#also rip max's glasses

[watercolorfreckles]

Could you do a story where a guard of a Supermax prison befriends a supervillain, because he treats him like a genuine human being instead of an animal; and later, all the power-dampeners suddenly fail; and all these villains just revolt against the guards; but supervillain makes sure he’s safe since he was always kind to him?

I understand if you don’t want to!!❤️

Hello! This has been sittin in my inbox for many months during my huge writing rut, sorry about that! I know you also gave this prompt to @the-modern-typewriter and she's been making an incredible series with it on patreon! I changed some things around because I don't want to in any way attempt some sad copy of her interpretation, but I was still inspired by the prompt itself, so I've taken some fairly big liberties to avoid any significant similarities! Hope that's okay! Also, please manage your expectations, I do not compare to the magic that is TMT's writing 😆

TW: Brief depictions of body horror. Violence.

The power blew out in sections. The lights dissolved sector by sector with a sickening whine and click–one by one–in approach.

The commotion ripped Eloise from the fictional world she was lost in, aged page corners still pinched beneath her thumb. Her spirited storytelling abruptly died behind her teeth.

Somewhere in the distance, one person shouted. Two.

Her gaze flicked behind them to the door isolating herself and the bound supervillain from the other sectors of the Maximum Security Prison for Powered Individuals or, as everyone called it, The Max. Seeing nothing but black beyond the bullet-proof glass, her attention snapped forward again to the supervillain imprisoned across from her. 

Was this the start of some elaborate escape plan on his part? Why did it have to happen on a day that she was stuck fulfilling her community service hours instead of being something she could safely gawk at in the newspaper from a distance in a few days? Her stomach did a nauseated flip. 

“What are you doing?” she blurted, voice quivering only a little. Her fingers tightened around her book.

The villain made a show of looking pointedly at his restraints. Wrists strung taut and chained to either wall, he shrugged an innocent shoulder at her as if to say “clearly, nothing.” He was perched on the edge of his bed like a bird, tilting his head with a matching sort of probing curiosity. 

For all the chaos outside of the room, Artisan had not a hair out of place. He appeared perfectly unconcerned, though as thoroughly trapped as ever: ankles shackled, arms stretched uselessly apart from each other. The power-dampening collar wrapped around his neck still blipped a faint red light, indicating it was active. 

The prisoners were rioting. Surely they couldn’t get too far? Containing the most dangerous of powered individuals was, after all, the express purpose of the facility…

The lights above them flickered, dipping the room in and out of inky darkness before settling into a dimly lit haze. Eloise’s breath stalled. The imposing dark felt like a threat, as if the lights could keep the monsters at bay. It only made a little sense, in the way that a child feels safe from the monsters under their bed as long as their nightlight is plugged in.

Except that these monsters were real. The most dangerous in the country. And she was currently feet away from the monster that made even other monsters run.

He hadn’t seemed so bad in the time that she’d known him. Quiet, impassive, yet twisting her gut with pity any time she eyed his barbaric restraints. The least she could do–while crossing off her hours–was to read the supervillain a story every few days. She couldn’t change his fate. Couldn’t make him more comfortable. What she could do was rattle off, sheepishly, about fictional worlds and impactful characters in literature and the way that a well-crafted story could transport you somewhere better.

A crash, gunshots, a scream. Tension racketed through Eloise’s shoulders. More shouts chased thundering footsteps.

Things were going very, very, wrong. And she was very much out of her depth.

Eloise jolted as something struck the door, her special-edition copy of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein falling to the ground and skidding away.

Finally, the lights cut out. With it, every noticeable piece of tech died. All of the energy felt sucked out of the room as if vacuumed. The camera’s blinking light disappeared. Alarms that should have been wailing cut silent. Speakers, keypads, and security systems, all dead. The secondary generator hadn’t sprung to life yet. That meant that this was more than a simple power outage. This was a calculated revolt.

 Eloise’s mind raced through a list of everything else that must have been failing. Coms. Sedative gas. Shock collars. Layers and layers of security locks…

Power dampeners.

Panic clamped vice-like and suffocating around her throat. Artisan’s collar was no longer blinking. 

She froze in the eerie silence of the cell, afraid of shattering the fragile calm. Her heart thumped, rabid, against her ribs.

Chains rattled and clinked to the floor.

Eloise bolted blindly for the door, smacking her palm against the DNA scanner while frantically swiping her “Volunteer Staff” badge through the card reader. When neither miraculously came to life, she resorted to banging on the door.

“Let me out, let me out! Guard!”

The door could only be opened by one person inside the cell and one outside simultaneously unlocking the security checkpoints. Even if the power were on, if the guard on the other side was gone…

The emergency floodlights kicked on, bathing the building in startling fluorescence. Eloise flinched, briefly stunned.

Hands grabbed her firmly from behind, yanking her backward.

Eloise yelped. “No, please–!”

The spot that she had been standing in exploded, steel door and concrete chunks collapsing into the room in a barrage of shrapnel. Something–no, someone–landed, bones crunching, at her feet. The guard who had last been standing on the opposite side of the door lay motionless. His blood puddled the floor, staining the soles of her Converse sneakers.

A horrified sound choked in Eloise’s throat.

Another supervillain strode in, eyes alight with hatred and something more–power. His lip curled, waving a mocking hand–engulfed in green energy–at the guard’s corpse. “God. I’ve wanted to do that for far too long. That one always got on my nerves.”

Artisan looked unimpressed. “You’re making a mess in my cell.”

Eloise’s breath caught. Hearing the supervillain’s voice was jarring. Artisan rarely spoke. Not that any of the other staff had ever actually attempted conversation with him… But even in news clips and YouTube videos, he carried himself with the kind of self-assured quiet of someone who had absolutely nothing to prove. His lethal efficiency did more for his reputation than any words could.

The other man was a villain named William Frenzy, a telekinetic with a gleeful taste for violence.

Faced with Artisan’s startling calm, Frenzy… paused. Faltering on a tight rope he had moments before been strolling across. 

“Yes, well. It won’t have to be your cell much longer, will it? They can’t stop all of us.” He smirked at the dead body on the floor. “Some of them can’t even stop one of us.”

Eloise shrank back toward the corner nearest the door, agonizingly slow, willing the ugly shadows from the artificial lighting to swallow her up while the supers focused on each other. She was the kind of person that people tended not to notice; a background character in the perimeter of a story that the protagonist would meet once and never spare a thought again. She wished, then, that invisibility really was her superpower.

Artisan said nothing, his steely gaze fixed upon Frenzy.

Frenzy floundered beneath the scrutiny. The smugness buffered on his face. Finally, he huffed, crossing his arms. “I made you a nice and easy door out. You’re welcome.” He flicked a hand toward the gaping hole in the wall.

Eloise inched further toward it.

Artisan tutted, and while it wasn’t aimed at her, it shot a cold thrill up her spine. She froze, briefly, before continuing her tantalizing escape. She listened to Artisan speak again. 

“I did not need anything from you. I’ll be getting out regardless. You on the other hand…” 

Eloise stared as Frenzy’s skin shrank taut against his bones, the frame of him creaking and groaning like an old tree in the wind. The air choked out of him, fingers grabbing at his jaw as it stretched open too wide. The corners of his lips tore, slitting his mouth into a gaping maw.

The faintest of smiles graced Artisan's lips as he continued, soft as ever. “Say sorry.”

Eloise didn’t wait to see the carnage through, slipping out into the hall and running.

The other sectors were washed in the same sterile glow as Artisan’s cell was, blue-tinged and horrible, like the lights in a dentist's office. She kept to the edge of things as best she could, clinging to the walls and dark corners.

There was brawling in every sector—guards with weapons drawn mowed to the ground by the creatures they had wardened for so long. A villain fell as shots rang out. Another grabbed the guard from behind, cracking his skull against their knee. 

The smell of blood stung Eloise’s nostrils. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe.

She turned to flee down another hall, but two fighting inmates crashed into the doorway in front of her.

Eloise squealed, jerking backward into the belly of the room's chaos.

Don't notice me, don't notice me, don't notice me.

Everyone was so occupied by their chosen prey, maybe she could fade into the background. Maybe she could–

Her heel caught on something and she tumbled, gracelessly, to the floor. It took her several moments to register the lake of blood seeping warm and sticky into her clothing. 

Terror blurred her brain in a white flash bang.

Disappear, disappear, disappear…

“Mm. What do we have here?”

Eloise couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. She clamped her eyes shut, another child’s illusion of protection. 

The villain opposite her chuckled. He ripped her volunteer badge off of its clip against her chest. Her eyes snapped open again. She recognized him as a ringleader among superpowered thieves. They called him Volt.

“Volunteer, eh? A pretty thing like you should know better than to willingly set foot in a prison full of men with nothing left to lose. It’s been a long sentence, darling. I could make excellent use of your volunteer services. Get up.”

Numbly, ears full of static, Eloise shook her head.

Volt frowned, electricity jumping to life in his palms. “No?” He reached for her, hand nearing her throat.

“Keep your hands to yourself or I will remove them.” 

Artisan’s voice was calm. His eyes were not.

The room quieted.

Spatters of red decorated Artisan’s prison uniform. A few drops dotted his face and he brushed them away with his knuckles, smearing the crimson across his cheek. Almost lazily, he popped his neck and stretched his shoulders, no doubt sore from the strain his restraints kept him in.

The villain across from Eloise paused, sparks still dancing across his fingertips. He regarded Artisan with the same wary caution as Frenzy had.

Before he'd been… Before Artisan had…

Eloise swallowed back the nausea climbing her throat.

Finally, Volt’s hand lowered. “She's yours?”

“She's hers. Step away.”

The man hesitated a moment too long. Artisan didn't offer a second warning. 

As if puppeted, the man's fingers raised to gauge at his own eyes. He screamed, the faint evidence of Artisan’s power shimmering over him. He clawed, next, at the skin on his face, peeling it back like wet wallpaper. 

As promised, his wrists crunched and bent, wrenching all on their own at impossible angles.

Eloise covered her ears, unable to bear the screaming. She felt sick.

“Stop,” she whispered finally. “Please.”

It did. The man collapsed into a sobbing, bloodied heap.

When Eloise managed to look at Artisan, she startled to find his attention fixed on her.

They stared at each other for a stretch of silence that itched. She imagined being forced to choke on her own lungs, or her skull constricting in on itself until it squashed her brain into pulp. For being so bold as to run, he might snap her legs and reaffix them the wrong direction, or splinter her bones to poke, grotesque, out of her skin. They always did say that his victims were his personal works of art, bodies twisted into shells of monsters.

He crooked a finger, beckoning her.

The edges of her vision swooped fuzzy and vertiginous. She rose onto wobbly knees and pushed herself to her feet. When she swayed, Artisan caught her elbow, slipping an arm around her waist to lead her forward.

He did not look back at the others, with complete confidence that no one would challenge him.

No one did.

Eloise was barely aware of taking one step after another. When they arrived back in the villain’s cell, the bodies of Frenzy and the dead guard, thankfully, were gone, though the floor was streaked with the drag lines of their blood.

She wrenched her gaze away.

Artisan’s hand moved further down her arm to her wrist, gesturing that she sit on his bed. When she shifted to do so, his grip tightened, tugging her to a stop. She frozen and tried to read his face. 

His dark brows were furrowed, suspicious eyes flicking from hers down to her hand.

He pulled down her sleeve and held her wrist up between them, revealing the power-blocking cuff clamped around it. His head cocked. He waited.

Eloise swallowed. “I’m not a super. I mean- not a super-super. Just a…..no one.”

“A no-one who volunteers at The Max? With a power-dampener?”

“They’re terms of my probation,” she blurted. “A thousand hours of community service here and a power-inhibitor for a year. I think they put me here to threaten me with where I could end up if I continue on like… Um…”

“Me.”

“A villain,” she clarified, as if that was better. 

Her gaze flitted from the fingers wrapped around her wrist and up to the villain’s face again. The harsh lighting haloed him, dimly silhouetting his face. He looked haunting. He looked lovely. A beautiful house, old and creaking, wrapped in ghosts like a bride’s veil and left to rot. 

“What did you do?”

“I…” Eloise felt very small. “I lied about being powered on my documents. So that they wouldn’t put me on the registry. When they found me out, I tried to run away.”

Artisan’s scrutiny burned her cheeks. He let go of her wrist.

“...What can you do?”

“Nothing special,” she said, cradling her wrist–wholly uninjured as it was–in her other hand. “It doesn’t even work most of the time. My power is sort of…blending in. Going unnoticed. When it’s working, I could stand in a the White House and people’s attention would glide over me as if I belonged there. Not quite invisible, but… It just tricks your brain into not thinking twice.”

Artisan’s eyes narrowed.

Eloise flinched back a step, stumbling back over her fallen book onto the bed. She stared at him.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Some of the tension eased from her shoulders, but she still waited for the catch. “Why aren’t you out there with the rest of them? Trying to escape?”

The villain considered her for a long moment. He sat down beside her, and the hard cot creaked beneath his weight. “Mm. That’s just it. No one inside the prison could have blown the power-dampeners. They require someone with powers to turn them off or on, and the security is impenetrable. My team has tried. Besides, if this was a simple power outage, the inhibitors would still be on. But they’re not. This was premeditated–and no one imprisoned here could have done it. No one on the outside could have done it. So. Process of elimination. Who’s left?”

That was the most Eloise had ever heard Artisan speak, and she could only sit and listen intently–As he had when she’d read him stories. Her brain whirred in a jumbled jigsaw of puzzle pieces. 

“It… It could only be an inside job.” She wet her lips. “The heroes- The higher-ups- They want the prisoners to break out so that they can kill them. A clean massacre. Justified under the law. The world’s most dangerous criminals could never be allowed to escape…”

Artisan smiled and it swirled something in her insides. “A convenient way to get rid of all of the pesky criminals clogging up the system. I’d bet anything that there are 50 snipers surrounding the building, waiting to slaughter anyone who steps foot outside.”

“Oh.”

“Oh,” Artisan agreed, his smile easing into something softer; something with less feral teeth.

“Thank you for helping me,” Eloise whispered. “What do we do now?”

Artisan hummed. He bent down and swept up her book, dropping it into her lap. He laid back against his pillow and crossed his arms behind his head. The bloodspots on his skin and clothes glittered in the lowlight. 

“Keep reading. I want to know how it ends.”

Part 2

[f1fnatic]

CLINGY ⤿ l. norris 4

→ ( in which. . . ) lando convinces you to have a night out with friends. he does the same and after a few drinks, he misses you and becomes clingy.

→ ( fanfic genre. . . ) written, slight social media au

→ ( pairing. . . ) lando norris x fem!reader

→ ( content warnings/disclaimers. . . ) mentions of alcohol consumption

→ ( author's note. . . ) i had a lot of fun writing this and super happy with how it turned out. I hope you enjoy! see end for more.

→ ( masterlist )

you and lando had been wanting to go out by yourselves for a while now. you both enjoyed going out together, but the paparazzi and attention lando would receive was overwhelming. so, one day, he suggested you go out with your friends and he with his.

"it'll be good for you," he said, "you know, to get smashed without worrying about staying or looking sober enough for the media."

you nod agreeing, "you have a point. but what about you?"

"what about me?" he questions, "go out for a birthday or celebration. i'll go out with carlos or max, maybe daniel." he finishes shrugging.

"hmm, fine. but you have to promise to be responsible."

"pinky." is all he said. he stretched out his hand showing you his pinky finger. you took yours and wrapped it with his, sealing the promise.

that was last week. tonight, you were celebrating a new job opportunity you had gotten. while you would had loved to be celebrating with lando, you knew he'd only push you to go out with your friends.

so, there you were, in a crowded nightclub, music blasting and alcohol coursing through your bloodstream. you sat in a booth sipping on a martini, wearing a simple orange skin-tight long-sleeved dress. the color reminded you of lando, so it was a no-brainer to wear it tonight.

you and your friends were talking mindlessly about nothing and everything at the same time. the night was going swell. you and lando had gotten ready together and it took him some convincing to not rip the dress off of you and delay your arrival.

sitting at the booth, you pulled out your phone and opened instagram. you beckoned your friends to push their drinks towards yours for mock cheers to post on your story.

instagram ↴

yourusername posted a story!

caption: girls night 🍸

mentioned; yourfriend1, yourfriend2, yourfriend3, yourfriend4, yourfriend5

—————————————————————

you set your phone down back into your purse after posting. right after doing so, you and your friend's favorite song played. the booth erupted into cheers, your friend grabbed you by the arm and dragged you from your seat to the dance floor.

while you were with your friends, lando was with carlos and daniel at a seperate club. he was a few too many drinks in. carlos and daniel had ushered him to a table to get him get some water to sober up.

lando had missed you, a lot. he knew that you needed this. he had already seen a handful of paparazzi trying to sneak pictures of him, daniel, and carlos. he didn't want you to have any unwanted pictures taken. he also knew that you were having fun.

daniel eventually got him a glass of water and lando chugged it. the cool, refreshing water cooling him down from the inside out. after setting down the empty glass, he reached for his phone in his back pocket and noticed an instragram notification. a notification specifically from you.

lando opened the app and then viewed your story. it was a picture of you and your friends clinking your drinks together. he didn't know why, but jealousy began to run through him. not the type of jealousy you would get from a crush being with someone else, but the type you get when you feel left out. fomo if you will.

lando missed you. he wanted to be there with you. taking shots and dancing with you. he felt left out. sure, he was having fun with daniel and carlos, but he knew that he would be having 100x more fun if he was with you.

his thoughts were running around in his head. he became fidgety. carlos and daniel observed him from a distance. after a few minutes, lando slid up on your story.

he waited for your answer, he continued to spam you with messages but stopped when there wasn't one. he sighed in defeat. he looked at his watch and it read "12:56". it was almost 1 am. he decided to call it a night. he flagged down carlos and daniel to let them know he was leaving and then called an uber home. once he arrived back to your shared apartment, he made his way to the couch and collapsed.

finally, you were able to peel away from your friends and back to your booth. you grabbed your phone to check the notifications, you noticed multiple from lando. they read:

—————————————————————

—————————————————————

you hurried to respond, apologizing for not answering. you decided it was time to go home. you let your friends know, grabbed your things, and called an uber, you also shot lando a text.

a couple minutes later lando responded letting you know that he was waiting for you at your shared apartment. you got giddy. a wide smile appeared on your face and butterflies in your stomach fluttered. you had been living together for a while now, but the thought of coming home to him, the person you loved with all your heart made it so much more special.

your uber eventually reached your apartment and you swiftly got out, thanking them for the ride. you were moving quicker than usual. while walking to the front door, you fished out your keys from your purse. the heart-locket keychain that held a picture of you and lando jingled in response from being moved.

reaching the front door, you place the key in the lock and turn. the lock unlocks with a satisfying schlick. pushing open the door, you're surprised to feel arms immediately wrap around your waist and engulf you in a hug. your hands are in the air momentarily before you push lando back into the hallway. his hands lay on your hips while his head is in the crook of your neck. placing your things down, you finally wrapped your arms around him.

a muffled "i missed you." comes from his mouth. the vibrations tickle your neck.

