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f1bordeaux · 1 year

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An Verstappen one with “Did you ever really care about me?” and “Please stay.” Thank you

If You Cared (Part 1) | mv1

It's been years since you've indulged in a vacation. What better time is there than summer? Your family, the beach house in Italy-it seems perfect. But, for things to be just like good old times, your family needs to invite his. So of course you are having mixed feelings as the boy who broke your heart re-enters your life like nothing happened. Warnings: None Pairing: Max Verstappen x Reader Word count: 2.1k Poetry style | Story style A/n: Hello! This story came to me as soon as I saw this request. I got so many ideas and I'm actually super excited to keep writing this. There will be more parts to follow, so keep a look out. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy! Part One|Part Two|Part Three|Part Four|Part Five

You always longed for the familiarity of summer.

It was by far your favorite season. Something about the warmth, the life, the atmosphere, the memories-something about it all brought you comfort. You were head over heels in love with summer. Or perhaps it was just more exciting this year knowing that you would go on a real vacation for the first time in a long while. “Let’s visit the beach house this year,” your mom had suggested. “Sure there is probably some dust in the corners, but it’s nothing we can't sweep off.”

When thinking of summer memories, the beach house in Elba, Italy, was the primary setting for all of them. From the time you were born until the time you moved out, your family would spend a handful of weeks there, drinking up the sun and inviting friends to visit. You learnt to swim in the pool behind the summer house. You learnt to cook in the kitchen of the summer house. You had your first kiss in the living room of the summer house. Right, that. Something you preferred not to think or talk about.

“Mom!” you wrapped her in a hug the second you could. After moving away from home to pursue work, you rarely saw her in person. You rarely had time to cook yourself dinner let alone come home. It would be nice to get away for a month-just you, your mom, your dad, your brother and sister and the Italian shores of Elba.

“How was your flight, my baby?” She asked, pulling your backpack from off your shoulders.

“Which one? The one from New York to Florence or the one from Florence to Elba?” As a child you always made a fuss about how secluded Elba was. It’s a small, mountainous island off the west coast. A small airport, no larger than the biggest grocery store in town, was all they had to offer. They didn’t take commercial flights from New York. Nope, you had to get on a small, ten person airplane with five other people and fly over that way. It was nostalgic, truly.

Your mom rolled her eyes. “Still dramatic as ever.”

You shrugged, a smile stamped on your face. “What can I say?”

“Let's go, your dad is at home making dinner. It should be ready when we arrive.”

Your heart felt so full, so satisfied. You felt like a child again, like a little girl viewing the world from innocent eyes. Your mom was carrying your backpack, your dad was making dinner. You wondered if they’d offer to tuck you in at night. This is what you needed the most, and you didn’t even realize it until you were in the passenger seat of your mom’s rental car, watching the coast of the island roll by in the dimming sun. New York was busy. It was loud and dirty. Elba was quiet. It was beautiful and clean.

This summer, you told yourself. I’m not going to have a single worry, not a single care in the world.

“The Verstappen’s are coming by next week.”

You almost choked on your food. “What did he just say?” Dinner on the patio was already off to a ravishing start.

You don't notice it-too busy dabbing the corner of your mouth with a napkin-but your mother swatted at your brother who held a smirk on his lips. He knew it would bother you and he also knew that mom hadn’t told you yet. He loved being the bearer of bad news. He loved pestering his older sister.

“You know, Max’s family?” He pushed on. “The boy who left you for cars-”

“Luca.” Your mom cut him off. “Enough.”

Silence hung over the table like it was a light fixture. Your dad and sister said nothing and you knew it was because those two were in favor of the Verstappen’s coming to stay. Hell, your dad was probably the one to extend the invitation. You knew your sister would back him up because she loved Victoria-the younger sibling of the two Verstappen children. Your brother obviously didn’t care. He idolized Max and his racing. It seemed like your mother was the only one on your side.

“Was nobody going to tell me until Max knocked on our front door one day?” You asked, cutting at the food on your plate.

“Max probably won't even be able to make it,” your mother tries to reassure you. “The only ones who have confirmed it are Sophie and Victoria. Ooh-Victoria is bringing the babies so that should be fun-”

“Are you just trying to calm me down, mom?” Again, the silence made itself known. You spoke first, shaking your head with an upside down smile. “You know what? I don’t care. Max or not, I’m here to have a good summer. No childhood crush or-”

“Childhood boyfriend who broke your heart.” Your brother corrected you. You kicked him from under the table, exerting an ouch from him.

“No childhood drama is going to interfere.” You finished.

“She's gone crazy.” Your sister whispered to your dad. You kicked her too.

“I’m going to have a good summer. Nobody will ruin that for me.”

And in the beginning, you did have a good summer. You spent your first full day in Elba catching up on jet lag. When you finally decided to roll out of bed at two pm, you went to the beach with your sister. The two of you had a chance to catch up, sitting on the sand with a small array of fruits to eat while you spoke. The weather was perfect, the ocean was calming, and you were reminded of how much you loved your younger sister.

“What did you do for the big twenty-two?” You asked, referencing her birthday that had preceded about three weeks prior.

She shook her hand, the grapes in her palm shifting. She picked out a bruised one, adding it to a small pile of other undesirable fruits. “Went out with some friends. I had an exam due that day though, so most of it was spent in my room working on that.”

College. Something you tried your hardest to avoid. All was futile, though. After only a few weeks in New York you realized you’d need it. “Sounds fun. Were you mad you had to leave all your friends for the summer?”

“No,” She popped a grape in her mouth. “I was excited to come back to the beach house.”

“Me too.”

“Can I start a conversation without you getting mad at me, y/n?”

You sighed. “If you start by saying that, then no.”

“How are you going to react if Max really does show up on Monday?”

It was your turn to search through the handful of strawberries you had. One strawberry had a large hole. The rest looked fine, you thought. Max. Right, that's where the conversation was. Max Verstappen. Your first crush, your first kiss, your first-boyfriend? Was it ever that? Really, you didn’t know what it was and what it wasn’t. He was Max, and you were y/n. That was all the facts you knew surrounding the two of you.

“I’ll be nice. I have no reason not to be.” You finally responded.

Your sister peeled her sunglasses off her face. She looked at you amusingly through her brow. “No reason? Really?”

A shrug lifted your shoulders. “What? Max and I were never dating.”

“Sixteen-year-old you would say otherwise.”

“Sixteen year old me was delusional.” You looked at the ocean in front of you. You were just a delusional child, right? Max was your first kiss. Max was your biggest crush. Max did break your heart. It’s pretty damn hard to break someone's heart when you’re not together, no? “I don’t care about Max anymore. If he comes, he comes. If he doesn’t? Then so be it. I really don't care, Mia.”

“Alright,” She said dismissively. “I guess we’ll find out.”

The two of you wouldn’t find out for another five days. During your time-waiting for the possible arrival of Max and his mom and sister-you explored the city, you occupied the beaches, you read some books, you went out on the boat with your brother and dad. Life was calm. There were no obligations you had to fill, no tasks at hand, no work to be done. It was you, the Italian sun, the ocean and the breeze. You seriously considered moving there. Mom would let you have the beach house, right? How could she say no to the oldest?

All was good. All was calm.

“Max is here, y/n!” Luca swung open the patio door, yelling at you with a smirk. You were lying on a lounge chair next to your sister-the both of you only wearing swimsuits as you tried to tan. “He’s a fine specimen.”

You picked up your hat from the ground and threw it at your teenage brother. “Fuck off, Luca.”

“I’m serious! Max, Victoria and Sophie are here.”

You looked over at your sister. “Go inspect.” You instructed her.

She groaned, standing up from her chair and wandering inside, not before slapping Luca on the back of the head, however. The two of them shut the door, a waft of cold air swiping across your body before disappearing. There was soft music playing from a speaker near the pool. If a car pulled up, you wouldn’t have been able to hear it. Maybe they were here, but was Max seriously with them? Did you want him here? Would it actually be easier without him here or did you want some fun this summer? Did drama entertain you? Maybe you just wanted something nice to look at while you were here.

The back door slid open. You were lying face down, the sun warming your back. You didn’t bother looking up, assuming it was Mia coming to deliver the news to you. It would be better if she didn’t see your face while telling you. Maybe you would be disappointed at the answer-whatever it may be. “Well? Is he here?” You asked, voice muffled by the lounge chair.

“Is this your hat?”

You looked up so quickly that you pulled a muscle in your neck. “Fuck.” You whispered to yourself, rubbing your fingers over the pain. Did you curse to yourself because Max was standing right infront of you, your ball cap balancing off his index finger, or because of the pain? Both, you decided. It was for both reasons.

“I’ll leave it,” He set it on the table next to you. “Here.”

“Thanks.” You readjusted yourself, sitting up on the edge of the chair. He definitely got a much better view of you than he was hoping for. You were older now, almost by ten years. Sixteen year old you and twenty five year old you looked a lot different. He figured that out pretty quick.

“Good to see you, y/n.” He smiled before turning on his heel to go back inside. His back was broad, his shoulders looked stiff. He had some stubble, but it suited him. He looked-good? No. Stop thinking like that. He probably had a girlfriend or something. He was a rich, famous, Formula One driver. No way he was single walking around looking like that.

“Right.” Nobody was around to hear you say it. So, nobody was around to hear you follow it up with, “What the fuck.”

Hesitantly, you picked up your ball cap, slipping your ponytail through the back. You walked inside, scanning the room before making any more steps forward. Mia and Victoria were in the living room. Sure enough, Victoria had brought her two children and husband. Mia was emitting plenty of ‘aww’s’ and ‘that is so cute’s’. Max was bringing luggage in through the front door. Great, they're planning on staying. Your brother shot you a smirk from where he sat at the kitchen bar. Told ya’ so.

“Max, how’d you manage time off from F1?” Your mother asked.

“It’s summer break,” He said matter-of-factly. “I don’t race again until late August.”

“So you’ll be here for the three weeks you mother and sister will be?”

Please say no, please say no, please say- “I plan to, yes.”

The sliding door snaps behind you as you let go of it. Everyone turns to look at your bikini clad figure. Victoria exchanges a concerning glance with your sister. Victoria’s husband looks at her, confused as to why there is such a thick tension in the air.

“Y/n, go shower and get dressed, we’re all going to dinner in a bit.” Your mother said, her lips pressing into a thin smile.

“Right.” You said, weaving past all the bodies. “I’ll go do that.”

Oh what a summer this was playing out to be.

#f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 requests #f1 imagine #formula 1 #max verstappen #verstappen #mv1 #verstappen fanfic #verstappen ff #f1 x reader #verstappen x reader #mv1 x reader #Max Verstappen x reader #f1 series #f1 smut #Verstappen smut #max verstappen smut

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keelt9 · 2 months

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Chapter 11

Masterlist

The fog is heavy but the wind becomes stronger and the sunlight starts to appear clearly between the clouds.

