#WHOA guys this is between you and curly

[ask-postcrash-curly]

there’s a third party between us

they might not want you to know this

but they’re the one responsible for our exchanges

time moves slower for us because of it

and our messages take a while to get answered by you

some of us try to make estimated guesses due to that

but it’s never guaranteed it’ll get through

when they stop us

time might’ve not even advanced that far for you

but for us it could be days

we still don’t know how much it’ll be

only an estimate

but they do

Huh. Good to know, I guess. Whatever it is all that meant.

Uh. If you’re listening, mysterious third-party, please do continue these exchanges. I appreciate them very much and I really don’t want them to stop. Thank you.

[motherismotheringggg]

SLOW BURN

okay wow my first public fic — i’m terrified so pls be kind but feedback is OF COURSE welcome!!

type: female reader x nicholas chaves x cooper koch

(^this is the greed they talked about in the bible 🤭)

tags/warnings: 18+; nsfw; smut lite; kissing; fingering; groping (i think that’s it!!)

word count: 7317 (i was gonna post it in parts but i changed my mind)

*used AI to help organize structure

pt.2 out now!!!!

pt.3 out now!!!!

⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️

You and your friend Vanessa laughed as you walked into the cafeteria of Camp White Water from a joke that had you both laughing since you both got ready and started heading toward the first day of camp counselor training.

This was your second summer of being a camp counselor at this month-and-a-half long sleep away camp. And you always looked forward to it, the leadership staff was always kind, the campers were actually not too bad and the other counselors were your favorite. All of the returners had become super close and it was super exciting to be reconnected with them when summer rolled around.

This year there were a few new counselors because of the amount of campers that were coming in this summer, particularly in your group. That being said, you were given two new co-counselors.

You and Vanessa were still in stitches about whatever joke had been continuing when you got closer to your assigned table, you noticed your name card with your name between two other name cards, one read “Nicholas Chaves” and the other “Cooper Koch”.

“Whoa..two news guys?” You were surprised, you expected to at least have another returner on your side, “Do they think I’m responsible enough to train two newbies?” you chuckled as you sat on the cafeteria bench.

“Well if they’re dumb and hot, send them over to the young eagles team, I’d love to have fresh meat”, Vanessa gestured to her table with Gene who was the oldest camp counselor and a bit of a gangly man who meant well but wasn’t exactly summer camp eye candy.

You both looked in his direction and giggled, “Hey Gene! You look ripped this summer. I’ll send her over to you in a second” you called out, causing Vanessa to laugh even harder.

As you both continued cackling in a room full of lively conversation, the group of new counselors walked in, it was tradition that the current counselors applaud them as a bit of a harmless hazing ritual.

You clapped and laughed with your friend as the newbies looked around excited but nervously for their name tags. In the middle of your giggling, you noticed two men stopped at your table and started settling in, “this must be them” you thought.

Copper was tall and broad. He had hazel brown eyes and deep brown curly hair. He was wearing a gray zip-up hoodie and tennis shorts and you could tell from his leg muscles that he was in good shape. He had soft features that made you feel immediately calm and at ease - safe almost.

Nicholas was the opposite, he had straight hair and darker eyes. His face was very chiseled, his jawline was impeccable. He had a defined and muscular physique, which stood out even when he’s dressed casually in his shorts and long sleeve college shirt.

He was also tall with broad shoulders but his muscles were more pronounced - a strong chest, and visible arm muscles that give him a commanding presence.

“Hey guys, I’m Y/N”! Cooper went for a handshake, which was too formal for you, without thinking you went in for a hug. You figured you’d get close through the summer like the rest of the counselors.

Cooper was caught off guard but quickly adjusted to the hug, Nicholas was a little reserved but even with just a side hug you felt his biceps take you in completely. They sat on either side of you and you started talking about your experience at the camp the group you’ll have this year.

The camp director gave some opening remarks and then the assistant director had you all start with those cringey ice breakers. He went around and gave out a stack of cards to each group that had random questions on it.

When he got your table, he said “Ah Y/N, happy to see you back again! Boys you’re in good hands, she’s a pro.” You playfully shooed him away to be humble. “I mean it, but you also have some star athletes next to you. Cooper and Nicholas were both finalists in the west end tennis conference and since you’re working on rec fit this year, it should be perfect!”

“Tennis boys huh?” you gestured to your co- counselors, “I knew those builds weren't for nothing” you jokingly nudged both of them in the side. Cooper giggled and you finally got Nick to crack a smile and loosen up.

The ice breakers were stupid but kind of fun and they opened up more conversation; “if you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?” turned into you three talking about your families, “what three things would you need on a deserted island” turned into talking about your favorite vacation spot and “what;s your morning routine” let the guys start to talk about their training which you found…hot. The way they describe conditioning and training completely hypnotized you, like you could understand it but just barely. And watching them interact was a real treat, Cooper was very funny and lighthearted but still very direct and expressive in his words. Nicholas was very sincere in everything and said it with such conviction, even if he was joking it came out so earnestly you thought he was being serious.

Later, for training you all got to wander the camp site as groups. The three of you found yourselves sitting on one of the picnic benches along the trail route, the ice was finally broken so the conversation flowed very casually.

It started to get a little warmer out, too warm for a hoodie so both you and Cooper took yours off. Cooper was wearing a tank top that revealed even more of his physique and you were wearing a stretchy tank top body suit. Realizing this was the first time they've seen your arms, they noticed you had a few tattoos and were both instantly intrigued. "You have tattoos?" Cooper asked, his voice more excited than you expected.

"Yeah, just a few!” You started pointing them out to Cooper while he walked around your body to get a closer look at each one. “I got this one with one of my friends, they are not quite matching but they’re similar” you went on.

Nicholas was also listening to you talk about your tattoos but he wasn’t as outwardly interested as Cooper was. He mostly just nodded in approval after you explained each tattoo. It wasn’t until you bent a certain way to show Cooper a different tattoo that your tennis skirt raised a little, revealing the very bottom of a tattoo on your thigh. "Is that… another one?" Nicholas asked, gesturing to your thigh, catching you off guard.

You blinked. "Oh, yeah," you replied, laughing lightly. "Good eye." You hadn’t expected him to notice that one—it was usually pretty hidden. But it wasn’t awkward and you were happy he actually spoke. “Yeah it’s just my zodiac constellation, I just thought it was cute, maybe a little stupid to get that tatted but I like it”

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” Nicholas replied, more confidently this time. Cooper nodded in agreement.

“In fact,” Nicholas stood up and took off his bookbag “As long as we’re showing off our sick ink…”. You and Cooper’s eyes widened, you had no idea what this man, who had been fairly silent this whole time, was about to show. He took off his shirt and revealed his perfect abs. They looked like they were chiseled from marble but also soft like flesh. You cleared your throat and gathered yourself. You glanced over at Cooper who was equally entranced by Nicholas’ body.

“What do you think?” Nicholas posed in front of you two and you both looked confused, “I thought we were just showing off tattoos, not seeing who’s built like an adonis” Cooper joked.

You laughed, “yeah, this is a summer camp so the chance to take off your shirt was coming soon enough” you added.

Nicholas laughed back, “no get closer, it’s there!” You and Cooper looked at each other and then got closer to his man’s perfect body and there it was, two small tattoos under both pecs, a smiley face and a frowny face.

‘Totally sick ink right?” Nicholas joked in a surfer voice, you and Cooper threw your heads back in laughter as you jokingly agreed. “It certainly is … ink on your skin,” Cooper added.

“They were stick-and-pokes I did in college just for fun, you can even feel the weird texture of them,” Nicholas said. Without missing a beat, he grabbed Cooper's hand and placed it on the small tattoo. You had to find a way to act normal about this but this was incredibly hot. Two gorgeous men essentially groping each other in the woods felt like something out of a fan fic.

Nicholas looked at you and said, “Don’t be shy, I don’t bite”, in a quiet gravely voice. You felt your shoulders drop and your eyes widened, internally you thought “what is happening right now??”

You used your finger tips to feel the tattoo but followed Cooper’s lead and also felt his chest too. Nicholas would glance down at you two feeling him with his breath hitching just a little. Cooper was into the moment, you were still taken aback. Before this moment could progress, the camp alarm blared calling us all back in for dinner.

For dinner, groups got to mix and mingle so you and Vanessa decided your groups should eat together. Dinner was fine, you were fine. It seemed odd that these two boys who were basically mute at the beginning of the day had this moment earlier with you and were now just so chill about it. But you were going to match their vibe and keep it lowkey.

After dinner, you were all texting and realized you wanted a sweet treat so you went off-site and ended up at this diner a few miles from the camp. You three sat in this round corner booth and just talked about each other.

It was getting progressively later and later in the night and you felt yourself getting tired. Cooper went to the bathroom before you all headed out and you instinctively rested your head on Nicholas’s shoulder. Completely forgetting what happened earlier and just needing a place to rest for a minute.

It took him no time to accommodate your needs and lift his arm up so you could properly get close. He pulled you close to his chest and rubbed your arm as you slightly drifted in his arms.

You all drove in your car there but Nicholas saw how tired you both were so he offered to drive. “Give daddy the keys” he gestured to you to throw them in his direction, “I’ll get us back safe”. You mentally noted that he called himself daddy and tossed him your keys. “You both should ride in the back seat because if you're up here yawning by me that could be dangerous”.

You and Cooper hopped in the back seat and again, you just wanted to lay down, so Cooper sat upright and you laid down with your head in his lap. He also wanted to make you feel comfortable so he started stroking your cheek and did that for the entire ride back to camp.

---

The next morning was Special Classes day, all the counselors would be in various groups to get trained on the specialized activities for the camp this summer. Swimming, archery, arts and crafts, home ec, etc., you were partnered with Nicholas in the swim group while Cooper took the archery class.

The sun beat down on the lake, making the water glisten. You all had been in and out of the water several times for various tests. Every time you glanced at Nick and noticed the way the water drops would sit in between the ridges of his abs you felt something electric in you.

“You all have done a fantastic job today,” the instructor addressed the group, “and we wrapped up earlier than I thought so that’s good. Feel free to go for a free swim or head out until your next activity.”

You and Nicholas non-verbally agreed to head out but not before the instructor asked you both to take some supplies to the first aid shed before you left out. You wrapped a towel around your body and Nicholas wheeled the cart of medical supplies.

When you got the shed, which was more of a small cottage, you held open the door while Nicholas wheeled the items in. He started putting them away while you just stood and watched. Watching the way his back muscles moved with every action, the way he towered next to the shelves and how broad he looked from the back.

He turned to see you checking him out and chuckled to himself, “do you mind helping me out a little?” a smirk brandishing on his face.

You didn’t hear what he asked you when you were in your trance so he chuckled again, a little louder this time, “they’re getting lower in the wagon, could you hand them to me?” he asked again.

“Oh my bad – yeah of course! Sorry, I was just thinking about dinner or something” you tried to cover your tracks in the worst way possible, “or ‘something’ is right” he retorted back, you felt your face get hot.

When you were finished putting the boxes away, you wheeled the cart to where the other storage containers were and joined him back in the main room. The shed was so warm so neither one of you wanted to leave. Nick went to sit down in a chair by the desk in the room. There were papers on top of the chair he went to move but when he picked them up he got a paper cut.

“Shit,” he hissed “oh my god” your eyes widened. It wasn’t a lot of blood but you could yell it hurt because he kept hissing in pain. At one point he even hissed your name asking you to grab him a paper towel and you felt your heart skip a little.

He sat on the chair while you cleaned him up and gave him a bandaid. Once you got him squared away and you put the kit back on the shelf, you just kind of stood in front of him. There was nowhere else to go and not much to say.

He grabbed your hand, closing the distance between you two, pulling you toward him “the old ‘nurse me back to health’ trope huh? What a classic” he joked in a low gravely voice

“You’re so annoying”, you whined jokingly pushing away, as his one hand placed your arm on his shoulder and the other wrapped around your waist.

You caressed the side of his face with one hand, contemplating if this was really about to happen. You just met this guy yesterday - but you have already felt his pecs, cuddled with him in public and let him call himself daddy.

You leaned down and hovered in front of his mouth, “don’t make me beg” he whispered as he moved closer to plant his lips on yours. It started slow but very deliberate, he was soft but sturdy, your knees felt weak and you could feel him holding you up with the strength of his arm alone.

He took more initiative in the kiss and started taking control, his tongue now fighting for dominance in your mouth and he pulled you down into a straddling position on to his lap, never breaking apart. The more intense he got the more inhaled and exhaled sharply, the breathing made it all so much hotter. He started kissing down your neck, using his hands to guide which way you leaned your head to receive him.

He got to your ear and whispered , “I wanted you the second I saw you”, and started kissing and licking your collarbone, “you’re so perfect” he said into your neck before biting and sucking at various spots. While he worked on a particular part of your neck – biting and sucking, making you moan his name. He started to lower your bathing suit strap to reveal your soft wet breasts.

He looked at you as he kissed down your chest and gently placed it in his mouth, sucking and licking at the nipple making you thrash in excitement. You moaned his name out loud again, he switched to the other breast with the same licking and sucking motion while using his hand to play with the nipple of the other. You felt a rush when he moaned, it sent a vibration through your body that you felt it below.

He was so attuned with your body, he knew you could feel the excitement pooling down there and went to feel you over the bathing suit down there. Your back arched the second he touched you, your breath shaky. You locked lips again as he continued to graze it.

Just as you went to reach down to feel him hard through his trunks, the camp alarm sounded, calling everyone back to the main area. The rudeness of the alarm made you two separate and understand what you were really doing.

When you both come down from the euphoric feeling of being wrapped up in another stranger, you pulled your straps back up to cover yourself and he helped you off him. He pushed the chair back, you grabbed the towels both of you came in with and left, not saying a word.

When you joined the group again, you had to sit with your team. You and Nicholas found Cooper and sat on either side of him, typically you had been in the middle of them two but you needed a little distance from Nicholas at the moment.

“You guys are still in your swim stuff? I saw you guys wrapped up earlier than us” Cooper genuinely asked

There was a pause that needed to be filled, you went to speak but Nicholas also started, you both stopped and almost started again and then stopped fully and there was another long pause

“Oh no that's fine, that’s totally how normal people answer a question” Cooper said sarcastically.

---

The next day of training, returners and new counselors had separate schedules. This was perfect because after yesterday, it’s not that you were avoiding Nicholas but you certainly needed a break and time to process how this all progressed so quickly.

That night, in the cafeteria certain counselors signed up for different kitchen shifts, you and Cooper got put on clean up duty. When dinner was wrapping up Nicholas hung around for as long as possible. It wasn’t weird, there was an energy between you two but mostly he just hung around to talk to Cooper. You kept a distance and participated in the conversation from afar.

Cooper went to the back to handle the trashtrash and you were clearing off tables. Nicholas stood up to leave and called you over. You didn't know what he was going to say, was he going to ask you why haven't we talked? Does he want to have sex? Does he have a girlfriend? Every thought ran through your mind as you walked over to him from a few tables over.

You got to him and asked “what’s up?” he paused, stood up and looked down at you. He used his fingers to lift your face in his direction and planted another kiss on you right then and there, without a care in the world. His lips were soft and plush, you felt yourself melt into him from how smooth it was.

“Let me know if we’re doing another sweet treat run tonight” he said just a few inches from your mouth and walked out.

You were floored, who is this man? That kiss was so comfortable, as if you were his and he was yours. It felt natural and right to him.

You wiped down the counters while Cooper stocked and organized supplies for the next day’s meals, the silence between them was oddly comfortable. From the second you met them both Nicholas was a little harder to read and you felt like you had to do a little more to get his attention. Not that you necessarily wanted his attention but with Cooper, he immediately opened up. He was warm, comforting and quiet. He just felt safe.

When everything was done, you and Cooper sat on top of a table while the floors dried and ate ice cream. You couldn’t help but smile at him as he sat across from you criss-cross apple sauce style, him being easily over 6 ft and sitting to make himself look small was so endearing.

The more you talked the smaller the distance grew between you two. Your knees were touching and he was stroking your leg as you both continued talking, doting into each other’s eyes.

He glanced at you, a small smile playing at his lips. “You know, you’re probably the most beautiful person I’ve met.”

You raised an eyebrow, laughing softly. “Where’s this coming from?”

He finished his cone just in time to place both hands on your legs while he answered. His hands were large and strong, with veins subtly tracing the surface, hinting at a quiet power beneath his skin. The rough texture of his palms contrasted with the smoothness of his long fingers, which moved with a practiced, almost careful grace. There was something magnetic about the way they flexed, confident and capable, as if they knew exactly how to hold the world—firm, yet gentle.

“Just being honest. You’ve been, like… really good to me since day one. Everyone here is nice but you and Nick have made me feel comfortable here”, he said through a smile.

His words made your heart skip, but you tried to play it cool. “I mean, I hope you gave Nicholas thanks like this too, don’t want him feeling left out.” you let out a laugh and so did he.

“No, but it’s different with you,” he said, and this time, he didn’t look away. “I was nervous as hell coming here, and I wasn’t expecting anyone to make it easier, but you did. I didn’t feel out of place with you around. You’re, like, ridiculously sweet and also…” He trailed off, eyes scanning your face like he was debating how much to say. “You’re also, like, the most attractive person here.”

Suddenly you were in the same position you were in with Nicohlas in the shed, a moment of silence where nothing needed to be said, only action needed to be taken.

Copper leaned forward and quietly said, “I’m gonna kiss you now”

He leaned in slowly, his breath warm against your lips as he hesitated for a moment, savoring the closeness. His kiss started soft, tentative, like he was afraid to rush it, each movement deliberate and tender. His lips were gentle against yours, almost shy, and you could feel the slightest tremble in his touch. But as you pressed closer, he exhaled, letting go of his nerves, and the kiss deepened naturally. He found his rhythm, and what began as slow and cautious soon turned into something warmer, more fluid, their lips moving together with a sweet, unhurried certainty.

You felt his one hand on your thigh and the other slipped under your shirt, warm and steady against your skin. His fingers curled against your side, massaging gently as he explored the curve of your waist. Slowly, he moved his hand upward, caressing your breasts with a careful touch, his thumb tracing soft, deliberate circles until your body relaxed into his hands.

'Is this okay?' Cooper pulled away from the kiss, his forehead resting lightly against yours as he searched your eyes, his voice soft and filled with concern. The tenderness in his question only made you want him more."

You nodded, your breath hitching as his lips found yours again, this time with more confidence. His hand slipped back under your shirt, his movements unhurried but more intentional now, as though he wanted to savor every second of the moment. His thumb brushed across your skin, sending little sparks through your body, and you leaned into his touch, your hands finding their way to his hair. You tugged gently, and he let out a low, quiet groan that only made you pull him closer.

Cooper’s kisses grew deeper, more fluid as he relaxed into it, his earlier nervousness melting away. His hand continued to explore, fingertips dancing across your body as if he was learning every inch of you. There was something almost reverent in the way he touched you—gentle but filled with intent, as though he couldn’t believe this moment was real. He pulled you closer, his lips moving from your mouth to your jaw, then to your neck, his breath warm and steady against your skin as he took his time, each kiss slower than the last.

'You’re incredible,' he whispered against your neck, his voice rough with affection. The way he said it, so soft and unassuming, made your heart swell, and in that moment, you knew that every touch, every kiss, was laced with more than just desire.

You felt wrap his hands around you and he shifted his position to lay you down gently on the table. He continued kissing you on your neck, whispering praises softly in your ear while his hands smoothly roamed your body, “you’re so perfect”, “I need you”, “you’re a goddess”.

You felt his hand go lower and lower on your body until he got to your waistband. He pulled from the passionate kiss to look at you, he thought you were so beautiful in this moment. Frazzled from his passion, your eyes begging him to keep going. His fingers slipped into your shorts, but stopped, “are you sure?” Cooper asked you again, wanting to make sure you felt safe.

You pulled him down on top of you to kiss again and pushed his hand down so his fingers just grazed over the clit. His fingers continued to massage your area, with each pass you moaned into his mouth. Your kisses became deeper and frantic as you struggled to keep from completely unraveling from him.

“Let go for me baby”, he said with his forehead resting on yours. Before you could catch your breath his hand went lower and he angled his fingers at your entrance, your back arched in anticipation.

He pulled back completely so he could see your reaction to his fingers slipping inside if you. He traced around your entrance a little before slipping in his middle finger. You gasped and shuttered as his finger moved in and out, your moans turned to whimpers as he slipped in another finger.

You moaned out his name as his fingers curled inside of you hitting your spot. You had no control of your body, your body spasming from his touch which was getting deeper and faster by the minute, you were moaning so loud you didn’t care who heard you and your hands searched for some part of him to touch to return the favor. You reached out for his waistband, his hard member was pressed against his pants. You wanted to make him feel as good as he made you.

Just as you were about to return the favor, the camp alarm went off for a final roll call for bed. You and Cooper froze, reality settling back in as you both quickly gathered yourselves, adjusting clothes and catching your breath.

Cooper sat back with a sheepish grin, running a hand through his hair. 'I guess I got a little carried away,' he admitted, a soft laugh escaping his lips as he glanced at you, clearly still processing everything.

You smiled back, your heart still racing but now more from the situation than the moment before. 'It’s fine,' you said with a light shrug, your voice playful. 'It was fun... and now I think the favor's officially been returned for being so sweet.'

He let out a low chuckle, his eyes soft and warm as he looked at you.

---

A few days had passed, and while you hadn't been actively avoiding Cooper or Nicholas, you also hadn’t been seeking them out either. You needed a moment to clear your head after everything, to let the tension simmer down before the campers arrived. Still, you didn’t want things to feel awkward, so you invited them over to your cabin to help put together goodie bags for the kids. Your cabin mate was out for the night, so you even suggested they sleep over since their cabins were farther away. It was a subtle effort to show them you were cool, if they were cool. Even though every time one of them shifted closer, the heat between your legs was impossible to ignore.