"i missed you, too lan." you smile in response.

lando keeps you in the hallway for at least 15 minutes. just the two of you, in silence, slightly swaying back and forth. your breathing was intermingled, taking breaths in and exhaling at the same time. you were both still in your clubbing clothes, and you were sure you might be in them for the rest of the night.

"lan." you whisper, a 'hm' comes in response. "you need to let go, we both need to change."

"but i don't wanna. i want to keep hugging you until i can't stand anymore." he protests. you could tell he was drunk, he was clingy sober, sure, but when drunk that clinginess was multiplied tenfold.

"lando, baby, please. i want to get out of these heels." you plead. it takes him a few minutes before he pulls away. he looks at you with a pout on his face, eyebrows upturned and mouth downturned. you look at him with a frown, almost mimicking his pout.

"we can cuddle all we want when i change. okay?" you reason.

"promise?" he asks.

"pinky." you respond firmly holding your pinky up in front of him. he interlocks his with yours, sealing the promise like you did a week ago. he keeps hold of your pinky and eventually goes to hold your hand. you lead him to your bedroom with interlocked hands. he followed like a puppy.

you both let go in order to change. he moves to the bed to lay down while you move to the bathroom to wash your make-up off and do some light skin care.

"y/nnnn..." comes from the bed.

"yes lan?"

"hurry up, i miss you again." he whimpers. you quickly finished your routine and exited the bathroom, turning the lights off. he was lying on his side under the comforter, eyes closed. you crawled in on your side and lando quickly found your body.

his arms were wrapped around your waist, head going to lay on your chest. your hand reached his hair, slowly playing with the curls. soft snores eventually filled the air. lando was asleep. you lay there and admired his sleeping face. he looked so peaceful. nothing was bothering him, no worries were plaguing his mind. he was at ease.

you placed a light kiss a top his head. he shifted and groggily reached up to place one on your lips and returned to his previous position. a yawn escaped your mouth, sleep was overtaking you. you cuddled closer to lando by entangling your legs with his. a few minutes later, you were fast asleep.

ahhhh first ever request! thank you for requesting :)!! i am happy with how this turned out and i hope this fulfilled your request! i had a lot of fun writing this and messing around with the instagram dm maker 😆 thank you for reading! requests and feedback are welcome! make sure to leave a comment and kudos as well :)

request from; luli3219 Hello can you write something about jealousy (positive) Lando x fem!reader, were they goes out separately; him with his friends and she with her friends, and when she posting a video on instagram and he replied a little bit drunk that he missed her. And when she come home after him he gets so touchy and clingy

[babybinko]

Made a TON of Venture Bros. genderbends :D

Bonus + some of my thoughts on all the designs under the cut:

This is from a conversation I had with a friend about how Dermott and Hank would behave in this AU (its exactly the same as normal)

Ok now some thoughts on my design process

Hank: I think I drew Hank's face actually perfect, I made her so cute. I also feel like there's a common trope with genderbends where athletic characters get short hair so I gave her long hair and gave Dean short hair. I actually think the longer hair fits her perfectly. ALSO I LOVE HER BOOTS.

Dean: I gave goth Dean more Accessories than normal because normal goth dean had no fucking swag (it was besties idea to make her pants ripped). Even before I started drawing college Dean I knew I was giving her those legwarmers you can pry them from my cold dead hands. Same with the legwarmers I knew the first dean design needed a Jean skirt its just the vibes.

Dermott: The millisecond I even thought about doing Dermott I KNEW she would be 2012 grunge girl aesthetic. Gigantic shoplifting energy. Love her.

Rusty: I wanted her to look like a mean mom and I believe I accomplished that goal. Absolutely had to add the glasses strap. Very Jamie Lee Curtis.

Brock: I drew the one with the hair down first and my friends preferred the one with the hair up so I just did both. I wonder if she was a cheerleader in college and killed another girl on her cheer squad by throwing her too far/dropping them.

21: I drew 21 then I realized I had just drawn myself with bangs. Also I drew her with a blunt because there's an episode where 21 has a joint in his mouth the whole episode the other henchmen are standing in stupid poses in the background and its maybe one of my favorite bits in the entire show its so stupid.

24: 24 took several attempts to get the hair right I kept drawing it short and curly and my friend told me to give her Elaine from Seinfeld hair which I think ended up working really well.

Monarch: One of my favorites I did. I feel like this one you can definitely tell how Bayonetta completely re-arranged my brain chemicals as teenager. I love the hip cutouts, I made a tummy cutout to kind of mimic how Dr.GF's monarch costume is kinda skimpy. It's also hard to tell because of the cowl but I tried to give her like a finger waves hairstyle.

Dr.Gf: I tried a bunch of different hats but my friends liked the brimless hat the most and completely doomed him into looking like a Bellhop (more than he already did). Its giving Tyler the Creator at the 2020 Grammys. I still think he's cute though :)

Billy: I really didnt want to just draw her in a suit because thats boring. The show always gives me 60s vibes despite being set in modern day (I'm sure its on purpose) and I definitely channeled that with Billy. It took a couple tries to find a balance between fitting her body but still looking adult but I think I got it in the end.

Pete: YAYYYY PETE YAAAAYY!!! ^_^ Shes so Ava Max Coded. I also gave her giant buckles on her shoes to match his stupid ass one two buckle my shoes ass shoes.

Triana: Very much looks like putting emo boy in the Pinterest search bar. I made her thigh highs into his sleeves and I gave him square bangs like her.

Dr. Orpheus: NEEDED to make her a hot milf and I did. Its a little hard to see but her shirt has lace over the open part. I love the hair Jewerly at the bottom of her braid. :)

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

I don't know if you're accepting anymore requests for the Creator Baby Daddy thing, but if said baby daddy was a certain redheaded teetotaler that runs the Dawn Winery? 😗

Their grace had a

Firey headed child

Wc: 1k

As the soft sunlight seeps inside the room you open your eyes, a bright red mane moving softly up and down as it rests on your chest, its curls framing Diluc’s jaw and nose.

It seems like the finger you ran around his hair and cheek woke him up. “Rise and shine, little prince”

Bright red eyes look at you with tenderness and his lips kiss your sternum and arms tighten around your waist.

“We can cuddle for a bit but remember I have to leave after breakfast to Liyue” he nods but sighs against your skin “even after I leave you will be forever in my heart”

“And my heart will always ardently burn for you, your grace” he kisses your lips as he mumbles sweet nothings, both of you fully under the cotton covers and enjoying the last few minutes of time together.

“It's been quite a while, Diluc��� you sit down on the stools in front of the bar, it's almost closing time and the few people left are gathering themselves to go home. Even Diluc was surprised to see you at this hour but he holds back from asking about it straight on.

“It's been almost three months, I think? I believe you were scheduled to return for the next Ludi Harpastum, in two more months” without hesitation he keeps the conversation going smoothly, so used to chatty drunkards going on and on and still expect an answer.

Looking at him doing the closing chores so focused delays your answer a few seconds, but honestly who could blame you? His white shirt was rolled up his elbows and the top few buttons were undone “Mhh there was a change of plans, for reasons I will stay a season in mondstat”

“I see… I guess you just arrived?”

“That is right, we hurried back and managed to make it here in two days”

Throwing the towel he was drying the whiskey glass with over his shoulder he leans forward, resting his back from standing for so long and causing a few stray crimson hairs to stick to his thinly sweaty skin, the warmth of the tavern almost making you break into a light sweat after a few minutes inside “Would I be so bold as to offer you a drink, your grace?”

“I would love it, just please make sure to not add alcohol to it”

He nods and turns to pour a small layer of grenadine in a glass “as you please”

“aren't you going to ask me why?”

“Why you don't want alcohol? I was just guessing you didn't want today”

“Well, it's partly because of that but there is also another reason” softly you lay a hand down on your lower belly, sure he would understand the implication.

“Upset stomach? Alcohol does irritate the stomach's lining” but when turns to pour orange juice he sees your deadpan expression and the hand between your hips, soon the connection is made “was that from…”

“Yes, indeed! I do hope your heart is still burning for me”

“Always, your grace” a soft smile grace's his face, if the candles were dimmer it might have been impossible to see. Closer to a gasp or a whisper he leans forward and swears “I would rather rip my heart out than to stray from you”

During the pregnancy his hands and sight seem to always find themselves stuck on your body somehow, a constant reminder to himself that you are safe and this is something nobody nor anything will be able to take away from him and even if they attempted he would fight to defend.

Any comforting words that you might attempt to soothe him with fall to deaf ears so it might be better to hold in the good news until you start to show to enjoy to the max your boundless liberty before making good acquaintance of the dawn winery and periphery, it's not like he would force you to! He would never dare to order you around, it's just his face that makes you the slightest bit guilty when you leave and travel alone. Even if you wouldn't consider four knights of favonius alone he still seems to hold resentment and mistrust.

People say that firstborns always look like their dads, nature's paternity test some claim, but regardless of how your baby looked (even you must claim that as soon as your beloved baby came out it was hard to find any resemblance with humans) the firey red fuzz on his head linking him to his father in a second. Not like Diluc doubted it for a second.

“This selection is a chardonnay” Diluc holds a white grape before smashing it between his fingers and giving it to your toddler to happily chew “it makes a wine of the same name” when the kid swallows he hands them a dark one and does the same procedure “this one is Malbec, a staple for most of our red wine” but this time he spits in back on the ground, seemingly too bitter.

“Why don't you stick to feeding him normal grapes?” You ask from the table under a shadow, sipping grape juice and reading a book.

“When he grow up they might want to work here and with so many types of grapes and things about the winery to know I should teach him young” he turns around from besides the vine, he from may you know where decided that he needed to teach your year old about the multiple varieties of wine grapes and their wines.

“Fine~ if you feel like you want to do it teach him, I doubt much knowledge will stick right now but I will be rooting for you here” he turns around to face the plant again and you keep watching his arms show from under the rolled shirt and how they tense when reaching for a new grape and the love with which he teaches his child, quite possibly reminiscing about his father doing the same with him.

[will80sbyers]

My speculation over the teaser!! Part One!

Spoilers

So let's start from the end lmao

El is in the Upside Down fighting something/someone and I'm deeply confused on if these are pants or a shirt, I think I was right and these are pants tho lol

anyway I think this will be around ep. 2 or 3 and the talk on the roof happens before this maybe ? unless it's some kind of vision

Vecna approaching, it could be the same scene, but I'm not sure because Vecna looks like he's inside a place not outside (?) could be wrong

Castle Byers is in ep. 1 I think this may be a nightmare/ vision Will has, idk it's giving nightmare, also @grandmags thinks this may be Will in his costume of the s4 finale

but this could be a different scene of Castle Byers irl (?)

Dustin going to Eddie's grave ep. 1, I think he gets attacked by the bullies here, I think Chance is present too or at least I think it's him

Ep. 1 at school 1987, Dustin gets attacked by the bullies before classes start, probably by Andy the one with the hat, and they destroy his shirt, he goes to Eddie's grave after school and gets attacked there too ?

Mike and Will go to the radio station and accompany Holly for a piece of the road, Lucas probably goes to Max at the hospital

these are all from the same sequences at least timewise

I think they are running to Dustin when he's being attacked, maybe before lunch?

I'm not sure about this moment because Lucas is dressed differently but Dustin has the shirt ripped... I think here they are the actors running lines more than anything also bc Gaten has his glasses on lol but this could be a moment where before going away from school they talk in the woods, because of the other screenshots where Will is having a vision - this may be before they divide and go to other places in ep. 1

this is the actual scene, Will is having a vision of some kind, parallel to s2 and to chrissy's vision probably? I'd say ep. 1

I think this may be ep. 2 (?) it's after they go to school because Dustin has the shirt ripped ( I think this happens at school bc we have a pic of him with the shirt ripped there, they get bullied) and they see each other at the radio station, something must have happened, I think Robin is the one near Nancy, and Nancy is dressed as the candy striper so maybe she's working at the hospital to help (?) or she needed to go there for some reason... Dustin looks like someone beat him up so I think the bullies at the cemetery beat him up and then after that he goes to the radio station

we have the rainbow room taken over by the upside down

the tunnels under the farm

Ep. 4 I think from the colours it's a scene in Mike's basement, it could be a vision, we already had a better frame of this from something Ross posted, I'm gonna try to link the other posts after I finish this one so y'all can see what I'm talking about

This is Lucas that for some reason is inside the Mansion of that family, it looks like the interior, and we had another pic from paps where you can kinda see him inside, maybe ep.3

from how Jonathan is dressed I think he's either not doing anything / working at the radio station or he's attending art classes in a college? he's dressed weirdly idk like a art college student trying to be cool... I think Jancy may be broken up at this point?

Holly, I think she just came home from school, and she's watching a monster attack Karen ? She seems wet too idk why... anyway this is ep. 1 or 2 probably

Holly is having visions / dreams or the lights flicker because a demogorgon has arrived ? maybe this is before she goes to see what's happening and Karen gets attacked, also like... Holly biggest queer ally lmaoooo everything is rainbow room themed... ep. 1 probably

not sure about what this is about, maybe El visiting Max at the hospital in a vision? I'm not sure of where she is, but she looks sad, maybe this is what she's looking at in her mind in the roof with the bandana before Mike arrives to talk in ep. 1/2 ?

I think Joyce and Robin are trying to figure out how to make the radio or the lights in the radio station work? probably ep. 1 or 2 - not sure of when this is temporally speaking in the timeline, maybe they have a blackout and go to check?

Steve in the UD, ep. 4 or after ep.4 ? It seems they end up there in that episode and Steve looks hurt

this is before ep-4, I think maybe ep. 3 they are at the mansion and go there with the car and they still have the antenna outside of the car which it should mean they haven't fallen yet... I don't think it's the moment in which they fall because Dustin is not there

Episode 4 ? at the farm, Erica and Derek must know each other like the spoilers said, tbh I hope they are not romantic but just friends... Robin, Mike, Will and many others should be there too all together

I'll continue in another post and link the posts that make me think this! just speculation from the bts pics we have!!

Part two

[0097linersb]

DESPERADO

Pairings: Jaehyun x Reader

Genre: Idk tbh kind of drama kind of angsty probs smut

Summary: Sitting in an old Monte Carlo.

A/N: GUYS gUESS WHAT!! I wrote this when I was like 17, over 7 years ago lol but I found it on my old computer and I kind of like it for some reason???? BUT THIS IS SUCH A CLICHE OMG A MAFIA AU SHOWSTOPPING NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!! Alsoo this will be really short, 3-4 chaps max

Chapter 1

You could feel all eyes on you, burning holes into your skin as you entered the Diner. The whole room suddenly went quiet as soon as you closed the glass door behind you – But that could also be an illusion caused by the loud thumping deep in your ears. 

You force yourself to walk to the farthest booth available, praying your wobbly legs would not fail you like you felt they would, trying to ignore the whispers from the workers; It was kind of indecorous, but you could understand it given the situation. A young woman, in her pretty pink uniform, carefully approached your table. She looked kind, even worried maybe. 

“Can I get you something?” She nervously asked and you felt thankful she did not ask you any personal questions. 

“A chocolate milkshake, please.” 

Your voice was trembling and barely there but the waitress excused herself as you went back to ripping a napkin into dozens of small pieces, unable to get your hands to stop fidgeting. You probably wouldn’t be able to hold anything down in your stomach but you just needed to try and get your mind to stop screaming for a few minutes. The sun was setting and the darkness taking over the sky made you even more anxious, letting you know they already had enough time to realize what was going on. Every car that passed outside made you nervously look up and slide even further down your seat like it would help you hide. You should have changed, you would attract less attention then - At the same time, it’s not like you had an option, really. 

You jumped when the waitress, Moira said her nametag, placed the brown drink in front of you. You felt like throwing up at the sight but slowly forced yourself to swallow the cold liquid, despite your body’s complaints. It was a small town, not far enough, news of your whereabouts wouldn’t take long to reach their ears. You had to go somewhere, soon. 

 You didn’t have enough money for a ticket out of state - You barely had enough money to pay for the milkshake you ordered. The car you had stollen didn’t have enough gas to take you anywhere and even if it did, you didn’t have the ability to drive it any farther than you had already struggled to do. You hands shaked as you cursed yourself for not thinking things through. 