“IT'S FREEZING!” Charlotte screams, rubbing her hands together after letting her bow in the ground. “Hug me!”

She crashed her body against mine taking all the air of me.

This is the third week we have been practicing outdoors, and the weather is the coldest in months, but as everyone knows the first qualification will be in the second week of January, the weather could be worse.

Two hours after Liam and Robert took mercy on us and drove back to the federation with hands cold, feet freezing. As we arrive Charlotte and the youngest boy run inside for something warm, making everyone laugh.

Inside the Christmas decorations were already set, and from time to time a Christmas song played. Our big tree has the classic ornaments, tiny arrows, bows and targets.

“10 minutes and we have some stretching exercises.” Robert announced.

“Y/N, hi…mhm, you have a visitor.” Carol, the receptionist told me as I reached the entrance reader.

“Oh, it must be the reporter.” Liam said. It's the third time we posted this interview for a mismatch of agendas.

“No, is…am, well is in Liam's office.” We look at each other and walk straight there.

In his office, Checo was sitting tapping his feets in the ground, he saw us and pressed his lips together with a smile.

“Hi.” He raised his hand; Liam and I observed each other perplex.

“You don't have to.” Liam said before greeting him.

After I opened the door the last time I saw Max, a representative of Red Bull was expecting to talk with him, without realizing helping me to end the conversation.

I stopped answering his calls, just replied texts, the necessary ones.

“It's ok.” He nodded and said goodbye, unsure about leaving me alone.

We remain in silence until I talk first. “It's an easier way, huh?” I refer to find myself in the federation.

Checo chuckles. “Violet refused to tell me your address.”

“Coffee?” Checo shook his head. “Tea? Water? A Red Bull?” He laughs.

“I'm fine thanks, I just came to give you these.” He extends a small envelope.

I take it and open it, the VIP pass for the paddock Abu Dhabi.

“I’ve known Max for years, he pretends to be fine, and maybe he is, still in the big picture something is off.” I close the envelope. “Two successful GP for him, but I don't know, he is expecting.”

I played with the small stamp. “We broke up, you know that, right?”

I choke my head but he giggles. “I don't intend to be Cupid or anything like that just…it would be nice having you there, at the end of the season.”

My eyes narrow. “You'll be my <guest.>” He giggles. “He wouldn't know if it makes you feel comfortable, but yeah, you win a lot of hearts in the garage.”

Robert knocked the door and opened, greeting Checo before speaking to me. “Sorry, but we’re about to start Y/N.”

“I have to leave, just thinking about it.” I nodded and walked to the door with him. “Oh! Y/N, believe me, he doesn't know how to give up.”

“The line is a colored red toast.” Matt put an aid band in over my chin. “The struggles of winning.”

I push him, laughing. “What? You are in your best shape, I'm not the only one who said that to you.”

Last week, in the fundraiser tournament I received a lot of praise, good comments and the hopes of success, besides we got huge sponsors and a boost of confidence.

“But we need to rest.” It's our last day before a deserved days off. We won't have Christmas vacation just the important days but with the qualifier just around the corner of New Year, taking days off is a huge risk.

“I owe you an apology.” I choke my head. “I put so much pressure on you in the qualifier, it wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m sorry.” Matt downs his head, I pout, and passes my arm around his waist.

“I need that, hard to admit but I needed it.” We walked to the exit. “It’s ok. I feel a strange mix between relief but an unpleasant pressure on my chest.”

He denies with his head. “Where are you going these days?” I told him about my conversation with Checo, and he insisted that I should go, reminding me of my own words. I always support Max, before, now and in the future.

“To Nanny.” He scoffs.

My grandmother years after my grandfather died found a nice man, Aaron. At her birthday dinner, she told us she will move with Aaron to his house, outside of the town. Aaron is a well-off old man, who built a small empire around milk. Now, the two of them live free of worries in a house far away from everything.

“You mean to isolate yourself.” I punched him in the arm. “Auch. Say hi to Nanny for me, ok?”

“Got it.”

Mia keeps throwing clothes at my bag, angry. She’s been like that since I told my family about my break up with Max.

“I can do it myself, God.” Mia rolls her eyes but sits in my bed, grabbing her phone just for seconds later, leaving it aside.

“You’re not like that.” I roll my eyes too, packing the bands. “Y/N, you fight for what you want, this… this… this is shit.”

“MIA!” She held my stare, a dignified answer from her.

“Lie to you, but you think we don’t realize you lock up in the basement for watching the races late at night or early in the morning, you keep that bright smile in every photo of Max, that you can’t avoid stop put the damn little heart at ever edit or video of him, fine!” She stands and walks to my door.

“You know this won’t be easy and you take it. For Christ sake, you defend this from dad.” Mia is challenging me. “You know what happened? You start to get terrified about how much you love him and that you could do something to hurt each other, but hey…” She takes a deep breath.

“Go on, and keep lying to you!”

Mom appears in the door killing eyes to Mia as she goes to her room and closes it, loudly.

I take a deep breath and mom watches me. “Let it go mom.” I tossed my hair. “Sometimes I even get angry with myself too.”

The sound of the wheels on the gravel where enough for Nanny appears in the door smiling and opening her arms. I let all the invisible weight I had she take it from me.

“Hi, little girl.” She kisses the side of my head. “Strong as always.” I chuckle, and she lets me go because Aaron hugs me too.

After they started their relationship Aaron sees us as the granddaughters he always wanted, spoiling us every chance he can.

“Are you ready to relax?” I laugh but he caresses my face. “It’s all right, you’re pretty far away from everything.”

Next morning I woke up to the delicious smell of just made coffee. I slept for more than 10 hours and I felt refreshed; when I leaned out of the window only a green field welcomed me, and a stinging memory started to relieve.

Trying to let it pass as a memory, I got down to the kitchen where Nanny is in her classic apron hands at work, doing my favorite dish. “There you are!”

“Omg, I should keep a diet Nanny.” She takes importance with her hands and winks at me.

“Are you saying no to my french toast?” Since we were kids Nanny always made us french toast. As we grew up, it became my favorite dish because it always reminds me of endearing moments in family.

“Coffee?” Aaron asked me and I nodded. Nanny put the plate in front of me and the mere scent is making me drool.

I cut a piece and prepare to taste it. “You know, days ago I received a strange package. At the beginning I blamed Aaron and his late night shopping but no.”

This is heaven, I’m melting at the first bite. “You’re improving your mascarpone cream, Nanny. Sorry, I'll listen.”

She put her elbows facing me. “Then I saw the address and I thought it was you.” I raise my eyebrows. “It came from Monza.”

I froze but she smiled at me tenderly. “You know me sweetheart, I called to the number that came in the top of the box, that strangely directed me right to a woman who asked me to wait a couple of minutes for her to link the call to the right number.”

I look at Aaron who has calming eyes on his face, encouraging me to keep listening.

“After a couple of minutes, a young male voice introduced to me…” Nanny smiles. “And tell me inside is the recipe and a few ingredients that I couldn't find here to prepare my classic french toast.”

In Monza, Max took me to a special cafe where I swear I ate the best filling of french toast, and I bet him that with the touch of Nanny it would taste like heaven.

“I thought he was a psycho or something like that.” I laugh seeing her smiling and Aaron rolling his eyes. “I told him that but he introduced himself <properly>.”

“The asshole who made your amazing granddaughter struggle in already hard times.” I look lethal at Aaron but he raises his hands. “That’s what he said.”

“How he…” Nanny chuckled before answering.

“Mia told him the address and the way he can come.” I blink and open my eyes so big.

“Wh… What?” Nanny keeps making the french toast.

“Called like a bartering. I told him if he was dumb the last thing he could do was learn how to properly prepare french toast and the next time don’t burn the kitchen.”

How could she know?

“They talked for hours!” Aarod stands and picks up his cup of coffee. “The bill for the phone will cost a fortune!” Nanny and I laugh. “He came a week ago, almost set the kitchen on fire but I think he learned something.”

“What am I trying to say darling is, we respect your decision, we do, but hey… It will be nice if you are there.” Nanny carness my head. “Also, no one has to know, like obligatory.”

“A thief of recipes, granddaughter and precious ph…” Nanny threw blueberries to Aaron.

I can see his small bump fist in the air through the screen, and hear the fragments of his radio communications, cursing from happines. When the ceremony ends, all his team cover him in champagne before hugging him and pat his head and back to congratulate him.

“There you are!” Checo sneaks into the garage of Ferrari. Of course he gives me a VIP pass but he’s smart and got a favor from Charles who gladly accepted hosting me, didn't ask any other questions, just agreed.

“I’m sorry for making you take a long flight.” Checo hugged me but I shook my head.

“It’s all right, I mean…” I raise my hands. “It's a totally different experience.”

“I think she’s wearing the right color, now.” Charles walks closer to us, pointing at the red cap I’m wearing.

Checo rolls his eyes. “Ready?” Charles smiled at me softly before we left the Ferrari garage.

I walked through these corridors a lot of times. I learned how it works but this time there was a party in Red Bull Garage, the protagonist, Max Verstappen. He has a huge smile on his face all wet but could care less, Checo walks ahead and hugs him but I can see he whisper something to him, making Max start to search all over the garage with anxiety.

All in their own world but he saw me, running to me. I scoff because he stands in front of me clenching his fist unable to know if hugging me is the right thing to do, I pull him as I put his arm around me; Max shutter for a second until he puts both of his arms around my waist and like always he lifts me from the ground.

“I’m so proud of you.” I whisper to him, hiding my face in his neck. I guess all the people saw us because I heard shouts and claps around us.

Slowly he puts me on the ground but he grips my hand so I can follow to the back room. I saw Violet who smiled at me and winked at me.

Inside of the room, I see him trembling and hug him one more time.

“Congrats Champion.” This time it was his turn to hide his face on my neck. “You really think I will miss this?”

He smiles on my neck. “Thank you, thank you for coming.”

I close my eyes, allowing me to enjoy the moment. “I am already fighting in the first place for being your fan.”

He splits, still grabbing me by my waist. “My grandmother could be a little talkative and you overcome like a champ.” His cheeks turned a soft pink. “Thanks.”

He breathed in slowly. “Sch… Y/N, I…”

“Where have you been?” Christian enters the room, happiness screaming from his face. “Your family is looking for you.”

I take a step back for Christian hugs Max one more time.

“I'll be there in a minute. I just…” Max looked at him but I interrupted him.

“Go, I'll have to go anyway.” Both looked at me with incredulity.

“What?” Asking the same question.