You all worked in a comfortable rhythm, talking and laughing as you assembled the bags, until a song came on that sent Nicholas into nostalgic mode. His eyes lit up, and with a grin, he said, "This song always reminds me of my first kiss." You laughed.

Nicholas leaned back, his eyes dreamy with the memory. "Middle school. At a dance. I was so nervous I almost missed her lips entirely."

The three of you burst into laughter, and soon the conversation flowed into everyone sharing their stories, one kiss memory after another. Cooper shared about his first kiss behind the bleachers at a football game, and you talked about a spontaneous kiss under the basement steps of your friends’ house with her hot older brother. The mood was light and fun, each of you enjoying the trip down memory lane.

But then Cooper, ever the curious one, leaned forward, his tone more playful than usual. "So... has anyone here fooled around at camp before?" The question hung in the air for a moment, and you could feel the tension shift. You knew exactly why you were feeling awkward, but you noticed Nicholas’s smirk almost instantly. His eyes flicked between you and Cooper, as though daring one of you to speak first.

You opened your mouth, not entirely sure what you were going to say, when Nicholas took the chance. "Actually," he began, leaning forward with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "I’ve done it twice already. And both of them are in this room."

Your eyes shot open, heart hammering in your chest as you whipped your gaze to Nicholas. Cooper let out a surprised laugh, and for a moment, you were too stunned to speak. Wait—Cooper already knew? Your mind raced to piece it all together, the realization dawning on you like a light bulb flicking on. You’d hooked up with Nicholas. Cooper knew. And they had hooked up too?

"Hold up," you finally managed to say, your voice a mix of shock and curiosity. "You two—?"

Nicholas nodded, leaning back with an easy confidence, clearly enjoying your reaction. "After arts and crafts clean-up a few days ago," he said, glancing at Cooper with a smirk. "We were the only ones left in the room, and we ended up in that tiny back closet putting away supplies…”

Cooper chimed in, chuckling. "It was kind of inevitable. I mean, we were basically on top of each other. And then... one thing led to another. I pulled his shirt off and started kissing chest. He kissed down my neck. Mouths went places, hands went places and rest is a fogged up window.”

Your mind spun, trying to wrap around the image of Nicholas and Cooper together. You could practically picture it—the tension, the closeness, the heat of the moment in the small, confined space.

You swallowed, feeling the heat rise between the three of you again, but this time it was different. This wasn’t about embarrassment anymore—it was curiosity, excitement, a shared secret now out in the open.

Cooper and Nicholas exchanged a glance before bursting out into laughter. Cooper was the first to speak. "Oh, it was obvious," he said, still chuckling. "When you came to the camp meeting that day after special classes, the hickies already started forming on your neck. You weren’t exactly subtle."

Nicholas leaned forward with a mischievous grin. "And I tried to come back to the dining hall after I left that night you two had clean up duty and I heard you two making out in the distance, so I turned right back around."

The three of you erupted into laughter, the kind that shakes your whole body and makes your cheeks hurt. It was funny now, how you’d all tiptoed around it, trying to keep it secret when in reality, none of you had been fooling anyone.

When the laughter finally died down, Nicholas’s curiosity took over. "Okay, so... real talk. Who do you prefer more?" His eyes sparkled with playful competitiveness, and he leaned back with a smirk, clearly ready for whatever answer you had.

Cooper grinned, nudging your shoulder. "Yeah, no pressure, but... we’re all dying to know."

You couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it was—being asked to choose between them like it was some kind of game. You paused for a moment, then gave a mock-serious look as you made a reference only you could deliver. "You know, it feels like Tyra Banks standing here with two contestants in front of her, and only one can stay."

Cooper burst out laughing, recognizing the reference immediately. "No way, you’re not about to do an America’s Next Top Model elimination on us right now!"

You grinned, savoring the dramatic moment. "But if I had to choose..." you began, your eyes darting between them, building suspense. Finally, you pointed to Cooper. "It’s you."

Cooper jumped up from the floor, arms raised in victory. "Yes! I knew it!" he shouted, dancing around the room like he’d just won a championship. Nicholas, meanwhile, was in mock shock, his mouth hanging open as he smiled at the absurdity of it all.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" Nicholas exclaimed, shaking his head with a grin. "I thought I had this in the bag!"

You laughed, trying to calm the chaos around you. "Hooking up with you, Nick, was fun and spontaneous. But Cooper..." you turned to Cooper, who was still grinning like an idiot, "...was gentle, tender, and made me feel really special."

Cooper shrugged nonchalantly, though the satisfaction was clear on his face. "What can I say? I just know how to make a woman feel special."

Nicholas rolled his eyes but smiled anyway, leaning closer to you. "Okay, fine. But..." he gave you that familiar smirk, "...if you let me have another shot, I can be gentle too."

You raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh, yeah? You think so?"

He nodded, the playful tone in his voice now edged with something more serious. "Absolutely. If you’ll let me."

You smiled and nodded, your body buzzing with excitement. "Okay, I’m down."

With that, Nicholas took your hand and guided you to the bed. He sat down next to you and this time, there was no rush, no quick or hurried movements. He was slow, deliberate, his hands softer as they found your waist and pulled you gently toward him. He kissed you with a tenderness you hadn’t felt from him before, each movement careful, as though he was savoring the moment.

The heat between you built gradually, the tension thick in the air but controlled. Nicholas was taking his time, just like he promised. His lips moved against yours with a softness that surprised you, his hand sliding up your side in a slow caress that made your breath hitch. Compared to your first time hooking up, this was different—more intentional, more intimate.

You felt Cooper watching from the other side of the room, clearly entertained but also intrigued. Nicholas’s kiss deepened, but the pace stayed slow, methodical, as he explored every part of you with a newfound gentleness.

"Not bad," Cooper teased from the sidelines, his voice light but clearly enjoying the view. Nicholas smirked against your lips, but didn’t break the kiss, his focus entirely on you. He put his hand on his thigh and started messaging, working his way further and further up.

Nicholas parted from your lips to make his way down your neck. When you first hooked up, he would’ve started biting and sucking but this time he placed soft kisses on your neck, while lightly squeezing your thighs. He whispered in your ear “see, I can be anything you want me to be baby” he nearly whimpered in your ear.

His words sent a shiver down your spine, and your body quivered in response. You were melting into the moment, eyes closed, savoring the feeling, when suddenly, Nicholas pulled away. Your eyes shot open in confusion, the warmth of his body leaving yours too soon.

“Why’d you stop?” you asked, breathless, your lips tingling from his touch.

Nicholas smirked, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Just wanted to show you I could be gentle,” he said with a wink, clearly enjoying how worked up he’d gotten you.

You let out a soft laugh, though you couldn’t help but still want more. “Well, you’ve definitely proven that,” you teased back, a smile tugging at your lips.

Cooper stepped in, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Well, if we’re all trying new things, maybe it’s time I take a shot at being more... aggressive."

You smiled wide as you agreed, Cooper crossed the room in a few long strides and came to sit next to you on the bed. He gently but firmly grabbed your face, pulling you to his direction. His lips met yours with a fiery intensity, pulling you on top of him and kissing you harder, deeper than before. His hands gripped your hips with a sense of urgency, and he moved faster, more aggressively, his kisses more forceful as he claimed your mouth. The energy was completely different from the gentle, careful approach Nicholas had just taken, but it was equally intoxicating.

You gasped against Cooper’s mouth as he pressed into you, his lips trailing down your neck with no hesitation this time. He kissed you with raw hunger, teeth grazing your skin, his hands roaming your body with confident, demanding touches that sent heat pooling low in your belly. Every move he made was firm, and you could feel the shift in energy—this was Cooper letting go, leaning into the moment with full force.

But out of the corner of your eye, you caught sight of Nicholas watching from where he stood, his eyes dark with anticipation. His gaze was hungry, eager, as if he didn’t care who he joined in on, just that he wanted to be wrapped between you and Cooper.

Cooper noticed it too, pausing briefly to glance over at Nicholas. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes flashed with a knowing look, as if he was silently inviting Nicholas to join. Then, in one smooth motion, Cooper gently but firmly placed you back on the bed, your body sinking into the softness of the blankets beneath you.

Nicholas didn’t need any further invitation.

He crossed the room and joined you both, sliding onto the bed with that same eager smirk he always wore. Without missing a beat, he moved in close, taking his place on one side of you while Cooper positioned himself on the other. You could feel Nicholas’s breath warm against your skin before his lips pressed to the side of your neck, the same spot Cooper had just claimed moments ago.

The sensation of both of them on either side of you was overwhelming, in the best way possible. Nicholas’s kisses were slow but deliberate, each one more lingering than the last, while Cooper’s lips moved more urgently, as though he couldn’t get enough. You were surrounded by them, their hands tracing up and down your body as their mouths explored your neck, your collarbone, the sensitive spots just below your ear.

Nicholas’s fingers skimmed across your waist, his touch light but teasing, while Cooper’s hand slid down your thigh, squeezing gently. The contrast between the two of them made your heart race, and you couldn’t help but let out a soft, involuntary moan as you sank deeper into the sensation.

“This is what you wanted, right?” Nicholas murmured against your neck, his voice low and smooth, sending a shiver down your spine. “Both of us... all over you?”

Before you could answer, Cooper’s lips moved to your ear, his breath hot as he whispered, “Tell us what you like.”

You felt completely overwhelmed, your senses flooded by the way both Cooper and Nicholas were hitting every spot that made your body hum with pleasure. Nicholas's lips left soft, teasing kisses along your collarbone while Cooper’s hands roamed your body, his grip firm and sure. The contrast between their touches, one gentle, one rough, had your heart racing, and you were utterly lost in the sensation.

Needing more, you reached up, grabbing Cooper’s face and pulling him into a heated kiss. You matched his intensity, your lips moving hungrily against his, both of you completely giving in to the moment. His hands gripped your hips harder, pulling you closer, as if he wanted to devour you whole.

Meanwhile, Nicholas’s kisses continued to trail down your shoulder, slow and deliberate, each one sending shivers down your spine. His hands were patient, exploring every inch of your body with a calm but insistent touch, as if he wanted to memorize the way you felt beneath his fingers.

Cooper pulled away just long enough to tug your shirt over your head, and before you could even process it, Nicholas unhooked your bra with expert precision, leaving you bare in front of them. For a second, the weight of their gaze made you feel vulnerable—but the way they looked at you, eyes full of hunger and admiration, made the tension crackle in the air.

Without missing a beat, Nicholas’s lips found their way to your breast, his tongue tracing soft circles before he took your nipple into his mouth. The sensation sent a wave of heat through your body, and you gasped, arching into his touch. His mouth was gentle, but the pressure was enough to make your body ache for more.

At the same time, Cooper’s teeth grazed the sensitive skin of your neck, biting down just enough to leave a lingering sting that made you squirm in his grasp. His hands explored your back, pulling you flush against him, and every bite, every nip, felt like it was setting your skin on fire.

The combination of Nicholas’s slow, teasing kisses and Cooper’s rough, hungry bites made your mind spin. You could barely keep up with the sensations washing over you, your body reacting to every touch, every kiss, every movement. It was almost too much, but you couldn’t get enough.

“You’re perfect,” Nicholas whispered against your skin, his lips still trailing over your chest. “I could keep doing this all night.”

Cooper smirked against your neck, his hand sliding down your waist. “We might just have to.”.

[wwestrang-fan]

Behind the scenes

Roman Reigns x oc reader

warning : a bit of age gap, some hints angst, reader feeling insecure, (sorry it’s a little angst)

Summary: After his divorce, Roman is determined to focus solely on being himself, dedicating his time to his kids and career. However, everything changes when he unexpectedly bumps into someone special.

Roman walked through the bustling halls of WWE headquarters, a spring in his step as he made his way to Hunter's office. The walls were adorned with iconic photos of wrestling legends, and the energy was electric. Just as he rounded a corner, he collided with someone.

“Whoa, sorry about that!” he exclaimed as he looked, surprised to see a woman standing at his eye level. She had an unmistakable presence, her skin glowing under the bright lights, and her long, ponytail swayed with every movement.

“It’s alright!” she replied, her voice warm but hurried. With a quick, apologetic smile, she sidestepped past him and continued on her way fixing her glasses.

Roman watched her walk away until she disappeared around the corner, a curious smile lingering on his lips. After a moment, he turned and headed into Hunter's office, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the hallway.

“Hey, who was that?” he asked as he settled into a chair.

"Who Hunter glanced up from his paperwork

"That woman that looks like at girl in pearl earring art I saw her on the way here Roman said.

“Oh, that’s the new fashion designer we hired. She’s got some great ideas coming up.”

Roman raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Fashion designer, huh?

As Roman stepped out of Hunter's office, he spotted his cousins Jey and Jimmy chatting near the bustling entrance of the WWE headquarters. They were both all smiles, their energy infectious.

“Hey, look who decided to grace us with his presence!” Jimmy called out, his playful tone echoing through the hallway.

“Yeah, just wrapped up a meeting. What’s good with you guys?” Roman replied, moving closer.

“Just planning our next moves,” Jey said, crossing his arms. “You know how it is.”

“Speaking of moves,” Roman said, glancing at Jimmy, “where’s your wife? I haven’t seen her around today.”

“Oh, she’s with the new fashion designer,” Jimmy answered. “Getting some ideas for a new look or something.”

As they talked, Roman turned slightly to look down the corridor, just as the fashion designer emerged from a nearby office. They crossed paths once again, and Roman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Whoa, hey!” he exclaimed, barely managing to sidestep to avoid bumping into her again.

“Sorry! You again!” she said with a laugh, her long curly ponytail bouncing as she stepped back.

Naomi approached the group, her presence radiating warmth. She raised an eyebrow, a playful smile tugging at her lips. “So, you two have already met, huh?”

Roman glanced at the designer, then back at Naomi. “Yeah, just a little bump-in.”

“And a memorable one at that!” the designer chimed in, her smile brightening the moment.

Jey raised an eyebrow at Roman. “Don’t you have to get measured again for that outfit?”

Roman nodded, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. “Yeah, I do. I guess I should get that done.”

“Oh, you do! I can do that for you right now,” the fashion designer chimed in, her enthusiasm apparent. “No need to wait!”

“Really? That would be awesome!” Roman replied, his excitement returning as he glanced back and forth between the designer and his cousins.

“See? Offered by the expert right here,” Jey said, turning to Roman with a grin.

“Oh, I aim to please!” he responded.

With that, the designer led Roman to a nearby fitting room, Jey, and Jimmy shared knowing looks and laughed.

In the bright, airy room lined with fabric swatches and mood boards, Roman stood before a large mirror with a tape measure draped around his shoulders. The fashion designer, involved in their fitting, adjusted the measure with a practiced eye.

“Alright, Mr. Reigns, let’s see what we’re working with,” she said, her voice smooth and confident, a hint of excitement in her tone.

“Just Roman is fine,” he responded, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s easier.”

“Okay, just Roman it is,” she replied with a smile, her albino skin glowing under the studio lights.

“So, what’s your name?” Roman asked.

“I’m Pudding. Nice to meet you!” she chirped.

“Pudding? That’s an interesting name,” Roman said, looking at her.

With a playful nod, Pudding explained, “My mom’s a baker, and she has a real passion for sweets. Pudding just felt fitting!”

“Sounds sweet!” Roman laughed, appreciating her backstory.

After a moment of silence, he added with a playful grin, “Has anyone ever told you that you kinda look like at girl in pearl earring art?”

Pudding burst into laughter, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. “Yeah, I’ve heard that comparison a few times!”

“I mean look at you,” he said with a smirk, enjoying the light-hearted banter.

“Thanks i’ll take that as a compliment,” she replied, her cheeks flushed with delight as she continued her measurements, feeling more at ease in his presence.

The playful atmosphere continued as the two chatted while Pudding worked, building an instant connection amid the bustle of the wrestling world.

As Pudding finished adjusting the final measurement, she stepped back with satisfaction. “Alright, all done.”

Roman straightened up, loosening the tension from his shoulders. “Thanks! So, when can I expect the clothes to be finished?”

Pudding glanced at her notes, jotting down a few final details. “I’m aiming for about a weeks. I want to make sure everything fits perfectly and looks amazing.”

“That’s not too long” Roman replied, a hint of excitement evident in his tone. “Will I get a chance to see any sketches before then?”

“Sure I’ll send you some drafts once I get the initial designs laid out. It’s important to me that you’re involved in the process,” she said.

Roman leaned against the table, a bit more serious. “That nice.

“Don’t forget to check your messages! Hunter will send updates as I go along,” Pudding called after him.

“I won’t!” Roman replied, stepping out of the room and into the hallway, his mind racing with thoughts of the upcoming designs.

As he walked, is mind was thinking about pudding as he made his way to the exit.

[powerfultenderness]

Ok but what if reader and konig were out for a coffee or something, and they run into Adrian! I don’t know if you meant for their breakup to be on good terms or not, that’s up to you, but I just want to see konig get all jelly.

Sorry this one is a little late! I couldn't decide which way to go. But I still love Adrian so I couldn't have him hurt lol! 😅

Sooo, I have König doing something else! Which means I'm dropping a (Mature 18+ rating on this!)

“Ah! Hide me!” you gasped and jumped behind König. 

He stiffened, left hand flying behind him for a second as if to anchor you to him, but that was hardly needed as you were clinging to his back. “What! What is it?”  

“It’s him!” You whispered sharply into König’s back. “My ex!” 

“Where? Who?” 

You didn’t even notice him clenching his fists and holding them down at his sides. “By that bench. Blue suit. Five-eleven.” König nodded, spotting the man.

“Cute dorky glasses.” 

The guy he was looking at was wearing silver rimmed aviator glasses. Was that cute?

“Light green eyes.” 

He nodded again, green eyes, yea he was definitely looking at the right guy.

“Pretty curly brown hair,” you continued, gripping König’s shirt even harder. “Ugh, absolutely stunning smile with dimples and dazzling teeth,” you sighed and sagged against König a bit, “and-”

“Ok.” König interrupted you, he already spotted the guy, he didn’t need you to keep talking about him. “Who is he with?” 

“He’s with someone?” You gasped again and popped out from behind him to look. 

“Oh!” You barely managed to squeak out before your lips started to tremble. “She’s so pretty.” Your voice fell as you tried not to cry.

The woman was just Adrian’s type. Tall, skinny blonde with killer legs, could very well be a Taylor Swift (his biggest celebrity crush) clone. You really shouldn’t be surprised that he moved on with such a beautiful woman.

König looked away from your ex to you, clinging to him with one hand, and clutching at the fabric above your heart with the other. Your eyes were shining with tears that you were desperately trying to hold back and you were biting your bottom lip so hard that soon you’d draw blood. 

“You are prettier.” 

You didn’t hear him. And even if you had, you probably wouldn’t have understood the German. You’d tilt your head all cutely and smile at him as you asked him to translate. But you didn’t hear him, and you didn’t ask him to translate. König growled to himself, he didn’t like the hold this guy seemed to have on you. 

It wasn’t until he dropped a heavy hand on your shoulder did you snap out of whatever trance Adrain had over you. “Let’s go.” He needed to get your mind off of your ex (and preferably on him!).

“O-oh!” You looked up at him, eyes still brimming with unshed tears, “yea. Totally. My bad!” And the fake smile you gave him would fool no one. 

As luck would have it, just as you turned around, someone shouted your name. You froze and König growled again. He turned to face Adrian first, startling the smaller man enough to get a quiet, “whoa!” out of him. 

Even through his peripherals, he saw you quickly smoothing out your clothes and hair before you turned around too, this time your fake smile was much more convincing.

“Adrian! Hey,” you greeted the man, though remained firmly planted next to König. 

Adrian smiled that dangerous smile. The one that made you fall for him in the first place and still had you blushing. He tried to step further into your space, arms spread for a hug, but König caught him by the shoulder and pushed him back. 

“Hey, man! Not cool!” Adrian pointed a finger at König once he caught himself.

“Do not touch her.” 

König’s cold tone and death glare had both you and Adrian glancing at him with concern. It isn’t until you reach out a tentative hand and touch his arm does he stop glaring at Adrian. “It’s fine, König.” 

After taking a moment to glance between you and König, Adrian stepped back, he even braved tapping your free hand as he motioned for you to follow.

König growled, fists clenching and he nearly stormed after the other man. He told him not to touch you!  

“It’s fine.” You repeated and gave his arm another pat for reassurance. 

He resisted the urge to wrap his arms around and simply pull you away from your ex. But you followed him instead…

“What’s up?” You tried to sound unaffected. 

Adrian looked behind you and frowned. “You really with that guy?” 

“Yea. Why?” 

You hadn’t moved so far that König could no longer hear, and when you so casually admitted that you were with him, well, he was somehow both smiling and glaring under his mask.

“I just wanted to say hi, but,” he eyed König again, “do you still have my number?”

Your brows furrowed as you shook your head. “No. I deleted it when we broke up. Why?” 

Adrian reached inside his jacket and pulled out a business card and a pen. He scribbled his personal number on the back and handed it to you. “Here, take it. Just in case.” 

You blinked, a pang of familiarity hitting you as you read his messy handwriting. “Just in case what? I need a lawyer?” 

“No…” He sighed and nervously scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve just, seen this a few times. After a break up, women will date the first dangerous guy they meet and-” 

“He’s not going to hurt me, Adrian! ” You yelled and threw his card back at him. You had aimed for his face, but the little card hit his chest instead. 

“I’m just worried about you,” he sighed and tried to hand you the card again.

“He’s never even been mean to me, unlike you!” 

“What! I was never mean to you!” 

“You broke my heart!” 

Adrian stopped, he looked so taken aback with his mouth hanging open and eyes nearly as wide as his lenses. 

You sighed as he struggled, and failed, to think of a response. “Goodbye, Adrian.” That actually felt good, as there had been a lack of closure when you broke up. 

“But,” Adrian tried once more to talk to you, but seeing you done with him, König stepped between you and Adrian. 