You wondered about your mother; she was most likely crying. 

No, she was definitely crying. You would be too in her place. If the adrenaline wasn’t rushing through your body to keep you alert, you would probably be in tears right now. It was not like you to cry, but you could find an excuse for yourself considering you were facing a life or death (mainly death) situation. You just hoped they had enough consideration for you to give you a simple death, enough for your mom to be able to look at your lifeless body without screaming in panic - Something about knowing you were minutes away from a gun barrel pointed at your head brought out the cliché poet in you. 

“You should follow the road up north; it doesn’t have a pretty scenery but it’s by far the fastest way to get to the Interstate,” Moira’s conversation with a man three booths down from yours suddenly caught your attention, ears perking up. 

“Is there a hotel close by?” The owner of the deep voice asked. 

“There’s only one downtown, we don’t get many tourists around here. There are also some motels around two cities up.” 

“Perfect, thank you.” 

Your eyes widened when the stranger stood up, you didn’t have much time to think. You hurriedly went through your bag, trying to find some coins to leave in the table beside your half-finished drink before running out of the door as fast as you could, tripping more than once over your long dress as you crossed the parking lot after what seemed to be your last hope. 

“Wait!” You screamed at the man opening the door of his car. 

He stared at you in surprise and you tried to catch your breath, managing to let out a tangled “Take me with you.” 

“Excuse me?” His eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t look very pleased to be interrupted. 

“Please. I need to get out of state,” You pleaded. 

“I’m sorry. I can’t get caught in a runaway bride’s drama at the moment,” The stranger apologized with a dismissive nod of his head before resuming the motion to enter his car. 

“Wait. I have a car, an expensive one. You can have it!” 

“I already have a car, as you can see. Good luck, though.” 

“Please,” Your voice breaks as you beg, volume barely above a whisper. That man was all you had. “They are going to kill me.” 

The tall male in front of you examined you from bottom to top in silence and you felt yourself cowering under his tense jaw, which was ironic considering the people you were used to being around. It was when you felt tears starting to sting your eyes that the man took a deep annoyed breath and ended with a cold, “Get in.” 

“Thank you so much,” You finally let out all the air you were holding, hurrying to the passenger seat before he could change his mind. 

You were silent as the man started the car and drove out of the Diner’s parking lot, his harsh gaze showing you he didn’t want to be bothered. You closed your eyes and tried to regulate your breathing, repeating to yourself it was all going to be fine; they wouldn’t be able to catch you if you kept moving. When you felt your heart rate slowing down, you finally let your eyelids fly open, watching the white skirt of your dress (which was now black from dirt) in disgust. It was a beautiful dress, big and flamboyant, you were sure it cost a lot of money – You just wished you were someone who wanted to wear it. 

You realized you still had the veil positioned carefully on your hair, although it was probably crooked and ripped by now. You harshly untangled the pins from your strands and rolled the window down, throwing the white fabric out on the road before closing the glass again. The man next to you watched in amusement but still didn’t say a word. You wished you could sleep, something you haven’t done in weeks – But you didn’t think you would be able to for a while. Your quick naps out of exhaustion were getting you through the days. Barely. 

At least the sky was pretty, a dark purple with little shiny dots all over. The moon was nowhere to be found, maybe it was ashamed of you too. 

“Ugly fiancé?” The man’s voice surprised you. It was clear he was trying to humor you, but his expression didn’t match his tone. 

“I wish,” You sighed, leaning your head back in the seat and forcing your voice to work. “I’m Y/N, by the way.” 

“Jaehyun.” 

“Nice to meet you, Jaehyun. Please don’t be a serial killer.” 

“It seems like that would be the least of your problems.” 

“I guess you’re right,” You smiled, but it did not reach your eyes. You took another deep breath before asking, “What are you running away from?” 

“Who says I’m running from something?” 

“Why would you ask what’s the fastest way out of town if you weren’t?” 

“Maybe I don’t like traffic.” 

“Traffic in this area? I’m desperate but I’m not stupid. Did you actually kill someone? I was only joking -” 

“My personal business concerns you as much as yours concerns me.” 

“I’m not frugal with my secrets.” 

“Entertain me then.” 

“It’s barely as fascinating as it seems: My family’s business had me entangled with some dangerous people who forced me into a commitment I was not interested in partaking in, none of the parties will be very happy with my little rebellious act.” 

“Are you really putting your life at risk just to not be part of society’s patriarchal plot?” 

“This is hardly about that, although I wouldn’t expect you to understand, as a man. Plus, my life would be at stake anyways; At least like this, I can worry from a distant beautiful beach, with a sweet cold drink in hand, instead of being fucked by a man who wouldn’t mind killing me one bit. I was thinking about Mexico.” 

“If they are anywhere as powerful as you describe, it would not be hard to find you there.” 

“Right. Maybe Brazil then, who knows?” You shrugged, knowing these were all insane dreams you were probably never going to be able to experience. It was fun to amuse yourself. “What about you, where are you going?” 

“Far.” 

“So mysterious,” You roll your eyes. “It’s not like I can afford going out babbling about your plans.” 

“I’d rather not give you the chance.” 

“Suit yourself. Thank you once again for the ride.” 

Jaehyun only nodded. 

As you watched the cities pass in silence, you noticed your throat was very dry, but you imagined you must be arriving at your destination if the man next to you was following Moira’s tips. It was already late and your whole body ached, the adrenaline’s effect fading bit by bit as you tried to fool yourself that you were safe. 

“Why are you helping me, knowing I’m involved with dangerous people?” You wondered. Truthfully, you knew it was a stupid question since you were the one begging for his help, you just wanted to hear him talk more, his deep voice made your vision stop spinning for a few seconds. 

“I can fight,” He shrugged. Again with the toneless jokes. 

“I don’t think fists would be very useful against the Kim family,” You chuckle at the absurdity, you probably had all local thugs looking for you as you spoke.  

Who would have thought this is how your life would turn out? 

“Who said I don’t have guns?” He smirked at you for the first time, and you just stared at him, an unreadable look on your face that made him slightly nervous. “Don’t act surprised, you’re the one who entered a stranger’s car.” 

“I’m not. I was about to marry Kim Doyoung, weapons don’t shock me,” You sigh, hiding the fact you had a handgun (which you had stolen from your fiancé's collection) in your purse - Maybe you would need it, Jaehyun could turn out to be, in fact, a serial killer after all. 

“Kim Doyoung, huh? You really got yourself in a big mess. His father isn’t someone to play with.” 

“Do you know him?” 

“I met him briefly for a business transaction a few years back.” 

“Your line of work just keeps sounding shadier and shadier, should I be worried?” 

“You tell me, you’re the mafia’s doll.” 

“You’re really thinking about handing me over and asking for a reward, aren’t you?” You squeezed your eyes at the man. 

“Maybe,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone but you knew he wasn’t being serious, as you were indeed, heading North. Regardless, growing up with your family taught you to never trust anyone. 

You caught yourself pitying your mother once again when Jaehyun slowed his car into a Motel’s parking lot with a simple “We’re here.” 

You languidly nodded and got out of the vehicle, stretching your sore limbs before staring at the man in front of you in expectation. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” He shook his head and opened the trunk of the car to get his luggage. “I’m booking myself a room and you can go on your merry way; it was nice meeting you.” 

“I have nowhere to go.” 

“Luckily for you, we are in the perfect place for you to spend the night.” 

“Do I look like I have any money?” You rolled your eyes. 

“Well, not my problem,” He shrugged, closing the trunk and making his way towards the building’s reception. “I’m sure you can find a gentleman that would be very happy to pay to spend the night with you.” 

“Can’t I just sleep with you?” You ignored his suggestion of prostitution, not judging it worthy of your attention. 

“And have the Kims knowing that not only did I help their pretty bride in her escape, but also shared a bed with her?” He quickly turned around so you could see how his chest rumbled with laughter before going back on his way. “Funny.” 

Why was he being so complicated? 

You quickly looked around to see if anyone could possibly be watching, but decided it was dark enough for your foolish just-thought-out plan. You were not really proud of what you did next but, in your excuse, you truly were desperate and the way your mind was all over the place didn’t help you make much sense of the situation. 

“Jaehyun,” You called, purse briefly discarded on the floor next to you. 

The man sighed and turned back once again, but he stopped laughing when he saw you – Jaehyun’s face flashed in shock for a single second before it morphed into an amused expression instead. Head cocked to the side; he surprised you as he leisurely started approaching your figure once again. 

“Oh, princess,” He lowly chuckled at your shaking grip on the gun’s handle. “If you’re going to point that at me, you better know how to use it.” 

“Take me wherever you’re going with you,” You demanded, ignoring his remark. You weren’t actually going to shoot him, you just wanted to, to… - this really wasn’t a well-thought-out plan. 

“I truly can’t, but I appreciate the passion,” He smiled, raising his hand to calmly aim the gun at the floor instead of at his chest. 

 You simply used the side of the weapon to slap his hand away before pointing it back where you wanted it, “Why not?” 

“I’m heading across the ocean.” 

“That sounds perfect, I’m sure you can manage to get me some fake documentation like you probably did for yourself.” 

“And what do I get out of it?” 

“My company. Also, I do know how to shoot.” 

“Do you really?” He raised an eyebrow at you, staring at you like you were the most entertaining thing he had ever seen in his whole life.  

It was unnerving. 

“Yes. I can help you with whatever dubious business you have, I’m a fast learner,” You inform, not really knowing what you were offering yourself for, but figuring anything would be better than being the mafia’s bitch. 

“C’mon,” He rolled his eyes, but let out a delighted chuckle anyways when he turned around. You knew he was making fun of you, but it didn’t matter, it got you what you wanted. “And put that thing away.” 

You hastily picked up your purse and shoved your gun back inside, running after Jaehyun to catch up to him. 

                              _______________________ 

You learned after a few days that Jaehyun wasn’t a man of many words. He also refused to share a bed with you, always asking whatever motel you passed by for a room with double beds, and if they didn’t have one, he would just sleep on the floor despite your complaints. It was frustrating that you still didn’t know what it was that he did to make money, and every time you asked, he simply said it was no job for women, which you knew was something he said just to annoy you. 

You could tell he didn’t put much faith in your offer to help him, but he still entertained you, letting you know he would give you a chance to participate when the day came. Honestly, if he wanted to drag you around the country for free, you weren’t going to complain. 

Jaehyun was incredibly annoying with all of his superiority sense. When he spoke, only back-handed remarks or teasing comments left his mouth, it was clear he didn’t take you seriously and it was slowly driving you insane – If he called you doll one more time, you wouldn’t think going back begging on your knees to Doyoung would be such a bad idea. 

 But, despite his whole attitude problem, Jaehyun was nice to you in silence: He lent you his clothes when you didn’t have any and took you to a store downtown to buy new ones when you passed through a city he has been to before, not complaining about having to pay for all of it. You remembered how he silently watched as you set your wedding dress on fire in the parking lot of the random motel you chose for the night, or how he took you to the movies after you tried to call your mother from a payphone and ended up sobbing for the first time in years. 

The man left you alone during most of the days, running whatever business he had in the different cities you visited. He sometimes came back with cuts and bruises and you cleaned him up with a harsh look on your face, but at the end of the day, you had no right judging him when he was the one bringing food and putting shelter over your head. He eventually taught you how to do the guns’ maintenance and at least now you had a role, getting the weapons tidy and ready for the next day. You wondered for how long he would accept carrying you around without asking for anything in return, he didn’t seem all that interested in bedding you and he knew you were as poor as one comes; Maybe he would just kill you. 

“Have you ever killed a man?” You had asked one day as you cleaned the inside of your gun’s barrel, on the little table at the corner of your rented room. 

The man had simply looked up from the newspaper he was reading on his bed and raised an eyebrow, “Have you?” 

“Can you ever answer anything I ask?” 

“Can you ever pay for your own stuff?” 

You dropped the subject after that. 

As cold as Jaehyun was, it was clear he was beginning to grow fond of you. At first, he had treated you like some sort of charity project to acquire his pass to heaven, but as time passed, he started unfolding layer by layer. One day he brought a wine bottle to celebrate something, he didn’t tell you what exactly, but he did tell you all about how his mother used to study French and he learned it just by hearing her practice. He also told you how they used to plan on moving to France when he was little, how he and his mother spent hours talking before going to bed about how their little house would be, him promising her he would help take care of the garden so they could have many beautiful flowers. Both of you sat on cheap wooden chairs in the motel’s parking lot, drinking the wine under the stars as if you lived inside poetry – Jaehyun started smiling after the fourth glass and you did believe life was art in that moment. 

“My family has some property in France, I’ll take you and your mother there one day to show you my gratitude,” You offered with an easy smile. 

The man turned his head to look at you, you could see his dimples but his eyes looked sad, “Your family´s really rich, huh?” 

“Old money.” 

“How are you adjusting to this new side of life, princess?” He joked, meaning all the cheap rooms and dirty bathrooms your life had become. 

“It has been… An experience,” You laughed lowly, like being loud would disrupt the universe above you. “I’d trade my old life for showering in a gas station’s sink any day.” 

Your quickly developing bond was made clear when one-night, Jaehyun got back to your shared room to find you trembling on the floor, hugging your legs as blood stained you all over. Jaehyun didn’t even look at the body next to you on the floor, he just silently picked you up and took you to the bathroom. 

“Are you hurt?” He asked after placing you on the toilet and turning the hot water on to fill the tub. 

You shook your head in denial, eyes lost on the floor. 

He didn’t ask you any questions that night, he simply undressed you and placed you on the warm water, softly rubbing all the blood from your skin and hair for hours. After emptying and refilling the tub for the third time so the water wouldn’t be red anymore, Jaehyun left you soaking and when you finally had the strength to get up and go back to your room, the sun was up and Jaehyun had already taken care of everything. You didn’t have it in you to ask what he had done with the body, but that day he drove for hours to get you out of there. You could see he was exhausted but with a tense jaw, he ignored as you cried for him to stop, only parking the next night when he felt you would be safe for the time being. 

 That night he did sleep with you, held your hair up while you threw up and forced you to eat whatever he managed to find in the reception. 

Eventually, the shock of playing God became bearable and Jaehyun started pestering you about your gun. You had tried leaving it behind on 4 different occasions but he had always picked it up and brought it with him, hiding it in your purse just in case you needed it. You just didn’t feel comfortable carrying it around anymore, the feeling of warm blood on the palm of your hands was not something to be taken lightly. 

“Now that we know for sure they’re after you and catching onto us, you should always have your gun,” He had lectured and you simply closed your eyes, not needing to be reminded. 

Some nights later, he got to the motel of choice to an empty room and completely panicked, heart almost jumping out of his throat as he saw the silent space until he eventually found the note you had left on the bedside table. 

Went into the woods, will be back late. 

He didn’t wait, immediately locking the door and rushing into the trees behind the motel. He felt like he walked for hours but it was probably what his nerves made it feel like, cold sweat running down his neck. When he did find you, all the screaming about irresponsibility he had prepared and the desire to tie you up somewhere so you would just behave, were forgotten at the sight in front of him. 

“You have a bad left eye; you should always aim a little bit more to the right.” 

You jumped in surprise at the sudden voice but followed the instructions. You had always been a good shooter, even before Doyoung - but Jaehyun was right, you did have a bad left eye. 

“The carnival is in town,” You had excitedly informed a busy Jaehyun on a Friday afternoon. “Saw it on the newspaper.” 

“Hm.” 

“Can we go?” 

“No.” 

“Please?” 

“Do you perhaps enjoy having a target on your face?” He looked up at you from the bag he was organizing. 

“We’ve been running for weeks, there’s no way they know where we are. Please?” 

“Stop whining, you’re not a child and it’s not cute.” 

Later that day, he took you to the carnival. 

He was tense the whole night and only agreed to stay for an hour, but you managed to convince him to ride the Ferris Wheel and buy you some game tickets. You knew you would have to leave behind all the prizes once you had to skip town and hit the road again - You sure complained about that, earning an eye roll and silence in response, but a few days later you found the plushie elephant you had liked the most hidden in the trunk of Jaehyun’s car. 

You had lost track of the time a long time ago, days started losing their meaning to all the different rooms and cheap restaurants. Your location was a mystery that didn’t really intrigue you, but you figured you had probably already crossed around half of the country by the change of scenery. Jaehyun didn’t leave you every day, he once in a while stayed “home” and you were surprised to find yourself hoping for those moments when he would read his French books out loud from his bed and you would enjoy the sound of his voice as you stared at him – But pretended to be sleeping every time he looked up. 

On days he did have to leave though, he didn’t always wake up paranoid. Occasionally, he gave you some money to go explore whatever town you were staying in for the next day or two. You always returned with a little trinket you thought he would like, and he always scolded you for spending money on useless things, but you were way past the point of feeling like a child under his gaze anymore – You just had to learn how to hide the smile on your face when you caught him wearing one of the things you had “gifted” him.  

You imagined he was happy at not being bothered by your constant whining over being left alone and bored every day. 

“You know what I miss the most?” You lightly kicked some water at the man sunbathing next to you, ignoring his annoyed groan. “From being rich, I mean.” 

“Having servants who were obliged to put up with you?” 

“The Balls. They were quite boring at first, but at the end of the night when most guests had already left, the band always started playing better music for me and I had so much fun dancing,” You smiled fondly at the memory, eyes lost deep into the pool. “Doyoung was an excellent lead.” 

“Did you love him?” 

“Sometimes,” You shrugged. “He was a gentleman, but at the end of the day we had many fundamental differences.” 

“Like torturing people.” 