I chuckled. “My coach will kill me, no one knows I'm here and in two days I have to do my training.”

Christian smiles. “One more day Y/N, I bet Max is dying for you to stay here.”

“It's ok, go, you must be celebrating. I have a flight to take.” Thankfully more crew of Red Bull enters looking for them. He couldn't respond just smiling and being dragged for his team, in the middle of screams, and a lot of noise.

Max turns around several times, the last thing I want him to have from me before going to celebrate is teary me, so I keep smiling all the time, a honest smile about how happy I'm from him.

“If you need anything let me know, all right?” Checo hugged me and gave me a new T-shirt, mine clearly wet. “Have a safe flight.”

I looked down at the shirt, of course, it’s Max’s T-shirt.

Violet makes me jump standing next to me. “Thank you.” She gave me a polaroid. “He was acting… odd, and swore you won't come but…” Her voice cuts.

“I'll support him, always.” I sighed. “I have to go, thank you so much for everything Violet.”

She hugs me tighter. “Can I help you with something else?”

I shake my head. “Go, you must be celebrating too.”

I walked back slowly through the garages, like a goodbye, standing next to the track where a few people from each team stood there.

“I guess it's goodbye?” Alexandra said, walking closer to me. “Are you ok?”

I noticed the knot on my throat and tears accumulating in my eyes.

“I left more than I thought with him.” Alexandra grabs my hand. “Thank you so much for not leaving me alone.”

I see the polaroid in my hand. “Do you need something?” I wipe the tears and look at her, and notice Leo in her arms.

“No, I'll be fine, right Leo?” She smiles but her eyes focus on something at my back.

“I reached you, a hundred people working here and…whatever.” A breathless Charles. “A car is waiting for you to take you to the airport and then a jet will take you home.” Charles said petting Leo.

“Oh, no please, I don't want to cause you trouble.” Both of them smile.

“Carlos will take us home.” Charles hugs me. “I'm sorry I can't do more.”

That was enough for me to cry, until Leo licked my hand.

“Oh god I hate to cry.” All giggle. “I'd better go before my eyes turn more fluffy.”

“Don't forget to send us the tickets for the competition.” Alexandra smiles at me; she already mentioned their intention to go to the qualifiers.

“You don't have to, I mean I understand…” Charles grabs her hand.

“Are you joking? Taking him out, we are your number 1 fans.” I laugh. “Call us when you're at home, ok?”

I nod and give them a kiss for goodbye.

“Yeah, she looks better in red.” Alexandra jokes as I patt Leo, before walking away.

“We're talking seriously about the tickets!” Charles screamed before I disappeared, this time breathing out slowly like if I just shot an important arrow, hoping I hit the right spot.

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One more to go… 🥺

I’ll probably do a small poll, but I happily read you if you have a suggestion. I have something in mind too.

#fic #max verstappen #max verstappen x reader #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 x female reader #max verstappen imagine

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sanstropfremir · 5 months

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ok nana unsubtly kicked me in the ass about this and i realized they were mostly done anyways so here we go! only four months late!

best stylings 2023 - first half

runners' up

rising - triples

there are two good stages with funky athletic wear, but it wasn't enough to bump it up to the overall category. mcountdown 230216, the show 230221

abyss - woodz

didn't promote it which is a shame, but the variety in the costuming for the different versions of himself is well done and it's a beautifully shot bottle mv.

moody - superkind

you got a fake member you gotta make it spooky!!! he's not real that's inherently spooky!!! anyways this is what i wanted them to do right off the bat some i'm glad they finally got my psychic memo.

golden hour - mark

absolutely fucking crazy. fantastic imagery. i think i talked about it earlier in the year but it's such a stupid and hilarious idea to make a whole diss track mv about a several year old meme and then actually make it strange and weird art. obsessed with it still.

sos - kang daniel

i'm also including the wasteland music sequence here because holy shit when this dropped i lost my mind. i'm always surprised by what kang daniel does bc i can never predict it, which over the last few years i'm coming to enjoy. and i absolutely did not expect him to produce basically an entire wild west mad max movie with equal the production value???? literally how did he do this. how. and then everyone paid it dirt??? it's an amazing mv and one of my faves of the year, the only reason it's not bumped up categories is bc although the styling was actually one of the only times tactical gear has been thematically relevant to a cb, its been so overused that it has no punch anymore, which makes me sad bc the tactical gear was good! and a good choice! and i feel bad saying it has no punch bc it should have!

small talk - kim sungkyu

we love when sungkyu acknowledges that he's annoying and a loser. all these outfits were so losercore. i loved this deviation from form for him; he's normally king wailer supreme, but he does smooth upbeat rock very well and it's a nice contrast with the capital y yearning that's in the bsides. it's only here bc he didn't promote much and i'm mad at him for putting dancing in the mv and then not dancing in any of the stages. mcountdown 230629, music core 230708, inkigayo 230709

ay-yo - nct 127

this is just here for taeyong's urchin outfit. well i'm a bit of liar it is actually a really fun early 00s inspired mv, but we all know the urchin outfit stole the show.

stamp on it - got the beat

i will hear NO slander against got the beat in this house, this was a great mv i love hot women planning a heist.

tricky house - xikers

FANTASTIC debut. does a really great job of establishing a character for them as a group and it's got such unique flavour. kq has made great use of their ateez money and also the lessons that they learned with ateez. i'm excited to see where xikers goes in the future, and since i'm writing this section from the future i can say that i do like where they've gone with full confidence. the only reason it didn't make the top list is bc the styling is kinda average for this era of kpop.

best overall

rose blossom - h1 key

youtube

i was aware of h1key before this but they hadn't really grabbed me, but damn this cb was so good. the mv is a nice mix of story and dance sections. plus a surreal section in the middle! and by virtue of being like the first cb of the year, they got the jump on this alt girl look that would be the dominating look for ggs this year. and i do think first did it best in this case, all the looks are smart with good group synergy and and a lot of creativity; when you do this type of alt-y punky style it's important that there's a diy element to it, which a lot of groups fail to grasp bc stylists are obsessed with luxury branding. h1key manages to avoid that mostly by being flops, but i'd like to believe its also bc their creative team cared about capturing the true spirit of the style.

stages: music bank 230106, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, mcountdown 230119, inkigayo 230108

tic tac - 8turn

youtube

honestly i was kinda ready to not like these guys since mnh shat the bed with chungha, but then i remembered that the mnh creative team is very good at their jobs, so here we are. this is one of the few debuts/cbs this year where every single stage was a hit and it was very hard to narrow down to just a few for here; lots of good emphasis on shape and colour and accent pieces with repeated motifs, which was a big part of the fashion in the 00s that they are remixing here. very strong debut especially for so early in the year and i'm looking forward to more.

stages: show champion 230208, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, show champion 230222, music core 230211, mcountdown 230223, music core 230225, inkigayo 230226

bonus: this absolutely hysterical 4minute cover (they even got the name bucket hats! not in the stage, but they had them in photos)

sweet juice - purple kiss

youtube

i'm not normally a fan of wes anderson or wes anderson inspired aesthetics because i find them too twee and perfect, but this wasn't too direct in it's inspirations and definitely had the spooky purki flavour. i really liked the uniformity of the costuming, both literally using uniform motifs and using the same fabrics; i really do miss the days when kpop costumes were design to actually be costumes with the group image in mind.

stages: mcountdown 230216, inkigayo 230219, music core 230225, music bank 230224, inkigayo 230226, music core 230304, inkigayo 230305

sour & sweet - bambam

youtube

bambam again proving that he's one of the few idols that knows his shit in terms of interesting styling. also if anyone knows where he filmed the mv/performance vid please tell me i need to know bc its so beautiful.

stages: mcountdown 230330, music bank 230331, inkigayo 230402, music bank 230407, music core 230408, inkigayo 230409,

bsides: music bank 230331, inkigayo 230409,

macarena - blitzers

youtube

i'm so so so glad blitzers got a bit more attention this year bc they deserve it and macarena was so good. perfect culmination of their goofy ass talents and the unusual creativity of their performance + creative directors. i'm even linking the mv teaser here bc its so goofy and offbeat and different. honestly i'd recommend watching as many of the stages as you can find bc they do different intros every time and it's very funny, but unfortunately tumblr has a link limit so i can't link them all.

stages: show champion 230426, music bank 230428, music core 230429, inkigayo 230430, inkigayo 230514, music core 230527

bouncy - ateez

youtube

yea yea yea nobody is surprised so sue me. this was a crazy followup to halazia and proved that ateez can deftly switch between serious dramatic performance and comedic but no less dramatic. i'm very happy to see how much work has been going into the main ateez mvs in the last year because it has very clear and striking direction that fits both their performance style and their creative ambition, as well as their growth as a group. also yea i'm not immune to neon cowboy shit.

stages: inkigayo 230618, music bank 230616, the show 230620, mcountdown 230622, music bank 230623, mcountdown 230629, music core 230701, inkigayo 230702

kick it 4 now - tnx

youtube

tnx had an absolutely banging 2023 and although kick it 4 now is has superior and more comprehensive production, love or die is also a very good cb, and both of them together have shown that they have a really good grasp on the genre of teen listlessness, from two different directions. kick it 4 now has been i think the most successful cb to actually capture the feel of first gen, and the creative team did a lot of extra work in order to pull that off. from all the graphic design to the goofy lil 90s style music show promos, to the styling, they had a clear goal and achieved it. i think it will be quite difficult for any other group to pull it off this thoroughly.

stages: music bank 230609 (the giant lyrics!!!), music core 230610, show champion 230614 (more giant lyrics!!), music core 230617, mcountdown 230622

shooting star + left right - xg

youtube

we all already know that left right was my most listened song this year, but the fact that the mv was b movie sci fi star trek themed? it's like simon made everything about this specifically for me thank you. xg blew everyone out of the water this year on every front; music, styling, choreography, you name it. i said i wanted groups to commit to their bits and i got it. they were completely unafraid to actually commit to the y2k nostalgia AND to harajuku styling; a lot of groups have weakly pawed at it but always back away due to the fact that harajuku and y2k are not actually 'pretty' fashion trends, which leaves their attempts half assed with no real understanding of why and how those trends happened. xg came saw and conquered the current trend in a way that only a japanese gg can do. my only annoyance is that they tone down the stylings when they promote on music shows, and i know why they do it, so it's not an annoyance at them, it's an annoyance at everyone else.

stages: shooting star - mcountdown 230202, con-tour 230217, the show 230221, inkigayo 230212, inkigayo 230205, con-tour 230224

left right - the show 230228, show champion 230222

circle - onew

youtube

absolute masterpiece. album of the year in every way. it's a profoundly beautiful unpacking of grief and the sadness that comes with acknowledging that things change, and the way that in that change life and humanity and story is eternal. a circle. the theatre imagery combined with the 60s style children's tv show use their similar but contrasting forms to illustrate the same point: something can be eternal and fleeting at the same time, and that heightens its value rather than diminishing it. the promo campaign was so thought out as well, i love the integration of the theatre imagery into the highlight medley and i highly recommend you watch it if you haven't. one of the best cbs from a solo artist in years.

stages: mcountdown 230309, music core 230311, music bank 230317, inkigayo 230319

ignore the fact this was almost five months late even though i started writing in like. november. i'm busy ok. it's planting season and i have to send so much post. the choreos post is the next most finished so that will probably be out before the styling second half one.