“Leave.” He growled out and stared him down. 

“Jesus! Ok! Ok!”

He waited for Adrian to turn around and return to his partner before he relented, finding you quickly and dropping his hand to the small of your back. 

You muttered out a quiet thanks and an apology for ruining a nice day, but König shook his head, he wouldn’t mind going home anyways. “Too many people.” 

The next time you spoke up you were in front of your door, fishing your keys out of your purse. You were in the middle of a half hearted thank you to König when you suddenly found yourself pressed up against the door, König’s left arm braced against the door while his right arm was wound around your waist, pulling you tight against him.

“Ah! K-könig! What!” You squealed, heart pounding wildly in your chest as you tried to push back, only for him to tighten his hold on you, pulling you even closer to his hard body. 

You could feel everything. From the muscles in his arms trapping you against him, every breath he took, the flutter of his mask as he pressed his mouth against the side of your face, and the way his dick was hardening against your ass. You gasped, your entire body buzzing with want, need. 

“Do not think of him.” He growled into your ear, earning a whimper from you, your struggling against him not an attempt to get out of his hold, but to feel more of him. 

“Wh-what?” You finally managed to gasp out, one hand clutching at his arm as you tried to calm down. 

He wasn’t having that. Behind the loose front of his mask, his mouth found your neck. His teeth found your neck. You whined, quietly moaning out his name, as his tongue lapped at and soothed the fresh bite mark. “Think only of me.” 

You let out a breathy whine as you could definitely feel the outline of his hardness roughly rutting into you, your front pressed fully against the door at this point. He repeated the action a few times, heavy pants fanning your neck, tongue sliding out over your skin once more. It wasn’t elegant, but desperate and needy. Until he suddenly stilled and gently set you fully back on the ground. 

He turned you around, setting your back against the door, and moved his hand from your waist to cup your face, forcing you to look into his eyes. “Goodnight.” 

You blinked. “What?” No. That one you understood. “What?”

He chuckled, “remember to lock your door.” 

What! You sagged against the door and watched as he walked down the hall to his own flat. How in the world were you supposed to go to sleep after that? 

More Neighbor König: [Neighbor König masterlist]

[douceurrrr]

𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤

paring(s): dustin long x fem!reader | brandt x fem!reader

summary: you can’t pick between brandt or dustin

warning(s): nun really

request: Can you do a poly imagine with Alex/ Dustin, Alex/Brandt, or Dustin/Brandt please I'm craving this sm.

*black!reader in mind but anyone can read

“what about dustin, he’s fly.” anna says while looking at him. you look over at dustin, he has his hand on his knees in a sweaty mess with diamond earrings shining bright. she’s right dustin is fly and fine.

“but then there’s brandt.” maya says looking at brandt. you then look over at brandt who was already look at you, you instantly stopped looking. “oh my god, did you see that?” you whisper screamed. “yeah brandt was totally checking you out.” anna says, your heart did a backflip. “omg dustin too.” maya says making your heart do two backflips. “guys be for real.” you say, not believing one word.

“no like we’re being so for real, look.” she says. you look over that dustin first to see him looking at you. once you two connect eyes he winks at you before kicking the ball, whoa. you then look over that brandt who was looking at you also but once you connected your eyes with his he nods at you, grinning. “I can’t believe this is happening.” you breathily laughed. you soon realized that next period you have a class with both dustin and brandt and you sit in between them. great.

-

it was finally next period and you feel your stomach ache and cave in from how nervous you were feeling due to being in dustin and brandt’s presence again. you quickly sped walked into the classroom and sat down in your normal seat where brandt was on your left and dustin was on your right but they weren’t in the classroom yet so you felt some wave of relief.

soon after feeling that relief a boy with curly hair and a diamond earring walks in the classroom, making you suck in your breath. “sup y/n.” he winks at you again, some how you got yourself together enough to respond back to him. “hey dus.” you say instantly cursing yourself at the cheesy nickname. “dus?” he says, you could’ve sworn your shitted on yourself in embarrassment.

“yeah m’sorry that was weir-”

“no, s’kind of cute, hot even.” he cuts you off then looks off to the front of the classroom. you get your face get hot but that was the end of it. soon enough after brandt comes in with his signature walk and plops down in the seat to your left. “what’s up y/n.” he says with that lazy smile you knew and loved. “sup bran.” gosh this was even worse than the last nickname. “hmp, cute.” he chuckled before slouching in his chair.

“she gave me a nickname too, dude.” dustin says, sounding kind of competitive. “cool whatever.” brandt shrugs and looks off to a different part of the room feeling his blood boil. the tension was so thick that a knife wouldn’t be able to cut through, so you attempted to clear the air with a cough or a sneeze but dustin just says something along the lines of bless you, beautiful which made the tension thicker.

once the teacher started to talk it was the only time when you thanked god for it because the silence between you, dustin, and brandt was loud. suddenly in the middle class a paper landed on your desk, you look over to your left to see brandt smirking at you then look back towards the teacher, you chuckled and unraveled the paper and in brandt’s surprisingly decent handwriting it said come to my house after school? - xo brandt, gosh your heart must be tired from the backflips it’s been doing.

you look over at brandt and mouthed, I’ll think about it, he nodded. not even a minute after that another paper falls on your desk, you look over that brandt who was surprisingly wasn’t looking at you already, so it must’ve been from dustin so you look over to your right to see dustin before he winks at your. you unravel the paper and in dustin’s not so surprising good handwriting it said my house? after school? - xo dus, wow he used the nickname you had for him. you look back him and mouthed I’ll think about it. he nods.

gosh there’s a lot to process here. after that period you instantly find maya and anna to help you with this. “oh my god, guy please help.” you huffed, trying to catch your breath that was running away. “what girl what’s got your panties in a bunch.” anna says gigging.

“dustin and brandt, that’s who.” you replied, giving anna the two papers that the boys handed you in class. “oh my god definitely pick brandt.” maya says but anna turned that down. “no absolutely not, pick dustin, remember the earring.” she says dragging out that word earring. you just watch as maya and anna argue over who you should pick and it’s not helping at at.

gosh you’re in a pickle.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 2

Episode 8: Henry's Jelly

~Swellview High School~

"Ooh! They're gonna catch him!" Charlotte squealed as she and Jasper watched a live newsfeed of a motorcycle chase. Pretty much everyone in the school was glued to their screens to see if the police could catch the dangerous rogue.

"No, he just made a U-turn." Jasper gasped as the motorbike rider dodged the police's attempts to grab him. Henry wandered through the school's halls, wondering what everyone was chattering about.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked his friends.

"A live police pursuit." Charlotte quickly explained, never taking her eyes off the PearPad. 

"They've been chasing a guy on a motorcycle all 'round Swellview," Jasper added as Henry started watching too.

"It's been going on for over an hour." The teen girl said, watching as the motorcyclist took a right turn onto another street. Even Sydney and Oliver were following the news, but they were arguing about it at the same time. Some things never change.

"Whoa, this motorcycle guy's insane." Henry chuckled as he saw the dude filtering dangerously through the traffic and doing wheelies to mock the men chasing him.

"Oh, is the motorcycle chase still on?" Miss Shapen as her students as she rounded the corner wearing a shockingly orange outfit.

"Yes, ma'am," Jasper confirmed as they all oo'ed and ahh'ed at how the rider was turning around to look at the news crew. Henry was right, this guy was crazy. The news had brought on a 'motorcycle expert' to explain some trivia to the viewers, but all he was saying was complete crap or completely obvious.

"Jasper, I need you to get the flag and put it out in front of the school." Miss Shapen told the curly-haired boy, who didn't want to stop watching.

"Why?" He asked in a whiny voice.

"'Cause there's nothing out there now and you can't pledge allegiance to a hole." The teacher snapped.

"But I wanna keep watching this," Jasper said, causing Miss Shapen to snatch the PearPad away from his hands.

"FLAG!" She yelled loudly, prompting Jasper to sprint off to get that flag. Miss Shapen, Henry and Charlotte continued to watch the chase as the rider zoomed towards their school. Oliver Pook, being weird and cowardly, ran to go hide in the girl's bathroom, which wasn't his best idea.

Taking Henry aside, Charlotte pulled his ear down to her lips. 

"Uh, you realise that a criminal is riding toward this school." She pointed out, but like always, Henry couldn't read between the lines.

"Yeah. So?" He asked.

"So it might be a good time for Captain Man or Kid Danger to get here." She mumbled, lowering her voice so no other kids could hear what she was saying.

"Right, right. I...uh...better go wash my nose." Henry told Miss Shapen, who looked confused but bought the lie anyway. Backing away down the corridor, Henry discreetly popped a gumball into his mouth and dashed off to find a safe place to transform. He needed to hurry up; the man had raced across the car park and the lawn and was heading towards the school's entrance. 

"Oh, Charlotte! Open the doors!" Miss Shapen said to the girl as she dug through her purse.

"Why?" Charlotte asked in bewilderment, thinking that letting a criminal on a dangerous motorcycle into the school was a terrible idea.

"'Cause if that motorcycle rides by I'm gonna get it on video." The teacher exclaimed, tapping away on her phone.

"But, I don' think--" Charlotte protested, but arguing with Miss Shapen was always a bad idea.

"DOOR!" She yelled in the same way she yelled at Jasper to get the flag. Charlotte followed her directions and ran over to open the doors as Jasper returned.

"Miss Shapen, I got the flag." He told her, standing proudly with the pole in his hand.

"Not now!" She snapped, focusing on getting her camera ready.

"He's coming this way!" Charlotte gasped as the man came right towards her.

"Get away, get back! I was shooting video first!" Miss Shapen yelled, not caring about the safety of the kids. The rider didn't stop, he just rode through the doors and into the school. Squeezing his eyes shut in fear, Jasper raised the flagpole horizontally and knocked the man off the bike, unwittingly saving his peers from possible injury.

Everyone burst into cheers and applause as he peeked open his eyes and saw the biker groaning on the floor. Jasper was a hero, who would've thought it?

"What happened?" He asked confusedly, not realising what he had done.

"You stopped him!" Charlotte explained, making Jasper cry out in delight.

"Jasper, you're a hero!!" Sydney shouted across the room and everyone agreed with him, just as Kid Danger ran into the school. 

"Hey. I'm here." Henry announced with his hands on his hips, not knowing that he was a few minutes late to the action.

"Look, Jasper already took him down," Charlotte told him happily as Henry frowned. He wasn't used to someone else being a teen hero.

"Hey, do you mind if I get a picture?" A blonde girl asked.

"Nah, people ask me all the time," Henry smirked and put his arm around her since he had the wrong idea. 

"Thanks!" The girl squealed and passed Henry her phone so she could stand next to Jasper.

"Uh, sure. There, done, come get your phone." He stuttered as he recovered from his shock. Jealousy was an ugly thing, especially amongst friends.  Henry walked off as the cops arrived and dragged the motorcyclist away, much to the entertainment of the kids crowding around the entrance.

~The next day~

So, it seemed like stops a crazed bike rider was enough to become a minor celebrity in Swellview. Jasper Dunlop was the city's newest hero and had been showered with praise, gifts and even a news appearance. 

"Hey, everybody, check it out. Jasper's on the news!" Sydney told everyone in school, causing them to take out their phones, laptops or tablets so they could watch online.

"Wait, why's Jasper on the news?" Henry asked as his jealousy ignited again. Jasper stops one guy and he suddenly gets more attention than he got from being Kid Danger? Not fair!

"He caught that motorcycle guy yesterday." Sydney reminded him and he swallowed the anger rising in his throat.

"And when I saw the guy riding the motorcycle towards me, I just held up the flag and he crashed into the pole," Jasper explained to Trent Overrunder as poor Mary had to stand awkwardly behind them. She never had it easy.

Henry scoffed as Trent heaped his praise onto his best friend and his disgust grew as Charlotte spoke.

"Aw, I'm so proud of Jasper." She smiled at her friend's interview, glad that something good was happening to the kid that often had a hard time.

"I gotta get to class." Henry sulked moodily, not wanting to hear any more about Jasper or how amazing he was.

"Why? We have ten minutes." Charlotte said,  looking at him with a puzzled face.

"I don't like watching the news, all right?" Henry lied. He did like watching the news, just not when all the news was about Jasper and not him.

"Jasper's on!" Charlotte told him, which didn't help.

"So? We see Jasper all the time." I mean, pffft. Sorry, you love the news." Henry rolled his eyes as a group of pretty girls came over to him.

"Hey, Henry. Janey and I are having a party on Saturday night." The tallest girl smiled sweetly. 

"Oh, cool." Henry assumed that they wanted him to go.

"If you aren't busy, will you tell Jasper he's invited?" She asked, fanning his internal rage. Jasper this, Jasper that, Henry was starting to get pissed off. 

"Jasper's a hero." Janey swooned, the heroic actions of Jasper made her heart flutter with teen love.

"Yeah, sure." Henry shrugged, feeling beyond disappointed that these girls didn't want his handsome face at the party.

"Yay!" They all giggled and skipped down the corridor, leaving Charlotte with her grumpy friend.

"Hero? Pfffft! I'm a superhero." Henry bragged jealously.

"Mmm, technically sidekick." Charlotte corrected, deciding that Henry was quite a superhero in his own right just yet.

"Same thing." He argued bitterly.

"Mmmm, not quite." The teen girl said hesitantly, sparking Henry's anger.

"I'm going to class!" He growled and walked away, just as Janey came back and asked Charlotte for Jasper's phone number. Well, that certainly made him stop and peer around the lockers.

"You don't need Jasper's phone number!" He shouted at the poor girl as Charlotte recalled it, causing Janey to run away in fright. Henry desperately needed to get his temper under control.

~Later that day in The Man Cave~

Even after a full day at school, Henry was still annoyed at the whole Jasper-hero thing, so he was stood in the middle of the Man Cave as Charlotte worked on the supercomputer and Ray taught (y/n) some self-defence moves. If she was going to become a superhero, he was going to give her the best training possible. Plus, it was a great excuse for him to see her in some tight lycra and her to get an eyeful of his bare arms. God, he looked sexy in a tank top.

(y/n) bounced around the squishy mat that had been spread out across the floor as she raised her fists to her jaw and circled the larger man. Ray had been reluctant to spar with her since he thought she was so delicate and precious, but she insisted. She lived in a dangerous world and knew he would never hurt her anyway, so it would all be fine.

"And then, Jasper got to go on the news and everyone thinks he's so awesome and it's so not fair," Henry grumbled as Ray gave a soft high kick to his friend's hip. She tried to grab onto him to wrestle him or something, but he just used a takedown move and as gently as he could, pushed her onto the mat.

"Down you go, sweet girl." He smirked at her as she panted. He had to ignore the way her chest heaved and her skin glowed, otherwise he'd have to cut their session short and scuttle off to a cold shower.

"Are you guys listening to me?" Henry whined as (y/n) got back on her feet and put up her fists again. She'd beat him, she wasn't sure how, but she would.

"I'm not!" Charlotte retorted from the computer, thoroughly irritated by his complaining and envy.

"I just don't get what you're upset about," Ray added, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Yeah, you're not making a lot of sense." (y/n) mumbled, her focus primarily being on her opponent. and the way his hair cutely flopped about. 'No, serious concentration-time.' She scolded herself. She'd have to be sneaky to get one up on him.

"Oh, what's not to get? Charlotte gets it." Henry groaned at them.

"No, she doesn't." The girl sassed, wanting to stay out of Henry's bitter ranting.

"Well, Jasper did basically nothing and suddenly, everyone in Swellview thinks he's a hero." He said loudly, not letting anyone escape from his angry mood.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" (y/n) mentioned breathily, Ray trying to look anywhere but her bouncing chest. He didn't want to be that guy.

"I capture bad guys with you all the time and no one gives me any credit," Henry said to Ray, causing Charlotte to stand up and walk to him. Okay, she had something to say about that statement.

"You get credit all the time." She protested in frustration. Henry was being a massive baby about this. Couldn't he just be happy for his friend?

"Yeah, the Vice-Mayor gave us those medals," Ray mentioned, turning around briefly to look at the boy.

"Don't forget the voucher for the frozen yoghurt." (y/n) said, hoping she could use Ray's distraction to get the upper hand. Sadly for her though, he saw he attack just in time for him to plough her into the mat with a shoulder throw. Despite the soft surface, the landing winded her and she grumbled at the force.

"Can't you just let me win?" She groaned whilst Ray began to circle the mat again. He'd love to take it easy on her, but he knew that a criminal would use every nasty trick in the book to hurt or even kill her. He just wanted to prepare his girl for a world he knew all too well.

"No, Kid Danger gets the credit and the medals and the yoghurt. But I spend most of my life as Henry Hart and no one knows I do anything." Henry complained. He had a point, no one would ever know that it was him who saved the city day in, day out, but that was the job he had signed up for. 

"Just a second," Ray said to him as he blocked some of (y/n)'s jabs and threw her on the mat again. He wrapped his legs around her arm and gently squeezed so she'd feel the pressure, but not be in pain. 

"All right, doofus. Let me go." She whined, tapping his leg so he'd release her. 

"Man, I'm good." Ray joked as he held out a hand for her so he could help her stand up. However, his bragging got under her skin slightly. She stuck her tongue out at him and used whatever flexibility and strength she had to perform a kip-up, effectively getting on her feet and impressing him at the same time. 

"Let's go, hotshot." She growled confidently, not ready to give up yet, even though her muscles were starting to ache. Still, she circled the mat again and started looking for any weak points.

"Uh, you know, (y/n) can be strong when she wants to be." Charlotte piped up, fully aware of how the woman's small frame was capable of packing a punch when she used her intelligence.

"Yeah, but she's not as strong as me." Ray smiled, believing his superhero strength could outmatch anyone.

"I could beat you if I wanted to." She told him. Of course, she wasn't as muscly or as agile as he was, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve that had gotten her out of trouble before.

"Oh, really? Okay, well, I want you to start trying your hardest right now. Do your worst, sweet girl." He instructed her, thinking he could take anything she threw at him. It was (y/n), sweet, innocent (y/n), she wasn't that scary, right?

"You really wanna see my best moves?" She asked him, wanting his full consent before she switched to Miss Danger mode. She had spent years working out and practising self-defence whilst he was on patrol and she had picked up a few special moves here and there.

"Yeah, come on, (y/n/n). Let's see what you got. Let's see if you're fast enough to catch old--" Ray's gloating was cut off as the young woman landed a hard sucker punch on his nose, the fleeting, but intense pain making him fall on the floor. Looks like his ducking and weaving was no match for a good old-fashioned smack in the mouth.

"I slipped." Ray lied as he scrambled from the floor, but the laughing kids didn't believe him. They saw the way his eyes screwed shut in agony and there was no way he could've faked that.

"All right, my little helper. Let's try that again." The superhero said, scrunching his nose up like a bunny.

"Are you sure? I hit you pretty hard." (y/n) winced. She knew she couldn't actually hurt the indestructible Captain Man, but she wasn't one for going around and punching her friends.

"Yeah, I'm ready this time. Better watch out, coming in fast, girl. Come on, show me your best move, show me what you got--" His incessant taunting fuelled he need to just shut him up, so she landed another hit on the side of his head. Henry and Charlotte chuckled as he landed face down on the mat again. If he was smart, he'd stay down.

"I did ask if you wanted to be hit again." (y/n) held her hands up innocently as he stood up, his face filled with both exhaustion and admiration. He was astounded by her, there was always something new to fall in love with and today, it was how she could kick ass so easily when she put her mind to it.

"Okay, sweet girl, think you've had enough? I'm gonna hit the shower." He panted, not wanting to take another beating from her. She giggled as he walked past her and made sure to grab his hand as he did.

"I'm coming too." She smiled, trying to ignore the idea of them showering together in that way. That was just setting herself up for a burning frustration that would take days to smother. 

"You can't wash off the pain!" Henry called to Ray in a monotone voice. The great Captain Man, beaten by a girl. Funny.

"You heard him." She laughed, clinging to his arm as they walked to the back of the Man Cave. She'd never let him live this one down, especially after all that bragging he did.

"Yeah, yeah." He sulked as they left the main room, bantering all the way to the shower block. All he had to do was not think about her bodacious curves in the shower until he was alone.

"And we have some exciting news from the Mayor's office," Charlotte screamed when she saw the latest report on the news. It couldn't be true, this was just too cool.

"No way!" She exclaimed, drawing Henry's attention. 

"What?" The boy asked in a low, confused one.

"Uh, nothing. It's nothing, it's not about Jasper. Don't come over here." She stammered, but her words made it impossible for Henry to ignore them. What had Jasper done now?

"Jasper Dunlop is getting his own holiday." Trent Overrunder reported, making Henry's mouth drop open like a goldfish's.

"Thanks to his heroic actions last week, the Mayor has declared April 9th as Jasper Dunlop Day, here in Swellview." Mary smiled into the camera, her happiness making the kid even more bitter.

"A happy day for a very special young man," Trent added, causing Henry to slam his fist onto the control panel to turn off the dumb news report. Could this be any worse?

"He wasn't heroic. He wasn't even sheroic. He was non-roic!" He hissed, making Charlotte sign in frustration. 

"You know, Jasper's your friend. You shouldn't be jealous of him." She told him, making him put since he'd been caught out.

"I'm not jealous." He defended poorly.

"Yes, you are. You're jelly of Jasper." Charlotte folded her arms and frowned at him. Did he think she was stupid?

"No, I'm not. I'm not jelly of Jasper. This is about me, wanting more people to pay attention to me, instead of Jasper." Henry argued back, his logic is completely stupid.

"All right, I'm going upstairs." The girl sighed. She'd had enough of his bullshit and just wanted a break from his whining.

"Why?" Henry scoffed. He needed someone to whine at and with no Ray or (y/n) available, that left Charlotte.

"Because you're not upstairs." She growled in response and stepped into the elevator.