“Like torturing people,” You nodded. “He tried teaching me how to drive, you know how a woman driving is viewed by society.” 

“What a good man,” Jaehyun rolled his eyes sarcastically. 

“Never said he was. But he treated me well, besides the whole trying to make me his property thing.” 

“Do you think there is such a thing as being morally grey?” 

“You, caring for my opinion?” You raised an eyebrow at him, even though he couldn’t see it behind the funky sunglasses you had bought the day before. 

“You’re the only person I have to talk to,” He shrugs. “Entertain me.” 

“Your luck. But I guess I do, yeah.” 

“Why?” 

“Well, I’m not sure. I used to think people were either good or bad, but now I see that as with most situations in life, there is no such thing that is completely black or white. Look at yourself, for instance.” 

“And what do you mean by that?” 

“Exactly what I said, I still have no idea what you do with your life, but I’ve gathered enough to know it’s not accounting. But you’re nice to me. Also – At the end of the day, I did abandon my fiancé at the altar and killed a man, but I don’t feel like I’m a bad person. I think.” 

“You’re wearing heart-shaped pink glasses, you don’t have much to worry about,” He smiled at you, his eyes squinting - You hadn’t noticed they did that (It’s not like Jaehyun smiled much). 

“Is this the face of a killer?” You joked, pressing your palm to your cheek. 

“You kill one man and start acting like you’re going to dethrone the Kims,” He rolls his eyes amusedly and you laugh. “Want some lessons on torture next, princess?” 

“As if you could teach me,” You provoke, trying to get him to finally tell you about his line of work. 

“You’ll need to be smarter than that,” He winks at you and you huff in disappointment. 

You stared at him quietly for a while, he looked relaxed for once, even happy if that wouldn’t be pushing it too hard.  

Jaehyun was lying down next to the pool, one arm behind his head and his eyes closed. The golden light of the soon-to-set sun hit his skin and made it look like honey and his ashy bangs messily hit his eyelids. For once in your life, you felt your heart warm, like if you could spend the rest of your years staring at Jaehyun looking this peaceful, you would. He just felt familiar, like home – It was you and him alone against the world. 

“We need to cut your hair,” You smile fondly, reaching your arm out to move his strands away from his face. 

……………………………………………………………. 

Even though on most days you felt your heart burst in joy at the jiggling sound of the door handle when Jaehyun got home, you often found your heart feeling the same at the angry bang of the door behind his leaving form after a fight. You sometimes felt guilty over screaming at the man who was most literally keeping you alive and giving you everything in exchange of nothing, but he was just so simply infuriating and his patronizing little “princess” and “doll” remarks didn’t always sit well with you, especially after a restless night filled with anxiety and worrying that one of the Kims' men could just burst into your room and stab you to death.   

Jaehyun was not a soft man, he had no problem with throwing things in your face or making comments that could almost literally pierce you when he was angry, but thankfully, after everything that you had to go through and almost being sold to strangers, neither were you. If the Kims didn’t get to you first, you were sure the two of you would kill each other one day, there was only so much of hearing about how you were a spoiled brat with absolutely nothing in life that you could take. 

One of these days, Jaehyun came back way after midnight, thankful you were already asleep because he could still feel the fire in his veins ready to burn you if you gave him the chance. He was already stressed enough with work businesses; he didn’t need you to throw him over the edge with your sarcastic comments.  

Jaehyun quietly took a shower and got on his bed, throwing the covers around in annoyance until he heard you sniffing. His whole body tensed, alert. 

“Y/N?” 

Silence. 

You tried to be quiet, not wanting to deal with Jaehyun in that moment but wanting him to hold you at the same time. It was the fourth time that week that you had woken up desperate after horrible dreams, ranging from your maid being tortured to Jaehyun never coming back home. That night, you had dreamed about your mom begging you to come back or else the Kims would kill her, she looked bloody and puffy from crying, bruises and scratches all over her body as she sobbed and screamed in pure panic at the sight of her torturer. 

“I need to go back,” You whispered after a while, eyes glued to the ceiling. 

Next chap soon

[themultifandomgal]

Jay Halstead- Case Gone Wrong

It's been 2 weeks since YN's disappearance. 2 weeks since a case went wrong and YN was taken, tied up and beaten to an inch of her life. Everyone at intelligence has been working hard to find her, especially her boyfriend Jay and her dad Hank Voight

"Jay you need to go home, rest" Erin sighs at her partner

"I can't"

"I know your worried, so am I, but we won't help YN if we're tired"

"We won't help her if we're asleep either!" Jay yells, but Erin knows he's just tired, angry, upset, worried

"I think we may have a break through" Antonio says walking in with a woman "this is Mary she has something that could help us"

Voight and Antonio sit Mary down with a glass of water while the others stand behind the glass watching

"Tell him what you told me"

"Errm a couple of weeks ago I saw my neighbour take a young woman into his house. She was unconscious, she had a bandage on her head. So obviously I asked him if she was ok and he said that she fell and he was bringing her back from the hospital. I didn't think much of it. But this morning I watched him come home with more bandages"

"What did the girl look like?"

"Errm short dark blond hair, almost light brown. I didn't get a good look at her face, but she had a tattoo behind her ear" Voight and Antonio look at each other

"What was it?" Antonio asks

"It was a J I think"

"That's YN" Voight rubs his hand over his face

"We need an address"

Unbeknownst to YN, her PD family were on the way to save her while she was being tortured once again

"You nearly got me arrested. I thought you were my friend" Max, the guy they have been after for a year, says "thought we had something special. You know, after the trade I was going to ask you to be by my side permanently" YN doesn't speak, mainly because it hurts to open her mouth, but also because she has nothing to say to Max "now I think I'm going to have a little bit more fun with you, then I'll start cutting you up piece by piece, sent it to you dad, or maybe your boyfriend" Max grabs a knife stabbing it into her thigh, but she refuses to make any noise and give him the satisfaction.

Intelligence arrive in no time at all so when Max hears there's a bang upstairs, he looks at YN smiling. He places some tapes around YN's mouth, wrapping it around her head. He picks up his gun and leaves YN alone in the basement downstairs. All she can do is hope someone comes downstairs, but she knows that her dad and Jay will check every inch of this house.

Footsteps run down stairs, YN looks up to see Erin

"I got her!" Erin shouts running over to YN then sees the blood coming out of her thigh "I need an ambo at our location, stab wound victim loosing blood" Erin says into her radio after taking off her jacket and wrapping it tightly around her leg "guys I need help down here!" Erin yells again trying to untie the girl she classes as a sister "god YN your freezing" more footsteps are heard running down and over to YN

"Baby what did he do to you?" Jay exclaims before helping Erin

"He's wrapped the tape around her head. If we rip it off it will pull her hair out"

"Paramedics will have scissors, they can at least release her mouth" once Jay and Erin have YN untied, Jay picks his girlfriend up and takes her upstairs to wait for the ambo to arrive.

YN wakes up to Jay, Will and her dad in her hospital room

"Hey YN" Will softly says

"You want a drink?" Voight asks his daughter who slightly nods her head

"Here let me help you" Jay helps YN sit up a little so that her dad can direct the straw into YNs mouth. She takes a couple sips before laying back down. Jay moves some hair out of her face, she now noticed how tired both her boyfriend and dad look

"Have you slept?" YN asks quietly

"Not much. We were worried about you" Jay replies

"Do you remember what happened?" Will asks, YN gives him a nod "you had to have stitches in your leg"

"YN did he.. did he erm..." YN knows what Jay is trying to say

"No. Just hit me" Jay breaths a sigh of relief

"When can she leave?" Voight asks Will

"Well she can go home tomorrow as long as she's eaten and gone to the toilet. And she needs to have someone with her all the time for the next 2 weeks"

"Jay you can stay home with her, just have your phone on you"

"Got it"

"Now what do you say to trying to eat something?" Will asks. YN gives him a nod "ok. I'll be back in a bit" Will leaves the room

"Did you get Max?"

"Yeah we did"

"Good" YN smiles

"I'm going to head back to the precinct, I'll be back later" Voight says kissing his daughters forehead then leaving the room.

Jay stays with YN for the next 24 hours, even when Will and YN both tell him to go home.

[intothedysphoria]

Steve wasn’t sure which was worse. That the nightmares had started again or that Dustin had developed an obsession with Simon and Garfunkel.

Things had consistently been off since 1983 but they’d quickly gotten far, far worse since their latest trip to The Upside Down.

Dustin had brought back an eel. At least Steve thought it was an eel. He hoped it was an eel.

It was in a glass tank above Dustins bed, it had a foul temper and ever since it had entered Hawkins, strange and awful things had started happening to Neil Hargrove.

Steve didn’t feel sorry for the man, he was an asshole.

It was the fruit going bad after two hours on the shelf he was concerned about. The scorch marks on the grass. The nightmares.

It was always the same. There was a boy his age, with golden hair, running through a field. He’d fall deep into a well then Steve would wake up.

The boys name was Billy. Steve wasn’t sure how he knew this. He just did.

The eel started to grow. It had a particular fondness for Cherry Coke and Max for some reason. Why Dustin was feeding it Cherry Coke, Steve had no idea.

The day the eel got too big for its cage was the day Steve had a genuine fear of reliving the Dart situation.

Of course, that coincided with the nightmares getting worse. Well, some of them included him having sex with Billy, so maybe he was having a sexuality crisis. It wouldn’t be the first time.

The well continued to plague his dreams as well. Deep and cavernous, it swallowed Steve time and time again.

There was only one thing for it. Steve was going to talk to the eel.

Maybe dragon was more apt at that point. The eel had grown ten times overnight and stared at him from a roof with clear blue eyes.

Billy’s eyes.

The dreams shifted after that. Billy started talking to him. Really talking to him.

He was eighteen years old, he was Max’s missing older brother and he’d fallen into a cursed well. No he wasn’t really a dragon, no he wasn’t a demogorgon and yes, he was gay.

He gave this delicious little wink to Steve before the dream shattered apart.

Of course the well was a fucking portal to The Upside Down. Steve had no idea what exactly had happened to Billy but he borrowed every single folklore book from the library.

There didn’t seem to be an answer. At least not at first.

There was one book that said Billy needed to be faced with his greatest torment. Only then he could be free.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Neil Hargrove wasn’t exactly smart. It hadn’t taken Steve much work to lure him out into the woods, just a few goads. Just enough to get to the hill that Billy had made his home (much to Dustin’s grumbling disappointment). He was also very loud

Billy took one look at Neil and ripped out his heart.

Then he collapsed, shimmering and shrinking as his body changed into something altogether more human than before.

The eighteen year old that lay before Steve was toned, with golden skin and hair and a tattoo of a skull on one arm.

He blinked at Steve, obviously dazed, then held out a weak hand and an obviously rehearsed smirk.

“Hey sexy, wanna go out sometime?”

Steve would not be held responsible for the tears that started to run down his cheeks.

They did go out. Eventually. Once Billy had healed.

And Steve only found the occasional dragon scale in the shower.

*Loosely based the Northumbrian folktale The Lampton Wyrm and I mean LOOSELY*

For @harringroveobsessed

[lunas-side-anime-blog]

AOT Icks (Eren, Armin and Mikasa)

one thing about me: i am a hater

Eren

def has mommy issues and no woman could ever compare to her like good luck to any of his girlfriends lmao

^^ that being said, as a roommate he’s a nightmare like you can tell his mom cleaned up after him all the time because it doesn’t even occur to him to do so now

toxic gym bro who says shit like “we all have the same 24 hours”

def has the the 3 in 1 bottle in his shower, I just know it

prob calls women “females” 

the cringiest instagram captions like I know he will post sum: “I think my closet bi-polar, it keeps throwing fits💯”  like dude, get a grip

attempts thirst traps, he has a ripped body so it kinda works but the content is so transparent you can’t help but roll your eyes

go out to a bar with him or something and he’s the type to try to make everything a fight

like if someone bumps into you, he's quickly in their face like "what's good bro😡” and you know its not actually about you so much as eren tryna beat someone up

i think he’ll use spit as lube thinking he’s so bad boy and lewd when it’s actually just so bad for your PH like ewwww (if u have a vag ofc)

i feel like his hair would get so greasy, mikasa and armin have had to force him down with shampoo in hand before 

so gross but you came here for icks and I don’t believe Eren believes in holding back his farts for anyone

it can be the most intense and serious event like a funeral and he’ll rip a loud one and be like “what? it’s not good to hold it in??”

Armin

nail biter who will chew on them till the bone and you hear that loud ass “crONCh"

says he hates drama but that’s just something he says to not seem petty bc at the first sight of a fight best believe he’s sitting there, watching it all go down, wine glass in hand like "🍷🤨👂" 

lil shit will even add lil comments to keep the beef alive, like i can see him loudly asking “okay but jean didn't you say her outfit made her look fat though?”

if you're in a debate with him, he’s the type to say something like “you're so uneducated about the subject, I’m actually pretty well versed in it” and your like "okay so what's all ur research then?" and he'll just quickly change the subject bc he didn’t actually have sources to cite lmao

is one of those bfs who would make fun of you for liking trashy tv but guess who eats that shit up everytime? armin.

he does that dad thing where he walks around in the living room and acts uninterested with what’s happening on the screen but he’s actually so invested and would be fuming if you dared watched an episode without him 

i think he’d also be the type to try to be friends with his ex even if they obviously still have feelings for him, but if you dared even talk to yours he’d get all huffy and puffy like “go be with him then🙄” 

got obsessed with skincare after watching your routine but u kinda created a monster bc now he’s critiquing your products and techniques? “Babe you should really consider a gel moisturizer, it’s better for your pores'' and you're like, “boy you used neutrogena when I met you???” 

is that bf who will shower at your place and use up all your expensive washes and scrubs 

not the best gift giver tbh, I think he’s a firm believer that all gifts should be practical so even if it’s a romantic anniversary date and he slides over a lil present, it’s probably just gonna be socks or something, srry

Mikasa

applies her chapstick like a man (iykyk)

“he know where home is” bitch, I hate to say it

i think she’s a girl’s girl until her man cheats on her, then she’d be the type to fight the girl and not really address her man…which is just… 😣

as a friend I think she’s sadly the type to unintentionally embarrass you bc she doesn’t get some social cues.

like you can miss a hang and ppl ask where you are and she’d just say matter of factly “oh they’re fine, they just have diarrhea rn!” and she won’t understand why you’d be mad?

outfit repeater to the max, she has like three tops that she likes and all pics of her are with her wearing one of those three tops

a lil delulu and prob genuinely believes all the tiktok pick a card vids on her feed

likes her coffee black and somehow thinks she’s better than everyone for that???

as a gf she checks your snap score and location regularly and has no shame in it 🙂

fights in her sleep like you will just be sleeping next to her all soundly and next thing you know you get punched in the face? she refuses to apologize in the morning bc she “has a right to defend myself in a nightmare” or whatever

when shes mad at someone she’ll post like ultra specific lyrics or captions and it’s so obviously targeted at one person everyone else is like "girl go to bed, don’t even post the quote…"

[zyonsay]

Wildfire, Chapter One MV1

Fem aligned people may read but not f3tishize my work!!

Summary: Your very first Grand Prix!

Reader: Male

Warnings: Swearing, Max holds a grudge against you

Now playing: 'Break stuff' by Limp Bizkit

AN: First Chapter of Wildfire! This is a rewritten version, the early version was too short and sucked ass, so here you go babes!

(Here is the next chapter)

“Y/N L/N coming through the inside! This looks like P2 for the Redbull rookie! Don’t blink because you might just miss him!”

Loud cheering erupted from the watcher stands and colorful smoke hung in the air. Nobody really knew who you were since your addition to the team was announced barely a day before the quali.

“OH MY GOD, Y/N! YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!”

Horners voice boomed through the team radio, the mechanics and engineer’s celebrations could be heard in the background. Tears pricked in the corners of your eyes; you couldn’t believe you placed so good at your first race in F1. You knew that you were talented, and you’d worked hard too, but your second place today was unexpected. Usually, it takes time to settle into F1, figuring out all the dynamics and such, so naturally you’d expect some more difficulties than this.

Once you’d hopped out of the car, you received many pats on your helmet. You were obsessed with the design that you’d chosen a few weeks ago; it was a beautiful reinterpretation of ‘starry night’ depicting a race car, watcher stands and track lights instead of a village.

You were grinning from ear to ear, proud of today’s accomplishment. Naturally, your teammate and racing legend Max had won the Grand Prix, but you were more than pleased with your work. The third place was achieved by your friend and fellow racer Lando Norris.

You took your place on the chair in the cooldown room, observing the replay of your drive carefully, still grinning. Lando punched your shoulder lightly. “Hey dude, good drive!”, he had a playful gleam in his eyes. “Next time i’ll get you tho.”, he smiled mischievously. “Keep on dreaming, I’ll crush everything in my way.” You patted him on the shoulder, making idle chit chat with your buddy.

Max stood at the other end of the room, watching the replay too. Your presence, your words, your attitude left a sour taste in his mouth. It’s not like you were mean or anything, but the way you present yourself seemed too cocky for a rookie. He’d never admit it, but having you around felt threatening. Like a lion, waiting for the Zebra to get distracted for a split second so it can rip it to shreds. But Max was always the lion? Why not now?

Many Formula 1 Fans were intrigued by you, the first impressions you left sure were lasting ones. “Fucking hell! Did this dick even get his fucking driver’s license?! Do I need to get him some glasses or will he be able to see the turn next time?” You were a strong fiery character, reminding many people of Max. Your overly confident nature was charming somehow and managed to pull in many fans, but it also earned you loads of judgmental stares and nasty comments on Instagram.