#is there even anyone left who wants to read these lmao. i mean other than nana since she was creeping my 2022 styling posts #kinda miss the pandemic days when we were all stuck on the internet but also no i do not #i'm trimming down on how much i do for these posts also since i dont have time to sift through all my saved links #just know there's a lot of one offs etc that are sitting in a mega playlist on my youtube.#im just focussing on the ones that made the biggest impact with me bc there's just so much its actually kinda crazy #text #kpop styling #what else did i even tag these as i dont even remember its been so long #kpop analysis #end of year posts #best of 2023

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witchern · 5 months

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just got done seeing the re-release of sam raimi's spider-man on the big screen and now y'all are gonna hear my thoughts whether you like it or not:

the danny elfman music kicked on during the opening credits and i had full-body goosebumps before the marvel logo even came up on screen because i'm a fucking loser.

speaking of opening credits, remember when movies used to have those? i miss it. bring them back.

the upside-down kiss remains the greatest cinematic kiss of all time. don't argue with me when i'm right.

the setup and repetition of "don't tell harry." fantastique.

the cinematographyyyy. bitch. the way the camera follows spider-man swinging through traffic, up and around buildings, across the city…..i just don't get the same feeling of movement in either of the reboots. they're too clean. they're like iphone commercials. they're gross.

speaking of iphones, during the festival scene in times square there was a billboard ad for cingular and i thought about how i used to have a cingular phone and i almost committed suicide in the theater. i'm so old.

everyone calls her "aunt may" – including norman osborn, a grown-ass man. 'twas adorable.

"and i know i'm not your father—" "then stop pretending to be!" maybe i WILL kill myself in this alamo drafthouse.

watching this made me miss having regular-degular goons and scumbags in comic book movies. i'm tired of the "i want to rule the world, i want all the power" schtick. rob a bank. hijack a train. kidnap the mayor. have fun with it. you're in a comic book movie, for fuck's sake.

the balance between campy fun superhero stuff and earnest, genuine emotion was better than i remembered – and one never came at the expense of the other.

jk simmons. nothing else to add here – i just wanna remind people that he fucking crushed this role and burned it down and nobody has been able to touch it since.

on a similar note: willem dafoe. he didn't just chew the scenery – he had a fucking feast. fuck, man. he's great.

unrelated to the film-making itself, but....what exactly is the military purpose of a glider where the pilot is completely exposed? and why did it already look like a halloween machine before osborn becomes the goblin? questions i ask.

anyway, i realize you could hand-wave a lot of this as me falling for the nostalgia of it all (which i absolutely am), but also...i dunno. there's an undercurrent of sincerity to this movie that i just don't really feel in comic book movies anymore. that's probably because the current spate of comic book movies aren't even really movies anymore – they're products. they're vacuum-sealed, rubber-stamped, climate-controlled products to sell you a disney+ subscription or whatever the fuck the warner bros equivalent is (is it max? i think it's max). and every movie has an ending setup that tries to sell you on the next product, and the next, and the next...

anyway. with this first spider-man, yes it's silly at times, but this movie embraces it, warts and all. there's a well-balanced mix of goofy dialogue ("are you in or are you out?" "it's you who's out, gobbie – out of your mind!") and heartfelt moments (i mean, do i even need to say it? "with great power comes great responsibility"). i know it's a hack thing to say "they don't make movies like they used to" but.....man, they REALLY don't make movies like they used to.

#*t #part review; part rant #i'm INCREDIBLY bummed i won't be around to see the spider-man 2 re-release #and uhh. i think i'll be skipping the re-release of the third one lmao.#but i'm glad i made it to at least the first one. what a movie.

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chronicas · 1 year

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Okay just because this has been on my mind for weeks now. You should never have to choose between food and rent. One, if such a choice comes up, always choose rent, obviously. BUT if not being able to afford food is the problem, there are options. Sorry this post got so long it wasn’t meant to..

Apologies in advance I only know how this works in America, but it’s likely your country has something similar. What you’ve gotta do for this is go to your state government page and find your state’s food assistance program, SNAP, Food Stamps, whatever it is, find that and apply. You’ll probably get around $250 a month for a single household. If you’re low income, you should be eligible. If you’re on SSI/SSDI or Medicaid, you are almost certainly eligible. On top of that you gotta find a local food bank. They might ask you for your income, but they likely won’t bar you from their services if they’re a good food bank. This is a good place to get any kind of canned food and pasta, but good food banks will likely also have meat, eggs, and milk. A lot of food banks have even started delivering straight to your home. I’ve also worked with a lot of Churches to get food. I’m sure plenty of Synagogs and other religions orgs have similar programs, but it depends on how well funded they are.

Use any money you save from this for your fresh produce, but I recommend getting frozen vegetables as they have just as much nutrients as fresh produce would. I also recommend getting an instant pot or slow cooker if you can afford it. Thrift stores might have some that still work decently. I got my instant pot and my slow cooker second hand from family members so I got lucky, but if you can afford them they’re seriously a life saver.

My biggest recommendations of food to keep on hand is bread and stuff you like on sandwiches, always have eggs, always have rice, and always have some frozen vegetables. Invest in spices wherever you can, you can make a lot or really delicious meals that are super simple just by having some good seasonings. If you get on food assistance, spices are covered by that, basically everything consumable is except alcohol.

Spices I recommend to keep on hand: Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Ginger, Red Pepper, Garlic, Onion, any Umami/Mushroom Blend, Rosemary, Marjoram, Sage. That’s everything I use for 90% of my meals.

Also grow your own food! Mainly herbs! The easiest one to start with is green onions, you can buy some from the store, put the bottoms in a small cup with just enough water to reach the roots, let the roots grow a bit then put them in soil after about a week. Basil, thyme, parsley, and rosemary are my other favorites to grow. You can get a devoted pair of kitchen scissors to just cut your herbs directly into whatever you’re cooking! If you have enough space and time on your hands I really recommend growing tomatoes and bell peppers!! Feel free to ask me about gardening!

My Favorite Easy Meals:

Spaghetti with meat sauce: Get canned tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, mix those in a pan and add as many spices as you want until you like the flavor, you can look online for common spaghetti sauce seasonings. Get some ground beef (btw meat can be frozen indefinitely) and cook that up then throw it in your sauce. Cook noodles while you’re doing that, the whole process shouldn’t take more than an hour if you have an extra pair of hands, hour and a half if you’re by yourself at max.

Teriyaki Chicken: Easiest thing ever, just buy some chicken strips and some teriyaki sauce, marinate that shit then pop it in the oven for like around 20min or until it’s cooked to 165°F.

Egg Fried Rice: One of my favorite easy meals. Pop the (WASHED!!) rice in an instant pot or rice cooker (if you don’t have either a pot with a lid will work fine!), toss in about a tablespoon of mirin in with your rice then let it do it’s thing following instructions. About 15min before your rice is done throw some frozen vegetables in a pan (whatever kind of vegetables you like!! It really doesn’t matter!) cook those a little, put em aside in a bowl. Then take some eggs, scramble em in the same pan, put aside. Throw your cooked rice in the pan then add soy sauce, red pepper, umami blend, and any other spices you’d like (but no salt! There’s plenty of sodium in the soy sauce!).Then add your ingredients you put to the side. If you add enough eggs or are just tired, this can be it’s own meal! Or you can have it as a side with teriyaki chicken or anything else you think it’d taste good with!

Ramen: Get a bunch of packs of cheap ramen noodles but don’t use the soup packet. Make your own soup with any kind of broth (chicken or seafood works best, but just pick a favorite), add a tablespoon of soy sauce to a cup of broth, a teaspoon of mirin to cup of broth, some minced ginger (or powered) to taste, any spices you want (I like to add the mushroom blends and some seaweed flakes), cook the noodles for the recommended time in the broth then add an egg cooked in any style you want. You can get fancy with a soft boiled egg, but those take a while to learn to get right. I normally fry my eggs. And if you have any ham or beef strips those also go good with it! Top it with green onions! Takes about 45 minutes roughly.

Omelet: Whisk some eggs in a cup and add some spices (and fresh green onions if you want!), throw it in a pan, add any cheese, meat, or veggies you like on it (I like cheddar, bell peppers, and bacon in mine) then wait for it to cook on one side then fold it in half, after it’s cooked on one of the half sides, flip it over to get the other side, you can stab it in the middle to see if it’s fully cooked in the center. Takes less than 20 minutes.

Buttered Potatoes: You can get some small potatoes, cut em up, throw them in an oven-safe dish with some butter (1/4-1/2 a stick depending on how many potatoes you’re making), salt, rosemary, and black pepper. Cook them in the oven on like 350°F for about 25-30min. You can use this as a side with any kind of meat or anything else you feel it’d go good with! Sometimes it just makes a good snack as leftovers.

Things you can cook up and add to other stuff: cook a bunch of bacon and you can crumble it into stuff like omelets, mac ‘n cheese, salads!

Feel free to ask me for cooking advice! It’s one of my favorite things to do and there’s a good chance I can help you figure out how to make something. I’m happy to help talk to you about dietary restrictions and substitutes also!

I do all this and never spend a penny from my paycheck on my food! Good food is obtainable! Look online for more recipes or try and use some of these methods to enhance a simple recipe you already know!

And remember to fight to keep food assistance programs open and available! It’s an insanely valuable resource for folks in poverty! If your local government acts against these programs, speak up against them! If you can, please donate to your food bank and ask them what kind of food they need. Volunteer with them also if you can!

#Food. So important guys. Like for real.#This is all based off stuff I personally do but there’s obviously sooooo much more you can do.#ophidian lore

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starkstruck27 · 1 year

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Harringrove Week Day 5

Prompt(s): A Mix Tape (It's modern day though, so I made it a playlist), In the Front Seat of Neil Hargrove's Truck

Dialogue Challenge: "When I turned 18..."

Word Count: 10,001

Tw(s): none

Also, if you'd like to listen to the playlist I used to write this story, here's the link. There are more songs on there than are in the story, since it's my own personal playlist for Billy, but I hope you enjoy if you listen to it!