"Pfft, I"m not jelly of Jasper," Henry mumbled to himself as the elevator door slid shut.

"It's just not fair, why should he--" Henry bleated, but was interrupted by the emergency alarm ringing out. Someone was in trouble. 

"Emergency. Pet Me. Hey, R--" Henry stopped himself before his boss could hear him. Not that he would, he was way too busy singing in the shows to notice the flashing alarm in his shower, despite it being next to his head. 

"I don't need Ray. And I don't need all the stuff." Henry told himself as he heard Ray's daft ramblings from the shower. The boy foolishly put his gum tube on the control panel and slid off his whiz watch too. 

"I'm gonna show Swellview what Henry Hart can do." He pumped himself up, not knowing that his overconfidence would be his downfall. Taking out his remote control, he lowered a tube and blasted off and out of the building, leaving the blissfully unaware adults behind.

"RAYMOND, STOP SHOUTING, YOU BIG DOOFUS!" (y/n) yelled as his out of tune screaming echoed around the tiles of her shower block. He was a moron, but he was her moron.

~Pet Me Pet Store~

Some insane thug was threatening a customer in the pet shop as the terrified cashier looked on in terror. The criminal yelled and screamed at the poor guy to squeeze into a large dog cage, not wanting anyone to be crawling around the room as he robbed the place

"Please, please, sir. You've gotta stop. Sir, you are out of control." The cashier begged. He didn't want to see anyone hurt in his store.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" The thug bellowed as Henry dropped down from the ceiling and into a display basket of soft, squeaky pet toys. Everyone glanced over at the display as his body weight made several toys squeak when he buried into them.

"What was that noise?" The criminal asked the employee, but he was just as clueless as he was. He didn't know some angsty teen was trying to be a hero with no equipment whatsoever.

"Sir, sir, my boss gets back from Wisconsin in a week, you can talk to him then." The mild-mannered guy tried to calm him down, but he just growled furiously in response. Poking his head through the toys, Henry was waiting for the opportune moment.

"I ain't waiting a week. You sold me a defective goldfish. Here's the receipt." The begrudged man said, holding out a scrap of crumpled paper.

"The goldfish wasn't defective." The employee whimpered.

"He's dead, man! I can show you his wet, lifeless carcass!" Henry analysed the criminal, thinking that it was his poor treatment of the fish that made it die. The large, scruffy man continued to intimidate the poor worker until Henry had had enough. Even with the offer of a free, new goldfish, the man was still raging on. It was not-hero time.

"Good Lord, just give him the money!" A frightened woman called out from one of the pet cages as the criminal demanded a refund. She wasn't going to get hurt for four measly dollars. However, there was nothing the young man could do; the store didn't do cask refunds and this information poked the bear even more.

"We're going in the break room!" The man growled, marching himself and the cashier to the back room so they could review the store's policy. This was Henry's chance.

"Shhhhh! Shhhhh! Shhhhhh!" He cringed as every movement he made was ridiculously noisy from the toys, causing the trapped citizens to look at him funnily. 

Once free of the toys, he picked up a large dog bone and stomped towards the cages, intent on freeing everyone. But, what he didn't notice was that Captain Man and Miss Danger had been him to the store when (y/n) noticed the alarm going off outside her shower. They had rushed to the emergency when they saw Henry's gum and watch left behind and they knew he was up to something dumb.

Swiftly tiptoeing over to the boy, Ray slapped his hand down on his shoulder, causing him to shout in alarm from the unexpected touch. Ray and (y/n) jumped back at his outburst, not expecting him to scream in their faces. If they carried on making this much noise, the element of surprise would be wasted.

"Ray? (y/n)? What are you doing here?" Henry hissed at the couple as (y/n) angrily dragged him to the opposite side of the store, not wanting the locked-up customers to hear anything they said.

"It's Captain Man and Miss Danger! And what are you doing here?" The man rebuked his sidekick's attitude. He couldn't believe his sidekick had left work and forced him to bring his emergency sidekick out. Still, he knew it would be good practice for her to get out and into the field and he so loved seeing her in her tight super suit.

"Uh, you know...fighting crime?" Henry stuttered and shrugged, but his answer wasn't good enough.

"Dressed like that?" (y/n) snapped, feeling like a mother who had caught her child misbehaving.

"You're out of uniform!" Ray added, also noting Henry's lack of costume. What the three of them failed to notice was the fact that the criminal had heard their bickering and was sneaking from the break room and towards them.

"I don't need that. Henry Hart's gonna get some credit." Henry gloated, his prideful and big-headed moment making his bosses sigh frustratedly. That's what this was about? His whole jealousy thing? 

"Sweet cheese, Henry, grow up!" (y/n) pinched the bridge of her nose as the scruffy dude closed in.

"Do you really think it matters?" Captain Man continued, equally annoyed at how childish he was being.

"Yeah, I do--" Their arguing was cut short as Henry was grabbed from behind by the man and quickly held hostage.

"Get off me, man!" The kid seethed as Ray protectively stepped in front of (y/n). He couldn't help but shield her from danger, despite the threat being minimal.

"Hey, let him go," Ray commanded the man as Henry struggled in his arms. His authoritative voice made shivers go down (y/n)'s spine, but this was no time to dream about how hot he was.

"You better stay back, Captain Man!" The guy threatened, baring his teeth in an animalistic snarl.

"Captain Man doesn't stay back. Captain Man...moves forward." Ray replied confidently as (y/n) clenched her fists next to him.

"No, no, no. I don't need your help." Henry stopped the pair from advancing, holding out his hand and declining their assistance. He should've accepted it though, 'cause he really struggled against the superior strength of the large thug.

"Suit yourself." (y/n) smiled sarcastically as she rested an arm on Ray's shoulder, the two of them waiting for Henry's "big moment".

"Okay, a little help." The boy panted as his energy drained away from all his useless fighting.

"How about two fistfuls of help?" Ray quipped, holing up his hands aggressively.

"Dude, I'm here too. Make that four fistfuls of help, kid I've never met." (y/n) slapped her best friend's arm when he failed to mention her and the two of them took a step forward. Well, they would've helped out if the man hadn't held a very dangerous spider over Henry's head. Ah, geez.

"Not another step, Captain." The guy smiled sinisterly.

"Okay, put down the spider," Ray instructed him calmy, not recognising that it was a highly poisonous breed.

"This ain't just a spider, this is a Mexican Red Rump." The criminal explained, causing Henry's face to pale. He'd certainly heard of those.

"Oh, geez." He swallowed the lump in his throat. What had he gotten himself into?

"You're bluffing. That's not a Mexican Red Rump." Captain Man challenged, not believing the dude.

"Oh, yeah? Look at his rump?" He shook the spider's plastic container and the superhero and his helper could clearly see the arachnid's distinct red body.

"Yeah, that ass is red." (y/n) gulped as the flimsy cage wobbled over her friend's head.

"That's right and all I have to do is flip this lever and this spider will run right down onto this kid's stupid face. Or Captain Man, I could have it run all over that pretty little thing you got right there and see what happens when it bites her pretty neck." The man intimidated the young woman into stepping back a little and letting Ray take control. Her fear switched his mind into an angry state, as his temper flared up at the guy's disgusting names for her. Only he got to call her neck pretty.

"You wouldn't dare." The superhero growled, his protective instincts ramping up at the threats towards his girl and his sidekick.

"Oh, yes, I would. Unless you and your sweet piece get inside that animal crate." He told him, wanting to humiliate Captain Man by getting him locked up like a common criminal.

"I don't think so," Ray replied, pursing his lips in defiance.

"We'd never fit." (y/n) added, analysing the dimensions of the cage quickly. It would definitely be a tight squeeze for them.

"I just have to flip this lever." The thug's thumb brushed over the release button, causing Henry to panic.

"Uh, Captain Man! Maybe you and Miss Danger get in the crate, 'cause I really don't want a Mexican Red Rump on my face." The kid exclaimed nervously, his fear making his captor giggle manically. This put Ray between a rock and a very hard place. He had to consider that he had Henry's life at risk, (y/n)'s life possibly at risk, the humiliation of being forced into a pet crate and the fact that he would be intimately pressed against the young woman as she squeezed into it with him. Decisions, decisions. 

~Five minutes later~

Well, this sucked. Ray and (y/n) had jointly decided that the cage was the best option for everyone, so he had crawled in first and then she had followed after him. Currently, the girl was sat between his long legs with her back to his chest as they both banged on the cage bars. Even though they both secretly loved being so close to one another, they knew they had to figure a way out of the damn things.

Henry felt the same way. The mad criminal had put him into the identical pet crate next to them and despite the extra legroom, he too was keen to get out.

"Hey, let me out of this pet carrier, I'm uncomfortable." Henry groaned as he thumped his fist into the wire top. Little did they all know that the guy had sent a recording of them to a news crew and the whole city knew of their peril and that Captain Man had a darling new sidekick. Oh well, they cross that bridge when they came to it, first, they had to wait out for the help that was on its way.

"You don't think we're uncomfortable?" (y/n) sassed the boy who got them all here in the first place. It wasn't a complete lie, she hated how cramped everything felt, but she also adored how she could just lool her head back and be consumed by Ray and his endless muscly torso.

"Sir, please, it's just four dollars." The cashier repeated his statement from earlier as the situation spiralled out of control. At least Captain Man was having a whale of a time enjoying the way his girl fit into his embrace. The criminal said one thing right; she did have a pretty neck and he just wanted to drag his lips down it.

"Boom, it's four dollars and seventeen cents!" The man corrected, whipping out his receipt. 

"Wow, that seventeen cents is going to make a world of difference." (y/n) rolled her eyes sarcastically, feeling at ease as Ray's hot breath tickled her ear and his hand settled on her waist.

"Shut up, woman! Give me my refund!" He pointed a gnarled finger at their cage whilst glaring at the quivering employee.

"I can't violate store policy!" He stiffened diligently, trying not to be so intimidated that he lost all of his scruples.

"Then I'm gonna have to start breaking everything in this store. Starting with your face!" He snapped, his patience hanging on by a thread.

"That's also against store policy!" The cashier hissed back as he found his bravery. The criminal shouted in rage and began to chase him around the store, prompting Henry, Ray and (y/n) to kick and punch at the cages restraining them. 

"Captain Man? Can't you and your...friend do something?" One of the trapped customers said, not realising that they weren't just sitting around and twiddling their thumbs.

"We're trying," Ray told him dryly whilst (y/n) kicked the crate's door, which was surprisingly strong.

"Okay, these things are impossible to break open." Miss Danger told him breathily, leaning back into his chest as she kept kicking anyway.

"Well, where's Kid Danger?" A woman asked, making the adults huff bitterly.

"Oh, well, you see, sometimes, Kid Danger makes irresponsible choices and is unprepared for a situation like this." Ray smiled fakely, his words causing (y/n) to nod along in agreement.

"Well, Captain Man and Miss Danger, maybe instead of trash-talking Kid Danger, who I think is awesome by the way--" Henry bragged, tooting his own horn.

"Not today! Little shit!" (y/n) snapped, thoroughly irritated by the kid's behaviour.

"Whatever. Maybe if we can make these cages fall on the floor, the impact will open them up." Henry suggested reasonably. It wasn't a bad idea, to be fair. He and Ray grabbed the tops of their respective cages and began to wobble and rock them from side to side, hoping they'd get enough momentum to tip over the edge of the counter.

"Wait, this is going to hurt--" (y/n)'s protests were in vain as the males successfully tipped the cages onto the floor, but their design was immaculate and they remained intact despite the violent drop. Now, they were just sore, irritated and upside-down.

"Great, now we're on the floor." Ray groaned as he and (y/n) blinked through the pain. He gently took hold of her hand and she squeezed it to tell him she was okay; annoyed, but not hurt.

"I tried to tell you, doofus." She whined, wiggling around with him like a tortoise on its back to see the bars would prise open now. 

"Pssst, Henry." A new voice entered the room and they all looked over in wonder and shock as Jasper of all people came to their rescue. He was definitely proving himself to be quite the hero.

"Jasper?" Henry gasped at his best friend's sudden appearance, but Ray wasn't so pleased to see the kid with sweaty hands.

"Oh, god." He mumbled so only he and (y/n) could hear it, making the woman giggle.

"Shush, be nice." She chuckled, leaning up to press a calming peck to his cheek or rather his lower jaw due to the angle. If only she knew how that some kiss made him putty in her hands. He was thankful they were in a dangerous situation surrounded by people, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from doing something he'd surely regret.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Henry asked him in a lowered voice, knowing the criminal would be back any minute.

"I saw you on the news," Jasper whispered back, piquing his friend's and (y/n)'s interest. They had been filmed? When?

"I was on the news? Did they mention my name?" Henry wanted to know if the word had spread about his reckless heroism.

"No." The curly-haired boy answered succinctly, quashing Henry's hopes of fame and glory.

"Aw, dang it!" Henry grunted at the information. If he couldn't get a shred of recognition, all of this would be for nothing.

"Um, excuse me, Jeremy, no, James--uh, Jasper! Was I on the news?" (y/n) piped up from the other side of the counter, her head tucked under Ray's chin as she fitted her body under his so she could see the boys.

"Yeah, Miss. Danger, everyone saw you." Jasper told her excitedly, recalling how Trent and Mary were leading the speculation on who was Captain Man's attractive sidekick and what was her relation to him.

"Fabulous." (y/n) smiled weakly. Unlike Ray or Henry, the idea of red carpets and constant paparazzi attacks freaked her out. It would be harder for her and her nervous personality to get over that than the supervillains she would face.

"Hey, I'm super psyched that you guys are having a little reunion here, but can we please focus on the psycho that's taken over this pet store?" Ray hissed as his back began to ache from the awkward position. That and the way he was bent over his gorgeous assistant did nothing for his filthy mind and he wasn't sure how long he could resist the temptation to just pin her down and have his way with her. 

"Right." Jasper nodded. and obediently dashed over to their cage and kneeled down next to them.

"Hey, Captain Man. It's me, Jasper." The kid smiled at his hero pleasantly, as (y/n) suddenly became very aware of how she and Ray were positioned. She would surely be having some sinful dreams tonight.

"I'm aware." Ray deadpanned the boy, who was being painfully slow in his rescue of the two adults.

"Great, now, here's my plan." Jasper started, having concocted his scheme on his mad dash to the pet store.

"Kill me." (y/n) mumbled to herself under her breath. She knew Jasper meant well, but her lower stomach was burning with desire and she was having to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning when Ray's hot breath hit her neck.

"I'll go to the men's room," Jasper said, wanting the hero to be fully up to speed with everything.

"Yeah..." Ray sighed, tensing his muscles in impatience, which made his assistant squirm against him, thus making the tension between them grow even thicker and hotter.

"You tell the bad guy that you gotta pee like real bad." Henry frowned as he listened in on the plan, thinking it sounded completely crazy.

"Uh-huh." He smiled politely, even though his thoughts were anything but polite or innocent at that moment.

"He'll let you both go to the bathroom and I'll be waiting for ya." Jasper finished, but (y/n) was too impatient for him to wrap it all up.

"Hey, could I pitch an idea?" She asked in a slightly irritated tone.

"Sure, Miss Danger." Jasper smiled, welcoming the notion of new suggestions.

"Let us out of this damn cage." She demanded and Jasper realised that her plan was easier than his.

"Right." he nodded and quickly flicked the lock on the door, allowing both her and Ray to crawl out before they drowned in their suffocating desire. 

"Thank you, son." Captain Man told Jasper gratefully as he and the young woman stood up and stretched their tight limbs. It felt so good to be back on their feet and even better to be able to quell the fires in their bellies by standing apart.

"Can you let me out now?" Henry asked hopefully as he squatted in his cage, but his boss wasn't ready to forgive him yet.

"No!" He snapped, halting Jasper in his tracks.

"Stay there and think about what you have done." (y/n) scolded him as she bent down to his eye level, truly feeling like she was talking to a little boy who had stolen some candy or something. 

"Hey, Dirk. Come out! We're out of the...thing." Ray called out to the criminal, who was apparently named "Dirk" and nonchalantly leaned against the counter as the man stampeded into the room.

"What? Who let you out of that carrier? You better get back in their right no--" Ray was ready to beat the guy to a pulp, but (y/n) felt like she deserved a piece of the action too. Thinking back to her earlier training, she swung at Dirk like she had done to Ray earlier and knocked the guy out with one swift, powerful blow. Damn; the caged customers and Jasper clapped her impressive feat of strength as Ray gazed at her with pride and love. He had picked the right girl for him.

"Woah, that was so amazing. Now, will you let me out of this animal box?" Henry whined, feeling puny and pathetic in the small crate. Jasper quickly unhooked the lock as Ray did the same to the trapped man, woman and child.

"Okay, you're free. Latch is open, congratulations, climb outta there." He said as Henry strolled over to him and (y/n) bashfully. 

"No way! Look, a Mexican Red Rump! I've wanted one of these spiders since I was little." Jasper gasped when he saw the lethal arachnid still sitting in the plastic terrarium.

"So, buy one," Henry told him, thinking it was no big deal.

"Dude, they're 150 bucks," Jasper replied dejectedly as he saw the price list on the wall. He couldn't even afford half of that.

"Hey, that's the kid who stopped the motorcycle bandit the other day." One of the freed customers gasped when he recognised Jasper. Henry rolled his eyes jealously, his envy still burning brightly.

"You saved Captain Man and his new sidekick, who saved us!" The lady added too, as Ray and (y/n) shared shy, knowing looks.

"You're a hero."

"Again!" They smiled at the curly-haired boy, who was just happy to help. He didn't think he was the one who saved the day.

"Nah, Miss Danger's the one who punched him." He said, humbly, resulting in (y/n) putting her hand on his shoulder. Henry could learn a thing or two from his best friend.

"Oh, no, no, no. Jasper, we all owe you a big, wet thank you." She smiled at him and Ray nodded along with her. 

"Don't we, boy we don't know?" The superhero added on the end, turning around to sharply look at Henry.

"Wet?" He repeated in confusion as he sulked. He wanted to be a hero...

"No, Henry doesn't need to thank me. This guy's my best friend and he'd have done the same thing for me." Jasper stated loyally and his kind words melted the jealousy in Henry's heart. He realised he had been so stupid and decided that Jasper was indeed a hero.

"Well, Jasper, I bet you feel pretty good right now," Ray commented, making the boy look at his shoes shyly. It was nice for the two adults to know that Henry had such a good friend to steer him back to the right path when his ego got the better of him. 

"I do." He smiled brightly, his chest puffed out with pride.

"And how about you? How do you feel? Kinda gross, huh? " (y/n) poked Henry's elbow as he pouted from how dumb he'd acted.

"Whatever". He shrugged as she teased his grouchy mood. He sure had a lot to learn about being a hero and a good friend, but he had some great people supporting him all the way, and that was all that mattered.

[butthead7]

man. 2012 April curly hair one-shot (no ships, just April and the boys hanging out and platonically loving each other and being one big happy family)

(not proof read, my writing is bad, read at your own risk)

April rushed through the streets of New York, through the crowds of people, and through the downpour that had unexpectedly started just after school got out. Of course, all of the umbrellas that the school let the kids borrowed were already taken.

April's hair stuck to her face, and her boots sloshed in the puddles. She shivered, rubbing her arms. The last thing she needed was to get sick, what with finals coming up.

'i'm sure the boys won't mind me stopping by...' she though to herself, slipping into an alleyway. She heaved the manhole cover away, and ducked into the sewer, dragging the cover back into place. She waiting until her eyes adjust to keep going.

As her boots hit the ground, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket, and called Raph (labeled 'Raphie' on her phone, as a way to tease him).

"'sup?" He answered on the third ring. It sounded like his mouth was full.

"I'm stopping over, if that's cool." April said, her boots sloshing down the sewer, down the path she knew by heart.

"k. See you later." Raph said, and promptly hung up. She rolled her eyes, pocketing her phone again. 'he always did have a way with words' she thought sarcastically to herself.

The sewer smell began to clear, and she could see light up ahead. She sloshed towards it, hearing laughter. She peeked inside, seeing Mikey and Leo going head- to- head in Mario Kart. Mikey usual pick, Mario, was ahead of Leo's usual pick, Princess Peach.

"hey, guys!" April called. Mikey looked up, which gave Leo a chance to race forward. Donnie looked up from where he was curled up on the couch with his laptop, flashed a grin, and waved. Raph flipped his hand up and grunted in acknowledgement.

"April, your soaked!" Donnie exclaimed. April simply hummed, and went to the closet where the towels are kept. She pulled one out and undid her ponytail and headband, plopping down on the floor in between where Raph and Donnie were sitting.

She began to dry her hair by rubbing the towel over her head, not caring if she messed it up; it was just the boys, anyways. She crimped it too, squeezing it from the bottom.

She sighed and held the towel in her lap, exhausted from the school day, the rain, the trek down here, and drying her hair.

"nice hair, frizzy." She heard Raph chuckle. She looked at him questioningly, until he pointed at his head. She pulled on a piece of her hair, and watched it bounce back like a spring. She sighed again, letting her head fall back onto the cushion.

"whoa, April, I didn't know your hair could do that!" She heard Mikey say. She nodded, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

"can I touch it?" Mikey said, suddenly right above her. She blinked her eyes open.

"sure, whatever." She said, sitting up. Mikey gently rigged a curl, and it bounced up. She noticed how frizzy her hair was now, and groaned internally to herself.

"April, I didnt know your hair was curly. How do you always get it straight?" Donnie asked. She shrugged.

"I wake up early and straighten it." She answered simply.

"but how?" Donnie asked, leaning forward over his laptop. April glanced over at him, then at Leo, who was also looking at her expectantly.

"uh, well, it's like. Two heated up pieces of metal, and I clasp it on my hair, and run it down, and viola, my curls are gone." She answered, Mikey still playing with her messy ringlets.

"why do you want to though?" Leo said, leaning back onto his arm, his ankles crossed. She shrugged again.

