go and find it, frank yelled at him for losing it in the first place, saying it was irresponsible. lip ended up somehow getting it back for ian, which made ian love his brother so much more. this was the day ian realized that lip was more paternal than frank was.

he stopped playing with the g.i. joe in third grade, and gave it to carl. when he found it years later it was all melted and gross. in fourth grade, he started playing football and basketball to get stronger for the army. his parents never went to any of his games, but kev and v did. kev was the one who got him onto the teams anyways (he coached basketball and knew the football coach).

in seventh grade, he was able to do jrotc, which he did. and he was great at it. so great that he decided that he was definitely going to not only be a soilder, but an officer. and he would also go to military school, preferably a really good one, like west point. that was around the time when he started doing 200 push-ups before school.

in tenth grade he used is rotc skills to impress linda. the summer before eleventh grade he began studying like crazy for west point, but found out that lip got in. in eleventh grade, he built that “fuckin’ obstacle training course thing” as mickey called it on the roof of an abandoned building. only mickey knew about it. he dropped out before twelfth grade, and didn’t go to west point. he instead joined the military, attempted to steal a helicopter, injured his hand, ran away, and became a stripper. a year later he was in military prison.

when carl gets into military school and starts waking up early and running with ian every morning, ian can’t help but feel a bit jealous because that was supposed to be him. but he pretends that he’s not and watches as his little brother follows in his footsteps- kind of. really the only way he actually follows in ian’s footsteps is by getting rejected from west point, which if carl actually got into, ian might have actually gone insane.

the end that’s a super long headcanon i didn’t even mean for it to be that long i should write a fic on this

[astra-ella]

𝐙𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

fandom: haikyuu ship: nishinoya yuu x oc/reader status: complete ao3 link

"I think you're really pretty. Will you go out with me?" That was the first thing he's ever said to her. And needless to say, Amari Chiyo was not impressed. So as promised, Nishinoya Yuu will get to know her better and confess again. And again. And again. And again. It'll take 6 years and 9 confessions, but he'll get there. Eventually.

⌦ content: fluff, light angst, love at first sight, friends to lover, slice of life

⌦ note: you are free to insert yourself into Chiyo, just keep in mind she has her own character/backstory. i know some people don't like that, so just a heads-up.

story masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

The fourth time he confessed was about three months later — on a hot summer day during their break.

After the incident with Hotaru, Nishinoya became a regular visitor at the Amari residence. However, it wasn’t exactly Chiyo's choice. Every morning when she dropped Hotaru and Kaito off at school, they’d pester her about bringing “that super cool big bro” over to come to play. And as someone with a soft spot for her younger siblings, she couldn’t help but oblige.

Nishinoya was always more than happy to come over. Sometimes he’d be too busy with practice. But there were times when he’d drop at eight o’clock in the evening to join the Amari siblings for dinner. If it was Chiyo’s home cooking, he wouldn’t miss it for the world. 

There were a few things Chiyo learned about Nishinoya since he started going over to their place. Firstly, he lived alone with his grandpa, who ran a local bike shop. Apparently, he has three older sisters, but they were all much older than him and going about their business elsewhere in Japan. Secondly, they liked the same manga and regularly bought the newest edition of Shonen Jump magazines. Thirdly, he loved over-the-top action movies. He gets so excited that he often starts yelling in the middle of it. Fourthly, he took his role as a libero very seriously. Chiyo realized that fact after poking her head into a few of his volleyball matches lately.

Last but not least, he was a terrible student. 

As a class rep, Chiyo already vaguely knew about that fact. It was hard to miss all the 40s and 50s marked in red in the top corner of his tests every time she was tasked with handing them back. But she didn’t realize exactly how bad it was until she started helping him with his schoolwork during his occasional visits.

On top of all that, he was an awful procrastinator.

Which was why they were sitting in the local library, on a hot summer afternoon, doing their summer homework.

Chiyo knew if they stayed at her place, Hotaru and Kaito would pester them to the point of distraction. And if they went to his place, Nishinoya would get carried away talking about the latest manga. So the only alternative was to work in the public library, free from interruptions.

Or so Chiyo thought, because judging by the big grin on his face, even she was considered a distraction to him.

“Nishinoya, I need you to focus,” she said.

“I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just staring at me.”

“I’m thinking.”

Chiyo’s eyes flickered up and she raised an eyebrow.

“If you keep doing this, I’m just gonna move to a different table.”

“Wait, no!” That seemed to pull him out of his trance. He sat up straighter, jotting down a few more answers before groaning. “It’s just, this is so boring,” he slammed his forehead on the table. “Summer’s almost over and it’s a nice day out. We should go out and swim or something.”

“Then you’ll never gonna get this done on time,” Chiyo tapped the edge of his English workbook. “Besides, you had training camp all summer. Haven’t you had your fun?”

“Training camp isn’t for playing, Amari,” Nishinoya gave her a serious look and Chiyo cocked her head to the side. 

“But don’t you get to have sleepovers with your teammates and stuff?”

“You do, but you spend most of the time training, hence the name,” Nishinoya leaned back in his chair and spun his pencil. “By bedtime, most of us are way too tired to stay up and chat like we do on school trips. So it’s not as exciting as you think it is.”

“I see.” She hadn’t realized. From what she’s heard from her friends in the softball club, training camps were more like school-organized sleepovers where they spent goofing off rather than training. She didn’t realize the volleyball club actually took things seriously.

From what she’s heard, they were supposed to be a powerhouse school.

After finishing the last question on her page, Chiyo glanced up at Nishinoya who seemed to be actually working. She hummed. 

He must’ve heard her or felt her eyes on him because he soon looked up. 

“What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she readjusted her reading glasses – a result of developing farsightedness earlier that year. “Let’s take a look at what you’ve got so far.”

“Sure!” His reply was assured as he slid his workbook across the table. 

Chiyo caught it with a wry smile and began skimming through his answers.

Her smile quickly faded.

“Nishinoya.”

He perked up. “Yes?”

“Here,” she slammed the workbook onto the table and pointed to one of the questions. “‘Please translate the words below into Japanese.’ ‘Shine’ isn’t ‘go die!’ That’s just Japanese!”

“Dang, so that was a trick question!” He clenched his teeth in frustration. 

“No, it’s not!” She then pointed to the next section. “Here! Multiple choice! Circling all the answers and writing ‘one of these’ does not work!”

“But I’m not wrong! It is one of them!” 

“And circling all of them is not answering!” Chiyo narrowed her eyes. She then flipped the page over. “‘Yuuto needs help identifying all the animals in this zoo,’ and you wrote ‘They’re all just animals, Yuuto!’ in Japanese. Seriously?!”

“What am I supposed to do? Actually know the English for those animals?” 

“Yes!” Chiyo slammed his workbook shut before letting out a long sigh in frustration. “Seriously, what have you been doing during English class?”

“Staring at Nakano-sensei,” Nishinoya gave her a huge thumbs up. “She’s super hot, isn’t she?”

“Uh-huh,” she returned his confidence with an exasperated look. “And for math class it was Sato-sensei, and for history it’s… Wait, why weren’t you paying attention in history? Takahashi-sensei is a guy.”

Nishinoya pulled out his history workbook and pointed to the cute girl mascot on the front page.

“Cause of Aya-chan, of course!”

“Start paying attention in class, you idiot!” Chiyo flicked him on the forehead, causing him to recoil in pain.

That was another thing she learned about him in the past few months. Nishinoya had a huge appreciation for pretty or hot women. 

Not that she cared.

“Seriously,” crossing her arms over her chest, Chiyo sighed. “High school entrance exams are coming up soon. What are you gonna do? You know schools are allowed to reject you, no matter how good you are at volleyball, right?

“Hm? What are you talking about?” Nishinoya looked a little confused.

“I mean, even if you get scouted by a powerhouse school, they can still say ‘no’ if your grades are not up to their standards.”

“Oh, I don’t really care about that,” Nishinoya said, taking his workbook back and flipping to the page he was previously working on. “I’m not gonna go to some powerhouse school.”

“What? There’s no way!” Chiyo’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. “You won an award for the best libero. There’s no way there isn’t at least one powerhouse school trying to recruit you!”

“Oh yeah, there are,” his response was relatively nonchalant. “I think there are about four already? But I’ve already decided where I want to go.”

“And where is that?” 

“I wanna go to Karasuno,” he grinned. “You know the one not far from your place.”

Chiyo thought about it a little. “Why?”

As far as she knew, Karasuno wasn’t really known for their volleyball. She did remember briefly seeing them on TV at some national tournament many years back, but they haven’t really come up since.

“Because,” Nishinoya’s expression turned oddly serious. “I like the girl’s uniform there. A lot.”

Chiyo blinked.

“I mean hear me out,” he continued. “Don’t you think our uniforms are kinda lame? Brown and in blazers? Way too bland. Karasuno’s uniforms, on the other hand, are those cool, black military uniforms.”

“Are you serious?” Chiyo rolled her eyes. “All that talent and you’re picking a school based on their uniform?”

“You gotta understand, Amari. Black uniforms are what youth is all about! That’s how it’s like in all the shonen manga! Plus the school is pretty close to where I live, so it’s pretty much a no-brainer.” 

“Uh-huh, uh-huh.” At this point, she just started tuning him out. “You better pray you end up with a team that’s good enough to actually follow up on your receives.”

Nishinoya looked a little surprised at her comment. “Hey, Amari?”

“Hm?”

“Have you been going to my games lately?”

Chiyo’s pencil snapped from the sudden added pressure. “Wha-?!” She glanced up. “What kind of question is that?!”

“Well, you just seem like you know more about volleyball now,” he pointed out. “Don’t you remember the time Kaito and I were playing outside? And you thought volleyball was a sport where you had to throw the ball into the opponent’s net? But now you actually know about follow-ups and receives,” a big smile slowly began to spread across his cheeks. “You’ve been going to my games, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been to a few,” Chiyo looked away, feeling her cheeks heat up under Nishinoya’s prying gaze. “But it’s only because Kaito keeps asking me how you are during big games! S-So I had to go!”

That was a lie.

“Still, that means you went,” Nishinoya looked like this was the best day of his life. “What did you think? I’m pretty cool, aren’t I?”

He was. When he played volleyball, he was almost like a completely different person. Calm, collected, and focused. There were some saves he made during games that had Chiyo’s heart hanging in her throat, and the way he roared in victory each time their team scored a point gave her butterflies.

Not that she would ever admit it.

“You were fine, I guess,” her reply was curt and Nishinoya pouted.

“What? Only fine? You didn’t think I was awesome, or handsome? Or oh my god, I want that guy to be my boyfriend?” He batted his eyelashes at her. “Because I want you to be my girlfriend, Amari.”

Chiyo glared at him as Nishinoya grinned. She then abruptly gestured to his workbook before going back to her own.