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 6:00 AM

Billy knew better than to keep his phone on when he was at home. He couldn’t even leave it on vibrate, lest he get a notification at the wrong time and his father remembered he had it. And even though Billy had bought it and continued to pay for it on his own, his father wasn’t above taking it away or even breaking it if it meant gaining more control over his son’s life. So he kept it on ‘Do Not Disturb’ at all times, and only turned on the vibrations once he’d left the house for the day. It wasn’t like anyone texted him all that much anyway, except for Max, when she needed a ride or something like that.

So when he woke up to his alarm clock at 6 o’clock sharp the morning of his birthday, he was more than a little surprised to find he had eight new messages, all from the same unknown number. He only had four numbers saved in his phone: Max, his dad, his step-mom, Susan, and his basketball coach. It was safer that way, in case his father decided to do a phone check, so that way he wouldn’t find anyone else and lord it over Billy. And even though he had most of his friend’s numbers memorized, this one he didn’t recognize. Still, he opened the messages out of curiosity, but it only left him even more puzzled.

Hi, Billy! Happy birthday! Hope it’s a good one!

That was all the first message said. It was time-stamped at exactly 12:00 that morning, and not even a minute passed before the next message was sent. It was a link to YouTube, nothing else, not even an explanation. The next five messages were the same, just YouTube links, nothing else. They had been sent every hour, on the hour, and the last one had just come in.

Billy sat and scanned over the links. This couldn’t be a spam number, because each link was different, and each one led to a different video. He didn’t know much about music, but he recognized some of the names of the artists. Rihanna, Gorillaz, and Lana Del Rey were all pretty popular with the kids at school, and Max had a thing for the first band that was sent, All Time Low. Still, this was weird. Who in the world would know that today was his birthday and would go out of their way to lose sleep just to send him a new song every hour?

He didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, though. It was already 6:10, and he wasn’t even dressed yet. He had to leave by 6:40 to avoid his father, so he put his phone in his backpack and went to his closet to get dressed, not bothering with a shower today. His hair looked fine from when he styled it yesterday, so after a few minor adjustments, he was about ready to leave. He snagged a piece of Max’s toast on the way out the door and grabbed his favorite blue thermos, and when Max finally joined him in the car, they were finally able to leave for school.

While Billy had waited, he’d opened his phone back up and opened his messages, clicking the unknown number and then on the links. Each one, obviously, took him to YouTube, and he entered them into a playlist, simply titled 18. He hadn’t listened to any of the songs yet, but he started his car while he waited for Max so that it would be warm when she finally came out, and that gave his phone the opportunity to hook up to the bluetooth sound system. Max got into the car just as the first song began playing, the All Time Low one, called Weightless.

“Since when do you like ATL?” Max asked, munching her toast and getting crumbs everywhere.

“I don’t, and watch where you’re eating for fucks sake!” Billy replied, muttering under his breath about how she was gonna have to vacuum his car after school.

“Then how come you’re playing them? It can’t be for little ol’ me, that’s for damn sure,” Max said, rolling her eyes and brushing more crumbs off of her lap.

“First of all, watch your fucking language. If your mother hears you talking like that, I’m gonna be the one in trouble, so quit it with the goddamn cursing. Second, someone sent it to me for some reason. They sent me a bunch of songs, so I’m gonna listen to them and try to figure out why,” Billy said, glancing at his phone. It was 6:45. Would there be another message when 7:00 hit?

“That’s weird. How many songs did they send?” Max asked, glancing at Billy’s phone screen, too, but she couldn’t see it very well.

“Seven, so far,” Billy said, the song changing to one he’d never heard of before. It was called Bukowski by some band called Modest Mouse.

“Mind if I see what they are?” Max asks, and Billy shrugged.

“Have at it,” he said, letting Max examine his phone. The seven songs on the playlist so far were listed in the same order they’d been sent, starting with Weightless and Bukowski, and followed by Umbrella by Rihanna, Video Games by Lana Del Rey, On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz, Good Morning Sunshine by Aqua, and finally, Betrayed by the Game by a band called Dance Gavin Dance.

“Huh. Seems like whoever sent them had trouble picking a genre, this is all over the place. So, who would have your number and would have a music taste this diverse?” Max thought out loud, then added, “It could’ve been-”

“It could’ve been anyone, Maxine, but that’s none of your business. When I want your theories, I’ll ask. Now shut your trap for the rest of the ride or I’m not giving you a ride to Wheeler’s house later,” Billy interrupted, not in the mood for Max to start up. Once she got herself started on trying to figure something out, she became relentless, and right now, he was too tired for that. Besides, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know who it was sending him the music. What if it was some nutcase like that Carver kid on the basketball team, or that Muppet girl Tammy Thompson? Yeah, if it was someone like that, Billy really didn’t want to know.

Thankfully, Max shut up after that and just listened as the songs played on their way to school.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 7:03 AM

Billy had pulled into the high school’s parking lot four minutes ago, and after letting Max out of the car, he waited anxiously until his clock changed to say 7:00. He’d listened to almost all of the playlist so far, and decided to finish it up in his car before the bell rang at 7:45 and he’d have to get to class. He was halfway through one of the songs when a notification came through on his phone, another link, a few seconds after the clock changed. He paused the song he was listening to and went to the message, finding another link and no words, just like the others.

He added the song, called Far Too Near by AFI, to the playlist, and continued to sit in his car and listen until the latest song had finished, and hence, the playlist. It was only 7:17, but Billy went inside the school anyway, making sure to grab his earbuds from his center console before he did. He grabbed his thermos, too, and went straight to his favorite classroom, Mrs. Norcum’s. She was a young teacher, early thirties at the very most, and she and Billy got along like they’d been friends since childhood. She often let him eat lunch in her room, or spend study halls there, if he wanted a quiet place to read or work. She was one of those cool teachers that was up to date on all the latest trends, and she made her classroom a safe space for all her students. She was the kind of teacher that everyone always wanted, and were disappointed if they didn’t see her name on their schedule at the beginning of the year.

“Hi, Billy! Happy birthday!” Mrs. Norcum said as she saw him walk into her room, a smile bright on her face as she rummaged around in her Golden Girls lunch bag. She finally produced a cupcake with green frosting and sprinkles, gesturing for Billy to come closer so she could give it to him. Billy was one of her favorite students, and while she never showed favoritism when they were in class, she’d told Billy of it when they were having lunch a few months ago.

“Thanks, Mrs. N. Is it cool if I make myself some tea?” Billy asked as he held up his thermos. Mrs. Norcum nodded and turned on her Keurig machine, then offered Billy the box of different flavors of tea. He chose the honey-infused black tea and dropped the bags into his thermos, then set it under the machine to brew.

“So, what’s new, birthday boy?” Mrs. Norcum asked as she put her selection of teas away. She opened the minifridge beneath her desk and pulled out the cream she kept in there, as well as a few sugar packets, and handed them to Billy as well as a spoon.

“Not much. Max is getting on my fucking nerves again, but,” Billy shrugged again, watching as the machine spit hot water into his thermos.

“Since the bell hasn’t rung yet, I’m not gonna get on you about the cursing, but remember that not all your teachers are as cool as me, so you better watch it,” Mrs. Norcum said, giving Billy a wink as she watched him prepare his tea.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just kinda absent minded today. I started getting these weird texts this morning at 12 am and I’ve been getting more every hour, on the hour. It’s kinda freaky,” Billy said, putting the lid on his thermos and taking a sip of the scalding hot liquid. It tasted like heaven.

“What do you mean, ‘weird texts’? Like, weird in the way that you need to block the person or weird as in it felt like you woke up in an episode of Black Mirror?” Mrs. Norcum asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Weird as in someone sent me a message to say happy birthday and every hour after that they send me a link to a YouTube video so I can listen to a song. The songs are pretty good, the only thing that’s weird is that I don’t know who sent them. I made a playlist out of them,” Billy said, sitting in one of the bean bag chairs Mrs. Norcum kept in her room. Another thing about Mrs. Norcum was that she believed students learned best when they were comfortable, so she kept very few actual desks in her classroom. Mostly the students sat on couches and comfy chairs, and they could even sit on the floor if they wanted to. Billy almost always chose a bean bag.

“That reminds me of something I used to do,” Mrs. Norcum said, “Back in the 80s, when my parents were teenagers, people would make each other mixtapes, then when I was a teen in the 2000s, we made each other CDs, and now, kids send each other playlists. It’s kinda odd that this person isn’t sending the songs all at once, but it is intriguing. Let me know what becomes of it, especially if you find out who it is.”

“Will do, Mrs. N. See you later!” Billy said, leaving the classroom with his tea and heading for his homeroom.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 8:14 AM

Billy was sitting alone in Mr. Murphy’s silent study hall, trying to get some work done for his history class, and listening to his playlist again from the beginning. Another song had come in at 8:00 on the dot, and he’d added it to the list as he listened to it. This time it was one he knew, mostly because of Max, called Tear in my Heart by Twenty One Pilots. He’d never admit it in his sister’s presence, but he liked it, and he was beginning to enjoy the mystery person’s eclectic music taste.

It was about halfway through the class period when Billy noticed Steve Harrington checking his phone almost religiously every couple of minutes or so. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for him, he almost always had his phone in his hand, always playing a game or checking his social media. But he usually put it down when he needed to, and as he and his friend were trying to work on a project, he shouldn’t have had it in his hand.

“Steve, c’mon, you gotta help me. I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but I need help,” his friend said. Billy thought her name was Robin.

“Yeah, I know,” Steve replied, glancing all over the room. Billy had stopped paying too much attention at this point, so he didn’t notice the other boy glancing back at him. “Just trying to figure something out.”

Billy had turned his attention back to his worksheet, his stomach twirling as he saw himself doodling a heart with an arrow through it over in the margins. He quickly turned his pencil over and erased it, feeling his face heating up as he did so. He knew he had a thing for brunettes with pretty eyes and bright smiles, but that didn’t mean he had come to terms with the stupid crush he had on the other boy. He’d realized it a while ago, but he’d pushed it down, knowing that it would go away after a while if he just ignored it.

Only, it didn’t go away. In fact, every time he saw Steve laughing at something his friend said, sweating through his shirt as he ran around during basketball practice, or acting like a disgruntled mother when someone says something to one of the little gremlins he babysits, it only got worse. He was still doing his best to ignore it, but he couldn’t always ignore the way his heart fluttered when he saw Steve fluffing up his hair, or the way his breath got shorter when he saw him dancing his way through the halls with his headphones on. There was just something about Steve Harrington that made Billy weak in the knees, no matter how much he tried to make it stop.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 9:43 AM

Another song had come in at 9:00, and Billy had been listening to it on repeat as long as he could. It was his favorite so far, called Achilles, Come Down by Gang of Youths. He’d spent more time researching the song, its lyrics, and the band that wrote it than he had paying attention to his algebra teacher, and he knew that it would come back to bite him in the ass later, but he couldn’t have cared less. He was more determined than ever to find out who was sending him these messages, because the song was so beautiful, and it made him feel so much, he just had to know who had shown it to him. Surely they couldn’t be one of the crazy assholes that went to school with him. It couldn’t be them. It had to be someone special.