"straight hair is romanticized more, I guess." She crossed her legs, and began to drum her fingers on her calfs.

"I thinks it's cooler this way. More wild looking. It looks kinda like fire." Raph said, not looking up from his motorcycle magazine. She thought about this for a moment.

All this time, she had been trying to tame her hair, to keep it out of the way. But why not leave it? It would let her sleep in longer, that's for sure. And the only reason she had started straightening her hair in the first place was because other girls in her school were doing it.

"all right, all right, I'll leave it. You guys can see how it is when it's not burned straight, and not damp and messy."

"yay!" Mikey cheered. "This calls for a celebration!" He cried, jumping up and to the kitchen.

"no it doesn't, Mikey!" April called after him. But he ignored her. He came back Ina few moments later with a box of pizza, and an orange fanta.

"April, you'll have to tell me how curly hair works; maybe I canake something that keeps it healthy!" Donnie said.

"um... sure, Donnie. Maybe later." She replied (there was no way in hell she was letting his science experiments near her hair).

[frankmillerturnonyourlocation]

Spotify Wrapped Prompt #91

It’s us, yes, we’re back again/Here to see you through ‘til the day’s end

"Nah, I'll catch up with you guys later. Don't worry about it."

After years of exposure, Henry had gotten to the point where he could feel the electric weight of Charlotte's gaze on the back of his neck. "We're not worried, numbnuts," was what she said, something that could have been a joke if she would have delivered it like one. "We're coming."

"Oh my god," Henry rolled his eyes. "You guys seriously don't have to tag along. It's a dumb errand, but I'll get it done. You guys go on ahead."

Balancing his head on his fist while awkwardly shuffling off of the sidewalk so as to see Henry's face, Jasper said, "A little suspicious how protective you're being of this trip to the Swell Foods, Henry. Something you'd like to share with the class?"

"What, about Ray's stupid dietary needs?" Henry grabbed a pole and leaned away, letting the momentum carry his body around the corner.

"So he does have them? Is it lactose, I bet it's lactose, it's one of the most common intolerances."

"He's not–"

"We've seen him eat ice cream before?"

"And I've like, seen him eat ice cream and stuff, but I feel like it's in character for Ray–"

"Ohh, oh, yeah, he totally would eat dairy anyway. Plus, couldn't Schwoz just, like–"

"Wait, yeah, lactase pills, right? So what do we need from Swell Foods?"

Henry walked with his hands in his pockets, taking a deep breath of the foggy morning. Jasper was walking in front of him, now, but backwards, about a foot ahead of Charlotte. Henry walked on, the third point of the triangle.

"I bet it's just, like, some specific trail mix that Ray is convinced doesn't taste the same from the Autosnacker." Charlotte kicked a stray bottle cap forwards with the toe of her boot. "I can't believe he asked you to get it right now, though. Look at us, trying to get ahead of things by waking up this early to get to the park–"

"So early. The dumbest project."

"–and he's already got you buying mystery groceries." Charlotte did a funny little hop-step that Henry hadn't seen since third grade, a bit of muscle memory from her two– three?– years of tap. "Since you're so determined not to tell us, I have to assume it's something he needs urgently?"

"Is it rash cream?"

"What?"

"Is it rash cream?"

"It's not– Swell Foods doesn't even–" Still keeping pace, Henry spun around in an exasperated circle. "To answer your question, Charlotte. We may be out early, but Ray and I were on early-early patrol just an hour ago. I figured I'd get it out of the way before we filmed the script so I would be free to nap until the world blows up, or until my watch goes off again."

"Same thing, yeah?"

Charlotte kicked the bottle cap at Jasper's shin and missed by a foot. "You know what I think? You're just trying to get out of filming with us."

Henry threw a cocky glance over his shoulder. "Figured me out already?"

"Oh yeah." Charlotte overtook Henry, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "And as your project leader, I consider it my duty to support all of my subordinates in extracurricular tasks, whether they coincide with previously scheduled filming time blocks or not. You're welcome. Swell Foods adventure."

"Swell Foods adventure!"

"Swell F–whoa, dude."

"Jasper."

"Dude!"

Henry lunged forward and grabbed the back of Jasper's sweatshirt, yanking him back just as the illegally road-parked Subaru stutter-stopped past them, its speedy getaway from in front of the Monoplex interrupted by the curly-haired highschooler walking backwards down the street, a foot and a half away from the curb.

After years of exposure, Henry had learned to discern the difference between antics that were worth more than a passing word or two and antics that needed only a beat of silence, a moment's pause.

Then, after a suitable duration: "Hit by a car on the way to Swell Foods adventure."

"Hit by a car on the way to Swell Foods adventure!"

"Hit by two cars on the way to Swell Foods adventure."

"No."

"Hear him out, Henry, hear him out."

[luv4fandoms]

Most definitely (Bill S.Preston x Fem!Reader)

Ok so go easy on me, I've never actually sat down and watched Bill and Ted before (I just remember scenes in passing when I was a kid and my bros would watch it. But I'm trying to practice (I also need to just sit down and watch it fr lol) . I saw this writing prompt and my brain immediately thought of this, but yeah, the slag for them is a bit difficult for me lol.

Also I pictured the girl to be kinda like Wednesday, and her friend like Enid, Idk why lol.

Word count: 1,321

Pairing: BillxFem!Reader

Warnings: Drinking?

⚠️ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.⚠️

You didn't even know why you came to this party, other than the fact that your best friend in the whole world F/N was dragging you along. You both had recently moved to San Dimas after graduation, your parents wanting a change in scenery and her dad getting a better job. Though you did live a little ways away from each other, at least it wasn't the thousands of miles you were terrified of at first when her parents said they would be going. Really though it was lucky that your mom and her mom had been besties since high school and couldn't stand to be apart. 

But back to the overly atrocious party that you had stepped foot in. It wouldn't have been bad if there had been at least good music you supposed, but come on, where was the Motorhead? The Metallica? The Van Halen?! All there was were drunks, newly graduated teens jumping around with cups of clearly spiked punch, either seeing how stupid they could be, or how far down each other's throats they could stick their tongues.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea" you spoke, look around, luckily not spotting anyone you knew from your short time living here.

"Oh come on! Live a little!" Your friend yelled over the music as she pulled you further along. 

"I'd rather die a quiet death," you told her,but let her lead you nonetheless. Though a little ways into her walking, she stopped.

"Hey, isn’t that the ‘super hot’ neighbor you were rambling about having a crush on earlier, over there?” she asked with a shit eating grin, causing your eyes to widen..please no.

"What?! Please say psych!"

"No I’m serious, look." You followed her line of sight towards the kitchen, easily finding the curly blonde locks of, indeed, your 'super hot' neighbor you had rambled about any and every time you talked to F/N.

"..Fuck" you breathed. You couldn't help it really, he wasn't like any guy you had ever seen before, it was like he was a Greek God walking amongst humans. Or an angel sent to Earth. You had never actually spoken to him, just little hesitant waves between you both, you didn't know what you would even say to him if you talked, or if you would be able to. His friend was far more chatty, that was the only reason you knew his name was Bill, because Ted had stopped to talk to you before heading into Bill's house. He told you they had a band, and you should come by sometime to hear them play, an offer you never had the guts to take him up on. Sometimes you really hated being shy, sometimes you really wished you were as outgoing as F/N, the social butterfly..Instead of the goth moth.

"I mean they do clean up pretty ni- Wait, where are you going? We just got here." F/N spoke, quickly catching up with you.

"Home! I only agreed to this because you said no one would know me here!" You stated, almost to the door when.

"Most bodacious neighbor babe!" Ted's voice rang out, causing you to stop just as your hand touched the doorknob.

"Are you already leaving? So not cool" he stated while throwing his arm over your shoulder.

"..Ah.."

"We actually just got here" F/N spoke up, causing you and Ted to look at her, his eyes widening.

"Whoa" he breathed while taking her in.

"You must be Ted" she smiled, before, to your dismay, adding.

"Y/N has told me about you"

"You talked about me?" Ted smiled.

"You and Bill" she added, smiling while you glared at her.

"Bill is here as well, come on! He will be most pleased to see you!" Ted spoke excitedly as he pulled you along, arm still over your shoulder while F/N followed behind. He led you to the kitchen area, calling out to Bill once he spotted him.

"Bill! Look at the bodacious babes that I found" you watched Bill turn around, his eyes meeting yours as he smiled, giving you a wave.

"Neighbor babe" he spoke, though you noticed the faint pink tinting his cheeks.

"Hey Bill" you waved back, trying not to get lost in his hazel gaze.

"Ah this is F/N" you stated, gesturing to your friend who happily waved.

"Very nice to meet the infamous Bill S. Preston" 

"How did you-" 

"F/N isn't this like, your favorite song?" You asked quickly, turning to her as you tried not to murder her. 

"Oh my God it is!" She smiled, before turning to Ted.

"Wanna dance cutie?"

"Most definitely!" He smiled, letting her lead him to the dance floor and giving a thumbs up to Bill, who gave one back.

"They will make a cute couple" you spoke, mainly to yourself, but Bill heard.

"He is her type?" He asked, and you turned to look at him.

"How did Ted say it? Most definitely!" you told him, cracking a smile when he laughed at your impression.

"Hey, you actually do smile" he stated, causing your smile to fall.

"No wait-I didn't-I mean you don't have to smile if you don't want to-it would just be most heinous if you didn't smile-what I mean to say is you have a most beautiful smile" he rambled, the pink growing darker.

"Oh…Thank you" you spoke, your own blush darkening your cheeks.

"Hey, can I ask you something"

"Sure"

"How did your friend know who I was?"

"Oh…I'm not sure" you replied, watching as he nodded, looking off to the side with a slightly sad look on his face, dammit. He looked over at you when he heard you sigh, your eyes trained on the punch bowl.

"I…may have mentioned you in passing" you stated, trying to play it cool, noticing his smile return from the corner of your eye.

"Really?"

"Maybe"

"A most bodacious babe like you?"

"I wouldn't consider myself a bodacious babe" 

"I would" you looked up at him, his eyes shining as he smiled at you, dang it why was his smile so contagious? Looking back at the punch bowl you groaned when another song came on.

"Would it kill them to play Black Sabbath every now and then?" You watched Bill's head snap back to you, having looked out at Ted and your friend.

"What?"

"Or Megadeth? Def Leppard? ACDC? Ratt? Anything!" You stressed, before looking over at Bill, and instantly your blushed darkened even more, because you had never been looked at like that before, not like how you usually look at him.

"Not only are you the most bodacious babe I have ever met, but I'm pretty sure you were the most excellent angel in heaven" he smiled at you, only grinning bigger when you giggled, that was definitely a sound he could get used to.

"Is this where you ask me if it hurt when I fell from heaven?" You asked.

"Did it?" 

"No, but I did scrape my knees crawling out of hell" you replied, earning a laugh from him this time.

"That was the most excellent comeback"

"Do you maybe-wanna go out sometime?" He asked after a moment, and you swore your heart went into overdrive, your brain telling you to keep your cool.

"Yeah" you nodded.

"Yeah?"

"Most definitely" you smiled.

So there it is! Like I said, I definitely need to practice more lol. But yeah idk I think it would be hilarious to see these two with girls like this.

[dylanmunson]

Pretty Boy | Eddie Munson

Chapter Five

wattpad : intro | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ///// tumblr : intro| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

master of masterlists | main masterlist |

pretty boy \ eddie munson masterlist

AU: Trigger warnings| swearing, bullying, slight SA (its at the very end, when they get back to the trailer park) i think thats it but i just wanted to put it here! I also havent proof read this so soz, also word vomit, kinda my thing. 

mood board for chapter 5 

word count: 2.8k 

/////

Luckily, everyone was at mikes, Will was in town so they were all playing dnd in the basement when we arrived. 

I hopped out the van and knocked on the door "hi dusty!" i grin as he opens the door, the other boys all behind him "what you doing here?" wheeler asks, "well ya see the thing is" i grin, "we're going to the diner then arcade with that munson kid if you wanna join" max says leaning against me. I nod "basically" i grin, "you know eddie munson?" dustin says. "Well duh, she's repeating senior year as well" Mike says. "Dudeee" lucas says giving mike a look. "Its fine honestly, uhh do you wanna join or not? Eddies kinda waiting in the van" i smile, rocking back on my heels. 

"EDDDIEEE" dustin grins running out of the door and into the passenger seat. 

I grin at the younger boy, "you guys gonna join or?" max says clearly getting annoyed with the boys already. They all just shrug and shout to mikes mum before closing the door and walking to the van. 

"yes henderson, jesus, i know just" he stops "get in the back" he says as i climb into the back of the van. "but why? i called shot gun" he says all pouty. "Because cause" he says looking back at all of us in the back. "curls its fine" i grin, Letting out a loud sigh, "belts!" he says before driving to the diner. The music loud in the van, everyone just bopping along to motley crue. Max is talking to Lucas, holding hands and being all coupley, cute. 

We arrive at the diner and everyone rushes to get out of the van and into the place, "whoa whoa whoa" eddie says locking the van and sighing "listen here sheepies, can we all just behave" he smirks, "wow really curls" i grin up at the boy, before walking towards the building slinging my arm around dustin and will. 

Lucas and Max already sitting in one of the larger booths at the back, will next to lucas and dustin to max, i slide in next to max and mike next to will. Eddie walks over pulling a chair to the end of the table. A waitress comes along and hands us some menus, saying she'll be back in a few to take our orders. "does anyone wanna get the chocolate fudge milkshake to share? i know i wont drink it all" i grin looking at the menu biting my lip. "i will lu" max smiles, dustin smirks "ow" he says "what happened?" i turn to the boy. 

"no-nothing nothing" he smiles, frowning i turn back to the menu as the boys start bickering between themselves. "guys guys what did i say" eddie says flicking something at mike. The waitress comes back over and takes everyones drink and food order before hurrying over to the kitchen. After a while the we get our drinks and some of the food comes out. My milkshake im sharing with max is to die for, its heavenly. "oh my god curls you have to try this" i say with a mouthful of fudge grinning at the curly haired boy, he smirks shaking his head, "its so good" i grin taking another big gulp. "hey eddie, try it, didnt you say chocolate fudge was your favourite?" Mike smirks at the older boy. 

"you should've said we couldve shared! Max says its to sickly" i smile softly at the boy next to me. Eddie sends me a quick smile before flicking a chip at the boy "shut up wheeler" "Come on curls try some" i grin handing him the drink. "Its fine blue honestly" he half smiles. I nod sitting back "i dont have cooties if thats what your worried about" i send him a wink, before giggling. "gosh your such a child" mike sighs. "It was a joke, im sorry" i mumble sitting back into the booth "really mike" dustin says "was there any need" lucas sighs "yeah they didnt have to bring us with them" will joins in. "no no its fine dont worry" i shrug, looking down at the table. 

A silence falls upon the table as the kids finishing eating, "uh eddie?" i mumble he looks up at me nodding "got a ciggy i could nick?" i sigh, he pats his pockets trying to find the packet. "you alright?" i nod taking a cigarette and the lighter before walking out of the diner. 

THIRD PERSON POV? 

Luna quickly walks out of the diner, going around the side of the building before lighting the cigarette taking a long drag. Before sighing and sitting on the steps behind her. 

"Did i-" "shut it" eddie says to him, "dont" he says holding up his hands "just no" eddie sighs, "is she ok?" dustin asks, eddie just nods "just gone for a cigarette" Max frowns, "uhh i'll be back" Max quickly pushes herself out of the booth and walks over to the door "mayfield wait!" eddie shouts but the red head is already out the door. 

"is everything ok?" the waitress grins coming back to the table, everyone nods "could i get the bill?" eddie mumbles "sure thing sweetie" she smiles before taking the empty cups and dishes before walking away again. Max and Luna walk in, Max rubbing lunas arm up and down, Eddie gives mike a look before the girls sit down. "You good?" eddie says luna just nods "thankyou" she mumbles to eddie handing him his lighter back. He nods as the waitress comes over with the bill. Eddie looks over it before putting it on the table, sticking his hand in his pocket to sort out the cash. "here curls" luna smiles handing him a 20 dollar bill "no" he smiles back at the girl, "keep it for the arcade" he grins finding the money and handing it to the waitress "right come on sheepies" he sighs standing up and walking out of the building to his van. 

Luna follows eddie out, him going to the back of the van like hes looking for something, luna goes up behind him and gives him a little hug, a little squeeze before letting go and getting into the passenger seat. Eddie jumps at the sudden contact, knowing its luna but her chipped nail polish, as he goes to open his mouth the warmth from her body is gone and the van door is being shut. He finds what he's looking for before going to the drivers side, the kids start getting in the back. 

"Whats this for?" luna says as eddie puts a jumper on her lap. "You looked cold" he shrugs before starting the van up and driving to the arcade, the kids bickering about what games their gonna play first and whos better at what game. Eddie is slowly turning the volume on the radio up as the bickering goes on. Luna chuckles noticing what hes doing, getting his attention he sends her a wink before looking back at the road. Him driving some what sensible considering how shes seen him drive before. 

Eddie puts the car in park and the kids are pushing the door open running out and into the building, "shall we munson" luna smiles, eddie nods "we shall." They both hop out of the car Luna stopping for a quick moment to put the jumper on eddie had given her, it swallowing her hole. 

The jumper coming to mid thigh, fully covering the old band tee she had on, the sleeves becoming sweater paws. It smells like him too. Of course it would it was his, but her heart melted a bit "you good blue" he chuckles next to her giving her a look. "uh" she smiles "yeah yeah sorry" she chuckles running a hand through her hair. "come on imma gonna beat you at pac man" she grins grabbing his hand and running into the arcade building. 

Neon lights and different game sounds soon fill her senses. She stops dead in her tracks just as shes gotten into the building. "wow" she smiles taking everything in. Sure she'd been to an arcade before but this felt different. It was a new build, more games and machines to go on, there was a little diner tucked in the corner as well. Serving slushies and all sorts of sugary goodness. "where to first blue" eddie smiles looking down at the shorter girl, his hand still being by her. 

She giggles before dragging him over to one of the four pac-man machines, fishing out a coin and slotting it into the machine. She begins racking up the points, moving to the next level within minutes of just starting, Eddie chuckles deciding to bump her a bit, "munson dont!" she grins, trying to concentrate on the game, "buuut why" he chuckles flipping the tag back into the jumper. This causes luna to jump, she lets go of the controls and stands still as his fingers brush against her neck. "hey no, you made me die" she sighs turning to the boy. 

He shrugs smiling, "the tag was sticking out" she grins folding her arms and pouting "hey no" he laughs, "dont do that" "do what" she says in a funny trying to be angry voice "oh sweetheart dont do that" he smiles "i'll buy you a slushie" he says biting his bottom lip. She groans throwing her hands down "you dont have tooo" she smiles pushing at his chest lightly. "m'just playing" she grins, now biting her own lip. 

"oh my gosh, claw machines!" she grins running over to the five claw machines that are all lined up in a row. She spots Lucas and Max on the last one, "hey guys" she grins, "not now, concentrating" lucas says focused on the claw. "yes! yes! yes!" he jumps up and down as he wins the teddy, bending down to grab it before handing it to max. "so fucking adorable" luna grins, "what shall we name him" Max smiles leaning into lucas' side. "we'll come find you in a bit?" lucas says as they walk away. Luna just nods before spinning to find that mop of curls. 

She spots him by the corner, near what looks like the tempest game, the closer she gets, the louder the boys around him become. "hey dickward" she says pulling the boy away from eddie. "Luna leave it, freak had it coming" Jason spits, "what the fuck is wrong with you" she sighs pulling him away. "Luna i swear, leave him alone!" "or what huh? or what blue" "or i'll uh" she says thinking, "what i thought" jason says pushing her back a little before walking away laughing with his group of dickwards. 

"you good?" she sighs looking at eddie, he just nods "all good sweetness" he sighs stretching out his back. "Doesnt he like buy from you?" Luna asks, playing with her hands, Eddie shakes his head "him? naa, he's to up his own arse for that, but" he grins "his friends do" he smiles softly "most of the basket ball team do to be honest with you blue" he sighs as he digs around in his pocket for a coin. "here" she mumbles handing eddie a coin so he can play the game in front of them. "does.. does it not bother you?" she sighs leaning against the machine watching eddie play, he shrugs "i mean, a little but ive gotten used to it yano" he sighs clearing his throat. "Cant let them bastards bring ya down though" he says sending her a soft smile. She nods, bringing the sleeves over her hands, then bringing her hands to her face. 

Eddie looks at her "you ok?" "mhmm" she says "yeah yeah all good" she smiles. He nods moving to wrap an arm around her shoulders "right then" he grins "street fighter!" she grins, Eddie just chuckles following the short girl as she goes to the next game that has caught her interest. 

After some more games and a round of slushies for everyone, it was getting late. Eddie hands Luna the keys telling her to go heat up the van while he rounds up his little sheep, she laughs at the boy but agrees walking out of the building and to the van to start it up.

A few moments later and the kids are all walking to the van, jumping in and grinning "wheres eddie?" "bathroom" will smiles "thanks for inviting us out tonight" will says patting lunas shoulder "its alright little dude" she smiles back at the boy. Eddie is soon running out, and jumping in the van. "you lot ready" he says before backing the van out of the car park and driving each of the kids home. 

By the time they'd reached the trailer park, Max is asleep against the window. Luna grins at the girl before turning to eddie as shes turning the engine off "thanks for tonight" she smiles turning to the boy "i had a lotta fun" he chuckles, you cant tell cause of the lightening but hes blushing. Its dark out and the only light is coming from the little lights outside everyones trailers. "your welcome sweet" he chuckles, rubbing his neck "maybe next time we wont take the kids though" he chuckles, "sounds good munson, their a handful i dunno how steve does it" luna laughs leaning back into the seat. He nods "do, do you want me to help you take her in?" Luna shakes her head "its alright i've got her" she smiles "thanks again for tonight" she grins leaning forward and placing a kiss on eddies cheek, before getting out the van and shaking max's shoulder lightly telling her their home. 