“Still, I can’t believe we’ll be graduating soon,” Nishinoya murmured as he took an eraser and began scrubbing out his nonsense answers. “By the way, which high school are you aiming for?”

“Karasuno High School,” she replied off-handedly.

“Really? Then we’ll be together even after graduation,” Nishinoya’s face lit up at first before falling. “But that’s surprising. With your grades, you could definitely get into some top high school here in Miyagi.”

“I’m going for the same reason as you.”

“The girl’s uniforms?”

“No,” Chiyo shot him a dirty look. “Because it’s close to home. And close to Hotaru and Kaito’s elementary school.”

There was a moment of silence before Nishinoya spoke again. “You know, I can always help you pick them up. Why don’t you aim for a better school?”

“It’s fine,” Chiyo shook her head. “I need to find a part-time job once I turn fifteen. Being at a better school will probably mean they have policies against it.”

“A part-time job?”

“Money’s been tight recently,” Chiyo shrugged. “Whatever highschool I end up at, I’ll just work hard to get into a good university on a scholarship. Then I’ll graduate and get a good job in the city that’ll make enough money to be happy and successful.”

Resting his chin in his hands, Nishinoya hummed. “That sounds so boring.”

Chiyo’s brows furrowed. “Well, I’m not like you. I don’t have the choice of becoming a professional volleyball player just because I’m good at it.”

“What do you mean?” Nishinoya looked her dead in the eyes. “I never said anything about wanting to be a pro volleyball player.”

“What?”

“I mean, I like playing volleyball and all. But even if I were to become good enough to go pro, I don’t think that’s what I wanna do in the future,” Nishinoya peered out the window, watching the fluffy clouds drift over their heads. “I wanna pack up all of my stuff and go somewhere far, far away. Go experience things I would never be able to here in Miyagi. A backpacking around the world, type thing. You know?”

“You’ll need a lot of money for that,” Chiyo frowned.

“Who says?” Nishinoya retorted her statement with a smile. “I’ll just save up a little, then go from there. If I’m short on money in some town, I’ll work at a local diner or something to rack up enough cash for my next adventures.”

He turned his attention back towards the sky and Chiyo followed his gaze, just in time to see a  sparrow take off into the sun.

“Grandpa always told me that limits are whatever you put on yourself,” he said. “And I choose to make the sky my limit, so I can go as far as I want. I’m gonna do whatever I want and be the freest person in the world.”

At that moment, Chiyo felt entranced by him. Nishinoya looked so excited and unburdened, she was a little jealous. She wished she could think like that – that the world was her oyster and she could do anything she set her mind to.

But she was too afraid.

“Hey, look!” Suddenly, as if snapping out of a trance, Nishinoya jumped out of his seat with sparkling eyes. “The firework festival!” He pointed at a telephone pole out the window. Chiyo followed his finger and saw a brightly coloured poster, obnoxiously advertising the festival coming to Miyagi in a week’s time.

“Do you wanna go together? You know, just the two of us?”

Chiyo felt all the admiration she had for Nishinoya drain out of her body and her face returned to a disgruntled expression. She knew the implications of going to the festival alone together. And her answer was simple.

“In your dreams.”

“Ouch!” He laughed. “Shot down again.”

“Now focus on your work,” she tapped the top of his workbook as Nishinoya sat back down.

Shaking her head, Chiyo quickly tucked a few strands of her hair out of her face before turning her attention back to her workbook. She was about to move onto the next section when she felt Nishinoya’s gaze still lingering on her.

“What?” She asked, feeling herself grow a little self-conscious.

"I like you a lot, Amari." He said, a lovestruck grin dancing across his lips.

"I said focus!"

story masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

[thatseventiesbitch]

That '90s Show Part 2 Review

Overall, I'm giving Part 2 4.5 Stars out of 5!!!! I completely loved it, and thought it was an improvement from last season. I am now all the more excited for part 3, given what I know is still coming. 😜

If you're interested, here's my real-time reactions thread from Twitter (pinned to the top of my bio).

Stay tuned for my breakdown (warning: there be spoilers here):

The Good

The H U M O R continues to be the brightest spot for me. This is a genuinely funny show - I laughed out loud (okay, closer to howled if we're being honest) several times. It feels similar (though not identical) to T70S' brand of humor. I can tell it was made by the same people. This season, like last, Ozzie was my main man and had the one-liners that sent me the most but I can say the same for Jay, Gwen, Nate, and Leia too. And Bob. Oh hell, all of them! I'm sure I'll be reblogging my favorite moments for months to come while we wait for part 3!

The C H A R A C T E R D E V E L O P M E N T is the other shining star for me. The first season was limited (disappointing?) in this regard - to be fair, they only had 10 episodes to introduce us to a whole new handful of characters and make us care about them, and they mostly did. But this season brought the depth I was looking for - and we're only halfway through! 🤯 We learn more about Jay's playboy past, and see how he's actively working to grow and change and do his relationship with Leia differently. Ozzie is humanized when he has his heart broken - and his friends are there to pick up the pieces 💔. Nate struggles with his feelings and relationship with Nikki all season, and by the end of episode 8 he seems to be grappling with still having real feelings for her that he can't move on from. Nikki's pregnancy scare really affected her, and not in the way one would necessarily expect. She ended part 2 feeling lost and unsure of her direction, or what she truly wants (and not her parents), for the first time in her life. Gwen's storylines were perhaps my favorite of all (I'm a big Gwen stan, okay?). I was impressed that they decided to 'go there' with the racism plot, and even more impressed at the frank conversation she had at the end of the episode with her white (and well-intentioned, but bumbling) mom. Was it perfect and resolved? No. I think that was kind of the point. Not to mention her navigating her first real feelings and her relationship (?) with Cole. And Leia, my lovely Leia - she is learning about communication, forgiveness, honesty - all with the gentle guidance of her family and her friends. And that's not to mention Red and Kitty, who had sweet, plot-driving storylines of their own. I loved their realization that they like their rut - but loved even more when Red was inspired to live every day like it's his last and pushed through his fears to go to Paris with Kitty 🥰. This longer season has afforded more 'filler-like' episodes for us to just hang out with the characters, and get to know them more intimately. What are their wants, fears, insecurities, innermost thoughts? We are getting there. We are really getting there. Let's see what 8 more episodes will bring!

BOB! Bob gets his own point, because I enjoyed him so much (and seeing him and Red eventually come together to be overprotective grandpas 🤣. I laughed so much at his relationship with Leia, how they were just chilling in the basement, how he wanted all the teen gos. And Gwen's "What the heck, do you tell your grandpas everything?" 😂

DONNA! I adore Donna Pinciotti (Forman?), always have, and I adore her even more in the '90s than I thought possible. I love seeing her as a mom and her relationship with Leia. More pls.

This season felt more '90s to me! They incorporated more '90s references and brought back the regular fantasy sequences that always set the original apart. Off the top of my head, I loved: Kitty's Carmen Electra fantasy/nightmare (😂), Leia's Lisa Loeb fantasy (🤣), the Macarena (that shit was e v e r y w h e r e in the mid-90s, man), the Mentos commercial, Jay and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith cameo!!! also, Leo's son???) and all of Kitty's '90s slang that she picked up from the kids at school 😂👏🏻

The guest stars! Mitch and The Angel returned from T70S, and I am a big Will Forte/that era of SNL stan so I thoroughly enjoyed his appearance, too (and know he's been involved on the OG series on the writing/production side).

Red's trains (callback to season 1 of T70S - whoa!!) 🥰

I thought they struck a good balance this season between those heartfelt, 'very special episode'-type moments that '90s sitcoms were infamous for, without actually being too sickly-sweet, ala a Full House or Girl Meets World type moment. Donna and Leia's interaction in Nikki's bedroom regarding the voicemail comes to mind, as well as the is-Nikki-pregnant storyline and Nikki and Nate's celebratory dance at the end 🤣.

Which reminds me - I thought Nikki and Nate's storyline was intriguing. I have always been sort of a fan of their relationship - I don't think it's as bad as some others seem to - but remain unconvinced that they're 'meant to be' or endgame or whatever. But I enjoyed watching them navigate their break-up this season and then reluctantly find their ways back to each other, though. We'll see where it goes in part 3!

I immediately noted (and was pleased!) that there was a Laurie mention and a Midge mention this season. Both very off-hand, but it was something I was curious about. Who will be next? Betsy Kelso? 😮

The Bad

For me, ngl, Topher Grace's (Eric) absence was really felt. It is definitely the kids' show now and a substantial storyline isn't one I'd ever expect, but gosh I missed him from the family scenes at the beginning (both those with Red & Kitty, and those with Donna & Leia). The silver lining is how the other characters continue to reference him - almost in every episode, really - and so we still learn things about him and his relationships to his wife, daughter, and parents through these mentions from other characters. There will always be a part of me that is crossing my fingers for another Eric appearance, though, and I think there always will be.

Kitty's characterization as an overbearing mother was overdone. To be fair, this isn't a deviation from the original show. This is how she was often written towards the end of T70S - overbearing, possessive of Eric, lashing out at Donna or feeling in competition with her. It was done for laughs, but it wasn't particularly funny to me (and never was) 🤷‍♀️.

Not enough Geia content for my 'shipper heart 😩. We got one boob touch 😂, and it is clear that Leia still prioritizes her friendship with Gwen above all else (I lol'ed when she worried Gwen was in jail and that she would have to commit a crime to join her) but I want more, damn it! Part 2 solidified for me that Geia is never going to be anything more than a crack!ship. 😰

Which reminds me - Jay and Leia are kind of 'meh' for me. They're fine, I don't dislike them together, and I do like how we're seeing them both learn and grow through their relationship but... it just inspires kind of lukewarm feelings, I guess.

There wasn't a lot of Sherri in part 2. I love Sherri. Hope to see more of her in the next part.

The Ugly

I am pleased to say that I can't think of anything!!! Fez was absent (although they didn't directly reference their break-up, Sherri is clearly single and on the prowl all season) but I didn't miss him (🤭). Ditto to Kelso and Jackie - although we did get one reference to Jay's dad and the Kelso family heirloom (aka porn). I would say the ugliest part is that I now have to wait until October for part 3!!!

[cerromoreno]

🎄 Starbula Christmas headcanons! 🎄

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had fun imagining how the first Christmas after Peter’s return to earth would go. The below headcanon scenario that has resulted is extremely self-indulgent and Starbula-pining-filled. (Mutual pining is just 😩🤌) And in the spirit of holiday giving, I figured I’d share it!

Background:

It’s been about eight months since Peter returned to earth, since I’m guessing GOTG3 took place in early spring. Since then, the Guardians/Nebula/Drax and Peter have visited each other at least a few times, and everyone has settled into their new lives.