But you loved the attention. Your fire was only fueled more and more that way.

The ceremonial part of spraying fizzy alcohol and various festivities took its time, but eventually ended with you feeling sticky and gross, but happy.

Shortly after leaving the podium, you were circled by interviewers, fighting to be the first to speak with the ‘wonder rookie’. A grey-haired man with an unknown accent gained your attention first. “Congratulations on your Success! You surely made a good first impression! Did you expect this outcome and furthermore, do you think someone else would’ve deserved the second place?” You blinked a few times at the blunt question but broke into a playful grin soon after. “To be honest, I couldn’t exactly weigh my chances because I’m new to all of the circumstances, but my success is definitely welcomed with open arms.” You looked intently at the camera that was shoved into your face, still smiling. “I deserve the second place, if anyone else felt like they deserved it, they should’ve tried to be faster than me.” The interviewer was flabbergasted at your retaliation and raised his eyebrows in shock. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m sweating terribly.” You turned towards the camera, pointing at it: “Lot’s of love to all of you watching, have a nice evening!”

And with that you rushed off, wanting to peel your race suit off as fast as possible.

Max stood nearby and had heard the whole interview while talking to his friend Charles Leclerc. He was equally as perplexed as the interviewer. How could you talk like that at your first Grand Prix? Cocky much.

Max couldn’t wait to crush your little rookie dreams.

[xoxoavenger]

Spoiled

pairing: Steve Harrington x SingleMom!Reader

summary: Y/N goes over to Steve’s for a pool party, where he spoils his girl and James.

word count: 4315

warnings: Steve’s dumbass parents, reader’s commitment issues

previous part                next part Steve’s Problem masterlist main masterlist

"For fuck's sake." Steve wipes the sweat from his brow as he sits on the hot pool deck. Everyone was coming to his house for a pool day while his parents were gone, and he had maybe gone a bit overboard in preparation. He had gotten the kids favorite chips and drinks, alcohol for the older ones, and juice for James.

He also bought James a kiddy pool and an aquatic play center.

"That's really not working out for you, is it?" Robin is opening his backdoor, having already grabbed a seltzer from the fridge and put it into her blue pineapple cup.

"Is it that obvious?" He's already taken off his shirt and jumped in the pool once, giving up on his hair.

"What the hell did you buy?" She asks, leaning down to pick up one of the brightly colored plastic pieces.

"An aquatic center." He tells her, picking up the box to show it. He's been in the sun for so long he's sure he's burnt, and he's also exhausted. He's glad he had the foresight to set everything up beforehand, because if Robin's here that means everyone else is going to be here soon, and he hasn't finished setting up the surprise for Y/N. He yawns as he looks at the sun through his sunglasses.

"You are so whipped." She smirks, sitting on the ground next to them. Together, they were able to fix it, meaning it was mostly Robin helping him. By the time Eddie showed up, angry that the kids could drive themselves now because it meant he had to drive alone, it was complete.

"Wow, you went all out." He smirked, a joint already in hand. Steve reached for it even though he knew that it would just make him more tired.

"Can you get me a beer?" He squints up at Robin, still on the hot ground.

"Already done," Dustin comes through the glass door, smirking and holding two beers. "Saw you through the glass." Steve stands and rips both of them out of the kid's hands.

"You little shit." Steve rolled his eyes, handing the other beer to Jonathan as he walked out with another joint. Mike, Will, and El followed in, carrying their sodas and munching on chips. Their eyes widened at the aquatic center.

"You did all this for Y/N?" Mike chuckled, not catching the glare from El.

"For James." Steve muttered, taking a hit from the joint and drink of beer in quick succession.

"Max and Lucas are getting a ride from here. They should be here soon." Dustin was already putting his stuff on a chair to lay out.

"We are here." Max's perfect timing made her smirk, can in one hand and a granola bar in the other. Steve's head snaps as he hears James cries, Y/N sighing as she puts the margarita down and tries to quiet him. Steve looks like a lost puppy as he trails inside, leaving the other to laugh at him.

"Sh, it's okay," Y/N's calm, quiet voice makes Steve's heart skip as she watches her bounce James. The baby's eyes lock on his, and the cries stop. Steve would be lying if he didn't feel a little pride swell in his chest.

"Seefe!" James squealed, eyes lighting up. His mother turns and smiled at Steve, who just stands there staring.

"He loves the kitchen." Y/N smiles as she passes James to Steve. The baby's wearing board shorts and a long sleeve swim shirt, a small hat tied around his head. From the greasy look of his skin, he's already got sunscreen on.

"He's gonna love what I just got him." Steve smirks, leading Y/N out the door. She's wearing a flowy coverup dress, hiding her swimsuit. He doesn't get to see her face when she sees the aquatic center, now filled with water thanks to Robin, but he does get to see James'.

The baby screams and wiggles, so Steve walks to the shade and puts him down so he wouldn't burn his hands and feet as he crawls over to it, pulling himself to stand.

"Steve," Y/N's next to him, eyes wide. "You shouldn't have done this." She feels guilty, because of course Steve has bought James his two favorite toys, and of course they were toys that she could never afford, even for Christmas.

"Why not?" He smiles at her.

"Why are you doing this?" She's suddenly wary of Steve in a way she's far too used to.

"My parents never did this kinda thing." He whispers as everyone starts to fawn over James, who is splashing with a toy starfish and giggling. "And not because they couldn't. Because they didn't want to. And your kid deserves it. You deserve it." He hits his shoulder against hers and winks, and when his eyes catch on her lips all he can think about is their almost-kiss. He wishes he would have just kissed her before that, because it's all he can think of now.

He turns when one of the older kids lets out a large laugh, and they step apart, remembering how many people are around them. No one is looking, except Eddie, who smirks evilly.

"I got something for you too." He doesn't say what he wants to, that it's for both of them, so instead he pulls a huge floaty from the side of the house.

"Hey!" Dustin yells as soon as he sees it. He bought floaties for everyone else, but he hadn't blown them up. He had blown the huge watermelon up, heart warming as Y/N smiled.

"Let me put some arm floats on James just incase." She turned to her bag, grabbing the flat floaties. Steve helps her blow up the other one, and together they pull them up James' arms while he's distracted. She puts her bag on a chair by the shade and took her coverup off, Steve taking his shirt off to look away from her gorgeous body. She was wearing a black one piece that hugged her boobs so well it made Steve go dumb a little bit.

"You're putting it in the wrong part!" Eddie complained as Robin tried to set up music outside. She was only wearing shorts and her blue bikini top; it getting too hot to keep the shirt on. Eddie was wearing a black shirt and black swim shorts, his hair tied up.

"Who figured this out at James' party?" Robin asked. James squealed at the sound of his name, scrunching his face in the cutest baby smile and splashing.

"I did most of the work!" Eddie yelled. El and Max smiled on either side of James while Jonathan took their picture, Nancy mixing drinks in the pineapple cups everyone had brought from James' birthday. She was making some virgin ones for the kids, and Steve pretend not to notice when Mike and Dustin snuck into the house to put some vodka in their drinks.

"Do you think it'll be too crazy to read?" Y/N asked, smiling as Steve put the floaty in the pool, one hand on the floaty and the other holding her hand as she lowered herself onto it. Once she got situated he tried to let go of her hand, but she pulled him down and almost caused them to fall over. She let out a glorious laugh and moved slightly to let him lay down as well on the floaty.

"Oh my God, you idiot!" Robin screams, everyone but Steve looking over to see her throwing her hands up and walking away. Steve simply pushed them off the edge and toward the middle of the pool.

"Here's your drink, Y/N." Nancy smiled as she crouched and leaned over to give Y/N her yellow pineapple. She smiled as she reached out to grab it, Steve kicking to get them close enough. When he did, Dustin handed him a beer with a smile as Steve rolled his eyes.

"You're lucky, Henderson." Steve says as he pushes away from the edge of the pool once, more, sunglasses slipping down so he can narrow his eyes in a glare.

"Ha!" Eddie yelled as music began to play. Y/N smiled, moving to get comfortable. Steve slipped his shoulder under her, which admittedly was more comfortable.

"You're gonna get a weird tan." She tells him, head tucked into him as his hand caressed he hip. He threw his head back slightly and laughed.

"Then it's a good thing I don't tan." His head was tilted to talk into her head, and she felt her cheeks flush.

"Are you lungs the size of leaves?" Max yelled, watching Dustin, Mike and Lucas struggle to fill up their floaties. Will and El had figured out how to do it and were almost done, but no one was paying attention to them.

"Do you wanna try?" Dustin asked, holding the half blown up floaty.

"There's no way I could do worse than you." She snatches it from him and Dustin roles his eyes, grabbing another floaty.

"Did you happen to bring any party favors?" Jonathan asked Eddie, who was smirking.

"You know I did." Eddie pulled a rolled blunt from his pocket and handed it to Jonathan, who lit it. Meanwhile, Nancy and Robin were playing with James, smiling and taking in exaggerated voices.

"He's so cute, he makes me want one." Nancy said offhandedly, full attention on James as she handed him a plastic seahorse. Robin widened her eyes and looked at Jonathan, who had dropped the blunt as he stared at Nancy.

"Can't say I blame her." Steve returned his attention to Y/N, who had her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

"Hm?" She squinted as she locked up to him, turning slightly to be more comfortable. Steve tried and failed to act casual as Y/N slipped one leg over his, her hand resting on his chest.

"Nancy," He choked out, hoping Y/N wouldn't think anything of it. "She was talking about how James makes her want a baby." He hoped no one would look in their direction, not only because he wanted to stay in their bubble.

"Oh," Y/N chuckles, head resting back down and eyes closing again. "He is one very cute baby." She smiles.

"Takes after his mom." Steve whispers without thinking. She playfully lifts her hand to hit him lightly before laying it back down, this time lower, on his sternum.

"I didn't know if I wanted kids." She tells him, voice soft. "I was so unsure, even while I was pregnant. Especially while I was pregnant." Steve looks down again, but she stays still, eyes closed. He hears screams and feels the pool ripple, but he doesn't look over.

"What changed?" Steve has always wanted kids. He wanted to break the cycle. He wanted to treat kids the way he wanted to be spoiled, the way he wishes he was.

"I was at the only doctors appointment I could afford, about seven months in. It was only so that I would know he was okay, and to know my due date. And as soon as I heard his heartbeat, I knew there was nothing I wouldn't do for him." Steve can't help but feel the emotions bubble in his chest as she retells the story.

"That sounds," Steve could barely get the words out as he closed his eyes and laid his head back.

"Stupid? Corny?" She guessed with a chuckle.

"Beautiful." Steve answers, feeling her tense over him.

"You'll feel it one day." Y/N says after a moment, relaxing slightly. James lets out a squeal/laugh loud enough to break the sound barrier, and when Steve looks over, all he can think of is that there is nothing he wouldn't do for that baby, for Y/N.

I already have.

He doesn't say it, but he thinks it with hope and little bit of anxiety. He's got a problem.

"Shit!" Y/N tenses as Eddie cannonballs into the pool, splashing everyone and sending waves rippling. He was so close to them that the water went over their floaty, and Y/N almost fell off. Steve grabbed her before she went into the water, the two laughing as they tried to balance. Before Steve could get her back up fully, Eddie was underneath the floaty and pushing them off. Y/N let out a cut off scream as they toppled into the water, the two of them kicking up to the surface.

Y/N and Steve were laughing as they treaded the water, so they didn't hear James' cries for a moment. As soon as they did, Y/N swam quickly across the pool, Steve following her as she pulled herself out and let James tumble into her arms.

"Oh," She placed a kiss to his head and smiled as Steve walked up in front of her. "It's okay, we're okay." She's sure he got upset at their screams, and as he rubbed against her arms he started to be fine.

"Maybe he'd like the water." Steve said, and James got so excited hearing Steve's voice that he stomped his feet and squealed.

"Come on," Y/N picked James up and walked to the steps, sitting on the second highest one and letting James stand on the top. Steve smiled as he watched, deciding to fire up the grill. Y/N turned to see Steve, shirtless with a spatula in hand, and she felt her heart race as she thought about how much Steve looks like a dad. James screamed and splashed before trying to jump into the water, Y/N catching him as he tried to drown himself.

Lovely.

~

Once James had tired himself out from the pool, everyone got out to get the food Steve was making. James had been sitting with Y/N in the shade, however he got right up and yelled "Seeb!" before stumbling over to Steve and patting his leg, making Steve smile and pick him up, putting him on his lap. James curled up and went to sleep immediately, and Y/N's heart clenched as she committed the picture to memory.

When Steve had finished his food he put his plate to the side and leaned back, watching the kids get back in the pool even after Steve's warning about being in the pool after eating. Jonathan and Nancy were curled up on a blanket on the lawn, the trees shading them. Robin was laying on a floaty stolen from one of the kids, and Eddie was smoking further away from them so James and the kids didn't get the second hand smell. Y/N felt content, the alcohol from her mixed drinks making her sleepy. She turned to the side, about to tell Steve that she was gonna get on the floaty and into the water, but when she looked he was asleep, James passed out on his chest. Y/N smiled, grabbing another mixed drink before getting into the water and floating over to Robin.

"You've got him wrapped around your finger." Robin smirks, twirling her own margarita in her hand.

"What?" Y/N furrows her brows as if she doesn't feel her heart beating out of her chest when she just looks at Steve.

"Don't play dumb." Robin pushes her slightly in a friendly manner, and Y/N grabs the other girl's floaty in an attempt to not float away.

"I'm not it's just," She shakes her head, looking over at James and Steve who were both still happily snoozing. She takes a deep breath and is grateful for Robin's silence. "I haven't, like," She pulls her lips in and blurts it out. "No one has shown interest since I had James." She doesn't look at Robin, turning her head so she's looking at the house, away from everyone.

"Steve is kinda like that." Robin's comment draws Y/N's attention. "He loves kids. Wants to have, like, six of them. And before he even knew you had a kid he thought you were hot, so." Robin drank from her drink with a smug smile, but Y/N is just staring.

"I mean, he probably meant his own kids. Ya know?" She's grasping at straws and Robin can tell.

"Girl," Robin's sunglasses slip down her nose as she looks over them at Y/N. "Do you see him over there? If he only wanted his own children, he wouldn't be over there taking a nap with yours." Y/N thought of this, looking back over and for once not feeling fear when her heart melted.

"You can see where I'm coming from, right?" Y/N muttered, looking over at Robin with a shy smile. The girl pushed her sunglasses back up and took another drink.

"I can, but you need to open your eyes." Robin's blunt words make Y/N's eyebrows raise. "He spoils the shit outta you and especially your baby. And that's just who he is." Y/N's heart races, because she of course knows that Steve loves to do things for others, and clearly he loves to do things for her.

Maybe she should open her eyes.

~

"Before you ask," Steve is saying as he grabs Y/N's hand and pulls her out the door. Everyone is lazing about inside, and Y/N had been washing the dishes while James played with his new friends. "James is with Nancy."

"Why would I ask that?" She turns to him, confused.

"Because we're about to go on an adventure." He grabs her hand and puts the sponge down, pulling her away from the sink.

"Where are we going?" She asks, letting him pull her.

"We're going to go on a bike ride." He tells her as they walk out the front door. Outside the sun is setting and bathing everything in a warm glow.

"Why?" She asks, but she's giddy already.

"Because it'll be fun." He smirks, grabbing the bike he snagged from Dustin.

"There's only one bike." She mentions, heart picking up speed as Steve smiles at her. This back and forth they're doing is just stalling their inevitable ride.

"That's kinda the point." He straddles the bike and turns to her expectantly.

"Where am I gonna sit?" She asks, not seeing very much room on the back. To her surprise, Steve scoots backward and makes room on the front.

"Come on," His smile is so inviting that she has no choice but to slowly hop on, her back pressed against his front. Slowly, his arms come from around her and grabs the handlebars, holding her in. She puts her feet on the metal bars as Steve pushes off. He leans forward so she leans back, keeping each other up right. They're not going fast, but the breeze is chilling her skin not covered by her coverup. The day at the pool had made her exhausted, and watching everything pass as Steve held her close and they went along the empty road.

She turns her head to him, and as she does so he turns to her and they have a single moment where they're about to kiss before they are falling.

Steve falls first, his arms going around her to break her fall. She hits her head slightly but is otherwise fine, and she turns to Steve, who is laughing, only barely scraped up.

"I'm sorry," He chuckles, pulling her close and staying on the ground.

"For what?" She asks, looking up at him. If she could reach, she'd kiss him.

"Crashing." He tells her, and she just rolls her eyes.

"That's part of the fun, isn't it?" She scoots up, enough to be able to reach his lips if she wanted.

"Uh huh." Steve probably doesn't even know what he just agreed to, but he can't be bothered to turn his brain on. The feel of her body on his is indescribable, and he never wants to think about anything else. He leans down for a kiss, feeling this is the time. After the last failed attempts he was nervous, but there was no one here to interrupt them. He sees her close her eyes and lift her chin, and he dips his and closes his eyes, brain only focused on the feel of-

"Hey!" Of course this time it's Robin. Of course.

Steve huffs and shifts a bit, the moment ruined. Y/N groans and sits up, sliding away from Steve. He stands, offering a hand to her and dusting his clothes.

"I thought you guys were, like dead on the side of the road!" Robin comments, and Steve regrets ever helping her get her drivers license.

"We're fine." Y/N smiles, much nicer than Steve had been. Robin nods and rants on about a couple things that neither of them pay attention to before she's gone, leaving the two alone.

"We should probably head back." Steve suggests, moment ruined. Y/N nods and pushes back some of her hair, shoulders creeping up in embarrassment.

Was the universe against them or something?