Eddie waits in the van until both girls are in the mayfield trailer, Billy's car wasnt out front so Luna decided to take max to her bed. "good night max" she grins kissing the red heads forehead before turning the light out and going to leave the trailer. "what you doing?" Luna looks up and see's a drunk billy in front of her, she sighs "i was just dropping max home, your car wasnt out front so" she shrugs making her way to the door. "Hey" he says pulling her back "how about i give you your reward for taking her out for the night yeah" he grins licking his lip moving closer to her neck. 

"Or you could go to bed" she sighs pushing him away slightly. "Billy stop" she sighs as he pulls her against his body again "shh, you'll wake maxxie up" he grins, kissing at Lunas neck "billy i said stop" she says again trying to push him away. "oh baby, i know you want it" he chuckles "i really dont" she says trying to push him off again, tears now starting to form in her eyes. He only gets slightly more rough with her though, hand on her hip the other on her bum "come on babe, come on now" he grins pulling her in for a kiss, but she doesnt kiss back. One hand on her hip and the other around her neck, slightly to tight. Tears now running down her face, and before she can think of anything better to do she knees him in the balls before running out of the trailer. 

"SLUT" Billy shouts, Luna tries to catch her breath as she leaves the trailer, the tears now full on falling. Shes gasping for air, she lets out a sob and falls to the ground. "hey hey" She hears "Hey its me" he says, she turns to see eddie next to her "what happened?" he says taking her face into his hands. She shakes her head, biting her lip trying to stop the tears. Eddie looks at the girl frowning "lets get you home alright" he says, helping her up and into her trailer. 

"gonna tell me what happened sweetheart?" Luna just falls into eddies lap, "hey its ok" he says moving her hair over her shoulder when he sees an indent of rings. "Luna what happened?" he says sitting him and the girl up, a more serious voice now. She looks at him and shakes her head "luna who touched you" he sighs "was him wasnt it, was billy wasnt it" he says, she nods slowly, covering her face curling into herself.  

"it couldve gotten alot alot worse but" she says hiccuping "but nothing, he still touched you lu" he sighs pulling her into his chest. 

Munson taglist :

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[lunaflowerlight]

The Magical Molly

The show went well tonight, really well. 

Yes, I may have showed off a little more than I normally do, especially when I transformed the piano into a giant black cat but the audience loved it. Even the pianist, after he had calmed down.

I don’t normally enjoy drawing too much attention to myself, it’s safer just to play at being at an ordinary stage magician, like all the others. But why should talented women have to continue hiding in the shadows just because it unsettles the men folk? 

A little bit of harmless infamy might just do the movement some real good. Make the men in charge understand that we can be just as powerful as them, if given the opportunity.

I’ll just have to be careful not to unsettle them too much. I don’t wish to be burnt as a witch.

‘Those tricks are not real tricks, are they?’

I dropped the basket I was holding and whipped round. The accusatory voice echoed around the empty stage. It was a voice that demanded answers, being ever so slightly frustrated and impressed.

A gentleman stood before me. A true tall, dark and handsome type with intelligent eyes and a sharp questioning look.

‘I have attended almost every one of your shows,’ he went on. ‘Closely observed you and your routine and your props with the closest attention -’

I felt my face warm.

‘But not matter how much time I wasted in attempting to solve how you were doing it I could not figure it out. And after tonight’s demonstration with the piano...I finally accepted the simplest solution: you are a woman in possession of true magical ability. And trust me, it is not easy for me to make such an outlandish statement.’

‘Who are you?’

‘Sherlock Holmes, at your service.’

‘I do not require your service, sir. Or your insane accusations. Please leave.’

I hurried towards the wings, but he was following after me.

‘There are others who have noticed you. A dangerous man. Please listen!’

‘Joe! Joe, come here!’

I feel his hand close around my elbow, strong fingers pressing into my flesh.

‘Now that I have your - whoa!’

I didn’t intend to hurt him, of course. Or to risk Joe or the guys seeing. But I couldn’t help myself. It was self defense.

Sherlock Holmes had found himself floating off the boards, leaving his top hat discarded, up, up, towards the ceiling, before he was stuck to the faded comedy and tragedy masks.

He’d looked slightly panicked at first - I felt the same - but he quickly composed himself. Chuckled even. What a madman.

‘Ah, well, perhaps, you prefer to converse with a safe distance between us. I understand, of course. But, please trust me, Miss Hopper, you’re very life may depend upon it. I can hear footsteps approaching - perhaps the erstwhile Joe is fianlly about to make his entrance? Could I relocate to the ground now, or to a cafe to discuss the matter further?’

I lowered him carefully to the ground. He chuckled again, smoothed down his curly hair, and held out his hand.

‘I believe we can help one another,’ he said. ‘The man whom I shall tell you about, is the most dangerous man in the world. I can stop him, but I shall require your assistance, Miss Hooper, if you trust me.’

I pressed my hand into his. He had a strong grip. Someone help me, but I trusted him.

‘I am at your service, Mr Sherlock Holmes.’

[datleggy]

Let’s take “birth day” literally and have pregnant Buck go into labor someplace really dumb and/or inconvenient.

It's the hormones, Buck would like to say in his defense, but honestly, the omega would have done it even if he weren't nearly nine months pregnant....

The doctor's told him some light exercise will help, even with his due date being so close now, and so after picking Christopher up from school they'd decided to take a nice stroll in the park.

And it would have been nice if some asshole hadn't put his hands on his kid on the goddamn playground of all places! One minute Buck had been struggling to get up off the bench to see why it looked as though Christopher was in a seemingly heated argument over something or the other, with another little boy around his age, and the next said boy's mother was shoving Christopher away with a sharply pointed nail, poking at his shoulder and shouting obscenities.

And Buck was there in a flash, putting himself between Christopher and the woman and telling her to back off. "You don't touch someone else's kid like that, lady. If you have a problem, you come find me."

The woman looks flustered for a moment before raising her voice again, yelling about how she had barely even touched the eight year old, and about how maybe he shouldn't bring his son around other kids if he couldn't learn to play nice. "If you taught that boy some manners we wouldn't even be here right now!"

Buck knows he should have let it go, knows they were causing a huge and unnecessary scene, and this? This next part he totally blames on the hormones. "If your parents had taught you some manners and common sense we wouldn't be here right now!"

And that had only served to escalate the situation to the point where police had actually been called and arrived on the scene--and apparently the woman had been very convincing when she'd burst into tears and told the cops that Buck had threatened her with violence.

Which is how Buck ends up in a jailcell on a sunny Friday afternoon, waiting for Eddie to come and bail him out and worrying frantically about Christopher, who last he saw, as they'd cuffed him and put him into the back of their vehicle, was currently in the custody of a child services worker.

Buck puts his head in his hands and groans, beyond stressed. Not only is this humiliating as all hell, but his alpha is probably going to kill him for letting this shit happen. He should have ignored the woman and walked away with Christopher in tow. Instead, he'd made it worse and gotten arrested for an assault he hadn't even committed. "Jesus Christ."

"Buckley? Evan Buckley?" An officer calls out; he's older, maybe mid fifties, with a faint Southern drawl.

Buck raises his head. He'd only called Eddie fifteen minutes ago, was he really here that quickly? "Uh, yeah, that's me." he says.

"You're free to go; luckily a bunch of witnesses came forward with the same story--you weren't the aggressor here, son. Now c'mon, your kid's waiting for you right outside."

"Oh thank God." he breaths out, immeasurably relieved. But when he attempts to stand up Buck lets out a hiss and doubles over, face contorting in pain.

The officers eyes go wide and he rushes to open the cell, which is nearly empty, thankfully, except for Buck and a slumbering man in the corner, arrested that morning for public intoxication. "Whoa, whoa," the man's eyes go even wider, if possible, when he realizes what's happening. "Shoot, I think your water just broke, young man."

Buck shakes his head, even though the proof is on the bench and soaking his jeans through and through. He whines as the contraction continues, huffing and puffing. "H-hospital. Please." He pleads.

There is no way he's having this baby while still technically in custody at a police station. Hell, they're in a jailcell, for shit's sake. He'd rather give birth like a total cliché and in the back of a yellow taxi!

"I'm gonna have 'em call you an ambulance, but let's get you outta here first." the officer tries to help Buck stand but another contraction hits, this one harder and more agonizing than the last and Buck cries out, his knees buckling under him.

The officer manages to hold him aloft just long enough to reposition him on the floor as Buck pants and tries not to lose it. The contractions are way too close...

The officer radios his men and calls for help. "Need help in the holding cell on floor 2B, we've got a custodial here who's gone into labor. Urgent request for help in holding cell 2B."

Buck can't help but let out a sob--it's even worse than he'd imagined--he's going to end up giving birth inside a jailcell five feet away from some guy who smells like tequila and regret. Alone.

"What the hell is going on in--Buck?!"

Buck sniffles as he turns his head towards the door, where Athena is standing, mouth agape at the chaotic scene before her. "Athena!" he cries, reaching out for her, needy as can be and not giving a damn.

Athena doesn't waste any time, dropping to her knees beside him, letting him rest his head on her lap. She sooths back his curly locks, now sweaty, and look at the officer, asking sharply, "What happened?"

"He was being released when he went into labor--must be from the stress of the situation. Tried to get him up, but that baby's comin' and soon." he informs her, grimacing when Buck whines in pain as another contraction follows his statement, as if to prove the mans words true.

"Eddie," Buck clenches his teeth, tries to stifle another groans. "Need Eddie."

"He's right outside," Athena tells him, reassuringly. She nods at the officer. "Reyes, get me Eddie Diaz, he's a medic and he should be waiting down on the first floor for us. Hurry!"

***************

Eddie's at the grocery store picking stuff up for dinner tonight when he gets the unexpected call. He almost doesn't answer it, when he sees it's from an unfamiliar number, thinking it's spam, but something nags at him to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey..."

It's Buck. And he sounds upset.

"Buck? What's going on? Everything alright? Who's phone are you using?"

He can hear Buck gulp from the other end of the line. "I've been arrested. I need you to come bail me out and get Christopher out of police custody." he says, all in one rushed statement, like he'd ripping off a band aid.

"Wha--I'm sorry, what? Did you say you're in jail? And Christopher's with the police? What the hell is going on?" Eddie's not proud of the way he raises his voice, especially not in the fruit aisle, where a mother with her toddler gives him a dirty look on her way past, but he's so shocked and panicked he can't stop himself from blurting out, "Buck, what the fuck happened? You were picking Christopher up from school today! Where does jail fit into this?!"

"Eddie, I'm sorry." Buck sighs. "I swear I'll explain everything when you get here, but I don't have a lot of time left on this call and I'm kind of freaking out right now. Please, can you just--"

"Of course, yeah, sorry, I'm on my way, give me like twenty minutes, ok? I'm across town."

"Thank you." the line cuts off abruptly and Eddie's left to ponder what could possibly have happened to have led up to his almost nine months pregnant husband being arrested as he abandons his cart and runs out into the parking lot.

****************

Eddie nearly gets arrested himself, with the way he's speeding down the highway before turning onto the main road and parking right in front of the station, where only police vehicles are allowed.

The alpha finds his kid with a social worker, happily munching on a donut. “Chris!?” Eddie runs over and engulfs his son in a suffocating hug. “Are you ok? What happened?” 

Christopher pulls away slightly, nodding. “I’m ok. Bucky got in trouble ‘cause the lady at the park lied. Officer Reyes said he’s gonna bring him out soon.” 

The social worker explains the whole story to Eddie, “Thankfully there were a lot of witnesses who corroborated the events. Your husband should be out in a few minutes; it was all just an awful misunderstanding. The woman at the park is in custody right now for giving the police a false accusation and wasting everybody’s time.”  

Eddie’s shoulders slump in relief and he practically falls into a chair nearby, pulling Christopher onto his lap and holding him tight around the middle. “Is he ok? Buck is pregnant. He’s due in two weeks.” 

The social worker gives him a sympathetic look. “I’m sure he’s in good hands. Officer Reyes will have him out here in a couple of minutes.” 

****************

After a couple of minutes turns to five, turns to ten, Eddie starts to get angsty. Which is why it’s a good thing, when he happens to spot Athena rounding the corner and into the station. He calls over to her and she furrows her brows in concern before making her way across to them. 

“Eddie? Christopher? What’s going on?” 

“It’s a long story.” Eddie sighs, “But Buck is being held in a cell right now, they said an officer Reyes was supposed to bring him down here, that he was free to go, but that was forever ago,” he exaggerates. “Can you please find out what’s taking so long?” 

“Of course.” 

****************

Buck sobs openly when his alpha enters the room, “Eddie!” he calls out desperately. 

Athena holds Buck close and looks up. “He’s in labor. Contractions are less than a minute apart. He needs to start pushing.” 

Eddie doesn’t hesitate, though his brain feels like it’s about to short circuit if even one more insane thing happens within these twenty four hours. He drops between Buck’s knees and reaches out to squeeze his hand. “Hey, I’m here, I’m here, you’ve got this, ok? Cause I’ve got you.” 

“I’m scared.” Buck admits, tears sliding down face, and he’s shaking like a leaf, terrified that something will go wrong. “I don’t--” he groans pitifully against another contraction. “Don’t wanna have her in here.” 

“I know baby, I know, but she’s coming now, Buck. She’s not gonna wait for us to make it to a hospital. She’s impatient,” Eddie kisses his hand, squeezing again, comfortingly. “Just like you.” 

Buck huffs. “No, like you. Y-you never wait for your soup to cool down.” 

“My Tia’s sopa is worth the burnt tongue.” Eddie plays along, trying to distract him from the pain. “Baby, I need you to push, ok? I know this isn’t how we pictured any of this, but it’s time.” 

Buck nods through the tears and steels himself. 

“Good, good, now push, c’mon, you can do this. I’m right here.” 

****************

“You look handsome in your mugshot.” Eddie tells Buck, staring at the photo he asked Athena to send him on his phone.

Buck glares at the alpha. “Funny.” 

Eddie leans down to kiss the frown off his face. “Sorry, too soon?” 

Buck turns the other way in bed with an annoyed huff. “You’re on baby night duty for the rest of the week.” he shuts the lamp light off and then the room is dim with just the moon peaking in through their blinds. 

“Hey,” Eddie sits up, tilting his head. It’s been over a month since the incident, and sure, it hadn’t been pleasant, but Buck and their baby had made it through just fine, health intact, and in the hospital Buck hadn’t seemed too phased after the ordeal, mostly content with Christopher and the baby curled up against and on him. “That was a stupid joke, I’m sorry.” 

Buck gulps. He’s being way too sensitive about this. Everything turned out alright and shortly after the whole thing had passed Chimney had even teased him that of course only Buck would have bad enough luck to end up giving birth in a holding cell. And Buck had laughed it off. 

Mostly because he’d been relieved. 

And then of course with the new baby the last month has been a whirlwind of constant activity, of making sure all her needs are met, of making sure Christopher’s not feeling neglected, of debating on when he should start thinking about going back to work and--

Eddie’s heart leaps when he hears Buck’s sharp intake of breath. “Buck?” 

Buck sits up now, too, swiping miserably at the tears that suddenly won’t stop falling. “Sorry, I--ignore me. I didn’t--” he sniffles. “I haven’t really thought about that day since--everything’s been so busy with--you know?--and--” he cuts himself off with a choked off sob. “It’s the hormones.” 

It’s been four weeks now and his hormones from the pregnancy are still driving him every which way and he feels ridiculous right now, crying over something he should have processed a month ago already. 

Eddie wraps his arms around Buck and pulls him between his legs and against his chest. “Let it out.” he says. “I’m here. I’ve got you.” 

Buck curls into Eddie and releases all emotion he hadn’t realized he’d been keeping all pent up inside. The fear, the anguish--Buck lets himself be held, coddled, loved. 

It feels good. 

After he’s cried for what feels like ages Buck rests the side of his head on Eddie’s shoulder and exhales. “You know Christopher wanted to name her Tuubee?” he murmurs. 

Eddie, who’s rubbing up and down his husbands back, pauses a moment. “’Tuubee’?” he repeats. 

Buck half smirks against his shoulder. “Two B. The cell where she was born.”

.

[givemethatgold]

Fix’er Upper Pt. 3

Pairing: Eventual Frankie Morales x F!Reader Warnings: Clumsy injury, more stupid fighting Length: 2.5k Notes: If these two dummies could have one (1) adult conversation they’d be in bed together by now. Instead, we get this! *waves around vaguely*

PART ONE, TWO

Money was tight. You had been trying to ignore the dwindling stack of cash, telling yourself that you didn’t actually need to fix the cracked drywall, replace the old oven, or fill in the missing patches of shingles. 

That ignorance had finally come to bite you in the butt. You were rudely woken at three a.m. to the clap of thunder and the pat-pat-pat of rain hitting the house. You loved storms, the excitement of the lighting, and how fresh the air smelled once the rain had passed. 

You rolled over onto your back so you could watch the lightning flashing between the cracks of your curtains. A tap on your forehead quickly destroyed the excitement you were feeling. The wet ‘splat’ was quickly followed by another, and another, and before you were able to scramble up and search for the closest thing resembling a bucket, it had turned into a steady stream.

“Fuuuuuuuck!”

The next morning, the sun rose and shed its light upon a beautiful scene. The leaves, now free from dust, were beginning to turn, the grass glimmered with raindrops, and the sky was clear. You, on the other hand, were a verifiable disaster. 

Hair unkempt, heavy bags under your eyes, and wearing the first items of clothing you could find in your scramble last night. Your exhaustion was so complete, it hadn’t even dawned on you to change or freshen up a bit before going out into the public eye. All you could focus on was getting to Hank’s Hardware and buying all the shingles you could get your hands on.

Once again, however, you were harshly reminded of your dwindling savings and just how expensive fixing up a house could be. The owner, Allan if you remembered correctly, had shown you the right size and style for your home’s roof and you nearly choked at the price.

“You know,” he had said gently, “we do have the option of a payment plan. I don’t let just anyone use it either. It’s for trusted customers. I have a good gut on who I can trust.”

“Really?” You asked, feeling a little pathetic while also knowing now was not the time to let pride ruin such a good thing. “And, um, what does your gut tell you about me?”

“Welllll,” he smiled, hooking his thumbs into his suspenders and leaning back a little to size you up. “You’re hard-working, feel like you have something to prove, won’t back down from a challenge, and are in way over your head with that damn old house.”

“Oh.”

“No offense, ma’am! Sometimes I forget myself and talk to strangers the same way I’d talk to my friends.” He patted your forearm gently then hooked it back into his suspenders, pretending he didn’t notice you jumping at the physical contact. “But it’s true. No denying you won’t be able to shingle all by yourself. I’d offer, but I’m in no shape to be climbing up roofs.”

“That’s very sweet of you, truly. But I’ll manage! I doubt I could afford a handyman, so it’ll be me and my stubborn self scrambling around up there.” You joked, but it fell a little flat since the both of you knew it was the truth.

“I’ve got an idea...” Hank trailed off, his gaze searching around by the till. “Maybe you two can help each other out?” He fiddled at the computer for a minute, then grabbed a flyer from the corkboard mounted behind the counter before handing you two pieces of paper. One was a receipt of what you owed him after this latest excursion and a detailed timeline of when small payments could be made. 

Glancing up at him, you gave him a watery smile and thanked him for being so kind. Allan waved you off and pointed to the second paper.

‘Help Wanted’ it read, ‘Morales Acres. Light physical labour, quiet environment, rate of pay dependent on quality of work.’

“So friendly and welcoming,” you murmured, sarcastically, under your breath. Not quietly enough though because Allan snorted out a laugh and agreed that the ad was worded very abruptly. However, he vetted for the owner of the farm and suggested you head over to see if he would be willing to trade labour for labour.

Or at the very least, you thought, pay you so you can afford a roofer.

Following the directions Allan had provided for you, you quickly found Morales Acres. Surprisingly, it was a very short distance from your own home, making you wonder if the owner had been one of the people to drop by during your first weeks here.

The driveway was a beautiful, winding drive. The view of the farm was obscured by thickets of trees on either side of the road but you managed to catch glimpses of a pond and a few bales of hay before rounding a bend and driving into the yard.

A small gasp left your lips at the sight. It was picturesque! Something out of a travel magazine, or on every city girl’s Pinterest board. The driveway came to an end in front of a statuesque barn painted in the classic red and white, stone walls cordoned off certain areas that, from where you sat, looked like they could be used to house sheep or hens. A few small sheds were lined up along the other edge of the yard but the main attraction was the neatly lined rows of apple trees all heavy with fruit.

Climbing out of the cab, you slowly made your way into the yard with your mouth hanging open dumbly. It was just so peaceful here and it was obvious that the owner cared deeply for the property. You were enchanted and fell immediately in love.

“You must be the help Allan called to say he was sending over,” a warm voice rang out.

Looking around for the source your gaze widened, then immediately hardened, when you caught sight of who was talking to you.

“You!”

“You?!”

To say it had been a smooth business agreement would be a total lie. You and Market Asshole, Frankie you reminded yourself to call him, had bickered back and forth for the better part of an hour before shaking hands. Surprisingly, you had both argued more for the other person’s benefit, something you had been mulling over since.

If this guy was such an ass, why was he also acting like his help with your renovations wouldn’t be worth as much as you picking apples? You knew your presence disturbed his peace, and that you weren’t as strong as he might have hoped his helper would be, and he still hadn’t trusted you with all the workings of his orchard. 

So, while you weren’t going to argue anymore, you knew you were getting the better end of the deal: you help him gather his harvest and get it safely stored in the barn, then he spends the same amount of hours helping you. While the weather during September was prone to drizzle, you had convinced him that a tarp thrown over the baldest patches of roof would be fine and that the apples couldn’t wait. 