For Peter, it's been an amazing, healing eight months - reconnecting with his grandpa, finally accepting Gamora’s death and moving on, and generally working on himself. He’s stopped drinking and is trying to get his GED (which is fairly time-consuming, since he hasn’t had any formal schooling since third grade lmao).

Peter eventually starts to notice that he's been missing/thinking about Nebula more than his other friends on Knowhere. This slow realization takes a sharp turn in the fall, when Nebula comes to earth for Morgan’s birthday party and stops by Missouri to visit him beforehand. Peter ends up tagging along to the birthday party, and while watching Nebula interact with Morgan, he starts to see her in a new light. You can just read Accidentally in Love for the gist of that headcanon...as I'm obsessed with that fic lol 🙃 And yes, I adore the idea of Nebula basically being an adopted member of the Stark family, continuing even after Tony's death.

Anyway, it’s been a little over a month since Peter started realizing he might have feelings for Nebula. He plans to never tell her, since he figures there’s no way she feels the same for him, and their friendship means too much to him to screw up by confessing his feelings. Little does he know that Nebula has been in love with him for over a year, having developed a crush while they were co-leading the Guardians together. She also plans to never tell him how she feels, knowing there was no way he’d ever see her that way - and also feeling guilty/angry at herself for falling for her dead sister’s boyfriend.

So generally, there’s lots of pining afoot... all of which sets the stage for Christmas! 🎄🎉

🎅 Pre-Christmas:

Sometime in the fall, Peter invites everyone to Jason’s house for Christmas, excited to have his whole family together for the holidays. Nebula, Drax, Groot, Rocket, Kraglin, and Cosmo plan to come, and even Mantis agrees to take a break from her travels to join. 

Beforehand, they agree to do a Secret Santa gift exchange instead of getting individual gifts for everyone. They have a group Zoom call (or whatever the space-technology equivalent is) to anonymously assign who will get gifts for whom.

It’s meant to be a surprise, but Kraglin blows it when he excitedly shouts out "Yes!! I wanted Nebula!" after drawing her name. This immediately makes Peter jealous and suspicious. What is going on between Kraglin and Nebula back on Knowhere?! [Answer: Nothing, of course. This will pay off later...and I think Nebula deserves to have someone be jealous over her, after a lifetime being jealous of Gamora… 🙃]

As the holidays get closer, Peter also mentions to Nebula that since the Starks are basically her family (which he got to observe at Morgan’s birthday party), Pepper and Morgan are invited as well. He mentions that Gamora is welcome too, since she’s also Nebula's family, though he doubts she'd want to join. This makes Nebula a bit jealous, incorrectly assuming that Peter must not be over Gamora after all - and in fact, must be trying to use the Christmas party to finally win her over.

Now both of these idiots are both pining and jealous. Delicious 😂

🎁 Christmas Day:

In the early afternoon on Christmas Day, the Knowhere residents and Mantis arrive at Jason’s home, which, thanks to Peter, is decorated to the brim for the holidays. Peter excitedly welcomes them all inside, clearly loving the opportunity to help his grandparents host. Nebula almost immediately wants to die from cuteness as she watches Peter run around, helping his grandparents in the kitchen and making sure everyone is having a nice time, and generally being an adorable host.

Soon afterward, Pepper and Morgan, then Gamora (to everyone's surprise!) arrive. When everyone's settled, all the cute Christmas things commence: cookie decorating, a snowball fight with Morgan demanding to be on Nebula’s team, a big family meal, etc. Basically any cute Christmas things you can think of. The house is crammed full with all the guests, loud and chaotic and full of laughter and Christmas music blasting. At one point, Jason Quill excuses himself to the bathroom to cry a little bit, overwhelmed as he realizes how much his life has changed since last year’s quiet, lonely Christmas. 🥺

At some point, Kevin Bacon even shows up to join the festivities, since Mantis had invited him as a surprise. I love the idea that it becomes a tradition that the Guardians/Kevin Bacon always visit each other on Christmas, even if it’s just stopping by to say hi. This also probably causes another private emotional breakdown for Jason Quill: it's hard to fathom how compared with Christmas last year, not only is his long-lost grandson alive and back home, but his home is now packed with aliens and a famous movie star. Seriously, what is his life?

In fact, I'm sure at some point in the party, Jason gets so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that he pulls Peter into a tight embrace, quietly crying into his hair. 🥺 Neither of them say anything - they both understand, and just hug each other, in awe of the fact that throughout all of the grief, loss, and years apart, they've found their way to this incredible new life and family together. Ugghhh I'm emotional thinking about it.

At one point during the afternoon, Peter mentions that once it’s dark outside, he wants to go for a drive to see the Christmas lights in the fancy neighborhood nearby; he’s heard it’s fun to see the big houses lit up. Everyone’s pretty noncommittal about it, but Nebula shrugs and says sure, she's in. Peter doesn't need to know that she'd literally watch paint dry if it was with him and was something that made him happy...

Speaking of which, throughout the entire afternoon, Peter has found himself subconsciously gravitating toward Nebula. They sit next to each other at the big Christmas dinner, constantly banter during the holiday group games, etc. Neither think much of it, since they’re both close friends and have missed spending time with each other - but almost everyone else notices. And Peter isn’t exactly a subtle person when it comes to his feelings.

One of those people is Gamora. She thinks back to her words from back on the Orgoscope, that the person best suited for Peter sounds more like her sister... She decides to corner Peter and bring it up at some point, walking up to him as he's washing dishes in the kitchen and blurting, “So, you and Nebula, huh?” Peter is flustered and tries to play dumb. But when Gamora won’t let it go, he admits in a low voice that maybe he has feelings for Nebula, but he can’t mess up their friendship. It’s too important to him - she is too important to him. 

Gamora laughs at him, but also recognizes that he's clearly agitated about it all. Nebula must matter quite a lot to him. She decides to throw Peter a bone, saying that, "just in case it's helpful," she thinks her alternate self would probably be okay with this - she thinks other-Gamora would be happy to know that the people she loves the most would find happiness with each other. Because she can see Peter and Nebula clearly make each other happy. Peter is taken aback, but can't deny that he appreciates Gamora's words.

While they're talking, Nebula hears Gamora's laughter and turns to spot Peter and Gamora quietly talking in the kitchen. She can't stop the pang of disappointment and jealousy that rises up within her, again, and is immediately annoyed at herself. Of course this is what would happen. It’s fine. In fact, it’s what should happen. Even if she’d thought Peter accepting Gamora’s death and moving on was a good thing, this is better. It must be. After all, Nebula just wants Peter to be happy, and this will make him happy. She supposes that Peter and Gamora really are destined to be together, no matter what. Nebula sighs and tries to turn her attention back to the party.

But to Nebula's surprise, when Peter and Gamora end their conversation and leave the kitchen, there’s no real change in their behavior. They don’t spend extra time together, or flirt, or anything. It’s all very casual and fun-group-vibes between them. In fact, Peter instead almost immediately returns to hanging out by Nebula’s side, sitting next to her on the couch for present-opening and offering to get her a refill on eggnog at one point. Rocket notices and mockingly waves his mug at Peter: “And how come you’re not offering me more eggnog, too, Quill?” He enjoys watching how easily he can fluster Peter now, watching him immediately turn pink and bite out a retort - something about Nebula working hard to lead Knowhere and deserving a break at least for today - as he walks away with her mug.

For Nebula's part, she loves having Peter close and having his attention throughout the evening, but also tries to remind herself that it doesn’t actually mean anything. He's just a good friend, which she's grateful for.

When it’s time to open presents, everyone receives their wrapped Secret Santa gift and takes turns opening them up. Before they start, Nebula pulls out additional gifts for her invited guests - Morgan, Pepper, and Gamora - as well as a shared gift for Jason and Peter’s step-grandma, since none of them were part of the Guardians’ gift exchange. After Pepper exclaims, "Nebula, you didn't have to do this!" Nebula quietly mumbles that she didn’t want anyone to feel left out. Peter, of course, can hardly contain his adoration at seeing how thoughtful and considerate Nebula is. He already knew how much she'd changed and grown from the angry, bitter assassin he'd first met so many years ago - but sometimes, it still could take his breath away to stop and notice it.

Once it's Nebula’s turn to open her Secret Santa gift, it turns out to be a winter hat and necklace (referencing Kraglin's line in GOTG2: "I was talking about, like, a pretty necklace. Or a nice hat. You know. Something to make the other girls go "Ooh, that's nice." 😆) Nebula immediately bursts into surprised laughter, finally realizing why Kraglin was so excited to get her a gift. She can’t believe he remembered a throwaway line from nearly twelve years ago, essentially creating the longest-payoff joke ever. Peter is, of course, once again filled with jealousy watching the two of them laugh together, wishing more than anything that he’d been assigned to get Nebula’s gift. He would have gotten her something so much better than stupid Kraglin… 

Later in the evening, after everyone is tired from all the festivities and food, Pepper says it’s time to get Morgan to bed. Kevin Bacon and Gamora say they’ll head out too. As they get coats on and head for the door, Nebula observes the goodbye between Peter and Gamora (trying not to make it obvious that she’s doing so) and, to her surprise, observes that it’s quite casual. Peter doesn’t seem broken up to say goodbye to Gamora at all. That’s…strange. 

🎄 Christmas night:

After the non-Knowhere guests leave, everyone else finds their way to the couches to watch a Christmas movie (probably Elf because it’s my favorite 🥺). Once the movie ends, Peter jumps off the couch and excitedly asks who’s still up for driving around to see the Christmas lights, now that it’s sufficiently dark outside. Nebula nods and gets up, too.

However, over the evening, as more people observed Peter and Nebula dancing around each other, it became an unspoken agreement that no one else would join this nighttime drive and would instead give the two some time alone. So everyone shrugs off Peter's idea, saying they’re too tired and would rather stay in and watch another Christmas movie. Drax nearly messes it up, forgetting the plan and exclaiming, “Oh yes, I shall join you, in search of another little funny man to -” only to be shushed by Mantis and yanked back to the couch. Peter shrugs, “Whatever, your loss for all being lame.” He and Nebula start to get bundled up to go outside, with Nebula putting on her new winter hat, of course.

Starting here, Nebula and Peter’s late-night driving adventure follows the first verse of “You Are In Love” (which is such an amazing Starbula song 😭)...like basically word for word. So I recommend pausing to listen to it first lol.

They get into Peter’s car and decide to stop by a coffee shop drive-thru to get some festive drink for the road (again, cue the “YAIL” first verse 🤡). Peter and Nebula then have a magical time driving around and looking at the Christmas lights. A snowstorm begins at some point, adding to the lovely holiday vibes. Peter decides to park the car so they can walk around in the snowstorm, shoulders brushing as they look up at the lights and the snow gently falling around them. It’s basically Hallmark-movie perfect…and once again…cue the “YAIL” first verse lyrics 😆

And because I think it sounds adorable, at some point they both get hungry and can only find one local restaurant that’s open at midnight on Christmas. Maybe a Chinese place? Or a 24-hour diner?