As the bell rang at 9:55 to signal the end of class, Billy packed up his things and headed for the gym. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, since all they were doing today was walking the track, and even though it was almost 10:00, it was still fucking freezing outside, and Billy hadn’t packed a sweatshirt in his gym bag.

As Billy got to the locker room, he saw that the spot by the door that was usually occupied by Coach Garven was instead taken by a short, stick figure like man with glasses that must’ve been at least four inches thick. Billy recognized him as one of the Hawkins’ substitute teachers, though he’d never been in a class where this guy was subbing.

“Are you one of Coach G’s kids?” The sub asked as Billy walked over.

“Yeah,” Billy replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. He’d turned on the vibration feature on his phone ever since he’d started getting the messages, and now he was waiting anxiously for the next one.

“Alright, well, I’m Mr. Helfer. I know you guys aren’t supposed to have your phones on you in the gym, but since we’re just walking outside today, I don’t mind if you guys bring them. My only condition is that you have to check off your name on the attendance sheet by the coach’s office. We got a deal?” Mr. Helfer asked, and Billy nodded. Mr. Helfer nodded back and let Billy into the locker room, just as the bell rang. Not even a full second later, Billy felt his phone buzz with a text. He smiled.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 12:31 PM

Billy had kept his earbuds in all through gym class, Spanish class, and now he was keeping them in through lunch. He typically ate in Mrs. Norcum’s room, but today she was busy, so he had to eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the student body. Three new songs had come in, including the one from gym class, and all were added to the playlist. It now contained 13 songs, but Billy still had no idea who was sending them.

After the song at 10:00 came in, Billy thought it might’ve been that guy Eddie Munson. The 10:00 song was called Freaks by a band called Surf Curse, and while he and everyone else in Hawkins knew that Eddie listened primarily to metal, was it so far-fetched to think that he might be branching out a little bit? Especially since he’d gotten together with his girlfriend, Chrissy, because she was the complete opposite of him and was probably trying to expand his horizons when it came to music.

But as soon as 11:00 rolled around and a link came through that led to Crocodile Rock by Elton John, Billy quickly scrapped that idea. Most people in Hawkins under the age of thirty had never even heard of Elton John, and some, like Eddie, openly hated his music with a passion. So, that was one suspect down. The problem was, Billy didn’t have a next one to look at. He was back at square one.

At 12:00, the song This Is The Best Day Ever by My Chemical Romance came through, and Billy started to observe the other outcasts around the school, thinking that it might be one of them that had somehow gotten his number and started sending him songs. He was especially suspicious of the goths, since they tended to favor music more than anybody else, but none of them had ever looked his way before, and none of them were looking now. So that was another flop.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 3:30 PM

Roger Rabbit by Sleeping with Sirens, Cabron by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gotten by Slash all came in at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 respectively. Now that the school day was over, Billy was a little sad, since he had to go to basketball practice and he’d have to stay until at least 5:00. Coach G had gotten back from his doctor’s appointment and he had a strict no phones rule, so he’d have to wait until he got back to the locker room to check it again, and Billy was not a patient person. Halfway through practice, though, when everyone was taking a short break to drink some water and stretch, Coach G pulled Billy aside.

“Hargrove! C’mere for a minute!” Coach G yelled, waving him over. Billy jogged over to him, still drinking from his water bottle as he stood in front of the older man.

“Yeah, Coach?” He asked, wiping some sweat from his brow. He couldn’t help but notice the clock behind the coach reading 4:01.

“Listen kid, your pop has a pickup truck, right?” Coach G asked, looking up from his clipboard at the boy.

“Yes, sir,” Billy replied.

“Alright, good. Can you borrow it for a day? I have a shipment of new uniforms and equipment coming in two towns over in Goldville tomorrow, but I have another appointment and I can’t get out there. If I could get you out of class a little early, could you go and pick it up for me? Goldville is about an hour away, and the Sports Center you’d have to pick them up from is right at the entrance to the town. You think you could do that for me? I’ll pay you back for gas,” Coach G asked, clapping a hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I can do that. Just let me know what time to be down here,” Billy said, hoping he’d be able to leave early enough to miss Bio.

“Well, school ends at 3:00, so how about I get you out at 1:00, just after lunch? I think that’ll give you enough time to get there and back before all the teams leave for the night, and Coach Vargas should be here to help you bring the stuff inside before she goes home,” Coach G said, checking some papers on his clipboard.

“That works for me,” Billy said, shrugging, taking one final sip of water and crushing the plastic bottle in his fist.

“Good. Now, when you get there, go into the sports center and ask for Oscar. When you find him, tell him you came for the stuff that Howard Garven ordered, and give him this,” Coach G said, handing him a note scribbled on scrap paper with a phone number and his signature on it. “If he gives you any shit, tell him to give me a call at that number. I’m just getting some blood drawn, so I should be able to take the call, but it probably won’t be an issue. Oscar’s pretty laid back.”

“Yes, sir,” Billy said, taking the note. “I’m gonna go put this in my bag so I don’t lose it, is that alright?”

“Sure, kid, but hustle back. We’re not going to wait for you all day and we gotta get practice going again. And thanks again,” Coach G said, patting Billy on the shoulder again and blowing his whistle to get everyone else’s attention as he ran off for the locker room.

When Billy got into the locker room, he went straight for his locker, opening it as quickly as he could. Coach had told him to hustle, but he was determined to check his phone before he left again. There was no cell service in the locker room, and he didn’t have time to listen to a whole song anyway, but he was at least able to open his texts and see a new message, sent at exactly 4:00, pop up on the screen. He couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of practice.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 7:13 PM

Billy was sitting on his bed, facing the door, his laptop in front of him as he worked on an essay for English. He didn’t have much homework tonight, thank goodness, and so he decided to just relax until Max finished helping Susan with the dishes. He needed to ask her a favor, but in the meantime, he decided to listen to the latest songs he’d been sent. He hadn’t gotten a chance to until now since his father had been home, and now he was anxious to hear them.

The song sent at 4:00 was called The Fall by half∙alive. Then, at 5:00, it was This Ain’t a Love Song by Bon Jovi. 6:00 brought the song Better by Guns ‘N’ Roses, which was actually one of Billy’s favorite songs of all time, though he doubted whoever was sending it knew that. Finally, at 7:00, The Red by Chevelle came through, and he’d just gotten through listening to it when he heard the sink turn off in the kitchen and the sound of Vans squeaking on the wooden floors of the hallway.

“Max!” He called from inside, just loud enough for her to hear. He didn’t want to alert his father or Susan, and he hoped he’d been quiet enough for that. Thankfully, he was, since the only thing he could hear after that was Max’s annoyed groan and the sound of his bedroom door opening.

“What do you need, fuckwad?” She asked, shutting the door behind her as she leaned on the frame.

“I need a favor, can you help me with something?” Billy replied, motioning for her to come closer.

“Depends. What is it?” Max asked, crossing her arms as she stood in front of him. That kid Henderson must be rubbing off on her, she never used to take this tone with him before. It made him want to smile a little, but he held it back.

“I need you to ask Neil if I can use his truck tomorrow. He won’t say no to you. Just say that you and one of your little friends did a big project that’s too big to take in any other cars, so you were hoping I could drive you and your friend tomorrow and we could put the thing in the truck bed. I need the truck for a basketball thing, but he’ll probably tell me no. He won’t say no to you,” Billy reiterated, hoping Max would just do it.

“What’s in it for me?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips now. Christ, she was getting too sassy for her own good.

“I’ll give you ten bucks,” Billy said.

“Make it twenty,” Max replied.

“Fifteen,” Billy sighed.

“It’s a deal,” Max grinned.

“You suck, shitbird,” Billy groaned.

“Yeah, and you swallow, assface. Now pay up and I’ll go ask,” Max said, holding out her hand with a smirk. Billy groaned again and gave her the money, then watched as she took a second to put on her best puppy-dog eyes and headed for the door.

“Oh, by the by,” she said, stopping and turning around just before leaving the room, “Did you ever figure out who was sending you those messages earlier?”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Either way, I’m not telling you,” Billy said, feeling his cheeks going a little warm.

“So that’s a no, then. Alright, whatever. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Max said, leaving. Billy couldn’t hear what was said in the living room, but a few minutes later, Max came in to get his keys so she could swap them with Neil’s.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023: 11:54 PM

Billy had been listening to his playlist for almost the past hour, trying to fall asleep. He didn’t think any more songs would be coming in since the day was over, and the next hour would be midnight, technically making it tomorrow, and thus, his birthday would be over. He had gotten Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!) by Garbage at 8:00, followed by Sweater Weather by the Neighborhood at 9:00, Far Too Young To Die by Panic! At The Disco at 10:00, and Santa Monica by Everclear just about an hour ago at 11:00. There were still no actual text messages, but Billy found he didn’t really mind it. He loved his playlist and even though he’d like to know who sent it to him, he figured they must’ve remained anonymous for a reason, and he could respect that.

It wasn’t until 11:59 that Billy was once again surprised by his mystery text-buddy. One of the songs went quiet for a moment and his text sound played instead, making Billy crack his eyes open and sit up before squinting at his phone. He saw a message with actual words in it and clicked on the notification, sitting up for real and leaving his earbuds in, even though the music stopped playing on YouTube when he left the app. He rubbed his eyes a little and let them adjust to the bright phone screen, then looked at the two messages that had popped up almost immediately when the clock changed to the last minute of the day.

Hi, Billy. I hope you had a good birthday, and that you liked the songs. I just thought you might like them, and they made me think of you. Whatever. I just hope you liked them. Here’s one more. Happy Birthday!

“God, whoever this is texts like an old man,” Billy muttered to himself as he read the message, but he couldn’t help the coy, unavoidable smile that rose to his lips as he clicked on the final link. It opened YouTube again, and as Billy added the song to his playlist, he heard a piano intro begin. He read the title, Great Party by Frank Iero and the Future Violents, as the singer began to croon, then set his phone back where he had it and settled back into bed to listen and focus on the lyrics.