He had grumpily conceded your point but had sworn that as soon as the last of the fruit was picked he’d be over to do a proper job of it. So continued the uneasy truce between the two of you for the past four weeks. The first week was the hardest as your hands, unaccustomed to work, blistered, and your muscles ached from sudden use. You had initially tried to pass the time by making conversation but you got the hint and stayed quiet once Frankie started choosing trees farther and farther from yours.

Slowly, however, the blisters healed and gave way to callouses. Your muscles became accustomed to the work and you were able to carry twice the amount as you had started off with. Your home could now boast electricity and running water everywhere it should be, and the pile of discarded furniture had been reduced to ash by a spectacular bonfire which Jacquie and her family had joined you in admiring.

Today started off as a normal day. You showed up for harvesting at the break of dawn, having discovered you much preferred the cool morning air over being up on a ladder with the midday sun beating down on you. The trees were obscured by a low fog that had yet to burn up, but you knew what section you needed to start on. 

Enjoying the way the fog enveloped you, making you feel like you were in a magical world, you began to hum and your steps took on a dreamy dance-like quality. You had never taken lessons or had even been allowed to make such a spectacle of yourself while living with Brad but now you felt free enough to spin, twirl, and glide. Overcome with the joy your freedom gave you, you began to belt out “These Are a Few of my Favourite Things”, The Sound of Music having been played on repeat when you were a child. 

Once you reached the ladder, you hoisted the basket onto your back and continued to sing whatever songs you could remember while you worked. A particularly boisterous rendition of “Do Re Mi” had you flinging your arm out wide and leaning back on the ladder for a dramatic finish.

The apples threw you off balance. 

With a screech, you fell backward, managing to twist yourself around to land awkwardly on your hands and knees instead of on the basket of apples strapped to your back. You seemed to have come away unscathed, with just scratched knees and a throbbing in one wrist. Thankfully it wasn’t your dominant hand.

“Whoa!” Frankie called out, catching sight of you on the ground with the ladder tipped on its side, “Everything okay? Are you okay?”

Coming to a skidding stop next to you, he grasped the basket and slipped it off your back with ease. 

You took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Fine! Fine, just bruised knees and ego...” you assured him.

“What were you thinking?!” He tore into you, “You could have broken your neck! Or ruined a whole barrel of apples! Then what would I do?! This job doesn’t come with health insurance for Christ's sakes!” Running his hands through his curly, brown hair he let out a huff of air and walked over to where your ladder lay on the ground.

“Un-be-fucking-lievable!” You called out, incredulously. While trying to get to your feet, to march over and wag your finger in his face, you put too much pressure on your injured wrist that caused pain to scream down your arm.

You managed to mask the cry of pain as a cry of frustration and got to your feet. Surreptitiously cradling your hand against your chest, you grabbed another basket and walked past Frankie to start climbing the ladder again. Looking at the ground so he wouldn’t see the tears of pain in your eyes, you mumbled, “I’ll be more careful, alright? I’m sorry.”

Stopping your ascent with a hand on your arm he stuttered out what might have been the beginning of an apology but he couldn’t quite seem to put the right words together so he just cleared his throat.

“Just...” he said in a much softer tone, “just be more careful. Okay? I can’t lose my best worker.” 

The lame joke made you smile despite yourself. 

“Employee of the month,” you replied in a dry tone, “hurrah.” 

You shared wry smiles while a silent apology passed between the two of you. His dark brown eyes held a warmth to them you had never noticed before. Their hue reminding you of every tree in the orchard from the early light to the sunset, golden flecks reminiscent of the sun. His face, weathered from so much time spent outdoors, was marked with laugh lines, worry lines, and a small scar gracing his left cheek. 

Your eyes wandered past the scar to note how long his scruffy facial hair had grown and how it had started to obscure those pleasantly pouty lips. 

Then, with a start, you realized you were staring at this infuriating man’s lips like a hormonal teenager. With an embarrassed squeak, you quickly scurried up the ladder, hooking your elbow around each rung to avoid any more pressure on your wrist.

To say Frankie was coping well with having someone around would be a gross overstatement. 

It’s not that he didn’t like the company or wanted to be alone. The problem was that he was starting to like her company too much, to care too much. And caring too much had been the root cause of all Frankie’s sorrows.

First, there had been his Dad, trying to impress the man who never even wanted kids. Then the force, always feeling like he needed to prove himself and desperate for praise. After that was his wife, ex-wife, and trying to be someone he wasn’t so she would stay interested and in love. The pressure created by caring about these people and the expectations they had for him drove him to abuse drugs. Then his friends came calling and Frankie went against his gut because they had cared so deeply about something and he had cared deeply for them.

His wife, his kid, his family, his job, his friends. He had cared more than they did and he had come away worse off. At least now he was clean and sober, and was very aware of the irony of him now making and selling an alcoholic drink.

No, it was best to stay alone. He loved too freely and put too much stock in being loved back and every. single. time. it hurt him.

So, he closed himself off from you. Initially, he didn’t think it was going to be an issue, especially considering how you two had met. But then he found himself smiling at your stories, idly leaning against a branch so he could watch your graceful moments. He hated watching you leave, knowing you were going home to that piece of shit house that he should really be fixing up for you.

He recognized the signs and nipped them in the bud; working farther away, replying to questions with the fewest possible words, focusing purely on work, and maintaining a professional relationship. It pained him to push you away but deep down he knew it was best for the both of you.

Which brings him back to this moment.

Frankie was too stunned to notice your awkward climb up the ladder. Standing there, dumbly, for another few seconds. Wondering, all the way back to the idling tractor, what the hell had just happened.

One minute he was just driving the tractor minding his own business and the next he was having a mild heart attack after seeing his only worker laying limp on the ground. Then, after arguing like usual, you had shared a...a moment and stared at his mouth almost long enough to tempt him to use it.

Part Four

If you’d like to be tagged please send an ask!

@rebelliouscat @pedro4ever @speakerforthedead0 @yespolkadotkitty @ilikechocolatemilkh @weirdowithnobeardo @pedro-pastel @disgruntledspacedad @a-skov @trash-dino-5000 @reader-s-cantina

[sunjaesol]

serendipitous encounters

juke | human au | fluff

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"I think I met my soulmate!" Luke shouted as he barrelled through the front door, announcing his presence.

Alex, cuddled up with Willie, groaned from his place on the couch. "Not this again. Luke, soulmates do not exist!"

"Well, I'm curious," Willie joked. "What happened?"

Bouncing through the small living space, he propped himself on the coffee table. His eager lips spouted everything he knew so far. "Her name's Julie and she's beautiful and she drinks lattes with caramel syrup."

The two boys blinked at each other, an amused smile growing on Willie as the scowl deepened for Alex. Yeesh. How did these two work?

The blonde tried keeping composure. "You think... you met... the person you want to spend the rest of your life with... in a coffee shop?"

Luke nodded. What was his point?

Luckily, Willie was on his side. "Did you talk to her?"

Sighing, he slumped to the floor. "No. But I'm telling you, it's her."

"This oddly feels like that Zooey Deschanel movie," Alex mused.

"No! She's not some fantasy! She-I can't explain it." Dreamily looking up at the ceiling, he added. "She's it. I'm calling it."

"I think you're horny," Alex deadpanned. Willie snickered.

He rolled his eyes and swatted their legs. "Very cool, you guys.”

The doorbell rang. Jumping up and saving himself from further embarrassment, Luke went to open it.

And it was her. Holy shit.

She smiled up at him, holding up his trusty songbook.

"Hello. You left this journal on your table at Starbucks? It has your address inside."

Gobsmacked, Luke stared at her. Holy fucking shit. Because of his whole daydream about her in Starbucks, he forgot his book and then she took it upon herself to find the rightful owner. That was fate, right? Take that, Alex!

Stammering vowels, he plucked it from her grasp and let out a breathy laugh.

"Y-Yeah, thanks, that's- yup."

An amused smile pulled on her lips, nodding. "No problem. Have a nice day!"

Her goodbye snapped him out of his stupor, calling out for her with a raised hand.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!"

She turned around, the girl looking so foreign in the grimy hallway of the apartment complex.

"Why do you need my name?"

Cause he knew it already and didn't want to seem like a creep.

He shrugged. "I want to thank you."

"It's Julie," she said after a beat.

"Thank you, Julie." His grin must've been comically wide, heart beating a mile a minute as he was still convinced she was his freaking soulmate.

And then she left. He was certain he'd see her again. In a non creepy way, that was.

— — — — — —

It was wholly coincidental once more. 

It was an early Sunday morning, Luke donned in sweatpants and a ratty cut-off and bedhead, as he meandered in the the shop of a tailor. Reggie owed him for this. 

The bassist loved buying vintage clothing, but never stuff that quite fit him. Hence, a tailor. His name was Peter and basically Reg’s best friend at this point, based on the disappointed look the man gave Luke as he handed him the the slip. He could hear the question on his tongue - “Where’s Reggie?” - and was happy when he didn’t ask. 

One, cause that was fucking rude. 

Two, cause Reg was currently fighting for an exclusive comic book on the other side of Los Angeles with a hurdle of other nerds. 

As Peter was sifting through the clothing racks, searching the order, the bell jingled behind him. 

“Oh, Journal Boy?”

He stilled. Holy shit. 

Whirling around, he came face to face with Julie. Just as beautiful as a week ago; maybe even more disarming in sandals and her curly hair up in a messy bun.

“Hi,” he breathed, unsure if he wasn’t just imagining her. It was a pretty hot day. It could easily be a sun stroke. 

Her smile widened. She was probably amused by his goofy behaviour, but he couldn’t help it. What were the odds he’d see her again, in a different location, this early after the first encounter? What was the statistical probability of meeting his soulmate twice? 

Before he could say anything else, Peter appeared from his rack and placed a leather jacket on the counter. Their attention diverted, Luke couldn’t help but feel heat travel up his back from having her so near. 

— — — — — —

No, he didn't want to go to silent disco.

Alas, Willie and Alex were that quirky type of couple that always liked to do the weirdest shit, including the most impersonal activity ever: a silent fucking disco.

They told him to bring a date, as Reggie was bringing his Tinder match Kayla, but he wasn't feeling it. One, because he still couldn't believe he saw Julie again at the tailor-

("It's Luke, by the way," he added.

She smiled and tasted the name. "Luke. Haven't lost your journal again?"

His name sounded heavenly on her tongue. Keeping the blush at bay, he nodded with a grin. "Yup. Uh-"

And then the man came back with her stuff, and that was that.)

-two, cause he wanted to win from Alex. Soulmates did exist and he hadn't lost hope it was her.

So there he was, in some old factory turned disco, with hundreds of idiots wearing headphones as they danced in a frenzy to whatever song was playing. The whole point of art - connection - was lost. Luke wanted to die.

Until he saw Julie from across the space. Again. And she saw him.

They smiled and waved and suddenly, this whole thing wasn't so bad anymore.

— — — — — —

There were about a 130,000 people living in East LA. It had sprawling neighbourhoods and hundreds of communities and subways that connected it to the other parts of LA. She could’ve been anywhere. 

And yet, he found her again. 

Even though he was still sticking to his guns that Julie was someone special, he also had his own needs. Which was how he found himself slipping out of a redhead’s bed at seven in the morning, dazed from being in an unknown place, and pulling his clothes back on. He was pretty sure her name was Meredith, though that could also just be entirely false. It was a weird, albeit good night. 

She mumbled in her pillow he could let himself out, waving half-heartedly and rolling on her side. 

Softly closing the door behind him and cracking the knots in his neck, he didn’t notice how he bumped into a person. 

Into Julie. 

His eyes widened in shock, the two letting out a surprised yelp. Her hand clutched her chest and took a step back. 

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Sorry!”

Her mouth opened and closed in confusion, about to say something, when her gaze trailed past him to the apartment he just left. She cleared up. 

“Meredith? Good choice, she’s nice.”

Luke flushed red. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? 

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, he drawled, “Uh, yeah... what’re you doing here?”

It was then that he noticed she had athletic wear on, duffle bag around her shoulder and keys dangling between her fingers. She confirmed his suspicions when she replied. 

“I, uh, live here.” She laughed. “So... have a nice rest of the day?”  

He wanted to say a lot. He wanted to ask if she wanted to grab breakfast, that Meredith wasn’t his girlfriend, that he had this crazy feeling they were always meant to meet - again and again and again ‘til they got it right. 

But he couldn’t. He’d sound insane. Hell, it was insane. Instead, he wished her a nice day as well and scurried out the hallway. He didn’t look back, but he did wonder if he was imagining he felt her eyes on his back. 

— — — — — —

Luke was typing on his laptop, the hustle and bustle of Starbucks at three in the afternoon and the methodical tap tap tap of the keys lulling him into a fast-paced trance. As always, he procrastinated some work for Pitchfork and had to get it done in two hours or else his boss would be yelling in his emails.

The bell jingled, Luke looking up automatically and almost rolling his eyes at the sight of her. This was getting insane.

Julie saw him too, changing her course from the register to his round table with a confused grimace twisting her features. As always, she looked pretty; the girl never looked bad and it was kind of messing with his head.

"Alright, fess up," she exclaimed, slipping into the seat opposite of him. "Are you stalking me?"

He snorted and leaned forward with a wry grin. "I can ask the same about you."

Her lips pursed, assessing him for a beat. With a sigh, she mellowed down. "I guess... we live in the same neighbourhood..."

"Still kinda crazy though," he mused. "East L.A. is big."

She nodded, pensive, and then looked over her shoulder to the menu board. "Is it okay if... I sit with you? I was going to grab a latte to go, but since you're here..."

But since you're here - rang in his ears, a careful smile blooming on his lips. Fuck, he really needed to work, but Julie wanted to sit with him, hang with him, be friends with him, outside of all the coincidental meetings they've had.

He wouldn't call it a date yet. He wanted to properly ask her when that day came.

"Sure," he mumbled, biting down the smile from becoming bigger.

His reply satisfied her, the tendrils dancing around her bright eyes as she matched his smile and stood up to make an order.

— — — — — —

Weeks passed with quick meetings here and there, Julie slowly bleeding into his life with laughs and smiles and whirlwind stories about her life. She was always on the go, always bright-eyed and easily matching his energy. He knew his enthusiasm could put people off, but she was never taken aback.

Wit against wit. Snark against snark. A dumb joke met with an amused roll of the eye. It worked. For a while, he even settled on the fact that hey, they might be platonic soulmates. Julie was a great friends and sometimes he felt his emotions fleeting. If they remained friends, he'd be perfectly content.

But then she closed gaps and barriers that had pointedly been kept before. After they got boba, her hand wrapped around his bicep, stretched on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. Before he could register it, she was back on her feet waving him goodbye. Luke had a dopey look on his face for the rest of the day.

She kept up cheek kisses, he let his warm embraces linger, their short hangouts turned into hours.

Then one night, she kissed his cheek after they got ramen and he shifted his face 'til their noses brushed. Julie held her breath. Tentatively, their fingers curled together - the simple touch sparking lightning up his arm.

"Is it weird that I've dreamed about you?" he asked, cautious, looking at their joined hands.

Luke wanted to tell her about his initial gut feeling; that he saw her and he knew. But it was too insane and he didn't want to scare her off. But he knew. He's always known.

"No..." Her mouth ghosted his. "I've dreamed about you too."

Luke closed the little space between them, lips slanting together and instantly deepening as one hand came up to cradle her cheek. His heart was bursting with euphoria. It felt as if his body sighed in relief, like it had finally come home. And then he did: he sighed and grinned and giggled when her arms wrapped around his neck.

Oh, man... he might already love her.

— — — — — —

Nothing definite happened afterwards. Though this is what he wanted, he felt weird confirming their relationship when he had always somehow ‘known.’ It had to come from her side, the more level-headed person in this situation. 

So, it was casual, even though he was anything but casual. 

It was pretty great though, walking past Meredith’s door towards Julie’s, having her yank him inside and kiss him like she’d been waiting for years. Kissing Julie was fucking heaven. 

Besides that, they were the same Luke and Julie as before. They got boba or ramen or any new spot that opened up like weeds. She listened to new music with him, sharing earbuds, for his Pitchfork articles. He watched her sing and play the piano at music clubs, becoming more and more enamoured each time simply by the sound of her angelic voice. He built a shelf for her. She taught him how to make friendship bracelets. He met her best friend Flynn. She stayed over for dinner with the guys and got drunk on white wine, giggling along to the jokes.

They fit. But they weren’t exclusive. He had no clue if she was also seeing someone else. He presumed she didn’t, the two constantly revolving around each other, but he couldn’t be certain.

Alex was gobsmacked the first time he properly met her. Stunned that Luke had been right, that it worked out, that East Los Angeles was apparently nothing more than a small town. Luke reckoned he was just jealous he didn’t have to meet his person by getting maimed on the street - ha! 

His finger trailed along her sleeping silhouette, gently and drowsy, observing in awe how a smile subconsciously quirked on her lips and shifted closer to his touch. He closed his eyes and pressed his nose in the back of her neck. There were worse ways to wake up. 

— — — — — —

Eventually, Julie simply decided for him.

She was moving apartments and he was helping her pack, move furniture, throw shit out, the whole nine yards. For one person, she had a lot of stuff, her cabinets an endless supply of decor, souvenirs and memories.

They were whirling around each other like clock-work, never bumping and smoothly handing things over. Rap music was playing from the stereo, its sound drifting from her opened front door into the hallway.

One of her neighbours popped their head in.

"Oh!" The old man perked up, surprised. "You're moving, Julie?"

She looked up from rummaging through her CD collection to shoot him a tired smile. "Yeah," she puffed, "my lease is up, so..."

"Change of pace, I get it. That's wonderful," he nodded, gaze shifting to Luke walking out of the bathroom. "Hello!"

Luke smiled at him, waving with the box of oddly shaped soaps Julie had for some reason. "Hi."

"This is Luke, my boyfriend," Julie introduced, Luke freezing in his tracks all at once as the words utter from her lips. Boyfriend. Holy shit. It didn't faze her, smoothly babbling more than he wasn't processing.

Boyfriend. Which meant that she was his girlfriend. Which meant that now, he had to threaten the guys to not say a fucking word about how mentally deranged he was the first week after meeting her. This wasn’t planned. This was fully her. This was past fate and serendipity - this was by choice. It felt better than he thought. 

The man bid goodbye and left. Luke dropped the box on the coffee table, sliding towards her with a shit-eating grin.

"Boyfriend," he drawled exaggeratedly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. ‘Cause you are. I know you well enough to know you can only do exclusive."

"Can you?"

"I said you were my boyfriend, didn't I?"

His smile widened, leaning in to kiss her. She met him halfway, loose curls tucked behind ears before her arms were slung around his waist. I love, I love you, I've loved you forever.

And then the truth tumbled out. Part of it, at least.

"I, uh," he gulped, looking at her through his lashes. "I saw you, that first day, and I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Her face turned tender, a pout jutting from her lip as she gauged his reaction, like she was waiting for him to make a joke. He wasn't.

"Really?" she whispered, voice so small it took him aback for a beat.

His thumbs gently caressed her cheeks, withholding himself from saying anything more. This was enough. It was the truth without the crazy - being with her was crazy enough. Luke settled on a simple nod.

Her head tilted, shy amusement lilting her tone. "Good thing I'm moving closer to your neighbourhood then."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

@blush-and-books​ @bluefirewrites​ @willexx​ @pink-flame​ @constantly-singing​ @unsaid-emily​ @ourstarscollided​

[today-only-happens-once]

in dusting cobwebs

word count: 2577

Summary: Grover reunites with Percy and Annabeth following the battle against Gaia. They talk about some things. They don't talk about others. || Percy jolts, realization hitting him sharper than Jason’s lightning. His eyes snap to focus on Grover, his stomach twisting with sudden nausea. “The empathy link.” || Percabeth with a focus on Grover being a good friend. 

Warnings: spoilers for the Heroes of Olympus series; trauma/ptsd; discussion of Tartarus; emotional reunions; running away from problems; some tears/crying; one curse word courtesy Percy Jackson himself.

A/N:  I had this idea rattling around in my brain since finishing Blood of Olympus a few months ago. Just couldn't get the right words in the right order until now. First time writing these characters, so some grace is appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

Read on AO3

--

Home. He was home.

Percy Jackson takes a deep breath of pine and distant sea air and tries to ignore the way the air is tinged slightly with the scent of copper. He closes his eyes for a moment tries to focus on the things that are familiar. The chatter of campers in the distance. The birds chirping overhead. The rustle of leaves from the light breeze that plays in the branches.

Standing on top of Half-Blood Hill, Percy feels something relax in his shoulders. The tightness in his chest stays, but he’s home and that’s not for nothing, right?

He feels Annabeth’s arm brush his own as a quiet reminder that she’s there beside him, and Percy opens his eyes. He reaches for her hand. Lots of things—lots of people—had been lost. He’s grateful beyond words that despite the odds, he is still standing here at Camp Half-Blood with her. He laces their fingers together, and out of the corner of his eye he swears he sees Annabeth release a breath of something like relief. She grips his hand a little harder.

Percy opens his mouth to say something about how he should go see his mom soon when he’s cut off by a familiar voice tearing through camp.

“PERCY!”

Percy’s head snaps instinctively towards the sound. He sees a blur of orange t-shirt and a flop of curly brown hair before the wind is knocked out of him. Percy staggers back a step before he returns Grover’s hug. The satyr is babbling something too fast for Percy to keep up with or follow.

“Whoa,” Percy says, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Hey, man.”

Grover pulls back a little, but he doesn’t fully let go. His fingers slide down Percy’s short sleeve before digging into Percy’s arms as if he half-expects that the son of the sea god is some kind of illusion. His best friend’s dark eyes flit over Percy several times over, like he’s looking for injuries or something. Grover had always been a worrier, Percy thinks.

The satyr looks older than Percy remembers, and he’s not sure if that’s because it’s been a year since he’s seen him or because of the weary look that lingers in his dark eyes. There’s a crease appearing between Grover’s brows.