For Nebula, this whole night is basically heaven. She’s never been on a date (nor does she expect to ever do so), and she knows this isn’t actually one, but still. It’s as close to a perfect night as she’s ever had: sitting in a cheap restaurant booth with the man she's in love with, laughing while they both try - and fail - to eat their Chinese food with chopsticks. No missions or responsibilities, no drunken Peter, no other Guardians around. Just the two of them having fun together. Is this what it’s like to be on a date with someone you love? Nebula wonders. She tries to cherish every moment, knowing she’ll likely never get this opportunity again.

Peter is feeling basically the same thing, except he does know what it’s like to go on a date with someone you love, and he knows that this feels like that. He wishes he could be brave enough to try to hold Nebula’s hand, or do something to hint at his feelings - but he can’t risk ruining this perfect night. So he keeps his feelings quiet, just enjoying time with the woman who, against all odds, has become his closest friend and the person he loves (and he does admit it to himself that night - that not only does he have feelings for Nebula, but he loves her. It’s both a scary and exhilarating realization).

Peter drives them back to Jason’s house around 1 am. Once inside, they find the living room empty, with a note on the table saying, “We headed back to Knowhere in Mantis’ ship. See you guys later. Merry Christmas.” The keys to the pod that the Knowhere crew had flown to get to earth (which was parked, invisible, on the Quill's front lawn) were left on top of the note for Nebula.

Peter exclaims, outraged: “Wait, they ditched us?! On Christmas?!" Nebula laughs and starts to say she can also get out of his hair and head back to Knowhere too, since it's late, but Peter interjects: “Wait, what about watching [some movie he'd told her about earlier in the day]?” Nebula doesn’t have to be told twice - if Peter wants her to stay and to continue hanging out, she’ll do it as long as she can. She hardly ever takes time off from running Knowhere, after all.

Peter grabs Nebula one of his t-shirts to change into, so they can both get comfortable on the couch for the movie. Which, yes, is another line from “YAIL." 🤣 Exhausted from the full day, they both end up falling asleep during the movie.

🎅 Post-Christmas morning:

When Jason walks into the living room the next morning, he gets a kick out of seeing these two losers sleeping next to each other on the couch. He internally makes a bet that they’ll be dating by the summer. (Little does he know that their mutual pining will continue for nearly another whole year, even after Peter finally gets his GED and moves back to Knowhere to help Nebula run the city.)

When Nebula wakes up, she’s embarrassed to have fallen asleep on the couch, assuming she's definitely overstayed her welcome by now, but Peter and his grandparents insist they’re glad she’s stayed over. They also insist that she stays for breakfast and to do some kind of post-Christmas family tradition. Maybe Peter's grandparents make some special day-after-Christmas breakfast every year, idk. 

Nebula ends up staying through the afternoon, maybe even helping Peter study for his GED (even though she doesn’t know much more about earth than he does), and Peter's grandparents are totally charmed by her. This is nice foreshadowing for whenever Peter and Nebula finally get together, the four of them will have a lot of family time like this. :’)

When Nebula finally heads back to Knowhere that evening, she and Peter have an extremely drawn-out and awkward goodbye at the front door, neither wanting to end this time together. Peter’s grandparents get a kick out of observing it all, including how Peter longingly stares after Nebula as she gets into the invisible ship - and how he continues to stare at the sky, even though he can't see her fly away.

And over the next few weeks/months until they see each other again, whenever Peter and Nebula miss each other (which is often!), they both comfort themselves by remembering their magical Christmas in Missouri together. 🥺🥲

Soooooo there’s my Starbula-pining-filled headcanon about the first Christmas after GOTG3! Nothing groundbreaking here, but I really do think something like this would be realistic in post-GOTG3 canon. Like, how could Peter not invite his Knowhere family to celebrate Christmas with his grandparents? And since nothing will ever stop me from headcanoning that Peter eventually develops/realizes his feelings for Nebula after returning to earth, this additional Starbula stuff also fits right in.

Anyway, this scenario was very fun to imagine 🥰 And I hope it was fun to read!

[f4llingst4rb0y]

Ok so I have this idea for a Gravityfalls au and I'm a little obsessed with the idea right now so let me know if anyone wants to hear more about it 😖

(I have no idea if anyone's done this yet, but if so pls lmk bc I'd love to see it)

ANYWAY HERE IT IS, ENJOY WHILE I WORK ON HOMEWORK!!!!

Basically, it's an au where Dipper and Mabel get kicked out at sixteen by their stepmom(?) and end up walking around before ending up in front of a house where Emma-May Dixion (Fiddleford's ex/Tates mom) lives.

She takes them in and she calls Tate down from GravityFalls to help her find a place for these two kids and he recognizes the two from when they spent a couple summers down in GravityFalls, so he says he'll take them there so they can stay with their great uncles.

Obviously, the twins are like excited and happy to go to GravityFalls to see their grunkles, and so Tate does as he said, promising his mom he'll keep her updated.

Over the journey back to Oregon, they all sorta bond, and it's nice even though Dipper is tense and very guarded while Mabel is just happy to go to a proper home. When they arrive the twins are greeted by worried grunkles and questions by their friends on why they're back in the fall instead of the summer, they don't say much but enough to let them know it wasn't good.

During the course of the twins settling in the shack, it's really complicated. Now that soos and his grandmother are living in the shack and Ford and Stan as well, it's incredibly crowded. Especially with Fiddleford coming around at times, mostly to check on the younger twins, but still.

Mabel eventually feels pretty good after a couple of days, but Dipper, on the other hand, is super tense and quiet. The only person who can get him to answer a question or to talk is Mabel, and it's really awkward for everyone in the house who isn't used to Dipper being so..different.

Later on, the Mcguckets and Pines make a small outing plan in celebration of the twins being safe and everything going well.

They end up hanging out by the lake where Tate works, and Dipper separates himself from the group because it's all just too much for him.

Dippers, too, in his head to realize Tate is sitting next to him, and when he does, he jumps and sort of just watches him from the corner of his eye.

The two make small talk, which soon morphs into them talking about family and fathers and all kinds of things. It doesn't take long for Tate to get attached to the two twins, they're really great kids.

Soon enough the conversation of how the grunkles most likely cannot be their legal gaurdians comes up and the twins are like devastated, but here comes Tate suggesting he could take em in.

Mostly because if he does, they'd still be related if Fiddleford and Stan are together. So really it's not a bad plan at all, Mabel is loving it because she honestly loves spending time with the man and she thinks it'd be nice to get him as a dad and be able to call Fiddleford grandpa.

Dipper, though, freaks out. Internally of course because he doesn't want to bring his sister down but he's secretly terrified because yeah Tate is a cool guy and he's super nice and his dad is also cool but at the same time he kinda barely knows the guy and he hates the idea of some guy just taking him and his sister away from his grunkles.

Like yeah he knows Tate will most likely let them see their grunkles but he's also terrified because he's started to like Tate and he's caught himself a few times thinking of what it'd be like to have him as a dad but he pushed the thought away as soon as it came.

It's not like he was scared that when Tate does adopt them and legally gets to be their father and all that, hell regret it. Dipper knows he's stubborn, knows he lashes out when he's upset, how he assumes the worst in almost any scenario, how he can't do anything like his sister.

Dipper knows that once Tate takes them in, he'll see how Mabel is the better twin, and he'll kick Dipper out and then never want to see him again. But no, Dipper is not scared of any of that. Whatsoever.

It takes a couple of fights and a few breakdowns, but they get there, Tate adopts the twins and makes them official McGuckets.

They all celebrate with a small party and it's a little rough, Dipper hasn't called Tate dad yet but that's ok because Tate is a patient man and he knows it's a hard transition anyway.

But when the time comes when Dipper finally calls Tate "dad," he most certainly doesn't cry.

[amyyythestarry]

CHAPTER 109 OF TBHK!

I love how Tsu’s feet is just kicked up, like always. I find it so hilarious because people are calling him fruity💀.

Fruity a** pose.

Him and his brother, omg.

The bestie look, the look of secret telepathy I knew I would see it from them. I really want to see it from the Yugi twins too. Like, twin telepathy, then saying stuff at the same time/doing something in sync, maybe as humans people get them mixed up or they swap for the day. I always imagine them just being silly stereotypical twins.

Yes Teru is pissed.

Also Mirai not being able to read is funny to me.

In an au where they are alive, in my aus where they are all in the Near Shore, she just has dyslexia.

Tsu’s smug smile, enjoying his ambiguity and unknowing-ness. Just a drama king in disguise and wants to mysteriously introduce himself.

Mr. B**ch. Step forward.

Jesus.

They for real called him out. Can’t even claim it’s bs.

I didn’t realize this before, but the fact Tsukasa is surprised is really funny.

Because if you think about it, Hanako has been acting more like how he was as a human, ‘Amane’, than he is as a supernatural, as ‘Hanako’. Being embarrassed for himself.

The Amane Tsukasa knew was not perverted, and if he was then he probably kept that to himself, instead of Hanako, who outwardly acts as a perv.

“Amane, you want to do pervy stuff?” - 🫢

Tsukasa, as the very non-perverted person he is, must actually be shocked that his dear old twin brother would be and want to do such a thing. Maybe not disgusted like Teru and Akane obviously is, but since that’s not a part of Amane he know he will hold this in his memory bank. Now he knows you’re a pervert Amane. He’ll probably never let you ‘live’ this down.

She just a little baby, she can’t even reach over the thing!

Her first time in court she was only 3 years old.

I wonder when she’ll turn back to normal?

I love love love Akanene, I’m sorry y’all.

But c’mon, HE’S DEFENDING HER, STICKING UP FOR HER, WANTING HER TO WIN HER CASE.

Platonic or not, they are the sh**.

In the MangaUp translation it said “Do you really think I’m a sociapath?” ( Or something like that ) He definitely is.

Not Tsu saying he would. Everyone’s reading him like an open book, omg. 😭

Akane has nothing to say.

The way he just smiles silently, looks up to see if his fellow criminals will defend him, even a little. Not even Nene did though.

C’mon Teru, Akane was expecting a message of love. Whatever, they’re the yaoi ever.

Pose of innocence.

Then rats himself out.

He can’t help his brutal honesty.

The word ‘smithereens’ is something I don’t want to hear.

Feed him to the owls is crazy.

I love characters who talk in first person when addressing themselves. Doesn’t Tiara also do that?

Totally random, but Tiara and Mirai would be besties.

And Tsu smiling without concern.

I cannot be the only one who is dissatisfied that something didn’t happen to him?