~

Once everyone finds rides, Y/N and Steve are left alone.

"I'm sorry, he usually doesn't go down this easy." Y/N mentions, the two in the doorway of the guest room where James is sleeping, pillows barricading him from rolling off the bed. Steve makes a mental note to get a play pen for his house.

"You can stay here if you want?" He suggests hesitantly. He knows how it sounds, but he also knows Y/N and James. "If you try to take him home now, he's gonna wake up and never go back to sleep." This seems to convince Y/N, who smiles shyly.

That's how Steve finds himself at 7:30 am, James on his hip and pancakes on the stove. He had already fed and changed James, who had woken up at 6:37 and almost woke Y/N up. Steve had suggested the guest bedroom, or even his parents bedroom, but when she looked up at him and told him she didn't mind sharing the bed how could he say no? So he kept his hands to himself for all of thirty minutes until they both fell asleep and he woke up to her laying in his arms, peaceful look on her face as she slept. He had to maneuver over her to go get James, and then had to take him downstairs and hope that feeding him would stop the crying. He read the formula packet Y/N had brought to figure out how to make it and spent far too long getting it the right temperature. When he spied the diapers, he realized he'd never changed one in his entire life, and this was gonna be a doozy.

He had done it though, and now James was happy babbling, both of them shirtless as James didn't have any other clothes and Steve slept without a shirt on. Just as Steve took the pancakes off the stove and plated them, getting ready to serve Y/N breakfast in bed, the lock on the front door jiggled.

"Shit." He muttered, only able to stare as his parents came into view.

"Shit!" James repeated, catching the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Harrington. Steve could only blink as James waved, his new favorite thing that Robin and Max had taught him the night before.

"You have a baby?" Mr. Harrington was the first to respond, bags dropped to the floor and door still open.

"Uh," Steve wasn't sure what to say. Had his parents told him they were coming back today? He must have forgotten.

"We're gone for a month and he has a baby." Mrs. Harrington threw her hands up, shaking her head.

"No, wait," Steve was confused, because although James was a baby he didn't look like a newborn.

"I cannot believe this!" Mr. Harrington's furious tone causes Steve to flinch and James to let out a cry, curling into Steve. And for the first time, instead of cowering to his father, Steve steps up, holding James with both arms and shielding him from the nightmare of humans in front of him. James is still crying, and when Steve looks at his mother he can see her face soften a bit.

His father is still stalking toward him, and Steve can't think of anything to say. He just stands there, rubbing James' back and hoping Y/N stays asleep.

"What the hell is going on?" She comes racing down the stairs as Steve's father gets so close they're almost touching. "Get the fuck away from my son!" She pushes Mr. Harrington back, seething as she stands in front of Steve and James. Steve is shocked that she has the guts to do what he could never, and his heart grows a bit.

"Your son?" Mr. Harrington roars a laugh, scaring James even more. This only makes Y/N angrier, the look in her eyes murderous. James is now sobbing into Steve's shoulder, shuddering in a way that makes Steve feel more anger than he thought capable. Y/N wants to tell them to leave, to get the fuck out, but she can't tell them to get the fuck out of their own house.

"We are leaving." Steve says, packing James' diaper bag and grabbing Y/N's hand, pulling her up to his room. His mother yells after him, but his father keeps her from following the two up.

"I'm so sorry." Y/N whispers as Steve hands James to her and puts a shirt on and grabs a couple things. He shakes his head.

"It's fine." He seems actually fine, and Y/N just stares. She's bouncing James, who isn't crying as hard anymore but is still sniffling.

"It's not." She says, and Steve just shrugs. "You can stay with me." It comes out of her mouth before she could think, and she instantly regrets it. She has a small ass trailer and a baby. "I understand, though, because James and it's tiny and-"

"Yes. Thank you." He cuts her off with a smile and then is hauling his bag up and walked out the room, Y/N following and thinking about what she had just said. She's going to be living with Steve.

What has she gotten herself into?

//

tags: @sadbitchfangirl @gloryekaterina  @oblivion-void @alexshaff2002 @m-rae23 @icequeen1371  @mcueveryday @xxhellfiregirlxx @parkershoco @feelinglikeineedlotsofnaps @peculiarwren @mads-weasley @munsstertwo @alicetweven @damon-loves-pie @gaysludge @l0v3e1i @luvrsbian @zulpix-blog @scarletwitchwhore @taylortheyellowlobster @ash5monster01 @nix-rose-q

[another-lost-mc]

what would be your ocs' voicelines be like when the mc has reached a certain intimacy level? (also it's so fucken hard tryna increase their intimacy omg barbatos is my highest n he's only at 18 and i'm alrd DYING out here)

surprise guest interactions + intimacy calls

Featuring: Azra, Karasu, Zekhan

CW: gn!Reader. NSFW (the intimacy calls section). Contains flirting, suggestive content, phone sex.

A/N: Seriously, my fav bias is so obvious when it comes to the intimacy rankings. I have five characters in NB with intimacy in the single-digits. lol Speaking of bias, Karasu and Zee got some extra love in this.

AZRA

Prefers: Glass of Aged Demonus

Also likes: Spicy Rainbow Pizza, Comfort Candy, Backstabbing Sandwich

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "I didn't expect you to be so bold."

Final: “I'd like to get to know you better, but perhaps we should go somewhere more private first.”

KARASU

Prefers: Hell's Kitchen Mean Greens Salad

Also likes: Family Pack of Sushi, Barbatos's Tea, Black Coffee of Melancholy

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "Oh, is this for me? You're too kind."

Final: "Thinking about you distracts me from my work, but I don't think I mind at all."

ZEKHAN

Prefers: Madame Devian's Hellberry Milkshake

Also likes: Princess's Poison Apple, Human World Cheeseburger, Black Coffee of Melancholy

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "Have you been watching me? Interesting."

Final: "It's rare that someone manages to surprise me the way you do.”

AZRA — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

Asmo dials Azra’s number on your D.D.D. and asks you to let him know that you’ll both be attending the club’s event that weekend. A dial tone rings until the call drops - he doesn’t answer.

KARASU — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

He doesn’t call you. He sends you a message (through KARASU OS) to remind you about the exchange program student satisfaction survey you haven’t completed yet.

ZEKHAN — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

He calls and introduces himself as The Fall’s manager, then he asks why you have been attempting to contact Azra using his personal number.

You tell him that Asmo gave you his number.

He grumbles quietly about Asmo’s lack of decorum and acknowledges your response before promptly bidding you goodnight and hanging up.

AZRA — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

The muffled sound of music filters through the phone when you pick up his call. He's impatiently awaiting for you to arrive for a party at The Fall, and he casually asks about the outfit Asmo designed for you. His deep voice is punctuated with soft purrs and a sultry drawl.

"I should let you finish getting ready, love. I look forward to seeing you in your new outfit, but I can't promise it will stay on for long once you get here."

"Asmo asked me to remind you to try not to rip this one."

"He should stop designing things with so many delicate lacings and buttons then."

KARASU — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

He calls you one evening when you're getting settled into the guest room provided to you. A last-minute summons to the Sorcerer's Society has interfered with your weekend plans together. The disappointed whine that laced his voice earlier in the day has shifted into something much more needy, and as you settle into bed, you can hear the faint sound of rustling sheets.

"Is your room comfortable? It's the least they could do for causing such an inconvenience for you."

The sulky tone in his voice makes you smile. "It's good enough until I can come home tomorrow."

"I can hardly wait," he admits quietly.

What follows is a seemingly typical conversation about nothing in particular. Despite his innocent questions about what you’re doing and what you’re thinking about, the words feel charged, like there’s a current of heat laced into his voice. The longer you speak with him over the phone, his tone slowly thickens with unabashed desire that courses through his veins like honey.

It's not long until he starts to stutter over his words, and his breath hitches suddenly with a soft groan. You can't help the smile that tugs at your lips when you realize what he's doing. These late-night phone calls tend to have a certain effect on him, and it appears that tonight is no different.

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” you ask innocently even though you already know the answer.

“You know that I—I can’t help it,” he admits breathlessly. “I miss you so much.”

He exhales shakily into the receiver but if you listen closely, you can hear the faint, rhythmic sound of slick skin-against-skin.

"I miss you too," you admit even as your cheeks grow warm and your free hand dips beneath the covers and over the curve of your belly. "Would you like to know exactly how much I missed you?"

"Oh, yes—" he gasps, sucking air through his teeth with a soft hiss. On the other end of the call, the bedframe creaks quietly from the weight of his movements. "P-please?"

ZEKHAN — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

It starts with a text conversation like most evenings do when he has to work.

ZEKHAN: It’s quiet here tonight. Tuesday nights are slow as it is, but there aren’t any parties scheduled either.

➤ I'm glad you called. I miss you.

You can annoy Azra if you’re bored, that's always fun!

ZEKHAN: I miss you too, but as much as I enjoy our chats, I wish we could do more than talk.

➤ It’s a shame you’re stuck at work all night.

Behave, mister.

ZEKHAN: Fortunately, I have you to distract me. You should start by telling me what you're wearing right now, bunny.

The Devilsilk pajamas Asmo bought me.

I’m still in my RAD uniform.

➤ Wouldn’t you like to know? ;)

<ZEKHAN is calling you.>

“How brave of you to tease me like that, my dear.”

“I would do more than that if I could. Why don't we have dinner tomorrow night and I can make it up to you?"

"I don't think I can wait that long."

"It's not like we have much choice. You can't just leave work for a quickie."

"Who says I can't? I doubt anyone will even notice I'm gone."

"I don't know...it's not very professional."

"In most circumstances I would agree with you, but I've decided to take my break early tonight and now I can spend the next half hour being as unprofessional as I want. I'll be there shortly.”

“Not to sound ungrateful, but thirty minutes hardly seems worth the effort.”

“Is that a challenge, bunny? Because I promise I'll have you coming for me in less than ten.”

return to: oc masterlist | obey me masterlist

[thisapplepielife]

Written for a @astrangersummer.

What You Need For Today

Week #3 Prompt: Flowers | Word Count: 1400 | Rating: T | POV: Lucas | Pairings: Lucas/Max | Characters: Lucas, Dustin, Steve, Erica, Max | CW: Language | Tags: Post S4, Recovering, Buying Flowers, Dustin Has Opinions (Doesn't He Always), Hospital Visits, Always the Goddamn Babysitter Steve (But He Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way)

Looking through the glass door of the cooler, Dustin at his side, Lucas checks out all his options. They all kind of look the same to him, to be honest. Different colors aside, they are just flowers wrapped in paper or arranged in vases. 

He can't stand here forever, so he opens the door and reaches for the nearest bouquet, one wrapped in a pale blue.

"That looks like it's for a new baby! She didn't have a baby!" Dustin snaps, shoving him out of the way. Lucas moves away from the door, willingly. He isn't sure what he should pick, doesn't have the brain power left to decide, so any help, even if it's just Dustin steamrolling him, will be better than nothing.

Dustin is rifling through the options, touching them all far too rough, and Lucas doesn't want to be associated with this at all. The florist isn't looking, isn't paying any attention to either of them, but Lucas is not in the mood to be yelled at. Not today.

The place has had a steady stream of customers, in and out, and he assumes that's because so many people are still hurt, still grieving, after the town was ripped to shreds. And those who stayed need to do something, anything, to feel like they're helping. And buying flowers, that's normal, a relic remaining from before.

He understands that, deeply.

Dustin is still making a spectacle of choosing, so Lucas looks over his shoulder, and sees Erica sitting on the bench by the door of the shop, feet scuffing against the tile of the floor, ever so slightly. Uncharacteristically quiet. The way she's been since, well, since. He wishes she'd get up and come over and have an opinion just as strong as Dustin's.

Embarrass him, shame him, anything.

But she doesn't.

"You need to get these," Dustin finally declares, picking up a huge bundle of red roses.

"I can't afford those," Lucas hisses, because while he doesn't know the price, he knows they are damn well out of his price range. His allowance is good, but it's not that good.

"Can you put a price on love?" Dustin asks, like it's that simple.

Lucas takes the flowers from him, and puts them back, "Not those. Someday. But not today."

Dustin rolls his eyes, "Fine. Be a dumbass. See if I care."

And Lucas just stares through the glass, again. Still unsure. 

He isn't sure how long he's stood there, mulling, unable to choose, when he hears from behind them, "What are you little dickheads doing here?" 

Oh, thank god. Steve. 

Maybe he can rein in Dustin, or at the very least, distract him.

"What are you doing here?" Dustin crows, like he's caught Steve doing something he shouldn't be. 

"None of your business, you little twerp. And I asked you first," Steve says, and Dustin is getting wound up, Lucas can see it.

"Help me pick flowers for Max," Lucas says in a rush, cutting Dustin off before he has the chance to derail this opportunity.

"Well, you can't go wrong with red roses," Steve says, and Dustin throws his hands up in an 'I told you so' motion. 

That's not enough for Dustin, it never is, he has to rub salt in the wound, given an opportunity, so Dustin adds, "I told you so."

"I know, I know," Lucas says, conceding, "but I don't think that's, uh, exactly, right," Lucas says, "for the…occasion."

And Steve nods, like he's understanding what Lucas is laying down.

"Of course, you're totally right," Steve agrees, arm draped over his shoulders as he's standing next to him, also looking, while Dustin prances around impatiently. 

Lucas is leaning towards the yellow bouquet. It's pretty, and bright, and would really liven up Max's hospital room. Even if she can't see it. Even if she'll never know it's there.

When he brings her red roses, he wants her to know it.

"How about the yellow?" Steve asks, finger pushed against the glass, pointing at the arrangement that Lucas was contemplating.

"That's what I was thinking," Lucas admits, happy to have confirmation that it's a good pick.

"Max will love them," Steve says, and reaches in and plucks them out of the cooler, handing them to Lucas, then demands, "Henderson, go get him a blank get well soon card from the counter."

Dustin grumbles about it, but blunders away.

Once he's gone, Steve's voice is low, "You got enough, Sinclair? If not, I can loan you some cash."

It's nice. Steve is really Dustin's friend. Or even Erica's, in a weird way. But he still shows up when he's needed, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. 

"Thanks, Steve. But I think I do."

And Steve just nods, turning back towards the cooler, reaching in and grabbing a big bundle of the red roses.

Dustin reappears, and they both stare at Steve.

Steve looks back at them, "What are you little shitheads looking at? It's a classic, and I like what I like. You don't mess with what works."

"And red roses? They work?" Lucas asks.

"I told you that, asshole," Dustin says, adding his two cents, yet again. 

"For some occasions they definitely do, but these yellow ones? That's what you need for today," Steve reassures, and Lucas puffs out his chest, feeling happier, more confident about his decision. 

They both pay, and on the way out, Steve stops in front of Erica and pulls one of the roses out of the bouquet in his hand, holding it out for her to take. She rolls her eyes, but gives him a smile, and it's one of the few Lucas has seen her offer up in days, weeks.

Erica takes the rose, and Steve lowers his hand over her head, like he's going to touch her hair. Lucas wouldn't recommend it, but she takes care of herself, like always.

"Watch it, nerd," she says, batting his hand away, and Steve stops short of touching her, but he's made her happy. Lucas can tell, and he wishes he'd have thought of it first. Maybe it wouldn't have been the same, coming from him, her brother. Maybe it had to come from Steve Harrington, the ringleader of her beloved Scoops Troop.

"Good thing you showed up, we need a ride home," Dustin demands, not asking, never asking. 

"Maybe I have other places to be, Henderson. You ever think of that?" Steve snarks at him, holding up the roses, but he still unlocks his car, letting them all inside. Erica puts on her seatbelt beside him in the backseat, clutching the stem of the rose in her hands, looking out the window.

Lucas wonders when, if, things will ever go back to normal.

Dustin and Steve banter in the front seat, lobbing barbs back and forth that are familiar and normal, so Lucas supposes that's a start, at least.

Later that afternoon, Erica standing at his back, Lucas pauses in the doorway of the hospital room, listening to the steady beeps of all the machines keeping Max alive. The vase of yellow flowers in one hand, a new Stephen King book in the other. This time, he checked out Skeleton Crew from the library. It's a short story collection, and he likes the idea of having something new, something fresh, to read to her everyday during visiting hours. 

A new story for a new day.

She's still asleep, body still broken and trying to mend, and it squeezes at his heart. He doesn't know when they'll let her try to wake up. How long it might be, even if it has already felt like forever. Her hair is braided to the side, bold red against the white pillow, and that means El must have been here earlier. 

The vinyl creaks as Erica sits down on the couch behind him. She's been a near constant presence at his side since the Creel house. She goes where he goes, and he honestly has no complaints.

He places the flowers on Max's end table, and scoots the chair up as close to her bed as he can get it. Once he's situated, he cracks open the book, smoothing his hands over the borrowed pages, holding it in his lap, as he begins to read.

"This is what happened. On the night that the worst heat wave in northern New England history finally broke..."

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @astrangersummer and follow along with the fun! 🌞

Notes: The end book snippet is from The Mist, the first entry in Skeleton Crew.

[chipped-chimera]

Aquarium update - I have a Betta again! Got kind of burned last time so I travelled wayyyyy north from where I am to get her, along with some cories. It's been about two weeks since, judging my water changes (do about 25% a week, not because the water needs it but more because any longer and my filter gets gummed up) and she's been doing really well. She's changing rapidly, but she was very juvenile when I got her (like literally only a bit bigger than some of my green neons which max out at 3cm) which I expected, since marble gene. The contrast of a few weeks though is kinda nuts.

Not quite named yet, since honestly I was so burned from last time (RIP fish Karlach 😔) that I've been hesitant to name her or even share anything about her online. Also because I literally have no idea how she's gonna look in a few weeks as she matures.