By the end of the song, Billy was beginning to cry a little, but he blamed it on yawning too much. The song was pretty, and gritty, and heartfelt in a way he wasn’t expecting. He sat up again as soon as it was over and picked up his phone again, taking his earbuds out and opening his messages. He found the unknown number that’d been texting him all day and finally sent a message back, typing and retyping it over and over again to make sure he didn’t sound like an idiot. Somehow his cheeks still burned anyway.

Who is this? I’ve been trying to figure it out all day and I mean I like the songs but I kinda wanna know who’s sending them, y’know?

There was never a reply.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 6:10 AM

When Billy woke up and checked his phone again, he found three things that pissed him off beyond belief.

One, he’d woken up ten minutes late, and thus would have to skip either breakfast or a shower if he wanted to leave the house on time.

Two, he’d forgotten to put it back on the charger last night, so his battery was down to 23%.

Three, whoever had been texting him still hadn’t responded to his message from last night.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 12:45 PM

Billy had left lunch a little earlier than normal today. First of all, he’d decided to skip breakfast that morning, so he wolfed down his lunch as quickly as possible. Second, he had to go down to Mr. Kline’s room to drop off the note Coach G had given him to leave class early. Mr. Kline didn’t have a class during the junior/senior lunch period, and when Billy got to his room, he was almost always napping, so he knew he wouldn’t be disturbing anything important. Mr. Kline was still grumpy about being interrupted in his nap, but he took the note, gave Billy his homework, and sent him on his way.

Billy then went towards the gym after stopping at Mr. Kline’s room, twirling his keys on his finger as he walked. He knew that Coach G had a class now, so he went into the locker room and sat on one of the benches, checking his phone again. He’d been able to charge it earlier and get it up to 100%, and now he was trying to play a game to kill some time before the coach came back. The reception in the locker room was still lousy, but he was still able to play for a little while until the gym class came back.

“You ready to go, Hargrove?” Coach G asked as he checked his clipboard again. Billy would be surprised if he could put that thing down without having it surgically removed.

“Yes, sir,” Billy said, patting his pocket where his keys were.

“Good. I’m getting ready to head out, myself. Now we’re just waiting on your partner,” Coach G said, shuffling some papers around.

“What?” Billy asked, confused.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. I asked one of the guys from the team to go with you to help with some of the heavy lifting. You need to work on your team work, anyway, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. He should be here any minute,” Coach G said, putting his clipboard papers down. “If you want, you can go to your truck and I’ll send him out when he gets here.”

“Alright, I guess. See you later, coach,” Billy said, biting his lip as he walked out to his dad’s truck. He didn’t like most of the guys on the team, he could hardly tolerate some of them, so he was really not looking forward to spending upwards of three hours with one of them. But he didn’t have much of a choice at this point, so he bit his tongue and threw his backpack into the backseat of the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat, turning on the car. He plugged in the aux cord and opened his new favorite playlist, and he was just about to hit the shuffle button when the passenger door opened, and who should climb into the car beside him but Steve Harrington.

“Hey, Billy!” He said, all chipper as he put his bag on the floor between his legs.

“Hey, Harrington,” Billy replied, a lot less enthusiastic, “You ready to go?”

“Whenever you are,” Steve said, buckling his seatbelt and smiling brightly.

“Alright,” Billy said, abandoning the idea of putting on his playlist in front of Harrington and instead turning on the radio as he pulled out of his parking space.

“You can play whatever you want, I’m not picky,” Steve said when he saw Billy attempting to put the cord away. Billy stopped and thought for a second, but eventually took the cord out again, and once he got to the stop sign at the edge of the parking lot, he plugged it back in.

“Alright,” he repeated, pressing the shuffle button and praying that nothing too mortifying would start. It was Santa Monica, so he was safe. For now.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 1:36 PM

They hadn’t said much for the entire half an hour that they had been driving. In fact, the only sound in the car at this point was the music, which, despite the variation in the tracks, Steve didn’t comment on. Billy was sure he’d laugh when Umbrella came on, but Steve just smiled and listened to it, bobbing his head a little to the beat.

“I didn’t know you liked Rihanna,” he said after a minute, glancing over at Billy and keeping on his smile.

“I mean, who doesn’t like Rihanna?” Billy said, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. “But yeah, I didn’t even make this playlist. Someone sent me the songs and I like them, so I put them together into one.”

“Hm. Well, whoever it was, they have good taste. I love Rihanna,” Steve said, turning back to look through the windshield as he began to hum along to the song. It was a nice sound, and Billy felt his stomach erupting with butterflies.

A few more songs played as the car traveled further down the highway. There were no more comments made by either boy as they drove closer and closer to Goldville. That is, until Achilles, Come Down came on and Steve’s entire face softened, a sweet little smile making it seem like he was a kid on Christmas.

“Oh, I love this song,” he sighed, “It’s one of my favorites.”

“Mine, too,” Billy replied, “And I had never heard it before until yesterday. But I love mythology, and I like the message of the song.”

“Yeah, same. The singer kinda sounds like Johnny Depp, though,” Steve said, laughing a little.

“Now why would you say that? I’m never going to unhear it now,” Billy said, but he found he was smiling, too.

“Hey, there are worse people to be serenaded by, right? I’d rather have Johnny Depp singing to me than, like, Orlando Bloom or Kiera Knightly,” Steve said, shrugging.

“Are you just naming the Pirates of the Caribbean actors?” Billy grinned, glancing over at Steve for the first time since they’d started driving. Seeing him so giggly and carefree made Billy’s heart skip a few beats.

“Shut up, they were the only people I could think of. But I meant it, I’d rather have Johnny Depp singing to me than anyone else. He’s handsome,” Steve said, pretending to fan himself like an overdramatic fangirl.

“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” Billy laughed, turning his face back to the road. He smiled a little when he saw a group of seven crows sitting on a power line, seeming to watch them as they passed.

His smile quickly faded away during the second verse of the song, though, and was replaced by a look of something close to wonder as, after a few more moments of quiet, Steve began to sing along.

He had a wonderful voice. It was smooth and silvery, as if he’d had honey coating his vocal cords, even though he wasn’t singing very loudly. Billy was completely enamored by it. And at the same time, he wished Steve would stop. He didn’t know if he’d be able to control his actions if Steve kept singing, and he didn’t necessarily want to find out what consequences that might bring. But Steve didn’t stop singing once the song had ended, nor after the next song, nor the next one. He sang along the rest of the way to the sports center, and only stopped when they got out of the truck. Billy had never been so relieved and so disappointed at the same time in his entire life.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 2:14 PM

The town of Goldville wasn’t a very big one. It wasn’t even as big as Hawkins. It had a tiny town square filled with shops, a large fountain in the center of a roundabout in the middle of the square, and at the North-most point, there was a church with a large clock tower overlooking the square. There were a few fast food restaurants on the road in, and a couple grocery and department stores scattered around the outskirts of the square, halfway between it and the houses making up Goldville’s suburbs. There wasn’t much else except for the schools and a few buildings that were most likely offices of some kind, and of course, the sports center.

It didn’t take them long to find it, though the GPS was due most of the credit. They traveled through the square, took two lefts, and soon they were pulling into the parking lot. It wasn’t a very big sports center, but in a town like Goldville, it didn’t need to be. They pulled into a parking spot near the front of the store and went inside, Billy twirling his keys on his finger again and Steve slipping his hands into his pockets.

“Oh, by the way, I was gonna ask,” Steve said as they walked inside and looked around for an employee, “I saw a games and comics store in the square as we got into town. Do you mind if we stop there before we leave? My friend has a birthday coming up and I wanted to see if they had anything I could get him for a present.”

“Yeah, the Henderson kid, right? Max was saying something about that,” Billy replied, tucking his keys away and shrugging. “I don’t mind. I was actually considering staying a little to look around the town, too. I like small towns like this.”

“Really? I thought you preferred big cities, what with the way you seem to hate Hawkins,” Steve said.

“I do like cities, I like the anonymity they give to a person. No one knows who you are or what you’re like, so they don’t pay you any attention, and I like that. And I like small towns because they just seem very quaint and friendly and like you belong there even if you’ve never been there before and you’ll never be there again. But Hawkins is different. It’s a big town, so the people there are nosy, and while everyone knows you, they know enough people not to care about you, unless they don’t like you, so you become a pariah. Big towns and small cities are the worst. I like big cities and small towns,” Billy explained, shrugging as they continued to wander around the sports center.

“ I never thought of it like that,” Steve said back, smiling shyly. Then he looked down one of the aisles of running shoes and stopped. He saw an employee at the end of the aisle, and nodded his head in his direction, signaling for Billy to follow him. Billy almost wanted to choke himself when he thought that he’d follow Steve to the ends of the Earth if only he asked.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 3:27 PM

It took an hour for the guys at the sports center to confirm, check, and help them load up the order Coach G had made into Billy’s truck, plus another ten minutes to secure the equipment with ropes. By the time Steve and Billy made it back to the square and found a parking spot, they were almost a half hour late in their schedule, but neither of them really cared. After all, Steve’s friend Robin was helping with lights and sound in the spring musical, so even if Coach Vargas was gone by the time they got back, Robin and the other theater kids would still be there to let them in. So rather than fret about time, they parked the truck and began to explore Goldville’s town square.

Their first stop was the comic and games store. It was called Throwback Games and Comics and had a picture of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl painted on the front window holding a bouquet of flowers for spring. Inside there were shelves of comics all along one of the walls, as well as figurines and other trinkets that were categorized by universe and publishing company. There were posters littering the walls, and life-size plastic statues of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in one of the corners. The other side of the store had tables set up with more figurines on them, as well as every type of trading card imaginable and about a million sets of those stupid dice Max collected. There were boxes of board games and guide books displayed on shelves all over, as well as a basket spinner full of stuffed Pokemon, Superheroes and other creatures. It was like being inside a nerd’s wet dream.

“The kids would absolutely lose their shit if I brought them here,” Steve said, looking around the store in wonder. “Maybe I can arrange a trip here for spring break.”

“You really care about those kids, don’t you?” Billy asked, fighting a dopey grin as Steve blushed.