Like really, we could have seen what the Tsu of TBHK future was, we could have seen him disappear/die. And I love him with all my heart, but you cannot admit that that would not be a plot turner, or exciting to see something bad happen to him.

He just had to use that little sprinkle of hope, the power of what? F**king friendship? Loyalty to carry out his job? From thin air.

He’s still amazing though.

Was he yelling as Amane, the caring big brother, or Hanako, the leader of the mysteries who used his twin powers to predict what Tsu was going to do and knew it was going to lead to something bad? Maybe both.

Also, is this just a general warning, or will this have consequences later?

Signature move I guess.

Jii-san. Says the person who doesn’t care for supernaturals, calling the supernatural that tricked and got him involved with the school mysteries, ‘grandpa’..

Let us just hope Akane will survive the next chapter ok?

I wonder if his body is actually different from his human body though? Does he actually have gears inside of him? Or is Tsu just making assumptions.

But, wasn’t he in Clock Keeper form when he got a hole stabbed in his chest in the severance arc?

Oh god.

Whatever, I’m just gonna place my bets that Tsukasa will somehow be stopped. Probably not by Akane though, he’s the weakest school mystery and can’t even stand a chance against Teru.

Nice chapter, I was honestly expecting jail time.

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 6: The Devil Takes Care of His Own

Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

Warnings: language, I think this chapter is pretty tame?

Word count: 2,255ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being a sounding board for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being a cheerleader, and allowing me to screech at her about things that have happened during the writing process. Seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y’all! 💛

Author's note: I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well! 💛🤓

Stella pulled up to the ranch. When she had gotten a text from Rip last night to come in today by noon, she had wanted to die. Breathing out loudly, she shut the car off and prepared herself for the potential heartbreak that was about to happen. She looked to her left and realized she had parked next to Kayce’s truck. ‘Shit. What’s he doing here?’

She immediately felt her chest tighten. What if John had lied to get him here to back him into a corner and to help make sure she would stay in line when he fired her and kicked her out?

“Fuuuuck,” she drug the syllable out quietly. She shook her head. ‘No. There’s no way Kayce would let that happen.’ Sliding her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, she hopped out of the SUV.

Glancing around, Stella could see a lot of activity for the day in full swing. It looked like they were separating steer prospects they didn’t want to keep. She didn’t see Kayce, but she did spot her brother. She smiled affectionately seeing him doing the work he loved to do. When her eyes landed farther to the right, she saw Tate leaning on the fence watching with childlike wonder.

She wandered over to the little boy. “Hey bud!”

“Oh hey Aunt Stell! Isn’t this cool?”

“Yeah it sure is. I love watching them.” She smiled. She whispered conspiratorially to him. “It’s even more fun to do it though.”

Tate looked at her with wide eyes. “You’ve done this before??”

She smiled. “Yessir I have. Plenty of times. With my brother and your dad, and your grandpa.”

“Woaahhh! That’s awesome! I wanna do it too!” Her best friend’s son practically started to levitate with excitement.

“Well you’ve gotta be just a little bit bigger for that, bud.” She chuckled. “Speaking of your dad, do you know where he went?”

“I think he went to talk to grandpa.”

Stella sighed. “Okay I’m gonna go find them. Stay on this fence and not the inside one, alright?” She ruffled his hair gingerly and he giggled. Stella knew Tate knew better, but she couldn’t help herself to give the warning anyhow.

Stella circled around and gave everything a passing glance. It was almost like an out of body stream of consciousness. Her eyes stopped as they landed on the two men in question looking in her direction. She was sure she turned seven different shades of pale. Stretching her neck from side to side, she walked toward them. Little did Stella know, they watched her from the moment she pulled in.

“Is this my judge and jury pair?” It was spiteful of her to say that. She cringed and started again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be like that.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Kayce asked, surprised at her rough greeting. Stella’s eyes darted to John, whose face was stoic, but his eyebrows raised slightly. He hadn’t told Kayce.

She tried to smooth past her slip. “Nothin’. Y’all just seemed like you were ready to make big decisions for everyone’s day. So the judge,” she motioned at John, “and the jury.” She finished pointing to Kayce. “I’m also just in rare form today apparently.”

Kayce decided to ignore that and looked at his dad. “How’s that stallion treatin’ ya?”

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving.” John snorted and looked around.

Stella laughed quietly. “He’s definitely giving everyone a run for their money. And I’m almost outta money.”

“Kayce, let me borrow Stella for a second.”

The younger Dutton stopped shifting on his feet. He passed a look between his dad and his best friend, confused. “Sure. Don’t need my permission.”

John waved his hand for Stella to follow him. Kayce caught the sight of her wiping her hands on her legs. Why was she nervous to talk to his dad, of all people? This is the girl that told his dad to ‘go fuck himself and get off his high horse, it’s not just about you’ when she defended him back when she was 18. He reached out to grab her arm, but his fingertips barely brushed it. She fixed him with a look that made him stop any form of question.

When the eldest Dutton and Stella walked around the corner, she let out a heavy sigh. She leaned her shoulder on the wall while she placed her hands in her back pockets.

“Well, let’s have it, sir.” She tried to brace herself for the hit.

John pinned her to her spot with a look of warning. “I heard your conversation with Rip last night.”

“And I meant every word.” She answered confidently. “If you think I’d have loose lips, you really don’t know me like I thought you might have.”

Kayce had snuck up behind them. “What the hell are you accusing her of?”

Stella threw her hands up and let them slap back on her thighs. She hadn’t planned on telling Kayce, but he inserted himself into the problem.“Well, now is as good a time as any. I overheard a conversation, and decided to sneak out instead of making my presence known. Your dad saw me leave, and then I lied to him about it because I didn’t know he saw me.”

“So you’re questioning her integrity?”

“No, son, that already happened. I’m telling her she’s allowed to stay. My men trust her. My son,” he paused to look directly at Kayce, “trusts her. I’ve never had any issues. So I’m letting it slide. Once. I think she’s learned her lesson. But Stella?”

She looked at him wide eyed. “Yessir?”

“Lie to my face again?” She understood the hidden meaning of the slippery slope. “Now, I’m going to go see my grandson.”

“Stella, c’mon.” Kayce left her no room for argument. The way he turned and walked off told her he was definitely pissed. She rolled her eyes and fixed her glasses. “Come on.” She heard Kayce press.

Stella picked up her pace to catch him. “I’m comin’, I’m comin’. Jeez.”

Kayce whipped around at her when they got to the tack room. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?!”

She placed a hand on the middle of his chest to keep him out of her face, “woah woah woah there, cowboy. I didn’t keep anything from you,” then removed it just as fast. “You were dealing with a lot. It’s not your responsibility to mend my busted fences.”

“But he’s my dad, and he should fuckin’ know better. Especially when it comes to you.”

“Those kinds of things get forgotten. Especially when it wasn’t happening to his family, Kayce. Of course he remembers yours.” Both sets of eyes glazed over for a minute, recollecting the memory.

“I could have reminded him. I could’ve made your life so much easier.”

“Yeah, but how will I learn anything if you’re fixing things for me all the time?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “You won’t always be there to save me. Also, just because I’m your best friend, doesn’t mean I should get preferential treatment either. I’m still an employee here, ya know.”

Stella went to lean against the work table against the back wall. She leaned back on her hands and gazed at Kayce. “You know, this is the same exact conversation you helped me have with my brother when I turned 18. I’m not doing it twice.” She scoffed out a humorless chuckle. “Everything is fine, Kace. Next time I’ll announce myself to the conversation with bells and confetti.”

“That’s not funny, and you know it. This could have been bad.” He scoffed back at her, but still came to lean next to her. Touching shoulders like always.

“Rip wouldn’t have let it get there.” Stella defended.

Kayce had a sudden realization. “Wait, is that why you thought I was here? To help kick you out? Do you really think I would have let that happen?!”

She sighed harshly. “No Kayce. I don’t. I do, however, think your dad would have lied to get you here and back you into a corner. I’ve seen him do it before.”

“Also wait a minute, Rip?! I could stop the problem at the starting gate.” Kayce ignored the accusation about his father. He knew she was right.

She joked. “So now we’re derby runners? I thought we were cowboys.”

“Stella…” He let her name fall off in a warning.

She put her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. It’s not funny. If I saw things start to really go sideways, I would have come to you. I promise.” Stella fixed her glasses while she played with the bottom of her T-shirt. It was time to change the subject. “So how are you? How’s Monica?”

“I’m alright. Day by day, you know. Monica…? She’s holding on, but I can’t talk to her.”

Her face scrunched up. “Since when can’t you talk to her? I would expect that to happen between us before it happened with you two.”

“There’s something I did that can’t be forgiven.”

“Kayce… I highly doubt there is anything you could do, that she wouldn’t forgive you for.”

“Not this.”

“So what is it?”

“I can’t tell you either.” He looked down. Defeated. Stella observed him for a minute. He looked lost. Scared almost. The look reminded her of that day they snuck out and got trapped by a brown bear and she threw herself in front of Kayce right as Rip came galloping up to save them.

“Well, I know when you’re ready, you’ll tell me. But you’ve gotta talk to your wife, Kayce. You can’t leave her in the dark. It probably hurts her that you’re avoiding her.”

“You think I don’t know that? I just, can’t break her heart like this.” Stella reached over and patted his back between his shoulders.

“Whatever it is, cowboy, we’ll get through it. I’ll be here to help as long as you want me to be.”

Kayce pulled out his phone to check the time. His dad and son had been gone for quite some time.

“I gotta go get a horse. I need to find Tate.”

Stella practically jogged to keep up with Kayce. He was headed Rip’s way. Ryan and Colby walked in the opposite direction towards the friend pair. They were headed to dinner. Ryan could be heard calling Fred a dipshit. She let out a hearty laugh because it was the god's honest truth. As they got closer, they could hear Rip talking to Lloyd. He told him to give Fred his wages and send him on his way. ‘Oo shit.’ Her eyebrows raised. Jimmy limped by them.

She shouted at Jimmy. “What the hell happened to you?!” She stopped following Kayce to talk to Jimmy. In her peripheral vision, she saw Kayce stop and glance back at her and Jimmy to watch the interaction. Stella reached out to examine the bloody lip Jimmy acquired and the nice goose egg on his forehead. Kayce exhaled loudly, and Stella was all but sure there was an eyeroll and clenched jaw attached to it, but he continued moving.

Jimmy side eyed the youngest Dutton. “Uh, it’s nothing. You go catch up with Kayce.”

Rip yelled at Stella as he and Kayce went into the barn. “Don’t you dare fuckin’ clean ‘im up! Let everybody see!”

“I’m at least gonna give you some Tylenol. Rip can suck my ass if he gets pissy about me going to the bunkhouse for that. C’mon.” She pulled Jimmy along to the bunkhouse.