I was thinking maybe Arita or Imari since her patterning reminds me of Asagi Koi and Imari-Arita Ware ceramics? Leaning towards Arita since it sounds a bit 'sassier' I guess (idk, vibes) and she definitely is that. I'll take suggestions though!

Anyway more fish rambling below -

Honestly I was so hesitant to get her, but I was already putting in replacement Cories after a mystery disease decimated my Corydora population, leaving my admittedly kind-of-fat female Three Lined solo. Whatever contagion was in the tank is either gone or dormant (since a lot of fish disease I know is entirely reliant on how stressed a fish is - they can still be a carrier but completely fine) after basically doing every treatment I had at my disposal. I think it was a mix of parasitic and bacterial, maybe fungal? Hard to target given all my tank tests consistently returned a big fat 0ppm for all the bad shit. My tank is about as clean as it gets - I only change about 25% weekly and that's more to clean sludge out of the filter, it never really needs it. Admittedly some of the deaths I contributed to because I wasn't aware how much my tank PH had changed over the months (test your PH regularly guys), apparently the huge chunks of wood have exhausted all their tannins cause I've gone from acidic to more basic. It seems to be holding about 7.8, apparently related to the Seiryu stone in there. Basically water changes caused the PH to flux to much, contributing to stress for the Cories. Yeah I feel bad but I'm also not blaming myself since a. Literally first tank b. I am learning the fish hobby is really annoying for consistent information. Like literally information that doesn't contradict itself half the time. A lot of that is the reason why I've been slowed down in figuring out what is going wrong and that ultimately has resulted in a lot of loss.

Important part though is everyone seems to be doing fine, and I've learned enough now to maybe recognise stuff a lot faster. One of the Pandas, after my first water change developed a big fungal streak down it's body (I'm guessing it scuffed itself in a panic somewhere) but had that treated easily within about 3 days with just Pimafix. No seriously, they're doing well. Well enough they apparently spawned? Saw the betta striking some mystery thing on the glass. I thought it was a freshwater limpet (they've been in there, just haven't seen them in a while) and realised no, actually an egg. Not opposed to this since I'm pretty close to stocking limit (at least in a regular, unplanted tank) so I'm down for the population control.

Betta really is a little predator though. She's honestly weird for a Betta in that she doesn't show interest in food. At all. She might nibble at a fallen bit but couldn't care less about anything I put on the surface or during feeding time. Been monitoring her weight, and she's definitely not underweight. Guess I have enough random critters in my tank (Planaria, about a million scuds since my last-ditch effort treatment to save a Cory decimated my shrimp population. I lost my favourite orange/red shrimp too 😭) to sustain her? Worry is of course I need to re-establish more shrimp. There are some left but nowhere NEAR what I had before. I've seen her chase a few who appear, she definitely has them on alert but they tend to be too big for her anyway. And too fast. Juveniles though ....

I do have a HUGE amount of hiding places for new, young shrimp (just moss. So much moss) but I think I'll maybe raise them in a netted isolation box until they're big enough that she's no longer a threat maybe? Idk. That or I get technically-not-allowed Cherry Shrimp from someone local, since they tend to be adults. Juveniles are kind of my only option at my local store.

Anyway that's the ramble!

[kas-eddie-munson]

(This is inspired by this fic by @withacapitalp ! ^^ I wanted to do my own take on Steve with OCD ^^)

Content warning for a panic attack, OCD, and intrusive thoughts involving gore!

~ ~ ~

Steve always hated knives.

Well, not ALWAYS.

He was about five or six, and his nanny was in the other room, talking on the phone. He asked her for a penut butter sandwich, but she told him to wait, that this was important. Maybe it had been five minutes, or maybe an hour. His child brain couldn't tell, could only tell that he was hungry.

So he started rooting through the cabinets. He knew where a lot of things were. He'd seen his nanny in here often enough. He managed to pull out a plate, bread, peanut butter, jelly. He grabbed a butter knife, the final instrument, and began to work.

Spreading peanut butter and jelly was harder than it looked. He got frustrated as the bread ripped, and the ingredients barely spread. Eventually, he decided it was good enough and closed the sandwich to take the crust off. He wasn't a big crust fan.

Cutting with a knife was difficult, too. He pressed hard and moved the knife back and forth, but it still didn't cut very well. It also made an obnoxiously loud scraping sound as he worked. He furrowed his brow in concentration.

Suddenly came the clack clack clack of his nanny's footsteps, and, well. She wasn't happy.

"Steve!"

Her eyes were bulging and she lurched forward, yanking the butter knife from his grip. His stomach dropped and he froze. She never talked to him like that.

"Be careful! Knives are too dangerous for boys your age to use without a grown-up! You could have hurt yourself," she set the knife far away on the table, as though its mere proximity was a threat, and crouched down to look at him at his level.

He still felt frozen as he nodded and mumbled apologies.

When Steve was a few years older, and another nanny taught him how to use a knife safely, he was always careful with it. He never cut towards his fingers, as instructed, and he turned the sharp part away from his plate when he set it down, just to be extra safe.

When puberty hit, he taught himself to shave. It was an ordeal, but a necessary one. He worked slowly and carefully. He made sure to push the razor to the very back of the shelf above the skink when he was done, so it was less likely to fall and cut his hands.

Then the upside down happened. He wouldn't notice until years later that his distaste for sharp objects was getting worse. He always made sure to grip the bat tightly when he held it. To be hyperaware of where it was, where it was pointing.

Then he was at work. It was a normal day, until it wasn't, and then he was in the boathouse. He was up against a wall. And there was glass. Sharp. Ragged.

Pressed into his neck.

Dangerous.

And his heart was pounding and he was pushing his head as hard against the wall as was humanly possible and his friends were talking in the background but he could hardly tell what they were even saying because, somewhere in the back of his mind, a dangerous voice whispered, move forward.

He blinked hard. Pushed even further away. What the hell was that? Did he have a death wish or something?

Then Eddie pulled back. And Steve had to shake it off and get back to business.

The next few days passed in a blur of adrenaline and fear. Vecna was dead, but Max was hurt so bad, and Eddie barely made it out alive, and Steve, wracked with guilt that maybe they'd be okay if he had done something different, guarded their hospital beds like he needed the air in those stuffy rooms to breathe.

He didn't sleep much, or eat much, or bathe much, for about four days, until Eddie woke up.

He hated it in there, as much as he knew he wouldn't want to be anywhere else in that moment. Too many sharp things. He often found his gaze drifting to the IV cords inserted into the crook of Max's elbow and the back of Eddie's hand respectively, and he'd clench his fists thinking about the needle.

It was day four when he was doing this, half-eaten cafeteria food to his right from Robin, that he found his gaze once again drawn to Eddie's IV.

Yank it out.

Steve wanted to leave the room. He shook his head a little. Blinked hard. Tried to dismiss the weird thought.

Why did he think that? What if he did that on accident? He didn't want to hurt Eddie. Never, even if he hadn't fought so hard to get him here, would he want to hurt him.

That's when Eddie finally blinked his eyes open and woke up.

They had a tearful reunion. Steve reassured him that the others were okay, that Vecna was gone. He walkied Dustin and the kids in Max's room to come over, and they crowded around him, with hugs and tears in their eyes.

Steve stood on the other side of the room to give them space. He smiled fondly as he watched them catch up. He almost bumped into a poll attached to Eddie's IV. His mind flashed with imagry of him pushing it to the ground and stomping on the cord.

He decided to wait in the hall until they were done.

---

Steve and Eddie start hanging out. A lot, actually. Steve can't shake the feeling that the alternate dimension stuff can't be over yet. When he's not at work, Eddie is over. When Eddie's not over, Robin is over. When they're both busy he's with the kids. He doesn't give his fear the time of day to seep in with how busy he makes himself scheduling movie nights and trips to the arcade.

He keeps getting scary thoughts. Some of them are... new, though.

Steve starts to wonder what it would be like to hold Eddie's hand.

Steve imagines putting Eddie's hand in his mouth and biting down, hard, as he screams.

Steve wants to nudge his foot under the table.

Images flash of kicking Eddie in the balls, him doubling over in pain.

Steve finds himself getting lost in his eyes.

His head is filled with visions of jamming his fingers down Eddie's eye sockets.

He tries not to examine the thoughts too closely. Just shakes them off. Still... he wonders. Where was all this coming from? And is he gay? He goes over old memories. He loves Robin, but it's still a scary thought. Among the other scary thoughts.

All the thoughts get more and more mixed up in his head. He can hardly tell which ones are real anymore.

One night Eddie's over, and they're watching a movie, alone. Steve doesn't even remember which. Mostly they watch long enough for something to happen that prompts further conversation, and they goof around, ignoring the movie until the topic runs its course.

Eddie is wearing a new shirt. The sides are cut open, further than most of his shirts. The angle he's sitting at has it falling open even more, and Steve keeps finding his gaze drawn there when Eddie's eyes are on the screen.

It isn't too dark in the room. They have a dim lamp on, and Steve's eyes have adjusted to the lighting. So he can see a lot of detail.

There are stitches.

Steve digs his nails into the palms of his hands as grotesque images flash through his mind, and the commands start.

Tear them out.

Use your fork like a seam ripper.

Jam your fingers inside and pry his skin apart.

Steve feels like he's about to vomit. He wants to cry. He just wants this to stop. He wants Eddie to leave and he wants Eddie to hold him and he doesn't want any of that but most of all he doesn't want to snap somehow and do any of those horrible things.

He clenches his fists harder and shoves everything down and focuses on the movie.

Steve wonders if the thoughts will ease up as Eddie's wounds heal, since a lot of them are about that.

They do not.

They leave for a walk in the woods. Eddie wants to gather a bunch of rocks. For what purpose, Steve does not know. Steve is charged with lugging the rock bag around, since his bites never went as deep and are much more healed now than Eddie's.

It's ridiculously hot outside. Steve is sure his hair looks like ass in the humidity. Eddie is sweating through his shirt. Steve doesn't mind that part.

They find an open clearing with what Eddie deems "an especially exquisite selection" of rocks. Steve doesn't think they look any different, but he just smiles. Unfortunately, the lack of tree coverage makes it even hotter.

"Hey big sports guy, catch," Eddie calls as Steve feels something hit his backpack. He looks behind him and sees black cloth lying on the ground. He leans down to pick it up, then looks up at Eddie a few yards away.

Eddie is flushed, chugging down water from a bottle, some of it dripping past his mouth and down his chin and torso. His bare chest is covered with tattoos and scar tissue. Most of the stitches have been removed, it seems. Steve feels his face heat up, and then he sees it.

One of the deeper bites is still stitched up, and he has a drain attached to it. No bag is hooked up right now, but the drain is there, under the skin, peeking out. Steve wonders how deep it goes. Flashing images of yanking it out start coming and he feels nauseous as Eddie clears his throat and Steve meets his eyes in horror.

"My eyes are up here, princess," Eddie says as he smirks.

Steve ducks his head and runs his fingers through his hair. God, he hopes Eddie can't tell what he's thinking. About either topic, really. Or maybe he doesn't mind too much, about the one.

He tries to look at him, but his eyes keep trying to snap to the drain, and he knows he needs that out of his sight, fast, before the thoughts get worse.

"Dude, that's not fair." He shakes his head, still ducked down and eyes anywhere but on Eddie, as he makes his way over.

Eddie laughs bright and loud, and he pulls at his curls. "What's not fair, exactly?"

He shoves the shirt back at Eddie's chest, fingers buzzing with something as they make contact briefly with the skin of his pec. Eddie stumbles back a step and his eyes are wide.

Steve leans close and makes eye contact. "If I'm not allowed to be shirtless, neither are you, big boy." He gives his chest two quick pats before turning around and walking back the direction they came. He calls "for your modesty!" over his shoulder. It takes a few seconds before he hears Eddie's footsteps start up behind him to follow.

Eddie tells him he supposes they collected enough rocks for the day, anyway. Steve notes that Eddie didn't put the shirt back on, but he has it draped over his shoulder, and it covers the drain that way too, so Steve doesn't bring it up again. As they chat and walk home, Steve thinks Eddie looks redder than he did before. He looks cute flustered.

Is he flustered? Steve hopes so. Why does he hope so? Steve thinks he knows if he's honest with himself, but he's also scared, so he continues to try not to think about it.

---

"Alright alright! Settle down! I'll be back with snacks in less than five minutes. If you nerds haven't made a decision by then, we're putting on my pick."

Steve rolls his eyes as he leaves the room and the kids' voices raise even higher in pitch, whining that his movies are always boring. The other "adults" chatter behind them on the sofa, as the kids crouch around Steve's VHS collection.

When Steve comes back, The Goonies' cover is flipped open on the floor, and the ads are starting up as the kids flip the lights and fight over the remote, messing with the volume and arguing about whether or not there was a skip button for the ads or if they just had to fast forward through them. He looks around, and his heart skips a beat as he realizes that the only seating choice left is to squish himself right next to Eddie.

Or Mike, but he was absolutely not sitting between him and Byers for two hours, or however long The Goonies was. He doubted they'd stay apart like that for long, anyway.

Eddie smirks at him from behind his hand as he sits down, their thighs pressing together, and Steve is glad it's dark in here because he's pretty sure he's blushing.

That's when he realizes what side he's sitting on. And he freezes.

Oh God.

Oh no.

This is the side with the drain.

It was touching him. It was touching him. It was right there. It was right there and if he moves the wrong way he'll hurt him. It'll catch on Eddie's shirt and he'll rip it out and blood will be everywhere.

Oh my God. He can't move, now. It would be weird. Where would he even go? He can't just sit on the floor.

Oh my God. What if he moves to leave and that's what does it. He's stuck here. He's stuck here indirectly touching the thing under Eddie's skin and his lungs feel smaller than they should and oh God he does NOT want to freak out in front of everyone.

He has to leave. He has to get out of here. How the hell can he leave???

Steve presses as hard as he can into the armrest and away from Eddie, scooting out of his seat, and looking back at Eddie's side to make sure it hasn't started to bleed. His eyes catch Eddie's and the man still on the sofa looks confused, still sitting comfortably against the back of the sofa with his arms crossed as Steve, as discreetly as possible, slips out of the room and up the stairs. He's suddenly grateful he's only wearing socks on his feet so his footsteps are quieter.

He gets upstairs and walks into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, running his hands through his hair, and taking deep breaths. He runs through the last couple minutes in his head, when. Oh God.

Did he look closely enough? Was he sure Eddie wasn't bleeding? What if it started slow? What if he didn't notice until Steve left and now he's bleeding out? What if he's on some sort of numbing agent and he WON'T notice until he PASSES OUT because it's dark and Steve isn't 100% sure he didn't see blood and he knows he must look feral right now but he just has to go check just to be sure and

He opens his door again to a surprised Eddie, hand half held up like he was about to knock. Steve's eyes drop down to his side and back again.

"Hey, Steve. Are you alright? You looked a little woozy back there." Eddie asks, uncharicatistically softly. Steve realizes he must still look wild and tries to shake away the crazy eyes.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, no worries." He runs his hand through his hair again, realizes that makes him look more anxious, and drops it. His eyes flit back and forth between Eddie's eyes and his side, and then he keeps them steady on his eyes.

Eddie eyes him skeptically. "Mind if I join you for a minute?" He gestures in the room, and Steve steps aside. Eddie closes the door behind him.

"Steve, I'm not gonna lie. I'm worried about you, and I don't think I'm the only one." Eddie steps closer to him and places his hands on Steve's shoulders gently.

Steve racks his brain. "How do you know something's wrong? Wait, what do you mean? I'm fine." Steve tries to shrug and Eddie levels him with a look. Steve feels his lungs shrinking again, and his eyes sting.

Eddie moves his hands up and down his arms a little. "Steve, you've been acting off for weeks. Flighty? You almost never sit next to me anymore. Basically the whole room conspired against you today. Is... did I do something? Did you," Eddie furrows his brows, and shakes his head, "did you, hear something about me?"

Steve shakes his head, very confused. He wasn't even actively avoiding sitting next to Eddie. How did he not notice he was doing that??? What else is he doing without noticing?

Eddie rubs his shoulders again. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Breathe for me. Slowly. Try to breathe."

Steve does try to breathe slower, and sinks to the floor. Eddie follows him, and talks to him as he tries to calm down.

"Stevie, you need to tell somebody what's going on so we can help you."

Steve shakes his head vehemently.

"Why not? I'm not going to force you, but. I'm not gonna judge you or anything. You're my friend, Steve."

Steve looks into Eddie's eyes and sees nothing but sincerity. He isn't sure what he'd see if he told him the truth.

"I don't think you wanna know," Steve says softly.

Eddie bites his lips and looks away for a second. "Are you scared?" Steve nods. Eddie looks back, nods, and looks away again.

"Look, Steve, if it makes you feel better, if you tell me the scary thing, then I'll tell you something scary, too." Eddie looks back at him, lip still between his teeth.

Steve feels something warm inside, and he smiles the tiniest bit. "You don't have to do that, Eds. I. I just," Steve takes a big breath. "I don't want you to hate me. Or be scared."

Eddie shakes his head and looks off into space again. "I kinda doubt my thing is the same as your thing, but either way. Steve, I don't think you can do anything to make me hate you. You're one of my best friends, Steve."

Steve isn't sure that's true, but he leans his head back against the wall. His breathing is more even now, and the tears have slowed. He thinks for a minute.

"I -" he closes his eyes, "I get these. These..." He tries to come up with how to word it. Eddie looks at him with the kindest eyes Steve's maybe ever seen, and he braces himself. "I get these words in my head?" Eddie tilts his head slightly, looking confused, but no less kind and patient. "Like. Someone is telling me to do something I don't want to do?"