“Long time no see, huh?” Percy offers by way of greeting.

Grover’s eyes snap back up to meet Percy’s but there’s something like doubt that lingers in his gaze that brings Percy up short. The satyr looks like he’s about to say something, but then his jaw clicks shut. He glances over at Annabeth, giving her the same several glances over that he’d given Percy.

“You’re back,” Grover says, but his voice sounds strangely high and tight. “I…”

“Grover?” Percy asks, feeling concern knot in his stomach. All the times he and Annabeth had gone off on dangerous quests and come back, Grover had never had this strong of a reaction to their return.

“I thought…” Grover trails off again, then suddenly yanks Percy and Annabeth both into a hug again.

Percy’s mouth twitches with a hint of a smile, but he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. When Grover releases them, Percy shoots a lightning-fast glance to Annabeth. She hides it well, but there’s the small crease between her brows that betrays that she is just as puzzled and worried as Percy feels.

“Miss us?” Percy says at a flimsy attempt at levity. Grover’s eyes look misty when they meet Percy’s, but he gives him a grin in response.

“You could say that.” He brushes the back of his hand across his eyes. He looks between Percy and Annabeth like he half-expects them to dissolve into smoke. “I didn’t… I mean I…”

Percy’s frown deepens as he cocks an eyebrow at his friend, but Grover averts his gaze and shakes his head quickly. Percy glances at Annabeth, but her eyes grow slightly wide as she looks at Grover, then pained.

“It was my fault,” she says suddenly. “I’m sorry.” Strands of her blonde hair stick to her face from sweat and smears of blood. There’s something earnest in her expression that Percy can’t explain.

Grover’s brow furrows. “Your…? Annabeth, I have a hard time believing that.”

Annabeth shakes her head, adamant. “It was. Arachne’s web got twisted around my ankle and… and it pulled me in, and Percy grabbed me, but—”

Tartarus. There’s a sudden sense of vertigo, and he reaches instinctively for Annabeth’s hand. He grips it, and the contact with her is enough to keep him from feeling like he’s falling into Tartarus again.

“Annabeth,” Grover is saying, but he sounds far away. “Annabeth, that doesn’t mean it’s your fault. I mean, gods, after what you two went through…”

Percy jolts, realization hitting him sharper than Jason’s lightning. His eyes snap to focus on Grover, his stomach twisting with sudden nausea. “The empathy link.”

Grover him a wan smile, and Percy is grateful for the way Annabeth gives his hand a small squeeze.

A faun had mentioned it when he was at Camp Jupiter, but he hadn’t known at the time what he’d been talking about. And once he got is memories back, it’d set off a chain reaction of events that had kept him from thinking too long about it since. But the empathy link… in Tartarus…

Percy swallows. “Shit, Grover. I—” His voice cuts out and he coughs to clear it, shaking his head quickly. “I didn’t even… are you okay?”

Grover stares at him, his eyes starting to get misty again. “You went to Tartarus and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”

“Yes.”

Grover opens his mouth, then shuts it. He blinks hard and tries again. “I’m just glad to see both of you in one piece.”

It’s not an answer. Percy knows that. It’s avoidance, and gods forgive him but he can’t bring himself to press Grover on the issue. Maybe it’s selfish of him. But he’s finally home—home, gods, it’s been so long—and the last thing he wants to do right now is talk about Tartarus. In the back of his mind, he wonders just how much of Tartarus Grover knows about. If he knows the things Percy’s done…

He doesn’t want to think about it. In fact, the last thing he wants is to deal with the memories of Tartarus that seem to cling to him like they’re in lockstep with his shadow.

“I’d ask you guys if you’re okay but… I think I know that answer,” Grover says when neither Percy nor Annabeth says anything.

He doesn’t want to talk about it. “Hey, we’re here, aren’t we?” Percy offers, and if his hand is shaking just a little, well. He hopes Annabeth doesn’t notice. “Nice to be breathing that fresh camp air.”

Doubt flickers across Grover’s eyes. “Percy—”

“Is Chiron around?”

Grover’s mouth presses into a thin line. Then he sighs, and nods towards the Big House. “Yeah. I think he’s helping Will round up the injured.”

Percy leans over and quickly kisses Annabeth’s cheek. “I’ll go find him. I’ll be back, okay? Promise.”

--

Annabeth watches Percy run towards the Big House, only to be intercepted by Connor Stoll. A part of her wants to follow him, and her fingers twitch with his abrupt absence. She folds her arms across her chest instead.

“You both seem… different,” Grover says quietly. Annabeth glances at him, but he’s also watching Percy at the bottom of the slope. His eyes flicker briefly to Annabeth before returning to Percy. “Not in a bad way,” he adds. “Just… different.”

Annabeth sighs. “Yeah,” she says. “I feel… different.”

She couldn’t explain exactly why or how. Rome clung to her like cobwebs cling to corners. The things she’d seen and done to get to and through the Doors had sharpened her edges in ways that were hard for her to explain, which was extra frustrating as a daughter of Athena. She didn’t feel like the same person who’d left camp on the Argo II, and she wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

They’d made it through the Doors, defeated the giants, defeated Gaia… but it didn’t feel, exactly, like the victory she’d imagined. Annabeth was beginning to think that victory was a hard weight to bear.

“Getting that message to Connor was genius, by the way,” Grover offers. “It saved camp, you know. Both camps, really.”

The corner of Annabeth’s mouth twitches at the compliment. It hadn’t felt like a genius move; it’d felt like a shot in the dark.

Annabeth can feel the stale adrenaline from the battle bleeding out of her, replaced instead by an ache in her bones that makes even standing upright exhausting. She can’t remember the last time she got a decent night’s rest, and it felt like she’d fought her way through a marathon sprint of monsters and giants. She takes a deep breath and sits down on the patch of grass where they’re standing, pulling her knees up.

Grover sits beside her without another word. For a while, neither of them says anything. Annabeth drums her fingers on her elbows as she folds her arms on top of her knees. For the first time in what feels like months, Annabeth pauses.

Campers intermingle with one another while they clean up from the battle. Birds chirp overhead and wind rustles through the leaves in the nearby trees. The Athena Parthenos casts a long shadow that Annabeth must admit, she finds comforting. She watches Percy wave a farewell to Connor, and offers her boyfriend a faint smile when he looks back at her before he disappears around a corner.

Distantly, she can hear the voice of Will Solace bickering with Nico di Angelo and a second later finds both them helping a pair of injured campers limp back to their cabins. She watches the breeze create ripples in the grass around her. For a moment, her eyes flicker skyward as if she might see Leo streaking like a comet through the sky back to camp.

Wishful thinking. Her chest twinges.

Annabeth was tired of missing people. A lifetime ago, she would have given nearly anything to be given a prophecy. Now, she hoped to never hear another prophecy in her life, and especially not one that involved anyone she knew. Annabeth was no stranger to loss, but she was tired of it. She’s… tired in a way that a nap won’t fix. Maybe she should feel grateful that she didn’t lose anyone else, but it seems like an awfully shitty consolation prize.

At least she didn’t lose Percy in Tartarus. Her chest clenches and she shoves the thought into the back corner of her mind.

“I know you guys don’t want to talk about it,” Grover says quietly and Annabeth startles. She’d almost forgotten he was there, and she wonders briefly if he somehow read her mind. “And that’s okay. I can’t say I blame either one of you for that.”

Annabeth averts her gaze when Grover’s own rises to meet hers.

Grover continues anyway. “But Annabeth… you should know that nobody expects you to just be okay after something like that. I only got a vague sense of it secondhand, and it…” His voice wavers, then trails off. He tries again. “Anyway. If you do decide you want to talk about it… either one of you? I’m around.”

“I think Percy is mad at me,” Annabeth blurts out suddenly. It’s stupid, she tells herself. Of all the things they faced… the lingering sense that Percy still hadn’t fully forgiven her for making them leave Bob behind presses at her mind. Maybe Percy’s anger is easier to deal with than everything else that happened there. Maybe it’s harder. Annabeth doesn’t know.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth sees Grover’s brows shoot up towards his hairline. “You… why?”

Annabeth tells him. Not about everything—there’s far too much she’s still trying not to think about—but she tells him about Bob, and his sacrifice, and Annabeth’s forcing of Percy’s hand. About abandoning him down there, about how her chest feels tight every time she looks at the stars for too long.

“Percy doesn’t hold that against you,” Grover says, with so much conviction and certainty that it catches Annabeth off guard.

She blinks. “What?”

Grover shakes his head a little. “I… Look, I’m not trying to use the empathy link to like, tell you how Percy feels. I kind of feel like that’s an invasion of Percy’s privacy? But… he’s not angry with you.” Grover sighs, then adds more quietly, “If anything, I think he’s angry with himself.”

Annabeth is quiet. She wants to tell Grover that Percy shouldn’t be angry with himself, but she’d be speaking to the choir. Besides, there’d be a certain hypocrisy in that, wouldn’t there?

She glances at Grover, who watches a group of Greek campers load a Roman camper onto a makeshift stretcher. Grover seems different too, now that Annabeth is looking at him. He seems… older. A little bigger, sure, but… there’s something aged and weary in his eyes that goes past his years. It’s a look that Annabeth knows all too well, when kids too young are forced to shoulder too much.

She understands. Most of the people at camp hadn’t even graduated high school yet and fought in two wars now. Annabeth had only narrowly escaped with her life both times, and she knew she wasn’t alone in that. She’d long ago lost count of how many times she came close to death, of how many times she thought Percy or other friends were dead. She’d lost count of how often her hands shook when she was alone, of how many nightmares had jolted her from sleep.

The regular life of a still-living demigod. She thought of all the people who didn’t make it through. Those who weren’t as lucky as she was.

“I’m glad you’re here, Grover,” she says suddenly.

Grover looks at her in surprise, but offers her a tired smile. “Back at ya, Annabeth.”

“Everything feels different now.”

“Yeah,” Grover agrees with a nod. “But not everything is. You’ll be okay. So will Percy.” Annabeth looks at him, but he just gives her a knowing look.

Annabeth swallows thickly. “How can you be so sure?”

Grover is quiet for a moment, his gaze trailing back out to the hustle and bustle around camp. “Well… Look around, Annabeth. What do you see?”

She looks. She sees Jason with his arm slung around Piper’s shoulder. Connor Stoll wrapping a young camper’s ankle with a bandage. Reyna, Hazel, and Nico cleaning up debris and broken weaponry left behind by the injured and fallen. Jake Mason showing a Roman camper how to use crutches.

“I see my friends and allies,” she says, surprised by the sudden lump in her throat.

Grover nods with a small smile. “Helping each other. Because that’s what we do, and that’s how I know. You and Percy will be okay because you have another, and you’ve got us.” He knocks his shoulder into Annabeth’s. “You’re not alone.”

Annabeth’s voice fails her, her eyes stinging slightly. She blinks quickly and nods.

Grover smiles more and pushes himself to his feet. He dusts his hands off on just shirt and then offers a hand to Annabeth. “Let’s get to helping, yeah?”

[kingdeku-queentoga]

The crowd of humans started to mumbled as they looked at Steven, making him clear his throat loudly, getting the attention of everyone "tell me who is in charge here?" He said loudly.

There was a moment of mumbling before someone was pushed forward towards Steven, letting him see that it was a short human male with balding dark-brown hair and pinkish skin, and was wearing an weird outfit that seen different then everyone else "h-hello um... Steven was it?" He spoke nervously while sweating "I'm am Dewey. The mayor of b-beach city" he announced.

Steven looked at him, slightly unimpressed as he didn't seem like much of an leader but that wasn't important "tell me, are all those other humans your servant?" He asked Dewey.

"S-servants? No o-of course not" Dewey announced "e-everyone is f-free to do whatever they w-want as long as they don't b-break the rules" he explained to Steven who had looked around before nodding.

"Is there anyone else in charge that I can talk too" Steven said loudly feeling as though he wasn't making any progress talking to this human.

A moment pass before a short elderly woman with brown skin and wafer-gray hair done up in a large bun had walk out of the crowd, ignoring a few of the humans that was calling out to her as she walked towards Dewey and Steven "my name is Nanefua but everyone just call me granny and you can speak to me young man" she told Steven "tell me, are you here to attack earth?" Nanefua asked him suddenly, making everyone go quiet

Steven looked at her and saw nothing close to a threat but at least she didn't seem scared and if she was, she was doing a good job at hiding it "I'm not here to attack earth... In fact I want to stay here" Steven announced, shocking everyone as their was a large amount of mumbling coming from the crowd of humans.

"Why do you want to stay here?" Nanefua asked Steven.

"I'm sure you can tell but I look nothing like my counterpart" Steven said making Nanefua look towards spinel and pearl before looking back and Steven "that is because I'm an hybrid, even though I'm an gem I am also a human just like you and everyone else" he explained.

"Tell me why should we let you stay here?" Nanefua asked making Steven laugh.

Steven laughed at her boldness before he looked at her "because even though I want to stay here, I don't have any problems blowing this planet up" he told her, hearing a couple of yells from the group of humans behind them, while Nanefua looked like she started to think about what to say next.

"If we do let you live here in exchange for not blowing up the planet... How can we trust that aren't you lying and not going to blow up the earth, once you get bored with it?" Nanefua asked him, making everyone agree with her.

Steven looked at her then behind her at the other humans, seeing their scared faces before he sigh and shook his head "listen, everyone. I had no intentions of hurting anyone on this planet as long as no one had tried to hurt me first" he said loudly "I still have no interest in blowing up this planet nor making anyone become my servant. I truly want to stay here on earth and coexist with you all. I want to know what it like to live among other humans, you have my word that I will not harm anyone nor this planet as long as no one tries to harm me and my gems first, if you understand that then we can live in peace with each other. And exchange for letting me stay here I'm also willing to help around anyway I can, though I don't know what I can do exactly but help none the less" Steven said honestly, seeing some looks of relief on their face but was still on edge.

"Well young man, everyone here is friendly and will not hurt you nor your friends" Nanefua told Steven honestly, making him nod

"Then I have absolutely no reason to start any trouble with anyone" Steven told her honestly

Nanefua and Steven stared at each other for a moment before someone came from the crowd, Steven saw it was a tall bald man with a darker complexion and a mustache that frames his very large and bright smile

The man walked beside Nanefua, towering over her as he looked at Steven "hello, it seem like you are going to be staying here. I'm Harold but everyone knows me as Mr. Smiley" he said keeping his large smile "let me be the first to welcome you to beach city" he told him, making the corner of Steven lips move upward slightly.

"Heh... Thank you" Steven said as he realized that he was actually nervous about how everything was going to play out as he could only guess that not everyone was going to be so welcoming, he looked back at Nanefua seeing that she had turned around towards the crowd of humans who stayed looking, ready for anything

"It seem Steven is not going to hurt anyone, plus he is going to be staying here at beach city, so please welcome him" Nanefua announced as there was a mumbling across the crowd, she turned around and motion for Steven to come here.

Steven was hesitant as he looked at her but jumped as he felt someone touch his back, he looked over and saw his Pearl was behind him with a soft smile before she nodded to him, making him nod as well and slowly walked towards nanefua, he stopped once he was besides her looking at everyone.

The humans and Steven stare at each other in silenced which made Steven heart race a little bit, someone slowly came from the crowd letting Steven look at her as she was short and heavyset, with fair skin and curly shoulder-length blonde hair "h-hi, I'm Sadie" she smiled towards him

"Hello, I'm Steven" Steven smiled to her before spinel suddenly jumped in between them, making everyone jump from shock.

"HI I'M SPINEL" spinel waved towards them cheerfully "I'm Steven best friend!" She told them while Pearl walked beside Steven and smiled with a slight bow of her head.

"H-hello. My name is Pearl" Pearl spoke softly as she smiled to them.

"Such lovely friends you have Steven" Nanefua laughed while Steven chuckled softly and pet spinel head.

"Heh yeah, they are great" Steven said making spinel and Pearl smile happily as the praise, while everyone slowly started to warm up to Steven as they watched how acted with Pearl and spinel, Steven looked at Nanefua before clearing his throat "Nanefua is there anywhere I could stay, like an unused living quarters" he asked her, making everyone go quiet.

"...there is that old house just on under the cliff but it not in the best condition, it pretty tore down" Mr. Smiley said making Steven nod.

"That is fine... Can someone show me where it is" Steven asked aloud.

"Umm... I wouldn't mind" Sadie announced making Steven smile softly and nod.

"Thank you Sadie" Steven told her, seeing her nod and started to walk away from the crowd of human while Steven, spinel, and Pearl had followed behind her.

The four walked to the side of a mountain and under it, Steven saw that there was a small house at the base of it "I guessing that is the living quarter" he asked Sadie.

"Yeah, it a little far from everyone else but got a great view of the ocean" Sadie told him "also it is called a house" she explained making Steven nod, the group made their way to the house and walked up to the stair, which had immediately let everyone know that the house was a bit old because every step they took up the stairs made the stairs creak as if it was going to give out at any moment, the group followed Sadie to the door as she opened it and walked inside.

The gems took in what they saw as everything was wore down from old age and dust "oh my..." Pearl said quietly, feeling dirty just being inside the 'house' as the human girl called it.

"whoa, talk about a mess!" Spinel yelled while laughing madly, jumping up and down hoping to break though the floor.

"Yeah um... Sorry about the mess but no one has been for a long time" Sadie said feeling a bit embarrassed about showing Steven this ran down house "b-but if you can get it fixed up and running then it'll look great" she explained to them.

Steven looked around and chuckled softly "seem like I got my work cut out for me" he said planning to fix the ran down house up.

The sound of the stairs creaking had caused everyone to turn around before hearing a group of whispers, Steven was the first one to speak up "whoever you are, quit hiding. I not going to hurt you" he called out as he was met with silence before three teens slowly came to view.

A teenager dark brown hair, and light brown-coral skin, he wore a pair of black glasses, an overly large red button-up shirt with unbuttoned cuffs, a white shirt with a yellow lightning bolt design, dark blue slim-fit pant, and cyan and blue sneakers with white soles.

Next was a pale young man, with platinum blond hair styled into a point, ice-blue eyes, and a long, angular face. He wore a grayish-blue hoodie over a light gray undershirt, orange phat pants, and bright sea-foam green tennis shoes

Finally a brown skin girl that wore large gold hoop earrings, a pale cream-colored shirt, a dark brown leather jacket with a beige fur-trimmed collar, long pink pants, and mint-colored flats.

The girl gave a small wave "hi, Steven was it?" She asked him while the group looked at them.

"Yes, I'm Steven" Steven answered her "who are you?"

"I'm jenny pizza" the girl smile at him.

"I'm buck" the teen with the glasses said simply

"And I'm sour cream" the last guy told him

"What are y'all doing here" Sadie asked them confused.

"Well we just wanted to see the outta space dude and his friends for ourselves" sour cream said making Steven raise a brow at that but nodded as he was indeed from space.

"Well it nice to meet you as well" Steven told them making them smile.

"Yes humans, it is a pleasure to meet you" Pearl smile.

Spinel waved "hello, I'm spinel!" She smiled making herself known

"So are you really not going to blow up our planet?" Jenny asked him making Steven shake his head.

"I already said as long as no one hurt me or my gems then I have no reason" Steven asked her, seeing that she became slightly relieved.

"Awesome" buck said simply with a small smile.

"Oh guys what if we take Steven to our secret spot" sour cream said making the two look at him while the gems because confused.

"Sure, I see not harm in it" buck nodded "but we'll have to hurry up before it to late"

"Oh yeah, plus it'll be a good way to welcome Steven and his friends to earth" jenny smiled making the group nod before looking back at the group.

"Steven come with us, there somewhere we want to show you as a welcome to earth gift" buck said making Steven slowly nodded, not knowing what he was talking about.

"You want to come as well Sadie" sour cream asked making her shake her head.

"No thanks, I got to make sure lars is actually working plus I need to let mom know I'm okay" Sadie told them before looking at Steven with a smile "I have to go but it was nice to meet you Steven, Pearl, and spinel. Hopefully I can see you later" she said before she had left the group, waving bye as she headed back the city.

"Well it seem like it just us" Jenny said as she looked at buck and sour cream "come let's hurry up before it too late" she told them making them nodded.

"Yeah, let's go. Follow us dude" buck said as the group left the house slowly leaving Steven, Pearl, and spinel behind.

Steven and Pearl looked at each other before nodding and started to follow the humans. The walk was pretty long as the gems saw, smell, felt and heard things they never knew had existed before but had soon they had arrived to a large cliff that if Steven was correct about, it was directly above the 'house' Sadie shown him.

Steven was confused as to why the humans lead them here but Jenny spoke up "we made it in time, y'all come here" she smiled as her, buck, and sour cream was standing on the edge of the cliff, the gems looked at them and slowly went to the edge with the humans before their eyes widened.

The sky was bright orange and faded to a dark blue but what really gotten the gems attention, was the sparking ocean as it looked like an endless sea of thousands of sparking stars on the water, the group was speechless as they look at the water.

Tears slowly ran down Steven face before he felt a hand on his back, making him look back and saw his dad smiling at him while everyone else had disappeared "welcome to earth, Steven" his dad told him proudly "please, protect it" he said making Steven nod slowly

"Y-yeah" Steven agreed before looking back at the sea as he felt his dad hand disappear, he looked over and saw Pearl and spinel with tears forming while they was both smiling as they kept looking at the sea, he wiped his tears before he went in the middle of them and suddenly wrapped his arms around the both of them, making them let out a small squeak as they looked over at their Diamond and saw that he was smiling at them, making them smile as well "heh it seem like we going to be staying on earth for awhile" he told them.

Pearl and spinel smiled happily "of course my Diamond" Pearl nodded while spinel cheered happily at the news.

Each group watched in blissful silence as everyone was simply enjoying the view, a view that Steven would do everything he could to protect, he didn't know what the future held but he knew he could handle it as long as he had spinel and Pearl by his side