As Stella searched for the Tylenol, the air was tense between them. She could feel he wanted to ask her something.

“Go ahead and ask Jimmy. I’m mostly an open book.” She nosed around in the top cabinet.

“Oh it’s nothing.”

She looked at him disapprovingly above her lenses. “Yeah and I’m Miss America.”

“Okay so I’m probably wrong, but is there something going on between you and Kayce?”

If she would have had water in her mouth, it would have been spat across the room. “What?!”

Jimmy fidgeted around. “Well you guys are really close and I’ve seen how you look at him.”

Stella found the bottle in the back of the cabinet. She turned to face Jimmy with as much seriousness as she could muster and a deadpan face. “For the love of god, don’t repeat that thought to anyone else. I’ll be dead in 24 hours. Whether from embarrassment, or Monica murdering me herself, I don’t know.” She snapped the cabinet shut. “No, there's nothing going on between me and a married man. He’s just my best friend. Always has been, always will be.”

“Oh yeah definitely. I just maybe thought —,”

“— Well you thought wrong.” Stella interrupted, and roughly shoved the bottle at Jimmy. “Here’s your Tylenol. Keep those thoughts to yourself. Clear?”

“Crystal.” Jimmy watched as Stella stomped off. He heard the telltale jingle of her keys and the front door slam.

Stella stormed past the picnic tables where everyone had gathered. Ryan and Colby called out to her as she stalked by, only to be ignored and left perplexed. Even Rip and Lloyd shared a look.

By the time she made it to her SUV, she reached a boiling point. She huffed and puffed while blindly searching for the unlock button. Hopping in, she jammed the key into the ignition. Stella was ready to go home and get away from this cursed place for the night.

She felt like a child with how she reacted. If anything, her reaction made her seem guiltier than she was.

[boybandbaby]

My Way

Pairing: Dad!Eddie x Reader; Other Characters: Elliot (Eddie's Daughter), Uncle/Grandpa Wayne, Robin Buckley, Mentions of Eddie's parents, Uncle Steve Harrington, Elliot's mom

Summary: You take Eddie's daughter to get a haircut, Eddie's not too happy about it.

Word Count: 4K+

Notes: Eddie's daughter was born Ellie but goes by Elliot (this fic explores her dabbling in gender expression, Elliot uses she/her pronouns)

Warnings: ANGSTY, light fluff, slightly mean Eddie (with reason), talks of bullying, parental abandonment, curse words. If there is anything I missed, please let me know.

“Hi, Dad!” Elliot cheers as she opens the front door to the trailer. She tosses her mini backpack on the couch before hugging him. Eddie is already bending his knees to reach her height. Even though she’s only 11, she's already super tall. The top of her head reaches just below his shoulders. “I got a haircut! Look!” She pulls her black and grey striped hoodie off of her head. 

Eddie's eyes widen and he gives an awkward smile. “Whoa! Look at you. It’s so short.” He grabs a piece of her brown hair and moves it out of her eyes.

“Do you like it?” She’s smiling so wide and Eddie doesn’t have the heart to tell her he doesn’t like it so he nods and pulls her in for another hug.

Meanwhile, you’re standing by the door, having just pulled your jacket off and kicked off your shoes. 

“I’m going to go take a selfie to show my friends!” Elliot screeches and runs to the couch for her backpack. She skips to hug you as you approach the two of them. Her arms wrap around your waist as she squeezes, mumbling several “thank yous”. You gasp, taken aback before laughing and hugging her back. 

You can sense that Eddie is not as excited as the two of you are. He’s watching you both and waiting for Elliot to leave the room. Once she shuts her bedroom door, he turns away from you. He busies himself by looking through the mail coupons on the kitchen counter.

“Eddie?” You say softly. “Hi. I missed you today.”

He completely ignores your statement and aggressively turns to the next page of coupons. He then slams the papers closed before turning to you and resting his backside on the edge of the counter. “You said she was going with you to the salon not that you were taking her to get a haircut.”

“Well, she was just going to accompany me and get her head washed and massaged but then she asked for a haircut and I didn’t think it would be a problem since you had been telling her that her hair was getting long.” You ramble. “Are you mad?” It’s a dumb question because you can basically see the steam blowing from his ears.

“Mad?” He scoffs. “Y/n, I’m pissed. Do you even realize how bad this is? She could get bullied for it. She already changed her name, I don’t want her to get hurt.” Eddie's voice is loud. His words and volume make Elliot jump. She tells her friends she has to go real quick and hangs the phone up. She quietly creeps towards her bedroom door.

“I understand that Eddie but she wanted it and she's so happy.” You sigh. “I’m sorry. You’re right to be angry and I should’ve called you first.”

“You can’t make decisions like that Y/n. You’re not her mom.” He growls. It’s quite possibly the angriest he’s ever been at you or even near you. Your heart and eyes sting at his comment, his tone, his complete vibe.

“I know I’m not her mom Eddie. I am well aware.” Your eyes water. “I was just trying to help her.”

“You think this is helping her? You’ve made things worse!” His voice raises. Elliot flinches. Her carefree, fun-loving dad is now a cold, bitter man.

“I’m sorry Eddie. What can I do to fix this?” You plead.

“Nothing. I think you should go.” He quiets down and looks towards Elliot’s room. He sees the door is still closed and hopes she hasn’t heard anything.

Eddie doesn’t respond to your goodbye, he doesn’t walk you out to your car, and he doesn’t answer your call when you get home.

Day 1

Hi, good morning my love Read at 8:04 am

Look, can we please start over, or maybe just forget about last night? Read at 7:09 pm

Okay, maybe that was a stupid suggestion. Can we talk about it? Read at 8: 37 pm

Day 2

Hi babe, I hope you have a good day today. I love you. Read at 8:20 am

Voicemail: Please don’t give me the silent treatment. We both said we’d never do that. We said we’d communicate our feelings and frustrations. You’re shutting me out. 

Goodnight Eddie. I love you. I hope you and Elliot had a good day today. Delivered

Day 3

Good morning handsome. I hope you got some sleep last night. Have a good day. I love you. Delivered

Voicemail: I’m literally making myself look pathetic trying to get you to talk to me, Eddie. I’m sorry. Please give me a call when you get this.

Elliot had begged Wayne to drive her to your apartment. She missed you so much.

“Please, Grandpa? I have to see her and apologize.”

“Kid, we shouldn’t get involved. This is between your dad and Y/n. I know you love her and want to see her but your dad would be really mad if I took you to see her.”

“But Dad is mad at her for no reason. He should be mad at me if anything. I just want to tell y/n that I’m sorry.”

Wayne sighed. “Kid-”

“Grandpa…” Elliot whined and pouted. 

“God, you have your dad’s eyes.” Wayne chuckled. Eddie always got his way with Wayne by giving his puppy eyes and now his daughter is doing the same thing.

“Look, we can just go for 5 minutes and we don’t even have to tell dad. He won’t even know.” 

“Fine.” Wayne groaned and grabbed his keys by the door.

Your entire being perked up when you heard the knock on your door. You hoped it was Eddie, here to let you apologize and hopefully make up for your mistake. When you opened the door, you had to drop your eyes. You were expecting to see a tall mess of curls but were met with a shorter set of curls.

“Hi! Elliot! What are you doing here?” You pulled her in for a hug. “Where’s your dad?”

“I’m actually here with Grandpa Wayne.” She smiles shyly and points a thumb over her shoulder to Wayne sitting parked in his truck. You both make eye contact and wave awkwardly. It was never awkward between you and Wayne. Eddie must’ve told him what happened. You didn’t doubt that.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I know you and Dad aren’t dating anymore because of me.” Oh? So he did break up with you. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. This is on me. I promise.” You pull her in for a hug. “Whatever happens between me and your dad, it is not your fault okay? I’m the adult, I should’ve known better. I know I’m not your birth mom Elliot but I love you so much okay? I’ll always be here for you.”

“But I want you to be my mom.” She cries. “I love you a lot.”

Your unshed tears begin to stream down your face. “I love you a lot too.” You kiss her hairline. “Everything will work out, I promise.”

“But what if it doesn’t?”

“I’ll still be here for you. I’m serious about that.” You hold her by her shoulders. “You should head back.” She nods and skips down the steps, running to Wayne’s truck. He waves and then drives off. You can see Elliot watching you as she fades away in the distance.

Day 4

You don’t text Eddie today. You have to start slowly learning to be okay without him. Yesterday was too hard for you to handle. Not only will you be losing Eddie but you’ll also be losing Elliot. The idea hurts you to your core. It sucks. 

Eddie was good at keeping his emotions hidden. He’d done it throughout high school. When the bullies hurled insults and names at him, he appeared as if they rolled off of him but they truly stuck to him like magnets on a fridge. Eddie felt like he was dying inside. Ignoring your calls and text, replaying your voicemails just to hear your voice, scrolling through his pictures just to see your face, he was driving himself nuts. He knew a part of him was being selfish but he didn’t care. He was scared for his kid. His daughter was so pure and full of joy. He didn’t want her to experience life the way he had. 

Eddie had broken down after high school. Everything had hit him at once and he never fully healed from the jocks or townpeople who treated him as the Hawkin’s Freak. He was only 20 when he lost his virginity and got an older woman pregnant. Once she had the baby, she had left her at the hospital, only for Eddie to show up to an empty room with flowers. The nurses shoved the baby into his arms before he could process what happened. Elliot, born Ellie, had been the best thing in his life. Sure he was stressed and struggling as a single father but he had Wayne’s help alongside his friends. 

Then, on a sunny day at the park while eating a double scoop of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone and kicking a soccer ball with Elliot, he met you. For the past year and a half, he had been the happiest he’s ever been. He has a wonderful daughter and a loving girlfriend but then he lets his past ruin it. 

“Dad?” Elliot's voice rings, breaking Eddie’s thoughts as he drives home from the grocery store.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good kiddo.”

“You’re really quiet. Like abnormally quiet.”

“Look at you with your big words.” He jokes though the tone doesn’t come through.

“Dad,” Elliot says sternly. “I know something’s going on with you and Y/n. I heard you guys fighting.”

“We weren’t fighting. We just had a bit of a disagreement.” Eddie rubs his bottom lip with the top of his pointer finger.

“I know I’m only 11 but I’m not dumb ya know.” Elliot huffs, crosses her arms, and sit back in her seat. “I know it’s my fault that you two aren’t talking anymore.”

“Hey, that’s not true.” Eddie checks the rearview mirror, then the passenger side mirror before crossing lanes to park on the side of the road. He shuts the van off and unbuckles his belt. He turns to Elliot who is looking out of the side window. Eddie can see her watery eyes and quivering lip.

“Look, what happened between Y/n and I is not your fault, okay?”