“Yeah, I do. They’re all shitheads sometimes, but they can be sweet, y’know?” Steve chuckled as he took out his phone and opened his photos. “When I turned 18 was when I really got to know them, though. I didn’t really want a party, but Nancy insisted on throwing me one. I’d had a bit of a falling out with Tommy and Carol at that point, so she didn’t invite them, but that didn’t leave a whole lot of people she could invite, so she did the best she could. She invited Jonathan Byers, which meant Will was gonna come along, since he stuck to Jon like glue back then. Mike was obviously already there, and Dustin since we had just started to get close, and that didn’t leave a whole lot of other people to invite, so she told Mike to invite El and Lucas, too. Erica didn’t want to be left out, so she came with Lucas. It was the most awkward party I’ve ever been to in my life, but it wasn’t all bad. The kids started to take a liking to me, and when no one was around, they started coming to me for rides and stuff. It was a little annoying at first, I felt like I was nothing but a chauffeur to them, but little by little, things changed again. A few weeks after that party, El was having trouble at school, getting bullied because even though she’s smart, she wasn’t the best at reading or math because of where she lived before Hopper adopted her. But she was too scared to tell Hop what was going on, so she came to me instead. I helped her with the bullying thing, but I was also able to help her with some of the academic stuff, too, and her grades started improving. And when Will was getting ready to come out to Jonathan and his mom, he got scared of how they would react, so I went with him for moral support. I guess what I’m saying is that all my life, people told me that I would never amount to anything, that I was essentially worthless. But with the kids, I feel like I’m not only useful, but wanted. They want me around and that means a lot to me, since a lot of people don’t, so I try to be as nice and caring to them as possible, even if they make me want to tear my hair out sometimes. But this is a perfect example, look.”

Billy smiled at the photo Steve was showing him, a warm feeling bubbling up in his chest as he studied it. It was a Snapchat story that he’d saved to his phone, and it showed a selfie that El had taken of the group of kids and Steve in the Wheeler’s basement. The TV was showing a four player game of Mario Kart, and sitting on the floor was Steve, Dustin, Max and Lucas, all with colorful controllers in their hands. Max was cheering and pointing at the screen, Dustin had his hands thrown up in frustration, Steve was giggling and leaning forward to see better, and Lucas was shrugging with a sympathetic smile. Mike and Will were laughing together on the couch behind them, and El was smiling brightly between them and Erica, who was rolling her eyes. The caption read, ‘Game night with my friends! Erica thinks they’re all getting way too into it.’

“This was from a few weeks ago. Dustin had been talking so much smack about how he was going to win the little tournament bracket that we had set up, but Max had thrown a blue shell at him and knocked him down a peg. She didn’t win, either, Lucas did, but what really got me about this picture was that when I saw it later on El’s story, she said it was game night with her friends. I was the only one of the older teens that the kids hang out with that was officially invited, and even though Nancy was there because she lives there and Jonathan stayed for a little bit after dropping Will off, I was the only one that they said, ‘hey, we’re having a game night, you should come and hang out with us’. I don’t know, it’s kinda silly. Robin always makes fun of me for being friends with literal children, but I always just think about it like I’m the cool older brother that they like to hang out with, and it makes me feel pretty special considering that four out of seven of them actually have older siblings to pal around with.”

“Eh, I’d say only three out of seven. Max and I don’t really hang out much aside from being forced to,” Billy said, picking up a little figurine of a knight and smiling. “But I suppose you’re right. It is pretty special that they like hanging out with you as much as they do. And you’re good with them. Max is always raving about how cool you are and how much she loves hanging out with you. They’re all very lucky to have someone like you looking after them.”

“Max is lucky to have you too, you know. You give her rides and stuff and she told me about the time you made cookies for her school bake sale when Susan forgot to. Plus there was that time she said that one kid at school was picking on her for being a redhead and the next day he came to school with a black eye,” Steve said, putting his phone away and giving Billy a knowing look.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Harrington,” Billy replied, crossing his arms and looking away. Steve saw right through him, though, and he knew it.

“Sure you don’t,” he said, turning to look at some of the shelves, “But if I do bring the kids here over break, maybe you could start knowing what I’m talking about. I mean, my car only has five seats and there’s seven kids, plus me, so three of them are gonna need some other mode of transportation. Besides, we probably won’t be able to explore this whole town today in the time we have, so then we could walk around a little more and it might even be a little bit warmer out, too. There’s a lot of cute little shops here and I’d like to come back and look around them without having to worry about herding seven kids in the process.”

“I’ll think about it,” Billy said, knowing full well he’d be back here, surrounded by Steve and his gaggle of Hellions, in a few week’s time.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 4:36 PM

After going to Throwback, Billy and Steve began to get hungry, so they started looking for a place to eat. They figured that Coach Vargas would already be long gone by the time Steve had found a gift for Dustin, so they stopped worrying so much about time and decided to focus on satisfying their appetites instead.

Steve was the one to see the adorable, 1950’s style diner somewhere towards the West end of the square, and he suggested stopping there to grab a bite. Billy was up for anything at this point, so he followed Steve inside, waiting by the front for a hostess to seat them.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order,” the waitress said. Her name tag said her name was Violet.

“Thanks,” the boys said at the same time, taking their menus from her and looking through them. They didn’t need long to decide, and when Violet came back, they both ordered simple burgers and fries with Cokes to drink.

“This place is so cute,” Steve said, smiling as he looked around the place from the small booth they were seated at. “I love places that are authentic like this. Like there are a lot of 50’s style diners, but very few of them actually get the looks right the way this one does.”

“What do you mean?” Billy asked, looking around the place along with Steve.

“Well, for one, a lot of authentic diners from the time period didn’t have a ton of pictures on the walls. They had some, but not a huge amount like most replica diners do. And another thing is the color scheme. A lot of diners would have only one or two central colors besides black and white, and they were most often red, blue and yellow, or blue and pink. This place only really uses blue and pink, with a few accent colors here and there, which is more true to the origins. Plus, they have an actual jukebox and no music playing without the jukebox being on, which is true to the time. The uniforms are another thing. All the guys are wearing short sleeve white shirts, white pants with black belts, and black bow ties, plus the little hats, and the girls are wearing 50’s style light pink dresses or poodle skirts. I just think it’s cool that they put that much thought into the place,” Steve explained, pointing out things as he mentioned them.

“Huh, I never would’ve noticed, like, any of that. How did you pick it all out?” Billy asked, still looking around at everything.

“I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to that stuff. You might laugh at me when I say this, but I absolutely love interior design. I was never given much choice on what my room looked like growing up, because my mother decided on all that for me, but I love seeing how it evolves through the time periods and stuff. It’s interesting,” Steve said, sipping on his Coke as Violet returned and set it in front of him.

“I won’t laugh at that,” Billy said, stirring the ice cubes in his own drink around with his straw. “Everyone has their thing, and if yours is interior design, then that’s honestly pretty cool. I don’t know anyone else who’d be able to tell me all the ways 50’s style diners are inaccurate portrayals of the real thing.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, and Billy was almost sure he could see a blush rising on his cheeks as Violet walked over with their food in hand. Billy couldn’t help but think about how pretty it was for the rest of the time they spent in the diner.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 6:06 PM

Billy stood at the gas pump, shivering as a cool wind blew through the gas station like a wind tunnel. The sun was starting to set and they were only halfway back to Hawkins, so by the time they’d get there, it would probably be pitch black out. Steve was inside the rest stop they were at, using the bathroom and going into the little convenience store area to get them some drinks for the way home. He had just come back outside as Billy finished pumping the gas, climbing back into the truck as Billy paid and already opened his drink, leaving Billy’s in the cup holder.

“Did you seriously go in there and buy yourself a bottle of Minute Maid orange juice?” Billy asked as he plugged the aux cord back into his phone and queued up the GPS.

“Maybe,” Steve replied, twisting the cap back on as Billy grinned at him.

“Only you, Steve Harrington. Only you,” he said, shaking his head as he smiled and pulled out of the rest stop onto the highway.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023: 7:17 PM

Thanks to a car accident on the highway, there had been an almost half hour delay in the two boys getting back to Hawkins, meaning they didn’t get in until almost 7:00. Thankfully, when they did get back, Robin and the rest of the theater kids were just wrapping up, so they were all willing to pitch in to bring all the stuff inside the school to where Coach G wanted it. After that, everyone went home, and Robin hitched a ride with another friend who lived much closer to her, even though Steve offered to give her a ride like he always did. She and her friend drove off, and soon enough, it was just Billy and Steve in the parking lot.

“I had fun with you today,” Steve said as he grabbed his backpack out of the truck, tossing it over his shoulder.

“Me too, Harrington. You’re actually a lot more interesting than you look,” Billy grinned, leaning against the side of the truck.

“If anyone else had said that, I’d take offense to it, but coming from you it’s probably the best compliment I’m gonna get, so I’ll take it,” Steve smiled, and Billy swore he could see him blushing in the dim headlights.

“So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, right?” Billy asked, smiling back as he climbed back into the truck. Only, something seemed off. Steve wasn’t smiling now as much as he was biting his lips, almost like he was in the middle of making a tough decision.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, fiddling with his bag strap. “Only, there’s just one more thing I wanted to tell you. I wasn’t going to, I was too chickenshit, but Robin said that if I don’t tell you tonight, she’ll tell you tomorrow, so it was up to me.”

“What is it, Steve?” Billy asked, looking at him with concern in his eyes. “C’mon man, get back in the car. It’s cold out and you look like you’re about to dump a whole lotta words on me all at once, so you might as well sit down for it.”

Steve nodded and climbed back into the truck, but he still took a moment before speaking, as if he were searching for the words to say.

“It really isn’t going to take too long, it’s just something I have to tell you about…” he paused, taking in a deep breath, “About that playlist from earlier. Y’know, the one that mystery person sent you. Well, it wasn’t exactly a mystery person.”

Steve paused again, taking another breath before looking up at Billy, straight into his eyes.

“I was the one who sent it,” he said, “I wanted to, I don’t know, I guess just try and make your birthday a little bit better since Max told me that you don’t really like it and I also wanted to try and subtly tell you how much I like you without saying straight to your face. But I thought that if I told you who I was, you might not keep checking the messages and I didn’t want that. And I was gonna tell you earlier when you first put it on when we were driving, but I got nervous and-”

Billy cut him off then, he’d heard all he needed to hear. He reached forward and grabbed Steve by the front of his shirt and pulled him in, crashing their lips together as softly as he could. It wasn’t magic and fireworks and all that, but it was the most amazing kiss Billy had ever been a part of, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. And Steve was kissing him back just as fiercely, moving his hands to hold the sides of Billy’s face until it ended, leaving them both smiling like fools.

“I wish you would’ve told me from the start it was you,” Billy said, “I would’ve done that a lot sooner.”

“Well, had I known that, I wouldn’t’ve even made a playlist,” Steve replied.

“Don’t say that, I love my playlist. You did really good with it, showed me a lot of great songs I might not’ve listened to otherwise,” Billy said, a blush painting his cheeks as he tucked some of Steve’s hair behind his ear.

“I’ve got a lot more of them, you know,” Steve said, taking Billy’s hand and kissing his knuckles. “Maybe you can come over to my house tonight and I can show you some more.”

“I’d love that,” Billy said, beaming brightly.

“And I love you,” Steve replied, kissing it off his face.

#HarringroveWeek #billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #billy hargrove x steve harrington #stranger things

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