Eddie's eyes widen. "Oh. Oh Steve. I'm so sorry. I, I think my aunt had something like that. Do you, do you see things sometimes? Things that other people don't see?"

Steve shakes his head again. He actually laughs a little in surprise.

"No! No, not like that. Not like, halucinations. Like. The thoughts are me. But they're not me? Like, they're the things that I would least ever actually want to do, but they just get stuck there? And they won't shut up? They're like, opposite thoughts. Like I think the opposite of the thing I want to do, and then I don't want to do it so badly but it still is just like stuck there repeating because I don't want to do it so badly?"

He looks at Eddie, who seems contemplative.

"Can I ask what the thoughts are about, Steve?"

He shakes his head.

"No. It's bad, Eddie. It's so weird, and gross. Like," he takes a big breath and continues, "they're about people getting hurt, Eds. People I care about. I just," he starts to cry again, looks at Eddie. "What if I do it on accident? What if I like. What if I hurt you, Eds? I don't want to; I'd never want to, but what if I did? On accident?"

He starts sobbing again. Steve feels Eddie's hands cup his cheeks, brushing away tears with his thumbs. He's honestly kind of surprised Eddie's still here. He probably shouldn't have said that much.

"Steve. I trust you. So much, Steve. I know you would never hurt me. And I can't say I know what's going on in your head, but I know you. You're Steve! You save people! You don't hurt them. And you won't hurt me."

Steve melts into Eddie's hands. He isn't sure Eddie's right, but he knows one thing. He cares about this man, so much.

"Thank you." He puts his hands on top of Eddie's. "Thank you, Eds." Eddie smiles at him, but looks close to tears himself.

"Did you, did you want to talk about it? Your thing?"

Eddie's smile falters. "I don't want to make it about me, but I suppose I did say I would. Do you want to hear it?"

Steve nods. "If you want to tell me."

Eddie nods. "Okay. Well." He closes his eyes. Nods again. "I'm gay, Steve."

Steve's heart skips a beat. "Oh my God." He's suddenly aware that their hands are still on his face. "Eds. I think I'm gay too."

Eddie's eyes widen. His mouth opens, then closes.

Steve's not sure exactly what comes over him, but he leans forward and presses their lips together. Eddie kisses back.

They talk more about it, later. About the thoughts. Steve isn't exactly sure why, but just knowing that Eddie knows, and doesn't hate him, helps. And there are times when the thoughts are better, and the thoughts are worse. But knowing Eddie's on his side makes it a bit better.

~~~

Thanks for reading this!!! If anyone doesn't know a lot about OCD but is curious about Steve's presentation, here's some more info:

(He has Harm OCD, so you can also just google that, but this is a p thorough intro ^^)

[letswrites]

LN- All roads lead to you

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Masterlist

----------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: contain smut!!

Chapter 5- Abu Dhabi

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (GST- UTC/GMT +4).

7:05 PM

As soon as the race ended, Lando turned off the engine of his car and turned on his own engine. There was no time left to congratulate Max or console Lewis. "Lando! Where are you going?" Charlotte shouted running after him "I have to go back to my hotel room" "What?! Why?!" "I must get on a plane in 50 minutes!" "He shouted back "You have what?! Lando, can you please wait for me?" he stopped to wait for her "Thanks" he started walking again "What do you mean by catching a plane?" "I am going to Santorini" "It's the last race you don't need to anticipate holidays" "I do have" "And can I know why?" "If I don't catch this plane, I won't be in Greece till today" "Why do you need to be in Greece that night?" "So she will not sleep with the Italian hot lad" "What?! Who?" "A girl who I used to go out with" "What's about her?" "I can't let her sleep with him" he said taking his racing suit off, she turned her back "She used to be your girlfriend?' "No" "So what do you have to do with her sexual life?" he stopped for a minute "Cause she was supposed to be with me" Charlotte felt his feelings "Lando…" "It's my fault" he continued to dress his regular clothes "She tried to take me out last week and I made up a ridiculous excuse" he finished dressing "Now I have to fix it" She turned to face him "I see that you have feelings for her, but…" he touched her shoulder "no Charlie, I just need to have her. Otherwise, I will drive insane" She took his hand off her shoulder, such a womanizer "... But, I can't let you" "I am going anyway" "Lando!" "Charlotte!" She breathed deeply "Please don't make anything ridiculous" he hugged her "Love you" "Love you too" and he ran to catch his plane.

//

5 and a half hours later

Santorini, Greece:

11:26 PM (EEST- UTC/GMT+3)

She looked bright in that golden party dress, even tho it was just a detail cause that night in Italy when she was wearing a rock band tee and ripped jeans shorts was proof she looked bright in every way.

She had a glass in her hands, probably not beer and definitely not zero alcohol cause she was gigglier than usual. For the first time since he had that idea, he froze, without being able to move his feet. What if it was a mistake? What if he would ruin her night? Nah. He couldn't think like that, it would be ridiculous and he promised Charlotte no ridiculous things. Also, once back to Woking, the lecturing for leaving at the end of the race would be unpleasantly waiting for him. And somehow she invited him, with those daring words 'if you were there'. He wasn't sure if it was an invitation or a challenge but he was about to do it anyway, no matter which was her real intention. Anyhow, he was there and she wouldn't have sex with the Italian model if he was there, right? Right! Or at least he hoped...

Even so, he didn't want to lose it, lose his time, lose his job, make Charlotte lose hers, had emitted tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for no reason, he needed to be sure it all wasn't going to be in vain. So he decided to call her and see how things went. Actually, he should have called her before catching a plane to Greece, but it was already done, so fuck it.

He took a deep breath, tapped her name on contacts, and clicked on it, waiting anxiously for her to pick. To be fair, looking at her staring hesitantly at her phone, unsure of what she should do, made him even more anxious. But not as anxious as when she decided to pick up. So anxious he remained in silence for a few seconds "Hello?" he cleaned his throat, his voice sounding a bit different from usual "Hey..." "Is everything alright?" "Yeah! I... hum, just need you to do something for me" she sighed "Hi, Lando, how are you? It's nice to talk with you too" he sighed embarrassed, already blushing "Sorry... Hi, beautiful, how are you?" "Too late Lando, what do you need me to do?" "Don't sleep with the guy" she sniffed putting her drink down "Lando..." "Listen to me" she sighed, leaning on the bar counter consenting him the word "Go ahead" "I made a mistake" he continued "I agreed it all was done with you, but I am not a quitter, I am persistent, I work hard and I never stop until I achieve my goal, plus I hate to lose and I won't let you sleep with the other guy" he made a pause to accumulate some guts "I like you. And I want you and if missing all the last race of the year interviews and other stuff to tell you this isn't enough for you, just tell me what's and I will do it" "Did you miss all the interviews just for calling me?" Fuck, Lando! You and your big mouth "Hum... yeah!" "Why? I mean couldn't you just wait till it ended?" "No, I had... I have to know you're not with him when you're supposed to be with me" She chewed her inner cheek "You turned down my invitation the other day!" "I know but…" It has no 'but' she was right. He lost again and put his ass on the line for absolutely nothing, because he didn't have any morals and... she took a deep breath and admitted "You're enough already" Wow! shot-right-in-the-heart. "So why you're being so harsh?" "Because... I saw this movie over and over, and it always has the same end: you guys say those beautiful things, my heart melts, I feel bad for seeing you humiliating yourselves over me and I bend up. And as soon as you have an orgasm, the cursing is over, Guys like you get out of trance and fall back to reality. And guess what? They remember about the girl who is in fact special to them and, damn, I don't like it, fuck! I want to be enough for you as much as you are for me. And not only sexually, do you understand me?" he felt bad for her, it wasn't right to be treated like that and he knew it. Oh, he knew it "Just please don't sleep with him" "I…" " I promise we will talk about it all next time we meet" She took a pause to breathe deeply, he didn't dare to look at her, scared of seeing her expression, how much pain he was causing her " "Okay" she gave up. He smiled "Okay" he repeated softly, she was overwhelmed of course and she wanted to cry, he could tell due to her breath sound, so he aligned his shirt's collar and walked towards her.

Apart from the butterflies throwing a party in his stomach, he felt good and confident. His clothes were nice and he tried as much as he could not think about how screwed he would be if it didn't work, but he remained strong, touching her shoulder softly "Don't cry" he demanded, she turned around confused, taking her phone away from her ear, she couldn't believe "Lando…" "Hi!" he smiled "Hold those tears back, miss" he said calmly ending the phone call and rubbing a tear drop from her face, leaving glitter on his thumb "How... What are you doing here?" "I came here to do it" he pulled her for a hug, a strong, full of feelings hug "I am sorry" he whispered against her skin "You came here to hug me?" he pulled his face back just to look at her, still in shock "Yeah" he affirmed, confident. She smiled "And this" he pulled her to a kiss, an intense kiss, that made her relax for the first time since she started to drink thinking about the McLaren's driver; "Take me out of here" she muttered against his lips "Okay" he took her hand and guided the big mess he made her become away from the bar, away from the crowd, and mainly away from the good looking Italian guy, to where they could be only the two of them, to where she didn't have to hide the amazing person she was and fake to be another one, where she could eat pizza and watch k-dramas in comfortable clothes, where he could sleep like a baby, laid on her full-of-pizza belly after 3 months of zero quality sleep and jet lag effect.

He was so lost in those good memories that he didn't even notice the rushed pace he got, she giggled "Wait, wait, wait" bringing him back to reality "What's wrong?" she took her golden Jimmy Cho high heels off and he noticed how much he liked her small stature, smiling at her "What are you doing?" "Now I can follow your pace" "Sorry" "No, is fine. I love to have my bare feet" he looked at her small, princess feet on the stone stairs 'so adorable' "In this case, you're welcome" she giggled 'Fuck! He was crushed on a freaking smurf' "All good?" "All good" "So let's go" he bounced the stairs down, with her glued on him, tugging them to the hotel elevator, where he kissed her again.

...

In the hotel room, where they ripped off each other's clothes, the moonlight was the only flash of light coming from the half-open window. She had her back laid on the mattress, her hips widely open, knees parted at its extreme, with his athletic body between her thighs, filling her cervix with himself. The sound of "Lan..." she let slip from her lips, without being able to finish, still unsure if due to the cutting hard breath or the sudden electricity sparkling inside her core every time he moved, even for a millimeter, or breathed, or made a sound, or sweated, or looked at her, anything.

She moaned slowly, in a low tone, more like a whine, she wanted to pay more attention to the sounds they made together, the sounds coming from him. Suddenly the forearms on each side of her frame flexed up, his weight concentrated on his palms, his sweaty, still firm tho, hands slid down and had a strong, soft grip on her ribs, lifting half of her body, lowering half of his till he got sit with her on his lap. They didn't need to say it loud out, it felt like a performance they presented too many times already. She started to move her hips, knees working, flexing up and down, hips making circles, rubbing her body up and down his abdomen. Her messy bun tight on the top of her head will get stuck in his mind for the following weeks. He placed a hand on it and undone her hair, throwing the elastic away from the bed, she shook her hair, making it slide down to her neck and shoulders. He looked into his eyes, which have been avoiding during the whole time they were inside that room, and she looked back, regretting instantly, cause his eyes told her earlier about luxury and then were talking about pleasure, both things which shouldn't exist between them in her perception.

She slowed the pace of the riding, forcing him to say or do something. "Faster" he said among the heavy breaths. She dried a few sweat drops on his face "I don't want to" he looked into her eyes again "What do you want, then?" "You to do something about it". Sadic, he thought "Fine" he took himself out of her and turned her hips 180 degrees suddenly, placing her belly on the mattress. He placed one knee on each side of her legs and slightly pressed her body against the sheets, getting inside of her again. The bed muffled her sounds, so he bent forward to ask, low and sexy on her ear "Hands and knees, princess. I want to hear you" She smirked and obeyed his demand, becoming scandalous when he started the thrustings. She didn't need to fake it, she felt it all, out loud, to everyone who wanted to listen, but doing it for him to listen only, that was the important thing, the reason why. He pulled her body up to him, moaning on her ear, thrusting roughly. She placed one hand on his nape and pulled his hair as she felt the explosion before they cum on each other.

...

Later:

They were laid on the bed having pillow talk

"I think you are more than enough" "Really?" "If I didn't why would I come here against my superior's orders at the last race of the year? I could find sex in anyone else but you are the only you" She raised an eyebrow "What about Dubai?" Freaking Katerina "How do you know about it?" "It was all over socials" She was right "Anyway, didn't you hear the 'against my superiors orders' and 'at the end of the calendar' part?" she chuckled "Okay" "You look adorable when you are drunk" "Slightly tipsy" "Slightly tipsy?" "Uhum" "Sure" he muttered caressing her hair "Lewis says that's my automatic answer for when someone asks me if I'm drunk" "You and Lewis are good friends aren't you?" He asked casually "Yeah" she answered indifferently, enjoying the hair caressing "He knows how to value a friendship. Maybe..." she yawned "Maybe I can have the same thoughts about you someday. Except that I don't want to be friends only" he smiled "I know that you will" "I hope..." Then she fell asleep with the soft movements he was making on her hair. And while he watched her calm and soft expression he found himself desperate and anxious. He stopped the caressing slowly, taking a lot of caution for not waking her up. Then he stepped out of the bed to grab his phone and left for the hotel lobby. Wearing his beige shorts, hotel flip-flops, and his unbuttoned white shirt. A few people looked at him on his way to the elevator, whispering and giggling to each other but he didn't care, he was too angst for it.

...

Carlos was sleeping deeply. The snorting denounced him. Nothing could break that majestic oneiric experience. Nothing except his old teammate. He struggled to open his eyes and when he finally did he picked up the phone, angry "Qué putas horas crees que son aquí? (what fucking hours do you think is here?)" "What!? No, Carlos, that's not time for Spanish classes" the Spanish man looked at the clock on his side table "That's right. It's 3 in the morning! It's no time for speaking Spanish or any language at all. It's time for fucking sleeping!" "I know, I know, but..." "What?!" "I am panicking" Carlos sat on his bed, concerned "What happened, bro?" "I... I hit on two girls at the same time" "Two only?" Carlos said indifferent as he was used to that behavior of Lando "Well, it had a few more. But those two especially" "What's new about it?" "I think I have feelings for them both" "Hum, that's new. You are never in love with anyone..." "I haven't said this word!" Carlos continued as he never was interrupted "... And now you are in love with two simultaneously" Lando rolled his eyes "Yeah..." "That's why you are panicking?" "I don't know what to do" "Pick one" "Isn't that simple" "Which of them do you like the most?" "How am I supposed to know?!" "Which of them do you think is more interesting?" "They both are interesting" "The prettiest?" "They both are pretty. And hot" "Which one do you like to spend more time with?" "I don't know! I... Carlos, stop asking questions! I don't know the answers!" "Right. Which of them would you put your hand on fire for?" "None. I choose my hand" "Not literally, stupid. I mean take risks, do stupid things, ruin your career for, I don't know, something like that..." Finally a good question. He knew for which one he had done all of those things already "That one I know the answer" "Do you really?" Carlos asked surprised "Yes. Thanks for your help, man. It was very useful" "You're welcome?" "Have a good night. Bye" "Bye..." Carlos didn't think that he was very useful. In fact, if he was the one receiving the advice he gave to Lando he would only get more confused "Bueno. Ahora puedo volver a mío sueño (Good. Now I can back to my dream)".

...

Lando entered the room trying not to wake her up. He stood there watching the serenity of her sleep. He would kill for sleeping like that. The door didn't wake her up but his loud thoughts did. She opened her eyes slightly before sitting on the bed. She rubbed her eyes, sleepy "What's up?" "I..." He approached the bed sitting at the side next to hers "I had Carlos on the phone" he pointed to his iPhone "At 3am?" "Yeah" "Is everything okay?" He took a deep breath "No" she tried to touch his hand but he retreated "What's wrong?" "I can't go out with you anymore" Her bright faded away, as she was made of sugar and his words were water.  He was ready for her screaming with him and throwing the whole hotel room in his head, but she just chuckled, sarcastic, bitter "Why it doesn't impress me?" "Look... I just can't" "You just can't" She shook her head, turning her back to him "I should have never slept with you" She walked away from him, and he followed "Wait..." "Why? Why did you come till here and look for trouble if you knew it would hurt me? I let it very clear I couldn't handle this right now" "Because I couldn't let you sleep with the good looking Italian!" she hit him with the pillow softly "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? IS THIS A COMPETITION NOW!?" "I haven't said that" "Unfortunately I like you not him, idiot. My life would be a lot easier if I had a crush on Giaro, not on you" and he knew it was true it was written on her wavy eyes "I..."  she waited for him to say something, at least try to fix the chaos he started, but nothing came, he just didn't know what to say. She threw herself on the sofa and covered her face with the pillow "If that's all, please leave my hotel room" "I..." "Just leave now and never talk to me again, yes?" he tried again "Please don't be mad at me" she looked at him "I can't believe you!" "Please..." "Get out!" She got into the bathroom and closed the door. He was about to try to talk with her, say sorry for what he'd done, but a text popped on his phone screen. It wasn't the boss, Charlotte, Carlos, Max, or Daniel, but was her. The other her 

'Missing you'

That was what the text said. He grabbed his stuff from the bedroom floor, his phone and wallet, wore his white Nike airs, and as fast as he got there, he was out. The text was a coincidence only. He had already made up his mind at the hotel lobby. He promised Charlotte not to do stupid things but unfortunately, he let her down "It's better Charlie doesn't find out" he thought.

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