“But it is! I asked Y/n to take me to get a haircut. I chose what type of haircut to get. You hate it and you’re mad.”

“I don’t hate it. Well, I do but only because I’m scared for you not because I don’t like the style. I’m sorry. You look beautiful. The haircut looks nice on you.”

“You know who’s more beautiful than me? Y/n.” She smiles. Eddie chuckles and ruffles his hair.

“I think you love y/n more than you love your own dad.”

“Ehhh, maybe.” she laughs. 

“I’ll talk to Y/n tomorrow. I’ll fix everything. Don’t worry.”

“Why did you get mad Dad?” Elliot inquires.

“When I was younger, I got bullied a lot. After my mom left, Wayne got stuck with me. He didn’t know how to raise me and we didn’t have a lot of money. I often wore clothes until they couldn’t be used anymore. I was really tall so my pants were above my ankles and my shirt sleeves were too short. Kids made fun of me because I didn’t have the new shoes that everyone else had or I didn’t have a brand-new backpack.” Eddie can feel himself getting emotional. “Even as I got older, I didn’t like the same music everyone else liked. People thought I was a devil worshipper because I played D&D. I’m just worried that kids will be mean to you the way they were with me.”

“Oh.” She looks down to her lap and plays with her fingers. “Is that why you were scared of me changing my name?”

“Yeah, I love that you want to express yourself in different ways but not everyone is open-minded. Especially in this town. People in Hawkins can be really old-fashioned and huge jerks.”

“I get it now. I’m sorry that happened to you Dad. But I’m strong. Plus I have you and Uncle Stevie to defend me if anyone is me.”

“Me? I can defend you. Uncle Steve? I don’t know, kid.” Eddie laughs. He buckles his belt and heads back home to put the groceries away and start dinner.

Day 5

Voicemail: I know we’re in a really weird place right now. I know it’s my fault. I get it if you want to stop seeing each other. While that would really hurt, I would respect your decision. I never meant to upset, hurt, or offend you, Eddie. I know Elliot is your daughter and not mine. I love her like she is mine. I should’ve asked you before taking her to get a haircut. Please just call me when you’re ready. I need closure. Thursdays are usually our diner date nights. I’ll still be there at 7 if you decide you want to join me. I’m sorry. I love you.

Eddie doesn’t show up. It’s the first Thursday Diner Date that he’s ever missed in your year-and-a-half-long relationship. You realize that maybe you’re actually done for good and he’s never going to give you a second chance. 

Eddie had been having possibly the worst day ever. He woke up late as his alarm never went off. He hadn’t been able to wake up Elliot which means she’s also late for school. Eddie checks his phone only for it to be dead. It was plugged in but not charging. He uses Elliot's phone to call his job and tell them that he woke up late and would be there in an hour. His boss had scolded him but told him he understood. 

Eddie let Elliot hop in the shower which meant he had to skip one this morning. He washed his face in the kitchen sink and got dressed in his usual navy blue coveralls. He had set two bowls of cinnamon toast crunch on the table while Elliot got dressed. He was desperately searching for the keys to his van when he bumped his hip into the already not sturdy table. His bowl of sugary goodness and milk spilled across the table. Eddie groaned and grabbed the roll of paper towels, scooping the mess into a trash can. 

Next, just as they were leaving, Eddie’s sleeve had gotten stuck on the door handle. He cursed to himself before slamming the front door and locking it. When he got to work, his boss had told him to do paperwork and maintenance of the store rather than his typical role of fixing cars. 

On his first break, he tried plugging a charger into his phone and it still wouldn’t charge. He ended up calling Robin to make an appointment for his phone. Robin had been working at Best Buy’s Geek Squad department as a manager and always worked on his phone. Eddie now had to add that to his list of shit to do. He still hadn’t even been able to call or text you to discuss everything that had happened this week. He knew he was being a dick for the most part but he felt it was mostly warranted as a father and former victim of bullying. He promised himself to call you as soon as Robin fixed his phone.

At the end of his shift, he called Wayne to let him know he would be late picking Elliot up from his place as he had to make up the time he was late for then get his phone fixed. Though Wayne only lived a few trailers down, Elliot stayed with him until Eddie got off of work. Eddie never wanted her to be alone and Wayne was more than happy to pick her up from school and spend some time with her. 

When Eddie got to Best Buy, Robin had checked out his phone and told him he had a piece of nacho cheese Doritos in his charging port. Eddie groaned at Robin’s laughter. She told him he would have to wait about an hour. After it was all done, she let him charge his phone for a few minutes before he paid for his services. They bid each other goodbye. Eddie tossed his phone in his pocket, he’d worry about it later. He just wanted to see his daughter and get home to shower. 

It was nearly 10:15 pm when he got home. It was past Elliot’s bedtime. She had done her homework and ate dinner at Wayne’s. Eddie directed her to wash up and get to bed. He kissed her forehead and walked to the freezer. After popping in a tv dinner, Eddie hopped up onto the counter and finally opened his phone. 

When Eddie opened his phone, he didn’t see any new texts from you but had a missed call. He listened to the voicemail and his heart broke. He had forgotten Thursday Diner Date Night and left you alone. He wondered if you were still there hoping he’d show up or if you’d left as soon as 9 pm hit. Eddie cursed himself out before dialing your number. 

He wasn’t surprised when it rang a few times but after more than 15 seconds of no answer, he hung up. He called again and again but all the calls went unsuccessful. 

Eddie: Babe, I’m so sorry. Where are you? Give me a call. Delivered

Eddie didn’t realize 7 minutes had passed. When the microwave beeped that his chicken pot pie was done, he jumped. The bathroom door opened and the light flickered off. “Dad?”

“You ready for bed kid?”

“You okay? You look flustered.” Elliot wiped her mouth with a towel. “Did you talk to Y/n today?”

“I-” Eddie stood up. “I forgot today was Thursday. Can you- can I borrow your phone? I need to call Y/n.”

Eddie thought maybe if you saw Elliot’s name on your phone, you’d answer. He wasn’t surprised that you ignored him the same way he had been ignoring you for the last few days. When you didn’t answer Elliot’s call, he knew something was wrong. You’d never ignore or be rude to Elliot even if you were mad with Eddie.

“Elliot, can you grab a jacket and put some shoes on? I know it’s late but we have to go to Y/n’s apartment.” Eddie bites his lip. He was feeling anxious and nervous, and scared. Did something happen to you or were you officially done with him? Had he waited too long to talk this out? 

Just as Elliot was putting a big black coat on, Eddie opened the front door and ushered her under his arm. “Y/n!” He heard Elliot screech. She ran down the three steps and down the dirt path to your car. You had two bags and a drink carrier in your hands. 

You smiled when you saw her. “It’s late! Where were you going? You should be asleep!” You attempted to wrap your arms around her. She grabbed the drink carrier and walked back up to the trailer. 

“Y/n, what are you going here?” Eddie asks. His tone is angry or mad, he sounds surprised. 

“Look, I know you’re mad at me but I wanted to make things right even if it means we’re broken up. I wanted one last diner date with you. You didn’t answer me and I know I made a mistake but I don’t deserve to be ignored or stood up so we’re going to eat and then talk this out until we come to some sort of conclusion.” You said more aggressively than you intended.

“Yeah, yeah of course. Come in.” Eddie stuttered. “We uh… we were on our way to see you actually.” He grabs one of the bags from you. You head inside to the kitchen, setting the bag on the table where Elliot has taken out the three to-go cups of orange juice. You pull out Eddie’s normal order of French toast with two scrambled eggs smothered in cheese, two slices of bacon, and sausage with hashbrowns and sourdough toast. You then bring out your favorite breakfast order and the next plastic tin is chocolate chip pancakes for Elliot. It had become a tradition to bring chocolate chip pancakes for Elliot to eat Friday morning before school. Elliot was chatting happily with you about her school week while Eddie stood watching you both set the table. 

“Dad, are you going to sit?” Elliot pulled his chair at the head of the table out for him. “You can eat the pot pie for lunch tomorrow instead.”

“I’m going to go wash up real quick. Don’t eat without me okay?” Eddie walked forward and kissed her hairline before going towards the room. He looked up at you, meeting your eyes. This is the most awkward interaction you’ve ever had. Even your first meeting wasn’t this awkward.

“Can I come with you?” You ask meekly.

“Yeah.” He nods. “Elliot, can you pack my lunch for tomorrow?”

“Sure, dad!” She shouts before running to get some Tupperware. Elliot loved helping Eddie pack their work and school lunches whenever they had time. They almost always made a similar sandwich and picked their favorite bag of chips and either a yogurt or pudding with a pack of fruit snacks.

You followed Eddie to his room. He went through his small closet for clean pajamas and underwear. No words were said between the two of you as you watched him. You cleared your throat before asking, “How was your day?”

“An absolute mess from beginning to end.” He sighed before slipping his combat boots off and then his coveralls. “What about you?”

“Not much of a mess but a shitty day.” You lean against the door frame. “I’m sorry for showing up unannounced. I don’t mean to be clingy or pushy. I really don’t Eddie but this isn’t fair for me.”

“I know, I know.” He turns to you. “I let this drag on too long. I got your voicemail today and immediately knew I fucked up. I can’t believe I didn’t show up at the diner. I’ve been such a jerk and you’ve been patient, I mean not really but you have.” You both laugh at that. “I haven’t been super truthful with you.” He tosses his clean clothes over his shoulder. He’s in a white tank top and black boxers as he stands in front of you. He scoops your face into his hands and looks down at you. “I’m so sorry for all that I’ve put you through this week. This whole thing has brought up a lot of emotions and memories from my past that I’ve kept hidden from you.” Eddie begins to ramble about Jason Carver and his dad in prison, his mom leaving, Elliot’s mom abandoning them, being the town freak, and being a three-time high school senior. He lets it all out in a long breathless ramble of tears. 

When he takes a big deep breath, you wrap your arms around his waist. “Is there anything else?” He shakes his head no. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. I’m sorry that I brought up those bad memories. Thank you for telling me.”

“I’m sorry that I’ve been such an asshole. I shouldn’t have kicked you out that night. I should’ve explained why I was upset and scared for Elliot. I broke our promise not to give the silent treatment.” He’s near sobbing now. “I almost let you go because I couldn’t man up and talk to you.”

“Come on, none of that. Yes, you did some questionable things but you did them because you’re an amazing father. You care for your little girl. There’s nothing wrong with that. I love you.” You lean up for a kiss. Eddie wipes his cheeks before leaning down to meet your lips. It had been nearly a week since you both had any contact so you both were going to savor this kiss. 

“Foods getting cold!” You both broke away with a laugh. 

“You heard her, get dressed, Dad. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” You pecked his lips again, closing his door so he could get changed.

Eddie shakes his head before pulling his hair out of his face with a hair tie. He finished changing into his Spiderman pajama pants and a white t-shirt. He then slipped on his “Grandpa Slippers” as Elliot called them before turning the light off and heading into the kitchen. He can hear whispers at the dinner table.

“So he doesn’t know you came to my apartment the other day?”

“Who doesn’t know what?” Eddie asks, making both of you jump.

“Nothing.” Elliot’s eyes widen, grabbing a piece of Eddie’s bacon and eating it. 

“Did you make your Granpda take you to Y/n’s?” Eddie sits in his chair and takes a sip of his orange juice. 

“No!” She squeaks.

“You’ve got your Grandpa wrapped around your finger. Just like me when I was a kid.” Eddie laughs. He looks up at you again and smiles. “You ready to eat?” Both you and Elliot nod. “I love you both. Let’s eat.”

[sponsoredbytonystark]

Here’s part one of the first Grandpa Bobby sorry, this one will come in parts and this first part is more Bobby and May centric.

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“When May finds out she’s pregnant she tells Bobby first because she’s not sure how Athena and Michael are going to react but she has no doubt about Bobby. And she’s right. He’s all, I love you, what can I do to help, this is exciting and scary, do you need anything, let me make you something to eat, do you need a blanket?”

Thanks for the prompt @mattoidmeerkat

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Step By Step: Pt. 1

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh. Shit.

Pacing the floor, May was sure that she was going to wear a hole in the bathroom; stopping abruptly she framed her hands against the side of the sink, letting out the long breath she had forgotten she was holding, watching as it moved her bangs slightly against her forehead.

A plan. She needed a plan. A doctor. She needed a doctor. Help. She needed help.

Her mom was going to freak, despite the leaps and bounds their relationship had made over the last few years, she was going to be pissed. Her dad was out, murder was never on the agenda for today. She loved David, but she felt like giving the poor man a heart attack this soon after the wedding wouldn’t have her winning any step-kid-of-the-year-awards. That left her with one option: Bobby.

Bobby had a plan for everything.

Picking up the tests and shoving them quickly in her purse May ran out of the bathroom, waving a quick goodbye to Josh and Maddie who were posted up outside the breakroom waiting for their shifts to start.

Her mind swarmed with thoughts as she made her way to the firehouse. Could she really do this? What was she going to tell Harry? What was she going to tell Darius? What was she going to tell anyone?

The ride to the station was a far shorter drive then she wished it was in that moment. Looking up at the building she couldn’t help but smile, despite what the world thought about her family, May had spent some of her favorite times in the firehouse. Most people didn’t know that it was her own hideaway during finals: she had a mostly quiet place to study, a minimum of five people who were ready to quiz her at any given moment, and a step dad who always made sure she had a hot meal.

She gets why everyone loves it here, because she does too.

“You’re going to love it here too.” she said as she looked down towards her flat stomach.

Her eyes went wide as she threw the door open; nope, that didn’t just happen.

May walked as calmly as she could as she entered the garage door, it was nearing 7 am, meaning A shift had come off call about forty-five minutes ago. She had heard Bobby sign off so she knew that the team should have mostly cleared out by now. She waved to a few of the B shift that she had met in passing before she walked up the stairs to the Captain’s office.

Breathing in slowly she knocked on the door, hearing a muffled “come in” as she let out the breath and pushed open the door.

“May! What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Despite the small concern in his voice at her surprise visit she couldn’t get past the excitement on his face when he saw her.

She wasn’t sure how to answer his questions; what was she doing here? Was everything okay?

She also couldn’t decide if it was best to just shove the tests at him and run or beg for forgiveness and ask him to protect her from her mother.

So she did what she had been wanting to do for what felt like hours, she cried, and once the tears started there was no stopping them.

Bobby was out of his seat and in front of her before she realized what was happening, “May I need you to talk to me, what’s wrong?” He was doing a visual search for injuries and she could see the wheels turning as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him between sobs as she brought her hands up to cover her face, “I’m so sorry”.

“Hey, hey, none of that, come here.” He replied back as he pulled her into a hug, letting her tears turn the navy of his LAFD polo black.

“I’ve got you, it’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

When the tears had subsided enough that he felt comfortable pulling away, he reached over his desk and handed her tissues; allowing her to put herself back together before he started talking again.

“How do you feel about breakfast? There’s a great diner down the street, and I can be done here in about five minutes. I just need to sign off on Buck’s accident report.”

She couldn’t help the snort that came out at her stepfather’s comment. Her brother was a walking accident.

The diner was surprisingly empty for 8 a.m. on a Wednesday, so they chose the booth closest to the back before settling in. She wanted to look up at him, to meet his eye, but she knew she would spill as soon as she did.

“Well, hello, Captain,” instead May chose to look up at the waitress as she introduced herself.

“Good morning, Betty,”

“Now I know this isn’t your pretty little Sergeant,”

“No ma’am, this is my wonderful stepdaughter May.”

May could feel her insides churn at the praise. Was he still going to think she was wonderful? Was he still going to love her? She was currently glad that she didn’t have anything in her stomach, or she would have lost it right then.

“Well, aren’t you as pretty as your momma!”

Gulping down air, May managed a smile at the older lady. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Grape juice for my favorite fire captain, and what can I get for you?”

“Just an orange juice, please,” she was able to answer before the waitress walked away.

She was doing her best to avoid the conversation for as long as possible, “Grape juice?”

He chuckled as his eyes scanned the menu. “If I drink coffee after a shift, I’ll never get to sleep,” he replied.

She appreciated the bogus conversation more than he knew. Grape juice had been a staple in the Grant-Nash household since Bobby moved in. How many years ago had that been now?

She also knew that he didn’t need to study the menu. She was sure the crew ordered from here at least three times a week.

Before she could get to lost in her head, Betty returned and sat their drinks down in front of them. Her eyes locked with the orange in the glass, and she watched as the purple sloshed across the table as Bobby sat it down after taking a sip.

The smell hit her all at once, and before she knew it, she was out of the bench and making her way across the restaurant; where she found herself locked in the bathroom for the second time that morning.

She let her stomach settle, as she leaned against the door. It had been three hours, and she was already tired of all the running around and hiding, especially in bathrooms.

She was hiding from her mom and dad. She was hiding from her brothers, from Darius. At this point, she was hiding from a couple glasses of juice and a sweet old lady in a diner.

After she was sure that she wasn’t going to dry heave and taking what felt like the thousandth deep breath of the morning, May found herself sliding back into the booth.

She snaked her eyes up to take a chancing glance in Bobby’s direction, his own eyes still roaming the menu.

It all came out before she could stop it, “I’m sorry!” It was a loaded apology, and she wasn’t sure which thing she was apologizing for first.

She could sense his eyes on her before he asked, “Have you told your mom?”

She met his gaze softly before whispering, “I haven’t even told you.”

“Do you want to tell me?”

“I’m…I’m pregnant.”

“Humm,”

She looked up at him, and he chanced a look up at her. Their eyes meeting for a second, before she looked away.

She moved her mouth, but she couldn’t make the words come out. That was the first time she had said the words out loud, and all he had said was ‘humm.” She wasn’t quite sure what to do what that new information.

She hadn’t noticed before, but during her trip to the bathroom, he had exchanged their drinks. His strawberry milk sat closer to him on the side of the table, and what she assumed was a sprite now sat in front of her.

He picked up his menu and sat it on the edge of the table, before he looked up at her again. This time holding his gaze there, “what can I do to help?”

She could feel the tears flowing before she thought to stop them, and at this point, she had no more energy left to hold them in, “I don’t…I don’t know.”

The next thing she knew, he was out of his seat and sliding in the booth next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Shouldn’t she be done crying by now?

Again, her voice was only slightly above a whisper, “I don’t know what to do, dad.”

His hand stilled only slightly before continuing to rub circles on her shoulder, “why don’t we start with a doctor and maybe your mom?”

“Can we go in that order?”

She felt him chuckle against her and press a kiss to her forehead, “whatever you need, step by step.”

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If you have ideas or things you’d love to see feel free to send a message or an ask!

Also if you want me to start doing notification tags for this series let me know!

[stargazer-sims]

I need to make more frisky old folks to live at Windward Shore Estates. Grandpa's going to need some neighbours to get up to no good with. Plus, I'm seriously loving the idea of an independent elder community.

I realized that Victor's grandfather, Michael, is from Brindleton Bay as well, but after meeting a woman at Grace & Julian's wedding, canonically he moves to Willow Creek to be nearer to Grace and Victor (and of course his girlfriend Juliet). Michael and Juliet might live in a place like this, but it'd be in Willow Creek.

So yeah... I have to think about older characters.

__________

For anyone wondering why Nikolai's grandpa is still around and active, here's the story. Also, Nikolai's grandfather is called Nikolai too, so to avoid confusion while I'm explaining this, I'm going to just refer to him as "Grandpa" even though he was a teen/young man through some of it. (Within their family, our Nikolai is called Kolya to avoid confusion, and Grandpa is called Nikolai)

The simple version of the story is that Grandpa was a young and dumb stud back in the day, and became a father at sixteen. The baby's mother was fifteen and her parents were trying to force her to give the baby up for adoption, but Grandpa, despite his irresponsibility, was not happy with the idea of his son being given to strangers. He said he'd raise the baby, which his own parents were not happy about but ultimately agreed to. His own mother helped him with little Mikhail so he could work and continue to go to school.

Eventually, Grandpa met another woman who he fell in love with and later married. He continued to pursue his education and work as much as he could, which was much easier with his new partner taking care of Mikhail. Grandpa and his new wife had three more children, so Mikhail ended up with three half-siblings.

Unfortunately the marriage didn't last. When Mikhail was twelve, his parents split up. She took the three younger children, and once again it was just Mikhail and his dad.

Fast forward to when Mikhail is seventeen and Grandpa is the tender age of thirty-three. With his doctorate in biochemistry and a yearning for some sort of change in his life, he looks for international opportunities and gets offered a job in Canada. He and Mikhail are excited about the possibility of immigrating, but there's a snag. Mikhail is madly in love with a girl called Elena and they don't want to be separated. Luckily, Elena is eighteen and can legally immigrate without her parents' consent, so Grandpa agrees to get the paperwork done for her to come with them as well.

But, the thing is, Elena has a secret which grandpa doesn't find out until they're already in Canada. Elena is pregnant. With twins. Like Grandpa, Mikhail is about to become a teen father.

Mikhail gets a job, does his best to learn as much English as quickly as he can, and asks Elena to marry him. Just before Christmas, twins Natalya and Nikolai are born. The family's first year in Canada isn't even over yet, and it's already been a total whirlwind.

So now... fast-forward to the present day, when the twins are around 40-41 years old. If my math checks out, this makes Grandpa 74-75 years old in the present storyline. Definitely still young and spry enough to have a good time and make trouble in the neighbourhood.